God Rising: The Cult of Ainz
by atheistbasementdragon
Summary: Neia Baraja is out to change the world, war and conflict follow where she walks as she spreads the worship of the Sorcerer King. But the adherents of the Old Gods will not go quietly into the night. Armies will rise, nations will die, and even if it destroys her, she will see her God Rise. No matter what the cost.
1. The Work Begins

God Rising: The Cult of Ainz

Chapter 1: The Work Begins

Written by: AtheistBasementDragon

Edited by: The Usual Gang of Drunken Perverted Idiots

 **AN: PLEASE read AN at the end.**

 _...The Holy Roble Kingdom...Hoburns..._

Neia Baraja wasn't tired. Or so she told herself. She sighed heavily and began to speak, softly under her breath. "I'm lying to myself again. But... it's a productive lie at least, if I can fake it enough, my energy will come back... somewhat, if not much... and I can sleep when I'm dead... well... unless I become undead, like his majesty." At her own spoken reflection, she drifted off into thoughts of admiration. She missed him quite a bit, more so than she did any of the seniors she had worked with before they essentially stopped being seniors. King Caspond had put her in charge of rebuilding the capital, and so she reported directly to him and interacted directly with the Sorcerer King's representatives for aid distribution.

She laughed when she thought of the shock on the noble's faces when her name was spoken, and she was appointed to the task.

"Majesty... shouldn't it be nobles who rebuild...?" One of them had said, too stunned to even consider a crafty response as someone one step removed from the common soldier... a mere squire, was given the overwhelming task.

Caspond shook his head, "In other circumstances, I would say yes. However, the nobles were given three chances at reconstruction for the nation, and each time we were beset by waste, mismanagement, and outright fraud! If we wish to have the Sorcerer King support us for the fourth time..." putting emphasis on the word 'fourth', for the absurd amount of times the Sorcerer King has forgiven the corrupt country.

"We must ensure it succeeds. To ensure this, we must appoint someone he trusts to the head of reconstruction. Neia Baraja is the perfect choice for that role, she acted as the Sorcerer King's personal squire, she was with him in battle, she was by his side almost every day save for the period of time when he was missing, and it was she who spread his fame among the people. If she appeals to him for anything, it is more likely to be granted than if a request came from anyone else. Plus... do you really want to deal directly with the undead king or his monsters?" He said powerfully and ended bluntly.

Some of the nobles had already been nodding along as he relayed the bond of combat and service, and 'Dopple-Caspond' knew quite well that those were the nobles who had actually served in combat along with their soldiers, he made mental notes to remember their names... and when he mentioned the prospect of dealing with the undead directly, other nobles joined in the head nodding... Dopple-Caspond made doubly sure to note their names, they were the ones who had not fought, or who were more fearful and cowardly.

"Had the previous four nobles of the previous three reconstruction efforts not failed to produce more than the world's largest shanty town when I extended them the resources that the Sorcerer King provided, I might be more tolerant now. However, that is what happened, and if we're to seek foreign support, I will not have the next effort offer an invitation to a foreign power to occupy us to recoup their investment. Neia will be put in command of this project, and she will have the full support of the nobility, or the nobility can explain their failure to produce results to the undead king who personally slew a demon emperor!" He snarled out and slammed his fist on the throne as his voice rose in anger, and the nobility grew silent at his rebuke. No more objections were offered.

Neia remembered the King's eloquence in winning them over and thought to herself... 'He might not be his majesty, Ainz Ooal Gown, but he's nobody's fool.' And so, the task had become hers, and she set to it with vigor. She made sure she wore the Grand King Busar's green turtle-shelled armor and continued to practice with and carry the white rune-decorated bow Ainz had given to her. She did so daily, publicly at the behest of her followers who wanted her to show off her strength to the people before each day began. Few people were able to handle such a heavy draw, so when she did so easily and repeatedly it shamed the weak into becoming strong while also earning the respect of those who already had strength of their own, her tireless displays of effort in every task she was set to, became an inspiration to be emulated and a standard was set that nobody wanted to be seen as falling short of.

The target she aimed at was demolished in the center with her final shot, into which she had intentionally placed a small amount of magic power for good measure... it was a talent she'd developed over time since the Sorcerer King had granted her a necklace that she'd used to heal herself once before... now she felt sure she had enough within herself to heal several times, or to put extra power into her limbs or into her shots. Though she was nowhere near the strength of Adamantite adventurers... or their peers like Remedios, she felt sure she could at least resist for a short time, and could fight on par with others that, in the past, could have finished her easily. Combined with her archery and her powerful equipment, she made a visible force to be reckoned with.

What Neia did not know, was that aside from her magic improvement and her overall skills, she had become an incredibly gifted orator and she had developed a powerful presence and the ability to draw attention, respect, or fear to her from individuals great and small. She did know that her fearsome eyes had ceased to be a burden and had instead become a boon, though she still hid them until her gaze would yield the greatest effect. From this, her 'Cult of Ainz' had blossomed and spread rapidly among the workers rebuilding the capital.

She walked away from her utterly demolished target to the waiting group of men and women, there were maybe a hundred of them and the number was growing. They were what amounted to her lieutenants, they would carry her orders for material disbursement, labor priorities, food distribution and so on for the day, and she would go about the business of handling supervisory tasks.

"Thank you for coming," she said to them all, easily loud enough for all to hear as she stepped up a series of stones on a broken wall and looked out over them. "As you know, we've received another cache of supplies from the Sorcerer King," she paused as a cheer went up at the mention of their savior, "but now we must put those supplies to good use!" She said loudly, "The aqueducts must be repaired so that the city has intact water again, this will reduce the number of people gone for extended periods in order to gather water from the rivers, and it will reduce the overcrowding at the few wells that remain intact. We are past the worst of the winter months, but that does not mean we should skip shelters, so we will randomly draw lots for the block to be rebuilt. Small teams will assist with that, but after the midday meal, if you have people finished with their tasks, set them to others, furthermore, we must remain in communication so that supplies for building can be cycled as needed. Do I have any questions or concerns?"

One of them raised their hand, a rough looking man with a very scraggly beard and shabby clothes, but also having powerful looking hands, the sort hardened from much manual labor, and the muscles of his arms and torso appeared to back up the story told by his meaty fists... from where she stood, he was clearly never a captive of the demihumans. "Yes," she said, "state your name and your issue?"

"I'm Gascon, a blacksmith and I've also been helping with food and building distribution... I've been seeing supply discrepancies between what is supposed to be delivered on paper, and what is actually delivered in fact. To put it bluntly... we're being shorted. The last three shipments have had less weight of food, fewer ingots, and lower amounts of building stone and other tools. Is the Sorcerer King losing faith in us? Is he cutting our aid?"

Neia removed her visor, and her gaze chilled the crowd. "I can say with absolute certainty that His Majesty would never stoop to so petty a tactic, but even if I did not know that, I was personally present at the shipment point and saw the inventory tally done. Everything he said was given to us, was in fact delivered. I don't know what has happened, but I WILL be finding out." Her skill at arms might not have been adamantite, but her voice was harder than steel.

"After working hours over dinner, I will be delivering another message to the people, invite all you wish, and I will tell you all of the lessons of strength I learned from the Sorcerer King. Tomorrow is a sacred day, so work will be minimal, and we will celebrate it properly."

"What makes it sacred?" Someone asked from the crowd.

"It is the anniversary of the founding of the Sorcerous Kingdom... if they did not exist, we would not be here, so it is proper that we celebrate their founding." She said with pride and enthusiasm.

"How will we celebrate it?" Someone else asked.

"We will show our justice by showing our strength. We fought to free our nation, and we did so with the help of the strongest god of them all, his strength was justice, and his justice was strength, so that we are never threatened again, and never a burden again, we too must grow strong, and celebrate strength and justice of our own making." She said loudly, so loud that others away from the crowd heard, and silently decided for themselves to visit one of the talks of Neia Baraja.

"Dismissed!" She shouted, and the crowd dispersed.

Neia had not been joking about getting to the bottom of the inventory discrepancy, and she swiftly went to the supply dump to inspect the materials, the guard let her by without question, there was nobody who did not know her now.

She began by personally counting the ingots... and came up missing five percent of the iron, gold, silver, and other metals... then she counted the building stone, again she came up missing a number of pallets of blocks... then she checked the food... and found that not only was the measuring cup used to fill sacks smaller than the one she had ordered to be used... the sacks provided by the nobles were smaller than what she had ordered be brought to distribute, and the prepacked sacks that had been sent, which were the proper size, had obviously been opened and were partially empty. All the resources she knew had been fully tallied... were now fewer or lighter than they should have been.

That settled it... someone was stealing, embezzling from the supplies for their own benefit. She glared at the supplies, as if waiting for them to speak for themselves and say that she was wrong... but they sat, silent and accusing.

She went outside to where the guard stood, and she looked at him through her visor, "Who has been coming here?" He looked back, confused. "You are a regular guard of this post, yes?" She asked, and he nodded. "Who has been coming here?" She removed her visor as she spoke and glared at him. "The supplies are light, materials are missing, they did not wander off on their own unless bricks and grain sacks and pallets of wood can grow legs!" She said with anger and scathing sarcasm filling her voice. "So, I ask you again... who... has been... coming here? Either I have an answer now, or you'll be answering to King Caspond and the Sorcerer King later..." He started to shake as soon as he saw her eyes, but when she mentioned the Sorcerer King, he reacted suddenly and tried to bring his halberd to bear against her, striving to cleave her from the joining of shoulder to neck, down to the center of her torso in his sudden panic.

However, before the clinking of his metal armor had finished sounding, and before his halberd had come halfway to where it would send the life fleeing from her body, she had already begun to move. She drew an arrow from her quiver, not to shoot, no she grabbed it as one might the handle of a dagger and thrust it home into his neck. The halberd dropped from nerveless fingers over which he had no more control, his body shook and trembled as if to shake off the useless flesh from his liberated soul, and then he fell to his knees before Neia Baraja as if to plead for a mercy that the corrupt did not deserve, and would not receive. Then backwards he fell and moved no more.

As he was dropping to the ground and spilling his blood, she spoke in a voice filled with contempt and loathing. "The dogs of the nobles who sit in pampered homes and never face real battle... should never try to fight against those for whom death dealing has been a way of life. Foolish man..." She spat on his face just before his eyes closed and the last vestiges of living vanished from his form. She had a grim certainty that while he might have been stealing, he was only a lackey.

Neia was no stranger to death, she had killed people before, humans, bandits chiefly, the occasional murderer gone into the woods to avoid justice. They got an arrow between the shoulder blades for their trouble, yet never before had she counted it as part of her character to take life, simply a necessity that had to be done on occasion. Yet as she looked down, breathing hard from the fading rush of energy that danger gave to her, and looked at the corpse, she considered that the invasion of Jaldabaoth had left its mark on her.

A part of her had died in the year of war and the subsequent years of privation that followed the hollow victory. She remained hopeful for the future, but the dulled edge of the childish squire who set out to follow in the footsteps of her mother, had been gradually honed to that of a fine razor. One sharpened not against a stone, but against the constant drops of blood that rained over her in times past, shaping her former self to who she had now become. A hardened veteran of unfailing will.

She shook herself out of her reverie and called for someone to come over to her, and a moment later a person passed around the corner in response to her voice and paled when they saw the deadly looking Neia standing over the body of the sentry. "Go and fetch another guard, this one was…unworthy." She said grimly. The man stood in silence.

"Do you live or work around here?" She asked.

The man nodded numbly.

"Do you know who this one man was, or who he worked for?" She asked.

The person nodded, "I know him, he's Negab, he works for Lord Baltrom..."

"Go get a guard who works for a different noble, this man has been stealing." She glared at the corpse while still speaking to the passerby. "He won't steal anymore, but Lord Baltrom will have to answer for his man."

The stunned fellow ran off as Neia began to search the belongings of the dead man, and in the pocket, she found a list of items and amounts... she was quite certain that these were things that were meant to be stolen later.

She sighed, "I've got a real problem on my hands now..." She said to herself, almost missing the days when her problems were solved by shooting something with an arrow.

 **AN: So that you're aware, almost every side story I've written takes place within the God Rising Author Universe (GRAU). Included below is the master list of ones that take place at the same time as the ongoing story here. They tie branch off of the main one and tie back in at key points. I do it this way rather than keeping them all in the main one because they're simply to large. You can skip them if you like, but if an event seems 'sudden' I assure you it is covered in detail in a branch story. ALL OF THEM are part of the GRAU Main story arc.**

 **LIST OF GRAU STORIES:**

 **Blood in the Streets - Introduces a key GR character, shows the growth of an internal resistance and the power shifts within the Theocracy**

 **The Synod: Book of Black Justice - This is the conclusion series to the entire God Rising story, dealing with the post war era**

 **Memory & a Message - Where the basis for the conflict began, includes key character perspectives and perceptions**

 **Bone Daddy's Daughters - Introduces key characters for postwar events and wartime perspectives**

 **Dark Plains - How the dark elves join the war**

 **Under the Stone Sky - How the dark dwarves join the war**

 **Enemy Mine - Explains Zesshi's betrayal and why in GRAU she gives up the Theocracy world item and treasures.**

 **The Taming of the Beasts - Introduces Vanysa and shows the ties to Draudillon that draw them into the conflict.**

 **The Queen in the Sword - Shows Remedios's descent into insane bloodlust, how she was manipulated, and why she ends up at Wenmark when she does.**

 **The Lemurian Paradox - Covers the buildup to war and the relationship between nations under Ainz's rule along with other significant cultural material.**

 **Unholy Rose - Why Blue Rose ends up on Ainz's side, and how they end up at Wenmark for the massacre**

 **Training in Time - How Neia and company develop the strength that they do before setting out**

 **The Waiting Never Stopped - Theocracy culture setup and backstory information**


	2. Black Justice is Born

She quietly put the list away while she awaited a replacement guard and contemplated what to do. As she thought, she came to a realization.

"The question is not what 'I' would do, but rather what would the Sorcerer King do for the sake of his justice." She thought back to his grim choices, executing hostages that demihumans attempted to use against him and his allies, making carefully considering when to fight and when not to fight so that he maximized his power and minimized losses. Trying to do everything would accomplish nothing, trying to save everyone would in the end save no one.

"I don't have his magic, I don't have his resources...but I do have my eyes, my reputation, and my position. I need to exploit them all to maximize the impact on others." She said to herself. Then she took out her sword, lifted the head of the fallen criminal, and removed it from his neck. In a distant sort of way, she reflected that there was a time when she never would have considered doing something like this. She shrugged it off, she was younger back then, more naïve, more idealistic. Jaldabaoth ensured she became otherwise.

She then took the dead man's halberd, and stuck the head on the sharp iron tip, then jammed the butt of it into the ground. She stripped the corpse of its armor and etched the word's 'Caught stealing the Kingdom's supplies' on the breastplate. After that, she secured his body upright using his own belt against the pole of the halberd so that all would see and know that theft would not go unpunished.

She wiped her brow and walked thirty paces from the corpse, then turning to it, she began to fill it with arrows, including two in the eyes. This was the state 'they' were in when the replacement arrived...along with two other men...the noble who had provided the dead man, and the noble who was supplying the replacement.

They stopped and looked at the horror of the scene, and the casual way Neia inflicted injury upon the corpse. Before they said anything, she turned her merciless gaze on them, her eyes were always like daggers, but now they were like daggers in a demon's skull. The nobles and the replacement began to sweat and lost the ability to speak.

Seeing their silence, Neia spoke first.

"He was a thief. I exposed him. He tried to kill me for it. He turned out to be even worse at murder than he was at stealing. Now he is a corpse, and he has another duty, which is to serve as an example to others who would consider stealing from our people, I think he will do very well at this job. Don't you? She asked, she used short, clipped and abrupt speech very different from her usual method, and it rattled them almost as much as the dead man did. When she'd finished her last sentence, she gave them a smile that could almost be considered 'warm' a stark and horrifying contrast to the scene that was now at her back

She pointed with her bow to the dead man behind her. "This is my justice, the justice of the strong. His weakness was his fear, and his corruption, and in his sin, he brought about his own death. Questions?" She asked.

The replacement looked down and shook his head, the nobles did the same, and it was as if there were a competition to determine who had turned paler than his fellows. She had a distinct feeling this was not as over as it looked to be, but she was quite sure that the replacement guard would NOT be partaking in any theft.

"Um...Lady Neia..." the guard said, adding an honorific she had never had before, "should I take him down...?"

"NO." Her fierce answer shocked even herself, and the guard nodded. "I said he has a job to do, and he does. What remains of him can be removed when his body rots enough to fall on its own, then have a priest bless his corpse so he doesn't earn the honor of coming back as an undead like his majesty, only after that will we throw his corpse in an unmarked hole in a field somewhere. Until then, let him feed the crows for now, and the crops later."

The noble who provided the replacement looked at the man, and shook his head slightly, and the one who had supplied the thief began to tremble.

"One more thing," she said, and they listened with extreme care, as behind her back a crow came to light on the head decorating the pike and picked at the flesh. "put it about that I'll be looking for the missing supplies, and the person he provided them to, but that I'll stop looking if the supplies are returned to this place in forty-eight hours. If they're not, that thing will earn a companion." She pointed to the corpse and walked away.

The day's work proceeded apace, and that evening Neia stood in front of a large gathering, larger than the previous one, as each one had been, the one that followed was always bigger than the one before, and she found herself enjoying the growth of her message.

"To be a god is to have the power to create justice, if we are to emulate our god and obtain the power to create justice then we cannot abide weakness in ourselves or in our nation, if weakness bars justice, then weakness itself is a sin against justice! Our sin lead to our suffering, and the strength of the Sorcerer King was the justice of the world that saved us in our time of sin. But even the most graceful god may have limits to their kindness, and if we embrace our weakness of the past again, if we sin again, then one day a new Jaldabaoth may come to us, or a new invasion of demihumans, and our children will suffer for our sins!" She walked about the stage, as if carrying her words to them all, her arms were open and out before the crowd as if to invite them to embrace her as their sister, and the crowd responded with enthusiasm as her words reached their ears.

"Will we let that happen?!" She asked passionately.

"NO!"

"NO!"

"NO!"

The crowd replied in three successive cries.

"The justice of the Sorcerer King is the only justice there is, and it is the only one that matters, yet even were there another, for what other justice saved you from starvation? From torture? From being eaten like cattle?! Did anyone?! Did the justice of our beloved Queen save you? Was it even the gods we prayed to for all our lives, who received the devotion of our ancestors for so many generations? Did they save us?! Or was it a foreign king of unimaginable might who put his justice on the line for our lives?!"

"The Sorcerer King! The Sorcerer King! The Sorcerer King!" The cries rang out again.

"Then if he is not a god by doing what the gods could not and did not do, what the queen could not achieve, what our people could not achieve...if his justice is not the justice of a god, if his strength is not the strength of a god, which is to create and define justice...then tell me what is? What other gods are there to which we can compare him and say, 'they are greater than he'?"

Nobody had an answer, silence fell.

She nodded firmly, "You all know what transpired today by now, a guard, a man trusted by our lords to serve and protect our interests, robbed our supplies, and would have stolen more had I not caught him, and tried to kill me when I confronted him. What were his sins, what was his weakness?!"

"Cowardice!"

"Greed!"

"Selfishness!"

"Corruption!"

The crowd rattled off his sins as weaknesses until they could think of no more and the din died down.

"I killed him, I beheaded him, I placed his head upon his halberd, marked his corpse, and decreed his fate to rot as a dishonored pile of meat! I declared that the missing supplies should be returned, or I would hunt for them till I found the guilty to whom the stolen materials were given and made them to join their cohort in crime. Was I just?!"

"YES! YES! YES!" the crowd was in a frenzy.

The speech went on as she lauded the virtues of the Sorcerer King, and told stories of his exploits as their savior, until a lit candle nearby burned down and went out.

"Now we have had our talk, and I tell you we must expiate the weakness from ourselves, and our greatest weakness, was weakness, and so we train, and tomorrow we show our growth, and we will grow stronger, we will repay our debt to our savior by making sure we do not need to be saved again!" She shouted.

The training was brief as the hour was late, but she could see that the daily routine of training was paying off, the men and women who followed her were getting stronger, a few had even learned martial arts, and guards who had been eyeing her doubtfully, were trickling in and joining her cause.

The next day, Gascon did inventory, and then reported to Neia that he found a pile of supplies out front of the supply dump, everything had been returned, including a little extra for good measure.

Neia's reputation for harsh and unflinching justice…and savage reprisal for crossing her people had begun to spread like wildfire.

Back in the Sorcerer Kingdom, Demiurge watched those events unfold, alongside Albedo.

"I am truly impressed with our master's ability, look at what he has done with an ordinary human. Not only has she grown more powerful, but he has won her over as a convert, and an influential one at that. Now she is the first human to recognize Lord Ainz as the god he truly is."

Albedo nodded, "She is an interesting one, I truly believe that if he ordered her to die, she would obey him as readily as we would if the order were given to us. Perhaps in her...we are seeing the truth our master did, the worth of humans who know the glory of the ruler of the forty-one."

Demiurge raised an eyebrow, "You may be right, her speech suggested it, and I doubt I could have written a better one for her if I tried, should we put her to the test and see how she responds?"

"What did you have in mind?" Albedo asked.

"Only what she would eventually face anyway, killing that guard was good, even if she was relatively merciful compared to me, but this was going to raise the ire of the nobles even as it intimidated them, I'll just increase their anger and reduce their fear a little early." Demiurge replied with the smile of a first rate devil.

"How will you do that?" Albedo asked curiously.

"I will have a minion whispering temptations into their ears as they sleep, influencing the direction of their thoughts, and driving them to greater anger." Demiurge replied with a satisfied smile as he pondered the events to come.

"A good idea, surely my beloved Ainz foresaw this, and if it speeds up his plans, so much the better, but let us also have her watched and make sure she is protected, we do not want to accidentally get her killed." Albedo suggested.

"Agreed." Demiurge said and departed to work his will.

When Neia began the holy day by learning of the return of supplies to their proper place, she was pleased with herself and her choices, and she idly hoped her idol, Ainz Ooal Gown, would approve of her measures.

This day was left to minimal manning for necessary tasks, while the rest of the workers under her celebrated the founding of the Sorcerer Kingdom, it left some citizens, usually nobles and priests feeling somewhat dubious, but she was too significant a figure, with ties too important to risk offending, and so they let it pass.

Well...almost all of them let it pass. Remedios Custodio was as loud as one might expect, she demanded Neia's arrest for killing the guard, only to be shot down, and when the workers took the day off to celebrate the founding of a foreign kingdom, she demanded they all be tried for treason. The return of the stolen supplies did little to ease her anger, and the King was no help.

"While it is somewhat awkward, she is our tie to the only source of materials to rebuild, if you have another option, present it, otherwise...shut up." The King said in no uncertain terms.

The nobles however, listened to Remedios more readily, and so too did the priests of the six gods.

Among the nobles, anger began to stir at the jumped up squire who had killed a noble's man without hesitation.

From the start of the war, to the departure of the Sorcerer King, and after, Neia had been developing her combat skills, and gradually she had begun to form her own martial style, which blended archery, one handed sword work, and one handed strikes along with point of impact magic applications. But not until that day did it have a name.

When celebrating the founding of the Sorcerer King with ritual combat, it was seen in earnest, she used her bow with blunted arrows and brought down several guards who had joined her group, and rushed in at high speed, struck several more with her blunted training sword, and used her free hand to engage in grips that through men off balance and struck them at their weak points. A paladin saw what she did and approached her gingerly.

"What...was that..." He asked her, "I've never seen a fighting style like yours before, usually one handed sword users use a shield, archers stay back, and brawlers use none of those, but you have taken pieces of all three."

Neia thought for a moment, buying time by drinking water from a canteen, and then said, "I call the style 'Black Justice'. Strength after all, is justice, and by taking the strengths of three and combining it into one, I have the flexibility to attack multiple weaknesses."

"Impressive..." The paladin said.

And in Nazarik, an observing Cocytus, echoed the sentiment.

He looked to the iron butler of Nazarik standing beside him and said, "She has a warrior spirit, admirable in the weak that she could create something that effective, perhaps we should send her help to further develop this, perhaps we should even consider adopting it among our soldiers and allies who are fit for it."

Sebas stroked his beard, "You may be right, but before we lend her assistance, we should seek Lord Ainz's approval, he may wish to see what more she will develop before supporting her."

Cocytus nodded, "I will present the suggestion to him today."

When the paladin walked away, Neia went about her company of volunteers and critiqued their methods, it was a good day, everyone seemed a little stronger than the day before, and they all returned to work the following morning with spirits renewed.

Those spirits held for several days, until Gascon didn't show up for his shift, and he was found beaten to death and beheaded in an alley.

However...nobody had touched the rotting corpse of the thieving guard, except for the crows that picked at his flesh, and all the supplies remained intact.

 **AN: Chapter 68 of God Rising is currently being written, work being what it is...I simply do not have every moment I wish, and I am determined to get it RIGHT. And by the way...going forward from now...any time somebody asks for a chapter of 'God Rising' as a review in a side story chapter...I'm delaying the release of the next chapter in the story by another day or two. No more of that, you're abusing the review system and you're making this process less fun for me. If you ruin the fun, I have no reason to continue. You don't have to kiss my ass with good reviews that you don't mean, and I don't mind if you even leave a 'bad' review if it is constructive. But I'm done seeing reviews spammed in side story stuff asking for a completely different one. I write on my schedule in my time, and I deliver this to you for free. Don't be a dick about it. If you think you can do it better or fast, then do so, but quit spamming the chapter reviews. If you want to know when the next chapter is coming out, PM me about it.**


	3. Blood Guilt

God Rising

Chapter 3

When the body was found, Neia was immediately given word and in turn she gave orders. "Prepare a litter, and carry him on your shoulders, he is one of ours, we will hold a service for him tonight. Have his body preserved until then." Her men nodded in unison. "Was anything found with him?" She asked gravely.

One of the men, Gilcrest, a man she knew as Gascon's apprentice, answered. "Yes, Lady Neia. There were three bodies nearby, and copious amounts of blood. All dressed in brown cloaks and high boots, and all of them missing heads."

Neia looked down in contemplation as she thought of the implications of this information. "I see...Gascon killed three of his attackers, and probably injured several more, so they took the heads of their comrades so that they couldn't be identified, but...they made a mistake."

"My lady?" Gilcrest asked.

Neia looked Gilcrest over, appraising him before giving her answer. He was tall, a young man in the flower of youth. His hands were marked with a handful of small scars from his work as an apprentice, not covered in them as Gascon's were…but it was a beginning. His body was broad shouldered and his muscles were as thick and strong as the iron he bent to his will, but his face was fresh, freckled, almost childlike except for his piercing brown eyes that were sit below a half kempt mop of sandy hair, he appeared to be an innocent but sincere sort of man, so she answered with patience despite the urgent feeling in her gut. "They didn't kill their own wounded, and they didn't have healing potions." She said, a smug and vicious smile appearing on her face as the means to outsmart and catch the ones responsible began to form inside her mind.

"I don't understand...how..." Gilcrest began.

"Simple, if they'd had healing potions they could have healed themselves and then removed the bodies on their own, instead they left them where they fell and only took the heads, that means they were all wounded, and severely enough that moving the bodies was too much, they had to make a break for it quickly and restore themselves elsewhere, that means we have to ask around for a group of wounded men being seen, and because the three bodies were dressed alike, we can safely guess that the remaining group was dressed alike as well. Ask some of the guards from our number to handle the investigation. I will have to report the murder to the captain of the guard, but we should be able to handle the rest ourselves. Now go, follow my instructions, and we'll set this right." As she spoke, she ticked off the relevant points on one hand, and Gilcrest's eyes grew wide as he realized the extent to which Neia Baraja had thought things through.

They parted ways, and Neia took off her visor for the walk back, she wanted to go to her office, but instead she sent a message to the captain of the guard to meet her at the aqueduct's central distribution node.

An hour or so later, they were together, what had been a ruin, now stood strong, Neia watched as workers finished the last of the pipes, weeks of work had gone into this, and now the city at last had water enough for everyone, the long aqueduct passed beyond the city, clear to the mountains where massive slopes caught and directed melting snow and gave water to the entirety of the capitol.

During the war it had been ruined by hateful demihumans, which in turn meant that when she took over, the water shortage had been the first crisis Neia had begun to tackle. Completing this freed up several thousand laborers to be put to public works and rebuilding homes, and tonight she'd intended to christen it in a ceremony. It was meant to be joyous, but now with the death of Gascon, who had made so many parts for it over so many hours...it was going to be a sad affair.

The captain stood beside Neia and looked at it all, and they listened together as the cheers rang out when someone turned a tap and water poured out. From here fountains and distribution nodes would run again and nobody would be thirsty, but that wasn't what they were thinking of right now. "Have you heard, Captain Robel?" Neia asked the captain of the guard.

"I did. I heard on my way over actually, I passed some of your men carrying his body, and dragging the corpses of the assailants they'd found." Robel answered in a grim voice, still looking over the aqueduct.

"You know some of your guards are my followers?" She asked.

"Most of them actually, if you didn't already know that." Robel answered, he laughed a little at that, his lean muscled frame was like that of a born sprinter, and his dark hair and piercing, ice blue eyes danced in his look. He shrugged, revealing the deep tan of a man on his exposed skin that revealed that he spent much time outdoors, to Neia's view, that spoke well of his commitment to be more than a behind the scenes leader. "You've done a lot for this city" he said as a serious expression came over his face,

"half the guards here were prisoners at one point, and the first thing they saw when they were liberated were you and the Sorcerer King. Some of them suffered badly, so between their gratitude to both of you, your hard work, and your incorruptibility...they're now more your men than they are mine." He said a bit stiffly, as though it hurt to admit.

"That doesn't bother you?" She asked, a little surprise in her voice as she failed to find any bitterness or vitriol in his own.

"It does...but not as much as it should, I was never much for the gods, and though I loved our Queen like everybody else, she's gone. I just want everything to be made as right as it can be again. You're helping to make that happen, I may not follow you directly, my position doesn't allow for that, but I'm not about to get in your way, and even if I wanted to...I doubt I could." He answered.

"So, you'll let the guards who follow me, handle the investigation?" She asked.

"Yes." He answered, "However this isn't without a price."

"What price?" She replied with a somewhat wary voice.

"First, you keep me informed. Second, any you take alive, you hand over for trial under the law. And third..." He began to say...

"And third?" She prompted, now more curious than anxious about what terms she might face.

"You try not to take any of them alive and make it hurt while you finish things. I grew up with Gascon, so this is personal as much as it is professional." He said with a grim rage in his voice.

Neia removed her glove and stuck out her hand. "Deal. I'll meet your price."

Robel reached out to shake it, and winced at the power of her grip, and walked away, leaving Neia alone.

The soldiers turned city guards were led by a man named Hob, and he was not subtle about the investigation, having applied a little martial arts strength to the arm twisting in the course of asking questions, and before long they found an innkeeper who remembered four men carrying bags, wearing brown clothing and high boots, who limped in the night before. Hob towered a full foot over the innkeeper, and carried a large maul over his shoulder, "Let me see their rooms." He said.

The innkeeper, a somewhat portly man with an apparent tendency to sweat, began to wring his hands as he spoke and stuttered out..."T-t-they had but one room for the lot of them, but I will show you good master." He said, and hurried up the stairs. He took out a set of keys and fumbled with them for a moment, before finding the right one and opening the door. He stepped aside and curled his arms so that his hands pointed into the room. "This is the one sirs...will there be anything else?" His voice said he very much hoped there wouldn't be.

Hob didn't bother to answer, he went through the room with his men, lifting covers, searching through drawers, until one of his men shouted, "I found something!" And held up a piece of paper.

"What is it?" Hob asked, his deep voice clearly on edge.

"It's a set of instructions on Gascon's usual route, and the paper is magically created, first of all, not many people can afford that these days, and not many people can make it even if it could be paid for. So that means it was a priest, a noble, or a wealthy merchant who ordered the strike." The guard's smile turned predatory. "Weren't the men injured sir? Where would you go if you were badly injured and carrying around some severed heads?"

Hob's face turned equally predatory, "They'd have to get rid of the heads first, in such a way that they're not going to accidentally be found before being reduced to skulls...and then they'd have to go for healing, and with potions being short, and only one temple rebuilt, there is only one place to go."

"Innkeeper!" He snapped at the withdrawing portly fellow, "Yes sir..." The innkeeper replied, "How long ago did these men leave their rooms?"

The innkeeper thought for a moment, "They left an hour ago, give or take a little time."

Hob nodded, "That isn't much of a head start. The Temple isn't close to here, and they have to get rid of the heads, the only place to be sure that they won't be found is by throwing them into the waste zone beyond the city, we probably can't catch them there, but the temple is close to Lady Neia's office."

Hob swiftly sent a message to Neia conveying his information. "Very good Hob," Neia answered, "I will rush to the temple and tell the priest to take an early lunch, these men thought themselves clever, they'll not be expecting a reception, get to the temple as fast as you can, but don't enter, fan out around it, and don't make it obvious that you're guards or soldiers, they may get past my 'welcome' for them."

She didn't wait for a response, but she grabbed several of the best available followers, those who had been learning her style of combat, and like her, they were never far from their weapons. They followed her quickly to the temple and were right behind her as she entered. The head priest initially reacted with shock and began to sputter instructions about not bearing weapons into the house of a god, but Neia's eyes shut him up. "Listen to me, several killers are on their way to the temple, they're the survivors of a group of people who killed one of my followers, they're injured to one degree or another, and will seek your assistance, I want you to be "out to lunch" right now, and keep them waiting for about an hour until some of my other people arrive, we'll take it from there."

"Should I not heal them then?" The priest said in a shaky and uncertain voice.

"Actually," she said as she removed her visor and met his eyes with hers, "I want you to heal them entirely. They're going to get hurt all over again, and I don't want them handicapped before that." Neia said bluntly and caressed the bow she held in her hand, the gentle touch she used was almost like a lover's caress, and the look in her eyes chilled the priest down to his bones. A shadow lurked in her gaze, dark and savage, but at the same time shining as if the night and day had united as one, like black pearls...they were beautiful and terrible to look at on a person's face. He nodded numbly, unable to refuse her, and as she left with her escort, the priest went to the nearest alter to pray for the passing of the fear that swept over him.

Neia took her people back out of the temple and had them station themselves at various intervals around the entrance, appearing to be no more than casual bystanders. Neia, being far too recognizable now, hid back within the temple and waited. Eventually just as she expected, a group of five men, limping or clutching injured stomachs, shoulders, and in one case missing a hand, entered the temple. An attendant brought them in and told them the priest at his prayers, but he would be returning soon. The men grumbled, but they could do nothing but wait, since none of them were in any immediate danger of dying.

Neia took the chance to poke her head out and look at them, She recognized only one...a man she'd seen in the service of the same noble who had provided the corrupt guard in the first place, it was unlikely to be a coincidence as far as she was concerned. She examined their gear, their boots were of good quality, and the sheaths of long swords protruded from their cloaks. They were not common thieves, those carried daggers that were easily concealed. None of them carried bows, and she could see that they were wearing chainmail armor...good quality too, they were obviously a nobleman's house troops, and given who she recognized, they almost certainly all served the same man. Some twenty minutes later, she got a message saying that Hob and his men had arrived and spaced themselves out accordingly, and it was just then that the elderly priest arrived, took their coin, and healed their wounds with one of his spells, the men began to walk out, almost at a strut, confident that their day was going very well, unaware it had in fact been getting steadily worse, and it was only going to continue to go down hill with every passing moment.

When they were at the base of the steps, Neia walked out from behind the door and looked down at them. "I've been waiting for you!" She said loudly. They froze. "We all have." The first group of her people made themselves known and stepped into a semicircle formation.

"What are you..." Began the large fellow she recognized.

"Save it." She interrupted, you killed Gascon, don't even try to deny it, I tracked you here, as did my people, so obviously we know exactly what happened, you were far too sloppy, no matter how clever you thought you were. Now one of two things is going to happen, you are either going to surrender and tell me who gave you the order...or you're going to suffer and die, personally I hope you do the second one, I think I already know who is pulling your strings."

"I'll tell you nothing, you jumped up pissant squire." The large man said, setting the tone by drawing his sword, a motion echoed by his companions. His gesture froze when Neia removed her visor and the shadow of her gaze fell on him.

Neia shrugged and put her visor away, "Fine by me. Take them down!" Her bow snapped out and she'd launched two arrows before they could react, her people were not much slower, firing one of their own each before they did the unexpected and charged in with swords out. Three of the five were hit, one in the gut, and two took arrows in their knees before swords came down, the house guards had always considered themselves to be skilled, but the Black Justice style of combat was wholly unfamiliar and the combination of savage martially enhanced blows, swift darting sword work, and the contrast of arrows fired at close range, put them down without allowing them to inflict a single injury.

Three of the five were dead, one looked like he would be soon, the last, the one she knew by sight, was still breathing from his position on his back, he snarled up at her between his grimace of pain, and she put her boot to his face in a swift kick, knocking out several teeth. "Congratulations, you get to die by hanging instead of by the hand of Neia Baraja, squire of the Sorcerer King, your death, such as it will be, is going to be less painful as a result. But first, I want answers. Who gave you your order to kill Gascon?"

He spat out his teeth and tried to glare at her, but her piercing eyes made him shrink under her, and he looked away. "Fuck off, I'm dead anyway."

"Do you want to die blind?" She asked.

He paled.

"You saw the...example, I made a few days ago. He was lucky, he was already dead when I did that. I only promised to hand you over to Robel, I didn't promise you'd be able to see when I did so." She knelt over him and grabbed his jaw with her thumb and forefinger and forced his eyes to hers. "I follow his majesty's justice, which is to save all that you can, and do what must be done, knowing that you cannot save all. If I can spare your vision, I will, but if removing your eyes gives me your knowledge, it will be done. So…will I be the last thing you ever see…or not?" She asked and took an arrow from her quiver with her free hand. She held it up in front of him, letting him see it for himself, then she put it to the corner of one eye.

"The count...it was the count!" He gasped out, Neia nodded, she had confirmation of what she already knew. She put her arrow away and took out her sword again, then she struck the bastard once on the head, and he was unconscious. A short message to Captain Robel later, and the official city guard had arrived and taken custody of the lone survivor. "It was Count Handor." He said, "He supplied the corrupt guard, these are his men, they killed Gascon in an act of revenge when their courage was bucked up a bit, they probably chose him because he was the one who noticed the missing supplies. If I'd been wiser, I'd have expected that, I'd have had Gascon guarded..." Neia said, looking down sadly.

"You didn't know this would happen, it's not your fault, so don't take so much blame on yourself, this is how the world is sometimes." Robel said with a regretful shake of his head. "We'll still need the official confession, but we'll wring that out of him, and we'll take care of the rest of the bodies. What about your wounded, do they need help?" Robel said.

"We have no wounded." Neia said with some pride. "Remember even a simple blacksmith of ours managed to kill several of his attackers and wound the remainder, had he been properly armed, and not outnumbered, he might still be here." Robel's eyes widened.

They parted ways, and those who had gathered to observe the brief disturbance, did not bar the way.

That evening, Neia spoke to those who had gathered, a crowd even larger than before, considerably so, as word had spread of her taking down an 'elite noble's guards who had been caught after murdering a peasant.' Or so the story went about, however incomplete, it was enough to electrify the common people.

Neia lit a candle and laid it on a stone beside her, and began to speak, "There are two reasons we are gathered here together...the first, is to congratulate you all. The aqueduct has been restored! There is enough water for all, from the smallest babe in the poorest house, to the wealthy nobles in their palaces, to the very dogs in the street. You did this with your strength, you showed that you could recover from the fiercest of blows by the mightiest of demons, you have risen stronger than you were before the coming of Jaldabaoth, you have survived, and you are rebuilding, and the fruits of strength and will applied to the common good, is the definition of justice, and the foundation of a nation's future!" Her voice electrified the crowd, from those whose lives were marred by torture, captivity, and privation...to even the merchants who had been able to escape and continue to live well as the war went on, the tingle of her passionate voice ran up and down their spines.

"Well done!" she said. And the cheers deafened the city.

Her hands went up to still them, and the cheers began to fade, and when silence reigned again she motioned with her hand, and Hod, along with other soldiers, bore the body of Gascon up before them all, and laid him upon a pyre of wood, and removing the cloak that covered him, she said, "The second reason we have come here is to mourn one of our own. Gascon the blacksmith. It was he who first, through his diligence, noticed the missing supplies, noticed that the very bread our children eat, was being taken away by greed, selfishness, and corruption. It was he also, who became the target of this evil. He killed three of them with his own hands, his strength that protected you, did great harm to those who have tried to harm you. But he was unarmed, he was unarmored, and he was outnumbered, such was the strength of a single common man that experienced household guards of a noble feared to take him on without great numbers; and almost half of them died anyway, what is more, none of the remainder walked away without his marks deep upon their bodies. His strength did not save his life, but it did give us the means to find his killers, and to bring them down in turn!"

She turned and touched the body of the powerful looking blacksmith, placing her hand over his forever still heart she said, "Thus, at peace, go to your reward as we commit your body to the flames, bright as the spark of your life, and to our memory, where you will always be an example, proof that greatness knows no station." Her fist rose up as she cast a torch onto the pyre where his body lay, and the flames rose high behind her as she shouted, "Hail Gascon! Hail Gascon! Hail Gascon!"

"Hail Gascon! Hail Gascon! Hail Gascon!" The crowd chanted, and then another trio of voices picked began together, Hod, Gilcrest, and Robel, "Hail Neia! Hail Neia! Hail Neia! And Hail the justice of the Sorcerer King!" Fists rose and fell in time with the chanting, so loud did the crowd grow, that far off, in the palaces of nobles and the royal hall of King Caspond...they heard every resounding chorus. And in one of those halls, Remedios Custodio burned with fury. A fury that was being stoked by a corrupt count, while in the dungeons below, a dagger pierced the heart of his own man, and silenced him forever before his voice could be raised to accuse the count of his corruption.

Back in Nazarick, Albedo looked at Demiurge and said, "Did you have that man killed, or was that the count?"

Demiurge laughed, "Oh, it was the count, however with a little manipulation on my part, to give that coward courage, our master's tool will find herself sorely tried in the days ahead. I wonder how she'll do?"

 **AN: Well I hope you found this to be an enjoyable chapter. Much to do still to fix my pre beta reading work, and may add some additional story elements along the way, if you enjoy this, story, feel free to join my Discord server, invite code is on the author page, or support me on patr3on dot com slash godrising.**


	4. Change & Challenge

Neia woke up the next morning before the Sun rose, and as usual she began her day by combat training, first with the sword and fist combination that she had begun to work out in the development of the Black Justice combat system, and then with the bow, and through both she imbued her body with magic to enhance the force of her strikes… however… she never enhanced their accuracy, she left that to her natural senses so that she would never be dependent upon magic, this set her apart from the few archers who could use some form of magical martial arts, they tended to focus on accuracy, but Neia had concluded that this was a weakness. An archer dependent on something other than their body for aim, wasn't an archer, they were a tool of the bow, rather than the bow being a tool of the archer, and as an unexpected benefit, she found that she was able to engage in combat for longer and longer periods, conserving her limited supply of mana.

Also as usual, some few of her more dedicated followers began to trickle in to train with her, first independently, then pairing up, among them, much to her surprise, was Robel. It was surprising enough that she stopped what she was doing and went to speak with him.

"Captain Robel… you're here… and... not in uniform." She said, it was stated as a fact, but in truth it was a question, one he obliged to answer.

"Yes," he said, "I went in for my morning shift and the prisoner was dead and I was removed from my position." His voice seemed distant, with an undercurrent of anger, he drew out a bow and fired a shot, he didn't even hit the target, his arrow went wide and broke against the stone, before falling to the ground. He snorted, "It's harder than it looks, don't know how you do it."

"But you didn't..." Neia began, then stopped. "Oh, no that wouldn't matter would it, let me guess, the count?"

He nodded. "The count. I suppose you could call it petty revenge for arresting his man in the first place and forcing him to have the man put down. So... now I don't have anywhere else to go, I have my sword, I have my father's hunting bow, for all the good I am with that, so I thought I'd follow you in full. You avenged my friend, and he was your follower, so perhaps I can fill his shoes, and besides, I figure you're going to come up against that count again soon, and I'll trade my body's life for a crack at punishing that bastard when the time comes."

Neia's face went dark, "Your price is met, you're my man now, though I can't promise a crack at the count personally. As you know, bastards like that tend to make a lot of enemies, we might not get to him first, but if I can, I'll let you carve your pound of flesh from him in person."

"That's good enough, the word of Neia Baraja, servant of the Sorcerer King, is as good as gold."

He said, causing Neia to blush slightly at the praise. Perhaps that would have ended the conversation, but there were several more men approaching that Neia did not know, and as she pointed them out to Robel, expecting trouble, he sheathed his sword and said, "What are you doing here?"

"Who are they exactly?" Neia said, leaning in and whispering to him.

"They're members of my company, but why they're here I have no idea." He whispered back, and then approached them.

"We're out of the city guard." One of the men said bluntly as he approached Robel. "They fired you, but we all know damn good and well that the reason you were fired was to punish you, and we know the ones who fired you are the same ones responsible for that whole mess in the first place. We can't take orders from… that. So, we want in on this. What… exactly do you call it?"

It caught Neia off guard… she'd never named her group of followers, even though she'd referred to them as a unique group many times. She paused a moment, and said, "'Black Justice' the same as our combat style, strength is strength, both are the same, even when the strengths vary from sword to bow to book and brain, so we need no other name but that of our combat method." The name and reason seemed to resonate with them all, so she carried on, "Since you're here, I assume you want to learn to fight as we do, you will begin with a few of my cadre of trusted veterans, most of us will be out today working to rebuild the city, but pulling a few away as instructors won't hurt the effort."

The group was amenable to that, and so they stayed and waited on the training ground outside her office and residence for instructors to arrive, and Neia went to the gathering spot for laborers.

"Gilcrest," she said, "you are taking over for Gascon, oversee the making of more parts for various projects. The list of needed items will be provided to you." She said, and then turned to the leaders of the various squads who had come to take her orders. "Squads one through fifty, you will be responsible for residential repair, squads fifty one through sixty you will be circulating supplies, squads sixty one through eighty, you will be distributing food..."

As she spoke, a man rushed over, wearing the uniform of a messenger, Neia stopped speaking, but stayed wary until the man stopped and knelt, "Lady Neia, I come bearing a message from my master, Tinamoc, will you hear it?" Neia froze, she knew that name, everybody who had ever bought anything in the capitol knew that name, he was, before the war, one of the most powerful merchants in the country.

"I will, please speak freely." She replied.

"To Neia Baraja, the founder of Black Justice, the squire of the Sorcerer King, the savior of countless people, the slayer of demihumans, and the incorruptible, I send greetings. I, Tinamoc, chief merchant of the former Holy Queen and the current Holy King, long may he reign, am embarking on a journey ten days hence, round our great nation to rebuild the trade systems to their former glory, and though my body is willing and my mind is able, the road is dangerous still. Therefore to ensure success, I need the finest protection available. To that end, I entreat you and one hundred of your veteran followers to join me, the journey will take three months, and when it is complete, I promise the full support of the merchant's guild will go to Black Justice in your efforts to reestablish trade and to rebuild all the cities, towns, and villages in your charge."

Neia could hardly believe her ears… first she thanked her lucky stars that she'd chosen to name the group after her fighting style when she did, because it seemed others had already confused the combat style for the organization. A happy coincidence that she was not about to announce now. Second, she contemplated the vast wealth being proffered, and the degree to which it could make the lives of countless others easier, and speed up the rebuilding process dramatically. Even with the aid of the Sorcerer King, the nation had to provide its own labor and it needed to build its own economic base… it was a problem she feared in the future, and now before the capitol was even rebuilt, here was her solution. There was, however, a problem, and wasn't there always?

"I can't… I've been put in charge of rebuilding the Capitol, I can't abandon my duty." She said.

"My master has already seen to the problem, he has secured the King's agreement that you are best suited for this mission, and because it is vital, the absence from the current project is tolerable, another will be appointed in your place. You are free to accept this task." The messenger replied.

Neia was conflicted, until Gilcrest approached, and touching her arm, indicated that they should step away for a private conversation. She gestured for the man to wait, and joined Gilcrest, leaning in, she listened, "Go, we can handle things here. Three months isn't bad, and more importantly, you can spread the word of the Sorcerer King during your journey, you can spread the ideals of Black Justice, and gather more to our cause, all while helping the people all over the Holy Kingdom."

Neia's glaring eyes went wide, she nodded and then returned to the messenger.

"I will accept; however, I may need more than ten days. I must select one hundred people, and set all my affairs in order here, choose a replacement, and bring them up to speed. Give me thirty days, and I can depart fully focused on your mission."

The messenger nodded, "I have been empowered by my master to agree to a delay of several weeks on his behalf, your condition is acceptable. He will meet you and your company outside the main city gate in one month, ready to depart."

The messenger stood, bowed, and left, while Neia stood in shock at what had just transpired. She was not allowed to stand for long however, because a messenger wearing the crest of the King appeared shortly thereafter. This one did not bow or kneel, "Lady Neia, you are summoned to present yourself before the King immediately." His message was brief, and it was clearly not negotiable.

"What a day this has been. What else will it bring before I can even eat my meal?" She thought to herself.

She rushed to the palace as fast as she could, approached the King, and knelt before him, "Majesty I have come as swiftly as I could to answer your command."

"Raise your head," Caspond said, and Neia complied. "Explain to me Neia Baraja, why my city guard has almost melted away?" He said in a frosty voice.

Neia's mouth went dry. "Sire, I do not know what you speak of, a handful of men departed after the murder of a man in the dungeon, but..."

"NO," Caspond's voice rang out, halting her tongue, "those men were the leaders of companies, and virtually the entirety of their companies went with them. Collectively, they were representing hundreds and hundreds of soldiers. Now their posts are empty."

Neia's mouth went dry. "HUNDREDS?!" she screamed inside her head. "Robel… that… idiot… he must have been trying to ease my mind by understating the size of the departure. Well, I'll clear that up later, for now I have to deal with this."

She realized a moment later that the silence had dragged out longer than it should, and she spoke, "Majesty, the death of the man we captured has exposed corruption in the nobility, and with the termination of the position of the man whose only crime was to be in charge at the time, many soldiers have lost faith in noble leadership other than your own."

Caspond leaned back on his throne, "I see. This is a problem. If I force them back to their positions I will appear to be in league with the corrupt, or at least corrupt myself, if I do nothing, I will not have enough guards for the city, so… do you have a suggestion, Neia Baraja?" The King asked. There were grumbles from around the attending court, various gossiping noblemen and women, priests and priestesses, but no one stepped forward intending to argue the matter, or even to deny that corruption had become rampant.

Inspiration struck her. "I do, your Majesty, allow Black Justice to take on the role of security for the city. We are trusted even by those who do not like us," She turned her gaze over to a few glaring paladins, including the viciously staring Remedios, "we have the numbers to manage it, and we have many skilled fighters." She said, and Caspond nodded in approval.

"That is true, however there are two problems, the first is payment, and the second is far simpler… you're something like rabble, you have no uniform or recognizable insignia." Caspond said with the slight beginnings of a smile on his face.

Neia thought it over for a moment, "Sire, you could hire Black Justice as if you were contracting adventurers, my lieutenant will handle the transactions and distribute pay to those of our members who fulfill that task, and I can design a uniform today and you can sell the contract for providing it to the noble of your choice. They all have sufficient resources to produce thousands of uniforms, and we have our own arms and armor, all we require is the means to maintain them, which we can do with our own blacksmith and no more than a small percentage of the ingots provided to us by the Sorcerous Kingdom." Her speech seemed to have the desired effect, and Caspond gave his consent, and dismissed her immediately.

Neia returned to her office and began to consider the Black Justice uniform. "It needs to be simple, combat effective, and recognizable by all." She said to the empty room as she turned over and dismissed various ideas in her head, but gradually the concept took shape. She settled on black clothing with a red chain running around the outside of the torso to represent their links to one another, and remembering the phrase, "A chain is only as strong as its weakest link." It was simple, meaningful, combat effective, and easy to mass produce. She considered other features, and settled on the fine points, before having the finished design sent to the King for production.

With that done, she wondered who to select for the expedition, before, much to her surprise, she drew inspiration again, and decided to let skill itself be the deciding factor. She would need ten scouts, forty of the best archers, and fifty of her very best close fighters, ideally capable of martial arts, and so that evening when… what everybody now knew to call "Black Justice" gathered again, she made her announcement.

"For the sake of the Kingdom I am to depart for three months' time, making a circuit around each of our cities and many of our towns. For this mission I require one hundred of you who are ready to face man, beast, weather, and demihuman threats. Only the most skilled will be brought with me, and to that end, tomorrow there will be a tournament. Those of you who wish to accompany me, appear at the wide training grounds outside the city at first light."

Excitement buzzed in the air, so much so that her lecture on the Sorcerer King's justice seemed almost lost on them all, or perhaps that was just her, she never did know the answer to that, but more important was that the next day there were several thousand followers outside the city ready to compete.

She quickly divided the fighters against one another, and after several rounds of combat, only fifty remained. Archers, she put targets progressively farther away in front of each line, and then she launched her own arrow into the sky, and both speed and accuracy were counted, with only those who hit every target in the center by the time Neia's arrow hit the ground again, were selected. After repeated trials of increasing difficulty, she had forty of the finest archers in the Kingdom. And last, she sent ten fast men running into the nearby forest, and the prospective scouts who found them each fastest, were selected in turn. Within a few hours, she had her company of warriors.

To the rest she said, "Though you have not won this day, you have tomorrow, and the day after tomorrow, and as many tomorrows as you can create with your own hands. Train hard, work hard, keep to the Sorcerer King's justice, I depart in 29 days, and when I return I'm looking forward to see a shining city of the Holy Kingdom once again. You who have triumphed will train until departure, and nothing else, we will be at our best, and we will be the best, our future depends on it, so I am depending on you!"

The people began to disperse, as the victors gave their names to a young girl making a list of them, and in the meantime, Neia hid her stress. "How the hell am I supposed to do this… it's one thing to act as a scout and a squire, but this is a whole other matter… I can't ask Remedios, Robel is good at guarding a city but not much else, so to whom do I speak for advice?" She thought and clutched at her head as the stress and anxiety pressed in on her. She froze, "Of course! There can be only one!" She said aloud to herself. She pulled out a message scroll left behind by the Sorcerer King, and contacted CZ. "CZ, my friend, I need your help."

"What can I do for you?" CZ asked.

"I've been given charge of escorting an important merchant and his caravan around the Holy Kingdom, and I have no idea how to do that." She said.

"Me neither." Said CZ, and Neia's hopes fell, "But I can ask my master, I am sure he will know."

Neia's heart fluttered, but she tried to tell CZ not to bother the Sorcerer King for her sake, only for CZ to say, "Nope, too late, already going, wait there." Neia sighed in frustration, surely the Sorcerer King wouldn't… and then the gate opened, and out stepped CZ, who immediately hugged Neia, revealing an affection her expressionless face did not reveal on its own, and then she put a sticker on Neia's cheek, and said, "Cute." Neia rolled her eyes, but hugged her back.

"It's good to see you CZ, but...why are you here?" She asked her friend.

"Lord Ainz wants to see you." CZ replied.

Neia could not move through the portal fast enough, and no sooner was she through, that she rushed to the base of the throne and knelt with her head deeply bowed, "Your Majesty!" She said with a devotionand sincerity that echoed so clearly and obviously from the depths (or replace this "depths" with bottom) of her soul, that it caught the guardians off guard, and caused them to glance at one another in shock, before genuine smiles appeared on their faces at the reverence of the human before them.

"Rise, Neia Baraja, it is good to see you again." Ainz said and stood from his throne, descending to where she knelt, and touching her shoulder with his skeletal hand.

"It is my greatest glory to behold you again, sire." Neia said sincerely, prompting the guardians to shiver in satisfaction behind their master, finding it pleasing to see a human know what the whole world should.

"I understand you have a problem you need help with." Ainz said after clearing his nonexistent throat.

"Aye sire, I've been charged to escort a merchant caravan around the Holy Kingdom, but I have never performed this task before, and fear failing and disgracing Your Majesty's justice. To fail you would be a grave sin, and I will not die a sinner." She said softly, but her powerful conviction rocked the guardians to their core, and it touched Ainz very deeply.

"Escort missions… everybody hates escort missions." Ainz said softly to himself, thinking of all the damn video games that felt the need to include those stupid things with their stupid suicidal AIs in charge of stupid suicidal mission objectives. Of course nobody there would have a clue what he meant, so he kept his voice too low to hear, but when he spoke louder he said, "The best way to prepare for any mission is knowledge, so to begin with, acquire the best local maps, and while you may have able scouts, those who live in an area always know it better than those who don't, so to that end, always send out a small advance party to contact locals and find out hazards. Further, always train as you fight..." Gradually the memories of his war crazy guild companion began to come back, and he elaborated on how to train to defend a caravan against attacks on the road or when encamped, the value of tight formations, use of terrain, and training so that every man knew his position, chaos was death in battle. He then laid out to Neia examples using small models from his inventory, things that were little consolation prizes from gacha machines, now served to educate Neia in mobile defense, and quietly Ainz was very glad he'd taken the time to study some of the books left behind by his friends, in particular "Small Wars" and "The Art of War", and by the time he was done, Neia began to wonder if there was anything Ainz did not know.

"Thank you, Your Majesty, however can I repay you?" She asked, and Ainz shook his head, "No need, just succeed and come back alive." His kind words made Neia want to weep.

But before she could say anything, Cocytus interjected, "Master, may I suggest something?"

"Of course, Cocytus." Ainz replied.

"Have her and her hundred men stay in Nazarick for the month, let me train them here on our grounds, the lizardmen will appreciate new opponents, and I can help them develop as warriors, and if I may, I would ask Sebas Tian to join me." Cocytus said, prompting a curious look from Ainz, but a nod of consent.

"As you are in charge, I understand you might not want to leave your city until you have prepared your replacement, however that is not a problem, we will open a gate for you daily and provide your commanders with message scrolls to reach you, this way you may train with your troops and not abandon your duties." Ainz said, overriding her objection before she could voice it.

"As you wish, your Majesty, your aid will surely make us successful." Neia replied.

A moment later she was gone through the gate, and when the gate was reopened a few hours later, she found herself not in the throne room, but in a wonderland like no other, and standing in front of them were two of the denizens of Nazarick, her people could not help but stare at the idyllic countryside and the seeming perfection of heaven into which they had stepped. Sebas broke the silence first by stepping forward. "I am Sebas Tian, combat butler, and I, along with Cocytus, will see to your training over the next thirty days. If you survive, you will be a force to be reckoned with, if you do not, you were not strong enough for your mission anyway. I hope you will prove to be the former." His elegant voice held their ears, and they bowed before him.

"We will be in your care." Neia said.

"Then let us begin." Cocytus said, and lizardmen began to arrive, led by one powerful looking figure holding an unusual blue blade.

 **AN: Well here we are with the revised chapter 4. Always a pleasure, hope you enjoy it, reviews are welcome, or you can join my discord server, invite code is on the author page. Thanks for reading! :)**


	5. Training in Time

_...In Nazarick..._

Introductions were brief, there were four hundred lizardmen who would serve as sparring partners, opposition forces, and instructors, and by putting Black Justice in an outnumbered position against naturally stronger forces, they would be forced to adapt and use their skills to best effect. It excited the band, but nothing so much as what happened when Ainz arrived at the training grounds. No sooner than he was seen than the humans began chanting, "Long live the Sorcerer King! Long may he reign, long may he reign!" with fists pumping into the air with every chorus.

Ainz waited until the cheering died down before he explained his coming.

"First, I understand you have only twenty-nine days, that is precious little time, so I intend to extend the length of those days considerably." He said.

"You mean you're asking the merchant and the king to give us more than a month?" Neia asked.

Ainz chuckled, "No, I'm going to stop time for you, so that you can train for several months or more to prepare yourselves properly." His statement was greeted with awed silence.

"Stop… time. Did I hear that correctly…? Your majesty will stop time… for the equivalent of months?" Neia asked, even for her already high opinion of Ainz, this was more than she imagined possible.

"Yes. Among other things. While time is stopped, you will be able to train here with the lizardmen and any opponents I create for you to push your limits under the leadership of Cocytus. Moreover, I will provide you with Rings of Sustenance so that you need not sleep or rest, I will unfreeze time for brief periods so that you may have some recreation, meals, and some time to mentally recuperate, but you will train in the time between times. You will take your meals here in my realm for the month, and I will have your latent talents revealed so that we can develop them, if there are any. Also…Cocytus, didn't you have something else?" Ainz asked.

"Yes, my lord. I have observed their fighting style, and I believe they would benefit greatly from monk training from Sebas, they incorporate much of his combat philosophy, so learning his martial skills, and facing his imposition of the fear of death should elevate them considerably." Cocytus said simply, and the jaws of the humans were slow at closing after falling open.

"If you pass your training, which is to say, if you survive, I will furnish you with some runecrafted gear tailored to you, similar to what I provide the adventurer's guild." Ainz said, and hands clenched in disbelief, until Neia knelt with eyes downcast.

"We are forever grateful for his majesty's support, but I must express confusion, how will you know if we have any latent abilities?" Neia's voice was reverential, awed, and eager as a child being offered a new puppy.

"I'll have the Sorting Hat brought out." Ainz said, "It's an enchanted hat that reveals any as yet unknown abilities in the wearer, after that it is up to you to develop them, if there are any worth while that are yet unknown."

"He has everything." Neia said to herself, "He truly is a god."

He handed a pouch over to Sebas, "Distribute the rings, I will stop time, and leave you to your work." Sebas nodded to his master, and Ainz cast his spell, and walked away.

As the rings were being handed out to human and lizardman alike, one of the men asked Sebas, "Where did he come across such a... hat? I have never heard of anything like that.

Sebas shrugged and said, "Oh that, my creator mentioned it once, he said it came from someone called "Shi-ti-dev" who got it from a school called Hogwarts that had many pupils long ago, which Shi-ti-dev was very fond of. My master didn't approve, he called it a cheap way to learn one's inner magic. However, be that as it may, it serves our purposes now when you will undergo training. While we wait for it to be brought, you will face death, and we will see how much that improves you. Find your focus within the whirlwind of my killing intent, and if you can, you will grow beyond yourself today."

There were loud swallows, but Neia was quick to set the example by going first. Sebas braced himself, and unleashed his killing intent upon Neia, and it felt like a thousand shards of ice were stabbing at her soul as she was flung about helplessly in a whirlwind, "Prepare yourself or perish, know you are going to die if you do not!" And then he unleashed his punch, and Neia managed to move her body despite her fear and avoided the fatal blow. She collapsed to one knee, breathing hard, and sweating as if she had run for miles in full plate armor.

"I faced Jaldabaoth, I felt his evil… but never in my life have I felt a core of terror so great." She said as she wiped the sweat from her brow before she managed to rise and held out her hands to two of her people that had approached to help her move aside.

Sebas nodded, "Yes, that is the power of the killing soul, you are… very impressive for a human, Lady Neia. I wonder what you will achieve when you leave here."

She smiled at the praise, and two of her band helped her away, as the next one stepped up. When it was done, while no one had died, some had been badly injured and required healing, which to their shock, was unquestioningly provided, instant, and the test was repeated until being passed. By that time, the Sorting Hat arrived, and one by one they sat and put it on, it was a pointy hat of the sort favored by witches, only it had a mouth, and it spoke their talents, known and unknown, some had oddities that were seemingly useless, like one man who could tell the exact age of any food item, while another had a powerful but highly specific ability, which was to breath underwater, and another had the latent ability to sense hostile intentions in others just by looking at them.

While this was going on, two dark elf children arrived, and they supervised the construction of a series of wagons by some undead laborers, they paid no mind to the humans, who took their silence as a lack of interest, and though they watched the pair work, they did not approach or interrupt the labor. It was clear that this was going to be used for training purposes. When skeletons arrived and began climbing into the various wagons, they looked confused, but that did not last long as Cocytus said, "These skeletons will represent your merchants whom you must protect, they will do little to defend themselves, and they will not turn on you, when the lizardmen play the role of hostile forces, you must secure your encampment against all threats and fend off all attacks. Every one of you must know where you should be and what you should be doing in that position."

They nodded sagely as the last man put on his ring and the last one recovered from Sebas' test.

"Lady Neia," Sebas said, "show me the Black Justice combat system." Neia smiled happily and took up a position thirty meters away. "Fear not," Sebas said politely, "I will limit my skill to that of a mere platinum ranked adventurer, and I am not out to kill you, I simply need to see what your system employs to see where I can help develop it further."

Neia nodded politely and took out her bow, and Cocytus said firmly, "Begin!"

Swift as she could she drew and fired two arrows, before moving in close and pulling out her sword, she slid and slashed low at his knees, he jumped straight up, easily avoiding her attack, however while he was in the air, she was hot on his heels, having turned, compressed herself like a coiled spring, and leapt at him in turn, using her free hand to grab the iron butler and throw him off balance, before bringing her sword to his neck, his palm knocked away her sword, and he followed with a kick, which Neia blocked with a palm of her own, and rebounded from to redraw her bow and fire two more arrows, before darting in and trying to strike the sternum to knock the wind out of Sebas, who in response chopped down at her shoulder, only to see her roll away, draw and fire again, before leaping forward and stabbing at his exposed armpit, and when he avoided the blow, she chopped at the exposed side with her mana enhanced hand. After several minutes of back and forth, Sebas leapt back and Cocytus called a halt.

"A fine display." Cocytus answered, "Seamless incorporation of range and close strikes utilizing speed and precision blows and the use of your sword gives you both a shield, a weapon, and a distraction to give your free hand an opening. You built this system yourself?" Cocytus asked, and Neia proudly answered in the affirmative.

Sebas straightened his coat, "Very impressive, were I a peak level platinum adventurer, I'm sure you would have defeated me, your style controls the flow of battle by way of controlling the flow of your body, I can see why Cocytus thought my monk style could be of help. I will teach you what I can while you are here. If you can further develop your control over magic, you will be able to enhance your abilities further."

Neia grinned from ear to ear, "I can't wait." She said.

The first exercise was to set up an encampment… which they quickly made a mess of, leaving the carts lined up and trying to patrol them, left them vulnerable at every point to massed attack, they lost over 80% of the skeletons in the first attack before they could muster a defense.

When the second exercise took place, they knew to contract their wagons into a small circle, as small as possible, and they kept the skeletons inside the circle while they held the wagons themselves… they did better then, sort of… except for when the blunted arrows were accidentally fired into the backs of their colleagues as those men and women leapt down from the carts, in front of the archers just as they loosed their volley, and a distraction perpetrated by the lizardmen resulted in a penetration that saw 70% casualties before it could be dealt with.

The third attempt went well, the archers stayed back and fired in an arc behind the warriors after tightly compressing their next crop of skeletons in the wagon circle, and it continued to go well until it didn't, which is to say that when a simulated night fell, they could see nothing, and they were picked off one by one.

On the fourth attempt they lit torches and stationed guards, only to find that fail too because the hostiles targeted the torch emplaced guards.

This prompted Cocytus to say, "If you keep your torches where you stand, you'll see several feet out and then nothing beyond it, instead, stagger your torches at a distance, and stay back from them, that way you will be in the darkness, and you will be looking into the light, and anyone who approaches, you will see before they can see you."

They followed that excellent advice and caught the lizardman advance.

This led to a series of bouts with blunted swords, that saw the humans and their lizardman counterparts gradually both continue to improve.

They had no idea how long they were practicing for in the frozen moment, before at last Cocytus called a halt when Ainz returned and dispelled his time stop magic. "My master has decreed that you should not be made to suffer unduly by the stress of constant action, therefore you will be served a meal and given six hours of recreation time, and then Sebas will provide guidance in monk arts that will improve your existing combat skills."

Neia expressed her gratitude, but she could not help but ask, "How long have we been training for… in... I don't know… real time?"

Cocytus did not have a mouth suitable for smiling, but she thought she could hear a smile in his voice when he said, "My master has chosen to not reveal that, not until the end will you know what you have achieved." Neia's face appeared slightly disappointed, but she accepted the answer, and then her jaw dropped… as seemed to happen every time Lord Ainz presented something. For what she saw was a series of maids of unrivaled beauty pushing carts filled with food and drinks.

Having lived a relatively meager existence merely sustaining herself on field craft, rations, and whatever her parents could provide when she was a child, this was a whole new experience. "Line up, take a plate, bowl, and cup each, and help yourselves as you move down the line, my master calls this a 'buffet'. If you wish another helping, please feel free." Sebas said kindly.

"What… are these things?" One of the men asked in awe.

One by one Sebas pointed to the items and identified them, "That is crab, that is dragon steak, that is hamburger, made from cattle, that is lobster, that is a stew called minestrone, those cold items are deserts called ice cream..." One by one he rattled off the names, but people had ceased to care what they were called… though the dragon steak did raise eyebrows, what mattered was the taste of paradise as they dug in. It was so overwhelming that it wasn't until after the first helping and the start of the second that the humans began to converse with the lizardmen.

Internally, Neia sighed with relief. "That is a load off my mind," she thought to herself, "If I'm being honest about it, I wasn't sure they would be able to work with demihumans, but perhaps because there were no lizardman invaders and they are the servants of our savior, they can do so without fear or reservation." Her thoughts on the matter faded as the explosion of flavor went off in her mouth as she drank something called a 'mango juice'. What else was there to try, if even one item was this good?!

Meanwhile, alone in the throne room, Demiurge and Albedo were deep in conversation.

"You felt the same thing I did Albedo," Demiurge said, "She's utterly devoted to him, the power imbued in her voice could not have meant anything else, and it must have been as obvious to you as it was to me."

Albedo fumed, she did not like other women around her master, though it was natural to tolerate those of Nazarick, this was something else entirely.

"Yes, I know, though I don't feel the power of the voice as you do, it was clear, she has awakened the power of the evangelism profession, and she has rendered it to the service of our master, she could not use it if she did not have dedication to something other than herself. But how strong is it?" Albedo asked after acknowledging what Demiurge had said.

"It's hard to say," Demiurge said as he stroked his chin thoughtfully, "At first when watching her, she could only move those who shared the common tragedy that she had, but she's been giving nightly speeches and has constantly been improving her ability, like training with a sword. Practice makes for mastery, she can now win others over who are very different from herself, and her exhortations are providing stat boosts to those who follow her and penalties to those who do not, I would say she is about level three." Demiurge said, "It may be slightly higher than that, but it is so difficult to tell. I would know if she were level five, at that stage she could call on the aura of the one she serves, and she is definitely unable to do that. But her ability to both intimidate and to inspire suggests level three."

Albedo raised her eyebrow at that, "Level three you say...well the locals of this world seem to not have the same restrictions we do, can she use the command voice as you do to control others?" She asked with a measure of concern at the thought.

"No. I doubt any human will ever be that powerful, but still, she is the first evangelist I have seen in this world. But if she is not as devoted as she seems, then she should be disposed of." He said, a sentiment that Albedo found herself in agreement with.

"Shall we do the ritual of the Supreme Beings to see who gets to test her, and watch her fail?" Albedo asked, confident that the limits of human devotion stopped at the conflict of self-preservation.

"Agreed. Best of three or just once?" He asked.

"Once." She replied.

Their hands went back, then snapped forward… "Rock!" they said, and drew their hands back swiftly again… "Paper!" they snapped out and drew their hands back again… "Scissors!" they shouted and drew their hands back again… "Shoot!" they shouted and snapped their hands into position, Albedo held her hand in a fist...while Demiurge had his flat as paper.

"I win!" Demiurge said with a smile, prompting a huff from Albedo.

"Very well, you see if her devotion to our lord is greater than it is to her own life. But when she fails, I want you to make sure it's humiliating, degrading, painful, and slow."

Demiurge's cruel smile didn't change, "Albedo… when have I ever had any other way?" They shared a laugh, and Demiurge walked away.

For some time Neia could think of nothing else but the experience of this amazing meal, and her revelling might have gone on for longer, if she had not felt a hand on her shoulder, and a well-dressed frogman asked to speak with her alone.

She swallowed quickly, and stood up, "Of course sir, I am at your disposal." He began to walk, and Neia stayed beside him.

"I am Demiurge, a guardian of Nazarick." He said, introducing himself.

"Neia Baraja, at your service, sir." She said simply.

As they moved away from the others, he asked her pointedly, "What is Lord Ainz to you?"

She didn't even hesitate. "He is a god. The god of justice, and the only god in this world I serve."

"I see, not the god of magic, life, or death?" He asked.

Neia pursed her lips in thought and looked at the ground for a moment, before raising her face to meet his gaze, "No. Oh, it is true his magic power is beyond anything in this world, and one might call him a god just for that. It is also true he is also able to provide life and unlife to the dead and there is no living being he could not defeat. However, these are only tools and aspects of the being himself, and while he is greater in those than others, I call him the god of justice because he can literally define justice for all the world. He is the ultimate arbiter, and his will is done over any that might be foolish enough to contest against him. If that is not a god, I do not know what a god is."

Demiurge silently accepted her words, and then said, "And if your god demands your life?"

Neia's eyes were afire when she said, "Then my life is his, tell me now how I can best die in his service, and I will make it so."

Demiurge produced a dagger.

"Your words will please the Supreme One, I will pass them to him after your body has gone cold." He said politely.

Neia looked at him in discomfort but stayed silent to listen. "Lord Ainz requires your life, and he requires it immediately. Push this into your heart, and his will shall be fulfilled."

Neia began to remove her armor, "Then let his will be done in all the world, as it is in Nazarick. Tell him I said thank you for everything, and that his humble servant begs that he please lend his power to my people when I am gone." She said, and as the armor fell to the ground, she snatched the dagger, met his gaze, and put it over her heart. "Also, please tell him I didn't hesitate." She said and the black flash of her eyes was beautifully demonic, impenetrable as ink and hard as armor, she did not blink as she brought the dagger home full force.

Nothing happened. The dagger shook in her hands, the tip did not even penetrate her shirt, she looked down at it in frustration, then drew it out away from her body with both hands as far as her arms could stretch. She tried again, drawing it in swift as one of her arrows from a bow. The dagger was clearly at her flesh, but no matter how hard she brought it to bear over her heart it would not pierce her skin, she brought it out again and again, and slammed it against her heart as hard as she could. She tried to turn it sideways and draw it across her throat, but it would not cut. She tried to force it into her eye, but though she could feel it at her pupil, it would not even scratch the surface of that vulnerable part of her. Demiurge was standing over her, watching intently.

She began screaming in a rage at herself, "Why won't I die?! His will must be done! I must die! I have to!" She pushed the dagger at her chest again with such force that she felt her bones ache, but the tip would not enter, she looked at the frogman and began to cry. "I'm trying!" She shouted, "I don't know what's wrong, I'm really trying! I swear it!" She snarled out and held the tip at her throat. Her legs locked up, she closed her eyes, and she leaned forward intending to fall and force it to open up her veins that way.

"Stop." Said Demiurge, and he reached out and stopped her with one hand. Neia paused as his hand held her back from the fall. When he'd righted her, he turned his hand over and held it out. "Give me the dagger." He said. She looked at him uncertainly but flipped it around and put the pommel in his hand. Already she was trying to choke out a plea for forgiveness for her failure at to end her life.

"You could never kill yourself with this, nor anyone else. It's the Dagger of Paradox, you can only do things with it that you do not intend to do, and can never do what you want. If you tried to kill yourself for a thousand lifetimes, it would fail to so much as break the skin, if you accidentally dropped it on your foot, you could easily lose all your toes. If you had tried to pretend to end your life, you would have the dagger in your heart right now."

Neia's face calmed down as understanding dawned. "It was a test?" She asked in a small voice.

"Yes," Demiurge said, "...and you passed."

Neia's face was conflicted, and then Demiurge clarified, "The test was of my devising, not that of Lord Ainz, as his servant, I must ensure all those he trusts, are worthy of that trust, and Lord Ainz has placed great trust in your devotion to his will."

"Lord Ainz trusts me?!" Neia thought as her face expressed her pure joy as the words echoed in her mind and she impulsively hugged Demiurge, who was caught off-guard by the gesture, but he gingerly disentangled himself, trying not to hurt her as he did so.

Back in the throne room, the remaining guardians available, had watched through the mirror of remote viewing as Neia struggled to end her life and go almost mad at the failure, and the change to happiness when she hugged Demiurge, before turning the mirror off.

"It was a cruel test." Shalltear said, a sentiment that surprised others who knew her merciless ways. "Don't you agree, is there any fate worse than failing the last Supreme Being, as one who did fail once, even I can pity her if she fell to madness over it." She said, and this prompted a consensus that Demiurge had indeed been cruel.

"But," Albedo said, "it would not have been cruel if she had not passed the test, then it would have just been useless meat being disposed of. Now we know, and I begin to see what my precious Ainz, wisest of the Supreme Beings, sees in these humans. If they are capable of the same devotion we are, some of them at least, are worth having around."

The guardians dispersed back to their duties, and Neia returned to the training grounds, and their sessions resumed, hour after grinding hour, she had no idea how long it had been in those timeless moments. It was hours, days, weeks, perhaps even months of constant drilling, training in combat, learning the sword from Cocytus and lizardman alike, training against monsters summoned just for them to face, and demihuman golems of the sort that still hid in the countryside and mountains.

The terrain changed that they had to account for in securing the caravan, so that they learned how to fight uphill, downhill and in mountains and forests. They were taught something called 'sign language' to speak silently with one another, and the scouts were guided by a group called 'The Eight Edge Assassins' in the art of stealth.

While talents were developed relentlessly, only intermittently did Ainz unfreeze time, allowing them to celebrate milestones, and they were taught the arts of war and strategy, opening up worlds of knowledge they had never dreamt of before coming to the dreamland of Nazarick...and then at last, after what seemed like an eternity, Ainz said, "This is the last unfrozen moment, you have completed your training, we will celebrate your progress in my grand hall, and then you will return, for tomorrow your mission begins. I will have some runecrafted equipment delivered to you tomorrow, and you will make me proud of you all. Of that I am sure." Ainz said with his red eyes shining brightly, piercing their eyes as if he could see their thoughts.

They cleaned themselves up, and walked into the dining hall, and jaws did as they were now used to doing… which is to drop at the phenomenal and intricate artwork, which Ainz began to explain to them, leaving them in an even deeper awe.

A rousing series of speeches followed, from Cocytus, from their lizardmen counterparts, to Neia, who expressed her thanks to Ainz and the denizens of Nazarick for their time and instruction, and at last Ainz stood to speak. "You were worth teaching, you will do me proud, it was a year well spent. Now go forth and make my justice known."

That was how he dropped the bomb… their 'month' had been expanded into a full year for them by training in frozen time, and their explosive growth and breadth of knowledge suddenly made more sense.

When the dinner was concluded, Ainz summoned [Gate] and when the humans had formed up behind Neia, they knelt as one and shouted, "Long live Ainz Ooal Gown!" Until their voices were hoarse, and at a gesture from Ainz, they stood, and walked through the gate, larger, stronger, faster, and wiser than they had been when they first walked into Nazarick.

What awaited them beyond the gate was a world they would never see the same way again, and which in turn, would never see them the same way again either. That much both the human band of Black Justice and the denizens of Nazarick, were certain of.

 **AN: I hope you got a bit of a chuckle out of the Harry Potter reference, given that Yggdrasil was a game, it seemed reasonable to me that there would be "fan inserts" by the devs just like there sometimes are in games like World of Warcraft & Skyrim. I thought that would be just a neat reference, don't expect the hat to pop up often, though it may get an occasional reference.**

 **(AN: If you want a description of the artwork, read the story "Memory & A Message" which takes place in the same timeline).**

 **If you want to support the author's work, you may do so through my patr3on at slash godrising**


	6. The Sprouting of the Seed

When Neia and her band stepped through the gate, they found themselves outside the city. Near to hand was the merchant caravan. Already it was being prepared for the next day's journey, crates were being loaded, sacks of supplies were present, guards were moving up and down the line of wagons as peasant laborers moved to and from warehouses and shops with wheelbarrows, small carts, and just plain old fashioned muscle to get it all ready.

When the last of her people were through the gate she formed them up and said, "You will encamp here outside the city to receive the equipment from the Sorcerer King when it arrives. I must go back into the city and ensure that the uniforms for the soldiers we leave behind are properly prepared. There were solemn and silent nods, and the Black Justice team quickly established a small series of encampments in circles and made themselves comfortable.

Neia, for her part, went into the city and found Robel & Gilcrest, who presented her with 101 uniforms made to her specifications, which were quickly loaded into carts to be ferried out to her waiting band. "Not only do we have enough for you," Robel said, "But we have enough for all our people, despite the Count Handor trying to cheat us, the quality is very good."

Neia's expression turned dark, "Handor? How is it that Count Handor is supplying this?" She asked.

"He won the bid from King Caspond to supply uniforms to us, though how he managed to do so cheaply, I can't imagine, still, he did it, the work has been inspected, and it is of good quality. Our people are already sporting them on patrols and guard stations, and it is very effective at deterring criminal behavior." Gilcrest answered with a broad smile.

A disquieting sensation came over Neia as she caressed their uniform to be. "I don't like this, if there were time, I'd go so far as to have all new ones made just so that he didn't profit from supplying us. I suppose it is too late to worry about that now though." She shook her head, it was, for lack of a better word, irksome. She was very, very irked to be tied to Handor even remotely, and as she thought on the subject, she considered that perhaps the purpose of his acquiring the contract was more politically motivated than monetarily. After all, it tied him directly to the law enforcement of the city. She rubbed her forehead; life was easier when problems were solved by arrows. She stopped her contemplation and turned her attention to Robel and Gilcrest. "While I'm gone, expand on the public utility houses and security to avoid any repeats of what happened with the Slane Theocracy **(AN: See the story "Training in Time"),** and, there is one more thing. Petition the King for permission to build temples to Lord Ainz far beyond the Capitol We will need them to praise our god and serve him the way he should be served...everywhere. While I am gone, I will do as I have done before, and spread his word among the people of this nation."

Neither Gilcrest nor Robel tried to argue the point, but Robel asked, "What if there are objections?"

"From anyone other than the King?" She asked.

They nodded.

"No other objections matter. That is how power works." She said.

"And if it is from the King?" Gilcrest added.

"I am asking as a courtesy, not out of necessity. Our god WILL be properly revered. I am building it with him, or without him, but given the choice, I would rather it be with him." Neia did not linger with any longer, but as they watched her leave the two looked at one another.

"That must have been one hell of a month, did you FEEL that?" Robel asked.

Gilcrest shivered. "I do not want to be the one who has to say no to her, she was different somehow from when she began to prepare for this. When you send your request to the King, please be persuasive."

"It may not be the King we have to worry about, he's still grateful to the Sorcerer King, it's the Paladins we have to worry about, and it's the corrupt nobles with ties to the temples to the six that may parlay their influence against us. Remedios will only not be an obstacle if the news of the request causes her head to explode with rage, anything less, and she'll be in the way." Robel said worriedly.

Gilcrest nodded at that, but there was nothing else to be done.

The uniforms were delivered to the newly commissioned city security forces of Black Justice within the hour. It was with much fanfare they were donned, and they made for an imposing sight, what had been mere peasants, tradesman, and line soldiers only little better than the troops of other nations was now a deadly and elite force of hardened veterans with a unique and dangerous combat method who to a man were made ready by a pair of the deadliest denizens of Nazarick and a lizardman of roughly adamantite strength.

That evening, before the Sun had set, a [gate] had opened, and Sebas Tian stepped through, followed by wagon loads of gear. "Lady Neia" Sebas said, "I have some equipment for you, as well as some guidance on its uses." Neia grinned happily, like a schoolgirl finding a beautiful flower or bird.

Sebas stepped aside and brought out a chain mail vest. "This is runecrafted to reduce its weight and decrease the impact of blows, the attachments for the arms enhance strength and dexterity, and the helmet is enchanted the same way as the vest. I understand you already have ordinary boots, so I have brought leggings that enhance your speed and your luck. Even without the training you have received, these would make you into very tough targets, as to weapons, as your style has focused upon sword work, your swords have enchantments on them that increase sharpness, these will not dull even if you used them as shields, furthermore some are enchanted with fire, ice, shock, or wind, respectively, I suggest allowing your people to choose which element they favor best for themselves. For bows, the enchantments increase vision capability as well as both the range and impact power of arrows launched from them. You should be well prepared for your mission now, so make the Sorcerer King glad he has placed his faith in you." Sebas said in his customary serious tone.

Neia was overjoyed, and when Sebas left, she quickly queued up her people and conveyed what Sebas had said to her, they were as ecstatic as she, and the gear was quickly divided up.

When morning came, they were ready, they were so filled with anticipation that they barely slept. Shortly after sunrise Tinamoc approached Neia, "I see your people are ready to go, my personal guards will be joining us as well, but I will be in your care. Please see to our safety." Neia reached out and shook his hand as she looked him over, his fingertips were calloused from writing, but the rest of his hands were very soft, he was somewhat overweight, to be expected for a middle aged merchant of considerable success, he had neat black hair and wore fine but travel appropriate clothing of mottled greens and blues, and arguably more distinctively, did not wear an abundance of jewelry so as to not stand out to much personally. He had a kind looking face and his eyes had a twinkle of merriment to them that no doubt had charmed many an extra coin out of those with whom he dealt, it was flatly impossible for her to not like the man. Neia however, kept her voice neutral and tone professional.

"I will," Neia answered, "but please for the sake of your safety, follow our instructions immediately and without question, the shepherd cannot protect the sheep that wander away from the flock." Tinamoc nodded gravely and went to the head of his column, and the movement began, Black Justice broke into groups with practiced ease and stayed beside the caravan, and for four days, all was well. Each night Neia exhorted the virtues of strength and the evil of the sin of weakness, and when camp was made, Black Justice fighters took turns training and resting when not on watch. On the very first night, one of Tinamoc's guards decided he wished to challenge Neia to combat.

He was a large, beefy man with considerable muscle to his frame, he wore chainmail armor and carried a large round shield paired with a simple but effective longsword. He had a thick beard that was neatly trimmed and piercing eyes that appeared only on veterans who have seen great hardship, he was the incarnation of what one thought of when the phrase 'born for war' was uttered. "I know of your reputation, Neia Baraja," he said with a gruff voice, "but I always thought of you as being…rather taller." He laughed.

Neia smiled ever so sweetly and said, "A big body and a little brain is easily struck by both wit and steel, but a little body and a big brain is not easily struck by either, all things considered, I prefer being me to being you." She laughed, and a number of 'ooohs' came from the men around the camp, both Black Justice and Tinamoc's elites had their eyes go wide at her witty reply, and the behemoth of a man went purple with rage.

"Big talk from a little girl." He said and held the pommel of his sword in one hand.

She shrugged, "Maybe so, but the little can talk big when they can back it up, while the big who can't, should talk very little." She again turned his own words on him, and he began to draw his sword. A crowd began to form in a circle around them, but Neia did not flinch.

"Are you sure you want to do this?" Neia asked.

"Someone needs a lesson in manners." He said.

"Agreed." Neia said, "First blood, unconsciousness, or death, it's your call." She said.

"Unconsciousness will do. You can apologize when you wake up." He said arrogantly. Neia gave a polite bow of her head.

"As you wish." She said and took out her own shorter blade. "Then I'll need to replace these." She took off her quiver and held it out to one of her people. "Give me blunted arrows, wooden heads." She said, and a few moments later she was handed a quiver full of the blunted training arrows.

More and more people gathered by this time, and cheers began to go up, it drew more and more attention, and merchants began to take notice, some of who began to take bets. Neia then had a pleasant idea, and she held up her hand and wagered the price of a beer from the commissary wagon against everyone who bet against her.

Neia gave him a smile as he held out sword and shield with his arms wide apart and began to strut, exhorting his people to cheer for him and calling out his name over and over. "Zagan! Zagan! Zagan!" His people took up the cheer, while Neia simply stretched quietly and waited for him to be ready. At first glance, it appeared to be intimidation, it was as if she were afraid to boast, but to those who knew her, it was the opposite. She did not need the psychological boost of cheers and exhortations for herself, the quietness of battle's imminence was enough for her to also quiet her mind.

When he turned back to her to give an arrogant smile, it quickly ran away from his face, her eyes had a different look, they no longer danced with happy whimsy or wit, they bore the look of night's cloak, as if death had blessed her as its acolyte. He did not have an opportunity to rethink his choice to challenge her, because someone stepped forward and shouted, "Begin!"

Neia wasted no time, she snapped out her bow and fired three arrows in rapid succession, while Zagan raised his shield in front of him and started his charge, he stopped the arrows but he lost sight of Neia who was already charging, she slid low, under the shield and smacked his knee with the pommel of her sword even as she went past him.

Zagan tumbled forward face first at the painful blow and Neia used her free hand to slow her slide along the ground, rolled over to her belly, sprang up to the sprinter's starting position and rushed at his back. Zagan rolled out of the way just before her sword could connect, already through his mind the knowledge ran that she could have severed his leg if she had used the edge instead of the pommel, but experience defeated intimidation and he rose back to his feet, she, however, was moving as well and as he rose to his knees, but before he could get the rest of the way up, a martially enhanced hand grabbed onto the shield and yanked it out of the way. His eyes had not even finished going wide when the hand grabbed his perfect beard and pulled his face painfully hard towards a quickly advancing knee. It connected right in the face, spraying blood and blinding him. He tried to bring his sword to bear, but her own deflected it before she kicked him in the face, this time sending him onto his back. She jumped forward slightly landing with feet on either side of his body, and he found himself looking up at her face, while her sword's tip was at his throat. He relaxed and let his sword drop.

"You win." He said. "The fight was over and Neia stepped back. "You have the body of a sapling and the spirit of a warrior, I retract my previous remarks, your reputation is well earned." Zagan said and started to laugh. "I live through this mission, I'll tell my grandchildren that Neia Baraja kicked my ass."

Neia stepped back and put up her sword, then reached down and offered her hand to help him up. He took it, and she pulled, as he got to his feet she said, "Your beard is very nice, but it made for an easy weakness to exploit, I'd shave it before you go on future missions."

Zagan nodded, "Good advice." He said.

As people grumbled, Neia shouted, "Since I won, well…drinks are on me! A beer for every man and woman who bet against me…after all, you kind of bought it anyway!" She laughed good naturedly, and it drew favorable laughs in return. Good will began to grow from the bout thereafter.

Others among the elite guards of Tinamoc began to challenge Black Justice members to combat but were uniformly smashed with the unusual and flexible combat methods that Black Justice employed. Neia took advantage of those times to preach to the defeated guards, and first among them to pay close mind to what she had to say, was the defeated Zagan.

"What if we had been demihumans eager to take your lives, what if you were all there was between your children and death at our hands, you would have been guilty of failure, the sin of weakness would have caused the blood of your loved ones to be spilled. Weakness is the greatest sin because it is the greatest obstacle to justice..." On and on she spoke and some of the guards of Tinamoc became nightly visitors to listen to Neia speak.

However, it was the fifth day that saw Black Justice put to the test. They had just left a village behind the day before, a village Neia had spent hours preaching in, telling stories of the heroism and justice of Ainz Ooal Gown, and she was just about to make camp when a scout approached. "Demihuman bandits are coming, several hundred of them." The scout said, "They're moving through the woods on either side of the road, my comrade is making noise and distractions to delay them to buy us time to prepare, but they will be here within the hour."

Neia quickly barked orders. "Circle the caravan as tightly as you can, close formation, noncombatants, hide yourselves, send a rider back to the village to warn them about the attack, tell them we will fight, but in case any circle around us, they must be prepared!"

Her voice boomed out as if she were preaching to her flock, and with the practiced ease of a year of training, the wagons were circled close, the guards of Tinamoc were in the rear position, while Black Justice fanned out in a line, with two short wings hidden in the woods on either side.

When the bandits saw them, it was immediately obvious the jig was up. For a moment Neia thought they may withdraw rather than attack a prepared position. However, as if she were in his head, she could hear the commander saying to himself, "A fat prize, and what good are a few lazy guards against us?"

"Fool." She thought with a shake of her head. She looked over their numbers, they were made up of snakemen, tigermen, and ogres, among a few others she didn't recognize, they must have been survivors of Jaldabaoth's defeat that could not go home and had chosen to live off the humans they could overpower. They weren't in the best of shape, but they were still demihumans and were used to being able to defeat ordinary humans.

As they charged, she shouted, "Loose!" and those who were best at archery fired at a distance, arrows flew faster and faster, piercing demihuman flesh, and as they closed, those who were better with a sword, but could still use the bow, drew and fired a series of volleys, before Neia shouted, "Charge!" and to the shock of the demihumans still standing, humans came charging at them.

Black Justice was fast and precise, as demihuman weapons came down, either swords blocked blows, or hands caught and threw the monsters off balance, the warriors on the wings charged and hit the flanks of the demihumans and folded inward from the rear, and the fearless humans began to make short work of the demihuman raiders. Tinamoc and his guards were watching the conflict, as were the laborers who traveled with him, and they watched as if spellbound to do so, as humans became monsters in the eyes of monsters, Neia confronted the apparent chief of the band, a tigerman that fought with claws and teeth and raw physical strength as his tools. Neia however, used her sword for darting blows that pained and distracted him, and used her speed and monk enhanced grip from her free hand to grab and squeeze the trachea of the monster so tight that it was crushed. It towered over her but collapsed in her hand as its neck was snapped in her grip, and when he went limp, any remaining fight went out of the remaining demihumans. They who had been predators, became as prey and tried to flee… but failed. Arrows took down the few who managed to break away from combat, and the entire business was over faster than an evening meal.

"Check for survivors, secure the area, and conduct accountability, there may be more, scouts, check the area and return in no later than a quarter hour!" Neia barked out as she kicked a corpse out of the way, her cloak flapped behind her as a breeze picked up and she looked back over the caravan she guarded. "Check each other! Ensure nobody has been injured!" The guards of Tinamoc quickly followed her orders and began checking everyone, and within an hour, the scouts had returned and the enemy checked for survivors, among the dead, there lay but one, a bearman whose growl of defiance died when he looked into the eyes of Neia Baraja.

"You're about to die, justice demands it." She said. "The only question is, how much will it hurt before you do. If you want it to hurt substantially less, you will answer what I ask you. How many others are there?"

He looked at her dumbfounded. She responded to his silence by grabbing the furry wrist and twisting with inhuman strength, prompting a cry of pain. "I will have answers, or I will have screams, either will do for me, but only one of those is better for you. What will it be?" she asked.

"What do you mean?" He asked in a shaky voice.

She grabbed an arrow and stabbed it through his hand. "How many other bands like yours are there? The demihuman army is destroyed, Jaldabaoth is dead, the only way for a band like yours to survive in a hostile land is to work with others like yourselves, that means you've met them before. Now answer me or I'll cut out your eyes and send you blind to face the justice of Lord Ainz Ooal Gown." That did it, the bearman wet himself, and began to tell her everything he knew.

After thirty minutes, she put an arrow in his eye, keeping her promise of a swift death. As she looked over his corpse, she thought about who she'd been just a few years earlier, happier perhaps, more smiling on an average day, even if she hadn't really had any comrades, looking back she remembered a sweeter and more innocent version of herself. The loss of that sense of self, and the awareness of what replaced it in the form of who she was now was not as troubling as she thought it should have been. By hardening herself, she saved more lives. All things considered… it was a fair trade.

She went back to Tinamoc and reported what she had learned. "There are a dozen or so demihuman bands around the Holy Kingdom, some larger than others, none enough to constitute an army, but they've been surviving by staying in the wilds or in areas where humans were depopulated, they meet to trade chiefly in forests, and they avoid the roads except when there is no other choice, though they do take isolated travelers from the road when opportunity permits. In all probability they were not targeting us, they were likely going to strike the village. If we have the time, I would like to carry the demihuman bodies back to the village for use, they can gain some wealth from harvesting materials from the demihuman corpses."

Tinamoc nodded with his face pale, "Had you not been here, I'd be in one of their bellies now, I would say that two days is the least I owe you."

Some of the wagons were temporarily emptied and the demihuman bodies were loaded into them. Then Neia and a handful of her people took the corpses back to the shocked village. Neia arrived as the people were preparing to flee, and they paused only when they saw that it was wagons driven by people, and when Neia through back the hood of her black cloak revealing her humanity, a collective sigh of relief was expelled.

"In accordance with the justice of Ainz Ooal Gown, ruler of the Sorcerous Kingdom, the predators who had turned to evil have been killed. Black Justice has exterminated all this band, you are most fortunate, had they not come until we were beyond them then you would all be for the afterlife. You would be dead because you are sinners!" She pointed at each of them as she stood atop her wagon. "The sin of weakness would have killed your children, your loved ones, you would have fought bravely, died quickly, and been delicious as your infants and elderly alike slid into the bellies of this!" She reached back and grabbed the corpse of the tigerman and threw it into the dirt in front of her. The great god of justice, Ainz Ooal Gown, exercised his strength to save us sinners so that we may grow strong enough to save ourselves, and today I worked his will to preserve you and my charge, but who will save you tomorrow if not you? Who will protect your pregnant women, your mothers and fathers bowed by age and to slow to flee, your sick bound to their beds, your wives and husbands, your children and grandchildren, if not you? If all you do is wait to be saved, why should anyone save you?! Come to the faith of Black Justice, and sin NO MORE!" she shouted.

She turned to the men behind her, "Get the bodies down and pile them in the center of the village." As they obeyed, she leapt down from the wagon and approached the tigeman's corpse and severed its head in a single blow. "I will claim this head for my uses, but you may skin the bodies of the rest and use the parts of them however you wish, that should yield enough wealth to buy weapons. If you have heard my message and have taken it into your hearts, send a representative to the capitol, ask for Robel or Gilcrest, tell them you want Black Justice to send a representative to aid you in growing strong, and it will be done." Neia said, and when the bodies were dumped and the village expressed their awe and gratitude, Neia was quick to depart.

When she returned to the caravan, while she waited for the wagons to be reloaded, she sat down to write. She wrote two missives, one to the Sorcerer King, and one to the people of the Holy Kingdom's capital.

The former sought his counsel on matters of war, when it was just to fight and not to fight, when it was just to show mercy and when it was just to leave survivors, and how to know who deserved to survive. The latter informed the people of their actions, and she dispatched a rider with the letter and the severed head of a tigerman as proof of her actions. The former letter would wait until an agent of the Sorcerer King delivered supplies, but the latter would be read to the people immediately.

A few days later, when the letters arrived, the response was overwhelming. Hundreds of demihumans dead, a tigerman chieftain slaughtered and his severed head on display, the reputation of Black Justice was now surpassing that of the Paladin order, and people flocked to their ranks. But all was not as well as it seemed. In the palace, Remedios tried to keep her tone with the King even. "Majesty you MUST send us out to deal with these troubles, these people may tie us to the Sorcerer King for resources, but they are traitors one and all."

"Yesssss..." Count Handor said with his hands wringing in front of him, our noble head of the Paladin Order is completely correct, such people represent a rogue element, the open fighting in the streets, the summary execution of one of our own guards, and now these wild tales of demihuman bands...it's all too much! I suggest we immediately send out the Paladin Order, if for no other reason than that finding this danger and eliminating it is exactly why they exist, their reputation must be improved to secure the trust of the people.

Dopple-Caspond stroked his chin in thought, "I would prefer not to send you personally, however sending out a thousand paladins and two thousand squires should be sufficient to handle most bands that they might encounter. How soon can you have them ready to depart?" He asked.

Remedios Custodio was not known for her great intellect, but as an experienced campaigner she had a rough idea of what was necessary based on past practices. "I can have them ready in roughly one month assuming all goes well. Two months if there are delays in supplies." She said confidently.

"See to it then, I authorize the requisitioning of all the supplies you need from our current stores, your order's mission is the rooting out of evil in our Holy Kingdom. Have them depart as soon as you are able." The King said confidently. Remedios left the throne room with a bow and a smile she hadn't worn in some time.

Count Handor seized the opportunity presented, "Majesty, as the best members of Black Justice have now departed, and the head of the Paladin Order is sending away many more of our soldiers, might I suggest that the nobles be given the charge of supply reception and distribution. We can supply our own people at our own cost, true it is a sacrifice, but it is one we can and should make for the sake of our Holy Kingdom and its suffering population."

The King considered it for a moment, and then nodded, "Very well, select a group of nobles who would excel at this kind of thing, and submit the list for my approval, you will handle the distribution of various goods to the population and to the rebuilding effort." Doppel-Caspond was not nearly the fool the real Caspond was, when he gave that order, he saw the slight widening of the eyes in Count Handor, that he knew to be a sign of greed, though he pretended not to see it, and yawned instead, vaguely remembering a phrase he had heard Lord Ainz use once long ago, about giving someone enough rope to hang themselves with. At the time it did not make sense, but now...he thought he understood. He reached over and took a goblet of wine, and drank as a member of Black Justice, the former Captain Robel, entered and approached with a petition. As the man did so, Doppel-Caspond wondered how much chaos could exist in a few ounces of ink.

 **AN: Well the story continues its slow boil, as Neia begins to spread the faith, the Capitol prepares to see Black Justice found more temples (see "Training in Time" for details on that) and Remedios prepares to set out to save the name of the Paladin Order with her own hands, and the corrupt Count Handor prepares to find out just how profitable it is to steal from the largess of Ainz Ooal Gown. If you're reading "Memory & a Message" you already know the direction some of this is going, and I hope you enjoy the ride. Reviews are not only welcome, they tell me that there is an ongoing interest, and prompt me to continue the story further, I don't know what you want, if you don't tell me, so...just keep that in mind. :) I love hearing from readers, good and bad alike. Thanks again, for reviewing, and for reading!**


	7. A challenge, an Offer, a Murder

Robel knelt in front of the King.

"Raise your head," the King said, "and speak your mind."

"Majesty, I come with a petition for you - a request, which if favorably looked upon, will swell the hearts of the people with loyalty for their King." Robel said looking upwards at his lord.

"And that request is?" The King asked.

"Though you have granted permission to build one temple, we humbly request that this permission be expanded beyond the Capital." Robel said after a deep breath, silently glad that Remedios had left the room.

That didn't mean nobody else was shocked, the nobles and some of the priests who were present were caught between two responses… some of them swallowed hard, these were men and women who had seen the Sorcerer King's power up close, his first and second battle with Jaldabaoth, or who had seen it when he personally freed them from the captivity of the demihumans, this included Northern & Southern nobles, though more of the former than the latter. There were a few priests and even paladins present as well who shared this reaction… but the other response was made up of gasps of surprise and anger at a perceived blasphemy, this response was held chiefly by people who had not seen the Sorcerer King's power, but heard only stories - stories which they had decided were exaggerated - and these protests were made by the remaining nobles, most of the paladins, and most of the priests, the latter two groups being the more deeply devout with respect to the existing and accepted gods.

'Doppel-Caspond' belonged to neither group, he kept his face entirely neutral, he already knew that Ainz was a god, and in his heart the only reluctance he felt about openly having temples to Ainz was that he didn't believe humans could build one good enough on their own… and he did not want to risk the plans of the Supreme One by misplaying his hand.

"Tell me," he said, "Do you believe the Sorcerer King to be a god?"

"I do." Robel said unflinchingly. "If he is not a god, I cannot picture what one is. Look at what has been done just today. Through the power of the Sorcerer King, those who have acted in his name slaughtered hundreds of demihumans without a single loss of their own, an entire village preserved, our greatest merchant saved from being some monster's dinner. If a being could turn humans into a force capable of that, it seems to me we can only call such a being a god. Therefore, it is proper he be revered as one, and Black Justice requests the permission of the King to begin proper worship and services in his honor. Though we are ever grateful to your majesty for allowing us to break ground on a temple here, it is our fervent wish that this permission be expanded, for surely as our ranks grow in this place, we believe they will grow elsewhere."

"Blasphemer! Blasphemer! Blasphemer!" a priest shrieked, having completely lost his mind at the suggestion of a seventh god.

Robel looked over his shoulder at the man, an older robed gentleman, who was flailing where he stood as he struggled to get free of the grip of a much younger, stronger paladin that was presently restraining him.

"It is not blasphemy to acknowledge a god, it is blasphemy to deny one. YOU are the blasphemer old man, not me." Robel said sharply, the muttering and chattering of the court went on, mere background to the screaming priest who had to be dragged out of the room to be calmed down.

Robel noticed that the King was still silent as all this transpired. "Where would you choose to build it?" The King asked.

"Majesty I understand that a few noble houses were exterminated by Jaldabaoth, and this leaves several residences devoid of owners. With your permission, we would like to buy one of these estates from you and build a temple in its place." Robel said smoothly.

"Do you expect the crown to fund the construction?" The King asked.

"No, sire." Robel replied.

"Do you expect that the rebuilding of the Capital will be allowed to halt in order to build your temple?" The King asked.

"No, sire." Robel replied.

"Do you expect that supplies intended for reconstruction will be split up to provide you with what you require for your temple?" The King asked.

"No, sire. We will either buy supplies ourselves, or use recovered materials from areas demolished for complete rebuilding." Robel replied.

"Then the only questions that remain are whether or not the Sorcerer King is actually a god or not, and whether or not there is any reason to refuse this request." The King stated simply.

"Yes, sire." Robel replied in agreement.

"Return in one week's time, I must summon the council and we will debate the matter. For now, you are dismissed." The King said, and Robel stood, bowed, stepped back several paces, and left the throne room.

Meanwhile, Neia had spent the last few days in relative peace, enjoying the countryside since her missives went out. The sun seemed brighter and the grass seemed greener, she hadn't really realized how much the ruin of the capital had depressed her, despite their progress. No new attacks had come their way. However, given what they found along the route when they hit their next intended stopping point… that lack of attacks was suddenly and horribly explained. There was simply nothing worth attacking.

The first burned out village they found had nothing but piles of bones all jumbled together and left piled like a pyramid in the center. The skeletons of men, women, children, dogs, cats, horses, and cattle had all been thrown together with equal indifference. Some of the bones had rotted meat still clinging to them where the demihumans had gotten sloppy during their 'feast'. The homes and other buildings were burned down to the skeletal frames alone, leaving the entire village looking as if it were one very large corpse, the whole place smelled like death and roasted meat.

They searched through the remnants for survivors and found none. They paused to provide the dead with a proper burial, however nobody wanted to linger there for long. The next three villages they found were much the same, in one of them they found a few small children who had died of exposure, hidden away by their parents before the adults fell prey to the demihumans, nobody survived to return for them, so they perished slowly for want of someone to care for them. Each village that they encountered required time for them to pause and see to the dead, and at each village Neia took the time to write a report of what her people found and send what she had written back to the capital.

Though she could not have known it at the time, as these reports filtered back home, they were widely circulated around the city and all kinds of stories began to crop up in the popular imagination. The bards singing and telling stories in taverns made a killing on spreading the ones they heard, or making up all new ones about 'The Pope and her Hundred'. Even the warrior who challenged her saw his own reputation rise through the story as a result, as every story needs a climactic battle against a great foe.

What Neia did notice was that the personal guards of Tinamoc had become regular attendees at her nightly sermons, and several had sought to convert to her beliefs. Many had begun to train in the evening hours under the tutelage of some of her best fighters.

After one such sermon, Tinamoc asked her to join him for dinner, it made her curious that he had not "instructed" her to join him for dinner, but instead had simply "asked" for her, but she was not averse to the request, so she went, and as they sat across from one another while one of the servants prepared the meal, Tinamoc broke the ice. "You've made an impression on my people." He said simply, and pouring a cup of wine, he offered it out to her.

Neia nodded and accepted it, as he poured one of his own. When they were each holding one, he raised his cup and said, "To life." To which she replied, "To the strength of justice." And they drank. Tinamoc refilled their cups as soon as they were made empty.

"I'm assuming you favor the impression I have made then, as you asked me to join you tonight." Neia said.

Tinamoc nodded, "I do. My men are good ones, arguably the best available among the common mercenaries that are still left in the Holy Kingdom, but you've taken your own men to a whole other level. But I have also listened to you speak of strength very often, I have heard your..." he coughed slightly, "sermons, about the Sorcerer King and his representation to you as the god of justice." He began.

"Yes? Is there something you're unsure of about all that?" Neia asked.

"Well, is that why you don't work as mercenaries, despite the better pay that could be had by it?" Tinamoc asked.

Neia drank her wine and thought, 'I see, he has an eye to recruitment.'

When she swallowed, she held out her cup to be refilled, and as he did so, she answered, "I can't speak for all my people, but that is one reason for me, as the Sorcerer King once told me, nobody can have two masters and serve them both well, he must love the one and hate the other, or hate the one and love the other, but one person cannot give the whole of themselves to two hearts and two minds and two goals. I am dedicated to the will of the great god of Justice, Ainz Ooal Gown. Any work I do, serves that purpose now." She said.

"And if I offer to hire you to train the rest of my household guard when we return?" He asked.

"Then I can only accept if it serves the cause of my master, he trusts me," she blushed at the memory of Ainz's apology to her, and the joy of learning of his trust, "to serve his interests well, so I have latitude in that respect."

"The Sorcerer King engages in trade." He said.

"He does," she said. "What of it?"

"You also desire to spread your message." He said.

"I do," she said. "What of it?" she repeated.

"It would be easier for you to spread your message, if your people had

the means to travel widely, wouldn't it?" Tinamoc asked.

"It would," she said.

"If your religion grows, do you plan to eliminate or promote trade?" He asked.

"Promote." She said. "The Sorcerer King has said that strength comes in many forms, in mind and body, and as long as the strength is attained justly, it is right in his eyes that people have it. Honest merchants are thriving in E-Rantel from what I have heard. You may never lift a blade, but you are a man with the strength to shape the world for the better, and from what I see, you have done so, giving fair prices to people you could have gouged, and allowing debtors to work their debt off without interest, rather than having them punished for their poverty."

He bowed his head, accepting the praise. "This caravan is not my only one, I usually have caravans moving everywhere throughout the Holy Kingdom and beyond. I will pay for the services of your people as guards, then they may evangelize and spread your message far and wide. This would be greatly to your advantage, all I ask in return is your security, the favor of mentioning my name as a reliable and able merchant to the Sorcerer King when next you meet him, and also, one more thing." He said, letting the unspoken request linger in the air for a moment.

"Yes?" She asked with some suspicion in her voice at the 'considerably beneficial' arrangement.

"Tell me more of the Sorcerer King, and of his justice." He said, and a smile lit up Neia's face in the fire, as the servant began to ladle stew into bowls for them both.

They spoke well into the night, until the need for sleep overtook them both, and they went to their respective places of rest. The next day began quickly, with camp being broken and the people of the caravan continuing towards a village. They heard the village before they saw it, because it was enduring what sounded like a riot, Neia halted the caravan, ordered security established and called forth her scouts. They rode together as swiftly as they could to find out what the ruckus was.

The cause of the disturbance was soon made very clear, a man was bound to a stake in the center of the village, he was naked, bruised and battered. His face was cut, his jaw was broken and he was missing teeth, some of which were scattered among the rocks that had fallen round him, despite his severe injury to his face, he was still cutting loose with a wail of agony and very mangled pleas for mercy along with cries of his innocence.

The mob was so thoroughly into their bloodlust that if they noticed his cries, they did not care, and they did not notice Neia or her escorts at all. She gestured for her scouts to stay back, and rode forward. Still, nobody noticed the fearsome sight behind them until Neia's horse started to make people notice by pushing them out of the way, prompting sudden cries of surprise, then anger, then fear as she got to the front, and got between the mob and the half dead man.

Frightened by the sudden appearance of the unexpected, the peasant mob did not have it in them to throw another stone, and those ready to do so, slowly lowered their hands.

"What is the meaning of this?!" Neia shouted fiercely. The horses of her scouts stirred, and noise prompted the mob to look to the entry to the village. With the scouts in front and in back, Neia removed her visor, and revealed her menacing eyes to the mob, "I SAID… what is the MEANING of this?! Who is in charge here?! Bring out your mayor!"

The mob parted around one man, showing a middle-aged figure in common clothing, still holding a rock, his eyes were wide at the unexpected sight in front of him, and as Neia's eyes fell to his hand, he let loose his grip and dropped the rock.

"I am Neia Baraja, and you will answer me!" She snapped, remembering the way the Sorcerer King spoke when giving orders, and imitating it to the best of her now considerable ability. This prompted the mayor to jump slightly at the startling reveal of whom she was. Her name was now well known among the commoners, as was unsurprising. As the personal and only squire of the Sorcerer King and the rumored killer of Grand King Busar, her name was growing in fame.

As the sound of soft gossiping came from the crowd, the now very nervous mayor answered, "This man," he gestured to the injured figure, "is a murderer. He came to our village a few days ago as a landless wanderer, he asked to stay and work, and we were willing to let him. Farming always needs extra hands and all that, but then he murdered Arry, broke in, stole a few of his things, and tried to escape. We caught up with him down the road this morning, found Array's things in his satchel, and now we're bringing him to justice by sending him to the gods." The mayor said, "Arry wasn't my best friend or anything, but he was part of the village, and we can't let people go around killing our own, can we? What do you expect us to do? We got no judges, we got no guards, we barely got a priest. We got to see to everything ourselves, and if its slow, well what else do murderers deserve?!" The mayor managed to finish passionately.

Neia nodded, "I understand." She got down off her horse and approached the man, he quivered and shook and tried to shrink away from her, blubbering as he did so, she knelt next to him and grabbed his hair and forced his head up to look into her eyes, she searched his face with her piercing gaze, she looked for malice and cruelty, she looked for the evil she'd seen in so many others, and try as she might, she couldn't find anything but fear of more pain, not even rage at those who had hurt him, just a longing for it to end. She wondered if they'd broken him that badly, that there was nothing evil left, only pitiable things, but she had her doubts, so she pulled out a purple potion from her satchel and poured it over him. His condition quickly improved, his bruises faded, cuts closed, his jaw reset, and teeth regrew. He actually… didn't look that bad. She grabbed his head again and forced him to look into her eyes even as the crowd cried out in shock and anger.

"Why'd you heal him for! Why'd you heal him for! He killed my Arry! He killed my Arry! He deserves to die!" A young woman who was obviously Arry's widow, screamed out.

"Quiet!" Neia snapped. "If he is guilty, then all this means is you get to hurt him a whole lot more, all over again, before he finally does die." That seemed to mollify the woman, who took on a predatory smile.

"What's your name?" Neia asked.

"Tiksin" He said softly, as he tried to move to keep from seeing the widow's gaze.

"Did you do it?" Neia asked the bound, naked, helpless man.

"Nooooooo!" He said, sobbing as if he'd wanted to say that for hours, "I swear I didn't kill nobody, I got my pay and left, I swear I wasn't running, I was just moving on to get to the Capital!" As Neia looked at him, she couldn't find any hint of evil in his look as he locked eyes with her and said, "I swear, by whatever gods you believe in, I didn't hurt nobody."

Neia looked over her shoulder at the mayor, "How far down the road did you catch him?" She asked.

"I don't know exactly how far, but we caught up with him in about fifteen minutes." The Mayor said.

"On horseback?" Neia asked.

"No, on foot." The mayor answered.

"He was on the road?" Neia asked.

"Yes." The mayor replied, his eyes narrowing.

"Strange, don't you think?" She asked.

"What's that?" The mayor asked.

"Well, he kills a man in his own home the night before, doesn't steal a horse and leave, instead, he just packs a few knick-knacks worth a few coins, waits until morning, and leaves on the road, walking away like he'd done absolutely nothing? Is that what you would do if you'd just killed a man?" Neia asked.

"Well… no." Said the mayor.

"Where was Arry killed?" Neia asked.

"He was in his home, in bed, obviously he died while he was still sleep." The mayor said.

"Where were you?" Neia asked Arry's widow.

"I was with my parents, they were both very sick, so I was taking care of them."

Neia thought carefully. She looked up at her scouts, "I need nine of you to go back, tell the caravan that all is well, but to wait a few hours before approaching." As she gave her orders, she moved her forefinger in a circle, quietly giving them a more covert instruction.

"So why kill him? It would have been much easier to just take a few things and walk out with nobody the wiser, and you're much more likely to notice a dead body than a few missing items. Tell me, did everyone know where Tiksin was sleeping?" Neia asked.

"Yes." The mayor said. "He was allowed to sleep in storehouse."

"I see." Neia said, "Has Arry been buried yet? I need to see the body."

"No, he's due to be buried after we kill this murderer." The mayor said.

"Take me to it, you and his widow." Neia said, and for good measure in one swift motion she drew her bow, an arrow, and fired at the post with strength augmented by her martial arts and struck the spot a few inches above where Arry was bound. The arrow sank into the wood, and came out the other side, drawing a hushed silence from the mob. "Nobody goes anywhere till I get back, anyone I do have to chase, better hope they're faster than that arrow." She said, and the most unhappy mayor walked next to the most unhappy widow, leading her to a small on the altar, lay the body of a young man. He must have been good looking when he was alive, still was... sort of, in the sense that you could see that his jaw was strong and his body was well muscled. There was, however, a hole in his head. Neia looked at it and thought of the various ways people could die… an area she had much experience with observing. This wasn't a knife wound, or a mace, or an arrow, no weapon she knew could do this, the way the hole curved was strange.

She started to think of the various things that could kill a man that ordinary people used for ordinary things.

"Does Tiksin have a knife?" She asked.

"He did." The mayor replied.

"So why didn't he use it?" Neia asked. If he intended to kill this man when he broke into his home, why not use that? Why use… whatever made this?"

The mayor didn't reply, neither did the widow.

Neia looked at the woman, "Show me Arry's home. Mayor, come with me as well." The woman had gone from furious and vengeful, to very confused, but she obeyed and agreed to lead Neia, and very soon they were inside a small cottage. "Tell me, do you know where he kept the things that were taken?" She nodded. "He kept his mother's necklace in a box under the bed, and he kept his father's silver statuette in a small cupboard he could lock."

"And he kept it locked?" Neia asked. She nodded.

"And the key?" She asked the widow again.

"It was kept in the bottom drawer with his shirts...why?" The widow replied.

"Open each of the drawers." Neia said.

The widow looked at her twice in confusion, but then obeyed. The two top drawers were orderly, only the bottom drawer had materials scattered as if rummaged through.

"The killer knew what to look for. He knew where to find it, he knew how to get to it, and he knew he wouldn't be interrupted. Does that sound like any stranger to you?" Neia said.

Both the widow and the mayor turned pale as their heads shook.

"So let me see if I have this right… the wanderer shows up into town, does some honest work for a few days, then in the middle of the night, he goes to Arry's house unarmed, he finds Arry asleep, he kills him with "something" that was large and heavy and had a curved spike, he then goes to exactly the right drawer, gets the key, unlocks the cupboard in the dark, and then goes directly under the bed and nowhere else to find the only other thing of value, and then he leaves. He then waits around all night until morning, gets breakfast and his pay for his previous work, and leaves on the road without any means of escape, having taken with him the exact evidence needed to show that he's the thief, and he keeps that evidence in his pack on his person for you to find when you catch up with him. Does all that sound like something anybody, even a half wit, would do?" Neia asked.

"No… no I suppose not." The mayor said.

"But he had Arry's things!" the widow replied, "How'd that happen?!"

"I think that the killer didn't come here to steal, he came to kill Arry. He walked in with the murder weapon, killed Arry, and took the objects he knew would be recognized, and he knew where those things were because he'd seen them before, Arry knew his killer, the killer then put those objects in the pack of Tiksin knowing that they would result in you all concluding that he'd committed the crime. The killer is somebody in this village. The question is, who would want Arry dead?" Neia asked.

The mayor and the widow looked down, after a long moment, the widow spoke up, "Arry wasn't a bad man, but..."

"He wasn't popular." The mayor said.

"Anyone have any special reason to hate him?" Neia asked.

"The priest accused him of blasphemy and heresy for when he told the man to work in the field with everyone else. Called him a lazy drunkard," his widow said.

"The priest does like his wine… but who doesn't?" The mayor said.

"The baker accused Arry of flirting with his wife..." The mayor continued.

"Which isn't true!" the widow snapped. "Arry was a good husband, if a bit loud mouthed."

"The blacksmith said Arry owed him money for fixing his mattock, and Arry said he wasn't going to pay for a shit job."

The widow answered, "And it was a shit job!" The mayor added, "But only because Arry was in too much of a hurry to get it back."

Her eyes widened, "Show me his mattock." She said. The widow went to the front door and closed it, and there behind it sat a mattock in very poor condition, the head with the curved spike was in a very wobbly state. Neia held out her hand, and the widow brought the mattock to her and handed it over.

"This is the murder weapon." Neia said as she lifted the head and stroked the spike to trace the curve, recalling the shape of the hole in Arry's head. "But not this exact one. Does Tiksin have one of his own?" This prompted negative replies.

"Does everyone have one?" Neia asked.

"Yes." Both replied in unison.

"Are they kept locked up?" She asked.

"Yes," the widow replied, in our homes at least, for all the security that gave to Arry."

"It's time to solve the murder." Neia said.

They went with her with great curiosity, and Neia stood beside Tiksin as the mayor and widow went among the crowd again and began whispering among the people about the strange series of questions they had endured.

"Tiksin is innocent." Neia said sharply.

The mob began to get rowdy and loud, and Neia drew her sword, causing it to die down as they saw the unflinching gaze turn to each of them in turn.

"This was not a robbery gone wrong, the killer knew who Arry was, he knew where Arry kept his only valuables, he found those valuables in the dark, he brought a murder weapon with him, he struck Arry while he was asleep and helpless, and he planted those small trinkets into Tiksin's pack, knowing where Tiksin slept, and knowing he would be blamed. Arry was not stabbed, he was bludgeoned, and Tiksin had a knife but no other tools of his own. Someone saw the opportunity to take his life when his wife was known to be away and not coming back to interrupt him, and when there was a stranger around to take the blame. Now we're going to find out who the killer is."

The crowd began to mutter, "Bring forth the priest, the blacksmith, and the baker." Neia said, and three voices were raised in protest, "NOW!" Neia barked in her command voice, and three men were quickly pushed to the front of the crowd. "Bind them!" She snapped, "One of THEM is the killer!"

Neia kept her voice authoritative and beyond question, and held the gazes of the mob, as the mayor said, "Obey her." That was all it took, and the crowd quickly secured the protesting three.

Neia scanned the crowd and pointed to a group of children. "You three, run to the houses of the priest, the baker, and the blacksmith, one of you to each residence, and bring back the mattocks of each man. She pulled out three gold coins." "There is one of these for each of you if you're back here quickly." That got them moving, and in a few minutes, each of the three had returned.

Each of the mattocks was free of blood.

"See!" One of the men said, "They got no blood on em, couldn'ta been anyone here!"

"This one is uncommonly clean, don't you think?" Neia said, pointing to one of the mattocks, "sort of convenient that it would be cleaned just when one was used in a murder the night before?" Neia asked. She was right, where two of the mattocks were encrusted with dirt from breaking up the ground, one of them was almost spotless.

"Well I don't really use mine..." Said one man, obviously the priest, "my flock is usually generous and kind enough to help me, and they bring their own tools so..."

"True." Neia said, "That might explain it, but this will tell us the truth."

Neia then went and took up each mattock, one by one, and laid them up against the wall of a house, "Priest." she said as she placed his, "Blacksmith." She said as she placed his, "Baker." She said as she placed his.

As they lay propped up against the house, the mob of villagers looked very confused, but Neia only looked bored as she turned her back and watched, and at first nothing happened, and people wondered if she was waiting for the tools to speak or act or do something... and then... something did happen.

A fly happened.

First one, then two, then three, then five more, all of them buzzing around one mattock, the mattock of the priest.

"You may have washed the blood off of your murder weapon so that we couldn't see it, "Neia said coldly, "But as any soldier can tell you, flies love blood, and they will congregate where it falls, even if we can't see it, they know it is there, especially when it is relatively fresh and hasn't been completely removed. And unfortunately for you, that can't be done just by dumping a bucket of water over it or whatever you did, you have to do a thorough job, and fool their ability to smell, not just our ability to see. Free the others, the priest is the guilty party." Neia announced, and the voices of the mob became a chorus, prompting Neia to draw her sword and slash at the post where poor Tiksin still crouched, and cut the post in half.

The wood fell to the ground with a thud, which again stilled the mob.

"What I want to know is why." Neia said as the baker and the blacksmith were cut loose.

The priest began to howl in outrage, "How dare you question me?! How DARE you?! He deserved to die! He was a blasphemer! He was a heretic! He was cursed by the gods themselves and deserved his end for daring to challenge the servant of the gods! Who are you to question me?!" He shrieked out.

Neia was quick with her answer. "I am the servant of the god of justice, the one true god still in this world, Ainz Ooal Gown, and his justice gives me the right to correct injustice!" Neia's voice became as thunder over the ongoing shrieking of the priest,

"I had every right to kill him! It was my right! It was my right! It was my..." The priest shrieked, and then the fist of Neia Baraja broke his jaw.

"Hurt for hurt, kindness for kindness." She said and turned to the villagers. "You may kill the priest now. I will take custody of Tiksin, but I will EXPECT," she said sharply, "that you will make proper restitution to him in time, given all you put him through!" The villagers had the good graces to look deeply ashamed of themselves and what they had already done, and nearly had finished doing.

Neia drew her bow, then nocked and fired an arrow into the air, prompting her scouts to return. "Thank you all, turned out to be no need for you to circle the village, the killer could not escape, and the crowd did not become a problem." Neia told the group of mounted men.

She motioned for Tiksin to get on to the back of one of the horses of her scouts, and as she mounted her own horse again she said, "I will be coming back soon, along with me will be a merchant caravan, we will set up next to the village to do our trade, try to have that thing's body out of here before we arrive." Neia said, as she circled around the post where someone was binding the priest, she spat on the priest's face from atop her horse and rode away.

"Thank you!" The widow shouted behind her, "Thank you! Thank you! My Arry can rest easy in his grave now! Thank you!"

Neia waved behind her, sure at least that her band would have a few very good friends in the village when they arrived, and silently thanking Ainz for the learning she gained in the training she had gained in the library of Ashurbanipal.


	8. Seizing Opportunities

God Rising

Chapter Eight

Neia rode back to the merchant caravan feeling pretty good about herself. There wasn't any reason not to, justice was done. When she arrived Tinamoc was there at the head of the caravan waiting for her, and she quickly briefed him on what she'd encountered. He listened patiently, his eyes widening as he heard how she'd solved the crime, "Where did you learn how to do that?" He asked.

She smiled broadly, with her vicious eyes hidden by her visor, her bright smile gave the impression of a joyful young girl, and she answered in a cheerful voice that matched her wide smile, "In the library of Ashurbanipal."

"Where is that? What is that?" He asked.

"It is the repository of all the world's knowledge, put together by the Supreme Beings under the leadership of the God of Justice, Ainz Ooal Gown. He graciously permitted me the chance to learn there, and the experience was..." she sighed blissfully before continuing, "Absolutely amazing. He gave me a teacher of great wisdom, and access to his tomes of knowledge, he let me learn the deep ways of coin, of justice, of law, of grand strategy, and many other things. Though I barely scratched the surface of the knowledge there, the learning I acquired has opened my eyes to the how the world works in ways I never dreamt of." She could not help but keep her smile on.

Tinamoc replied with awe in his voice, "Come, ride with me up front, I'd like to speak some more." He raised his hand high over his head, and brought it down forward, and the caravan began to move again as the scouts reclaimed their positions, after having deposited Tiksin in one of the wagons.

The wind blew gently over them as they began to creak forward again, and Tinamoc looked at the world around him, the greens and browns of nature, the low stone wall, broken in places by time or demihumans, and said, "You know, I didn't grow up wealthy. I came from a village like the one we're going to." He said. Neia looked at him in surprise.

"Oh?" She said, curious as to where he was going.

He laughed slightly, with a hint of bitterness in his voice "Oddly enough, I 'shouldn't' have grown up that way, by rights with a better family I'd have had a solid education and been brought up to do this… but that is a story I'd rather not go into with you just now… " he sighed and shook his head, then continued and although Neia looked at him with curiosity, she chose not to probe, but allowed him to go on uninterrupted. "Regardless of the obstacles however, I attained my station in life because I pursued knowledge, I sought to understand why people parted with money and how they used it to best effect, I learned how to use money to make more money. I began with, of all things, turtle shells."

He laughed as he thought back, "I caught turtles, cooked the meat into a stew, and then sold the shells to use as bowls. Then I used the money from that to buy beer, which I chilled in a river, and then I took that and sold it to workers in the field when they were at their hottest." Neia listened as he regaled his way up from a basket, to a cart, to a wagon and more, "...and now here I am, the greatest merchant in the Holy Kingdom. What you talk about with your time learning under your god reminded me of how I learned my lessons when I was… well, let's just say younger than I am now." He chuckled a little as he joked about his age.

"Still," he said, "you seem to have studied more broadly than I have, in service of your master. When this is done, and the capital is rebuilt, and you have your temple, what then?" Tinamoc asked.

"Whatever my god commands of me." She said, "Though given a choice, I would like to imitate what I have heard he did in E-Rantel."

"Which is?" Tinamoc prompted.

"He established an orphanage for the children of the soldiers who died fighting against him." She said admiringly.

Tinamoc's eyes widened.

"The children… of his enemies?" He asked in almost disbelief, Neia's hands tightened on the reins of her horse.

"Yes. As I heard the story, he said that children cannot be held accountable for the sins of their parents, and he assigned one of his personal maids to oversee the entire project." Neia's voice was filled with admiration.

"That is… practically unheard of." Tinamoc said.

"The Sorcerer King IS justice." Said Neia with iron finality in her voice.

They rode in silence for a while as Tinamoc contemplated all he had heard, and soon they arrived at the village. Neia turned behind her and shouted, "Circle wagons for the night, to the left of the village, establish camp perimeter and watch!" The wagons gradually began to divert, following her instructions as she and Tinamoc rode back into the village itself. The priest was gone, but a fair number of teeth were still scattered about, as were copious amounts of what was clearly fresh blood, the post, what was left of it, was stained as well, however the priest had died it hadn't been painless… but they'd gotten rid of the body like Neia had asked, so as far as she was concerned, everything was fine.

The arrival of the merchant caravan was a big day for the village, because merchants meant services, more tools to acquire and people who could fix the ones they already had, it meant people buying their crops and other goods, and it meant a chance to acquire materials from the city, and for the few who wanted to go out of the village and travel it meant a chance to travel with a group for greater safety.

Despite the grim happenings of the earlier events, the hardy peasants were not about to let that ruin the day for them. An impromptu festival was thrown, and trade thrived. Tinamoc for his part didn't really engage much, he seemed to prefer to watch as things unfolded, and his caravans collected coin and traded for specific goods he desired to carry forward elsewhere. Wheat was high on the list of his priorities, and the village was happy to oblige.

Neia on the other hand, went to visit with the mayor as soon as he was done paying his respects to Tinamoc, and she found him just as he was heading back to his home. "Mayor," she began, "I'm sorry it turned out to be your priest who was responsible for Arry's death."

The mayor shrugged, "I never liked him anyway. He was arrogant, he was cruel, and he was lazy, I'm sure the temples will send another to replace him, but that won't solve our problems any more than the last one did. Blessing the ground is good, but we still need hands to work the fields and since the war we've had too few of those, and the priest's only answer was that it was a test of the gods."

The mayor let out a sigh of frustration as he walked, and Neia reached out and touched his shoulder. "I think I have a solution for you." She said, "Can we speak privately?"

The mayor nodded, and opened the door of his home, it was slightly larger than the others, having an open area with a table and a desk and several chairs, distinct from Arry's home, which had less space and no desk. A slight perk for the mayoral position, she supposed.

They sat at the table across from one another and Neia took the initiative. "I am the leader of the Black Justice faith, we serve the god, Ainz Ooal Gown, and his ideals of justice through strength."

"That sounds odd, given your earlier method of solving the murder of poor Arry." The mayor said. "You didn't exactly beat the truth out of anyone. The reality of the matter is… I'd never seen anyone do just what you did, before."

"The justice of the Sorcerer King is about more than blood and magic, strength can come in many forms, strength of mind as much as strength of body, and during my time training in his sacred halls, I learned the tiniest fragment of the arts he offers to his people. You know how he came among us to save our country from Jaldabaoth? The King of any country, risking his own life for people at all is rare, but how much more so, to do so for those who are not his own, to go to another country and personally rescue them as if they were his children? Yet he did it, and his justice made him stronger, even as our weakness made us weaker. I have come to understand that he is the true god in this world, the one true god worth following, who does not just accept our prayers, he offers us the means to have them answered. If your people will accept it, I will send one of Black Justice here to serve as a priest, and along with that," she took a deep breath, "I can also solve your manpower problem."

"How?" The mayor asked with tentative optimism in his voice.

"The undead." Neia said, and then quickly continued before he could object. "I have seen them work, mere skeletons pose little threat, but they do not tire, have considerable strength, require no food or water, a dozen undead can do in a week what it takes fifty men a month to do, and without the same cost. Your fields are not that large, fifty undead would be able to see to the whole thing."

She made her pitch, and the mayor imagined what having such a labor force could mean for production, "Has this really been done before?" He asked.

"The dwarves and the Empire have both been using his undead for quite some time, the dwarves for mining and the Empire for both mining and farming, the Sorcerous Kingdom has been using them around Carne Village with great success, and E-Rantel has been using undead as guards, administrators, and farmers since he took over. There is precedent, and in all this time, not a single incident has occurred." She replied.

"At what cost?" He asked.

"The Sorcerer King has been renting them out and charging a percentage of the yield increase. For example, if you were to harvest ten bushels, and the skeletons increased it to one hundred bushels, the Sorcerer King only charges a percentage of the ninety-bushel increase and that leaves ample profit to be had." She replied.

"I see." The mayor said. "You have me in a spot here, I presume that when you leave tomorrow morning, you won't make the same offer?" He asked.

"I won't be here to do it, and who knows when I will come again? If you don't take this, another village will." She said. "I suppose you could just ask the temples for help, I'm sure they can send another priest, maybe he'll be willing to work the plow with you." They both laughed at that, even among good priests, they were useless as farmers.

"Alright." The mayor said. "Send your request to your people, ask them to send one of their own as a priest to replace the useless lump of a murderer we just rid ourselves of, and we will rent fifty skeletons as laborers on a trial basis." He said.

"I will send word at once, but will your people accept the undead?" She asked.

"I will tell them the promise of prosperity was made by Neia Baraja, hero of the Holy Kingdom and of our village, who brought down a murderer in our midst. When they learn that your skills came from your god's instruction, I think they will be more than willing, and if they are not, I will step down as mayor." He said.

"Very well." Neia said, then she stood and removed her glove, then stuck out her hand and the mayor clasped it firmly. Each one noticed the hands of the other, calloused, strong, the product of hard work, one with combat, the other with mattock, but they saw in one another a common bond of people who had to work for what they had, and they each felt that much better about their bargain, Neia that it was right to help them, and the mayor that Neia could be trusted.

They parted ways, and the rest of the afternoon and evening was spent in comfort, though they kept a firm watch, nothing else happened, and in the morning, Tinamoc was ready almost as soon as Neia and her people were, the caravan rolled out, with people waving goodbye to the village and the village waving goodbye to the caravan, with messages left to be dispatched and goods purchased packed up, the mood was all around positive when the view of small homes was left behind.

The next few days were uneventful, which made the journey far more pleasant as far as they were concerned. Neia took advantage of the time to evangelize the virtues of Ainz Ooal Gown to the caravan, the guards had already converted en masse and were learning the Black Justice fighting style as they learned its philosophy, the merchants under Tinamoc had come to see Ainz' justice through the eyes of profit, and when Neia began to speak of coin, their eyes lit up.

"What happens if this man," she gestured to one of the merchants, "cheats everyone he does business with? Will you do business with him thereafter?" She asked.

"No. We will take him before the judge" Was a persistent answer.

"And if you cannot get justice through the courts of law because he is powerful, what way is left to right was done to you?" She asked.

There were dark mutterings, but one answered, "A knife in the dark."

Neia nodded. "Just so. And if an entire kingdom is so corrupt that no man can trust another to keep his oath, and no man can trust his goods will not be taken from him, and no merchant can trust that wrongs done to him, even blatant theft, will be made right… how long can trade flourish?" She asked sharply.

"It won't." A merchant answered.

"Correct," she said, "it will be a country of bandits, and even the strongest bandit, is fundamentally weak because he is never secure against revenge. Thus, it is in all our interests, even where a moment's opportunity for fraud may occur, to behave honestly. Is it not inconsistent to expect to be treated justly while we deprive others of justice? The god of justice loves honest scales and honest coin and honest subjects, there is no wrong in profit, if the profit is gained in such a way that it renders strength to the society by reinforcing the common trust that must exist between stranger, neighbor, or even close held lover. For example, what happens if you employ unpaid slaves to do your work? You save money, yes, but do the slaves go out into town to buy things for themselves?" She asked.

They looked at her as if she'd grown a second head. "Of course not," she said, "and if they buy nothing, to whom are the rest of you selling? If everybody does this, you have destroyed your market and left only a handful of buyers, and then the sellers gradually lose money, and soon the whole market collapses, but if you hire free people and pay them well, they will buy goods and they help create an economy that generates new wealth by meeting their demands. It is through the justice of choice that we strengthen ourselves and paying fair wages will increase wealth for all!"

As her speech went on, she found herself grateful to the authors who filled the library, to Hume, to Smith, to Socrates and Euthyphro, who gave her the perspectives she now shared, prompting a merchant to say, "How did you… you're not a merchant, you're an archer, a fighter… and okay, yes a speaker, but we who are merchants have never heard things like this before, how did you come by this?"

"In the library of Ashurbanipal, the god I serve values strength of mind as much as body and offers it freely to those who serve his ideals of justice in creating the perfect world." She replied enthusiastically.

One of the merchants took a deep long drink of wine and set it down, "I gained my wealth by learning the ways of coin and trade, I thought my strength was in my wealth, but the truth is that my strength is knowledge, it's the same for all of us, our knowledge gains us profit, if the justice of this god of hers is able to provide the very basis of all I've ever acquired, how can I NOT pay attention?" He said. There were nods and mutterings of general agreement.

Neia went to bed quite pleased with herself, the strength of Ainz Ooal Gown and his ideals of justice were taking root along her journey, she prayed her god would be pleased when he learned of her efforts, and they did not slacken as she passed through more villages, and those who lacked priests, she offered to provide those of her denomination, and where they lacked labor, she sweetened the deal by offering the chance at undead labor, and sending out more missives for both objectives.

Most of a month passed before another real problem presented itself. As was part of the usual routine the scouts rode ahead to spy for trouble, and that was when they found the bandits. They were moving in on an actual town, not a mere village, leading to a quick decision among their ranks. Nine rushed into the town to raise the alarm, while the remainder rushed back to the caravan and informed Neia.

She turned to Tinamoc, "I know we are to guard you, but if we do nothing, we'll arrive to find corpses, and chances are we'll face the bandits anyway."

Tinamoc was a shrewd man, but not a cruel one, and he responded, "Very well, we will draw up a defensive position here, you take your people and see to the town."

The orders were barked out swiftly and Black Justice rode hard behind the scout. To their surprise, there wasn't a battle taking place… yet. Instead as they looked around, they saw an arrow leave the tree line near the town. A few minutes later, from another part of the forest, they saw it again. And as they watched, the town's militia continued to take its place along the walls, among them, Neia did not see her scouts, and after a moment's confusion, a broad smile dawned. "Those clever bastards." She said.

"What is it Lady Neia?" One of the men said.

"It's a ruse, the scouts warned the town and then went into the woods, the arrows look like signals, and the bandits are confused, they don't know if there is another group like themselves out there with their own plan of attack, so they're waiting to see what happens. That gave us time to get here." She laughed, and pointed into the woods, "See, there is one of them over there just beyond the field, he's watching everything happen and reporting it back."

"So... what do we do now?" Her companion asked.

"Well," she said, "that depends on the bandit, if he's decisive and clever he'll realize eventually it's just a trick, and then he'll attack, if he's fearful and cowardly, he'll withdraw completely. If he withdraws, we keep a man on him to warn any other potential targets, send out word for soldiers to be dispatched to this area to hunt for him, and go about our business, I'd rather not fight him on his own ground. But if he chooses to attack, we strike as soon as he's engaged, and they give us nice clumped targets to shoot at." She said calmly, and right about that moment, movement along the forest revealed the bandit's temperament, it was a group of minor demihumans, only about two hundred in number, and looking rather the worse for wear. Considering the previous battle against a larger group of demihumans, this was going to be very easy.

She took out her bow, as did the rest of her people, and they nocked their first arrow. They held their draw patiently, breathing slowly in and out as the advance continued, then the demihumans hit the wall, she shouted, "Loose!" and a hundred arrows, followed by a hundred more, followed by a hundred more, followed by a hundred more, followed by a hundred more, filled the air before the first ones struck.

Cycle after cycle in rapid succession, augmented by martial arts to put power and speed into the shot, the arrows riddled the bodies of the demihumans. It was only then, as demihumans died screaming in shock, pain, and fear, that Neia shouted, "Charge!" and they rode full tilt towards the demihuman lines, firing from horseback as they went, wreaking havoc on the flank of the demihuman line. Numbers of them had gone down or were at least injured, but their tough hardy bodies were not easily brought low. As the distance shrank, Neia and those at her back returned their bows and drew swords. Neia's evangelical voice gave power to her war cry as she leaned forward and stood up in the saddle. She swept her sword out in a practiced manner and decapitated a centaur as easily as one would slice a melon in half. The powerful impact of the fearless hundred and one into the much weakened position scattered even large demihuman figures like a boulder rolling downhill would knock over tall grass.

She raised and lowered her sword with mechanical efficiency, striking at necks, or thrusting, stabbing at eyes, her soldiers flowed around her like water, getting at the rear of the line while the militia at the walls rained down rocks and arrows on the rest. Neia's horse took a spear through the neck and began to collapse. She, however, was already moving. She pushed herself backwards out of the saddle before it teetered all the way over and fell with a sickening thud and a desperate whinny of pain. Landing in the dirt, she crouched low and rocked back on her heels to minimize the impact, then used the crouch to spring forward at the killer of her mount and shoved her sword through his gut. He was a large centaur, thickly muscled, and though wounded he tried to grab at her blade. Neia snarled at him with a ferocity that a few years ago was unimaginable, and she locked her eyes with his and put terror into his soul as he saw the darkness whorl within them and a shout left her lips that made him quail within himself, as if she were the true monster. His body was badly weakened by the loss of his fighting spirit… and the sword sticking in it, and with the activation of a martial art, she ripped her sword to his left and opened up his gut, spilling his intestines and bringing down his tough pony body just as surely as he had brought down her own horse.

The fighting everywhere was intense, but between their constant practice, martial arts, and superior equipment, as well as the element of surprise, they began to make quick work of the unprepared foe, which prompted the defenders on the wall to redouble their efforts, caught between walls they couldn't breach and swords they couldn't overwhelm, they went from having superior numbers of fighters, to having a superior number of corpses in short order. The remaining few seemed to have a 'never say die' attitude and they fought to the last, but it was over long before the last ogre fell.

Cheers went up from inside the walls, and Neia had the distinct expectation that they'd get a very warm welcome.

 **AN: Sorry for the formatting error. Fucking FFN.**


	9. The Seed of a Schism is Planted

Neia's expectation was quite right. Her scouts met her at the gate, but even before the gates opened, the cheers went up, one soldier was sent back to the caravan to tell them it was safe to move on the town, but for the present Neia and her band walked in and found people, civilians and militia wearing what she now regarded as subpar equipment, cheering on either side. Others who had fought from the walls, still stood at their positions reveling in the relief of getting to live another day, and Neia and her warriors went forward silently, bearing the look of mythic heroes. Their dark uniforms and intimidating weapons and obvious strength seemed to light the ecstatic hearts of the town on fire.

Just beyond the crowd, an elderly woman rested on a cane and a priest stood beside her, and when Neia and her formation came near, the pair knelt before her and her warrior band. 'Rise,' she said, 'there is no need to kneel to me, I but serve the will of my god...though I do a fairly good job of it. ' She said with a friendly smile at the end, and she reached out and helped the old lady stand.

'Thank you.' The priest said with a voice that still shook, if you had not come, those...monsters...would have made it inside, and I dare say I do not think we could have pushed them back.'

'No. Probably not.' Neia replied flatly. 'But I was glad to render my assistance. We of the Holy Kingdom must help one another, otherwise, what point is there to being a kingdom?' She said simply.

'I am Agni Vespas, mayor of this town.' The old lady said, 'Who might you be?' She asked.

'I am Neia Baraja, and behind me stand the fighters of our faith, Black Justice.' She said, gesturing to those behind her.

A hush fell over the area as she stated her name.

'Neia Baraja...' The priest said, 'Squire of the Sorcerer King?'

'The same.' Neia replied. The priests voice was one of shock, it didn't tell her how he felt about that, so she pressed on. 'I've come here escorting the merchant Tinamoc and his caravan, we have a three month loop around the Holy Kingdom, trading supplies, picking up and dropping off passengers, that kind of thing, and a fragment of the warriors of Black Justice have been detached under my leadership to ensure their safety for the journey. Can I ask that they be allowed to set up shop outside the gate, as well as be granted personal entry into the town for rest, recreation, and other commerce?' Neia said to the mayor, and Agni was quick to turn the charming smile on Neia, 'Of course! How could we deny the saviors of our town today, let alone the servant of the savior of our nation?'

Agni was quick to scatter the crowd with instructions to go and loot the bodies of the dead demihumans.

'Make sure you have them burned as well.' Neia added, 'Doing so will ensure they do not spread disease here.' Agni looked confused, but she added the order for them to be piled together outside the town and burned.

When the instructions were done and the people were in action, Agni asked Neia, 'Would you like to join me for dinner at my residence tonight, you and the merchant Tinamoc?'

'Assuming he has no other requirements of me, I can break away for that.' Neia said with a bright smile that she used often before crowds.

It clearly had a charming effect on both Agni and the priest, because when she invited him as well, the priest was quick to reply with acceptance. Neia took the moment to look them both over more clearly.

Agni wore relatively simple garb, similar to the other commoners, the only difference was a silver pendant that hung from her neck, 'Probably signifying her badge of office.' Neia thought. The priest, to his credit, was dressed in no finer garb than hers, his priestly robes were a faded off white and of simple make, he wore no jewels and when Neia looked at his hands on his staff, she saw the marks of labor, her opinion of this priest went up several notches, and she found herself looking forward to the evening meal.

'Did you have any injured or killed?' Neia asked.

'A few minor injuries in the first minute or two, but nothing significant, they hadn't got the ladders up by the time your arrows and your people were brought to bear.' Agni answered, 'How about you, how many do we need to bury?' She asked sadly, going up against demihumans was an ugly thing.

'None.' Neia said. 'These were weak, very weak.' She said as if it was the most natural thing in the world to take on demihumans and come away without a casualty.

Agni and the priest shared a look of marvel.

'None? No dead at all?' She asked.

'But you fought them hand to hand outside the walls!' The priest exclaimed.

'Correct, no dead, and yes, we did fight them outside the walls, but we fought on our terms with better skill and equipment after catching them by surprise, I'd be very much surprised if we suffered any deaths at all under those conditions. Maybe if they'd been stronger or seen us coming or been better armed...but this? This was nothing, we butchered a much larger force of much better prepared demihumans just...what...a week ago or so? Time runs together on this kind of trip.' She said with a dismissive shrug.

'How many dead then?' The priest asked.

'Also none. Though we had a few injured.' Neia said, prompting gasps of surprise.

When Tinamoc arrived, the bonfire of demihuman bodies was already lit and the smoke had risen high, his eyes widened, but as he thought about it, he didn't really know why, they'd already killed worse than this under worse conditions.

The merchant and his people began to establish their positions outside the gate, converting wagons into stands to show their wears, and the rest of Black Justice and the accompanying guards were went about establishing perimeter security.

Having had much practice in all those tasks, none of them took very long, and soon where there had been nothing, a bustling market place stood, and the townsfolk created an impromptu holiday, rushing home to get coins and goods to engage in trade.

Tinamoc left those matters to his people, and came to where Neia, Agni, and the priest stood.

'I'm Tinamoc, owner of this caravan.' He said, putting out his hand.

'Agni, the mayor of the Ilyatown.' She said and shook his hand.

'Orphi, priest of the god Surshana.' The priest said, and shook it in turn.

'A pleasure.' Tinamoc said, his winning smile that must have won over many a deal, prompting warmth to be returned to him from the two leaders of the town.

'It seems we have you to thank for these heroes.' Orphi said, 'When their scouts warned us, we had few guards on the walls and we were not even slightly prepared, had they not bought time with their fake signaling, there would be many of our people mourning today, and many more being mourned.'

Neia's face was proud as she spoke, 'They learned well thanks to the library of the gods.'

This drew some odd looks, but her smile turned cheshire and coy, and she said nothing more. 'You will excuse me for the moment, I must inspect the work of my people, but I trust we will all make time for dinner tonight, if for no other reason than to celebrate this turn of good fortune.' Neia said, and did an about face, and walked back out the gate.

'She is...impressive. Isn't she?' Tinamoc said in such a way that his question, was not really a question. It drew answer nonetheless from both the Agni and Orphi.

'She is.' Agni answered.

'Very much so,' Orphi said, but followed by asking, 'What is this 'library of the gods' she spoke of?' As a priest, anything to do with the gods was of great interest to him, but to his disappointment Tinamoc could only shrug.

'I'm not really sure, I know it has something to do with her god, and its some great repository of knowledge, but how one gets there, what one does, or how it helped her people...well you will have to ask her at dinner.' Tinamoc replied.

'I will.' Orphi said, 'I definitely will.'

A few hours later, that is precisely what happened, Neia entered and was greeted warmly by Agni, as well as Orphi, and she took her seat across from them next to Tinamoc. 'I hope I didn't keep you waiting, just some last minute details to take care of for the guard rotation.' She said apologetically.

'Guard rotation?' Agni said, 'We're perfectly safe now aren't we?' She asked.

Neia replied somberly, 'It is at the moment of greatest safety, that the greatest danger occurs, when you believe you are safest, you are at your most vulnerable, and was it not this belief that your town was safe, that left your walls near empty and unmanned, and could have resulted in us arriving only to find a smoldering ruin where your town had been?'

Her sober reply to the mayor saw the color drain from the faces of both Agni & Orphi, as the truth was driven home. Tinamoc saved them all from silence by raising his cup, 'To lives preserved.' He said, and that snapped them all back to the moment, and they repeated the phrase with raised cups, and drank in satisfaction.

Orphi did not waste time getting to the meat of his question from before, 'I'd like to know more about this library of the gods you spoke of, what is that, where is that?' He asked.

'The library of Ashurnibapal,' she said, 'that is what it is called, it was built by the 41 supreme beings, lead by Ainz Ooal Gown, the Sorcerer King and the undead god of justice. He chose to see to my education and training, and the training of all those fighters of ours you saw. He provided us with instructors stronger than any fighter in the world, and in the library, under the tutelage of a grand strategist, I and one other were given mountains of books on every conceivable subject. I learned battlefield strategy, the arts of deception in war, fieldcraft, and much, much more. Had I a thousand lifetimes, I could not have poured through the whole thing. But the result of just scratching the surface, is what sits before you now, and what was given to those chosen, stands watch over all outside.' Neia said, her voice carrying the awe she felt as if she had returned to Nazarick again.

'Where can I find this place?' The priest asked.

'In the realm of gods, in Nazarick, where the Sorcerer King resides.' She replied.

'You call him a god,' Agni said as she dipped her spoon into her stew, 'is that just a figure of speech?'

Neia shook her head, 'He is the undead god of justice, I mean that as fact, not fancy, he is the only god left in this world, whereever the other gods went, I am sure of this, they are no longer with us.'

Orphi choked on his stew at her words.

'How...can you say such a thing?'

Neia looked him over, 'You were never at the prison camps were you?'

'...No' he said.

'Did you see what the demihumans did to our country? I traveled over a large part of it while attending to the Sorcerer King as his squire, I saw it all. Demons used humans in experiments as living test subjects, severing limbs and attaching them to other living people, the demihumans ate children in front of their familes, they ate children before the very walls of our city to frighten us into submission. Every temple to our gods they saw, they desecrated, they shat on the pews, they used the god's own emblems to wipe their asses, the alters were used as tables where the worshipers of our gods, from youngest babe to oldest grandmother, people who had spent their lives devoted to the gods, were not just 'sacrificed' that would be blasphemous enough, no, they were eaten there. They could eat children and the elderly on our gods own alters...do you understand?' Neia asked as she tore a piece of bread away from the whole.

'What did the gods do about it?' She asked. 'Where was their justice? Why did not Alah Alaf come down from heaven and do battle with the demon Jaldabaoth on her own, where was Surshana, when the walls fell?' She asked again.

They were silent for a moment, and the priest replied, 'The gods tested us.'

'Do you think so?' Neia asked. 'Who then tests the gods? What use are gods who test their people by torturing and abusing those who are to young to even know the gods, who cry out for mothers who already rest in the bellies of demons, just before being devoured themselves? It seems to me that if those gods were testing us, they were no different from the tormentors themselves.' Neia replied, but she clearly was not done.

'The only god that matters is the god that acts. And Ainz Ooal Gown, god of justice, took it upon himself to come and save us, he liberated camps, he broke demon armies, he slew Jaldabaoth in personal combat, and he took nothing from us, his justice, is justice, his power, is the power of a god, if it isn't, well what IS the power of a god?' She finished her statement, and they shared a troubled look.

'If you ask me,' Neia said, 'there is some kind of connection between Ainz Ooal Gown and Surshana, because I've seen pictures of what Surshana looked like, and I've seen Ainz Ooal Gown up close, and I tell you, they look exactly alike. But I'm just speculating, I've never asked him that.'

Orphi's look was intrigued. 'You know the story of how Surshana sacrificed himself against the eight greed kings?' He asked Neia.

'I do, I think most people have heard that in some form.' She replied curiously.

'Who is to say a god cannot come back, cannot change his name, cannot...' His train of thought faded, 'but wait...do you know anything about the spell the Sorcerer King used on the Katze plains?' He asked.

'I wasn't there for it, but I learned of it from survivors and other witnesses while visiting his country. All reports say that he destroyed an entire wing with one spell, over 70,000 men and their horses in an instant, they also agree that he then summoned enormous monsters, which wiped out another hundred thousand or so, and it so terrified his own allies that they fled and trampled each other, inflicting over one hundred and thirty casualties.' Neia said. 'Why?'

'Because Surshana never used any kind of power on that scale, not even when he went against the eight greed kings, and it seems that power like that would have been helpful.' Orphi replied. 'Is it possible that he is Surshana's father, come from heaven as his son before him?' Orphis started shaking with excitement, and Neia was more than pleased, as soon as she learned he was a priest of Surshana, she knew she had a chance to win him over.

'Surshana sacrificed himself to save us from the eight greed kings, despite being undead, he obviously did not hate the living, I have been to the realm of Ainz Ooal Gown, his people prosper, he has even cared for the orphans left behind by his deceased enemies, he came to our country and sacrificed himself, then returned in time for the final battle and saved us all, how can I not call him a god? How can I imagine that he hates the living? How can I not serve that? I do not dispute the nobility of Surshana for the sacrifice he made, but we have another god who is here, now, with us, among us, who works to help us even now. Did you know that all...ALL of the supplies to feed and rebuild the capitol and the surrounding cities and towns have come directly from the Sorcerous Kingdom? The Theocracy serves the same gods we did, and yet where are they? A few weeks ago, a priest of Alah Alaf tried to assassinate me for asking for permission to build a temple in the name of my god...why? If the gods are offended, can't they strike me down themselves? If they tried to work through that priest, well obviously he failed, because here I am, and I am, because I wore the armor my god allowed me to have. He protected me, the priest opposed me even as I build their city, even as he gives me the means to do so, and they try to kill me? Following Ainz Ooal Gown is an easy choice, after all, he gave me the strength and knowledge to save my people, and taught me what justice truly is.'

'What is that?' Asked Orphi.

'Strength.' Neia said. 'All justice requires strength, in mind, in body, we suffered because we allowed our nation to become weak, we lost the means to protect ourselves, we kept our eyes on the heaven looking for gods, as demons grew in strength and came to make us suffer, but Ainz Ooal Gown showed me that by having strength, I could work justice, save lives, and protect our people, he taught me that by example, by doing what needed to be done, and not flinching from his promise even when it put him at risk.'

Their attention was rapt and Neia saw that the time was right to ask, so she took the plunge, 'I must continue to guard Tinamoc and his merchant caravan until we return to the capitol, but if you're willing to receive them, I would like to send a member of Black Justice here. They will train your militia in our combat arts as well as the teachings of Ainz Ooal Gown. Additionally, if you would like the assistance, I noticed that most of your fields are empty, this is, I assume, because of the losses you sustained in the war?'

They nodded and continued to listen.

'The Sorcerer King has been providing skeletons as laborers for some time now, with great success in his own region as well as among the dwarves, a dozen of them can do in a fraction of the time, what it would take a hundred humans to do. You could have your fields restored to full production overnight because they require no food, drink, or rest, they can work constantly without pause at any simple task you direct them to undertake. The price of them is a percentage of the increase only, so you will never pay more than you can produce.' She said with enthusiasm.

Their eyes widened at the possibility. Agni looked over at Orphi and said, 'What do you think?'

Orphi thought it over a moment, his eyes went up, whether to seek the guidance of heaven, or in thought, was uncertain, but his answer was as Neia hoped. 'Very well, send your teacher and send us a dozen skeletons. You took a chance in saving us, I would be a coward indeed if I didn't take a chance on trusting someone who risked their life for us all.'

Agne nodded in agreement and shook Neia's hand, followed quickly by Orphi, and Neia turned to Tinamoc, 'Do you think sir, that you can provide them additional seed at a reasonable price, I expect they'll be sowing far more this year than they thought.' Tinamoc's smile almost went wider than his face, 'I'll not only do that, I'll give a discount if they'll give me a discount on the first fruits post trade to the Sorcerer King.'

'Agreed!' Agni said.

'I do believe this is the best meal I've had in quite some time.' Orphi said, 'And I do hope to see you both again soon...maybe without the demihuman raid next time though.' He laughed heartily, and was joined by the rest of the table.

'I'll send additional laborers to pick up the seed in the morning, I assume you'll be leaving by noon for your next stop, yes?' Agni said, prompting a nod from Tinamoc, 'Yes, we'll be visiting a city next, it'll be the first one other than the capitol that I've gotten to see since the war ended.'

'Well I wish you luck then.' Agni said as she stood, 'Its been a wonderful, enlightening, and profitable meal everybody, but these old bones need to rest, so until next time, goodnight.' She said, and the rest of the table stood and said their farewells.

Neia went back to her bedroll quite contented, and quickly wrote out another letter to be dispatched back to her people in the Capitol, and another letter to Ainz Ooal Gown requesting to rent undead labor. And then she went to sleep and had...very hopeful dreams.

 **AN: Well I hope you enjoyed this chapter as usual, when Neia arrives at the first city she's visited since the end of the war, well she's going to have quite a few problems to deal with, also her requests will start arriving in the capitol soon, prompting new challenges to emerge for those left behind. As always, reviews are welcome.**


	10. The Third Fall of Prart

'I never thought I'd see those walls again.' Neia said softly as the high walls of Prart loomed before her in the distance, growing steadily larger as she grew steadily closer. The last time she'd seen that city it was a ruin, first as a result of the demihuman alliance taking it, then as a result of taking it back, then as a result of defending it against a massive onslaught of demihuman forces.

The capitol was now...well...mostly rebuilt, noble estates, fountains, a few public buildings, a few temples, and a small percentage of the overall residential areas were all that remained to be restored. She wondered how she'd find Prart when she got within its walls. When they arrived near the main gate, they stopped, and Neia approached the guard house with Tinamoc, and waited while he presented his letter of legitimacy from the King, and the guard responded to this by saying, 'Very good there m'lord, but we'll have to inspect the caravan for contraband and all that.'

Tinamoc rolled his eyes and replied, 'No you don't, the letter I just showed you expressly authorizes immediate entry for the establishment of trading purposes. If you try to inspect this whole caravan of goods, it'll take all day, not to mention I'll have to do inventory all over again to make sure nobody got sticky fingers. I can't do any trading until that's done because a precise inventory is required for entry...' He trailed off as the guard coughed opened his palm. 'Well I could do a 'quick inspection' for a few coins you know.'

'How quick?' Tinamoc asked, his eyes narrowing in suspicion.

'Could be over right now you know, fast as the coin goes in me pocket.' The guard said with a sly look.

Neia couldn't take it. She removed her visor and looked the guard dead in the eyes. 'I am Neia Baraja, squire of the Sorcerer King, who provides all of the building materials for reconstruction, and you WILL let this man pass with his letter alone or I will have your heart on a plate.' The sudden smell of ammonia filled the air.

'Get out of my sight, and go change your pants you corrupt disgrace, and I WILL be reporting your actions to your superior.' Neia said in a tone of voice that told the guard he was speaking to the angel of death. He stumbled out of the way and let them move the caravan forward.

Neia's voice carried more than she had intended, and heads were poking out to look at her. She didn't bother about that, but what she did notice that the city didn't look that much different from when she left. Prart was a wreck. True there were people seemingly everywhere, far more than it was meant to hold, but even considering that, the city stank, there was little work being done, she saw laborers who were supposed to be building things, standing around talking and drinking rather than working, not that they could have anyway, because though they had tools that helped her identify their profession, there were no building supplies to work with, she saw children scrabbling through garbage, and as they moved deeper into the city, the only people she noticed actually working, were the prostitutes.

'What the hell happened here? Or rather...why didn't anything happen here?' Neia asked Tinamoc, aghast at the poor condition of the city. 'Have we passed a single intact house that wasn't used for prostitution or alcohol storage?

'Well, do you count that?' Tinamoc said, and pointed to a looming home that clearly belonged to a nobleman. 'At a guess,' he said, 'the nobles have been using the supplies you've sent here to rebuild the noble estates and the few public buildings they need, but have been embezzling and selling the rest of the supplies, which the black market and criminal gangs have been buying up to use for their establishments, and probably their own homes. Just a working guess though.' He said in a voice that suggested he didn't think he was guessing at all.

A stray slime crossed their path, clearly the sewage system was not being maintained.

'To whom were the supplies going?' Tinamoc asked.

'I'm not exactly sure.' Neia said, the crown put me in charge of the capitol and appointed other figures for the other cities, once I pulled our portion, the others would requisition what they needed and send it to their respective contacts here. The one sending materials here was...shit.' She said.

'The one who was sending materials here was shit? Well I can clearly see that, but what was his name?' Tinamoc asked.

Neia shook here head, 'No, I mean I just remembered, it was Count Handor, it was his man that was caught pilfering supplies in the capitol. He also had one of my men killed, we took down all those who were directly involved in the killing...but before he could publicly implicate Count Handor, he was killed in prison while under guard. I don't know who his contact was here, but if I had to guess, he's dealing directly with one other noble, or he's dealing with the temples, I'll know which it is, soon enough.' She said.

'How will you know?' Tinamoc asked. 'They'll tell me.' She said, pointing to the buildings. Understanding dawned on Tinamoc's face.

'Ahhhh,' he said, 'so basically anyone with an intact house or business, must be in some way connected with the trafficking in stolen goods, so if the temples have been restored...'

He paused as Neia interrupted. '...then the temples are in on it.' She said with a snarl. Go ahead and get yourself established in the market district, but I suggest not setting up more wares than we can effectively guard. Rent a warehouse we can easily protect, and only take out what you think will sell that day, it may extend our time here for several days, but frankly, I think that will work out for the best.' Neia said.

Tinamoc stroked his chin thoughtfully, 'Yes, I think that will work out. Plus it will be nice to be in one place for a few days, now where will you be while I finish going on my way?' He asked.

'First I'm going to check out the nearest temple, then if it is in bad shape, I'm going to talk to the priest, if it is in good shape, then I'm going to the local governor to introduce myself.' She said.

'Introduce yourself gently?' He asked.

'That depends on them. But I'd prefer that if possible. If its not though, well then sobeit.' She shrugged off the implied concern and gave him a wolfish grin.

It wasn't hard to find a temple, and it didn't take long to get there on horseback, and she was somehow unsurprised by the intact building that she found there. It was surrounded by hovels that hadn't been repaired since it had first been captured by the demihumans, and the people around the temple looked shabby and unkempt. She didn't bother to go in, she had somewhere else to be. The regional governor's manor/office was big, and that made it easy to find, and the fact that he'd taken care of his own residence and work area first, made it easy to identify. When she arrived, there were two guards at the gate. Neia dismounted and approached, her having ridden a warhorse and been well dressed and clearly well armed, made an immediate impression on them, as did her confident walk up to them.

'I'm Neia Baraja, and I am here with the royally commissioned merchant Tinamoc, and I wish to see the regional governor. Is he here?' She asked.

'Yes lady Neia,' a guard said, I will send word of your arrival, could you wait here?' He asked with some timidity.

'No,' Neia said, 'I can announce myself, and I don't need company.' She said with steel in her voice, she walked past the guard without another word, before he could sputter a protest, she sniffed in contempt, the guard there was in somewhat better shape, but the ones she'd glanced at on the road carried more beer in their bellies than muscle on them. Her impression of Prart was growing worse by the minute, and walking into the manor made things no better, it was opulent, filled with rich goods, clean carpet, art upon the walls...Neia felt disgusted.

'Bah, its one thing for the Sorcerer King to have better than this, he gives to his people, this man...he is clearly only stealing from them. I wonder how many homes these were taken out of.' She pondered as she walked down the hall, she knew exactly where to go from here time here before, and it did not take her long to get there, she pushed the doors open, their groaning as she did so, echoed down the empty hall, and inside the office, was the regional governor sitting at his desk with a glass of wine. A noise was coming from under his desk, and it took a moment for Neia to identify what it was.

The governor looked at her in surprise, then anger, and it transformed to fear when Neia's foice snaped out, 'Get her out of here!' There was the sound of a thud, like a head striking wood, and from under the desk came a frail looking woman with a black eye, she snatched something off the floor near his desk and through it over herself as she darted out the room with her eyes downcast. The regional governor blushed cherry red as he hastily pulled up his pants.

'Who are you to...' he began, but Neia did not let him finish.

'I am Neia Baraja, the one who is providing the supplies you're using which I receive from the Sorcerer King, and I am here with the royal merchant Tinamoc as his personal escort.'

Fear stayed on his face as he looked her over, he saw her eyes moving up and down, taking him in. He was rather...large, but not in the strong way, his jowels flapped as he spoke, his skin was pale, not much for the outdoors, his clothes were very fine, as were his jewels, Neia's immediate impression: He was worthless.

'I'd like you to explain the state of Prart.' Neia said.

'The capitol is much larger, even with your population increase, I know what supplies have gone out, and we haven't been shorting you, but somehow only the noble houses, temples, and government buildings seem to be intact, well that and the brothels I passed by. Speaking of which, why are there so many brothels, I passed THREE just on the way here from the city gate?' Neia asked.

The governor wrung his hands fretfully, 'Well...its an easy way to make coin, and, well, what else is there for them to do? And as to the city, well it was heavily damaged, we have been working, but its just...taking a little while.' He said.

'And...why haven't you FOUND other work for them to do? I saw that woman had a black eye, exactly how did she, or any of these others, end up in the flesh trade?' Neia asked. Her face turned dark and she removed her visor, staring daggers at him said further, 'I also saw workers with no materials to work with, I know a shipment of materials we sent to you just recently. Where are they? Show me your records.' She snapped.

'Lady Neia,' he began nervously, 'I can give you our distribution records, but I don't have them myself, they're at the warehouse in the main office, why don't you settle in first, you're a hero to the people of this city, I'm sure they'd be ecstatic to know you're here, and you'll have a chance to speak before the crowds again...I can gather the relevant officials and we can have a meeting tomorrow to go over all the details of the reconstruction.' He said ingratiatingly.

Neia would have refused on the spot and pressed the matter...but he hit upon her weakness, her desire to promote the Sorcerer King and his ideals of strength as justice. She put her visor back on and nodded silently.

'Very well, tomorrow at noon I will return here and I expect to see the relevant officials and the paperwork for distribution and your reconstruction plan for the next few months. I had better be satisfied.' She said.

'All will be as it should be.' The nobleman said.

And Neia walked out, leaving the nobleman grinding his teeth behind her, she decided to walk the city streets for awhile, and found herself in the main square, people were coming and going, and she found she could not resist the opportunity this presented. She walked to the great fountain...it was dry. It was dirty. It was filled with refuse. It was a microcosim of the city itself. It would do. She hopped up from the ground, to the circle, to the top of the statue at the center, and announced herself.

'I am Neia Baraja, here on a trade mission from the capitol! People of Prart, I would know how you live!' She shouted.

The buzzing of the crowd began to still, the weight of her name drew eyes and ears, and one man close by shouted simply, 'Poorly!'

'My home is still destroyed, our shops are ruins, the palaces and temples are rebuilt, but what of us? I show up every day at the same construction site, and have only enough materials to work for a few hours or less and then nothing. I've only rebuilt three homes in two months, and those were homes nobody owned, which the governor then began to rent out as it was 'city property'!

'The price of grain is outrageous, and it is worse with any other foodstuffs, I'm eating barely more than when the Sorcerer King freed me from a prison camp!' Another person shouted.

Neia listened as the complaints rang out, the crowd was getting agitated as they vented their frustrations, Neia began to get a clear picture of just what was happening in Prart.

The 'disturbance' Neia caused had apparently gotten someone's attention, because a group of guards began to push their way through the crowd to the front, Neia counted eight of them, two archers two men with swords, and four more with speers, no equipment better than half plate iron armor covering their torsos, shin guards, and leather boots...and of course iron weapons...unless they had concealed items, which she doubted. Still, it was good enough for people to get out of the way as they made their way to the front.

'Ay you lot, go back to your lives, and you up there, get down, no public gatherings without official permission!' One of the men, apparently the leader, said. He was a grizzled looking man missing a few teeth, but otherwise unremarkable to look at.

'I have permission.' Neia said. 'I'm on a trade mission escorting the official royal merchant, so the security and wellbeing of this town IS my business, and I'm speaking to the people who live here, now unless you wish to take an issue with that, BEGONE!' she snapped.

It sent a spark through the crowd, which was clearly not used to seeing the guards dismissed by anyone, and it agitated the guards, who were used to getting their way.

'Prart is ours missy' the guard said, 'we'll say how secure and well it does, not this rabble!'

He opened his mouth to say more, but Neia seized on it. 'You DARE!' She let her voice carry far and wide, 'You DARE to call THEM RABBLE?! They are the PEOPLE of this city, the citizens of the Holy Kingdom, they survived Jaldabaoth even at their weakest, they endured, they carry the seed of strength in all of them, the King of another country, the very GOD of Justice, Ains Ooal Gown, personally saw worth enough in them to see to the preservation of their lives! How DARE you refer to them as rabble! How DARE you dismiss their concerns! I will have satisfaction from you for insulting them!' Neia shouted, ensuring every word of what she said hit every ear.

'My people, I ask that you make room, I will have to teach these men a lesson about their place in this city!' She shouted, and the crowd began to push itself back to the edges, opening up room in the square. The guards were caught...off guard, this was not how things were supposed to work, this was not how things were supposed to go.

'Who you want'n to fight eh?' The grizzled leader asked with a nasty grin.

'Do you all share his opinion?' Neia asked of the other guards. Coarse laughter greeted her, which was answer enough.

'Then all of you. Here. Now. Or are you just cowards in armor?' She said with a contemptible smile on her face as she jumped down from the fountain and walked to the center of the square with her hands folded behind her head and turned to face them.

They were almost to shocked to move, except they moved their faces to expressions of anger and fanned out.

Neia looked at them with a bored expression on her face to meet their gazes.

'Apologize to the people of this town now, or do it from the ground when I'm done beating respect for them into you.' She said.

That was to much for one of them, he broke from his friends with a spear lowered, charging full tilt at Neia. She reflected briefly that he must not have had much training if this was his method, and she simply stepped aside, grabbed the spear behind the point, broke it with her free hand, and then beat him about the head with the wood she'd taken, until he collapsed.

'You two, bind that one!' She said, pointing to two people in the crowd. They hesitated, but that was enough to drive the remaining seven to act, the archers went for their bows, but Neia had hers out and fired two shots before they could even load, her arrows went into their bows where their hands held the grip, severing fingers and causing them to drop the remains of their primary weapon, and drop to their knees in pain. She then stored her bow and drew her sword, her sudden action had given the remaining five pause, but she gestured with her free hand for them to come at her, turning her palm up and drawing her fingers toward her repeatedly.

The guards glanced at each other for reassurance and fanned out around her, closing the distance gradually, something Neia wasn't going to allow to happen, contrary to what they expected, she rushed the spearman on her left, grabbed his spear with her free hand, pulled him forward as she twisted her body, and gave him an elbow to the face with such force that he crumpled then and there. 'That's four.' She said, and turned to the next nearest man, she took up the spear of the fallen, and threw it left handed, butt first, into his throat. As he spasmed she closed the distance, pulled him off balance, then hit him in the back of the head with the hilt of her sword. 'That's five.' She said again, and by this time the now desperate remaining three responded by simply charging her.

She leaped to one side, rolled, and activated a martial art that sped her up considerably, by the time they had turned, half way around, she had grabbed one man by the throat and was pushing him in to the others, the power in her legs propelling him forward, the remaining three were tangled up, and they crumpled in a heap. Neia responded to this by kicking them in their faces as they struggled to get up. 'That's six', she said as one fell unconscious, 'that's seven' she said as the next one went out like a candle being blown out, 'and you make eight.' She said as the leader managed to free himself from the tangle of now limp limbs and tried to rise, only to rise directly into Neia's fist, she grabbed his helmet, yanked it off, and beat him about the jaw with it, before throwing it aside to grab his hair, and throw him towards the fountain, and as he was bent over it, Neia considered the best lesson she could offer. Fear and intimidation was the way of authority here, that much was clear, and Neia knew quite well that there were only two ways to deal with that, and while killing was easy, there was a better option.

As he tried to push himself up, Neia walked behind him, grabbed him by the back of the neck and held him in place, and then before the entire public, she took out her sword, turned it vertical to the ground, and she began to spank the fellow on his ass with the flat of her blade. 'Don't...ever...insult...the people...you...are supposed...to protect!' She shouted, 'Now APOLOGIZE TO THEM THIS INSTANT!' The man flailed and struggled, but all for nothing, 'Apologize NOW! To ALL of them!' Her voice carried, and laughter began to ring out, at first small, but the more he cried out in frustration against her, the worse it got, until laughter had so filled the square the others showing up, without even knowing what happened, were laughing at the grizzled guard being spanked like a child, until he could bear no more and he shouted, 'I'm sorry! I'm sorry! I'm sorry!'

'What are you sorry for?' Neia snapped.

'I'm sorry I insulted the people of Prart!' He shouted.

'Again.' She said.

'I'm sorry I insulted the people of Prart!' He shouted.

'Again.' She said.

'I'm sorry I insulted the people of Prart!' He shouted loud his voice cracked.

'Good enough.' She said and yanked him up and threw him back, causing him to stumble and land on the ass she'd just beaten red.

'Do not move an inch.' Neia said as she sat down and crossed her legs in front of her, she looked to the side, and there hadn't been any more hesitation, the remaining guards had all been bound.

'Now. You are going to stay where you are, and not move even an inch, and you are going to listen as the people tell me their grievances, and when your men wake up, they'll get the same treatment you did, THEN and only then do you have my permission to go.' Neia said in a voice of steel, and the guard could only stay sprawled out and red faced and nod numbly, hardly able to believe how badly his day was going.

One by one the people spoke up, and the crowd grew larger as word spread, the roads in to the square began to back up, and Neia heard dozens of complaints before the first man woke up, his arrogant demands to be untied went quiet when he saw the person who had beaten him was still there, and when she dragged him bodily behind her by his hair, he cried out in pain, but that was better as far as he was concerned, than what she did next, just like his boss, he was thrown over the fountain and had his ass spanked like a wayward child, though with the flat of a sword instead of a belt, until he apologized the same way his boss had, and just like that one, he was flung backwards onto his ass and told to sit and not move.

The cycle repeated itself for the better part of an hour until the last guard had apologized to the sound of laughter raining down on them. Neia got back atop the fountain, and she began her sermon.

'People of Prart, I have heard what you have said, and I am distressed at how low this city has fallen. Many of you were saved by the Sorcerer King, the god of justice, and yet, is this what you were saved for? To live like this? To live lives of weakness and fear and poverty, exploited by people who insult you and degrade you and take advantage of you? Is THIS how you want to live?!' She shouted, a chorus of 'NO!' answered her.

'The god of justice has said that strength is justice, not because might makes right, but because only might can enforce justice, the sin of weakness has infected this place, these guards are weak, the morals of the authorities are weak, the economy is weak, and when weakness pervades, INJUSTICE REIGNS!'

'I am but a shadow compared to the might of my god, yet I had the power to impose justice on these who degrade you, you ALSO have that power, if you claim your dignity and demand that right be done, you in a mass cannot be crushed by something so weak and petty as a bully in a tin suit! Demand justice, support one another in the pursuit of justice, support one another in the pursuit of strength, follow me to the justice of the one who saved our nation, follow me in the ways of the Sorcerer King, the god of Black Justice, and you WILL NEVER BE BEATEN AGAIN!'

Her speech sent a wave of excitement through the crowd, it electrified them, they cheered, up and down the streets as far as her powerful voice could carry. 'Return to your lives for now, I will see to these tin covered cowards, find me in the marketplace if you have need!' She said, and she jumped down and approached the prone men.

'Get the fuck out of that armor.' She said with contempt. They looked up at her, stunned. 'You cannot hold the people in contempt, and remain fit to wear it. Your armor is not for you, your armor is so you can protect them, and you used it to abuse them. So you can't have it any more. Get...the fuck...out of it. Here, now.' She said with the voice of death itself.

Their spirits were broken. They did not resist.

They slowly stood and began taking it off, eyes downcast.

'You are the product of the corruption here, you are not the cause of it. You will tell me now, everything you know. Then you will go back to your residences, gather your things, and get out of Prart and never come back, consider yourselves banished from here.' The leader managed to find his voice and said, 'I-I don't rightly know everything, I'm an enforcer, nothing more, but I know that some of the ones running things came from Re-Estize, got here after the liberation, they set up shop, maybe bribed the regional governor, maybe blackmailed, wouldn't know that, but he's in their pocket too one way or the other. They got the brothels, the pubs, the gambling houses, they decide what gets built and what doesn't.' He said in a cracked and broken voice.

'The warehouses too?' She asked.

'I done guarded some of those, the renters pay protection money or we...' He trailed off.

'What?' Her voice commanded answer.

'Look the other way while its robbed or burned.' He finished.

'Or do the robbing or burning yourselves?' She guessed.

He gave several small rapid nods.

'How do the temples play in to this?' She asked.

His eyes jumped to hers in surprise.

'Don't be surprised, I saw a temple, it was completely rebuilt, and I'm not about to believe it is because of some devotion to the gods.' She said contemptuously.

'I don't know everything, but...well the priests help keep the people in line, they are the mouthpieces of the governor, and when people get uppity, charges of heresy or blasphemy are hard to fight and you don't even have to plant fake evidence, just have someone make the accusation and a few people back it up.' He said, he began to tremble under her gaze.

'Where do they end up?' She asked.

'Prison mostly, a few of the more talented get 'work release' where they work for free on what the bosses want.' He said.

'Anything else?' Neia asked. 'What about the brothels?'

'Who cares about them'ores?' He said, and found a sword at his throat.

'Oh...eh...' He stammered.

'Anything less than the truth, and I'll cut you in ways that'll let you enter their line of work.' Neia said between clenched teeth.

The lot of them paled at her words, but the pathetic and humiliated guard didn't have the fight left to argue, 'They borrow money for things, can't pay it off, so they work the brothels to pay it off.' He spilled out the words almost to fast for her to understand, but it all clicked into place for Neia, and she stepped back and sheathed her sword.

'OK, now you get get the fuck out of my sight, and get the fuck out of this city. If my eyes ever catch you again so much as taking a sweetroll from a child, my face will be the last one you ever see.' She said, and stepped aside. 'Now RUN!' she barked, and they ran like rabbits.

She mentally ticked off what she'd gathered from the little bird she'd just made sing for her, all was going well, but she had to inform Tinamoc of what she'd learned, as well as the rest of her company of fighters. The next move in her mind was fairly predictable, when you humiliate evil authority that way, it has to respond, and there are only two ways to do that. Against the public to remind people they're still in charge...or against the singular party in opposition...which even if they did the first thing, they'd still have to do the second, and because she'd acted in public, they'd want to act against her in public, by any means necessary.

A wolfish grin appeared on her face, the regional governor would have to act quickly, she was going to look over what were no doubt phony books tomorrow, he wouldn't want that. Quick decisions are seldom safe decisions, he was cowardly, he was weak, and he thought he held all the cards. Within a few hours if not sooner, the humiliation of several guards and their dismissal from the city would reach his ears. If she wanted this to work, she had to act quickly.

She cast a silent thought of gratitude to her divine god of justice, and after a brief stop to inform some of her people that she needed them to shadow her, she went to the next public place, and again began to speak on the subject of the god of justice, the war for liberation, she began to praise the crowd as survivors who carried within them the seed of strength, that all they needed to do was nurture it by following Black Justice and the way of the Sorcerer King. Prart was full of camp survivors and liberators, which meant it was packed with people who favored the Sorcerer King, which meant there was a ready audience for her message, and more than that, her message of hope and her praise for their potential was a welcome relief from the grind to which they had been subjected.

'When thugs come to demand coin so that your shop does not burn, stand against them, when you see your neighbors harassed by thugs, join with your neighbors, when you see the neighbors of your neighbors threatened and extorted, join with those neighbors, they cannot still from even ONE of you, if ALL of you refuse to tolerate being stolen FROM!'

Her speeches ignited the crowds, and she went from one square to another, with some of those from one, inevitably following her to the next speaking point, and after hours of this where she praised the Sorcerer King as the god of justice and the only one worth following, she got the expected result. From her position atop another ruined public fountain, she saw them coming, a priest, who looked...rather lumpy to put it plainly, backed by several men in shining armor, they could only be paladins, and about two dozen or so soldiers. The governor was clearly not taking chances after her having humiliated the unprepared guards, these were more fit and more professional looking. Her bottom lip curled as she nodded, 'Not bad.' She thought to herself. 'Not good enough...but not bad.' She resumed her speech after the thought, having pretended not to notice them as they forced their way through.

When they made it to the front, some of the guards turned about and turned their spears on the crowd, forcing people back.

The remainder stood at either side of the priest.

'Neia Baraja, you are under arrest on the charges of heresy and blasphemy, and are hereby ordered in the name of Alah Alaf, all the gods, and regional governor baron Nigrand en Tusia, to surrender yourself immediately!' The priest said in a voice that suggested he expected to be obeyed.

The crowd went quiet and waited for her to be taken away.

'I say I am NOT under arrest.' Neia responded flatly and looked down at the priest with contempt. 'I am indeed Neia Baraja, servant of the Sorcerer King, bearer of the armor of the Grand King Busar, rescuer of the Zern Prince BeeBeeZee, guardian of royal merchant Tinamoc, bane of bandits, savior of Ilyatown, protector of villages, bearer of the Ultimate Shooting Star, founder of Black Justice, arbiter of Capitol Reconstruction and liaison of the Sorcerer King, and I tell you I am NOT under arrest.' What she said was a mouthful, but she knew how titles played on the minds of people steeped in them, so she laid it on thick.

'I am not under arrest because I have committed no crime, blasphemy? I can only blaspheme against the true god of Justice, Ainz Ooal Gown! Heresy? How can I be a heretic, I praise the true god of justice, the only god left in this world, before the people here!' Her voice carried, to the crowd, and she said, 'If your life was saved by the true god of Justice, Ainz Ooal Gown, then raise your voice in praise to him!'

'Long live Ainz Ooal Gown!' Sounded with earth shattering force, echoing off the walls in the square, it rang out again, and again, drowning out the priest. Still he didn't act, she needed more to provoke him.

She held out her hands to still the crowd, 'Do you see?!' She said to the priest, 'There is no blasphemy here, we praise the god who cares for his people, not the gods that ignore the people as they die and cry out for aid!'

His face turned purple with rage, and Neia's company began to move from out of their positions of observation, what alone would simply look like a well outfitted soldier, gathered together in a group, became an intimidating military display. The priest however, with his eyes up on Neia, did not notice.

'I will have you dragged down from there!' He shrieked.

'You will?' Neia said laughing, 'Because your gods cannot do it for you? The gods of old might have been powerful in their time, but they did not protect us! They did not instill strength in us, they did not save even a single infant from being devoured on their very alters, even as their worshipers who had lived their lives devoted to those gods, pleaded for mercy! It is not blasphemy to praise the god who acts for his people, it is not heresy to serve that god, it is heresy and blasphemy to DENY that god! YOU are the blasphemer, YOU are the heretic! You corrupt reprobate, you who steal the hope from the people in exchange for power and peddle your notions of righteousness before dead gods who care nothing for your oaths and nothing for their people, I serve the one true god in this world! Praise to him, the savior of the people of the Roble Holy Kingdom, Ainz Ooal Gown! Long may he reign!' She shouted, 'Long may he reign!' the crowd echoed,

The priest could bear no more, 'Get her down NOW!' He shouted, 'And arrest all those who you saw speak with her!' The paladins were distraught, some of them had served with the Sorcerer King in the time of liberation, they had seen him sacrifice himself against Jaldabaoth, and they saw him risk himself and save the Kingdom at the final battle, bringing down Jaldabaoth forever. That was when the priest saw the other members of Black Justice, and the Paladins saw the same, one of the common soldiers stabbed one of the peasants, prompting another peasant to throw a rock, prompting another guard to stab another peasant, 'Take them if you can, kill them if you can't!' Shrieked the priest, and Neia's powerful evangelical voice carried above it all, 'Black Justice! Protect the people! Protect them all!'

The actions of Black Justice were honed by endless hours of training against foes of all types, from skeletons to homunculi giants, individually and in teams, and as a team, they were a single organism.

Neia's voice echoed far enough that even in the market where Tinamoc was setting up, he heard her voice and so did her warriors. 'Go, he said, leave ten for here, take the rest.' He said, and hundreds of Black Justice fighters moved like the wind.

The Paladins were beyond stunned at the direction that events had taken, they...THEY were supposed to protect the people...THEY were the guardians of justice, THEY were the servants of the true gods, THEY were the ones who were supposed to protect the Holy Kingdom. Yet their side was killing citizens and the 'heretics' were acting to save them. The priest drew and blew a horn, it echoed far, and guards abandoned their post and headed for the sound, the garrison commander ordered the men out of their guard houses and towers, and the governor looked out the window over the city, the sound of fighting began to ring out.

Neia drew her bow, and fired, finding her mark in the bodies of spear wielding guards, she fired until she ran out of arrows, darting down only to bludgeon the priest and silence him, the Paladins hesitation was treated as complicity, and they found each of themselves engaged by a member of Black Justice, and they found their own arts being turned against them, the transition from hand to hand and sword work and their martial arts brought one paladin down after another, but guards began to pour in and the members of Black Justice who had accompanied Neia were badly outnumbered.

'People of Prart, get behind us, we will not let them hurt you again!' Neia shouted, and the crowd began to move backwards, Neia's sword was out and she stood in front of the ten who had accompanied her.

Some among the crowd had flashbacks, remembering the Sorcerer King standing before the army, in the way of Jaldabaoth as he sought to burn them all.

There was no time for words, the guards saw the downed priest and other guards, crumpled in front of the fountain, and lowered their weapons preparing to charge. They did not get the chance. Neia was not one to let the enemy seize initiative. 'Protect the people!' She shouted, and charged full tilt, the other black justice members had drawn their bows and fired their quivers empty before the shock had even worn off among the city guard, who had definitely not expected a single woman and ten men to go on the attack.

As their numbers dropped by the sudden impact of arrows, and the shock wore off as the eleven charged full speed against them, they found it in themselves to respond, despite the greater skills of Black Justice, it might have gone in favor of the guards...except for the REST of Black Justice, which had divided its numbers, some had gone high over the roof tops and dropped in the front, leaping down to join Neia and her comrads, while others had gone leap down into the middle of the enemy, while the rest had charged from the rear, and swords in the back are hard to protect against. The Black Justice front began to fall back, drawing the guards into the open, while unbeknownst to the front, in the rear of their ranks their own people were being slaughtered, the illusion of victory made for boldness.

And from the crowd a voice carried from one figure, 'If we won't fight for justice, how do we ever GET justice! Attack!' And one man charged out of the crowd that Neia had been protecting, and that one became two, and two became five, and five became a hoard, the first to rush forward grabbed the weapons of fallen guards, others carried their own personal knives for protection and drew those, and still others fought with just bare hands.

For the guards and the few paladins who had answered the call, it had become a nightmare, the guards who were used to oppressing cowed people through fear, and now they felt the fear they inflicted, some of them not for long, as a spear in the brain tends to still thought more or less permanently, while others panicked at the raw fury they were experiencing directed at them and tried to flee, tangling themselves with others and making the killing easier. The paladins who had responded to the call, found themselves killing the very people they were supposed to protect, and found that they weren't doing any better at that, than they had been doing when they were protecting them, and one by one they went down, one of them managed to grasp his horn and desperately blow it several times before the noise was silenced by a rock to his face.

The fight was over in a few minutes, well, most of it, those had been the bulk of guards who had been close by, but others were still coming, bodies littered the ground, and as other guards came closer, they found themselves trickling in to a nightmare, Black Justice members took most of them down with bows, but a few had to be brought down with blades.

Neia quickly seized control, 'Citizens, take up swords and armor, quickly, there is no time to lose!'

When the first man had finished putting on equipment, she said, 'You are in charge of the next ten to be ready, stand over there!' And she pointed to a spot a few feet away, soon ten more were with him. 'Go and spread the word in the place where you live, its time to bring it all down, then go and seize control of an intersection, let no one under arms pass who is not dressed like us, or who is not an unarmed citizen!' She said, and he quickly departed, one by one she gave like instructions to groups of ten, and the bodies of other guards were dragged into the square and stripped of their equipment, only to repeat the process with more citizens. 'The rest of you, follow us!' She said, 'We're going to get you more equipment!' Her grin was wolfish, and met by equally wolfish grins from the crowd who understood what that meant.

If there had been any doubt in Neia's mind about whether or not she was doing the right thing, it vanished when she saw how easily the guards were turning on the people and how happy the people were that the guards of Prart were dead or dying. Black Justice, a hundred strong, swept over the streets, followed behind by a growing mob, some guards died without ever knowing they were being attacked, others died with just enough time to realize they'd made a very bad decision about which side to be on.

Either way, the mob was getting better and better armed, they didn't have a pitched fight again until they came to a baricade where a dozen or so guards had stationed themselves, they wore the faces of men who considered themselves to be already dead, and they fired arrows wildly and without discipline, they did not know to fire in unison, so the members of Black Justice easily avoided the arrows, or just let the flimsy things bounce off the vastly superior armor the Sorcerer King had given them, but they did find a mark somewhere, injuring or killing some of the crowd, adding fuel to the fire and fury when the distance was closed, and the baricade was overrun and a dozen or so more members of the mob were given equipment and dispatched with like instructions.

Block by block they moved and secured gear, as the city's authorities tried to get a handle on what was happening, Neia however, was one step ahead, and sent some of her scouts to the main entry to the governor's residence, and laying in secret after killing the guards in the immediate area, they took down every messenger sent asking for instructions, Neia had effectively disrupted the chain of command. The head did not know what was happening to the rest of the body, and the body could not coordinate without the head.

Neia having dispatched armed citizens to secure intersections, provided effective barriers to the small patrols of guards that were normally out and about within the city, some attempted to just bull past as if their authority mattered, they just died, having failed to understand the mentality of citizens who believe they have a chance to end their suffering, others recognized the danger, and surrendered on the spot, removing arms and armor and withdrawing, either way, the intersection occupiers had more gear to hand out to more citizens who were learning what was happening.

The strength of the city guard was decreasing, the strength of the rioters was increasing, by taking on the equipment provided to the city guard. It was a delightful irony from Neia's perspective, within a few hours most of the slums were in her hands and several of the noble establishments were occupied, with the nobles still inside them and now held by the mob, other riots began to break out independently as the pent up fury of the people turned on their oppressors, over in the wealthier quarter, this did not go as well, the personal guards of the well to do were more effective than jumped up thugs one step removed from being outright bandits, but as Neia's forces grew and took more and more control over intersections and guard posts, it became more and more obvious to the rest of the guards what was happening, and to conserve their strength, they began to draw back to defensible positions.

It made the mob ecstatic, but Neia knew better, she sent out other men as scouts to determine the locations where the guards had chosen to make a stand, and when they found one, Neia reacted by taking the people down a different route. However for one unfortunate group of guards fifty guards, they had chosen to make a stand with one side of the building being joined by a tavern, with all that flammable alcohol available, it seemed a shame to let it go to waste, so she had her people simply throw flammable debris over the side of the building, she lit a few bottles, and flung them over the side where the very confused guards promptly understood what that had been all about, as they roasted alive.

The few survivors were quick to surrender and be told to get out of town after being stripped of their equipment, that move gave her several blocks in quick succession.

That was when she came to the wealthy district, where they encountered what would have counted as serious opposition, if they had not been prepared by constant training, which included urban combat, and as Neia lead the charge from the fore, the others used unconventional entry into side residences, and then unconventional egress out windows, and hit the private militias in the flanks and in the rear, crumpling them without a hitch. As all the others, they were stripped of equipment and the mob moved on, the circle of the authorities control simply kept contracting.

Block after block fell with ease, but the temples were defended by paladins who saw their obligation to the gods as being greater than their obligation to people, and after the impulsive charges of several groups of commoners were thrown back, Neia and her squads went on the attack and took the paladin order down, dragging bodies out and then leaving naked, dishonored corpses behind, and handing their equipment to Neia's followers.

A few after that had holdouts who preferred to die in the temples of their gods, however most were largely abandoned, and Neia sent word for her scouts watching the governor's manor to pull back, 'Get all the rats in a nest' she had said, and though they picked off a few, the temple guards, few remaining paladins, and the city guard had begun to pull back to the single manor.

When the city was hers, she stood before the gates, and shouted for all to hear, 'I am Neia Baraja, avatar of the Sorcerer King's true justice! You are guilty of blasphemy! You are guilty of heresy! You are guilty of embezzlement! You are guilty of oppression! You are guilty of conspiring against the interests of the crown! You are guilty of the murder of the people! You are guilty of the rape of desperate women of this city, for giving them a choice between hunger in their bellies and the bellies of their children, or bouncing in your beds for your cruel amusement! All of this are you guilty of, and much, much more! But that no more blood be shed, I give you choice of sentence, you may be exiled from this city forever, with nothing but clothes on your backs and what food and water you can carry, or we can fucking KILL YOU ALL!'

'All those who wish to take the former sentence, come out now!' She shouted.

A long minute of silence passed, and a few figures began to trickle out, a few fat priests, and behind them some paladins who, if Neia could read their faces properly, seemed to have simply given up the pretense that they were still agents of justice when they were confronted by the obvious corruption of the people in the manor with them. Neia was moved to pity to see their illusions shattered in the worst way possible.

'Those who are dressed as priests, give them common garb, they are no priests NOW!' She snapped.

'You, paladins, you have seen inside there what I saw, you now know there is no justice flowing from there. The Sorcerer King is justice, that is not. You will lose your arms and armor now, and walk out of this city as peasants would, but that does not mean you cannot carry the lesson with you, you have your lives, and with life comes the chance to live differently than you have before. Seek true justice, and maybe you can make amends for your support of...THAT!' Neia said, and spat in the direction of the manor.

A few more trickled out, wealthy men who had profited from their crimes or the crimes of others, but didn't have the backbone to defend themselves personally. They were personally identified, so that it would be known whose property to seize, and they were similarly ejected. Then, no more came out.

'The rest of you choose a sentence of death?!' Neia asked of the silent house, and an arrow sped towards her in reply. She caught it, and threw it down contemptuously.

'Have it your way!' She said, and they attacked the manor, it was not well built for defense, it was just a government building and a residence, there were many ground floor windows, and the guards, though more numerous, were stretched thin, after the first successful attempt at repelling them, Neia called her forces back, and then changed strategies. She had her archers fire at one broken window, taking down forces there and forcing the guards to stretch themselves thinner to make up for the losses.

As that was going on, she had her forces divided and attacking multiple windows at once, chiefly with rocks and stones, while a group of her elites went to the side where cover had to be laid, and had them use ladders to climb to the roof, they secured ropes there, and then lowered themselves to the second story window, and crept in. Not expecting an attack like that, the few in that room were quickly and quietly dispatched, and then more of her team took the same route. Neia made sure she herself was visible and to focus her eyes on only the lower floors, so that nobody would notice her checking the upstairs. When almost the entire hundred was inside that space, Neia couldn't see what they were up to, but nonetheless she knew.

They went out the door, checking each room one by one, and eliminating anyone they encountered, when they got to the stairs going down to the main hall where the defense was taking place, the pulled out their bows and announced their presence with a volley of arrows into the enemy's backs. When they were attacked from the rear, many of the survivors turned and charged up the stairs to deal with the sneak attack, but it was uncoordinated, and it left the downstairs vulnerable, and Neia ordered a second charge, and this time first one window, then another, then another, and then the rest of them, were all breached, and the people poured out like water bursting from a dam, stabbing and cursing and grunting and brawling was everywhere, but the main entryway was otherwise quickly secured.

That left room clearance, and though a few losses were taken in isolated places, there was little doubt about the end, and Neia went straight for the governor's room, it was appointed with the wealth of a king, and he wasn't there, or at least wasn't visible, so she went silent and listened, until she found the sound of breathing, and detected him under the bed.

'Come out from under there worm, or I'll set the damn bed on fire, I don't need to drag you out to finish you.' She said.

He crawled out after a moment, and was about to stand, when Neia put her foot on his neck. 'Stay down worm. That is where you belong.' She snapped.

'I'll have your head for this!' He said sharply, in what may have been the bravest moment of his life.

'No you won't...baron...' she said, loading the title with contempt, 'because you have violated the justice of a god, you have stolen from the largess of the Sorcerer King, nobody will protect you now, even if Count Handor was willing to look the other way as you saw women forced to prostitute themselves, as your guards extorted coin from those with only a coin to their name, even if the King himself did not care about his people at all...NOBODY crosses the Sorcerer King, NOBODY escapes the Justice of my god.' Her visor was off and she looked down at him in contempt, 'I was going to kill you myself, but as I think of it now, I should leave you to the King's justice.' She said.

'Caspond will never prosecute me!' He shrieked, 'I'm a nobleman!'

'There's nothing NOBLE about you WORM.' Neia said, she leaned over, bending a knee and stabbing her sword into the floor, she leaned on it and looked at him with her eyes of fury, 'But that doesn't matter, because I'm going to offer you to the Sorcerer King, it was HIM you stole from, and when the nobles in the capitol learn that you tried to steal from the one who is literally rebuilding our nation, that you caused a riot trying to arrest the guardian of the greatest merchant in the city, just to protect your little extortion rackets and whatever thugs wormed their way here from Re-Estize...nobody is going to stick up for you.'

The baron paled.

'You tried to steal from the king of a country who could wipe out an army of almost 200,000 people, who personally killed a demon that was able to slaughter whole armies, who by himself conquered the homelands of the demihuman invaders. Exactly HOW did you see this ending for you?' Neia asked, and started laughing.

As the Barron began to wet himself, Neia sent a message to Demiurge about everything that had just happened, and she could hear his outrage when he learned that a mere human Barron had tried to steal from the Sorcerer King and undermine his work. 'A gate will open immediately.' Demiurge said. 'Throw him through, I will ask Lord Ainz if he wishes to handle the notification to the Holy Kingdom royal court personally.'

'As you say Lord Demiurge.' Neia responded, and as a gate opened, she grabbed the baron by the hair, dragged him forward, and tossed him through.

When that was done, she went to the governor's primary office, and said, 'Someone ask Tinamoc to come see me, there is a lot to get done, and I don't have a lot of time to do it. Also, someone free the people imprisoned for blasphemy and heresy, and bring them here also, I expect I'll know some of them, if my instincts are correct.' There was a sea of determined faces in front of her as two people went to carry out her instructions and the rest waited for more, and she found that she was looking forward to tomorrow.

Baron Nigrand en Tusia, regional governor of the city of Prart, landed his face on the other side of the hole in reality, it was an undignified landing, and it hurt quite a bit in his pride as much as in his body, he was already distressed enough, but that was nothing compared to when he saw the frogman standing in front of him, that only got worse, he tried to scramble away, but the frogman simply grabbed him by the foot and started dragging him along, he clawed at the floor screaming to be let go, but no matter his words or screams or struggles, he was dragged on, until he passed through a door that opened by itself, and was bodily thrown forward, where he crumpled like a puppet whose strings had been cut.

He tried to get up, but there was a dark elf child standing there that grabbed his shoulder and held him down in the kneeling position he had tried to rise from. As he looked around, he saw it, death itself, a skeleton wearing a magnificent robe, holding a very impressive scepter, and sitting on a throne that only a god could own. There was only one figure it could be.

'I am the Sorcerer King, Ainz Ooal Gown. And you have chosen to steal from me. Worse, you have chosen to steal from my charity, and lined your own pockets at the expense of my name. What do you have to say for yourself?' He asked.

The baron thought furiously, his mind moved like the wind running through every excuse he had ever told himself for why it was OK to do the things he had done. Only one seemed apt.

'They were only peasants, they exist to serve the will of their betters, why shouldn't I take from them?' He said, attempting to appeal to what he expected was another noble's greed.

Suzuki Satori however...saw only white hot rage, he thought of his precious friends, like HeroHero, slaving away under cruel bosses who cared nothing for their wellbeing, who took it as their right to abuse and exploit workers, he thought of his own mother, desperately working several jobs and still subjected to the humiliation of a lecherous boss that sent her home with more tears and more poverty than before, until Suzuki was old enough to drop out of school and work so she could at least quit that job.

His emotional damper forced him to calm down, but he did not forget his rage.

'Send him to Neuronist Painkill. And keep it going until he dies of old age, and make sure that is the only thing he dies of.' Ainz said.

A few minutes later the former regional governor and former baron found himself strapped naked to an upright rack and an unspeakable slimy monster was practically dancing before him, it held up a small metal device with some nasty looking spines on it, and it was explaining something to him that he didn't really understand about his creator suffering from kidney stones. Soon it didn't matter whether he understood or not, only the pain mattered, only the screaming mattered, and those would continue to matter until his sixty-seventh year of life.

 **AN: I had a lot of fun with this chapter, I kind of took it in a different direction than I originally intended, but elements of it may remain in a future chapter or a standalone one or two chapter branch, whichever happens with that, our story is now well on course, a lot has changed and new dangers are ready to emerge, poor Remedios is going to have a heart attack when she hears about Prart, suffice it to say there is a lot to look forward to, and I hope you stay with me to the end, and more importantly that it is WORTH staying with me to the end of it. In the meantime however, I LOVE reviews. Its profoundly encouraging and tells me not just where I can tweak things, but what you like. Authors LOVE feedback, that is the best way to get more writing. :)**

 **Oh, and if you want a recommendation for stories worth reading (I'm going to start doing that now, I highly recommend 'Godsfall' its a very unusual take on the New World, and worth every sentence of reading, doesn't update often, but its awesome when it is)**


	11. The Fall of Prart: Aftermath

Things had moved quickly for Neia after the city was in her hands. Word spread like wildfire in a hot windy summer, and the people gathered in a mass. The few survivors, mostly paladins wounded in the initial skirmish who had fallen unconscious, were bound and secured on their knees between Neia and the crowd in front of the governor's manner. There were a few surviving city guards and priests as well, there were a few fires, but under the guidance of Neia & Tinamoc's men, they were under control and dying out, she wished to be with them, but she had her own work to do.

'People of Prart, you have shown your strength is enough to give you justice! Well done!' She shouted.

The people cheered, a sudden stink nearby told Neia that one of the priests had soiled himself. She crinkled her nose, it was not a pleasant odor, but then, it was more or less what Prart smelled like anyway.

'But now that you have purged the evil of your leadership, there is much to do, strength that does not work, is as useful as water you cannot drink, the first is the simplest of tasks. The disposal of these survivors who sided with the corrupt, who sided with the evil of the former governor!' She shouted.

'Where is the baron, where is that shit heel of a governor?!' Someone shouted.

'I have handed him over to the Sorcerer King, Ainz Ooal Gown will see to his suffering. Recall how he burned even a demon? Now the former abuser of this place is in his hands.' Her wolfish grin was met by a sea of matching grins from the crowd. A guard soiled himself. 'If you wish it, I will request that the Sorcerer King send him to us, that he may be seen for the worm he is, when I captured him, he was hiding under his bed like a child afraid of the darkness, that is the terror you put into evil when you sought to right the wrongs done to you! Strength lies within all, and you could have had him brought low at any time, had he not convinced you of your weakness, never be so wrongly persuaded again, rid yourself of the sin of weakness, and you will enforce a justice that will make your city a place to be proud of, a place where corrupt worms hide under their beds rather than face your wrath!' She shouted again.

The crowd cheered, the prisoners, save for the paladins, had begun to shake.

'Now we must decide what is to be done with these men who were captured. We can throw them in to the prisons, we can exile them, we can put them to work, we can kill them here and now, we can request that the crown take possession of them, or we can offer them to the Sorcerer King.' She said, and walked down to the few priests, she removed their gags and said, 'Though it may pain you my people, to hear the voice of the oppressor, you are strong enough to bear it, let each man speak in his own defense, or request your mercy, or request a sentence of his own devising. But this I swear, whatever sentence you name, will be carried out instantly, if any bear grievance against a single man here, let him step before the crowd and speak it before sentence is passed.' Neia said, and she placed her hand atop the head of the first priest. 'State your name.' She said to him.

'Fuck you! That's my name!' The priest said, 'I'm head priest Tapir, I command all the priests of this entire region in this city and in the villages beyond, my will is the will of the gods, and you will release me immediately or there will be no blessings for you, kill me, and I will condemn you before the gods when I face them, I did nothing wrong, the temples must have their due you faithless heretics! Blasphemers! I will see you all rot for this!' He shouted, and his voice was drowned out by the crowd booing, and Neia held her hands aloft to silence them, and after shoving the gag back into Tapir's mouth, she said, 'Are there any witnesses against him?'

A woman stepped forward, she was young but somewhat weathered as commoners tended to be, but still beautiful despite that, her head was bowed, her steps small, and her hands were folded in front of her, she rose to the middle step between the crowd and the priest. 'A few days ago...I went to Tapir...begging him to heal my child when she was sick. He asked if I could pay the fee...I...I couldn't. The guards had taken my last coin to pay the rent on the rebuilt home the governor held, I had to have that...bec-because the rain coming down was making her worse, so-so then he said there was another way I could pay, 'the woman's voice began to pick up, going from fearful to furious more and more' ...he touched me, he told me to do...things...for him. He said it was a sin to refuse a priest, he said it was a sin if I let my daughter die, so he did things to me...promising he would come after to heal her since my daughter was to sick to move and I could not carry her...like this' Her eyes seemed to catch fire to Neia as she looked up at him, and then hell flew from the woman's mouth, 'THIS IS WHAT HE DID TO ME!' she shrieked, and reached up to her shoulders and pulled her simple clothing off, letting it fall and leaving her naked...in other conditions, this might have aroused the lust of the crowd, but not now...not ever now, a gasp of horror was drawn from the crowd, and from the paladins who were still bound, several of them were weeping openly at what they saw from their bound position, because her body was bruised and beaten, barely an inch of flesh or more in all the places no one would see her, she spun to the crowd, screaming, 'HE DID IT! HE DID IT! HE DID IT!' She spun to him, 'Do you see what you've done!' She screamed at him. 'And for all that,' despair filled her voice, 'because I was to weak to carry her when I was finished enduring this, he'd promised to come do it himself, but he didnt! He DIDN'T! He didn't and she died oh by the gods she died because he didn't...this was all for nothing...!' She collapsed from the sheer stress, a naked mourning heap of a woman, there were few who were not mourning with her, but there was one that wasn't.

Tapir had an erection. Neia didn't see it from where she stood, but someone else did, and pointed it out, and the bloodlust of the crowd was in a frenzy. 'Someone cover her up.' Neia said, and one of her people stepped down and put a cloak around her, and helped her up to remove her.

'Anyone want to speak for him?' Neia said. Nobody did.

'Sentence?' She asked.

'Death!' they said.

Neia's every instinct said to make this man suffer, she remembered the ways various executions were described in the books she read. Crucifixion, impalement, and others went through her mind, but all that took time, time she didn't want to have, and the notion of him living any longer, even in pain, disgusted her. Still, as a woman she felt something extra was necessary.

So she stepped in front of the crowd, spun, and slashed her sword in front of Tapir, it wasn't immediately clear what she'd done, as she stepped back to her former position behind the prisoners. Had she missed? Tapir seemed to think so as he sounded like he said as much through his gag, but a moment later what she'd done became obvious, a part of his clothing had fallen away, sheered by Neia's magically enhanced sword's superior cutting skill. But it wasn't just a part of his clothing, the part behind the clothing came with it.

Tapir's eyes went wide with disbelief as he looked down, and saw his erection was missing...and rolling away from him down the stairs, trailig blood behind it. He screamed through his gag as the agony hit, and he didn't stop screaming until he bled out. Neia let him fall.

The distraught woman saw, and smiled.

'State your name.' Neia said, moving to the next man.

'Taki.' The man said as his gag was removed.

'Do you have anything to say in your defense?' She asked.

'I am not Tapir.' He said in disgust and spat on the corpse next to him. 'I have never refused to heal anyone, even against temple policy, I have never taken a bribe, and I have never done anything but serve the gods by serving the people...I am just a common priest, I don't know anything about what supplies go where, I don't keep accounting on projects for rebuilding, all I do is work in the building and tend those who come to me, what else could I do, even if I knew how corrupt...he...was, I wouldn't have had the power to do anything.'

'Will anyone speak for him?' Neia asked.

Several from the crowd stepped forward and confirmed that he had healed them or loved ones at no charge when they were poor, one said that Taki had given him coin to pay rent to the governor, a few spoke of him being of good character in general.

'Are there any specific accusations against him?' Neia asked.

None stepped forward.

'Then he is guilty only of being a priest in a city of corruption, guilty of being here and doing nothing, and until today, everybody was guilty of that. What punishment he is given, should fall on all, so do we free him?' She asked.

'Free him!' The crowd echoed, and Neia cut his bonds and helped him up.

'Go back into the manor,' Neia said, 'and await me in the governor's office.' He stood, and walked back into the manor.

The next few priests were a mix of guilt and innocence, two were exiled for simply taking bribes or refusing to help the people, but one more was executed immediately after he was exposed for his responsibility in the blasphemy charges of numerous citizens who had opposed the regime or spoken for the Sorcerer King.

The guards were easy, none of them were not corrupt, and none of them were particularly brave, they were capable bullies, but faced with real power, their courage shrank. One was executed and the remainder were exiled...only they were exiled naked, with nothing but a water skin and a sack of stale bread. This included the guard Neia recognized from the entrance, she could not help feeling a bit of smug satisfaction with that one. It was a slightly worse deal than those who had surrendered in the manor got, but they kept their lives regardless.

Lastly, they came to the paladins. There weren't many, the Paladin Order had been decimated in the war against Jaldabaoth, and though more survived in the Southern Kingdom, the North had only a handful, now, thanks to what happened in the city, there were fewer.

Still, Neia had been considered part of the Paladin Order even as a mere squire, so this struck home for her. One by one she took their names, asked if anyone would speak for them, few did, a few remarks of generosity, but not a single instance of a paladin standing up to a guard or an abusive priest was brought to light. But at the same time, save for their inaction, nobody levied charges against them.

'These men then were complicit by inaction, their weakness was a moral one, where they did not have it in them to defy authority, even when that authority is wrong. They are not fit to be paladins, who must stand first for justice and second for authority, the power they wield must not only be of arms, it must be of a will to act, and they had only the former. I cannot condemn them to death for that. People of Prart, will you leave their sentence to me? As a former member of the Paladin Order, I must set this right.'

The crowd agreed, and Neia turned to her fighters, 'Take these men to the governor's office, I would have words with them first.'

'Now we must settle on how this city is to be ruled...' she began, only for cries of 'Governor Neia!' to be hurled back at her.

She shook her head as she raised her hands to still the crowd. 'I cannot do this, but someone must be appointed to do so.' she began, and inspiration struck as she remembered something from a book, 'Go to your districts, and select from each district, one whom you will appoint to represent you, with every adult lending their voice to the one they favor, each district will appoint one representative, and they will form a council that will decide the issues of the city until a new governor can be sent from the capitol. I will remain here for a few days while this is decided, and I will have the merchants who have come with me, pour over the books and determine the depth of corruption. Those exiled already, and those who are found to be corrupted, will have their property confiscated and their wealth returned to the people as compensation.'

The sheer novelty of the concept caught the crowd off guard, and it began to disperse as the issues in their mind were on the way to being resolved, Neia however, had more to do while she waited for the blasphemers and heretics to be released and brought to her, and what she had to do was confront the priest and the paladins. They were waiting in silence, sitting in front of several members of Black Justice and...no longer surprisingly, a few of Tinamoc's personal guards.

'I will deal with these in a moment gentlemen, but first...I must seek the permission of my god for something related to them.' She said, and prompting looks of confusion, followed by shock when after a brief message, a gate opened and she stepped through like it was the most natural thing in the world.

Finding herself in throne room before the guardians and her god, she knelt with head bowed, and Ainz quickly told her to raise her head, and asked her to speak her mind.

As she related the events of the day, the guardians looked rather surprised, and more than a little pleased, and Neia presented her idea to the Sorcerer King, he peppered her with questions, and laughed loud and long.

'Neia Baraja, you have read to the very heart of my desire, your service is above and beyond that of all the mortals who have knelt before me.' He said.

Neia sputtered out quickly, 'It is my purpose to serve his majesty's justice, had you not made it clear to me through your gift of learning, I never could have known your will.' She said, prompting another laugh from her treasured god.

'When all is done, I will see to your reward, but for now, you have a lot to do.' Ainz said, and opened the gate, and Neia took the hint and departed.

Neia walked out of the gate, and purposefully moved in front of them and sat behind the former govenor's desk, as if she had NOT just stepped through a hole in reality...twice...to speak to a god.

'I will speak plainly, you're not all on equal ground here.' She said. 'Taki, you did nothing, but you remained oblivious to such a degree that I must conclude that you did not want to see. I knew the moment I walked in to this city that it was a cesspool of corruption and abuse, you lived here, and never noticed the depth of corruption? Either you didn't want to see, or you are hopelessly naive.' She sighed, 'But...you didn't do anything wrong, except be blind to evil, I'm not going to hurt you, but as a priest you have an obligation to penitence when you sin, especially one that you have to engage in daily.'

The priest lowered his head and nodded. 'But you also did a lot of good even in spite of everything, so I have to take that into consideration.' He looked up, curious as to what she'd say next.

'Priests are not perfect, but in their imperfection, they get a chance to show that the grace of their nature, so we will begin something new with you, something the world needs.'

There were blank but hopeful stares in her direction.

'The temples policy of charging for healing kept them out of politics, but it also kept them from doing the one thing they should have done all along, taking care of the people. For years there was no answer to how to cope with this, but I believe I've hit upon an idea, something that you paladins, and you Taki, are well positioned to do.' Her smile was genuine, and they leaned in and listened with care. 'I cannot take full credit for these concepts, were it not for the God of Justice, Ainz Ooal Gown, and his books, I might never have had this thought.' She said.

'We will begin a new order of priests. Given the nature of things, I will call them 'The Chained'. Their responsibility will be nothing but the care of the people, in healing and good advice, they, beginning with you, will travel the land and care for all with your skills, never stopping for to long in one place, until your vow to them is complete. The corruption of this city endured for three and one half years, give or take, therefore that will be the duration of your vow to carry this out. However, to mark your penance, there must always be a few links of chain around your wrists, until your vow is ended and they are removed.'

Taki looked profoundly enthusiastic about the idea, but he asked, 'How will I...you know...eat...and live, in all that time?'

Neia had a ready answer, 'Black Justice is going to establish a temple here just like what we've done in the Capitol. But we will sustain ourselves economically not by charging for healing, but by acting as brokers for the Sorcerer King in the rental of undead for various tasks, we can collect the surplus for transportation to his realm, and take a commission on what he provides, this coin will pay for the upkeep of the temple, and that will pay for the supplies you need to continue to travel and to heal.

Their heads spun as they imagined what this represented. Paladins were capable of healing, to a degree at least, but more than one had the heartbreaking task of refusing because of temple policy. This erased that completely.

'But...what of us?' A paladin spoke up, 'It sounded like you had a role for us in this?'

'I do.' Neia said. 'You are able to heal, but your chief skills are in combat, you will have two roles, which will require an entirely new order of Paladins, and if you accept this, you will be the first. Let us be truthful, you DID have a role in the oppression of the people, and you did, however halfheartedly, fight for the oppressors when the riots began, even if you did not know the extent of what you were supporting, you were guilty of making it possible for men like Tapir to get away with doing what he was doing.' One of the paladin's retched at the memory. 'So I would say you owe a debt of honor if not of blood.' Neia finished, politely ignoring the well justified retching and the slight mess it left on the floor.

They nodded. There was no denying it.

'In memory of the blood you wrongly shed, you will be the Red Paladins. Your tasks will be to escort priests like Taki and protect him with your lives, and you will also escort and protect travelers departing from temples to holy places. You will be free to use your healing arts on any who need them, and your vow will be for the same length of time as 'The Chained' both orders will fall under the temple of Black Justice, you will at least temporarily, base yourselves out of here as you help the city, and then you will move out more widely as people are drawn in. Do you accept your 'sentence'? Neia asked.

The group looked at each other with wide eyes as they contemplated what lay before them and said in unison, 'YES!'.

'Good. Gather your things and go to the largest temple in the city. I believe I will have people to meet you there before the day is out.' She said, they bowed after standing, and quickly departed.

Not long after they had gone, one of her people returned, but without the blasphemers and heretics, 'Where...' she began, only for him to interrupt and say, 'There are to many.'

'Gather them in the courtyard.' She said in hushed disbelief.

Minutes later, her disbelief was erased, and when they saw and recognized her, a cheer went up long and loud. Just as she suspected, she recognized many from the former rescue detachment that was intended to seek out the Sorcerer King after his first fight with Jaldabaoth, there were faces she didn't know, but many she did, and when she started speaking, the gaps began to fill in, as she told them what she'd been up to, to profound cheers, especially when they saw members of the organization 'Black Justice' at her back, and which roared up again when she explained the founding of the temple in the capitol, and the overthrow here.

'I assume,' Neia said, 'That you have no intention of doing nothing, now that you're out of prison?'

That prompted laughter, as if they would do nothing when free to do anything.

She went on to explain the founding of two new orders, one of priests who would freely heal, travel, and support the people while promoting the faith of Ainz Ooal Gown and his ideals, and another of paladins who existed to protect others in the dangerous world out there, priest and pilgrim alike. The details she filled in filled them with optimism, and when she asked if they'd like to be party to any of those organizations, the only question was which group of volunteers should go where.

In the end those volunteering as healers were fewer, not least because it required talent, but she reasoned that this was acceptable, it took more people to protect one healer, than it took for actually doing the healing. And when they had divided up, Neia explained all that they would have to learn, and sent them to the largest temple in the city.

When they were gone, she thought she might get a moment's peace, until Tinamoc appeared, offering his congratulations. 'Now what?' He asked after shaking her hand.

Neia smiled broadly and said, 'First, I need you and your people with a head for numbers to go through the accounting books, find where the thefts were and where they went, and also, the wealthy manors of the corrupt here are going to be emptied and the wealth redistributed. Suffice it to say with all the money returning back to the people's pockets, I'd suggest staying for a few extra days, it'll be good business. I have to send word requesting a replacement governor and the details of our impromptu trials, the results, and the information about everything taken from the Sorcerer King. This is going to create some chaos in the court, but that can't be helped. I do wish,' her smile turned predatory, 'that I could see the Count's face when he learns what happened here. But anyway, its a lot to do and we don't have to stay for to long, just long enough to get a council established, hammer out the fine points of new orders, and I'd like to be able to dedicate the temple before I go, but we can't stay here for months, I know.'

'I almost wish that we could, I'd like to see what you'd do with Prart if you had that kind of time.' He said with a laugh.

'Me too.' Neia answered, but there's just never enough of that to go around.'

'Maybe not.' Tinamoc replied.

'But I look forward to seeing what you do with the next few tomorrows.' He said, clapping Neia on the shoulder as he walked back out.

 **AN: Well I hope you enjoyed this chapter, we're not anywhere near done, but laying the foundations of tomorrow is a very busy thing, I hope you like how Neia handled it all. And if you didn't, well to late, you read it, and you can't unread it. ;) Anyway, reviews are strongly encouraged, I love reader feedback. And to answer a reader's question, I DO have a , but it is unrelated to this, most of my writing is on religion, culture, science type stuff, this is just for fun. If you do have an interest in those subjects, you can find it on Facebook, search 'Church of the Basement Dragon' (named after Carl Sagan's 'Dragon in the garage' thought experiment). My vacation time is unfortunately ending, so I won't have the free time I did this week, but I DO intend to do something every week with at least one of these stories, with the occasional one shot offshoot or perhaps a larger multipart branch if it is justifiable.**

 **Related note...which one shot would you prefer:  
A. The Slane Theocracy's response to unfolding events (all of them, including the cult of Ainz)  
B. The Argland City State Alliance response to the rising cult of Ainz (they'd have no reason to care about most other events)  
C. The demihuman response to the rule of Ainz (Abelion Hills specifically)  
D. The Adamantite heros responses to any or all of the above**

 **Leave your answer as a PM, I'd rather not clutter the reviews with votes.**


	12. Setting the World Right

The Sun rose on a much happier city, Prart was now rid of its worst elements. Neia was less than pleased that the rebased Re-Estize criminals had not been caught, they had apparently had the sense to evacuate themselves during the initial chaos. 'Smart criminals are the worst.' She sighed aloud as she went over several documents. Tinamoc's merchants were a dream come true for this, Neia had more skills than she dreamed as a child, thanks to the training she received in the Sorcerer King's domain...but that didn't mean she had all the talents she wished for. One of those weaknesses was with numbers, she was a shitty accountant, and the myriad of transactions that took place to hide the corruption of the city was just to much.

Merchants though? For them this was as easy as it was for a hunter to track bleeding prey. The reports submitted by Tinamoc's merchants had summarized what they'd learned, and when she understood, she was actually duly impressed with the criminals. They were the chief lenders of the city, and they were also far better thieves than anyone who robbed houses or waylaid travelers. Their weakness however, was their arrogance, they had clearly never expected to be audited by anyone competent, and so they hadn't fled the city. Dealing with them was her first task of the morning. They'd been summoned to the former governor's manor and, suspecting nothing, they came, perhaps hoping to curry favor or feel out the new administration...it was almost to easy, had they not been criminals, Neia would have felt fairly guilty herself about taking advantage of their ignorance to make her work easier.

As it was, they arrived, walking through the manor doors that were now guarded by Black Justice soldiers, and the half a dozen well dressed men were escorted back to Neia's office and the door was closed behind them. Neia stood up from her desk and gestured for them to sit. She looked them over, they had neatly trimmed beards and were richly dressed in fine and decorated clothes, they wore smooth leather boots and wore rings on every finger, they were not very physically fit, and their hands looked smooth except for their finger tips, which bore the callouses of those who spent much of their time writing.

'Thank you for coming gentlemen.' She said as they sat, and then she sat herself.

'Do you know why you're here?' She asked as she began to sift through reports.

'I would assume,' a wheezy voiced figure said, 'it is to see how we can contribute to the future of the city as it goes in a new direction.'

'And you are?' Neia asked.

'Ulit, at your service.' He said.

'Well Ulit, you're almost right.' Neia said, 'Not quite, but almost, see I've had my people review tax records and other documents submitted to the former governor here, and we've found out how you all have managed to steal so much.'

A wave of sudden protests came from the men in front of her as they stood up, baby smooth fists curled in outrage, anger was quick to form on their faces, but Neia drew out a dagger and slammed it down on the desk hard enough to make a loud thud and draw their silence. 'Silence!' she shouted. 'Sit down or I will put you down.' She said sharply.

They stilled, and sat down, now nervousness began to form on their faces.

Neia reclaimed her seat and began to explain.

'When lending money to a person you would charge them interest for the risk, and as they paid you back, they should have eventually cleared the debt, however you clever thieves added the interest on to the principle balance, so that the payments made to you, would never decrease the total sum owed. It was really very clever. In addition, I note that the interest rates charged were quite high, and most of the loans were in the amount it cost for healing from the temples...which coincidentally also deposited money with you on a regular basis...every single time one of those loans went out. In short, you were getting kickbacks from the temples for making the loans to pay for healing, while at the same time the temples were profiting from the service and from what interest you provided for storing the money you yourselves had leant out. As thieves go, you truly are second to none.'

Shock was painted on their faces. It was evident they had never expected to be caught.

'It was further noticed that you took security from others in the form of property, which you inevitably seized, usually in the form of people's homes, and that they then had to pay you rent to live in their own residences after you took it from them, and what is more, I notice that whenever you seized a residence, that property immediately jumped up on the rebuild schedule and was shortly after rebuilt entirely. You have been very busy little money making bees haven't you, and the honey must have been sweet indeed.'

Their faces fell, and as their eyes went to her desk, they saw and made out some of what the visible documents said. If they doubted they'd been caught before, they did not now.

'Well shit.' A portly well dressed man said succinctly.

'Yes. Shit.' Neia said.

They were shaking. They'd heard about the impromptu trial of the previous day.

'Relax gentlemen, you're not going to die.' Neia said, drawing sighs from relief from the group.

'My god has said that evil must be repaid with evil, good with good, life with life, death with death, you have not actually killed anyone, you have only stolen from the ignorant and exploited the desperate. These would be bad enough crimes that some would argue that they merit death, but I don't enjoy killing.' She said, and for a moment she thought back to the death of the priest that tried to kill her, and how unsatisfying it had really been. She snapped herself back to reality and looked them over.

'This is what is going to happen. Everything you own, right down to what you're wearing now, is going to be confiscated, and every name on your list of victims will be compensated accordingly, their debts wiped clean and their homes and property returned to them. Your personal residences will be sold and the wealth gained from their sale will be distributed as additional compensation to your victims. If any victims were imprisoned over their debts, they will receive an increased share, and if any of your victims died or took their own lives, any survivors will also be compensated. If there are no survivors from a victim, the city will hold those funds and use them accordingly for governing purposes.' She said in a voice of iron, and the jaws of the men fell open as they looked at her with absolute horror.

'As for yourselves,' Neia continued, and she reached into a drawer and took out a vial, which she placed on her desk, 'you have a choice. You can either be sentenced to one year of imprisonment for each victim you had...for some of you, that means you'll never walk out alive...or you can be sentenced to seven years hard labor on the rebuilding projects, serving your victims as if you were the poorest of peasant labor...which in fact you will be...or,' she said, and then her voice took on a grave tone, 'this vial contains enough poison to end your lives here and now, your suicide will atone for your crimes, and if you take this option, your families will receive a portion of the sale of the homes you bought with ill gotten gains. They won't be rich anymore I don't expect, but they'll be able to start off their lives with some means to live, you have two minutes to decide.' Neia said, and then she drew out a goblet and a bottle of wine, and then poured both the wine and the poison into the goblet and set it on the center of the desk in front of her.

She crossed her arms and looked at them, watching as they considered their options. One of them, who apparently didn't care for any of the options, jumped up and tried to flee, Neia did nothing, she simply watched as the weak looking fellow tried to open the doors and failed, when he realized it wasn't going to happen, he turned and put his back to the door, his hands out, pressing himself against it as if he wished to become one with the wood and walls, his eyes were wide with terror...'No! No! No!' he shouted. One of the men who was of somewhat sterner stuff said, 'I should have seen this coming. It was fun while it lasted.' And he reached out and took the goblet, raised it in a toast, and took a swallow, and then set it back down. 'A good vintage, thanks for one last drink at least.' He said, and he fell unconscious, and life fled from his body.

'Brave.' Neia said. 'Ashame his courage did not translate to character.' She shrugged. 'Time is up. What say the rest of you?'

The man at the wall had turned back to the door and was now trying to claw his way out with his fingernails, as if he could make a tunnel and escape.

One more reached for the goblet, and the six shortly after became four. The three remaining seated men said, 'We will serve our sentence by labor.'

'And you?' Neia said to the fearful fellow in the back. He made no response except plaintive noises. 'Prison it is then.' She said, and then she called in the guards, the fool at the door tried to press past them, but it was like a toddler trying to push through adults, and he was quickly secured. 'Prison for that one, labor for the other three, and these two, see that their corpses are defleshed and their skeletons raised for labor, they can be set to serving at the temple, and are free to be borrowed by the families of those they robbed.' Neia said to her guards, who quickly carried out her instructions.

Tinamoc arrived at the manor shortly afterwards, and sat himself down in front of Neia. 'Good morning!' He said cheerfully.

'And also to you.' Neia replied, 'Thank you for all your help in deciphering just how many ways the people of Prart were fucked. I could NEVER have done that.' She laughed, 'This has been far from the typical escort mission...hasn't it?' She said.

Tinamoc grinned and then snorted back a restrained laugh, 'It has been quite atypical.' He said, 'But the extra work has been far from unwelcome, many of the merchants under me are young, they could easily have gone the way of the men who robbed this city blind, setting this example has been...illustrative. I saw the former lenders in their penitent clothing and the one being dragged off screaming in chains, and the two corpses as well, still in their rich clothing, I was with several of the younger merchants at the time, the point was...illustrative, to them.' He said with satisfaction in his voice.

'I'm glad to hear that.' Neia said. 'Sometimes a good example to follow is enough,' she gestured to Tinamoc indicating who she meant, 'and sometimes a cautionary one is needed. The laborers alive and dead will serve as a useful reminder of the consequences of evil.'

'True.' He said.

'But now what? I can spend the next few days here, even leave them a day of ease and relaxation, perhaps two, but we will need to move soon.' He said.

'Also true.' Neia said. 'Several of my former comrades have been chosen to represent different parts of the city, and the rest went to the designated temple and are busy turning it into the temple of Black Justice. Between that and the temple connections to the capitol, I think things will be fine, there will need to be new lending agents here, and some houses are coming on to the market, are any of your merchants ready to settle down? Have you considered a branch operation within the city?' She asked.

Tinamoc thought the matter over, 'I'll talk to them, it would be good to establish a foothold here as it rebuilds, and some of my people are of age to want to settle down, if the manors available are at a fair price, between that and the opportunity presented, I think two or three would like to take it up.'

'That will be sufficient.' Neia said.

'Have you still been writing to Lord Ainz?' Tinamoc asked.

'Nightly.' She said, 'Though I send them slowly as he wished, I expect I'll see the first replies before we leave here.'

'What about the Capitol, I haven't seen any correspondence from your leaders there?' He asked.

Neia shrugged. 'If there were reason to worry, I'd have heard about it by now, with the capitol rebuilt and most of the foreign influences purged, I'm not very concerned. I am a little curious as to what they'll do with the captives, and I admit I'm disturbed by the stolen documents, that more or less ensures at least some of the guilty nobles remain, but if they have one brain among them they'll at least lay low for awhile.'

Neia stood and started to walk out of the manor, Tinamoc fell into step beside her, they were silent for a time, lost in their own thoughts about what the future held for their damaged but healing kingdom.

As they reached a pair of horses Tinamoc asked, 'And when they're done laying low?'

Neia mounted her horse and said, 'Then we'll be ready for them.'

Tinamoc mounted his own, the sound and feel of leather was comforting in its familiarity as he settled into the saddle, 'I doubt they will be able to say the same.' He said, 'I have to go see to the market, and I'll let my men know about the opportunity you're presenting to them. Will you be joining us this evening for dinner?'

'No, I'll be giving my customary speech in the evening, and then I'm going to the temple to for a reunion with the people I freed from prison. Plus I may have to reach out to Nazarick to find out how the priestly instruction has been going, I'm sure they'll want official priests soon enough.'

'No doubt, well then I'll see you tomorrow, I'll let you know how the warehouse inventory is going then, I'm not a gambler, but I'll bet there is a wealth of stolen goods to be returned or disposed of, and I'll see to the accounting of goods in the manors as well.' He said.

'I look forward to it.' Neia replied, and then they spurred their horses at a trot away from the governor's manor.

The trip to the temple did not take long, not because the streets weren't crowded, but because by now the armor of Black Justice was well known, and people were inclined to move aside, it made her frankly uncomfortable. Even after being in command of so many, after speaking before commoners, crowds, and kings, after having knelt before an unliving god and been found worthy of his trust...she didn't like deference. Most of the time she was just...used to it because urgency demanded her focus, but in the ordinary moments of going from place to place, she didn't feel like she was other than she ever was.

She laughed inside her own head, 'I wonder if anybody else in my position ever feels this way...like they're in over their head and just faking their confidence.' She shook her head, as if casting off the thought. 'No, probably not.'

When she arrived at the temple, she had found her sense of focus, and she dismounted her horse and tied it off, the temple was already almost completely painted black, as if the darkness scrubbed away the evil that had permeated it. When she was seen, recognition was instant, and the person who saw her first called inside to the rest that Neia had arrived. She walked up the stairs and as she entered the doors, she was greeted by the liberated persons cheerful faces.

'You've been busy.' Neia said as she looked around.

'Very.' One of them said as he stepped out from among them and reached out to clasp her hand. Neia took it and shook it gladly, 'Varo, wasn't it?' Neia asked.

'Right.' He said.

'You're looking better, you looked like fetid shit the other day.' She laughed, and the rest shared in it, one of them spouted off, 'Ell that's no different than he always looked!' The laughter redoubled, and as their handshake ended, Varo spoke up, 'While we were in prison, I sort of...managed things for us, much as we could, so the rest of them appointed me to continue that task here until we get a proper priest. Speaking of which, there are some people you should meet.'

'Well lead on then Varo.' Neia said, and gestured for him to walk ahead of you.

'The rest of you finish up, I'll rejoin you later.' Varo said, and admist the chatter of the former soldiers who turned back to their work, Varo and Neia walked in to the inner sanctum.

There, much to her surprise, sat dozens of people...not in common clothing, not in noble attire, but rather men in the priestly robes of the other six gods, they filled many pews on the left, and on the right, were a slew of people in common clothing whose heads were deeply bowed, they were uncommonly fit looking, even from behind them, they filled a considerable number of pews.

Their backs were to Neia and Varo, and they were apparently lost in their meditations, so Neia leaned over and whispered to him, 'What is this...?'

He leaned in and whispered back, 'Its what it looks like. Word of the atrocities perpetrated by Tapir spread after the trial, and that prompted others to come forward, and others, and others, turns out that a whole great mess of senior priests had been abusing children and women, the city governor had been reassigning ethical people and bringing others in their places, drunks, rapists, and so on, so he could exploit their actions for profit.'

'And they're here?' She asked in shock.

'No, no, as the accusations kept pouring in, citizen militias started arresting them, they're all locked up and secured and awaiting trial, THESE here are the ones nobody accused of anything, or who had people speak favorably of them. They're mostly very young, naive, they didn't evidently know what was going on, or just couldn't believe the accusations they heard, and now...well now they don't have any doubts, they're here for penance, watch.' He said, and then from a side door near the alter, a priest came out wearing a red robe and wearing broken manacles that were not bound together, allowing his hands to move freely, and from his wrists fell three and one half links of chain dangled from each wrist.

Neia recognized him immediately as the priest she'd put on trial.

'What about those over there, are they just citizens...?' She asked softly.

'Those are paladins and squires mostly, but also a few guards ordinary soldiers. See as it turns out, aside from the paladins who were knocked out and captured, there were others who didn't know what to do at all, and so stayed in their garrisons. They're here out of a sense of guilt, most of them had some idea of the corruption present here, but until the accusations started flying that couldn't be shut up, and the arrests started to come out and even more accusations flew around, they didn't realize how bad it was, not knowing what else to do, they're here.' He said.

'And I needed to be here because?' She asked.

'Because you brought all this to light, you created these penitent orders that seem to offer a way to make up for what they've all been party to for all this time.' He said.

She swallowed hard. 'This is...different.' She said.

'I do have one idea though, that may impress them far more than I.' She said, 'Give me a moment.'

Neia stepped back out of the room and sent a message to Sebas.

'What can I do for you Neia?' He asked.

Neia then informed him of all that had transpired in the city, the corruption, the abuse, the degradation, all that had been uncovered since throwing that fool to the justice of Ainz Ooal Gown, and she informed him of the penitent priests, paladins, squires, and guards.

'...And you want to know if Lord Ainz could sentence these penitents to their service personally?' He asked. 'It is a bit presumptuous of you isn't it?' He asked.

'It is.' Neia admitted, 'However because I sent one to him for punishment already, I thought it at least worth asking if he would be willing to appear for penance, plus, there are many here from the corps who volunteered to rescue them, and they were imprisoned for their loyalty to his ideals when they tried to fight the corruption of this city, it would thrill them to no end to see him one more time now that they are free to work his will again.'

Silence stretched out and for a moment Neia believed she had been cut off after offending him, but a moment later Sebas's voice rang in her mind, 'He will come. Stand before the alter and he will appear behind you.'

Neia expressed her gratitude and returned to the room, this time it was not silent, she entered loudly, her feet falling heavy on the floor and sending an echo throughout the room. She walked to the back directly down the aisle, and when she stood before the alter she put hands to her hips and instructed Varo to go bring the others in.

'Anybody not know who I am?' Neia said, and raked her eyes over the room, her vicious, savage eyes were a sight to behold, and if they were not, her armor was well enough known.

There was nobody who asked.

'I know why you're here, and fierce as my look may be, know that I am glad. But I am not alone in this, your willingness to make right what you have allowed to go wrong, has been brought to the attention of the Sorcerer King, and he is coming in person.'

The rumble of voices rose among them, and Neia raised her hands to still them. 'He does not come to kill you, he comes to bless your choices. He has endorsed the founding of the Chained and the Red Paladins. You who have made this decision, will be forgiven for what you have done, and for what you have failed to do.' Her evangelist voice easily carried to those in the back, and no sooner had the rest of her people gathered, than a hole in reality opened behind the alter at Neia's back, and through it stepped the god of justice.

Neia knew from their faces what was happening, and she turned and knelt before him.

'Raise your head, Pope Neia.' He said, using her new title. 'You have done well, and I am pleased.' He said.

'Thank you my lord.' Neia said softly, raising her head, tears shone in her eyes, but did not fall.

Those in the pews facing the alter, had gone down to their knees when the Sorcerer King appeared, as had those who had come in at Neia's summons.

'You veterans, former prisoners, who suffered in order to work my will, who wished to sacrifice yourselves when you thought I was at risk, come, take your place behind Pope Neia.' He said, and they could not move fast enough for their liking, they almost fell over themselves to kneel before Ainz.

'Your loyalty to my will is not forgotten. I regret only that I did not know you were suffering for me, otherwise I would have seen you freed. Those behind bars are little good to anyone, and now that you are free, you may work my will again if that is your wish, but I will not compel you, I wish only loyalty that is freely given, now will you work to make this world a just one once again?' Ainz said, sweeping his staff over their heads.

'We will!' They said in unison.

'Then let it be so. Pope Neia asked that a corps of priests be trained and established to carry my will out and aid the people. Some from the capitol are preparing for this already, you will join them, and three of you will be assigned to each temple we establish. You will also be taught the combat style developed by Neia Baraja, under her tutors, Cocytus and Sebas, in my realm, your training will be arduous, you will have to work to catch up to the rest who have begun before you.' Eager grins met his words.

'Neia, I have received your correspondence and sent answer to you, it should arrive in written form in this city within a day or two, this will provide the core of your efforts to write the sacred texts so that the people may understand them.' He said, and Neia's eager smile matched those of the veterans.

The priests and fighters at the pews were shaking as they saw this, some had felt the power of the Sorcerer King before, but most had never felt it so close before, never heard his voice, never felt his aura, and now here he was as if he had stepped out of the afterlife.

'You lot.' He said, sweeping his staff in front of them.

'You have failed your people. You have failed your duty. You have failed yourselves. To fail in those things is to fail to execute the will of god.' He said, and their downcast eyes were wet with tears of remorse.

'But while your failure showed your sin of weakness, your presence here shows a hidden strength, of character and will. Not every man ever born is able to face up to his wrong doings and try to make amends.' He said, and hopeful gazes lifted up to meet him.

Ainz pointed to the priests, 'You are the chained. You will serve as Neia directed for 3 and 1/2 years, and travel the realm caring for the people, the head of your order is the first of your number to repent, but your order answers to the temples which answer to the pope which answers to me. If you die serving the people, your chains will be removed upon burial, you will die having atoned for your wrongs. If you wish to continue to serve beyond your required time, only add links to your chains. Serve well, and make the people glad that you are among them.' He said.

He turned his gaze to the fighting men, 'You there, had a failure as great as theirs, but you stand in common with them in that you are willing to make right what you have done wrong. You are now the Red Paladins. Your armor will reflect this, and there will be eight of you assigned per Chained Priest, four paladins and four squires, and when stationed at temples, you will escort pilgrims and other travelers to holy places and villages. If you die protecting the weak or the innocent, you will be remembered as having atoned, you must serve as long as the priests of the Chained, but may serve longer if you wish. You likewise, are subject to the governance of the temple's Black Priests. Serve well, and make others glad that you have lived.'

Ainz said, 'I bless these orders in the name of justice, the dignity of life, and the conquest of both death and weakness.'

As he slammed the tip of his staff down, a holy light emanated from it and shone throughout the temple, with what seemed to be 'pieces' of it settling over those who knelt, but the light went beyond the temple, and radiated over the whole of the city, bearing with it a warmth and a certitude of rightness for all to see and feel, until it gradually faded.

Inside his head Ainz thought to himself, 'I wondered what this effect would look like in the New World...I sure hope my acting paid off in that presentation.'

'I must go now,' he said, 'Can I leave justice in your hands this time?' He said somewhat sardonically, and a weeping crowd managed to bellow out a loud collective, 'YES!'.

'You then,' he said, pointing to Varo, 'Come with me, you and the others who stayed loyal to me, and see my realm, you have much work to do.'

They rose, and followed as if entranced by what they'd seen, until the portal closed behind the last of them.

'Impressive as always.' Neia said softly.

'Now,' Neia snapped, drawing the assembly's attention back to her. 'There are three things to be done. The first is you must prepare your uniforms, priests visit the blacksmiths and have your manacles formed, paladins and squires, see to the dying of your armor, when you return, separate yourselves into teams, I leave it to you to decide whom to work with. Tomorrow, we will begin sending you out, one team each day, while the rest take care of the temple while the new priests conduct their training. Get going!' She said like she was ordering soldiers into ranks, and they quickly obeyed, leaving her alone in the place of worship.

She leaned back heavily, resting one hand against the alter, and rubbed her forehead with her other hand, and let out a heavy sigh. 'Damn but this is exhausting. I wish I were a natural at this like the Sorcerer King.'

 **AN: Well here you go. :) I know, it isn't exactly action packed, but then, how could it be? The city of Prart is fallen and now must be reordered, this is establishing the groundwork for their pending departure and a fresh set of challenges as they turn south. They have a long journey ahead of them and a great many things to see, and old scores to settle and a future to build. I hope you enjoyed this chapter of the story, I will be doing more updates to it in the very near future, but I must finish the final chapter of 'Training in Time'.**

 **Of course, REVIEWS ARE FOOD...and I'm hungry, feed me. :) If you want to show your support for my writing in another way, it wouldn't be right for me to profit from this privately since I didn't create the Overlord Universe, then you can donate a buck to the charity organization: BDGiving I can't post the link evidently thanks to the filter, but if you search it that way, no spaces, you'll find the dot org site easily enough.**

 **As always, thanks for reading! :)**


	13. There Was Always Fire

As Neia got on her horse next to Tinamoc, she felt a glow of satisfaction, victory was like great sex, leaving satisfaction and a sense of accomplishment from a job well done, in that it left everybody who mattered, satisfied and happy...it was impossible not to smile in such circumstances, and this was no different, with Prart's reconstruction now back on track and the Black Justice temple established, there was a fresh sense of hope that filled the city, replacing the miasma of corruption that had filled the air like smoke in a chimney when she her caravan had arrived not that long ago.

'Hell of a job.' Tinamoc said to her as they spurred their horses to a comfortable canter at the head of the column.

'Same to you.' Neia said with a genuine smile on her face, 'Your expertise with trade and coin made all the difference in sorting out the corrupt, and with a few of your older partners deciding to settle there, work with the temple and with the council...well there is a triumvirate of progress set to fix all that went wrong. I hope I get a chance to visit this city again in a few years and see what they've done with the place.'

'It'll be a site worth seeing I'm sure.' Tinamoc said, 'But now that we're heading South, well...how much do you know about it? Ever been there?' He asked.

'No.' She said, 'I know they weren't hit as hard by Jaldabaoth, and that the temples are very strong there, I know their coasts are well defended and that they produce many finished goods, and their population is more concentrated than the North, at least that is what I gathered from the briefings I sat in on during the war.' Neia said, reciting what she could remember in a fashion more hesitant than her usual commanding tone.

'That's about right.' Tinamoc responded.

'It'll take us a while to get to the border even traveling by the most direct route, we'll be pausing at roughly one day per village to take on and drop off laborers and travelers, and of course to trade, but when we reach the border...well it is almost like a completely different country. The South has never had to have the same fear of the Abelion hills that the North has, and though they've had some trouble with demihumans over the years, it hasn't been nearly on the same scale. As a result they don't have the same strength of hostility against the demihumans that the North does, but they also don't have the same reverence for the Sorcerer King either.' Tinamoc said casually.

Neia listened intently, soaking up the information.

'The Southern nobility has strong ties to the Slane Theocracy through sea trade, and as a result the priests have strong influence, from what I heard, there were many who argued that the Northern Kingdom should have been abandoned entirely as punishment for consorting with the undead to save themselves, Jaldabaoth was considered to be divine punishment for impiety, and consorting with the unead was just 'proof' of that failing.' He said, prompting Neia's jaw to tense tightly.

'As we come closer and closer to the dividing wall at the narrow land bridge, expect your message of the glory of the Sorcerer King to have fewer and fewer friendly ears, and if word of it has already reached the border guards, expect them to give us trouble getting through, the King's writ will force the issue and we will get through...but expect to be harassed about your faith. Just remember your mission, guard this caravan, spreading the message of Black Justice is secondary to furthering trade ties.' He reminded her in a serious tone of voice.

Neia nodded silently, trying to imagine herself not spreading the word of Ainz...and finding that her imagination just wasn't good enough to picture that. Nonetheless she said, 'I understand. I'll...be as discreet as I can be.'

The next few days were joyfully peaceful, as word of the successes and ferocity of Black Justice spread from place to place, and as a result both bandits and demihumans in hiding gave a wide berth to the path of the caravan, which was particularly noteworthy because of the apparent richness of the prize if someone were to plunder it successfully.

Two events in particular had given Neia incredible joy. The first was that she began to receive the long distance correspondence of Ainz Ooal Gown which critiqued her assessment of his Justice and served as the foundation for her compilation of his sacred text...and in the second...word came from the capitol of widespread conversions, the first priests had begun to move out into the villages and towns Neia had passed through. Of similar significance was the success she had in evangelizing to travelers who joined the caravan for safety. The nightly training of Black Justice made a powerful impression on the people, as did the powerful speaking of Neia Baraja herself.

They were peaceful and profitable days, with the first few towns she went to already having converts present as a result of people moving outward from Prart and even from the Capitol, and all was well till the day she saw the column of smoke in the distance.

Skana was the first to see it as she had ridden ahead, but by the time she made it back to the caravan to warn them all, the smoke had grown into a column large enough to be seen from the caravan's line of travel.

Neia's eyes were hidden by her visor, but behind her visor, gone was the happy contentment that had filled the recent days, and returned was the veteran commander, the acolyte of the Sorcerer King's justice.

Tinamoc sensed the change in her, but even had he not, a column of smoke on a clear day that was visible from miles away...was rarely a good thing, still, he held out hope.

'Could they be burning the stubble out of the field?' He asked Neia.

'Unlikely.' Neia said, 'Not at this time of year, that should take place in the fall after harvest.'

'Shit.' Tinamoc said.

'Yes.' Neia replied.

As Skana rode up, she found orders already waiting for her.

'Take the other scouts, check the town, take no unnecessary risks, look for survivors, but avoid engagement if at all possible.' Neia said swiftly.

Skana had barely finished hearing the orders when she called up the rest her scouting unit. She swiftly changed her mount for a fresh one, and then they spurred their horses on, leaning low to ensure that they could move as swiftly as possible, as they moved out, Neia looked over to Tinamoc, 'We don't know what we're getting into here, so I'll have the wagons circle into defensive posture, you and the rest of the merchants take safety positions, whatever caused that fire may be entirely benign, or it may be hostile forces that would love to target a merchant caravan.'

Tinamoc nodded as Neia barked out her orders, and with practiced ease the wagons began to circle up and the mercenary guards and Black Justice began to take up their formations.

The air was tense and the caravan as silent as the grave, the only sound to speak of was the sound of wind over grass and through bushes.

Neia kept her eyes scanning the area as she paced the formation, though she felt no need to say anything, occasionally she reached down and touched the shoulder of a merchant or servant laying down in concealment, offering them a reassuring look to calm their nerves. The calm was always unsettling to those new to risk, but for her and her band of veterans, the calm was a familiar companion.

She had just completed a circuit when the scouts returned with Skana at their head, she dismounted with practiced ease and saluted Neia before immediately speaking out her report. Even had she said nothing, Neia was certain the news was bad, given the grim expression the scouts all shared.

'Its bad. Everybody is dead.' She said.

'Everybody?' Neia asked with surprise.

'Everybody.' Skana said with a flat voice.

'What happened?' Neia asked.

Skana sighed heavily and knelt to the dirt, and she began to draw the layout of the village.

'The village didn't have a wall to speak of, just a fence, good enough to keep small animals in, but nothing that a good swing of a mace couldn't bring down, and all it really did was ensure that in their panic, people would be trapped and easy prey. The attackers were organized, they broke in at two points, first over here,' she pointed to one side, 'and then over here,' she pointed to another area of the fence she'd drawn, 'based on where the casualties were greatest, and the fact that one group had a lot of stabs in the back, so they were hit twice. After that, it looks like they hit the houses, dragged people out of them, and then killed them in the center.' Her voice was clinical, and it reminded Neia of priests who were evaluating the injured and sick to determine what spell to use.

'Anything left?' She asked Skana softly.

'The animals were slaughtered rather than taken, and it seems that they took food and other basic supplies, but it wasn't thoroughly ransacked like a usual bandit raid, so I don't think that was the motive here.' Skana said.

'Demihuman attack maybe?' Neia asked.

'No.' Skana replied. 'All the footprints were human sized and shaped, plus demihumans would have left more claw marks, bite marks, and blunt trauma, and they'd have eaten some of the people at least. Plus, I found something else.' Neia looked at her expectantly as Skana reached into her pack and drew out a crudely made banner with the Black Justice emblem on it...but it was different, in the center, painted white, blasphemously over top of their own, was the sigil of the house Bessarez.

Neia swore. She kept swearing.

Skana and her scouts waited for the tirade of profanity to pass, and when it did, Neia took a deep breath and said one word. 'Remedios.'

They felt a chill pass over them.

'It had to be her.' Neia said. 'I just...I can't believe this. I have to see it for myself. Did you scout the area, any sign of hostiles?' She asked.

'Yes I did.' She replied. 'They're all gone, had to have been around a hundred of them.' Skana said.

'Alright, we're going to have our work cut out for us, but for now we'll move in on the site and see what else we can work out. Scout the area surrounding us by around two bow shots, then rejoin us when we've established ourselves at the village remnants.' Neia said, and then turned around and called out orders to reform and move on, and with the same practiced ease of many journeys, the wagons rolled on, one following the other out of the circle, while Neia briefed Tinamoc at the front.

'Damn.' Tinamoc said simply. 'So you think it was Remedios do you?'

'I'm nearly certain of it. Of all those devoted to Queen Calca, nobody else was a dedicated as she was. Moreover, I've seen how much she's unraveled, she's nearly mad, and she already tried to kill me and all my people in our sleep, I don't know what drove her to go so far, but she's acting like we and those who agree with us are...well...like we're demihumans or heteromorphs. She was always brutal towards those groups, she wouldn't have hesitated even to kill a baby orc, just because it was an orc. After she escaped the capitol during the fire along with her supporters, nobody knows where she went. Now she's here, and I'll be honest, I don't think it is coincidence that she struck a village in our path.'

'So what will you do?' Tinamoc said in a serious tone of voice.

'I'll send word back to the capitol, back to Prart for the council to deal with, and we'll move on...but I'll also need to warn the other villages. Black Justice supporters have been growing in number, if Remedios is out there targeting all of us, a whole lot of people are going to die, and if she strikes this caravan, we'll be hard pressed to stop her.' Neia said softly.

'You can't win?' Tinamoc asked, his face draining of color.

'I doubt very much I could defeat her in hand to hand combat...I'm a skilled archer, I can do things with a bow that nobody else in the Paladin Order ever could, I'm a better tracker, I have better equipment, and if I may dare say so I have better people...I might...MIGHT be able to take her down from a distance. But up close, her skill with a sword far surpasses me. As a group we could take her down, but she's not alone.'

Neia turned the matter over in her head as they rode in silence for a time, and then she said, 'I don't know how many people support us, I don't think anybody knows, but I know Remedios Custodio, if she's somehow gotten it into her head that followers of Ainz and Black Justice are not to be counted as human...she'll never stop until we make her stop. We've got to secure our people, wherever they are...but I'll need help for that.' She said softly.

When they arrived at the village, Neia halted the column and rode into the village with a number of her warriors. A horrible scene awaited them, the smoke had long since begun to subside, and the bodies had turned pale, many of them still curled up clutching their wounds, while others had died running, some had terrified expressions on their faces, others had no faces left from where a hammer or mace had brought them down.

Some there were clutches of people together, either near an escape route that had been blocked off, or amidst others where they'd made a stand and died fighting, most of those had many wounds, whoever killed them had not shown any quarter, whether they were man or woman, young or old, and they had fought with whatever they had, kitchen knives, hammers, even pitchforks, for all the good it had done them. Near the center of the village was a pole to which the banner of Black Justice must have hung, there was one figure dressed in a facsimile of the Black Justice uniform, his body slumped against it, his head severed, and stuck through to the pole with a short sword. Neia immediately recognized him. 'Tiksin...' She sighed. Tinamoc approached. 'He looks familiar.'

Neia nodded, 'He should, awhile back he was the one who joined us briefly before going to the capitol, he was the one I got off on the murder charge, he must have gone to the capitol, and then found his way here and converted some or most or even all of this village to our beliefs. Now he died for it.' She clenched her fist in frustration, and after a lingering glance at the dead man, she walked away and began to aimlessly sort through the ruins.

Neia had seen death, she had dealt death, but as she lifted a charred blank and tipped it over and let it fall with a thud, to see that a child...a young girl clutching a straw doll, here dirty blonde hair still bright and her eyes turned dull as glass, devoid of life after she had been trampled, Neia still found her stomach roiling. Even being case hardened as she was, the most innocent victims of conflict, still got to her, seeing Tiksin was bad, seeing this was worse.

Others were no better, some had been killed by the smoke or were buried by the debris when their burning homes collapsed in on them, Neia closed her eyes and the village fell into view in her mind, people moving around, living their lives, starting their day...paladins attacked, the village had no coordinated response, some hasty struggling ensued, the practiced paladins opened a breach elsewhere and hit the defenders in the back or caught those fleeing as they ran, 'Fire...there is always fire in these things...' Neia thought to herself as she dropped a charred piece of wood she'd been holding without thinking. She let the vision fade from her mind, opened her eyes, and dropped the wood with a dull thunk.

'Are you alright Pope Neia?' Skana asked softly.

'I'm fine, just fine.' She said in reply to Skana. 'These kinds of things are never pretty,' she gestured to where the now exposed body of the girl lay, 'She'll never grow up, never have a first kiss, a first crush, a first tumble in the hay, a first child, a first harvest, a first gray hair...so much is lost when a child dies. It reminds me that, in her way, Queen Calca had noble beliefs, even if they couldn't be achieved. She forgot the importance of power to justice, and so, there lies the fruit of weakness, an eternal loss, not just of one life, but of all the lives that could have ever sprung from her.' Neia said, tears welled up in her fierce eyes, and Skana reached her hand out, and clutched at Neia's, their battle hardened hands, squeezed one another tight, and they shared a look at the eternal loss, one small life among many, but it touched them nonetheless.

Neia rubbed the wellspring of emotion from her eyes with the back of her free hand, 'Lets get back to work, these people need a proper burial before we move on, I'll tell Tinamoc we're going to stay overnight to take care of this, but in the meantime I will need help to get warnings to the other villages.'

Skana gave her hand one final squeeze, and let go, their hands fell back to their sides, and Neia passed along her instructions, it was hardly necessary, both servants and soldiers and even merchants had begun to get out shovels, and Tinamoc had already made the judgement to stay for himself, so after expressing her gratitude, Neia sent a message, not to Ainz, but rather to Sebas, an answer was swift in coming.

'My lord I need your assistance.' She said.

'What is it?' Sebas replied.

'My lord, Remedios Custodio has taken to targeting the followers of Black Justice, the followers of the god of Justice, Ainz Ooal Gown. I have just come to a village they have destroyed, everyone has been killed, and the man I presume was our representative here, has been beheaded and his head stuck to a pole. with a sword through the mouth.' Neia said, and silence followed.

'I see, such an insult against our lord will not be allowed to stand, but I'm sure you're not contacting me just to inform me of this, what do you want?' Sebas replied.

'I need mounts that will never tire, we must warn the other villages, all the villages where Black Justice has spread to, if we can warn them, they can protect themselves or they can withdraw to the cities, our people will be safe.' Neia replied.

'I will speak to my lord immediately.' Sebas answered.

A few minutes later, the portal opened in the middle of the ruined village, and the stuff of nightmares stepped through, first one, then another, then another, hell horses, undead beasts with four legs, solid ice blue eyes, and tendrils of fire sprouting from gaps in the ragged flesh over parts of their body, their bleached bones contrasting against what black flesh still clung to them, they emitted an oppressive aura of the sort only the undead could do, they were beasts of legend, seen by not one adventurer in ten thousand, and even fewer lived to speak of what they saw...yet here was a herd of them, standing docile and waiting to be mounted like loyal war horses.

Standing as they were in the midst of the dead, the growing stench of corpses, smoke from houses, and the sound of the occasional collapse, it might have been a hellscape of the afterlife, punishment for failure, punishment for weakness, who could say for what, but it felt like punishment for something. It sent chills down the backs of those present.

'Skana, get going, this might have been the first attack, but it won't be the last if we don't do something about this.' Neia said, 'Take a cart behind each horse, the undead are strong, the undead do not sleep, you'll be able to get the weak and infirm out faster, get people to move towards Prart out of the line of march.'

'What is the line of march Pope Neia?' Skana asked with surprise.

'Us.' Neia responded.

'I don't believe for a moment that this,' she gestured to bodies that lay strewn about the ground like puppets without strings, 'was just coincidentally along our route, Remedios was part of the council, she was head of the Paladin Order, she almost certainly knew the typical route of large caravans like this one, since securing the trade routes was a vital part of their duty. She did this so that we'd find it, and that means she'll start targeting others along the way, anywhere in our sphere of influence, she's starting a holy war.' Neia said with an almost vicious sadness in her voice.

'We'll go immediately!' Skana said, and with a lingering glance at Neia, cold eyes met deadly eyes, and a moment's warmth was shared between them, and Skana rushed to obey, and her scouts with her, swiftly attaching carts to saddles, and riding out as fast as the winds of a hurricane.

Neia looked around, people were already digging graves for the dead, and Neia stood in a silent vigil, watching it happen as one by one, bodies were lowered into the ground over the next several hours. It was a warm day, but all Neia felt was cold.

 _In the Capitol city council chamber..._

'She's done WHAT?' King Caspond said with shock.

'She's started burning villages.' Count Handor said flatly, almost bored with the whole matter. 'They're only peasants, but it looks bad, not least because of who she was. It will surely undermine his majesty's reign if nothing is done to halt it.'

The council chamber was nearly silent after Handor finished speaking.

Caspond looked over at Gustav, 'Do you believe this report?'

Gustav's face was white as a ghost, his body trembled with emotion, more than it had even when approaching the hour of battle. 'I don't want this to be true,' he spoke in a soft voice, looking not at the King, but at the table, 'but I know Neia Baraja, she wouldn't jump to a baseless conclusion, and she wouldn't lie, not about this. Also...Remedios has changed, she's not who she was, the last time I spoke with her was the day of her attack, she was half mad, but I never imagined she'd do that, and if she could do that, she could do this...so I say we treat this report as if it were true.'

Caspond pondered the matter and gestured to the new head priest of Alah Alaf, 'What do you say?'

The man, Jager Hagai, had a conflicted expression, and it showed as his face ran through a series of emotions. 'I do not know this new 'Pope Neia' except by reputation, but I wouuld say anyone who follows an undead is capable of killing innocent people for ritual reasons, magic, power, or even simple pleasure. On the other hand, the undead king she served fought for the living, and she took part in many valiant actions for the people under his guidance. Remedios has indeed changed, but could she have changed so much? I don't know, but I say we should undertake two measures. To ensure this isn't the work of Neia Baraja herself, we send a representative of the crown to meet and move with her escort, whose safety she will be personally accountable for. At the same time, Commander Gustav, you were going to go out and hunt demihumans and bandits in the next what...week or so...I say instead you should make it your mission to hunt down and capture Remedios Custodio, or take her down if she cannot be captured. His majesty can improve matters by sending soldiers to protect the villages on the roads to the South, and providing some resources to help them start over. If, as this message reads, there are going to be more attacks, we must help the villages start over as soon as possible.'

The proposal was met with approving nods, including that of the King. 'Agreed, get started immediately. Jager, you will take charge of the relief efforts, Gustav, you will push up your departure time, we will send further supplies to you as soon as we can, but I want you and your men out that gate by dawn tomorrow. Find Remedios Custodio, and bring her in or bring her down, I do not care which.' Caspon said sharply and stood up, and both men stood and bowed in turn, and went out the door as fast as their legs could carry them, followed quickly by the rest of the council.

 _In the Capitol city's Black Justice Headquarters.._.

'How many priests have gone out today?' Robel asked Gilcrest with a broad smile as he sat behind Neia Barja's desk.

'We had twenty more leave, the correspondence between the Pope and the Sorcerer King that we've been getting back recently has been bound together, I don't know how long it will be when it is finished, especially with the letters added between new believers asking the various questions about what is appropriate behavior for various conditions...but as it is there is enough to disseminate to the masses.' Gilcrest's grin was no less broad as he gave his answer. 'The training they're provided in such a rapid pace has produced amazing results, nothing changes a person like going to Nazarick.' He said, unknowingly coining an expression that would go down through the ages as the phrase 'going to Nazarick' came to be used to describe a person setting out to change their lives.

'But,' he continued, 'with each one that we've sent out, we've also sent out armed guards armed with equipment that the personal guards of King Caspond would envy, the constant training is serving us well,' and whats more, as our priests are capable of healing now, and are doing it for free, we're stealing away the audiences of the other temples.'

Robel shuffled a few papers and pulled out another one, 'And finances?' He asked.

'Low, but we're doing alright, the undead labor has offset the cost of building the temple, we've had no new attacks on our people, I guess all our worst enemies are now either arrested, fled, or turned into skeletons and they're now building our temple. We're offsetting the financial losses by following the Pope's idea to rent out excessive undead labor as servants and laborers around the city, I'm glad she sent that idea back to us. Once we've established dominance in villages, enough to build temples there too, then we'll start asking for those of our people who pass away, to dedicate their bodies to serving after death.' Gilcrest said.

Robel gave an approving expression, 'The pope was quite clear however that nobody be coerced into it, they may volunteer their bodies, they may sell them selves after death to the benefit of their heirs, and those being executed for crimes, but nobody other than the condemned should ever be forced. Anyone caught trying to force that end on someone in some way, including family members who try to sell their own dead who did not expressly grant permission in life for this to be done, should be severely punished.'

'What did you have in mind?' Gilcrest asked.

'Three months hard labor for the first offence, one year for the second, and to become undead labor themselves at the third offense.' Robel suggested calmly.

'Not unreasonable, but will the King approve?' Gilcrest followed up.

'I think so, the priests will certainly like most of the penalties, it'll look like we're exercising some self control, it'll ease some concerns in some quarters, and we need people at ease, and if they back the measure, the King will.' Robel replied.

'You don't think they'll try to impose a total ban?' Gilcrest asked with surprise.

'They might, but they're in a bad way right now, we're rebuilding things, meanwhile the Paladin Order is disgraced, a head priest has been hanged as an assassin, foreign elements directly threatened this city, and the disgraced head of the Paladin Order had the city burned and fled to save her own skin. No matter what they actually want to do...this is something they'll have to accept.' Robel replied clinically.

'And what about all the missing documents and the prisoners?' Robel asked.

'From what the King has revealed, the documents were stolen by an insider in the council, and he has his own investigation going, one we're not to interfere with, however he has allowed us to have custody of them pending the response from the Slane Theocracy, whether they're returned alive or dead, or at all...well I am not to worried, they're secure for now and they're not going anywhere. We did have one suicide, but we took care to make sure that didn't happen again.' Gilcrest replied.

'Oh, what did you do?' Robel asked curiously.

'We gathered the other prisoners together, then turned their dead comrad into an undead skeleton in front of them, and we put it to work for us, thanks to some of the additional materials provided by the Sorcerer King, it was easy, and it was very effective, I told them that if they took their own lives, we'd make them into our servants, and that their only chance of getting either out of this with their lives, or dying and having a peaceful end afterwards, was to stay alive and stay put until the diplomatic solution was reached and the decision about their fates was made.' Gilcrest said with a wolfish smile. 'Oh, and as an added bonus, I did what you said and followed up about the Red Bird restaurant that they were using as a cover, and it turned out that it was being sublet several times over, tracking it back to its original owner however, we found the property itself belonged to a member of the nobility with close ties to Count Handor, a name you've heard before, Lord Baltrom. Isn't that a surprise?' Gilcrest said conversationally, in a tone that said it wasn't even slightly surprising.

Robel searched his memory silently for a moment, 'The one whose man was caught stealing supplies?'

'The same.' Gilcrest answered.

Robel sighed, 'Not much can be done about it, its obvious to us, but it is plausible to deny any involvement. Lets keep this to ourselves for now.'

'Agreed.' Gilcrest said.

'That's all I need for now, you can get back to seeing to the temple, I've got some more correspondence from the Pope to organize.' Robel said, and after a brief salute, they parted ways.

 _In the Slane Theocracy..._

The cardinals sat around the table in their private chamber, while the statues of the six gods looked down on them, they cursed like drunken, horny, angry sailors who could not find a prostitute.

Berenice, the Cardinal of Fire, did not match the element for which she was named, she normally had a warm and motherly smile spreading across chipmunk cheeks and set the others at ease, but she was swearing like the rest of them as she read the correspondence fromt he Re-Estize Kingdom. When the collective swearing had finally died down, her expression was like that of a mother who had just found her child badly injured. There was fear and deep concern warring for dominance on her face as she spoke.

'This is bad.' Was what she managed to utter as she lay down the document.

Ginedine, the Cardinal of Water, had his wrinkled tan face puckered up in displeasure, as if he'd bitten into rotten meat. 'Very bad.' He said, as if to correct Berenice. 'Our entire intelligence operation for the entirety of the Roble Holy Kingdom was based out of there, and those were some of our best operatives, all taken down in one operation. No mere human did this.' He said with a dark expression easily coming over him.

Dominic, the Cardinal of Wind, looked furious. 'There is nothing MERE about humans, do not blaspheme the chosen race of the divine so!' He snapped. 'But yes, this is very bad, and I agree no human mind was behind this, it was to coldly executed, to perfect, even if we did manage to have the worst of the documents removed, that only tips the hands of the most important people that they have some high ranking traitors among them.'

Yvon, the sinister looking Cardinal of light, tapped his fingers slowly together as he leaned forward and said, 'Calm yourself Dominic, you know what he meant. Somehow the Sorcerer King is behind this, but I think indirectly because remember what their message said'..That if we're cooperative they won't tell the Sorcerer King that you were responsible for the threat to people he bothered to save...' He paused to let that sink in, 'That means his followers did this, not him personally, but they chose those words very carefully, do you remember them from before?' He asked. Silence ruled again.

Thousand Mile Astrologer spoke up, 'I do. I didn't see all of what he did to the Sunlight Scripture, but I saw that much, that was the phrase the Sorcerer King used before killing them all.'

The temperature in the room seemed to drop from spring to winter.

Maximillian, the Cardinal of Darkness spoke up, 'We should ransom them, privately, there's no point in denial when they already know beyond a doubt who they came from, and where else could they be from anyway? The Sorcerer King has no need to use human operators and he'd have had them better guarded, the Re-Estize Kingdom can't fund such large operations as strapped as they are, and the Elf Kingdom is notably short on human agents, that leaves more or less just us, even with nothing else to go on, they'd have figured it out in time.' He said flatly as he adjusted his large round glasses, he reached for a book of law floating near him, and read from the passage on international law, 'Citizens of a nation which are captured while in service to their nation's interests while abroad, if captured, may be ransomed, even if their actions include criminal behavior including murder and all other criminal activities, and may be executed without repercussions if no one is willing to pay the price for their lives.' He let go of the book, letting it float back with the others.

There was a general air of defeat, it was going to be expensive, but at least they'd keep the talent. The vote was passed unanimously, and they drafted a message to be sent through the Re-Estize Kingdom envoy.

'Alright, next item.' Ginedine said as she pulled another document off the stack beside her.

 **Alright thanks everybody for reading, I know it's been about two weeks since I've been back to this story, I am trying to do a chapter per week with my free time, can't promise it will always be this time, sometimes I have to spend time in research and rewrites and so on, but expect something new basically every week for the better part of this year.**

 **Of course, reviews welcome. :)**


	14. Atrocity & Vengeance

Skana rode like she'd stolen the devil's horse, and from the look of the mount under her, she might as well have, her hair flew high behind her, and her heart pounded in her chest as her band of scouts ate up ground, the carts they pulled from the ruined village made a horrible racket as they rolled and bumped along the road, but there was no time for any of the usual subtlty but despite the grim sense of purpose that surrounded her mission, Skana found that she revelled in the feel of the mount beneath her, it could move at incredible speed, far more swift than any horse she'd ever ridden it responded flawlessly to her every command. In cavalry training, the horse must be taught as much as the rider, horses are not naturally prone to aggression and must be taught to respond to the violence of war, they must learn the will of their rider and how to defend itself with kicks and even bites. This however, was a whole other animal, and Skana had the distinct sense that if she had to take it into battle, it would inflict more casualties than she could.

Every now and then she stopped and checked the dusty road for tracks, and verified that the large group was still maintaining their current course, but these were only the briefest of interludes before moving on again, grimly she contemplated what her options were if it came to a fight, with only ten against over a hundred, there were few options available to her. Luck however, was on her side and they soon arrived at the first village, as soon as she approached there were cheers, it had a small, low wall made of wood, it was slightly better than the fence the previous village had, but nothing that an experience paladin couldn't get over with nothing more than a hand to stand up on, and on the gate facing the road there was a painted symbol of Black Justice, clearly it was full of converts, it made sense when she thought about it, people from the Capitol had been converted in large numbers, and many of those had gone out to repopulate villages to grow food, it stood to reason that a number of villages, especially those near Prart where the Sorcerer King had been popular, would have considerable numbers of Black Justice settlers.

Skana did not waste a moment's time, even as the cheers stilled to awed silence at her mount as it became more and more clear that these were not just horses, she called out for the gate to be open and the mayor to come out, prompting a man to emerge from the crowd as they rode into open ground within the village, she leapt from her hell horse and said, "I haven't a moment to lose, listen, a force is out there targeting villages hosting Black Justice members, converts, and sympathizers of the Sorcerer King, we just saw a village not to long ago where everybody had been butchered, evidence was left behind showing that they were targeting us specifically. We don't have the forces to protect you, so your best bet is to remove yourselves from the area, we'll get your weak and inform and very young to Prart, while the remainder move overland themselves. So waste not a moment and get ready to go!" Skana said as swiftly as she could prompting whispers and gossip of horror from among the village.

"What does the Pope say?" The mayor asked, stroking a long white beard.

"I was sent by the Pope." Skana said, "I'm one of the scouts serving under her on her current mission, it was she who requested these mounts to speed our journey and give warning to those we encountered who call us friends."

The stroking of his beard paused and his deep brown eyes went bright as he went deep into thought. "I understand, we'll evacuate, there aren't many of us, and one cart will hold our elderly and young, the remainder can ride plow horses which can pull carts full of more people and supplies. Will the journey to Prart be safe?" He asked with concern in his voice.

"You're on Pope Neia's line of march as she escorts Tinamoc, you'll encounter her very soon, we believe this force is marching ahead and striking in the early hours of the morning, that means you should be out of reach before she knows you're gone. The villain may still burn your homes, but you'll save your lives." Skana said softly.

"Who is this villain?" The elderly mayor asked, "Are we dealing with demihumans, bandits, what?"

Skana sighed heavily, "The Pope believes this is the work of the former commander of the Paladin Order, Remedios Custodio."

This prompted a flurry of shocked discussion, both from not knowing that the Paladin commander had been deposed, and from not fathoming her targeting of humans.

"I know, it seems impossible, but she's fallen far from who she was. She is however, just as deadly as she was during the war, so this is not a small matter." Skana said sadly. "Now quickly, prepare yourselves, gather what you'll need, I'll wait one hour and then I want to have the elderly and very young ready to move out, the rest can leave in their own time, but I intend to be gone with the rest of my people and on to the next village at that time." She said in a voice that was all business.

There was no further debate as the peasants went about the process of preparing for their departure, the youngest children being put into the arms of grandparents and elders as they got into one of the hell horse pulled carts, and an hour later one of the scouts took off with a load of elderly people, infants, and the like, riding like the wind on the road to Prart.

Skana waited long enough to see that the rest were ready to move in their time, and then she remounted her steed, gave a wave to the village, shouted a wish of good fortune, and the remaining scouts rode off with her to the next location. She briefly went over what she'd learned about the area from her briefings on the line of march, villages dotted the landscape and sometimes the road would split to different ones, in a few days she'd hit likely a dozen or so friendly villages, but after that she'd be far enough south that she expected the influence of the Sorcerer King and Black Justice would start to taper off, after that, she could turn around and rejoin Pope Neia.. That time could not come soon enough, as far as she was concerned.

 _...Back at the caravan..._

Messages flew back and forth from the caravan to the capitol, Neia, the King, the priesthood, the Black Justice administration, the nobles, what was going on was news, and everybody in power either wanted or needed to know what was happening. When the first wagon arrived being pulled by a hell horse, Neia sighed with relief, stories were quickly exchanged and Neia provided them with a letter in her hand with her seal to present to the guard at Prart asking in the name of Black Justice that these people receive all possible aid.

As other wagons came along in the next few days, and people on foot began to trickle past, this gave Neia the vital information that she needed to know, that the scouts were doing their job successfully, and Skana had not fallen or failed. But the flow of travelers trickled off, until at last she encountered a group that was few in number and had with them several wounded, they sat in a cart pulled by a hell horse, dirty, worn, and in considerable pain, the cart could have held twenty, but in fact held only ten, and when it stopped, Neia was quick to approach and ask for information.

"Tell me, what happened to you all?" She asked, looking over the group, a younger man moved forward to answer, his arm was in a sling and it was soaked with blood, his face was coated in dirt and blood, his eyes were bloodshot from lack of sleep, he was very much the worse for wear, but he managed to croak out his story.

"The village it turned on us. I was at the battle you see...the one where the Sorcerer King won, and I was in one of the prison camps that he helped liberate. When Black Justice began, I joined, with no home after the war, I and some others left the capitol and settled in a new village, we practiced our religion, we practiced daily to train ourselves, we worked hard, and we didn't bother our neighbors. When a Black Justice priest arrived, we were thrilled, we constructed another small shrine in imitation of what others had for their gods, but we didn't bother anyone..." he paused and drank from his water skin, and then resumed, "and things were fine with the other villagers at first, we were neighbors after all, but then a priest named Justicar came to the village. He said we were spiritual heteromorphs, that we were servants of the undead, that we'd given up our souls to evil, that we would sacrifice the children of our neighbors on our alters to our god of death. He stirred up the village against us, and we tried to say it wasn't so, but they didn't listen to us. They tried to burn our banner and topple our alter..." He gasped as if short of breath, which he may have been, as fast as he was speaking. Neia handed him her water skin as she saw his own deflated and empty beside him, and he drank greedily.

"Thank you," he said after swallowing."

"Did you let them do that?" She asked with surprise, and she was met with a flash of anger in his eyes.

"Never." He said, and he reached into a pack and pulled out the banner. "I couldn't save the alter, but they were not going to touch this." His voice was of iron, and she could readily picture the burly young man putting up quite a struggle.

"Things got violent, the priest lead the riot, and we fought. We're better than they were, so even outnumbered, we gave them a helluva fight...what wonderful neighbors they were..." he said bitterly, "but there just weren't that many of us, and some of us have families, so some of us fought while the others got our children out. I took a pitchfork in my arm, and as you can see, we all took various wounds fending off the riot. Most of us got out OK, a few, including our priest, died buying some time, but we managed to close the gate and block it from the outside with a hay wagon...and set fire for good measure, that bought us several minutes. We were on the road for a few hours before your scouts found us, and they sent us here while they went out to search for the others who escaped."

Neia's face had grown darker and darker as the story went on. "Were there any paladins with the priest?" She asked.

"No." The man said, shaking his head. "He came alone."

Neia nodded somberly, "I see, well, for now take this letter," she reached into her pouch and pulled one out, "and when you get to Prart, give it to the guard at the gate, that should see you well provisioned and provided for, at least for the time being."

"Thank you." he said, and the hell horse took up its swift movement again, quickly leaving the caravan behind.

Neia's face was dark as her cloak for the next two days, and she said very little to anyone, when some of the other villagers were found, she quickly exchanged words with them, but with no new information, she sent them along after their preceding group. The next village they found held no bodies, but had been burned to the ground, while another was in a similar condition to the first, with bodies scattered about, and a Black Justice priest pinned through the mouth with a sword stuck into a wooden post. More burials and funerals were held, but through all that, Neia said little, not even to Tinamoc, who often worked silently beside her.

It was strange to see a merchant of wealth and renown wield a shovel in the dirt, but in her private thoughts, Neia was impressed with his work ethic. It was only after the end of a day of grave digging that it occurred to her that her fellow fighters were probably thinking the same of her as she, the Pope of their faith and the founder of their order, dug beside them. 'How strange it is to rise in others eyes.' She thought to herself.

When they reached another village, even from a distance, Neia felt something was off, as she looked at the growing outline, it just seemed...different somehow, in a way she couldn't quite place, it was only after they drew closer over the wide open ground that she could see what it was, there were large poles jutting up from within the walls, though what purpose they served was not immediately clear, it gradually became so, to her horror.

"HAAAAAAALT!" she called out as loudly as she could, stopping the many carts cold in their tracks as the sense of dread rose up when she realized what was on those poles. People. There were people bound to them. She quickly gave instructions for the entire caravan to assume a defensive posture and to her fighters to take position as she moved closer to investigate, with her keen eyes she verified her fears. There were men and women there, secured to the poles high off the ground, at least five meters high, they didn't appear to be secured with rope or chains, that meant it was most likely hooks or spikes holding them in place, they were obviously dead, and they wore a semblance of Black Justice clothing.

Neia felt fury well up inside her, and an urge to burn the village to the ground, it had to be the place the earlier group had fled from, and these were the ones that hadn't made it...she swallowed her anger and returned to the caravan.

"Tinamoc we have to talk, and we need decisions made fast." She said.

"What is it?" he asked gravely, sensing her mood through her tone.

"That town has several of our followers secured to poles, that is what those shapes jutting upwards are, the bodies of Black Justice members this village managed to kill."

Tinamoc's face turned as grave as his voice.

"I see, and what do you want us to do?" He asked.

"Well...I want to burn the place...but I can't do that, not yet, this is a trade mission, if I start burning towns then we become lawless bandits, that isn't good for any of us, and I can't be sure we still don't have followers in there in secret." She said.

"Do you want to bypass it?" He asked, "Your actions have resulted in a lot of benefit to me and mine on this trip, I'm sure nobody will object if we forego one stopover as a favor to you." He said. "Plus, as you know, most of my merchants now follow your beliefs, as do all of my guards, its dubious that they'd even want to visit the place even if it weren't being skipped for you."

"No, I need information, I need to know exactly what happened here, I can let the King's justice be carried out later, for now I want to know more about this Justicar and what he incited people to do and how. We'll continue, but we'll go in disguise, keeping our Black Justice attire stored for the time being. Then we can ask questions, sell lots of liquor, that'll loosen a few tongues, when the beer goes in, the truth comes out." She said, her voice transitioning from grave fury to cunning thoughtfulness.

The orders quickly swept through the ranks of the caravan, and Black Justice gear was stored, as a precaution against their own tongues loosening, Tinamoc and Neia both issued orders to their people that no alcohol was to be consumed, only sold. When all was completed, the caravan made its way to the village and faced a welcome party by the village mayor, an elderly but stern looking figure. Beside him stood a younger man in his thirties who wore a priestly robe of pure white, his eyes were deep set and his body clearly hardened, he looked at them with cold suspicion, and a lesser figure than Neia might have felt chills at his gaze, but behind her visor, she felt nothing but contempt, despite her inner hostility she remained silent as Tinamoc introduced himself, and Neia listened patiently as the honeyed words of an experienced merchant poured out.

"...so we're looking to trade here the same way we did before the war as part of our circuit into the South, we'll stay the night, outside the walls of course, trade for the day, take on any would be travelers here, and move on in the morning. If its acceptable to you, we'd like to set up now and get to it, we may not be that far from the southern half of the Kingdom now, but we'd still like to see our journey through, time costs coin after all."

The mayor nodded approvingly, "Yes, setting up outside would be best, we had some unpleasantness here recently, as you can tell from the bodies." His voice was hard and had a cruel edge, a low growl of hatred came from the priest beside him.

"Unpleasantness is the least of it, they were heretics and they had to die, the worst of the worst, worshipping the undead," he spat, "the undead are good only for putting down." His green eyes and hard face bore a cruel expression, his eyes might have been beautiful if they were lit with love or joy, but Neia got the impression that they had never held such emotions, instead she saw the glint of a sadist who had never felt pleasure without another's pain.

Neia kept her face carefully neutral, even as she contemplated how good his face would look with a sword put through it. Still, the mask held, and preparations were quickly put underway to establish a temporary market. Done with the ease born of many repetitions, the wagons were formed into a semicircle, with a few feet between each to separate one from the next, coins were traded and goods were loaded, including substantial grain supplies that would be traded at considerable profit when they moved south to the larger cities, but for now as Neia watched over the exchanges, she was making special note of the purchase of wine and beer, those were the people to stay close to, because those were the people who would think least and say most.

It was not until evening when she used a message spell to request information on a priest named 'Justicar' before going into the village with several of her people, mingling among the lot of villagers as they danced around a bonfire. Large merchant caravans were a source of great income and their coming was cause for celebration, plus...it made the wine cheap, at least temporarily so.

The central bonfire was a popular place, and men and women bounced back and forth from one foot to the other singing a rhythmic drinking song...

"Oh theeeee man he loved his drink so well,

he drank and drank until he fell

he cracked his head and then was dead

and now I'll drink his beer instead!

He turned into a skeleton

and found that it was just no fun

he tried to drink but what the hell

the beer right through his rib cage fell!

I got un-der it just in time

to waste that beer would be a crime

I dashed off to a merry lass

The beer told me to grab her ass

She slapped me cross the face so well

I fell into a cask of ale

She laughed so hard she died right there

So I drank her beer without a care

So drink and drink don't waste a drop

Fill that mug up to the top!"

Neia for her part, and those of her number, carried mugs of ale, but drank only sparingly, just for show as they moved among the crowd asking questions and listening to the story of what happened. The process was fruitful, but was interrupted when the priest named Justicar raised his voice and called for attention, gradually the voices stilled and looked to him as he stood by the fire, the shadows dancing on his face reminded Neia of the way flames burned around Jaldabaoth and cast a shadow over everything near them.

"People of the gods you have done well and rightly, the evil ones are dead or fled, and the gods are pleased at the display of piety by leaving their corpses exposed, but these spiritual heteromorphs, these evil ones in the skins of men and women, must still be purified! Now we take them down, and cast them into the fire. Let them burn in disgrace in this world and the next!" He shouted, and between his voice and the alcoholic haze, it fired up the villagers to desecrate the bodies of their former neighbors all the more eagerly, and the high poles were quickly lowered, Neia was shocked and appalled, her mask nearly slipped, she was just about to move when Tinamoc, who stood nearby, moved in front of her and grabbed her wrist and pressed himself close to her front, he leaned in close to her ear and said, "No, don't give yourself away, it'll just be another massacre, the dead can't be hurt anymore."

Her body seemed to move of its own accord, even if her tongue could not, and she tried to push past him, and would have easily had his words not reached some part of her that pulled back, she was torn between action and inaction as the bodies were dragged off, spat on, kicked at, and one by one thrown like logs into the flames. Then she could not move because what she saw next was incongruous, the burning flesh and popping fat of rotted bodies was like something born of Jaldabaoth's whims, but around that small hellscape people danced and sang, and occasionally spat at a corpse and laughed at the sizzle. Hatred burned within Neia Baraja, but she gained control of herself by sheer will, breathing deeply several times as she straightened up.

"Thank you Tinamoc, I might have killed them all." She said, putting one hand on his shoulder in a gesture of comraderie.

"I wouldn't have blamed you if you had, but there will be time enough to right this wrong later." He said with a sad smile.

When evening wore down and people began to drift off to their beds, Neia summoned those of her number to her place in the camp, they sat on the ground in a semicircle within her tent, with a lamp centered between themselves and Neia.

"What do we know?" She asked, pointing to the man on the far left.

"Justicar is not from here, his accent isn't right, he's better educated than the average peasant village priest, and he's zealous in the extreme." He said.

"What else?" Neia asked, pointing to the next person in line.

"The turning happened soon after he arrived, and one of his promises along the way was that the property of the dead heretics could be divided among the other villagers." She said.

"What else?" Neia asked, pointing to the next person.

"That he's not alone, Justicar had let it slip that others like him were moving around the country to purge heresy and restore the gods rightful place." He said.

"Anything else of note?" Neia asked.

There was little else, but it had given Neia much thought, she dismissed her people for the night, and took her rest, only to be awakened before the Sun rose by a message from Robel.

"Justicar is NOT a priest of the Northern Holy Kingdom, I can't rule out the South, but I asked Gustav's temporary replacement here in the capitol, and he has never heard of him, nor have any other priests here that I have spoken with, its possible that this 'Justicar' is from the South, the temple organization is somewhat divided geographically, but even if that were the case, he should at least be known to the ones here by reputation, or if he'd been assigned here officially, there should be a record, but there isn't." Robel said.

Neia was quick with the use of scrolls to conceal the nature of her communications, and replied, "That is bad, very bad, and we both know of only one source that could just dispatch priests left and right...but just as importantly, there is no way such an operation could be carried out without the temples here being in some way involved, otherwise this village would have already had its own priest from our temples, but he doesn't seem to have replaced anyone."

The next message involved an abundance of swearing. "If you have more converted paladins or converted priests who wish to join the recently founded orders, get them ready and moving out of the capitol, and if you have more fighters ready for combat, start sending them out to every location where we operate. Also, its time to accellerate operation gold farming, I know we planned to wait until my return, but have my complete proposal of undead labor leasing in its current form sent to the Sorcerer King for approval, and begin contracting skeletal labor to all the nearby villages, we need to move everything planned beyond the capitol, ahead of schedule. Ask if we can contract dwarven laborers to build small village temples and solid stone walls at every village where we are the totality or vast majority of the population. Do the same for towns, and make sure we get ample speakers to the cities to win people over there. The King already knows most of what has happened here, and the priests will be getting an earful over it I'm sure. But how are things going otherwise back there?" Neia said, rushing through her words as if she would run out if she didn't speak fast enough.

"The temples are seeing a decline in both income and members as our priests administer healings for free, they're howling about it, but it was their own request, so there isn't much they can do. With the completion of reconstruction we've rented out the undead laborers we still have, and we've turned a steady profit in not only coin, but in good will towards us and the Sorcerer King. The farms and mines near the capitol have rented a few laborers in exchange for a percentage of the yield increase, and we've sent a part of those payments in turn to the Sorcerer King, one of his demon maids is staying here to oversee the transfers, and except for one fanatic who tried to attack her, there have been no incidents." He replied.

"What happened to the fanatic?" Neia asked.

"He was disabled, then hanged for attempted murder, the malcontents are swearing that the King is the Sorcerer King's puppet and are calling the dead man a martyr, but we now just call him another laborer, and his skeleton was rented out to a farmer." Robel chuckled. "Its simultaneously outraged and terrified other fanatics, but most of the capitol is now in some way tied to Black Justice, with more coming in all the time."

"At least that is going well. Any word from Prart?" She asked.

"The King dispatched a new governor, a Black Justice member among the nobility, and he's governing through the council you had established when you left, rather than removing it, as it turns out, this representative system you put into place for the city is working marvelously so far, the districts are keeping the government informed about needs and progress, and the merchants there have sent requests for undead labor through the temple, we were planning to hold off until operation gold farming was ready to expand farther, but if you want it moved up and the Sorcerer King grants approval for your final draft proposal, we'll do it this week." He replied.

"Alright, keep me informed." Neia said, and cut off the link. A mix of good and bad news had her filled with very mixed feelings when she got up and began the day, she was glad when everything was swiftly done and the village was left behind her. But one thing had to be done, one thing she couldn't let go, and she gave a hushed instruction to one of her members, who as the caravan moved out, broke away from the line and circled back. She didn't see that fighter for two weeks, and when she did, he presented her with a small box, which she opened to find the green eyes of Justicar.

"Well done." She said. "Were you seen?" She asked.

"No." He said, "Not even by those eyes you now hold."

"Very well done." She replied. "Rejoin the ranks."

"As you say, Pope Neia." He said, and he moved to the back of the formation.

 _...One week earlier in the village..._

The sun rose as it did every day, creeping over the horizon and casting its light on the village, and the people woke up and began their day the way they always did, stepping outdoors rubbing the sleep from their eyes, the crowing of the rooster announcing the time to work, but this time it was not the rooster's crowing that startled the sleep away, it was a woman's scream, people rushed out to the source of the noise, making such a ruckus that when the rooster did crow, nobody noticed.

That was not just because of the scream, but because of the cause of it. There at the gate of the village, was a severed head, it was pinned to the wood by a sword, its eyes were missing, its mouth open in a silent scream around the steel shaft of the short sword, and below it slumped a headless body, dressed in the white of a priest. There was only one figure it could be. Justicar was dead. A note was pinned to the corpse, and the aged mayor stepped forward and picked it up, when he drew it to where he could read it, he swallowed hard.

"Black Justice will not forget."

He said aloud.


	15. Of Love and War

It was with great trepidation that Neia continued to move South in accordance with her mission, occasionally a rider approached with a missive bearing news, but it was routine material not meriting the risk or urgency of magical communication.

Most of the time she was mounted on a horse beside Tinamoc, but as the scouts rejoined the caravan one by one after their tasks were completed, she felt more at ease and took to riding next to a driver in a cart so she could read over reports and write instructions and replies.

"Hmmm...so three more temples under construction using undead laborers and dwarf supervisors, undead labor being rented out has generated a considerable profit, crime is down, and acceptance of the undead as a labor force has gone up. Its true what they say, familiarity breeds contempt." She said to no one in particular.

"Did you say something Pope Neia?" The driver asked curiously.

"No no, just talking to myself, I find it helps me remember more and frame ideas more clearly, pay me no mind." She replied, not looking up from her report.

"I couldn't help but overhear part of that," the driver said, "is it really possible that people will accept having skeletons working around them? I mean sure some braver folk, but the whole country?" He asked dubiously.

Neia lowered the papers into her lap and looked up from them and turned to the driver, he was a small thin man, obviously of peasant origin by his body language and clothing, most likely a man hired just to drive the cart, with no significant skills to profit him, his unshaven face did not hide the doubts he expressed, and Neia thought for a moment about how best to answer his question.

"I think so." She said at last. "Think about it, are you afraid of that man over there?" She asked, pointing to a person two carts back who was bulging with muscle that and wore a scowl that seemed to be permenantly afixed to his face.

"Well...not really, I mean if he were attackin me I think I'd piss meself but...he's not so...why would I be fearin him?" He asked.

"Precisely, but humans kill each other all the time, for any reason or no reason at all, yet we travel together, sleep side by side, work together, trade together, despite knowing that some people are dangerous and having no way to tell who is really a threat and who is not, at least not most of the time. That guy isn't under any spell, he has nobody controlling him, he can completely ignore orders, draw his sword, and attack us all right now, but we're comfortable around him, confident that he will not. Right?" She asked.

The peasant thought for a moment, then nodded, "Well...I guess that is true."

"Skeleton laborers are under control, sure without any guidance they'd be like rabid wolves, but under control they're no more aggressive than a sheep or a cow, give them direction and they'll obey perfectly. As people see that more and more often, the familiarity will breed the same contempt for any remote danger there could be, and I mean...who is afraid of their gardening tools, their bartender, their sheep?" She asked directly.

"Plus, skeletons are the weakest undead and have no intelligence to speak of, they're easily smashed if they ever did get out of line, so we get massive benefits from their use, with minimal risk that we can easily mitigate. I think within a few years, the whole country will be using them if for no other reason than that there will be no other choice, because those who don't will not keep up with those who do." Neia smiled broadly as she imagined skeletons working the fields, building homes, pulling carts, swinging picks, the living who had to suffer grime and pain and exhaustion, able to finally enjoy a rest from lives of toil, children no longer stooped over in the fields until their backs were permanently bent.

She imagined a priest of Black Justice casting a healing spell over scrapes and bruises, instead of the wounds of arrows and swords used by bandits to deprive the peasant of his living and his life. She saw death knights, unstoppable legendary monsters, patrolling the woods and driving away or putting down dangers to the innocent, and keeping nobles honest who all but starved their peasants by giving themselves over to their greed, trading a hundred poor lives for a single copper, no more were those clinking shiny coins mined from the blood of the destitute and desperate.

"If I should live to see it majesty..." She said to herself, so softly that even the man next to her did not hear. She allowed herself to get lost in her dreams as the driver went back to his task, it was a glorious moment, but as if the world wished to remind her that dreams are not reality, shouts of alarm were raised and snapped her out of the moment.

She ripped off her visor and looked to the source of the noise, a scout was charging on a hell horse, calling them to arms, "Attack! Left flank!" She looked at the wood line and saw figures emerging, and just before she could call commands, another scout on the other side shouted, "Attack! Right flank!" The warnings bought precious seconds and Neia's commands were quick in coming. "Civilians CENTER AND COVER!" And quick as they could, the noncombatant merchants, travelers, and laborers rushed to the central carts, abandoning the outer line to ensure that Black Justice and the accompanying guard had to protect as small an area as possible.

"Secure positions!" She shouted, and with the ease of countless repetitions Black Justice members leaped to the wagons, drew up long spears and jammed them into sconces fitted to the outside of the wagons, in moments the areas being secured had improvised breastworks.

"Draw!" She shouted, and from either side of the wagons she watched as enemy ranks of this unknown foe began their charge. Black Justice members had all drawn bows, rune crafted material approved especially by the Sorcerer King for their use, they gleamed like precious gems in Neia Baraja's eyes. She thought back to the days of training, of minutes that became hours standing with a two hundred pound draw, standing, kneeling, riding, gaining martial arts needed to make it possible and make her already dangerous skill, more dangerous...and which made ordinary hunter peasants into elite archers. Points were glinting brightly in the Sun, in perfect symmetry and without a waver of nervousness or bodily weakness, taught muscles of men and women held on easily, and the deadly eyes of Neia gave them a single glance of pride to the double ranks pointed in both directions of the predators that she would make into prey.

"Loose!" She shouted as her sword came down.

It was a scene out of hell, and Black Justice had become the demons who ruled over it, arrows flew out straight and true, and Neia called out, "Fire at will!" And one flight became two became three became four became five became six, six flights of arrows were launched before the first struck the oncoming ranks of their attackers.

Screams were long and loud, desperate voices calling for aid that wouldn't come as Black Justice fighters sent arrow after merciless arrow at their foes. For their part, the 'regular' mercenaries hired as guards could only watch and launch a few arrows of their own in support, as most were without bows...but whether watching or firing at their much slower pace with their much weaker equipment and without the martial arts that made Neia's band of men into the lords of war, there were expressions of awe on their faces.

Neia's narrow focused gaze was intense as she contributed to the slaughter by using the Shooting Star that the Sorcerer King had given her, it blew back men by the dozen, who in turn were thrown back so hard that each one took three more down with him, but she knew this wasn't right, this wasn't how things should be going. Bandits would have withdrawn at the first sign of overwhelming strength, bandits would not have such numbers. Bandits would not be dressed in identical clothing, this was more.

Arrows began to run out and the sound of swords being drawn could be heard as they prepared to receive the charge.

Neia picked up a horn and blew it three times, the scouts knew their orders from the noise, and rode their horses along the length of the caravan till they were wide around the enemy ranks as if they were fleeing and abandoning those on foot.

The clash was momentous, Black Justice fighters were deadly dangerous in close combat, and held the high ground from the carts, they specialized in taking away enemy weapons and using grips and throws to put challengers off balance, it was not knightly, but it was effective, and as the Sorcerer King had said, "Better a victorious warrior than a pretty corpse."

Neia's people made lots of pretty corpses, and Neia herself despite being relatively unskilled with a sword, reaped a deadly toll, with their rune crafted armor giving them enhanced energy, recovery, healing, and strength in various areas, they held all the advantages, but still the remainder of the enemy forces did not give up, they fought like zombies, without fear of death, but also without coordination or a great deal of skill, here and there one managed to clamber through a gap, only to be cut down like wheat before a scythe.

It felt less like a fight and more like farming, though some of the less well equipped mercenaries went down, and some members of Black Justice took wounds, the tide of the fight was clear, and the ranks gradually broke apart to surround the declining enemy numbers and put them down faster.

When the last man, Neia stabbed her sword into the wooden cart and leaned over to breath a sigh of relief, blood was all over the place, but as she spat out, "Status report!" she heard something unexpected, she heard the sound of applause...but not from her position, from the tree line.

"Shit." She said to herself.

"You're every bit as good as we heard Neia Baraja." An arrogant voice said to her. "Remedios wasn't lying about your skill with a bow." She looked at the speaker, he was around her age, but had skin a shade lighter than her own, and dark hair fell down to his shoulders, he wore a black and gray set of armor, and as he spoke, others dressed similarly to himself stepped from beyond the trees.

"But...even the best archer needs arrows, and it looks like you're all out, and I'll just bet we can handle you all now that you're just a little bit weakened, while we are fresh, and we've deprived you of the use of one of your best weapons."

He had a predatory grin on his face, "Gray Scripture attack!"

"Scripture!" she shouted in shock, but hate quickly replaced shock as the numbers charged from the woodline, "Black Justice! Take...them...DOWN!" She swept her sword towards the oncoming ranks, and her people followed her wild charge, scriptures were as a rule, a deadly lot. Not all were equally so, but even those who did not specialize in combat could count themselves equal to a platinum ranked adventurer or better. Further, the members of the Gray Scripture were unusual in their numbers, and roughly equalled the present members of Black Justice.

Tinamoc sat and watched the melee ensue, and he could not tear his eyes away from what he was seeing. His eyes flicked off center only at the sound of the hell horses of the scouts as the feigned retreat became a strike at the backs of the scripture after they finished their long out of sight loop.

Even with this, fighting was brutal, Neia's constant practice got her to the point where she felt she was no longer a disgrace to her mother with the weapon in hand, but nonetheless she found it far easier for her to use the grips and throws instructed to her by Sebas. A gray scripture member lunged forward with a sword, prompting her to wheel back on her heel and let it pass beside her, only to immediately move back in, striking his arm with her hip, throwing him off balance, as he stumbled, she completed her rotation on her heal, allowing him to fall forward, and from her standing position she lunged in and stabbed him through the eye and into his brain.

The one handed style her people had developed offered unique advantages in close combat, freeing a hand to grab, punch, pull, twist, or even steal from an opponent, and the gray scripture's equipment was not equal to the myriad advantages of the complete sets of runecrafted gear, as they gradually found out, and nor were they equal to hell horses, those nightmarish beasts charged into the back with such force that their numbers were temporarily diminished by the aura of fear and the simple act of being thrown out of the way by the force of the impact, and into that breach broke Black Justice fighters who were eager to exploit the opportunity. The gap at the center line resulted in their members being divided and forced to take on two, three, or even four opponents at once while the stunned or terrified recovered through martial arts, potions, or innate healing abilities.

As the combat drew on, Neia saw an opportunity, she rushed away from the line and snatched up an arrow, she stabbed her sword into the ground and pulled out her bow, it took less than a moment's concentration to pour her mana into the shot, a shot fired from a weapon given to her by Ainz Ooal Gown, a god, a father, an eternal king, and as the string grew taut, she sought the weakest point of her enemies, and then she screamed at the top of her lungs, "LEFT HIT GROUND!" They didn't even hesitate, the constant training in the following of battlefield direction made thought irrelevant, in battle they had no minds, only will and discipline, action and reaction required no reason, no understanding, it simply 'was' and when her orders hit ears, they hit the ground before the words hit their brains. Even as the order left her lips, she had already 'dropped' the arrow, letting it loose from her finger tips, and it flew like a dove, shining white and seeming to carry with it the light of the sun, a holy ray that pierced six men before exploding with enough force that members of both sides were thrown backwards. Those who had hit ground, jumped up and pressed the advantage, stabbing at the grounded gray scripture members with fury, though numerous people were injured by the the explosion to a greater or lesser degree, one thing didn't happen to Black Justice that did happen to the gray scripture, the blinding effect of the light, because of their relative positions, more Gray scripture members were temporarily blinded than Black Justice, and the combined advantages proved decisive.

The numbers might have begun roughly evenly, but the imbalance continued to pile up until Gray Scripture members found themselves facing first two at once, then three, then five, and with ever declining success, until only a handful remained, including their commander, a man who had gone from arrogant...to desperate.

"Gah!" he shrieked when he realized there was no victory to be had, when he saw Neia behind her men taking another arrow out of a corpse. "Withdraw!" He shouted, "Lightfoot!" he shouted again, and he and his remaining band turned and fled at a rapid pace. Had the arrow Neia pulled out not been broken and useless, she would have targeted them in retreat, but as it was, she sighed heavily, drew a deep breath, raised her sword, and shouted, "Justice! Justice! Justice!" A cheer echoed by her surviving members, and struck like a hammer blow at the retreating backs of the few surviving Gray Scripture members.

When the victory cry died down, Neia slashed at the air, sending blood flying from off of her sword, and she reasheathed it, an action imitated by her followers, "Check for survivors." She said as she stepped over bodies strewn about the grass, "Aid our wounded first, but do not execute any survivors among the Gray Scripture, I want to talk to any prisoners." She said ominously, and then bent down to check the form of one of her people, it was a young man, he had taken a hammer to the face with such force that Neia only knew he'd been handsome before by virtue of having met him. Now he wasn't handsome anymore. His sword was still in hand and it was a mess of blood and gore, he'd done his part, and Neia closed the one eye that survived the impact. "You did your job soldier, now rest." Fortunately, he was one of the few downed Black Justice members to have actually died, while they were not without dead, their actual numbers were permanently down only by ten, while others suffered burns, scars, and lacerations. There were still some screams and groans as wounds were treated, and some tried to move on their own. Neia approached one fallen figure and recognized her immediately, even though her face was covered in blood.

"Skana!" Neia said sharply as the woman struggled to rise, even light as the armor was, having been bruised and bloodied, she was not in the best shape to command her body to do what she wanted. As she tried to get up again, Neia pulled her body up and into her own, cradling her upper half, with her free hand she grabbed her water skin from her side, put it to her mouth, and pulled out the cork. "Here, drink." She said, and put it to Skana's bloody lips, tilting it back and letting the water flow. It was almost a full minute, after Skana sighed with relief from the drink and Neia had poured some onto her face to clean it up and look for the wound, before she realized that it wasn't that both of Skana's eyes were closed, it was that one of them was closed, and another one was missing entirely.

She wasn't going to say anything, but Skana did, "Say, I seem to have misplaced something, could you keep an eye out for it?" She grunted out through copious amounts of pain. Neia stared at her in shock at the absurdity of the statement. "You're in my arms, missing an eye after a deadly battle against Slane Theocracy scriptures...and you're making jokes?" Neia said incongruously. "Well I seem to have been blessed with two of them for JUST such an occasion." Skana said, spitting out blood with her painful laugh as she pointed to the one remaining eye.

"You didn't injure your head...did you?" Neia asked as she pulled out a healing potion and poured it over Skana's body, banishing the bruises and pain.

"No, and I know I didn't, because I know with one eye, I have an excuse to look at you twice as often and for twice as long." She grinned through cut up lips and broken teeth, that gradually began to repair themselves as the potion began to take ever faster effect.

"Flirting...now?" Neia asked.

"When better than when near death, you can't deny the dying their final pleasures." Skana said with a laugh that was suddenly much more clear and healthy. "Ah shit." Skana said as her wounds disappeared, "So much for that excuse."

Neia looked at her blankly, "Your eye..." She said. It had not come back. Skana paused, reached up, and touched the socket. "Its...not painful now...I thought it would start to grow back but...where is it?" She said in a voice that was suddenly serious.

"You won't be seeing that again." A gray clad figure spat out. "Our weapons are not the top tier stuff of adamantite adventurers, but we have some enchantments of our own, and what we take from you, you never get back, your eye is gone forever." He said, spitting blood and laughing as he managed to get the words out, "And if we have to take you all down, eyeball by eyeball, finger by finger, that is what we'll fucking do, you're all just walking corpses. You just don't know it yet!" he cackled and hacked, sending stream of blood in their direction. "And I'll be watching from the afterlife, from the glory of the gods as it happens!" he said, falling backwards as the strength to hold himself up faded away.

"Stay here." Neia said to Skana, and walked over to the fallen Gray Scripture member, she leaned in close and whispered, "Even if that happens, you won't see it, because you're about to be a walking corpse, your skeleton will be raised, still wearing your gray clothing, and you'll walk at our direction and work at our direction, and build the world we want your walking corpse to build. So...who's the walking corpse now...?" Neia said with a dark smile as she looked him in the eyes with her terrifying gaze, and held his face with both hands and forced him to look at her as she spoke, and the smile on her face prompted a growing look of horror on his own, which was the last face he made before he slipped into death.

Neia grabbed his hair and turned his face to Skana's, so that she could see that he had died in terror, prompting Skana to say congenially, "Remind me never to make you mad." She grinned for emphasis, and flooded with the relief of survival, Skana boldly reached out, and pulled Neia into an embrace, one broken by Neia only with great reluctance when someone approached and said, "We have our final count of dead and permanently injured, and we have a few prisoners." He spoke with some hesitation, as if he were uncomfortable interrupting the warm moment between the two women.

Neia looked him over, he was a young man himself, sandy hair, freckles, dark complexion, a lot of marks over his shy expression that combined told her that he had more battle of life and death experience...than actual life experience. She mentally shrugged and covertly took Skana's hand and gave it a squeeze as she spoke to him. "Thank you, then I need to go deliver my report to Tinamoc, bring me a written count while I'm speaking with him." He nodded and went to see to the task and as he retreated she said to Skana, "I'll need a report from you as well, come by my tent after dinner this evening." Skana smiled and nodded, "As my pope commands."

"You're looking well." She said to Tinamoc as she drew near and put her visor back on, keeping her voice almost light hearted to ensure her positive emotional state would radiate to others listening nearby.

"Well, I am, thanks to you." He said.

"For the moment." Neia said. "However, it appears I may become more a liability to your security soon than an asset to it. If the Slane Theocracy is targeting me for death, and is serious enough about it to send a scripture, even if it wasn't their best, well that could be a problem."

Tinamoc nodded his head gravely. "Who were these men though?" He asked, and gestured to the dead bodies near the carts, those who made up the first wave of attack.

"If I had to guess, criminals, mercenaries, bandits, basically disposables." Neia said, "Though I have no idea how they compelled them to fight so fearlessly and with such reckless disregard, I doubt they had much choice in the matter." Her voice had a serious tone as she continued, "That being said, I'm just glad they didn't send something like the Holocaust Scripture or the Black Scripture after us, we're good, and with our equipment we're even better, but all bets are off against that lot." She said with soft voiced seriousness.

Tinamoc stroked his chin in thought, "Well with the war still going on with the elves, I'd imagine they've got their hands full, but...now that you've killed one scripture, they will definitely send another. As long as you're here in the North at least, and as long as you're easy to find, which you are as long as you're with me."

"What do you suggest?" Neia asked.

"I see two possibilities." He said simply, "The first is that I discharge you from your duty so you can take your people and get back to your more serious mission, establishing the faith of the Sorcerer King and eliminating threats to it from inside and outside the Holy Kingdom." Neia wasn't sure whether to smile or frown about that, though she found she felt a little sad at the notion of leaving the pleasant, clever, and unusually ethical merchant.

"Alternatively, you can travel South with me and continue the escort status, while you're known to be in the South, its very unlikely they'll choose another strike like this, the North is chaotic, it is wild still, an attack like this can be undertaken with reasonable security. But my contacts say the South is orderly, that patrols move out reliably, that the roads are nearly clear of danger, an action like what we just saw would draw immediate response from people capable of doing so very effectively." Tinamoc finished speaking and then spread his hands in front of him.

He had a wry smile on his face, and it did not hide his relief at still being alive. "Whatever your choice, I assure you I will have only the most favorable things to relate to those I meet, if you should choose to leave, and I confess, I will rather miss your company if you leave, but as you said, when something must be done, it doesn't matter if we like it or not." 

**AN: Well I hope you enjoyed this chapter, and I hope you enjoyed the battle driven boldness of Skana, whom I'm privately...for now...nicknaming 'Skana the bold', I also hope you like the way I'm fleshing out her character more and the way it contrasts with Neia Baraja, and also...I hope you like cliffhangers, because I won't be writing more on this story...for two days. ;) I would, but no weekend for this writer for now, and way to much work to do. However this should satisfy everybody for the time being. In the meantime...REVIEWS PLEASE! :)**

 **OH...and as a post script...I know some of you are wondering what kind of physical scene you can expect between Skana & Neia, and you know what...you're all perverts, that's why I love you. ;) No but seriously, I'm not telling you so don't ask, wait and see and judge for yourselves how well I can pull off a more...intricate scene. **


	16. A Visit from a God

"South." Neia said simply as she stood in front of Tinamoc, her voice filled with confidence. "That is our mission, and it would look bad if we abandoned it, and if we go and Remedios is in some way connected to this, there is a chance she'll follow us away from innocent people, plus even with nominal order, who can say what dangers of a more official sort might exist, and I'd sort of miss you if you didn't make it back." Neia said with a wry grin.

"Fair enough." Tinamoc said. "Glad to have you, now what do you want to do, should we move on from this position or do you think it is safe enough now to make camp?" He asked.

"We need to see to the dead and the injured captives need to be interrogated, and I don't have the means to do that with me." Neia said, "But don't worry, I don't plan on being here long."

"We're ready to move when you are." Tinamoc said patiently, and Neia walked over to her horse and took a set of parchments from her pack, following her instructions to hide her communications, she used them before messaging Sebas and informing him of recent events, after explaining, he instructed her to wait until sunset for support. She readily agreed, and while time passed, she went to one of the merchants and handed him a sack of coins. "I need wine for my people, and something to eat that is better than the usual rations, they earned it today." She said.

"They did." He said, "They really did. Take what you need out of the back." He added.

Neia shouted over to two of her fighters and called them over to help carry food crates and wine casks to a more open space a few feet away from the carts, and an impromptu cooking and drinking area was established. Toasts were made and cups were raised, the dead were praised for their courage, the wounded for their fortitude, and the living and whole for their uncanny luck. To the novice who had lived their lives in simple villages in peace, the person who grew up on stories of invincible heroes, this might have made no sense, after all, the very best always survived...but veterans knew better. No matter how skilled you were, no matter how hard you trained, whether king or commoner if the wrong arrow came along and had your name on it, or an ill timed thrust came your way...that was it. The brevity of life was never more evident than when people saw it ended in a moment.

Neia looked down at her cup, others had finished off two or three already, but she had finished barely a sip of the first before Skana approached and put her hand on Neia's shoulder. "If you're feeling somehow responsible for the people who died, don't." She said simply.

Neia's gaze shifted up to Skana's face at the sudden touch, and froze at her statement. "What? Why not?" She asked.

"Did you force anyone to be here?" Skana asked.

"No." Neia replied.

"Did you personally take their lives?" She asked further.

"No." Neia answered again.

"Did you ensure they had the very best possible training and equipment and give them every possible advantage that you could?" She probed further.

"Well...yes." Neia answered.

Skana shrugged. "Well then you didn't do anything to feel guilty about, we chose to come along knowing the risks. Sure, I'm going to miss this," she said pointing to the place where here left eye had been, and which a patch now covered, "but this is the risk I chose to take, I'm not going to say I don't understand your feelings, but if you cling to tight to those, it is an insult to the people who gave their lives, like you're saying you neglected them or threw them away, and we all know better than that. Hell we fought a SCRIPTURE today, and we not only survived, we kicked their asses, the Slane Theocracy will feel that sting for a long time to come." Skana grinned and squeezed Neia's shoulder, "Now drink up, you earned it as much as we all did today."

Neia let a smile form on her face and stood up, she moved to the center where the cook fire roared, she took up a spoon and banged it on the iron pot to draw people's attention to her.

"Black Justice, you've done well today, you did your jobs, you protected your charges, and not only kept your lives, but you made the lives of the dead count for something by making sure they did not die for nothing. I couldn't be prouder of you all." She raised her cup and held it high as the fighting band in numbers matched her gesture, raising their cups in turn.

"To justice, the strength to pursue it, and to us all!" she toasted, and as the sentiment was echoed she brought the cup to her lips and drained it to the last drop.

She got out of the way after that, allowing conversations and jokes to resume, and just as the sun began to go down, a portal appeared, and through it stepped an unliving god, Ainz Ooal Gown.

Neia couldn't have overlooked that sight if she'd wanted to. Nor could anyone else for more than a moment have missed it. The aura of his presence was simply to much, and when she saw him step through, she rushed immediately to where he stood and knelt. "Your majesty!" Neia said joyfully.

"Pope Neia." He said, using her title, "It is good to see you again." She heard the kindness in his voice, and emotion welled up.

"I had not thought you would come personally my lord." Neia said.

"I believe it worth my time." He replied in the practiced, lordly manner of someone who had ruled for thousands of years...or as in his case, unbeknownst to anyone else, as someone who had practiced in front of a mirror alone every night for hours and hours on end.

The rest of the merchant caravan had by now dismounted and gone to one knee in deference, and the Sorcerer king held his arms wide open, his staff outstretched, and he said, "Bring to me your honored dead."

His orders were quickly carried out, and the bodies which were carefully wrapped, were laid in front of him in two rows of five.

"CZ" he said, and from behind him stepped CZ Delta, who carried in her hands a number of wands.

"If your fallen are strong enough, and willing to give their lives a second time, I can and will restore them, but they will be very weak for some time, and they will have to return to my realm to train again and recover what it cost of their life and their skills to rejoin this world. If however they are weak, then they will become the dust to which all life must return." He said, and Neia bit her lip nervously,

"Let it be as my lord wills it." She said softly.

One by one he took the wands and used them on the bodies, and one by one the gasping breath of their forms resumed, as if they'd been under water and seeking air, they let out a gasp and inhaled deeply, soon all ten were restored to life, and with that use each wand disappeared.

"Welcome back." Ainz said, and reached out with a skeletal hand, and helped each fallen man and each fallen woman, rise from the ground as if he had made them from the mud of creation and given them life on his own. A few paused briefly and touched their wounds in shock and confusion, as if they were unsure if it had been real or a dream, the bloody spots were there, the wounds were not, and their awe did not diminish when they saw the skeletal hand, or the face of their divine lord. The hesitation remained in some, as if it would be profane to touch him, but to let it hang there would be worse, so hesitant or not, each one took the offered hand and rose to their feet...some less gracefully than others, but rise they did.

"Are you ten ready to give your lives to me a second time?" Ainz asked.

"I am!" they answered in unison, and went from standing on their feet to going to one knee with eyes downcast.

"Raise your heads," he said, "You cannot see what lies a head while looking down. For now, you will return to my realm, you have lost much strength and must regain it, you will train until you are ready, and then you will rejoin your brothers and sisters again."

Their heads went up and their eyes shone with devotion, and he stepped aside and gestured to the portal, "Go, I will return soon myself and have little extra time to spend." He said, and they quickly stood and hurried through with waves to their comrades, who could not help but be a little envious about the chance to spend more time in the realm of a god, even if it did take a sword in the face to make it possible.

"Now for the dead of the scriptures and their expendables." Ainz said, "Bring them to me."

In turn the dead men were brought and laid before him, there were many, but it was not a difficult matter to handle, not for an undead overlord specializing in necromancy. "Mass create skeletons!" he said and gestured with his staff, and the flesh peeled from the bodies, the muscle dissolved, the organs rotted away in moments, and then before their eyes, skeletons wearing the clothing of their enemies began to stand up. "Go through the portal and wait on the other side." He said to the mass of undead, and they obeyed silently and without question.

"Now for the living." He said. "Bring me the surviving Scripture members."

This was greeted by shouts and protests and threats, but, kicking and screaming, three men were carried over and thrown at the feet of Ainz Ooal Gown.

"You're going to tell us everything." Ainz said, "One way or another, but one of you is lucky, I'm going to let you go, because I have a job for you." Ainz said, and they looked up at him, made silent by their surprise.

"One of you is going to go back to the Slane Theocracy, and tell them everything that happened here, the other two will be enjoying my hospitality. Which among you is most senior?" Ainz asked in a tone that said he had better get an answer.

"We are of equal rank." One of them said after a moment's hesitation.

Ainz thought for a moment about a way to decide who he would release, and what criteria to use, and for some reason the memory sprang up of his family, the absence of his own father, and he felt a merciful impulse come over him to not inflict longing on someone else, "Very well, do any of you have children to return to?" Ainz asked. The men on left and right, looked at the man in the center. "You?" Ainz asked in a tone that said it was not a question.

"This day your life is given back to you, for the sake of those who are guiltless. These two however, will have to answer for what they've done. You have one month to make your to the coast and sail home, if you do not and are caught again in these lands after that time, you will suffer in ways that would make your gods shrink in terror of my will." Ainz said, the large red orbs in his eyes seemed to loom like twin suns over an insect, and the vaunted scripture wet himself. Ainz was certain he would obey, and gestured for a black clad fighter to come and cut him loose.

"RUN!" Ainz said to him, and he ran, and ran, and ran until he vomited and collapsed, leaving danger as far behind as he could, eager to rest so that he could find the strength to run again.

As the man took off, Ainz gestured to the remaining two, "CZ, throw these through the portal, see that they are given to Neuronist Painkill."

"As you say." She said in the flat tone she always had, and when she carried out her orders and returned, Ainz called for Neia to come closer again. "Neia, why don't you spend some time with CZ, I understand that she's missed your company the last...what has it been, two months? I think to make up for the lost strength of your ten fighters, CZ should remain with you for awhile.

Neia could not keep the grin from her face. "It would be my pleasure my lord." She said.

"Now, where is this 'Tinamoc' you mentioned in your letters, I'm quite curious to meet the man who made such an impression on my squire?" Ainz said casually, seemingly unaware of how much her heart sang at the words 'my squire'.

Neia quickly pointed out the man at the head of the caravan.

"At the front." Ainz said approvingly, thinking back to his office days and his general disgust with managers who avoided being among the people they managed.

Tinamoc saw the gesture referencing him and rather than waiting to be called, he immediately rushed over and knelt at Ainz's feet. "Raise your head." Ainz said, "I have heard much about you. You began with nothing, and built the largest trading enterprise in the Holy Kingdom. Ability is something I value." He said.

"You are to kind my lord, I'm simply a man making his way in the world." Tinamoc responded.

"Making a good way from what I understand. I wish you success on your trade mission, but when all is settled, reach out to the Sorcerous Kingdom, we can expand our ties then to mutual gain." Ainz said in a congenial but lordly voice.

"It will be my pleasure." Tinamoc said sincerely, practically shaking at the lordly presence he felt.

"Neia I have much work to do, so I leave the rest to you, reach out to Sebas if you require anything." Ainz said, and when the gate reappeared, he stepped through it, the sound of cheers striking his back as he left.

When he was gone, Skana approached CZ and Neia, before Skana could say anything, CZ spoke up in the almost flat monotone that Neia could read like a book. "Cute." She said, and took out a sticker, and placed it on Skana's eyepatch.

The entire gesture was so unexpected that it flustered Skana to silence as she tore off her eyepatch and looked at it, there was a small flower sticker on the center, and she wasn't quite sure what to say, she looked down at it in her hands...looked up at CZ's blank expression, looked back down at the eyepatch with the flower on it, then back up at CZ, and Neia burst out laughing, and not lightly, she hugged her belly doubled over laughing.

It was infectious, and a grin slowly broke over Skana's confused face, and she also began to laugh as she put her eyepatch back on. CZ stood there with an expression that was almost a smile, until the two women stopped. "Not cute." She said to Neia, then took out another sticker and put it on Neia's cheek, "Now cute." She said. And Neia gave her a hug. "Its good to see you again CZ." She said smiling broadly.

She gestured to Skana, "CZ, this is Skana, one of the scouts of Black Justice. Skana, this is CZ, one of the maid demons the Sorcerer King took from Jaldabaoth." Neia said as she made her introductions.

This had Skana's eyes go wide in surprise, "I've heard about that...but I never thought I'd see one up close...nobody said these maid demons were cute."

"Thank you." CZ said simply.

The Sun had continued its slow descent since Ainz had arrived on the scene, and darkness gradually overtook the light, the wagons circled up for the evening and tents were pitched and a watch established.

"Do you...sleep CZ?" Skana asked uncertainly.

"No. I will take a watch, I need no sleep." CZ replied.

"Goodnight then." Neia said, and hugged CZ again, "I'll give you a rundown on everything tomorrow."

"Goodnight." CZ replied, and she went off to take an unoccupied position on a wagon.

Skana watched the maid demon walk away and then asked Neia, "Is she as strong as she seems?"

"Probably stronger." Neia said bluntly.

Skana swallowed, "I would not want to threaten this place tonight."

"Agreed." Neia replied, and they walked away, it wasn't for another twenty paces that Neia even noticed that she had unconsciously taken Skana's hand...or had Skana taken hers...? And they were walking toward's Neia's tent together, her heart pounded in her chest and she was glad of the encroaching dark in that it hid that she was biting her lower lip in uncertainty, the opening of the flap was normally as subtle a noise as the slight rustle of a few leaves in a breeze, but as she lead Skana inside, the sound was as loud as a thunderclap to her.

...Ainz cut off the mirror of remote viewing when he saw the two women enter the tent, his jaw open in surprise, 'Ehhhhhh!' He said, and behind him Mara and Aura tried to see what had prompted his reaction.

"What was that all about Lord Ainz?" Mare asked with the innocent curiosity of a child.

"N-Nothing." He said and vaguely remembered that he had at one point considered where to provide the two young elves with an appropriate sex education course. To cover for the moment he said, "Mare, go check the training grounds, I'd like to have the area prepared to do night fighting exercises soon. Aura, help him by having some mid level monsters prepared for use."

The twins hastily acknowledged his impromptu orders and Ainz sighed with relief that he'd found a quick way to get rid of them. He palmed his forehead and sighed, "I shouldn't use that thing when they're around, goodness knows what they'd see that they're to young for."

"Eight edge assassins, I have a task for one of you." He said to the invisible monsters that probed along the ceiling. They quickly assembled in front of him and he pointed to one of them and said, have Shalltear create a gate for you at my last point, then chase down this man," Ainz said, shifting the mirror of remote viewing to the collapsed member of the Gray Scripture, "I want you to follow him, don't hurt him, and don't let any monsters or bandits get in the way. I want you to know every contact he uses to get himself out of the country, every time he uses a contact, reach back out to us so we can dispatch someone else to follow that contact, and then continue to follow him, we're going to track one to another, and from that to another, and from that to another, until such time as we have identified every agent they have."

The invisible monster let out a sadistic grin, and after acknowledging his instruction, it rushed off carry out its duty.

"Sebas, summon the other guardians, its time we have a talk about our next step." Ainz said in a tone of voice that might be used for giving the time of day, instead of deciding the fates of nations.

 **AN: Well there we have the next chapter. I know some of you were hesitant about any form of relationship between Neia & Skana, some for personal story preference, some for reasons that...well frankly I can't believe still exist in the 21st century, but be that as it may, I have for the present left their...private time, more nebulous. There is something to be said for the subtle, and quite frankly Ainz finding himself embarrassed seemed to fit the moment better, if the Pervy reviewer wants to imagine literal skullfucking, hey thats up to him, if someone else wants to imagine innocent hand holding and intimate conversation, sobeit. The real events may be revealed later in some way as their characters are fleshed out a bit more, as I reveal some of the driving factors for Skana the bold that set her apart from the more innocent Neia Baraja.**

 **And that is kind of an important point, Neia IS, I think, a bit more innocent...now she can't be all that naive, she grew up in a small home, do you think her parents stopped having sex for the next 18 years after she was born until she grew up? That, despite her isolation in her youth that she never had a crush on a boy or felt affection or desire? No, in that environment, even the most inexperienced (and she isn't exactly a busy little succubus) is going to have some practical knowledge, feelings, emotions, and connections.**

 **So...why Skana? Why not a man? Because Skana is things that Neia isn't, and represents things that Neia never had, as the way they relate to one another is explored through the lens of unfolding events, ones that shape them and which they shape, this will become more clear (If I do a decent job that is), and the way Neia related to other characters in the LN suggested to me that she had stronger emotions for female characters than for male ones. When dealing with the other male Paladins, she spoke comfortably but disinterested, despite long association with people like Gustav who depended on her, but all her relationships with women were distant, painful, frustrating. She never knew the Holy Queen, and she was always at odds with the woman she once admired, Remedios Custodio, who seemed to hold her in contempt. Similarly while she was close to her father despite resenting him for her eyes, her relationship with her mother was one of frustration and occasional violence where her mother beat her for daring to express frustration with the eyes she inherited from him, this also includes dealing with where she fell short when compared to her mother. It was only with CZ, a literal fucking fembot, that she built a friendship, and she cherishes that relationship inordinately strongly given their short association. This tells me that she has felt a lack of and a longing for connections to members of her own sex, and in high stress conditions like life and death battle, those bonds can become more than platonic. Taking her any other way, really wouldn't have worked, not without completely rewriting how I was representing her, and speaking as a war veteran I can tell you, those bonds are not easily broken. Maybe you disagree with the direction that I'm going character wise, but I'm not doing so without reason, oh and one more thing...**

 **...Every character that lives or dies or exists in this ongoing saga, is there with a purpose, and that purpose is not always what it seems. :) Enjoy, and feed me your reviews, I'm hungry.**


	17. At Journey's End, the Journey Begins

King Caspond stood at the table in the council chamber, there were representatives of North and South present, it was the largest council gathering in some time, there were chief priests for all six of the gods from both regions, the only figure missing was Gustav, as he was absent hunting down Remedios Custodio. He raked his eyes over the group, head of the capitol's merchant guild, the supreme general of the Northern & Southern armies, the fleet admiral, and the heads of the major noble houses, there was a lot of power in that room, and there had to be...for this.

He folded his arms in front of his chest and spoke in a voice that said he knew that many were not going to like what he was going to tell them.

"All of you have seen the reports. The Slane Theocracy has sent Scriptures into our country. What is more, they've sent inquisitors into our country to target people for religious persecution. If that isn't enough, Remedios Custodio has been burning peasant villages of those she deems to be something called a 'spiritual heteromorph'...

A plump bearded man raised his hand, Caspond recognized him as the head of the merchant's guild. "Yes majesty I've seen that, but...what does it mean?"

Caspond paused, "Ah, I see that must not have been included in the report, a spiritual heteromorph is what she's taken to calling anyone who follows the Sorcerer King. Anyone who has in some way connected themselves to 'Black Justice'. She's decided that such people...are not people, and is executing them and even their children. She's been assisted in this by insurgent groups backed by the Slane Theocracy. Simply put gentlemen, the Holy Kingdom is now the location of a proxy war being waged by the Slane Theocracy against anything connected to Ainz Ooal Gown."

There were rumblings of horror, some of their expressions were wide eyed...they were people who obviously had not read the report.

"Some of these attacks did not go well for the Slane Theocracy, I was recently given information that reported that the Gray Scripture, one of the larger ones of the Slane Theocracy, was all but exterminated by Neia Baraja and her elite company."

Chaos erupted among nobles and priests, but the military men were quiet and contemplative, they knew from reports of their own that even the weakest scriptures were worth the equivalent of a platinum rank, any force that could edge out a victory over that was one to be reckoned with. The King pounded a gavel on the table to restore order and the general spoke up. "But doesn't that now mean she and her ranks are more or less crippled as a fighting force?" He asked.

"They suffered ten dead...then the Sorcerer King resurrected all of them, then he turned the bodies of the scriptures into skeleton laborers, along with the bodies of I don't know how many auxiliaries, and he's now renting them out as labor through one of the temples. The Slane Theocracy is utterly furious...but no less so than myself." Caspond replied.

He was right to be, nobody argued that they could allow the Slane Theocracy to turn the Holy Kingdom into a battle ground, marching troops wherever, burning what they wanted, inciting riots where they wished, not even the most arrogant Southern nobleman wanted that precedent.

"There is more. The holy text of this new religion has been written, I'm due to receive a copy soon, and..." he paused, "as long as the contents would not lead to our ruin, I am going to undertake ritual acceptance of their faith, and I am going to ask that our country become part of the Sorcerous Kingdom, on the condition that they put down the threats to our people and help expel the Theocracy. Caspond said heavily.

Chaos erupted. "You would expel the gods and their servants and invite in the undead?! This is heresy! This is blasphemy!" Someone said, and Caspond pounded the gavel so hard it snapped, and that did not stop the chaos, so took a guard's ax and slammed it full force on the wooden table, burying it deep enough that when he let go, it did not fall. That restored order.

"I will say this once. We cannot defeat the Slane Theocracy, even with their being distracted by the war with the elves, they're winning that war and doing so handily now. The Re-Estize kingdom wouldn't have any interest in helping us and even if they did want to they could not. The temples of Black Justice are drawing in constant wealth by renting out the undead, they now heal more people than the temples, thanks in no small part due to the policy the temples themselves pushed." He gave a look at the sour faced priests, telling them in a glance that they had no one to blame for that but themselves.

"What about hiring adventurer teams?" Someone spoke up, "Do we really have to become a part of the Sorcerer King's domain?"

"I have already done this. Blue Rose has accepted our contract and is on the way, but there was no one else of note in Re-Estize. To hire enough quality teams for this, I had to reach out to...yes...E-Rantel, I had to get permission from the Sorcerer King to hire from his national guild to protect our people from this threat. Do you all understand the implications of this?"

Some of the wiser ones had dawning expressions of understanding, but the others...not so much. "It means," Casponds said in exasperation, "That one way or another our security is dependent on the Sorcerer King, it means we have no other options for our defense, this 'proxy war' by the Slane Theocracy is about to be an open one, and if I don't do something to stop it now, then we may as well have not even bothered to fight Jaldabaoth, because we're dead either way and at least burning is quick."

His voice was so heavy and grim that even the seemingly outrageous things he said, did not provoke loud response. "Let me be clear," he said firmly, "I did not call you here for your advice, I called you here to personally inform you all about what is going to happen, you deserve that much. In the meantime, muster your armies, because we are going to need them to expel invaders and crush traitors."

As he finished speaking King Caspond used a small spell crystal he had hidden in his hand, it did not kill anyone, it didn't make them sick, indeed its covert use seemed to accomplish nothing. However he knew quite well what it was really doing, it was exaggerating their emotional agitation, impeding their reason and inflaming their tempers, not so much that they would be noticeably different, especially after such news as they'd just been given...but rather enough so that they would be more inclined to lash out or react against a perceived threat, however they saw the announcement, good or bad, they now saw it more so in that way, better...or worse, than they would otherwise. In his mind, the pseudo Caspond was profoundly impressed with the work of his master's master when it came to formulating this plan, and with so few targets all alone and unguarded, it was over in an instant.

One could be forgiven for not knowing anything was over, or that anything unusual other than the announcement had even begun, and as that had been the whole point, Caspond was pleased, soon the meeting descended in to bickering and Caspond called a halt, "Nothing new will be resolved here, if anyone has a real solution other than what I plan to do, then present it, and if not, return to your homes, consult with your advisors, and prepare to see the nation we know change again, for the better this time I hope."

They filed out one by one, and Caspond watched several of them twitching and shaking with rage that could not be completely concealed, when the last one left, he grinned, indulging in the satisfaction of success, and then he replaced his emotionless mask and returned to his quarters to 'sleep' for the evening. The next morning a brief inquiry revealed that all of the Southern nobles had abandoned the capitol and were returning to their homes, similarly, a great many paladins had volunteered to go and hunt down Remedios Custodio or to 'escort' the Southern nobles back home as an honor guard, while numerous priests had chosen to venture to their temples for prayer and meditation. As Caspond went over the packets of requests, he could not help but laugh, it was like they'd handed him an enemies list of people who intended to oppose the Sorcerer King or who would rather join with Slane Theocracy forces than see the Undead rule. Pretending to be depressed by the sudden emptying of so much of his court, he returned to his quarters and called for his master.

Demiurge arrived swiftly, "It was just as you said master." The dopple-Caspond stated with a smile, "They reveal their allegiance by their actions, still, as many as this is, I note that most of these are either from the South or have firm ties to it. True there are some nobles, paladins, and priests from here in the North on there as well...but...shockingly few, could there still be a problem I do not see?" He asked.

Demiurge paced the royal bedroom stroking his chin as the 'King' of the Holy Kingdom knelt in silence. "I believe it relates to their experience with our master. Lord Ainz is charismatic, he is powerful, many of the men you see in the North have direct experience with his generosity, his power, his wisdom, they don't see him as an ordinary undead, remember that the first human worshiper comes from this Kingdom, Neia Baraja was the first to see our god for his divine status, who was not also created by him or one of the other supreme beings. It stands to reason that those who have had more experience with him would see more of the truth than those who are farther away. Think nothing of it, the list you have is sufficient, I will have it copied and returned to you tonight for 'approvals' and we will look for these people when the time comes." Demiurge said, and taking the list from the kneeling agent, he entered the gate and returned to Nazarick.

The Caspond imitation went to the bed of the King, laid himself down, and slept with a smile on his face that did not go away until he awoke at dawn to find the documents on his desk waiting his seal of approval.

 _In Nazarick..._

"We need to monitor the Holy Kingdom more closely." Ainz said, "If my human followers are being killed, that is a mighty insult to us, though it can be tolerated for now as we allow the tensions to escalate, I want to ensure we note who is responsible and that we do not forget them when all other tasks of significance are done. In the meantime, I also want to see friendlier relations with Blue Rose. While not especially strong, they are a talent pool I would like to absorb and what is more, they represent a mountain of good will. To have Blue Rose agree to work for us is akin to having a good name and a good reputation." His voice was serenely confident, but inside his own head he was just hoping that what he was saying sounded intelligent.

Demiurge and Albedo nodded sagely as they knelt in front of him, "Of course my beloved." Albedo said sweetly, all those who have insulted you will have their faces, homes, and names identified so that we may capture them when they are no longer needed."

"When do you plan to send out Momon my lord?" Demiurge asked.

Ainz wanted to panic as he wondered why he would send out Momon, he quickly covered and asked, "So that I do not disrupt any of your plans, when did you need him?" Ainz asked.

"I was planning to request that he be sent to where Blue Rose is working after Caspond is killed and the new ruler refuses to pay, so that when Momon learns of it, he can gain your approval to pay out of the Sorcerous Kingdom's treasury, thus enhancing your reputation directly before you finally move to end Remedios once and for all." Demiurge's eager voice came out so fast that Ainz could barely process it all, but when he did, he laughed in a way that he had practiced many times, "Oh my dear Demiurge, son of my dear friend Ulbert, you have in fact guessed my own plan!" Ainz said as if he were joyful at seeing a child grow. "Well done!"

Demiurge wore an overjoyed smile on his face, "With this, I stand at the base of a mountain, even if I don't see its peak, I can at least truly marvel at the greatness before me."

"On another note, I plan to take a walk through Arwinter tomorrow, its been some time and I would like to pay a visit to Jircniv, I also plan to visit Carne & E-Rantel, and I'll be back in a few days so please handle the paperwork for me until then." Ainz said, fearful for a moment that they might ask him more questions about his 'plans'.

"So soon my lord?" Albedo asked.

"It must be." Ainz said, "As it says in the library, "A prince must be seen by those he rules, or he will be forgotten." ***Note: This is from Machiavelli's 'The Prince' and Ainz is getting the quote slightly wrong, but he has the gist of it.**

"As you command my lord." Albedo said.

When they parted ways and he was completely alone Ainz could only whisper in relief to himself, "Phew...paperwork and questions avoided in one go."

 _...In the merchant camp..._

Neia was the first to wake up, and she almost panicked when she felt an arm laying over her, before she realized that it wasn't that she'd awakened just before an attack, but rather it was how Skana had fallen asleep. She allowed herself to breath a sigh of relief. She lay still, letting her breathing slow and her heartbeat slow down and relax. The previous evening had been a first, and in retrospect she wasn't sure if it would have happened at all if things had not gone the way they had in the fight against the Gray Scripture. Still, she found she wasn't unhappy, it felt good to connect with someone, and when she realized that she didn't actually have to be awake yet, she eased herself closer to the slender one eyed scout, and breathed deep, inhaling the scent of everything around her, but savoring most at all that she didn't awaken alone, being alone was easy to get used to, being disconnected was easy to get used to, being different was easy to get used to, all was easy to get used to, to such a degree that when it hit what she really needed, she felt the lack all the more sharply as the many days and nights with nothing but a blanket to embrace, all hit home at once.

Relieved by her very different condition on this particular morning, she allowed herself to move an arm over the sleeping woman next to her, and render a gentle squeeze.

However it appeared that in the moment of gentle expression, she had forgotten she was lying with a Black Justice Scout trained by Sebas & Cocytus, and even that slight difference was enough to awaken the woman instantly. Skana's eye popped open swift and wide, and that which had played out with Neia moments earlier, now played out over her face as well as the memories of the previous day, and night, came back.

"You're awake too, aren't you?" Skana asked.

"You caught me." Neia said with a slight chuckle, "No help for it, we're both awake, we might as well get up and start the day." Skana said.

"I know, but it feels so good right here. I had no idea how tightly wound I was." Neia said.

"Well you've got to get that out of your system every now and then you know." Skana said with a wicked smile as she got up and began to pull on her discarded uniform. "Otherwise, well...if you just don't experience any of life's joys, then what's the point of any of the struggles we go through?" She asked as she pulled on a boot.

"I guess I never really thought of that," Neia said as she pulled on an undershirt, "being a squire to the Paladin Order didn't really leave time for those reflections."

Skana laughed, "That's why I had to act first." She said as she began to strap on her sword belt, "left to you, you'd have never even noticed the opportunity."

As Neia put on her own belt she shrugged, "Probably not, at least not before the opportunity was gone. To be frank, I don't even really know what this opportunity...to use your word, really was beyond last night, if anything, but for now its enough to say I'm glad it happened, but now we've got a job to do, oh Skana the Bold." Neia said somewhat sardonically.

Skana grinned widely, "Skana the Bold..." she said, and repeated it several times, "I like it, I'll take it. But you're right, we do have work to do." She said, and held the tent flap open politely for Neia, who stepped out and stretched out with a pleasant groan, the sort one emits when they slept well and are prepared to start their day with energy.

CZ never groaned or stretched, but she did not lack for energy, and she approached Neia & Skana as they exited the tent, "Good morning cute and not cute." She said, and then placed a new sticker on Skana's eye-patch, and one on Neia's cheek. "Good, now cuter, and cute." She said, and Skana looked confused, while Neia, well used to CZ's idiosyncrasies, only laughed and gave her a hug. "Good morning to you too CZ, I assume you'll be joining us for the rest of our journey?"

"Yes." CZ said straight faced, "We'll be together for the next few weeks at least, unless Lord Ainz recalls me."

"Alright, then you should get a horse, you can ride with Tinamoc and I up front of the caravan, I expect we'll be at the border in no time." Neia said as the camp gradually awoke and prepared itself to move, by this time there was not even a novice who didn't know what to do, and they were underway quickly, and none of them were inclined to take their time after the previous day's events. Skana gave Neia a brief hug, squeezing her hand lightly once more, and then rushed off to her hell horse to assume her position in the line, while Neia and CZ went to the front, each one flanking Tinamoc.

"To pass the time, why don't you tell me what you've been up to since last we saw each other?" CZ asked.

"Its a long story..." Neia said.

"Its a long ride." CZ replied.

They reached the Southern border all...or Northern border wall if you were born on the other side of it, late that day, just as Neia and Tinamoc had run out of stories.

Neia looked at the wall as she rode up close to it. It was impressive in the crude way that large objects were impressive, but having seen the truly impressive work of the Sorcerer King, and the destructive power of Jaldabaoth, she knew there was really little difference between this and sand castle. Still, as her neck craned to look up when she stood at the base, she could see why ordinary travelers found it to be impressive. The large blocks of stone, the wide heavy gates, as a checkpoint, it wasn't bad. "Have you been through here before?" She asked as she turned to look at Tinamoc.

"Not in many years, most of the work I need to do is in the North, I let my more extended family handle the side of things here." He replied.

"Enjoy the traveling do you?" Neia asked.

"If I'm being honest about it...well yes, just don't tell my wife that, she hates how often I'm gone, not that I don't love her, but I like seeing new things, I like being in the thick of the bargaining, you just don't get that from negotiations by mail. But since she lives in the capitol in the North, well I'm usually not apart from her for as long as this. As it is, I'm just glad she's alive." He said sincerely.

"How long do you think we'll be in the South?" Neia asked.

"A month or two, things are more concentrated here, I have to hit the major cities, but after that, well the people in those cities will handle the rest, we don't need to hit every town and village along the way, but its also safe, you won't have to be my bodyguard anymore, or at least not nearly as much, so if you want to visit villages nearby for a day or two and try to win converts, be my guest. Just don't tie yourself to me along the way or that'll make it difficult for me to get business done." Tinamoc said pragmatically.

"As you wish." Neia said politely.

As they finished speaking a guard approached and Tinamoc handed the man his royal pass, and after a few minutes of nominal inspections, the guard returned it, saluted, and signaled for the gates to open, which they did with ponderous slowness, a great echoing creaking noise sounded from one end of the valley pass where the wall and its gates were located, but noise or not, slow or not, they opened, and in a few minutes the caravan began to roll forward again, at last, they'd reached the Southern Holy Kingdom.

 **AN: OK so I kind of lied about needing 2 days, but it was an accident I swear, I had some unexpected free time and so I banged this out the rest of the way ahead of time. I hope you found it to be worth reading, and...if it was, leave a review for me to feast upon. I was planning to do a longer chapter, but I decided that closing it out with the entry into the Southern Kingdom was a good place to stop. I may do longer chapters starting tomorrow, and I may add 2 or 3 more chapters to the different stories, but that all depends on things I can't predict. For now I hope this satisfies. And...again...REVIEW PLEASE.**

 **OH...PS: No the story won't be turning into a romance. I hate love triangle stories in general, and I only add things relevant to the overarching plot, or to character development that will let who they are later actually make more sense...and this story has probably 20-30 more chapters to it, and that isn't even counting the branch stories that explore facets of the world around them as it changes in response to their behaviors.**


	18. Into the South

The carts rolled forward behind the trio, Tinamoc couldn't help but contemplate just how impactful this journey had been, not just for himself, but also for his country. Writing letters to his wife had gone from a half page to a page of sentiment and description, to every letter beginning with the phrase, "You won't believe what happened today".

Now as he rode between Neia & CZ, he felt safer than he had in years, and despite their seriousness in their tasks, he actually got the feeling that they were glad to be riding together, it made him a little more curious about the maid demon, and it emboldened him to ask CZ about herself.

"So you are bound to the service of the Sorcerer King now?" He asked after hearing how the Sorcerer King had ripped the mystic bonds that had bound her soul to Jaldabaoth's service during their battle.

"Sort of." CZ replied ambiguously.

"How is that? What does 'sort of' mean?" He asked.

"It is true that I am bound by magic to his service, but I am also bound by choice." CZ replied.

"By choice?" Tinamoc said, teasing more information out of her.

"Yes, even if my bonds were broken, I would not choose to leave his service. My loyalty to him is not compulsory, even without my bonds, even if he offered to remove them, I would not leave him." CZ said, looking straight ahead.

Tinamoc raised an eyebrow, "Forgive me for my ignorance, but it is a common belief among humans that demons only give their loyalty to those stronger than themselves, and that only as long as that strength is supreme. Is this not the case for maid demons?" He asked.

CZ rode in silence for a moment, and in that moment Tinamoc was afraid he had offended her, but then she answered, "This belief is not wholly wrong, but nor is it the whole truth either. Think of humans, how many people would unseat the King if they could? They are loyal only because they cannot win, right?" She said.

Tinamoc and Neia were forced to agree. "Yes..." They said.

"So it is also with many demons. However, suppose the Sorcerer King were somehow weakened, that you could end is unlife and take his throne for himself, would you do that, Neia?" CZ asked.

"Never!" Neia answered with a voice of certainty that could have cut stone with its confidence.

"So some humans are truly loyal, not because of strength, but because of some quality that makes the one they follow 'different', be it a debt, or a character quality, or something else, right?" CZ asked.

"Yes." Neia replied.

"So it also is with some demons, the Sorcerer King merits my obedience whether he compels it or not, I have no doubt that the others agree with me, but how common we are I cannot guess." CZ concluded.

"Remarkable." Tinamoc said with awe. "I never thought of demons as being...well...a lot like people." He said.

CZ actually gave him a little hint of a smile, "It probably makes it a lot easier to justify killing us, doesn't it?"

Tinamoc was silent for a long time after that, not really seeing the road, the trees, or anything else. Neia looked at him out of the corner of her eye, he was clearly shaken by what CZ had said, and before witnessing his Majesty and the way many species worked together for the common good the way they did in E-Rantel, it would have shaken her as well. Now, she wondered why it wasn't obvious to her the whole time.

Neia left him alone with his thoughts, and silence reigned over the trio, while behind them merchants and laborers from one cart to the next talked or played games with dice, but Neia found the silence the three of them had reached to be no less comfortable. They reached a few branching roads along the way, but passed them all, remaining on the main road, and occasionally passing by a single cart or horse and rider, or saw a person walking one of the side paths, it was almost eerie how busy the road was when compared to the North, she wondered how many people had escaped to the relative safety of the South from the Northern Holy Kingdom, and decided never to return to their former homes, with no census taken since the end of the war, it was impossible to know the full toll on the Holy Kingdom's population...which as she thought about it, may have been the point. If the South knew just how decimated the North had become by way of an official census, they might just decide to put their own candidate forth and demand the throne by yielded to one of their own.

As she thought these things, Neia remembered a man from one of Lord Ainz's books in the library of Ashurbanipal *See the story 'Training in Time' for Neia's time in Nazarick*, the man had said, "A house divided against itself, cannot stand." She shook her head rapidly, as if to discard the unpleasant thought, despite having defeated the force that threatened their ruin, they were more divided than ever.

Her thoughts were interrupted when they crested a hill and she saw a city spread out before her. It was somewhat larger than Prart, with high walls and a series of entry and exit gates that were obviously needed for the central ingress and egress, the city itself had a water supply nearby in the form of a river that seemed to bisect it on its way to the sea, it was a substantial place to say the least. "Impressed?" Tinamoc asked as they paused briefly on the rise?

"No. Not really." Neia said.

"No? Why not?" Tinamoc asked.

"Simple." Neia said plainly, "I've been to Nazarick."...Unknowingly coining another phrase that would be used down through the many ages to come, as the phrase "I've been to Nazarick" became synonymous with having seen the very finest of the fine, and used by all who expressed that they were not impressed by something, even if they'd never visited the actual Nazarick. She spurred her horse lightly forward again, and the trio resumed their trek down the hill and onward to the city gate.

The check in was easier than it was with Prart, the letter gained them immediate admission, and no guard asked for a bribe or threatened dire consequences for failing to offer a 'tip'. It was a good start. Neia followed Tinamoc's lead as he took her to the warehouse district, and as his baggage handlers began to handle the task of unloading he said, "Thank you for your service Neia, CZ, but we won't be needing any guards tonight, the whole force can get the night off. You can all collect a stipend for your time, and then you can go see the sights, and just meet us at the Silver Pavilion, the rest of the company has rooms reserved in the hotel usually used by the Southern Adventurer's guild...pulled a few strings for that one, but there's also a bar there with its own arena...well...small training grounds anyway, I think they'll enjoy showing off their skills."

Neia grinned, "Thanks Tinamoc, we'll take you up on that." She said and looked to CZ, "I have to brief my people, but after that, why don't you, Skana, and I go out for the evening. I saw something when I was in Nazarik, some moving stories, and the women in some of them had something called a 'Girl's night' seems like it'd be fun."

"Yes, lets do that." CZ said in her neutral but pleased voice.

The briefing Neia gave was quick and to the point, they had the night off, they could draw some spending money from the pay master, and they were told where to stay, however Neia added an extra level of caution... "You represent the Sorcerer King, you represent Black Justice. Do not abuse the weak, only protect the weak. Do not treat the trust we've given you as license to behave badly, you will not be bought out of prison, and you will be held accountable for your actions, even if I have to go to the Sorcerer King and suffer punishment myself for your choices, so make them good ones, make me proud, make us all proud." She said, and there were copious shouts of enthusiasm.

Passers by gave the uniformed band of Black Justice members curious or wary looks, which Neia couldn't help think was quite reasonable, unfamiliar bands of heavily armed and armored uniformed fighters was cause for concern to any reasonable party. Neia however, couldn't find it in herself to worry that much as she looked confidently over the laughing and smiling group of elites. They'd crushed a scripture of the Slane Theocracy, ordinary city thugs were not going to be a problem.

Skana approached after the briefing and asked, "What's the plan?"

"The plan is for you to come with me." Neia said with a smile and took Skana's hand, she went to the front of the wagon train where CZ was waiting, "We're all going out, first we draw pay, then we have a great day."

It didn't take long to draw funds, but as she did so Neia asked CZ, "Do you need me to cover you for the night?"

CZ's neutral face didn't waver, she just reached to the pouch at her side and opened it up, and inside Neia saw glittering platinum and gold coins embossed with the face of the Sorcerer King. She was literally carrying around a King's ransom as spending money. Skana & Neia's jaws dropped. "The Sorcerer King gave you...that...as spending money?" Skana asked incredulously.

"Yes." CZ said in the neutral voice that only Neia could read well. "He said to have fun with my friend when I could. Will this be enough?" She asked in seriousness.

Neia nodded numbly, "Plenty."

"Good." CZ said in a voice that Neia read as being 'satisfied'.

"Well it makes sense..." Skana said, "Maid demons don't really got to go shopping or have drinking nights or anything much, do they?"

"No, those are things I have never done." CZ said, a hint of curiosity in her voice.

Skana grinned, "Oh then this will be a treat, I've always been privately curious how much a demon could drink."

Neia couldn't help but laugh at that, and the three wandered out on the town in search of mischief. It wasn't hard to find a tavern in any city of any country anywhere in the world, just follow the sound of singing, cheering, and laughing, and stop when you're in front of a door with the most of it. Neia looked up at the sign over the door, "The Bumbling Pony" she read, and the sign featured a horse fallen forward with its hind legs in the air. "OK then, I'm guessing they have beer." Skana said, and after taking Neia's hand, she opened the door and the three of them walked in. It wasn't a rough looking place, in fact it was fairly clean as far as any establishment with hundreds of people coming and going over many hours, ever could be.

"Do you girls want a spot at the bar, or a table?" Neia said loudly enough to hear or be heard.

"Table." They said in unison, and Neia lead the way, weaving through the crowd like she was avoiding swords on the battlefield, and she wound her way to a table near the corner.

It was made of somewhat smooth wood, clearly it had been worked for some time, it wasn't the rough wood that cheaper establishments catering to the poor used, but it was also not the refined onyx material used by the Sorcerer King. Neia supposed it represented reasonably good local workmanship made from local forests, she looked around at the patrons and noticed the way they were dressed. There were men in armor, their uniformity meant they were most likely city guard and just getting off their shift, there were slightly better dressed figures who appeared rather young, probably the sons and daughters of local merchants of modest but not unsuccessful means. She did not spot much in the way of dirtied hands or clothes, the labor class of the population other than the armed set of them did not come here, that meant the risk of violence was rather low since such an establishment would have its own security and the guards drinking there would be expected to restore order of their own accord. She filed those observations away for later, just as a buxom young redhead in a low cut dress came to the table.

"What'll it be love?" She said with a warm smile.

"Do you have any 'One Legged Dwarf'? Neia asked.

"Aye of course, will that be for all three of you?" The server asked.

Neia looked at her companions, who gave her nods of approval.

"Yes, that'll be three One Legged Dwarfs." she said.

"Skana, hows your alcohol tolerance?" Neia asked.

"Greater than my tolerance for arrows in the eye." Skana said with black humor, prompting Neia to cough a great deal before she could muster out the laughs she felt rising up.

No sooner than she'd gained control of herself again than the server had returned with a tray holding three very large wooden mugs which she placed in front of the trio.

"That'll be twenty four coppers each." The server said.

CZ took out a coin of the Sorcerous Kingdom, it was silver embossed and of phenomenal workmanship, the edges were milled with many small ridges, and the face on the coin might as well have been hand carved, the server looked at it in confusion and turned it around and saw it contained a miniature map of the borders, and a stamped year of manufacture.

"What is...this?" The server asked.

"It is from the Sorcerous Kingdom." CZ replied flatly.

"Oh...Just a moment while I um...get your change." The server said, and scurried away as if being pursued by rodents.

"That was...odd." Skana said.

"Is it not customary to provide smaller denominations to people who pay more than they are required to in order to make up the difference in cost?" CZ asked with a hint of curiosity.

Skana looked at her as if she'd grown a second head, which for all anyone knew, she could do, but Neia recognized the issue and chimed in, "She's never done shopping before, so she really has no idea how it works."

"Oh, so...wow, I mean I know you said that, but I guess it hasn't sunk in, but anyway no, that isn't what I meant, I mean her reaction to the coin you gave her. I wonder if she's never seen one before?" Skana said dubiously.

Neia shrugged it off, "Doesn't matter, she's got the coin, we've got the beer, so let me make a toast to life, to friendship, and to seeing both for many tomorrows to come!" She raised up her mug towards the center of the table.

"To all good things and all good times!" Skana added, and brought her mug up in turn and pressed it to Neia's at the center.

CZ seemed uncertain for a moment, but there was one thing she knew to praise in every way that praise could be offered, so she brought her mug up to the other side of Neia's and said, "To the Sorcerer King."

And the three brought their mugs to their mouths each in turn and began to drink the thick frothy mug of dwarven brewed hops. They tilted their heads back and did not stop drinking until the mugs were empty and they brought them back down to the table with a satisfied and collective 'Ahhhhhh.' "The next round of that, we have to drink to the dwarves." Skana said.

Neia giggled, "I think they deserve it, that may be expensive here, but not for nothing are they known for beer as much as their gear. Yes, next round we toast to the dwarves."

Then they noticed CZ, who said nothing.

Instead there was a silly grin on her face and her cheeks were...very flushed.

"CZ, you OK?" Neia said, leaning in a little bit.

CZ hiccuped in response.

"Shine, I'm yust shine." CZ slurred out.

"Maid demons may be renowned for their combat strength...but...I think that if it came to a battle of beer drinking, they fall far short." Skana said with a jovial laugh.

Neia raised her hand to draw attention to her table, and it was then that she noticed their server was bent over the bar in deep conversation with the bartender, and was pointing at their table and at the coin she'd been given, which sat at the bar in front of the man behind it. Her fearsome eyes narrowed, and with good reason, the bartender came out from behind the bar caring a truncheon at his side and approached the three women at their table.

He flipped the coin onto the table. "Got anything else? This money is no good here."

"What? Why?" Skana asked.

"We're not worshipers of undead monsters, that's fucking why!" He snarled out loudly enough that nearby conversations stopped cold and stared at the exchange.

His snarl however, became a whimper when CZ unleashed her killing intent.

"You will take the Sorcerer King's coin." CZ said flatly. "You will be grateful for it. You will not cast his image aside so casually. You will treat it with respect. Is that clear?"

For a moment, Neia thought the man was going to die of a heart attack, then as sweat began to pour down his body in rivers, she wondered if he'd die of dehydration first. Neia quickly reached over and touched CZ's arm, "CZ, its OK, he's just ignorant, he doesn't know any better."

CZ seemed to respond to Neia's action, and she began to suppress her killing intent and looked at the man with eyes of steel. "Do you understand me?" She asked again.

He swallowed and nodded, and reclaimed the coin and backed away as quickly as he could.

The stares they received had not gone away, but they had gotten less menacing.

"Get us our change, we're getting out of here." Skana said sharply to the server, a few moments later she dropped the difference on the table, and CZ scooped it back into her pouch and the three got up and left, they were given a wide berth as they did so, and felt the stares at their backs.

"Somewhere else?" Neia said.

"Definitely." Skana agreed.

CZ hiccuped again and the blush of red had returned to her face.

They walked down the street for only a few minutes before they found another tavern, this one less busy but with what appeared to be better made materials for furniture, and when they sat at a table and ordered more of the same brew they'd previously had, it was served in large glass mugs.

"To the dwarves." Neia said.

"To the dwarves." Skana said.

"And ta the Sorsherer King." CZ slurred out, and they brought their mugs together and drank again, swallowing rapidly as if worried it would disappear if they did not drink fast enough, and they slapped the mugs sharply to the table.

This time Neia reached into her purse, and pulled out a coin of the Holy Kingdom, and the serving woman, a slender young blonde girl, took it and returned promptly with the change with no incident. This allowed them to order another two rounds, but after the second round, CZ only sat there with a goofy and unusual smile on her face without drinking, before she slumped over face first into the table and cracked it.

"Maid demons...they really cannot hold their liquor, can they?" Skana asked, a warm glow on her own cheeks as she finished off the third mug.

Neia laughed, "Guess not, you know if we'd known about this weakness, we could have defeated Jaldabaoth with a drinking contest."

The responding laughter from Skana was interrupted by a man in armor, he wasn't overly large, nor was he overly menacing, and compared to the equipment of the three women, he wasn't even well armed, but his voice was not without its power or conviction, and it got their attention, "I couldn't help overhearing, and I'll thank you not to make jokes like that."

"Like what?" Neia asked. "That over there," she pointed to the now snoring CZ Delta, "really IS one of the maid demons, she's CZ, the first one set free by the Sorcerer King."

The man raised an eyebrow, "Sure she is, and I'm Neia Baraja, the Sorcerer King's personal squire."

"No, you're not." Skana said sardonically and with a very wide grin while she pointed at Neia, "Because SHE is Neia Baraja."

The sarcastic man looked confused for a moment, unsure if they were just carrying their joke farther for shock value.

"See for yourself." Neia said and stood up, "I am Neia Baraja, squire of the Sorcerer King, founder of Black Justice, bearer of the armor of the Grand King Busar and of the Ultimate Shooting Star, bane of scriptures, builder and taker of cities, and servant of the one true god in this world, the Sorcerer King, Ainz Ooal Gown." As she stood, she'd thrown open her cloak and exposed the deep green enchanted armor that made her stand out prominently, and she removed her visor and looked him in the eye.

"Holy shit." He said after a long moment, "You really are her...and that...unconscious girl...she's a demon maid?" He asked in utter disbelief.

"Yes and yes, and...yes it turns out demons don't handle alcohol very well." Neia said somewhat sardonically. "Who would have guessed."

"Wait...so you're drinking with a demon...and you're OK with that...?" He asked as if he couldn't believe it.

"Sure. We fought together, we risked our lives together, we serve the same cause together, she's protected me in fights where other humans have tried to end my life, why wouldn't I trust her after all that?"

"Haven't you ever been in battle?" Skana asked as she reached out and took Neia's hand, and gently pulled her back to a seated position at the table, "The bonds forged there are like no others, its impossible not to remember shared danger, and because danger, no matter how great, is temporary, it makes shared danger an unbreakable and unique connection." She said eloquently, giving Neia's hand a squeeze that let her know she meant what she said in more ways than one.

The young soldier was closed mouthed for a moment, unsure really of what to say in response, "I...look...I'm sorry if I came across wrong, but this is the South, not the North, things are different here, and I don't know what you're used to, but whatever that is, you probably won't find much here, if she's known to be a maid demon, she's bound to draw some negative responses, and if you're known as Neia Baraja, you'll probably draw some negativity yourself."

Neia blinked in stunned surprise.

"Why is that?" Skana asked sharply.

"Look, I was at the last battle, where Jaldabaoth was defeated, I'll remember it till I die, so...look I get it, I know we owe our survival to the Sorcerer King, but most of the South was not there, they think the stories are overblown and exaggerated, and there is a lot of hostility to the undead here, and as a result, a lot of hostility towards the entirety of the North now that word has been spreading that undead labor is in widespread use. Just do yourselves a favor and don't stand out to much." He said softly.

"Thanks for the advice." Neia said flatly.

"Yeah." He said in a tone that said he felt she wasn't going to take it, before he moved on.

"I think I've had enough to drink this evening." Neia said.

"Well we know she has." Skana said, gesturing to the passed out demoness. "Lets go."

Neia nodded quietly and they eased CZ out of her place after placing enough coins on the table to cover their drinks. They each got her under one arm and after briefly getting directions to their hotel, they began to walk the unconscious CZ down the street, finding the hotel was easy enough, large wealthy establishments after all, were intended to stand out, and before long they had three room keys handed to them, barely noticing the fancy decor, they lurched their way up the stairs until they found their floor, and then took CZ to one of the rooms. Gingerly they tucked her into bed, locked the door behind them, and then slid the key under the door for her to find in the morning.

Then, as if for a moment they had forgotten everything and then just remembered, they looked down at their separate keys, and Neia felt the return of her initial shyness, remembering that she did not have to be alone at night, but not sure what to say. She looked down at the key in her hand, then looked at Skana, then looked at the key, then looked at Skana, not sure what she should say.

Skana waited for a moment and then grabbed her belly and started laughing. "I swear," she said, "I may have lost one eye, but I still can see right through you, and I think even if I were blind, I'd still be able to." She reached out and took Neia's hand, and the builder and taker of cities, the bearer of a monster's armor and the personal squire of a living god, was once again the uncertain girl whose dangerous looking eyes and unique talents had kept her alone in life and in work, and unsure as to how to navigate anything but a battlefield or a speech.

Skana squeezed Neia's hand gently, "Look, its OK, if you want to be alone tonight, you can be, if you want to come with me, you can do that instead and I'm happy as long as your choice makes you happy. Now wait a moment." She said, and then she let go, went one door down, and unlocked it with her key, then she approached Neia, took her hand, and gently opened her fingers. She placed the key in Neia's palm, then gently curled the calloused hands of the fearsome archer closed again, Neia watched the entire action as if she were in a dream, and when her fingers were closed on Skana's key, she felt the one good eye of Skana the bold on her face, and she met that gaze with her fearsome eyes that seemed, not so fearsome to the one eyed scout. "You do, what you want to do. You can lock the door behind me and slide the key under the door and I'll see you in the morning, or...you can come in after me, and lock it behind yourself." She said with a smile, and then she turned and walked back to her room, and closed the door behind her.

Neia felt her heart pounding in her chest, and then made her choice.

 **AN: Well another chapter completed and I hope you enjoyed it, yes I know this one wasn't action oriented, I'm just laying out a general idea of how things are in this particular city with the small details, next chapter will detail some of the consequences of a group of undead worshipers visiting a Southern city for the first time, and don't forget, Remedios is moving south and will cross the border as well, not to mention Gustav hasn't made an appearance (yet) and it'll be time to revisit the traveling Blue Rose soon as they come closer to the Holy Kingdom. Suffice it to say, there is much remaining. Also, two additional notes: I have had a number of requests to update 'Memory & a Message' and I want you to know that story isn't abandoned, its just I don't want to accidentally add spoilers, so I need to advance this plot a little more before I add retrospective contents and reactions to events. It won't be long before I update it again.**

 **Second note...I know some of my readers are really not happy that Neia has a relationship with a woman (no matter how lacking in physical details I keep it, (because the physical intimacy isn't the point at all), but all I can say to that other than to be surprised at some of the more backwards views is...people who like the same sex exist, there are some of them in the Overlord series (like Shalltear) I'm not going to turn this into porn, but assuming you're an adult reading this series, you should be comfortable enough acknowledging that such people do exist and that it isn't insane that they should be represented in fiction occasionally. I've previously detailed my reasoning for concluding that this is who Neia is, and I hope you can acknowledge, even if you don't agree with the conclusion, that I'm not being gratuitous or pointless. This isn't going to turn into a romance fanfic (I'd do a shit job on that anyway), but feelings of love and hate, bitterness and hope, trust and betrayal, loneliness and contentment, are all part of the human character, trying to write a character without any capacity for intimate human connection, is like amputating a part of their humanity. All I ask is that you be a mature adult about this and treat it no differently than if I'd written a man into Skana's role.**


	19. Evangelism & Enmity

The next morning, Neia awoke, and found herself beneath Skana's arm once again, only this time she did not panic and think she was about to be attacked, indeed her breathing did not change its pace, her heart did not quicken with fear, instead it skipped a beat only when she suppressed a laugh, the one eyed scout slept splayed out all over the bed. Neia rolled her eyes and imagined she'd get used to that, then paused immediately. "Did I just...think of getting used to that?" She asked herself, and when she felt the woman shift beside her, slight murmurs in her sleep, Neia let a smile grace her lips. "I did...and I like it. So this is what it means to be...happy." She said softly, and simply lay there for a time in the large bed under a thick blanket, with a soft pillow supporting her head, it was more comfortable for her in this moment than it ever was in the home she was born to, and she wished she could pause the Sun's rising to draw that hour out for a lifetime.

But the power of a god was denied her, and so after savoring the moment awhile longer, she carefully extricated herself, trying not to wake Skana, and dressed to go to the bath. Though she could bear the grime of combat and the stench of exertion in those desperate times it was needed, given a choice, she preferred cleanliness, and a luxury hotel definitely offered that. So she entered the women's bath only to find CZ and several other female Black Justice members already present. She shrugged, total privacy would have been nice, but not necessary.

The bath was large, but heated by magic, it was trivial for steam to be everywhere, and the water was warm to the touch as she gingerly stepped in, she sighed at ease as she felt the tension melt out of her with the water's warmth.

As she sat and made herself comfortable she asked CZ, "Do demons really need to take baths?"

CZ shook her head, "No, however Lord Ainz suggested that while I am with humans, I should try to experience everything as they do, to better understand my friend." Her tone of voice to anyone else would have sounded disinterested, but to Neia it sounded deeply sincere and she matched that sincerity when she replied, "Thank you CZ, I'm very glad to have you."

"Cute." CZ said, and took a sticker out of her nearby bag and tried to apply it to Neia's cheek, only for it to refuse to stick because of the steam. CZ frowned, then tried to do it again, and again, only to look at it in frustrated confusion.

"I think it is the steam." Neia said, "Besides, I'm going to wash and I'd lose the sticker anyway, don't worry, I'll let you apply your cute mark to me when we're out of the bath."

CZ had an expression on her face that Neia vaguely recognized as a pout, but she accepted the suggestion and put the stickers away.

It wasn't long before Skana arrived and sat next to Neia, she stretched out languorously and sighed with relief as she felt the effects of the water. "So you're feeling better CZ. No hangover I hope?" She asked with a smile.

"No demons do not get hangovers." Just a shutdown sequence and some confused effects, that has never happened before, but it was not unpleasant." CZ replied.

Skana touched her own head and laughed, "No hangovers, wow, I never thought I'd envy demons before learning that."

Neia rolled her eyes and gave Skana a playful punch in the arm.

After a time Neia spoke seriously, "I hate to cut this short...really, but I have to go see Tinamoc and find out his plans for us today, we might be free again, he might need a guard, I don't know, but I promised him I'd meet him for breakfast to go over our plan for the next few days. Skana, pass the word to the rest of our numbers to assemble at the sparring grounds next to the adventurer's guild where they're staying, and I'll show up to pass instructions soon."

Skana gave a nod of acknowledgement and they waved to one another as Neia finished her bath, dressed, and walked out. Tinamoc as it turned out, had already gotten a table and was waiting with two plates and cups of juice already prepared. He gestured to the opposite seat, and Neia politely took it. "Good morning." He said amicably, "I hope your time off was enjoyable."

"It was, for the most part." Neia said.

Tinamoc raised an eyebrow. "For the most part?" He said, his tone making it a question.

"There is...hostility in this city. CZ tried to pay for our first round of drinks in the coinage of the Sorcerer King, and she was rudely treated and nearly threatened by the bartender, and in turn, well she's a maid demon you know..." Neia began to say.

"She didn't kill him did she?" Tinamoc said, interrupting suddenly.

"No, but she did scare him half to death. We left that place and then at the next place a few drinks in, we were cautioned by someone not to make the 'jokes' we did and he warned us about hostility to the Sorcerer King and to the North itself, kind of put a dampener on the evening." Neia explained.

Tinamoc nodded sagely and then set down his fork and folded his fingers in front of him.

"I'm not surprised. Remember with this place largely unharmed and relatively few veterans of the war living here, to them the Sorcerer King is just another undead monster, a threat to be dealt with, and those who deal with him on good terms, let alone follow him, are either evil, deluded, or deviants. The temples do nothing to dissuade this attitude, and they're very powerful in this half of the Kingdom. If you make it known that you personally served the undead King, you will not be well loved here." He said emphatically.

"I see." Neia said with a kind of sad acceptance that he spoke the truth.

"Honestly, what this means is that you all get kind of a vacation for the next two days, go out, have fun, once I've finished my business, we can move on to the next city." Neia's expression changed to a grin from ear to ear, this statement meant only one thing to her.

No sooner had they parted ways than Neia rushed to meet with her people.

"I have good news and bad news." She said.

They listened attentively, formed up in ranks of ten, presenting a fearsomely uniform sight to passers by, as if they were one being and not ninety different ones.

"The bad news is we have no mission from Tinamoc for the next two days." She said, projecting her voice in all its power from the front rank to the back.

This odd thing to say had them curious...if that was the bad news, what was the good? They were not long in suspense.

"The good news is that we still have our mission from the Sorcerer King!" She began to move her hands to draw their eyes to her and keep their focus, "You will demonstrate his power, by contest here against these adventurers of the Southern Kingdom. You will show what peasants, men and women not born to a bloodline of battle and nobility, but instead called to be greater than their birth in the pursuit of justice, can truly accomplish! You will show the people of this city that you are the survivors, you made it through the fire, while a burning demon DIED IN IT!" As her voice rose, it drew pauses from the passing civilians who stood to watch.

"You will display your virtue, showing that justice is carried by strength, but given meaning by deed! You will show why an undead magic caster of incalculable power found humanity WORTH FIGHTING FOR! You will show that he was RIGHT! That WE are right, that YOU are right, you will show them what RIGHT means, and why YOU of all people were chosen to do what paladins could not, what scriptures would not, and why you are what an army IS NOT!"

"Challenge adventurers in battle, challenge doubters with reason, challenge slanderers and liars by way of truth! Tell your stories, and know that you do not have anything to exaggerate, because you are the ones who passed through hell and survived, and fought harder than the demon emperor himself while the people of the South slept snug in their beds! Hail the Sorcerer King! Hail the Sorcerer King! Justice through strength, strength through justice!" She finished loudly.

"Justice through strength! Strength through justice!" The gathered band echoed back, loud enough to wake the dead.

"Now get to work, and I'll see you all back here in two days! Dismissed!" Neia shouted, and the formation broke apart, and headed en masse to the adventurer's guild front door, under the eyes of adventurers on the upper floor who had been watching the unusual assembly.

Skana approached Neia after the speech. "Sounds like you don't plan on fighting." She said. "Not afraid are you?" She teased.

Neia laughed, "No, I have elsewhere to be. I trust you to kick some ass without me."

"So where will you be heading then?" Skana asked.

"I'll be in every tavern, at every square, and I'll be telling every person who doubts me, to go to the guild and watch the finest on display, I expect you to be among them." Neia said.

"Then you'd better get to it, you've got a city to talk to, and you've already convinced me. Go on!" Skana said and turned to run into the door of the Adventurer's Guild hall as almost a hundred Black Justice members sought to arrange an impromptu tournament within the training grounds. She waved to Neia as she went through the door, and Neia rushed to the nearest public square.

She looked around, the houses were well built, as were the common buildings, the shops appeared well stocked and everything appeared to be older, as if it had not had to be rebuilt. The people appeared in considerable numbers and most were well fed, Jaldabaoth's wrath was foreign to them. For a moment she wondered how to reach them, and then a thought occurred.

She jumped up to the top of the fountain, memories of Prart returned, of the want, privation, desparation, corruption, she thought of Skana's missing eye, and her own missing parents, she thought of the clash of gods that could have ended all her people's lives, and the armored boy...man...who had no scars to show he'd faced the terror and survived, who warned her to be silent about who she was, and who CZ was...and she thought of Tinamoc, who cautioned her about the care he would have to take in his business dealings if what she was doing became an issue. Then and only then, she knew what to say, she knew what these people lacked.

"People of Yanana, citizens of the Holy Roble Kingdom!" She shouted through the square, letting her voice carry from one corner to the next, the echo of her words bouncing off the buildings and striking every ear, stilling conversation and drawing eyes her way. She took a deep breath, and before she began again she whispered to herself, "You faced monsters..." and then she began. "I am Neia Baraja, squire to the Sorcerer King, builder and taker of cities, bearer of the Ultimate Shooting Star and of the armor of the Grand King Busar. I am the slayer of scriptures, the butcher of bandits, and the bearer of Justice to every inch of land over which I step!"

That all had their attention. Even in the South, Neia Baraja had been heard of. "I come to you now because your nation is in dire need. The North has been ravaged by a demon terrible and foul, the demihuman armies are broken, Jaldabaoth is dead, but did you think the work was finished?! Did you think that after you put out the fire that burns your house, your work is done, that the house need not be rebuilt?! Will you live in a ruin?!" She asked them loudly, putting force into her voice.

"YOU!" she said, pointing to a fat looking priest, "How many people in the North did you heal with your magic before you returned to the South? How can you have returned while there are still so many in need of the aid to recover?! Did you even go?!" She asked.

"I...didn't go." He said, as he failed to lie under the fear of her withering gaze.

"And you!" She said, pointing to another priest beside him.

"I went!" He snapped.

"How many did you heal?! Why did you come back?!" She asked, "Were there no more wounded? Were the homes rebuilt?"

"I healed until..." He paused, the outrage in his voice petered out.

"Until they were to poor to pay for it?!" Neia snapped.

He looked down, shamefaced, but to terrified to lie to her. "Yes."

That earned some dirty looks from some of the less well dressed persons, and to their credit, to some of the better dressed people.

The priest snapped his head up and shouted, "Its the rules! We do that for income so that we needn't play at politics and can focus upon aiding the people!"

"The Sorcerer King provides healing for free, the temples do not involve themselves in politics, why is it that you cannot do as he does?!" She retorted.

"He's an undead monster!" The priest snapped, and Neia gave a predatory grin behind her eyes.

"The MONSTER is more generous with the wellbeing of his people than the TEMPLES?! The MONSTER is less corrupt than the TEMPLES! What does that say about who is truly good and useful, and who is truly a greedy monster?!" Neia asked.

That brought some laughter from some bolder members of the crowd, and also some reflective looks.

"I am no foreigner, to think temples have freed themselves from political concerns, Black Justice heals people for free, indeed that was always our intent, but the temples entreated the King to not only mandate this, but to prohibit state support in the hopes that we would wither away, but instead we thrive, and we do not deprive people of their wealth by holding their very lives hostage!"

The priests shuffled away, avoiding further acknowledgement.

"People of Yanana, I know that for many of you, the danger of Jaldabaoth seemed distant, it seemed as if it could not truly touch you, yet you do not know how close you came to destruction. Had the Sorcerer King not arrived with reinforcements and personally slain Jaldabaoth, he would have wiped out our army and even now he would be frolicking in the South bringing destruction to whatever was left of you!"

"Many good men and women died to protect you, and now they suffer privation still, for want of the freedom of conscience to heal others! You all heard that priest, one did not go, and the other returned not because HIS PEOPLE were better, but because his people were TO POOR!" She paused and let that sink in.

"The Southern Kingdom is not lacking in material goods, nor is your city lacking in beauty, but it is lacking in PURPOSE, it is lacking in JUSTICE! And so you know what this means to Black Justice, the bearers of the Sorcerer King's will, I challenge those of you who would see a spectacle, go to the adventurer's guild, go and watch what the power of PURPOSE has given common people, go see what the will to Justice has lead to in power! And go see what it means to truly serve the people, by bringing your sick and your wounded, and we will do what the temples will not, we will see you healed freely!" This set people muttering, and Neia got down off the fountain.

She went to another square, and another, and another, and then a tavern, and then two more taverns, it was a busy morning for Neia Baraja, and she wasn't sure how well it paid off until she saw CZ in the crowd at yet another public space, and when she finished her speech and had come down to ground level again, CZ approached. "How are things at the Adventurer's Guild Headquarters?" Neia asked.

"Cute." CZ replied.

"Cute? Things are cute over there?" Neia asked.

"No. Here." CZ said, and put a sticker on her cheek.

Neia couldn't suppress the grin and didn't want to, but she did want an answer, "Seriously, how are things proceeding?"

"Very well. Black Justice fighters are winning." CZ said simply. Neia mentally rolled her yes, CZ was notoriously short spoken, and it was easier to go see for herself, than to spend time teasing the details out of her.

"Well, lets go see." Neia said, and started walking back to the guild, even if she hadn't known how to find it before, it would have been easy enough, just listen to the crowd talking about the impromptu tournament, and follow them.

When they arrived, a Black Justice combatant had just grabbed a sword hand at the wrist when the guild member swing to forcefully, then stepped in and twisted, locking the man in a grip, and then bringing a dagger out suddenly and holding the tip to the back of his neck.

The guild master called the fight, and the two stepped apart. Neia then saw Skana step into the middle of the practice groun, and say, "There are no gold ranked members left, now will the Platinum adventurers dare to step forward, or will they leave it in the hands of Black Justice, and show that they are less brave than their juniors?!"

Neia wryly smiled as she listened to Skana's provocation, even if they were afraid of losing reputation by losing a fight, what could be worse than not going in the first place out of fear, they'd never live it down if they didn't even try.

The fight was well under way when a a dozen armed and armored city guards approached in a double rank formation and spread out, covering a portion of the outside of the crowd.

A man stepped in between the line and shouted, "I seek the person known as Neia Baraja." Everything began to stop, the combatants eyed each other and wordlessly made a temporary truce, sheathing their weapons. The crowd went quiet and the guards put their weapons to the ready.

"Is Neia Baraja among you?" He asked. Neia shouted, "Over here!" And the crowd parted slightly, not wanting to be to close to someone the guards wanted. As the way opened, Neia stepped forward.

"I am Neia Baraja. What can I do for you?" She asked.

The man took out a scroll, unfurled it, and read it, "Neia Baraja, you are under arrest, you are charged with accosting the priests, blasphemy against the gods, heresy against sacred doctrine, and with slandering the temples maliciously and with willful intent to harm their reputations." He spoke the crimes loudly in a voice that said he was convinced of Neia's guilt, and confidently rolled up the scroll and put it away.

"Will you come with us peacefully?" He asked.

The mood of Black Justice turned...very angry, Neia could feel their bodies tensing, waiting only for her to formally refuse so they could attack.

Neia took a deep breath and forced herself to remain calm, she had to break the tension, and she forced herself to laugh and clap the guard on the shoulder as if he were an old friend.

"Of course of course, surely if some harm has been done, I will honor Yananan city Law." She sad politely.

Skana hurried over to her and whispered hoarsly into her ear, "Don't go with them, they can't take you unless you let them." Neia felt...oddly relaxed in that moment, like the warmth she felt the last time someone seemed to worry about her safety. It felt nice, in spite of the apparent danger, and she said, "Relax, everything will be fine, this isn't Prart, riddled with corruption at every turn." She gave Skana's hand a squeeze, and then stepped forward away from her people, raising one hand up with palm open to let them know to relax themselves, not to fight.

"Black Justice, follows Justice." She said loudly, "I will place myself in your care honorable guardsman. I assume though, I should not be bringing my weapons?" The man looked flustered, as if he hadn't expected this, but he managed to mumble out a 'No, leave those with someone you can trust." He muttered ot, and Neia disarmed and handed her weapons to Skana, only for CZ to approach and start walking towards the guard.

Neia saw murder where others saw only passive indifference. She leaned in and grabbed her arm, "Relax CZ, I know you're here to protect me, but there are many kinds of battle, and I won't die in this one. So please, don't do anything." She whispered, and then stepped back, giving an wane smile and turned to the guards. "Alright, lets go, do I require chains?" She asked.

"No, you have been cooperative, I will honor that with a measure of trust." He replied, and the guards formed up around her, and Neia walked away, she looked back over her shoulder at the still frozen combatants, "Continue the contest! Make me proud!" she said enthusiastically, "I'll want to hear all about it over drinks later!" she waved behind her as they moved out of sight, and when they were gone from view Neia said, "This is going to be ugly, isn't it?"

"Very much so." He replied, tightening his grip on his weapon.

"Alright, lets get this over with." She said, "I want to see what justice means to the South."

 **AN: Well I know you all love waiting so very, very much, so here you go another wait, enjoy it, when this chapter has been read and reviewed a few times or so, I'll get back and do another chapter. But for now I have a busy day ahead of me, so I wish my readers well and hope to see your thoughts when I have free time again!**


	20. The Trial

"I thought you were going to protect her?" Skana said to CZ, looking surprised as the guards marched Neia away.

"She asked me not to, and Lord Ainz said to follow her instructions, the last time I took trusted her to make good choices, we rescued a Zern prince and helped overthrow Jaldabaoth." CZ replied.

Skana looked unconvinced. "Do you trust her?" CZ asked.

Skana nodded in the affirmative without hesitation. "I do. But why...?"

"She did not want to make us into criminals in the eyes of the South, true if Black Justice had fought, you would have won. If I had attacked, I could have killed them all. But these are mere soldiers doing their jobs, she wouldn't want to kill them for it. Don't worry, she's strong for a human, and when she comes back, we'll go drinking again, I'll even activate my intoxication protocol and let you carry me back to my room again." CZ said, her voice never wavered, and might have, days earlier, sounded indifferent as if she were disconnected from the events and couldn't care less what happened. But after some association, Skana had begun to pick up the very slight inflections and word choices that suggested CZ was being nice, and it wasn't until she had worked that out in her head that she processed the phrase, 'Intoxication protocol'.

"Wait...are you telling me you were not actually drunk?" Skana asked.

CZ was about to answer when Skana waved her hand in front of her face, "No, no, don't tell me, never mind, this isn't the time for that. For now, what do we do?" Skana asked.

CZ looked at her in silence, "Didn't you hear what she said? Continue combat, she wanted to hear stories afterwards."

There had been many uncertain looks from Black Justice members as Skana conversed with the maid demon, but when CZ said that, Skana snapped back to herself and said, "You're right. Anything else, and I suppose we'd look bad."

She turned to the crowd of observers and fighters and shouted, "Alright, Pope Neia has to take care of this, but she wants to hear about your exploits after she's done, so get back to it, and make it good, we want good stories to tell later!" Skana shouted, putting what authority she could into her voice, and after a brief hesitation, they settled back in to resume the exhibition.

CZ settled next to Skana and they looked out over the crowd, and though CZ gave a perfect impression of being absorbed in the display, Skana had to steel herself and constantly catch herself from looking backwards or slipping away in pursuit. CZ took out a sticker and put it on Skana's face, "Cute." She said, a word she'd used many times, but in this moment, it seemed to mean something very different.

 _...At the court of law..._

"Welcome to the Court of Law." The guard said and the group stopped walking. Neia looked around, "Which building is it?" she asked.

"It is this, all of this." The guard said with a note of pride in his voice, and gestured to the open area they were entering. Neia gave it a further appraisal as she took the whole area in. It was a large open pavilion, with buildings on the outskirts, and there were columns of stone with rungs that could be climbed, which lead to small single person waist high enclosures, each of which had an armed guard, and each column had a wooden path from it to another column, and the column's interwoven upper pathways, lead to the tops of buildings around the pavilion, it was a very strange arrangement, and no less strange were the series of podiums, seven of them, made of fine onyx stone, three lined up facing inward at a diagonal, and three more faced in the same way on the opposite side, and one podium stood at the center. Twenty paces back from the front of them was a waist high pillar of stone with a chain attached to the top. Behind that and forming a semicircle, were many steps from the depressed area in the center to a higher elevation, it wasn't hard to guess that this was so citizens could have a place to sit if they chose to watch trials unfold. It all seemed...very much like a theater set up for performances.

"I see, you conduct your trials publicly before the people, whoever wants to attend, can do so. If the person is to be punished physically, then they are punished in front of all the people so that all learn the power of the law, and that nobody escapes it." He said, looking down at her as he put emphasis on the last part of his statement.

Neia folded her hands behind her head casually, "I admit I like the concept, its not how things are done in the North. Just the threat of being publicly accused would probably keep a lot of people honest." Her voice was the calm analysis of an experienced soldier, clinical and indifferent.

"Who and where are the judges?" She asked curiously.

It seemed bizarre to the soldier, to be asked such critical questions so casually by a captive, but he answered anyway. "There are six priests who act as jurors, and the judge is chosen from among the noble class. They do not come out until the accused is secured and the horn is blown. That alerts them to a trial needing their attention, and whoever is tasked with it for the day will promptly take position."

"Am I permitted a defender?" Neia asked.

"No." The soldier said, "We have no lawyers, because we wish for no profession that exists only to obscure the truth. You will speak in your own defense, and for your sake, you'd better be good at it...and then after a few questions and answers from the jury and the judge to yourself and witnesses, they'll render a vote with a majority rule."

"Well, its all a very impressive arrangement, with so much over watch by guards, they can see any escape attempt even while it is happening, I'd imagine it doesn't come up very often." Neia said with a sardonic expression on her face.

"No, not really." The guard said flatly, "So, lets move, we're heading to the central pillar." He said, and prodded her forward lightly, even politely. Neia's pace was deliberately casual, and she had not adjusted her hands behind her head, it gave her a very casual appearance, as if she were walking through a garden, not walking to her trial, it threw off several of the guards, who watched her back with uncertain eyes. They'd done this duty many times, often they had to drag men struggling to trial, sometimes they'd had to drag limp unconscious frames to the pillar and wait for hours for them to awaken so the judge and jury could be summoned, but this...young girl, barely old enough to be called a woman, who could not have seen more than twenty summers, seemed to think it all a game to be played.

She calmly went to the pillar of defense and placed her hands together on top of it. "OK, lock em in." She said with a grin.

As if expecting a trick, several guards stepped back and lowered their halberds, pointing them at her while another guard approached from the front, Neia held still, and looked at him through her visor. She gave him an encouraging smile as she held still and let him fasten the chain's to her wrists, first with one click, then with another. "Oh," he said, "You can't wear this, nobody can hide their face from the judge. I will set it behind you for now." He said, and reached up and took off her visor, and as it came off, he fell back, "Ahh! Wha!" he exclaimed as he stumbled backwards and fell on his backside, only to scramble backwards without rising until he reached his weapon and forced himself to stand up. Neia hadn't moved an inch, but as that happened, the commander of the group snapped out, "What's wrong?!" and then Neia turned to look at him, "Nothing, I haven't done anything to him." She said, and met his eyes with hers.

A chill swept over him, her eyes were the eyes of death itself. But made of sterner stuff than his subordinate, he suppressed the chill that ran down his back, swallowed, and snapped at the man, "Pull yourself together man, show some dignity!"

Neia shrugged, "You all never faced Jaldabaoth, that much is obvious, if you had, you'd know that this is what facing demons does to you. If you can't handle that, you wouldn't have lasted a day in the North during his invasion." She said critically. Under other circumstances, he might have argued, but he was not inclined to do so now.

Numbly the commander walked past her over to the judge's podium and blew the horn, it echoed long and loud, from where she sat, Neia wondered if it might be heard over most of the city. The guards that had surrounded her moved with practiced ease to new positions, one stood beside each podium, the remainder arrayed themselves several paces behind her.

Citizen observers actually appeared before judge or jury, and as the steps became seats, opportunists hawking food and drinks began to appear, Neia let herself relax, she'd spoken before countless crowds, this was no different, and every audience reflected new opportunity. She waited patiently, calmly, and gradually priests came and took their places at a podium, and a young nobleman not much senior in age to Neia took his place at the center. Neia looked them over, the noble's eyes and face were soft, he didn't have any scars, his clothing was meant more for show than for function, he had a sword at his waist, but his hands looked soft, he wasn't one to train with it, it too was just an emblem of his position, much like his clothing. At the left and right there stood priests, they were ranged in age, but wore severe looking clothing, she guessed based on its distinction from the usual priestly garb, with its tassels and bells that jingled as they moved into place, that they were meant to be noticed and recognized, and that these were the garbs of those selected to serve at trials. They were as different in body as they were in age, two were thin enough to be mistaken for skeletons, while two more were fat enough that one might think that pigs had learned to walk on two legs, while the other two were built like soldiers, and one of them bore a long burn mark on his face. She found it hard to imagine the six of them gathered together for any other reason.

When her name was read out as the one on trial, the hushed whispers of disbelief, and the repetition of her name by the gathered numbers, were so many that the whispers were like a battle cry.

From where she stood, Neia could see others rushing out to be the first to spread the word, an iron rule of cities is that they thrived on news and rumors of news. Selling information for coin or favors was part of life, and today Neia knew she was the product being sold. She didn't care for it, not one bit...but if it achieved her ends, sobeit. She looked up at the sky and breathed the air. "What a beautiful day it is today." She said softly to herself.

The announcement of her name as the one being charged had given pause to the administrators of justice, though the pampered looking nobleman seemed to be an exception, his face looked perpetually bored, she did not like his face, it reminded her to much of people who did nothing while others did everything, only to complain about the lack of personal gain for themselves later.

"Will the accused state her name for the record?" The nobleman asked.

"I will." Neia replied, grateful for the few feet of chain that allowed her to move around, she paced slowly and deliberately around the pillar of defense to keep it behind her, placing her entire self in full center view. "I am Neia Baraja. Squire of the Sorcerer King, slayer of Scriptures, breaker of bandits, builder and taker of cities, founder of Black Justice, bearer of the Ultimate Shooting Star, bearer of the Grand King Busar's armor, bane of demihumans, Pope of Black Justice, I am the mad eyed archer. But today...you can just call me Neia." She spoke with the firmness of conviction that came with her time as an evangelist, and she spoke with the absolute confidence that had not been there until desperation made her bold, the day she met with the Sorcerer King and prepared to give up her life to gain a year for her people. She smiled at the memory now, everything had been so horrible...but also all so simple, the enemy was clear, there were no divisions, no factions, not even much in the way of politics.

As her titles poured out and her smile emerged and her terrifying naked eyes raked over the soft men of the south, she saw a that one of the priests was uttering a prayer.

"Ahem..." The nobleman cleared his throat and began to read, "You are aware of the charges being laid against you?" He asked.

"I did hear them, but I am afraid my lord, that there were a fair number and I do not recall them, would you please read them to me?" She asked with a kindly smile that looked utterly out of place beneath her eyes.

"You are charged with accosting the priests, blasphemy against the gods, heresy against sacred doctrine, and with slandering the temples. He said, looking intensely down at the document in front of him, as if avoiding looking into her eyes. "How do you plead?" He asked.

Neia inhaled deeply, savoring the air, looking up at the sky again as she had earlier. "It really is a beautiful day for this, and a beautiful place for it." She said.

The unusual response seemed to fluster those who heard it. "Ahem..." the nobleman said, coughing slightly into his hand, "Yes well, thank you, we're proud of our city, but your answer?" He prodded.

"To the charge of accosting the priests, I am of course, guilty, as is every other person who speaks to a priest without being spoken to first? Are the people of this city slaves to the temples, that they cannot speak to them first without being called criminals?" She asked, carefully modulating her voice to project an almost innocent curiosity. It prompted snarls of outrage from the priests at their podiums, and uncomfortable movements in the seats of the audience.

"As to the charge of blasphemy, to that I say I am innocent, and that you are the guilty ones, because I follow the one true god of this world, the one true god of justice, the one true savior of this nation, and not the six dead ones who do not answer your prayers, who do not respond when their alters are profaned by the bloody torment and sacrifice of their worshipers, who will not come no matter how you call them. I am not the blasphemer here!" Her voice began low, and gradually rose to a crescendo that sent shockwaves through the audience and through the judges.

Her voice dropped again, low but powerful, the perfect architecture of the theater like place allowing even the lowest whisper from her 'stage' to be carried to the farthest seat, "As to the charge of heresy against sacred doctrine, I say again that I am innocent, and you are guilty, because I do not follow your doctrine of the dead, I follow the doctrine of the one unliving god who brought down the greatest evil ever to threaten this world. I am no heretic, and so I cannot commit heresy! Call me an apostate if you will, as I have rejected the fallen gods, and embraced the one who rises above all others!" Her voice again rose from its low beginning to a crescendo that put shivers down the backs of those who heard it...and everybody heard it.

"As to the charge of slandering the temples, I must ask, is it slander to speak the truth?!" She snapped, her voice rapid and forceful, and her gaze bore a hole in the head of the pampered noble judge. It rattled him.

"What...?" he asked, somewhat surprised.

"Is...the truth...slander?" She asked slowly.

His fingers clenched the document so tight that his knuckles turned white, and he forced out..."No."

"Then to the charge of slander I am innocent, because while they might not like what I have said, I have told no lies, nor have I spread lies, I have only told others the truth and asked the same in turn." She responded, spreading her hands as much as the chains would allow, as if she'd just said the most reasonable thing in the world...and which, in the minds of some who were watching, she very well may have.

"But you did intend to impugn their reputation?" A priest asked.

"If a reputation is undeserved, it deserves to be impugned, if the truth harms how they are seen, then the way they are seen, cannot be accurate. Is it not true that you require people to pay to be healed?" She asked sharply.

"Well yes...but that keeps us free of politics by not requiring patronage by the government." He responded as if reciting the answer from memory.

"Free of politics?!" She said sharply. "I am Neia Baraja, I have been in the presence of the King, I have labored in the royal court, spare me the lies, you priests have representatives there every day plying him and other nobles for influence or coin to enhance your positions. I saw first hand how the priests of the royal court tried to influence the fate of a priest who attempted to play the role of an assassin, I saw first hand how priests tried to block the establishment of my temple and tried to hamstring us so that we could not serve the needs of the people. You are not free of politics, you are the EMBODIMENT OF IT!" Her voice carried loudly, the echo of the buildings beyond the pavillion carried far beyond intended reach, drawing curious people to approach to find the cause of the disturbance, and more seats began to be filled.

"Liar!" The priest snapped! "We'll add a charge of perjury if you spin your lies again!"

"Then do it!" Neia retorted, "I am permitted to call witnesses, I can call the very maid demon of the Sorcerer King who stood in the same chamber with Prince Caspond before his Kingship, and watched as priests played at politics! Do not forget who I am! I am the one who was charged with the rebuilding of the Capitol, I can and will write to his very majesty himself and ask for the confirmation of my words! Charge me if you will, but ONLY if you are prepared to see charges laid in turn when YOU are found to be lying now!" She leaned forward, turning the force of her gaze against the fat city priest, and his mouth snapped shut like he'd been hit with an uppercut to the jaw.

There was silence for a moment, but he did not try to charge her with perjury.

"You say I impugn your reputations, that I harm the temples, I say they DESERVE to be harmed! You charge people to save their lives, and therefore hold their lives and the lives of their loved ones hostage, you extort money from them as a price for simply not dying! How many children in this city die because their parents cannot afford to be healed?!"

Neia turned her back to the judge and the priests and walked around the pillar of defense, her eyes raking the crowd, "I call as my witnesses this very body of citizens, if there stand ANY among you who have lost loved ones or limbs because you or they could not pay the extortionate price of healing from temples, STAND UP!"

There was an uncomfortable silence, and for a moment nobody moved, as if they'd been charged. "I do not ask you to speak," Neia said as she moved, looking to meet eyes with one member of the watching audience after another, "I do not ask you to protest, only do what the dead you cherish cannot do, if you have laid someone to rest who would not have died but for the temple's demands for coin, then stand up for THEM!" She said forcefully, and after another moment's silence...the sound of shifting bodies echoed, as first one man stood, eyes downcast as if afraid to face the center pavilion any longer. Then a woman stood up, the sound of movement caused people in the audience to look at those around them, those near her could see tears in the woman's eyes, it was not hard to guess what her loss was, as many women lost children in childbirth. Driven by the courage of two, two more, and two more, and three more, and so it went, with eyes downcast in deference, seeing only the stone and the backs of those who had not stood, Neia realized what they were missing.

"Raise your heads, you who stand! Look around you! LOOK!" She shouted.

Heads gradually rose, as those accustomed to looking down, finally looked around them, and one of the great strengths of humanity poured out in the form of tears. Grief, that sense of loss that drives people to protect what they love, and keeps the dead alive in memory, and shared grief, that of a communtiy that treasures its own such that the loss of a neighbor's child is felt by the neighbor themselves, the pain of a dear friend is shared by those who treasure them.

Neia whirled, and pointed at the priests, "You charge me with heresy, with blasphemy, with slander, but I charge you with murder! I charge you with extortion! What else is it? If a person is dangling from a cliff, and you could lower a rope to them, but refuse because of their inability to buy the rope, when they fall to their deaths are you not culpable? Do you think you can call yourselves innocent as if you did nothing, when your very crime is DOING NOTHING!"

The nobleman began banging his gavel to call for silence, "I will not be silent!" Neia snarled, "You thrive on the silence of people, you thrive on their fear, you thrive on extorting them for their last coin so that their very newborn babe might take another breath and see another sunrise! Black Justice does not KNOW FEAR, we do not know your greed, we do not care what you have to your name, we heal because protecting the weak is common sense!"

 _...In Nazarick..._

Ainz watched as his acolyte, his pope, spoke to the judge and jury, he watched as people stood up at her call, and the memories of Suzuki Satoru stirred, of his crowded world, where sickness or injury could lead to poverty or death. He remembered when he dropped out of school to get a job to pay for medicine for his mother, medicine that he learned cost only a handful of yen to make, but which impoverished them so greatly that his dreams were put on hold until they were beyond him, they were forced to eat the worst food and live in the cheapest and most rundown building, just to be able to afford the means for her to not die...and when Neia said the same words as Touch Me, the undead Ainz felt a shiver through his body.

He gestured to the attending Sebas, calling him forward, "Impressive, isn't she? For a human I mean."

Sebas nodded deliberately, "For a mere human to come to the same words uttered by a supreme being, it is not something I have seen before encountering her."

"I'm going to watch this trial, but while I'm watching, go ready the eight edge assassins, and Shalltear, it may not be necessary, but if Neia Baraja requires a rescue from death, I will see it provided." He said, and then turned back to continue watching.

 _...In the pavillion..._

"But you do not protect the weak unless they are wealthy enough to afford your services! This is not slander for me to say, this is POLICY that you have deliberately formed for your benefit, and which you enforce as a matter of law, even to the extent that until the Sorcerer King took over the guild of adventurers in E-Rantel, and by extension imposed similar policy in the Empire, you had adventurers expelled from the guild for the 'crime' of healing the injured or sick that they came across!" She snapped out, placing special emphasis on the word 'crime'.

Another priest spoke up, "Yes we charge for it, but the nobles and other institutions also provide charity that helps cover the cost of healing the people, that way the poor do not have to suffer and die."

"Then who are they standing for?!" Neia snapped, gesturing to the many people still standing in the audience. "YOU!" She pointed to a woman in the crowd. "Whose memory do you stand for!" Neia shouted.

She tried to speak, but her words were to soft to be heard where Neia stood, "Come down, speak here where all can hear you." Neia said gently.

The woman started to move when another priest, and elderly man of skin and bones, pointed at the woman and said, "Stay there, only witnesses may descend to where the defendant is."

"I call her as my first witness!" Neia responded sharply, and Neia stretched out her arm to the distant woman in a gentle gesture, as if offering to take her by the hand. The woman, as if lead or strengthened by the gesture, made her way down the seated area and stood beside Neia.

"Who are you?" Neia asked.

"Puniti." She said softly.

"Puniti, how old are you?" Neia asked, keeping her voice soft and the questions easy.

"I am twenty-three." She said.

Neia smiled gently, "So you're somewhat older than I am, don't I feel like a child now?" She gave a little laugh, one that was almost a giggle, prompting both surprise and a little smile of her own to appear on Puniti's face. Neia looked her over, she was pretty, in a plain sort of way, wearing clothes bearing many patches, suggesting she rarely could afford to replace her clothing.

"What do you do here in the city?" Neia asked.

"I'm a washerwoman at a hotel." Puniti said.

"And how much do you get paid for your work?" Neia asked.

"Two coppers a day." She replied.

"Will that cover any healing treatments?" Neia asked.

"No..." She said.

"And your husband's income?" Neia asked.

"He's dead." She replied.

"I'm sorry. Is that who you stood for up there?" Neia asked.

The woman shook her head, her long brown strands bounced limply behind her.

"Who then?" Neia asked.

"Our son." Puniti replied.

"How did he pass?" Neia asked.

"A rare infection of Rockjoint." Puniti answered.

"The temples refused to heal him? What about charity?" Neia asked.

"There was not enough available to pay, so they sent him away with an ointment for the symptoms, that cost most of my savings, they said I could come when there was an emergency, but when that happened it was to late. He died before going back." Puniti said softly, so softly that Neia was grateful to whatever architect had built this place, since its perfect acoustics carried sound everywhere.

"Thank you Puniti. You can return to your seat...unless they have any questions?" Neia said, and gave a look to the priests who were now shifting very uncomfortably behind their podiums.

"No questions..." One of them said awkwardly, and Puniti scaled the steps back to her seat, the echo of her footfalls like the claps of thunder to the crowd.

"Now tell me my crimes!" Neia's voice rose suddenly, snapping the silence with the violence of her voice, before returning to a more normal but forceful volume. "You say I blaspheme the gods, I say I serve the one true god! Yours are dead and you serve them only as extorters of wealth! I serve the true god who commands that we take nothing for our services! The Chained Priests and Red Paladins move freely from place to place, tending the wounded and the sick and enriching themselves not in the least, the temple of Black Justice does homage to the one true god by serving justice, his justice, through strength, not self sustaining by way of indulging our greed!" She shouted the final word of her sentence.

The nobleman pounded his gavel to still the growing talk in the audience, and said, "If there are no more witnesses, we'll confer for a verdict."

The gathering came together at the center podium, and the noble held out a bowl, and into it five black stones were dropped, as well as one white one. The process was repeated for each charge, and the nobleman serving as the judge added a red stone of his own to each bowl that had a majority of black stones.

"Neia Baraja, on the charge of accosting the priests...you are found...not guilty."

"On the charges of blasphemy against the gods, heresy against sacred doctrine, and with slandering the temples, you are found to be guilty." He paused to let that sink in, and then said, "The penalty for these crimes is severe, you will be given ten lashes and prohibited from having them healed by any temple in the city. "Sentence to be carried out, immediately." He said, leaning forward, looking for a hint of fear on her face. Two guards went to a pair of stone pillars, and attached two sets of chains above head height, clearly there so that a prisoner being punished would not fall to the ground. Neia heard the distant sound of bows being drawn in case she tried to escape, and watched this preparation calmly as the judge searched her face, and when he could not find the fear he sought, he snapped out, "Bring the whip!"

 **AN: Can I pick a good place to end a chapter...or can't I? ;) Anyway, I hope you enjoyed the trial scene, and I welcome your reviews as always, good or bad, but just remember constructive criticism is the best kind. I like to think I'm pretty good, but when I do think that, I'm reminded of a 92 year old violinist who was seen practicing one day, he'd been playing his entire life, and when seen practicing a young person asked him, "Why are you still practicing?" And the old violinist said, "Because I'm starting to see improvement." That is my only regret about mortality, it cuts short potential, but oh well, I'll enjoy the process of growth while I'm still around, and hope you enjoy its fruits in the meantime. :)**


	21. Justice, Vengeance, Fear

As the guards approached and began to work the chain securing her to the pillar of defense, Neia shouted out, "Hear that? The wealthy escape justice, what meaning has their prohibition on healing by temples?! The wealthy can afford healing potions, or they can pay a spell caster of the guild, even if you beat them for some crime, here before all, they endure only a few minutes, why I wouldn't be surprised if they kept servants in the audience with potions ready for use! Yet you, you the people, no matter how minor your guilt, must endure and suffer to heal slowly, if ever at all, and bear your scars forever. If Puniti steals bread to stay alive, she must bear her pain and scars into her grave! But if that fat priest traded healing for sex, exploiting the desperation of the poorest of women, even if you did beat him severely, his pain would last only minutes and his body would be clean of marks of shame forever!"

Neia didn't resist as they attached a chain to her right wrist, or her left wrist. She walked with back straight, and she did not stay silent as they worked, "You think you do justice by having me beaten! HA! You think you serve the gods?! Then let the gods take up your whip and beat me themselves! Can they not?! What manner of god is it that cannot do anything themselves?!"

She looked around and walked peacefully between the two very uncomfortable men, "You are not protecting the gods, you are protecting yourselves from having others speak of the injustice that you do by your exploitation! Justice is more than blood and whips! Justice is the strength to act, and strength is not just about what you can do to others, it is about what you can TAKE for others! So I'll take this for my god, for my justice, and for my people, and the scars may be mine, but the BLIGHT is on YOU!" She said, her eyes turned to the priests and the noble, but as if afraid to meet her gaze, they moved away from the podiums and out of her view.

The audience was spellbound, and the guards did their work slowly, very slowly, when one of them stopped. "This isn't right." He said softly. He looked at the other guard beside her, who paused as he was running links through the hoop.

"What?" He asked.

"This isn't right." He said again, a little louder. "She didn't DO anything." As he spoke, a distance away, a man wearing a mask was testing inspecting a long whip.

"You don't have to hurt people to be punished." Neia said simply. "You just have to be critical of the people who deserve to be criticized, but who have the power to silence people, and as long as people just follow orders out of fear or gain, well that is all it takes for them to get away with it." She shrugged.

He didn't pick the chain back up. "Just do your job man." His colleague said, "The judge and jury made their decision, you've got orders, and its the law."

He tugged the chain tight, raising Neia's left arm

"And what if I don't?" He asked.

As Neia had been lead to the pillars of discipline, there had been ugly rumblings in the listeners among the audience about her sentence. Someone shouted, "Mercy!" Neia thought for sure she recognized the voice of Puniti, and she wryly thought that it was probably the first time that girl had ever raised her voice for anything, if her first impression meant anything.

"What do you mean, what if you don't?" The guard who had just secured her left arm said.

"I mean...what...if...I...fucking...DON'T?" His comrade at her right arm replied, "She did not DO anything, you know my father is still missing a hand because he couldn't afford to pay for it to be fixed, now he's living with me because he couldn't take care of the farm anymore. All she did was say that shit was wrong, and all she did was say what their rules are. How the fuck do I punish her for that? How the fuck am I supposed to face my father when I go home tonight eh?" He threw down the chain he was holding. "How is that conversation supposed to go? Yeah you know those temple rules that keep a painful stump at the end of your arm, those rules that cost us the family farm, today I helped have a woman whipped to the bone for saying that wasn't fair."

"Mercy!" Another voice went up.

It was one thing for a man to be indifferent to the pain of a stranger, but it was another to be casual about the pain of a well known colleague or a friend, and the guard who had just secured her left arm went quiet.

The guard at her right arm leaned forward and spoke in a rough high whisper, "What would those fat fucks do for you if you got hurt here? This is Neia Baraja, these chains are a joke, if even half the stories are true, she's powerful enough to be at least the same as a platinum ranked adventurer, I tried sparring over at the guild hall last week and got beaten by a gold rank, and you're no better than I am. If you got hurt, the most they'd do for you is give you a slight discount on healing, and if you got dead, they'd throw a quick funeral, forget about you, and find another bully boy replacement at the local tavern. She's chained because she let us chain her. She's here because she told the truth. C'mon man, this...isn't...right!"

The priests were calling for assistance, extra guards to maintain order, the judge had gotten out a fresh gavel and was beating it like he was trying to tenderize meat.

"Mercy! Mercy! Mercy! Mercy! Mercy!" The call got taken up, louder and louder, and the rough man at the left side stayed immobile for a moment, and then walked slowly in front of Neia, and she met his gaze, he searched her eyes as she searched his, she did not blink, she did not waver, she just whispered softly, "Whatever you do, is whoever you are. So...who...are...you?" She asked, and he thought long, and he thought hard, glancing over her shoulder, the audience had begun to raise their fists and not to far away, several of his fellow guards were doing the same, "Mercy...Mercy...Mercy!" He looked up at the various guard positions, arrows that had been pulled tight to pierce her flesh and run her through if she tried to escape, had gone from taut and ready to release, to relaxed, some had returned arrows to their quivers...it really was a beautiful day...

"Fuck it!" He shouted and threw his weapon down, and went to loose the chain that held her arm aloft, and as he struggled to undo the lock, a fresh group of guardsmen arrived with halberds out.

 _...In Nazarick..._

Ainz looked over at Sebas, "Have shalltear open a gate, somewhat out of sight of their location, send the eight edge assassins through, I will reward Neia's faith in me. They are not to hurt anyone...yet. But let no blow strike Neia Baraja...or...I suppose she deserves it...the woman Puniti who spoke up for her."

"It will be done my lord." Sebas said.

 _...In the pavilion..._

The fresh guards were considerable in number, and they were quick to surround the pavilion, the two at Neia's pillar were confronted, and even as they tried to argue, they were grabbed by four others and arrested, the others who had escorted her, those who had been found with raised hands, were similarly arrested and dragged away, and order was slowly restored. Neia stood still, and allowed the new ones to secure her arms so that they were raised over head and spread apart.

With the threat of violence imposing silence, there were no more shouts, but the whispered words "Mercy...Mercy...Mercy, fell from countless lips, loud enough that there was no one who could not hear it, even as no one voice could be called guilty of saying it. It was an eerie scene, and Neia stood still, back straight, and said loud enough for all to hear, "Into the hands of the god of justice, I commend myself!" She breathed deep, and looked up at the sky, the warmth of the sun came down on her, and she thought about what the rest of her people were up to, no doubt they had really fucked up the adventurer's guild's platinum ranks by now, and she wished she could be there to see them take on the mythril ranks. "Oh well, it can't be helped." She said to herself.

She heard the punishing sound of the lash being tested, she guessed this was standard procedure, to enhance the fear of the one to be whipped, but Neia felt no fear, compared to Jaldabaoth and the demihuman hordes, this was nothing.

Then it turned out that she was wrong, and silence fell, she heard the whistling of the whip, she waited for the crack, she waited for the blood, she waited for the inevitable scream to leap out of her throat, but it did not happen. Instead what she saw was, sliding across the stone past her feet, was several feet of the whip, severed in mid flight and having flown the rest of the way.

The man holding the whip pulled it back in, rolled it up, and looked dumbfounded at the broken portion. "Bring me another!" He shouted.

Another was swiftly brought to him, the whispered call for mercy came out from people's lips again, and the noble looked smugly satisfied, as did several priests, but no sooner than the test was done and the whip lashed out once more to score her back, than once again the whip was broken, this time close to her back, close enough that she could feel the slight push of air against her body.

The punishment officer behind her looked confused, and stepped forward by a foot, and as soon as the whip went forward, it broke again. His frustration began to mount, as each time he tried to hurt her, the whip only broke shorter, and whatever was cutting it, was coming closer and closer to where his hand held it. His frustration began to mount, and gradually became intimidation as inch by inch his failure came closer to paining him personally.

Neia laughed, sensing what was happening. Her god, her one true King, had heard her cry. "Perhaps if your gods could hold the whips themselves, you'd have more luck! My god protects me, can you say the same!" Her laugh hit like bricks on glass. The whip was now down to half it's former length, and though they could not see what was happening, the eight edge assassins had begun to make a game out of who could take the smallest piece out of the whip, while still protecting their charge, and though no others could see, they added beautiful acrobatics as they took turns frustrating the human fool, awarding each other points for style and flare in how they conducted their task.

"GAH! Bring out two more punishment officers!" The noble judge shouted, and a messenger rushed off, and two more came out, gave their colleague a replacement, and they resumed their positions.

 _...In Nazarick..._

"They are persistent in their foolishness." Ainz said in an almost complimentary manner. "Very well. Eight edge assassins...redirect the occasional blow to strike a priest, or that pesky noble fool, but do not harm anyone else." He said through a message.

This added a new layer to the game, and the eight edge assassins took to it with vigor, they had begun turning it into a game of horse, where each successive assassin had to do with a whip what his predecessor had done, and that was how the nobleman lost his right eye, when a whip from one of the punishment officers was driven wide, and hit the fool square in the pupil. He screamed like a beaten child, collapsing to his knees and clutching his face.

"Evil will, shall evil mar." Neia said, repeating a phrase she had learned in the library of Ashurbanipal.

"If you were being just, I would be allowed to suffer the consequences. But you are unjust, so my god protects me! You will hurt yourselves worse and worse, the worse the deeds you do in his sight!" She shouted. "Gag her!" A priest shouted, and the punishment officers stopped, and one approached her.

 _...In Nazarick..._

Ainz saw the fool approach. "He must be on the slow side." He said, and targeted him. "Brave enough to gag a bound girl, brave enough to beat a woman in chains, lets see if their courage holds after this." He said and targeted the man, "Grasp heart." He squeezed, and the man fell in mid-step, he crashed to his knees and fell forward.

 _...In the pavilion..._

The crowd began to shout, the priests froze, the punishment officers dropped their whips.

"The god of justice protects the just who act in his name!" She shouted. "I told you, I am no blasphemer, you are!" Neia shouted. "Now...let...me...go." She snapped.

The judge had gone white as a clean sheep's wool, and he called the priestly juror's together to confer. The crowd's chant had gotten louder and more bold, and numbers of them were on their feet, the guards who had taken over were getting nervous, shifting their grip on their weapons.

After a short and hushed exchange, the judge returned to his podium and called for order the chanting briefly stopped and he said, "Due to the unfortunate passing of one of our number, and the ineptitude of of his colleagues, it has been decided that as a show of contrition and mercy by the grace of the gods, we will dismiss the charges against Neia Baraja."

"So they're blaming others and chalking the death of the one man up to a simple case of unfortunate timing. I may be a bad boss, but they're terrible bosses." Ainz said to himself.

One of the guards approached the pillars and undid the chains, allowing Neia's arms to fall freely, the audience cheered her release.

 _...In Nazarick..._

Ainz quickly messaged the eight edge assassins. "Find where they've taken the guards who were arrested, when you've found their location, notify Shalltear and have her open a gate for them, bring those men to my throne room, I would have words with them, and also, the priests, judge, and remaining punishment officers, monitor their activity, when they return to their homes, make them disappear, Demiurge will need new test subjects." He said, using the kingly tone he'd practiced in front of the mirror every night, "Well done my assassins, you have served Nazarick admirably today."

"We live to serve." They said in unison, and went to carry out their mission.

The priests did not linger long, and nor did the judge, and wisely enough, neither did those who had tried to beat her and still retained their lives.

Neia however, showed no interest in them, she had another aim, the winning of the crowd, and she set about it eagerly, moving amongst their number, speaking with people...with her visor back on...and shaking hands, preaching the glory of the Sorcerer King and promoting the views of Black Justice, especially their views on the obligation to heal without cost, this found a ready audience more than any other message, and it was hours before she broke away.

When she did, she returned to the adventurer's guild and found that the adventurers and black justice members had gone from a contest of arms, to a contest of drinks, with the area normally used for combat training, having had tables laid out, and people of both sides slumped over at most of them, including, with no surprise to Neia...CZ, who she now knew could not hold her liquor. Skana was sitting with her, still going strong, with a series of mugs stacked in a pyramid in front of her, and a stack almost as high in front of an adventurer wearing a mythril plate.

Neia looked the figure over, he was a red haired man with a thick beard and a broad chest, he wore mythril armor colored green, with numerous symbols decorating it, he had a great big two handed ax leaning beside him and green eyes that gave away a mirthful spirit, he leaned back contentedly and waved politely to Neia as she came closer.

Skana grinned drunkenly and raised her mug, "Looks like you got it settled, nicely done, whatever it was." She said laughing, "Looks like CZ was right, I'll have to tell her after her intoxication protocol is off."

"Her...what?" Neia asked.

Skana laughed, "Oh, she was telling me about it awhile ago, it seems the Sorcerer King told her to experience things the way you did, so she activated something called an 'intoxication protocol' that let her experience getting drunk...and it turns out it doesn't give her much tolerance for the stuff, but it does let her enjoy it."

Neia rolled her eyes, "Somehow I am not surprised." She chuckled and touched CZ's shoulder, "Can she do something about this herself, or...is she stuck like this?" Neia asked.

"She can turn it off any time she wants, but...she doesn't want to." Skana said with a giggle.

"So...we carried her back to the hotel for no reason at all?" Neia said with her mouth open in surprise.

"Yup." Skana said, and downed the rest of her mug, then placed it atop the others.

"Cute." CZ said, and got out a sticker which she promptly affixed to Neia's cheek...and then to the mythril plate adventurer's. He blushed red as his fire red beard, and poured another for himself after stacking his mug with the rest of them, and then he filled Skana's mug, and handed it back to her.

"To full mugs." Skana said.

"May they never empty for longer than it takes to fill them!" He said, and they slapped the mugs together and resumed drinking.

Neia had the distinct sensation they'd said that phrase more than a few times, and mentally rolled her eyes. "You go ahead and have fun here then, you can tell me about your contests tomorrow, I'll be in my room tonight, join me if you like, I'm fairly tired, that was exhausting." She said, and Skana gave her a mischievous grin and said simply, "Oh I like." And then she laughed teasingly, drawing a similar laugh from Neia before she walked away.

It wasn't long before she returned to the hotel and sought out Tinamoc. As she relayed the events to him, he listened intently and silently, when she was done he said, "So...you've made some friends today, haven't you?" His voice was so sarcastic that she couldn't have missed his meaning if she'd wanted to.

"I suppose so." She replied with a shrug.

"They'll connect you to my mission soon enough, but what that will mean, I don't know, priests are powerful here, really powerful, they will respond, and to succeed here means we can't just start killing everyone who gets in the way. This isn't Prart, even the most hypocritical priest, isn't going to be nearly as corrupt and debauched, you're not going to do the same thing twice. I don't object to you trying to spread these ideals, hell I've come to share them, but please just exercise some discretion." He replied.

"I will." She said, "At least as much as they allow me to, remember I didn't seek that out...well...this time, they did that."

"That was stupid of them." He said.

"Yes it was." Neia replied.

"I doubt they'll be that stupid twice." He said.

"Never underestimate the persistence of stupidity." Neia answered.

Tinamoc sighed. "I suppose not. Well goodnight then, I'm going to go over my books for today's work, plan on leaving day after tomorrow early in the morning."

Neia stood up and shook his hand, "Good night then. Shall I meet you for breakfast tomorrow?" She asked.

"No, you can sleep in, I shouldn't need anything, but if I do, I'll send someone for you." He said in answer.

Neia walked out of his room with a polite wave, and then went to her own room, she sat down on the bed, and then she began to shake and tremble like a leaf in a breeze, the tension of the events might not seemed to have gotten to her, but nonetheless, she felt it, she imagined the whip tearing into her skin, she knew what those could do, she pictured it slicing off bits and pieces of skin, dripping blood at her feet as she hung from her chains, she hugged herself tightly and rocked back and forth, and tears of stress ran down her cheeks as she thought about just how narrow a thing that had been, now that she was alone, she allowed herself to feel it all, and it rushed through her like a river in flood, overflowing its banks, she felt like the emotion might drown her, and she forced herself to at least remove her clothing before moving under the covers of her bed, the shaking of her fingers was such that it took several minutes just to undo her boots, making her anxiety that much worse until she could finally kick them off. When she was under the covers, she pulled them all the way over her head as if to hide from the world, and she shut her eyes tight so that not even the fading light of the setting Sun could touch her, and the world was closed away as she embraced the safety of the darkness.

When she heard Skana enter the room, she said nothing and pretended to be asleep, she didn't want to talk, and luckily, she didn't have to. Skana seemed to have believed her to be slumbering, and when she got into bed beside her, she simply lay her arm over Neia in a half embrace, and went to sleep with her. Neia felt the comforting warmth of another person, and held back her welling tears again until she was sure Skana was deep in slumber. Only then did she let them quietly run out, with only the warmth of touch providing comfort, but it was enough that eventually she really did fall deep into a blessedly dreamless sleep.

 **AN: I know, this one is kind of short, I'd planned to make it a little longer, but it depends on two factors...first...how much free time I have when I get going, and second...where is a good cutting off point. I might be able to keep it going to detail what happens in the throne room when Ainz meets the guards he had taken, or the reaction of the priests and punishment officers and so on when they face the judgement of Nazarick, but I think those are points that are just as good to kick things off as they are places to end, so I'll use them to start the next chapter instead of ending this one with them. Thanks in advance for any reviews, even the occasional bad one offers insight, so I want your honest feedback, and if you just happened to like it (or hate it) and that is all you want to say, without any notes, well fuck it, do that if that is what you want, either way, I appreciate that people take the time to add things. On an unrelated note, if you're not quite understanding Neia's delayed reaction to all the stress, count yourself lucky. That is a real phenomenon, the ancient Greeks called it 'fear shedding' a person's adrenaline and their courage can sustain them throughout a high stress situation, such as being under enemy fire or under some severe threat, but afterwards, when its over, the body has to deal with the fallout, emotionally and physically. I've seen it happen to people who were under severe stress during promotion boards, or faced off against a bully, or after enemy engagements in combat, it always looks pretty much the same, and I think I've done it justice here...though I did stretch it out to cover more time before it hits, than it usually takes.**

 **Thanks again for reading, and expect another chapter soon. I don't by the way, expect to use that 'back and forth' jump from location to location often, I tried to write that scene from Nazarick and the Pavilion in different ways, but the only pacing method that worked to convey the whole scene seemed to be to literally frog back and forth to keep the pace up. If you didn't quite like that part, well to be honest, I don't like that method either, though it worked well enough, if you'd like to rewrite that section yourself and do a better job than I did, I'll replace my version with yours and give you credit at the end of the story in the author notes section here.**

 **Also...I haven't recommended anyone in a few days, and with that in mind, Godsfall has put up another chapter (fucking finally) and its latest one is on point, give it a read if you haven't already.**


	22. Reward & Revenge

The rumors never stopped.

Gossip was the lifeblood of a city, and meant as much as trade, or food, or water, or force of law. And when the word of Neia's trial and the events that took place there entered the realm of gossip, it was like kicking over a nest of ants. People swarmed for information over the accusations against the hero, and when a copy of the scribe's transcript was leaked, and Neia's speech in her own defense began to circulate by lunch the next day, the controversy was inescapable. At cafes, in offices, among the laborers of the fields and in the salons of the nobles, even within the very temples themselves were priests and commoners divided. The violence to be done to her was no less controversial than the message she conveyed, because what had she done except speak the truth about temple policy? Members of Black Justice however...had a very different take on things.

Skana found out what happened over breakfast the next morning. Neia was sleeping in, and Skana got up, stretched, bathed, dressed, and went to the first floor to eat breakfast. She sat at a small table in the dining area, and next to her two men, obviously merchants from different companies, were arguing.

"I tell you she has a point. The high cost of healing from the temples is crippling, and the charitable donations to cover it don't change that, all it means is that they're raking in money from elsewhere, its shifting the cost without solving the problem." He said.

"So what?" His counterpart asked.

"I had a customer that used to buy from me on the reg, when his son, a member of the city guard, got injured, he had to pay through the nose to the temples to save his son's life, that customer stopped buying from me for months because of the cost. His injury cost me money, that was money he wasn't spending on me; you're a merchant, you know the logistics of a budget, it means money is going to them and not to us."

Hearing their fragments of conversation that sounded suspiciously like a conversation about one of Neia's many speeches, Skana turned to look to the next table over, "Pardon me, I couldn't help but overhear, could you tell me what you're referring to?"

The merchants paused and looked her over, "You mean you didn't hear?" One of them asked.

"Hear what?" She asked.

"About the trial of Neia Baraja and her speech just before her whipping was to take place." The merchant said, and Skana's eyes widened in absolute horror.

"Tell me everything..." She said in a hushed voice, and one pulled out a piece of crude paper, a copy of the transcript detailing the events, from the moment it began, to the failed attempt at beating her, Skana stared at it with her mind going numb, and she thought of the danger Neia had been facing, the picture of her whipped, slashed, bleeding body falling to the stone while Skana herself drank beer with CZ was to much. Her body began to shake as she gingerly handed the transcript back to the merchant. "T-thank you." She said, and quietly, unsteadily returned to Neia's room, leaving her food untouched. There was a lot to say, and her appetite had completely fled.

 _...Previous evening...holding facility next to the court of law..._

In the holding facility near the pavilion there was an unusual sight, guards on the wrong side of bars, they lacked their weapons, but had been left with their armor as their 'colleagues' had acted in haste. They paced back and forth within their respective cells, anxious and uncertain, they didn't have much to say to one another, it had been a difficult few hours as they built up in their own minds, the unpleasant fates sure to come their way. First they imagined losing their work, becoming homeless, and dying in the streets of in poverty in want. Then they imagined themselves between the pillars of discipline, the lash falling on them, leaving them beaten and scarred and in agony for weeks or months, or dying of their untreated wounds if they were less...or more fortunate. Waiting and uncertainty make for fear, and fear was their new normal, at least it had been for the last few hours.

Then they saw something...very strange. A large hole appeared in the middle of the hall that ran the length of their cells, and out of it stepped a beautiful woman.

"I am Yuri Alpha." She said, and she walked the length of the hall, grabbing each door one by one, and ripping them free, before gently placing them against the wall. "You can come with me, if you don't want to wait on what will happen if you stay here. I advise that you take my offer, unless..." She paused and gestured to the now row of broken cells, "You want to stay here and explain this to your captors." She said, and stepped back through the large gate. The men gave one another a somber glance, more than one expression seemed to ask if they've gone mad, but between the unknown and the certain doom, the unknown is usually preferable. So one by one they stepped through the gate into the unknown.

 _...Previous evening...Nazarick..._

The guards...former guards they now collectively supposed...found themselves looking at the impossible. They didn't even notice Ainz at first as they came in facing the wall to his left, and then proceeded to look around in shock at the equisite workmanship of the hall, taking in every detail. "Amazing..." One of them said in a hushed, reverential whisper.

"Thank you." Ainz said simply, and this sudden spoken phrase drew their attention to the throne, where Ainz sat dressed in his rich kingly robes in all his skeletal glory.

"Kneel!" Demiurge said from beside him, and they immediately obeyed the command mantra thrown at them. "No need for that demiurge, these are guests and they did not know what to find here, release them." Ainz said magnanimously.

"Releasing control." Demiurge said, and they found that they could move again.

"You may raise your heads." Ainz said, and they raised their eyes to meet his.

"Do you know who I am?" He asked.

They didn't speak at first, "Who is the most senior among you?" Ainz asked. One of them spoke, "That would be me, my lord." A young man said. Ainz looked him over, he was in his early twenties at a guess, a slender but solid looking build, not the most imposing figure, but brave enough to speak at least a little.

"Approach the throne of kings and kneel." Ainz said, holding out his skeletal hand invitingly. The man hesitated, glancing at his comrades, but stood slowly, approached to the base of the stairs, and knelt again.

"Now, do you know who I am?" Ainz asked again.

"I can guess." He said.

"Then guess." Ainz said.

"You are the Sorcerer King known as Ainz Ooal Gown. The undead ruler who threw down Jaldabaoth, victor of the battle of Katze Plains, and founder of your kingdom." He said as formally as he could, stumbling slightly over his words as nervousness crept in.

"Correct." Ainz said.

"Do you know why you are here?" He asked.

"I confess I do not." He said.

"You aided one of my servants." He said, "Or tried to anyway. And you were going to suffer for it. It seemed right that you should be preserved from that."

The young man seemed not to know what to make of that, but he managed to stumble out an awkward, "Thank you my lord, but I was just doing what I thought I should."

"And you were right in what you thought." Ainz responded. "Now the question is what will happen to you as a result?"

"If we stayed there?" The young man said rhetorically, "Prison, beating, and definitely losing our positions, I wouldn't be surprised if at a minimum we lost our homes and were kicked out of the city." He said dejectedly.

"I see." Ainz said, "Suppose I offered you compensation for the loss?" He asked the guard.

"What do you mean?" The young guard said, his head tilted curiously to one side.

"Your lives there are over, but as a reward, I will offer you a new life. The human villages in my domain are growing, there is ample farmland, and there are positions open for security forces there, as well as other opportunities. If you wish it, I will provide you with the means to start over into the life you desire, you and your families. If you wish to become a merchant, I will provide you with a modest sum to begin, and allow you to apprentice to one of the merchants in the guild at E-Rantel. If you wish to farm, I will grant you land enough to grow food, and exempt you from taxes for seven harvests. If you wish to return to military service, or pursue the life of an adventurer...well there are plenty of options in towns, or you'll be allowed to enter the nationalized adventurer's guild and begin training there. Also..." Ainz paused and reached into a hole in reality, and pulled, seemingly from nothing, a purple potion. He held it out. "One of you said his father was still carrying around a painful stump where his hand used to be. Use this, it will restore him." Demiurge took the potion and carried it down the steps and placed it beside the young guard.

The young man was stunned. "Why...would you offer this?" He asked.

"Will you make sure you deserve it, even if you do not think you deserve it now?" Ainz asked.

"On the hand of my father, I swear I will." He replied.

"That is why I offer what I do." Ainz said, sweeping the guild staff in front of him to point at the gate, "Now go, and do not forget what justice and good service have given you." He said to them.

"May I confer with my men?" He asked. Ainz waved his hand in their direction. "Go, confer, but my patience is not infinite, make it quick as I have other matters to attend to." Silently Ainz gave thanks to his undead nature, and the fact that the lack of a need to sleep meant he could practice in front of that mirror for hours to perfect his acting.

The man stood and went back to his little group, a flurry of quiet discussion passed, and after a minute or two, he returned and knelt again before the throne. "We'll relocate to your kingdom, to one of your human villages if we might ask that much. We can't swear our families will go, but I think most of them would prefer to be with us than be far away. If we could inform them first, we would be grateful, this...might be a bit much for them to take in." He said, gesturing around the grand hall, prompting a deep hearty laugh from Ainz.

"I suppose so. Very well. Relay your requests for the life you wish to pursue to Demiurge, he will handle the fine points about what lands or goods or admittance to organizations that you need, as well as your return to your families and your departure for my Kingdom. You have served me well, though you knew it not, and now that you know who you are serving, I expect you'll be even better." Ainz said, leaning forward for emphasis as he spoke, and when the portal reopened, they stepped through with side glances at the Sorcerer King, and vanished.

"That went well." Ainz said, softly, making a mental note to practice his 'impromptu speeches' to new people.

"Demiurge, do you have the report on the people Neia fought? The ones identified as a 'Gray Scripture'?" Ainz said as he turned to face him.

"Yes my lord, interrogation of the two we have in custody has given us at least a few details, though stubborn enough for humans, they couldn't resist the order to answer when it came, which made their successful early resistance to interrogation all the more bitter to swallow when the realize they could do nothing but speak the truth."

Demiurge gave a sadistic smile that would have made Ulbert proud, and he took a sheaf of papers out and began to read it aloud. "The Gray Scripture is made up of people who would be ranked platinum or higher, some of them are former workers who ran afoul of guilds in other countries, others are born in the Theocracy and had a lot of talent...but also had vices that put them into trouble with the law. Their name 'Gray Scripture' comes from the fact that they operate in the 'gray areas', of law, usually targeting renegade human elements, heretics, apostates, or organized crime. Where the Windflower scripture handles intelligence operations, the Gray scripture handles organizational type tasks that relate to violence, for example the myriad of dead that Neia fended off first, seem to have been mercenaries and bandits that the Gray scripture exploited. They maintain ties to various third party nongovernmental military and criminal factions, allowing some outside the Theocracy to exist purely to make use of them to find 'expendable' bodies to throw at a problem." Demiurge said, he paused.

"Its not a bad idea really." He said, interjecting his own thoughts.

"And their weapons?" Ainz asked. "Are they a threat to us?"

"No my lord, these are low level weapons able to only effect those far weaker than even our lowest level goblin summons." Demiurge said.

Ainz racked his brain trying to remember what the lowest goblin summon scroll in Ashurbanipal was, but when he couldn't, he simply said, "Yes, of course...that rank is no threat to us..."

"May I say how delightful it is to know that you remember even such small details as our weakest summons my lord? I expect nothing less out of the leader of the supreme beings." Demiurge said with delight.

"Of course, of course." Ainz said, hoping he wouldn't say more, mentally sweating bullets. "Now, just what do they do?"

Demiurge took out one of the captured weapons, and held it up. "These are Yggdrasil weapons, and what they do is...interesting. They impose immunities, but not of the positive sort, of the negative sort wherever they strike. For example the woman Skana's wound to her eye from one of their bows, lead to a wound that could not be healed through ordinary magic. Curiously, they have another ability as well, immunity to resurrection...but these are both probability based, not with every blow, there is a small percentage chance of either being imposed, but only if the one using the weapon is weaker than the one they strike. Its quite the paradox, it makes the weaker more dangerous to the stronger...but only for a difference of up to ten levels, after which they cannot impose immunities on the target at all."

"Are the effects permanent or is there any way to reverse them?" Ainz asked, thinking about how unpleasant it would be to lose all the work he'd put in to some of the more delicate human agents who now served him.

"The immunity to healing can be undone by killing the target and resurrecting them. The immunity to resurrection would require the use of a world level item, but the immunity is only effective if the target dies within ten minutes of their first wound." Demiurge continued, and Ainz raised his skeletal hand to stop him.

"I knew that sounded familiar. Shitty devs." He said softly as the memory came back, he remembered it now. The shitty deves had created these weapons to balance things out between the guilds who were of not quite equal strength, to keep the more powerful from endlessly PKing the smaller guilds, a lot of smaller or weaker guilds were given these weapons as quest rewards so that they could make the fight more even. And of course more powerful guilds started hunting down anyone who used one, until they'd hoarded most of them out of the hands of the very people intended to use them. That an entire scripture could be armed with them told Ainz that a large and powerful guild had been here at some point in the past, and the fact that the Theocracy had them meant that it was almost certainly the same group that they revered as the 'Six great gods'.

"If we encounter this 'Shi Tee Devs' person, what shall we do my lord?" Demiurge asked in seriousness, almost causing Ainz to burst out laughing.

"They are long dead." Ainz answered cryptically. "It is only their work that remains behind."

Demiurge nodded, accepting his words, and building in his mind an elaborate story about how the supreme beings must surely have killed the one responsible.

"Now, do you have the prisoners from the trial? That noble and those priests?" Ainz asked.

"I do, though I confess my lord, I am confused as to your strategy." Demiurge said.

"What do you mean?" Ainz asked.

"My lord, I thought it was reckless to have them taken so early, while Neia and her Black Justice team are still inside the city, surely they'll be blamed. Of course if this is your judgement, then it must be correct, and my own poor intellect cannot begin to fathom the depth of your intricate schemes." Demiurge said.

Ainz mentally facepalmed and thought, "Shit...he's right, that was dumb, I should have waited until after they left...well fuck, I'll have to go with it now, I'm committed."

Ainz laughed, "I'm sure you'll understand soon, but for now, bring them to the throne room, including the two Gray Scripture survivors if you're finished with them."

"As you say my lord." Demiurge replied and parted ways with Ainz after rendering a proper bow, and Ainz waited patiently on his throne, until the entire lot was thrust to their knees in front of him. Their hoods were removed and when they saw who they were looking at...the now one eyed noble shat himself. The priests were made of sterner stuff, and were about to shout when Demiurge used his command mantra. "Prostrate yourselves and be silent."

Their mouths shut and they fell on their faces.

Ainz let them remain in that posture long enough for them to know for sure who was in charge.

"You may allow them to raise their heads." Ainz said.

"Raise your heads." Demiurge said.

"I am sure you know why you are here." Ainz said. "You are corrupt, you are degenerate, and you threatened a loyal servant, and I would not have the name of Ainz Ooal Gown tarnished by allowing that to stand."

One figure was struggling to speak, while the others seemed content to remain silent, and Ainz gestured to him, it was one of the more frail looking priests, and his eyes blazed with hostility.

"You may speak." Ainz said, and Demiurge released his control to permit it, but kept him frozen in place despite his struggles to move.

"Monster!" The man snarled out.

"Yes." Ainz said, "It is also night time. Are you intending to just have us go back and forth saying things we both already know?" His sarcasm was thick in his voice and the man's face turned purple with rage.

"Just kill me and get it over with, monster, then I don't have to hear your voice anymore!" He snapped out.

Ainz laughed, not lightly, not a mere chuckle, he through back his head and laughed uproariously, and when at last he calmed himself, he leand forward on his throne, in all his terrible looking glory, his glowing red orbs bored into the priest's skull.

"Kill you? No, not kill you, killing is easy, its a crude...albeit sometimes useful way to set an example, this is going to be much, much worse, and you'll go on hearing my voice until the day you die, a living nightmare for all the public to see, the ordinary world a hellscape of your own imagining, and even if I never think of you again, which I do not plan to, you will never not think of me, and I will always be in your ear, and all who see you, all who hear you, will tremble at the thought of what opposing me means."

Ainz said, and as his words sunk in, he said, "Aura of Despair...Level four.

True to his high luck stat, all of the prisoners were immediately afflicted with permanent insanity and terror. While it 'could' be cured through magical means, Ainz was quite sure that nobody on the continent had the power to defeat his magic, they'd need a world item, and he very much doubted anyone cared enough about any of these men to waste a world item on them.

"Return them to their homes." Ainz said, let them walk the streets and hide in its dark corners and dark alleys, let them fear the water to wash themselves, the light they see by, the darkness they hide in, let them gibber like maniaces of offending god and needing to hide, let them speak of hearing the voice of god and knowing that god's wrath is on them, let them go, and let them long for someone to kill them, until old age or misfortune choose to do so." Ainz said, and resumed his laughter as they were all reduced to gibbering insanity.

Demiurge was in awe of his master's unique and effective vengeance, his capacity to inflict suffering seemed to surpass even his ability to plan for the ages, it made Demiurge so happy that as he began to go back and forth from gate to gate, returning the men to their homes, he could not help but hum a happy tune and waved almost pleasant farewells to the ruined little maniacs, for good measure, he stripped them of their clothing, leaving them with not even the slightest bit of dignity, as he was sure none of them would remember how to work their own clothing.

The last to be delivered was the fat and now one eyed nobleman, and that one Demiurge went one step further with, and delivered him to his own dungeon. He wondered idly how long it would be before his people went looking for him, and how much longer after that before he was found behind bars in his own residence. His master's choice began to make far more sense now, as divine servants faced divine wrath.

"Its so good to serve a capable lord." Demiurge said to himself as he completed his task.

 **AN: I'd had additional content planned for this chapter, but on reflection I cut it out (and put it in another document for later use) because I thought it distracted from the main thrust of the story, I may use it as a standalone, or it might never see the light of day, I don't know yet. Anyway it's enough to know that the result is that this update is a little smaller than it otherwise would be. Interestingly enough, a reviewer for another of my stories set in this line of events suggested that I could spend more time on the main ongoing plot if I stopped spending time on short one shots and offshoots. Of course...he's technically right, that's just logistics, there are only so many hours in a day and time spent on X is time that can't be spent on Y. But...I think I have to reject his suggestion for a few reasons. First...I love world building, and exploring the forces that shape characters helps me create a more enriching environment in the main storyline because they stop being just 'props and tropes' and start to take on depth. Second...I'm pretty fast at updating anyway, no story has gone longer than a few days, and sometimes I get several done in a single day, so my update speed is such that I'm pretty sure none of the stories are suffering from 'lag'. :) And last but not least, nobody's story happens in a vacuum, and I think it enriches the main story to see that it isn't just a straightforward walk from A to B with everyone not the main character, just reacting to the main character. Of course...it only works if people read the other stories, but hey, all I can do is give the option. :) As Sinatra said, "I did it myyyyyyy way!" ;) Thanks for reading, and please leave reviews, even if its just a thumbs up, or thumbs down.**


	23. Vignettes

"What about these 'Gray Scripture' members, my lord?" Demiurge asked when he returned, gesturing to the two shaking figures.

Ainz could not grin physically, but through the subtle shifting of his eyes and slight shifts of his body, his most dedicated followers knew when he felt a sense of satisfied mirth. Demiurge saw this now as Ainz reached into his pocket dimension and pulled out two scrolls, and from them he summoned two dopplegangers. "Copy these men." Ainz said, and to the horror of the scripture members, they soon found themselves standing in front of perfect copies of themselves.

"My dear demiurge," Ainz said, "use your command ability to learn everything there is to know about these men, and have these two low level dopplegangers learn it all as well, when they know everything about these men...right down to the very color of their mother's eyes, and how long they take to relieve themselves, then the dopplegangers are to be released into the same general area that the survivors fled from."

"I see, and then they are to imitate them, get close to and then capture the survivors including their leader, replace him with a doppleganger, and then gain access to all the intelligence available to scriptures that the Theocracy has, and use them to feed false information into their intelligence division?" Demiurge asked with a broad, inspired smile.

Ainz privately thought... "That is much better than what I'd planned to say...if I had just said 'Assassinate the remainder'..." His thoughts drifted off from panic to relief that Demiurge had jumped ahead, and Ainz covered the gap with a faux laugh and then said, "I can always count on you to know my thoughts demiurge, truly you do Ulbert proud."

"Not at all my lord Ainz, I am sure I have barely scratched the surface of your fathomless plans for the far flung future." Demiurge replied with a humble bow, much akin to the one used by Sebas. It made Ainz smile at the memory of his two guildmates, Touch Me and Ulbert...so different in so many ways, but also, in small ways, so much alike, and it was reflected in the little things their creations did.

"After you're done, do as you like with them, whether new nests are needed, or whether you require more subjects for your experiments, I leave their disposition to you." Ainz said indifferently, "They no longer merit my attention." Ainz said, using the line he'd practiced all night the evening before to show off royal indifference to petty issues.

 _...In Neia's hotel room..._

Skana entered and sat in a chair against the wall, she looked over Neia's sleeping face, you could tell a lot about someone by how they slept. Skana knew that very well, she was quite sure that the slightly younger and...still somewhat more innocent Neia did not. Her lip curled up in a half smile and she snorted as Neia shifted, rustling her covers. Looking at her face now in the light of morning, she saw what she couldn't see in the dark the night before, her face was red and the space near where her face lay was damp, she'd obviously cried, and quite a lot of it was still wet. Skana picked up the flyer she'd been given detailing the events of the previous day and read over it again. She thought of the last time she'd seen someone whipped, the deep slashes that had appeared on the man's back, the screams, flesh torn right from bone, he'd screamed his voice raw. Skana didn't want to think of Neia that way...but now she couldn't get the image out of her head, and worst...it had almost happened to Neia while Skana and CZ had been having a drinking contest with adventurers not even a half hour's walk away...and Neia had said nothing.

She grew agitated as she looked at Neia's sleeping form, it was easy to forget how young she still was, when you saw her standing atop a stage before a crowd, speaking before a king, addressing a god, or daring demon and demihuman to come to her meet their deaths...she seemed a hundred feet tall, now as she slept in the bed they'd shared the previous night, she looked...much smaller. Though the age difference was small, only a handful of winters, Skana knew all to well how different they were.

Agitation increased and she couldn't get comfortable in her seat, she stood and walked to the mirror, and looked herself in the face. "You were negligent. You watched her get arrested and did nothing." She said to the woman in the mirror.

"She's stronger than she looks, she was hunting demihumans and leading the way for paladins while you were hiding for your life. She was learning the way of sword and bow while you were chasing boys at home, why would I have worried?" She asked the woman in the mirror.

"Because she matters to you, because her pain is your pain and your pain is hers, that means you can't let her take risks alone even if she wants to. You can't let her protect you, even if it is from the consequences of protecting her." She said to herself, watching her lips move in the mirror.

"What am I really mad about over this? Am I mad at her? Or at myself?" She asked, and no answer followed, she had none to give.

She thought and thought as she stared at herself in the mirror, and that was when she saw through it's reflection that Neia had begun to sit up and rub her eyes sleepily. All thought flew from Skana's mind as she went over to Neia and flung her arms around her and squeezed as tightly as she could, which was no small thing for a veteran of Black Justice, and a very confused Neia began to return the embrace. "Good...morning to you Skana." She said uncertainly.

Skana pulled back and knelt by the bed, taking Neia's hands in hers she locked eyes and said, "I know what happened, and what almost happened. You have to promise never to do that again, not without me."

Neia looked at her for a long moment, processing what she'd just heard. Memory of the torture she almost endured came back as the fog of sleep left her mind, she started shaking all over again, prompting Skana's hold on her hands to tighten, and the iron eyes of terror that made Neia into the mad eyed archer, welled up, and she gave a small series of nods to Skana."

"You don't have to say it." Skana said as Neia tried and failed to get words out, "The nod is enough." They traded a smile, and Skana stood up. "If you want to talk about it..." She squeezed Neia's hand again, "but until then, why don't you go do what you do best. Go rouse the rabble, go speak, go win people to the cause of the Sorcerer King, I'll oversea the preparations to move on to the next city, from what I understand we can actually take a boat to get there, so it won't take nearly as long to move on, then we can leave this place behind us, and I'll be glad if I never see it again." Skana finished speaking by putting profound emphasis on her final statement.

"Agreed." Neia said softly and stood up to stretch, then gathered her things to go to the bath. "At least it came out alright, and I thought we'd be moving out some time today, but given the brief exchange with Tinamoc yesterday evening, it doesn't look like he's ready yet. I'll see what I can do for the cause, and I'll have to send a message to our headquarters asking that we have priests sent south soon, along with a few body guards for security's sake."

"I'll take care of that too." Skana said, "You just alternate between speaking and relaxing today. But please take CZ with you at least so you have some security. I'll let her know not to let you wander off with anyone else but her."

Neia rolled her eyes as they neared the door. "What would I do without you?" She asked.

"Sleep, bathe, and laugh less, but beyond that, who knows?" Skana said with a laugh and opened the door, certain that this would be a much better day.

 _...In the streets of Yanana..._

People were watching in disgust and confusion as the mad men ranted and raved about the city, they babbled about the judgement of the one god upon the false gods and their followers, they rambled and raved at figures talking to them that only they could see, they shrank in fear and ran screaming when they saw bones on plates, it they jumped and yelled and cavorted wildly, sometimes pausing to let out peels of mad, cackling laughter, before shrieking in terror again. It was hours before anyone bothered to notify guards, and it was even longer before they were taken, dragged away in chains, only to be identified as the ones who had attempted to try Neia Baraja the previous day.

When they were isolated from the general public and placed into a room of stone, they seemed to calm down somewhat, they managed to sit at least, at someone's request. The room was minimalist, nothing but a table and chairs, stone walls, stone floor and ceiling, and a window open to the outside but covered with bars to keep people from getting out.

A priest was called over to the room, someone known to several of the men. "What...happened?" He asked as he saw their mad eyes looking back at him, there was a glimmer of recognition as if they knew who he was, but no glimmer of understanding at his words, "What...happened?" He asked again, more slowly this time.

They spoke in perfect unison, in a monotone that sounded over and over like the beat of a drum, "Divine wrath, divine wrath, divine wrath, divine wrath...punishment comes to who punishes the punishers who punish wrongly, gods unkind to cruel, divine wrath...divine wrath...divine wrath...can't hide, god watches, god whispers, god hears, run, never run, same same, divine wrath...divine wrath...divine wrath...anger not the god...anger not the god..." Their voices gradually grew softer as they spoke, and then as one, a peel of insane laughter came from all their throats, and when their eyes locked with the priest across the table, he felt as he was gazing into the abyss found only in nightmares. He uttered a desperate prayer under his breath, and for the first time in his life, as he could not tear his eyes away from theirs, and their repetition beat into his skull, he wondered if the gods were actually listening to him.

 _...Just beyond the border with the Abelion Hills..._

Lakyus was relaxed, she loved feeling relaxed, it wasn't something an adventurerer got to feel all that often. "Can you believe that?" She asked. "We stayed in a demihuman inn, in a demihuman village, we didn't have to fight, we didn't have to argue, and the village didn't even care that we were there. When was the last time that happened?" The morning sun felt good on her as she rode with her team around her.

"Last time that happened, was when I had to fight the Sunlit scripture over their attempt at massacring demihumans." Evileye said. "I mean its not unprecedented, but its...unusual at least, not without something significantly beneficial to them."

"Do you know what the hell the innkeeper was talking about though?" Gagaran asked.

"You mean with that whole 'social contract' thing?" Tia asked. "No idea. I didn't sign any contract, though I guess we did accept this one going into the Holy Kingdom...but that doesn't have anything to do with the Abelion hills."

"How was it that he said it?" Tina asked.

"Under the rule of the Sorcerer King, all who accept the social contract may pass in peace." Evileye repeated.

"At a guess," Lakyus said, "it refers to the expectation that everybody will follow the law of the land, but he's an undead, so who knows, for now it is enough to know that it got us a roof for the night in total safety, and now we're getting in some very useful and very profitable work. By this afternoon we'll be at our first village...kind of odd that it would be so close to the Abelion hills now that I think about it...but that is a question we can ask about on arrival."

There was a collective shrug among the team, and they went quiet as they felt the air change around them, it became oppressive, dangerous, their senses tingled. They tightened their grips on their horses, and then they saw it as they crested a hill. A towering undead monster carrying an enormous shield and a sword almost as long as a man was tall, behind it were twenty or so skeletons, and in front of the monster stood a single black clad human.

"Blue Rose! Danger! Protect the human!" Lakyus snapped and drew her dark sword and spurred her horse forward, the others were only a half a breath behind her, she knew that without even looking, her sword was held out beside her and she lowered herself close to the neck of her horse, every instant, every fraction of an instant, counted when it came to the threat posed by the undead towards ordinary people.

The black clad man turned towards Blue Rose as the sound of hooves and shouting reached him, and his confusion became shock and fear, "Bandits! Death knight, DEFEND ME!" He shouted and the undead stepped in front of him, and let out a terrifying bellow. Blue Rose was not even twenty yards away when they saw what happened, and they reared their horses back suddenly in shock as the towering legendary undead got in front of the human being.

"Halt! Wait!" Lakyus shouted, and the rest of her team, a half a hair slower than herself at realizing what just happened, reared back on their horses as well. Lakyus sheathed her sword and looked to the rest of her team and said very carefully, "Put...your weapons...away."

They looked at her like she'd gone mad, but out of regard for a long built sense of trust, they did as she said.

Lakyus called out, "Wait! We're not bandits, we're adventurers. I mean you no harm, come out please." She said, and the man poked his head out from behind the undead knight, and then seeing that their weapons were away, he stepped out. "You can come closer," he said, "He won't attack without my say so." The man reached out and touched the death knight, placing one palm on its arm, and the monster did not react even a little.

"Did you...summon that thing?" Evileye asked incredulously?

The man actually laughed. "Oh by the god of justice and commerce, no. "I'm no magic user, I'm just a farmer taking a delivery."

"A WHAT?!" Gagaran, Tia, and Tina asked simultaneously.

"A farmer taking a delivery." He said again.

"A delivery of...what?" Evileye asked.

"These." He said, gesturing to the skeletons. "I rent undead labor from the temples to use on the farm. They're not smart, but they take direction well, it makes the work go faster and they're completely reliable."

The mouths of the Blue Rose team dropped in collective shock.

"You have...got to be kidding me." Lakyus said.

"No, its becoming a pretty common practice among us." He said.

"Us?" Evileye asked.

"Black Justice followers, we've adopted the faith of our founder, Pope Neia Baraja, who follows the Sorcerer King, her temples to him rent out the undead provided by his majesty, but only to members."

Several pairs of eyes turned to Lakyus. "Are you still sure about this contract?" Gagaran asked.

"Lets just say I now want to know a lot more than we did when we started." Lakyus replied.

 _...That evening in Hoburns, in the private residence of Count Handor..._

"I've had enough. He has to go." Handor said to the two men across the table from him.

"Its not usually an easy thing to remove a monarch." One of the men said.

"But it is usually very easy when you have people on the inside who know where he will be, when he will be there, how long he'll be there, how he's protected while there, and what measure of security he has on him, and how you can get past all of it with ease." Handor said flatly.

"That does make it easier." The man acknowledged.

"And when do you need him done in by?" The man asked.

"Before this month is out." Handor replied.

"So soon? Planning alone can take weeks." The man's companion said sharply.

"You don't have weeks. You don't get it. In a few days Black Justice is going to deliver their sacred text to him, and once he reads it, he intends to not only convert to their faith in public he intends to ask for the entire Kingdom to be made part of the Sorcerer Kingdom, not just a vassal, a province. That cannot be allowed to happen."

The two men froze up as if they'd been hit with a spell of paralysis.

"No...we do not have weeks." They said in unison.

"Kill him, and throw your weight behind me as King, remember my family is originally from the South, I'm a...transplant if you will, the Southern nobles will back me, especially if I promise to bring down the heretics. I can order Gustav to start arresting heretics, and Black Justice will surely rebel, when they do, I can declare a crusade, pardon Remedios as she was only killing traitors to stop a rebellion from happening...or so I'll say anyway, then put her in charge of a military force to put down the insurgents, and we'll be back to the way things should be in no time." Handor said with promise and optimism in his voice.

"That is not without problems." One figure said. "What will the Sorcerer King do?"

Handor shrugged, "This is a matter of internal affairs, if he protests, we'll offer to allow his followers to leave the Holy Kingdom instead, and he can have the immigrants. He may threaten to withdraw aid, but...you can take his place, right?"

"We'll have to." The other man said. "So we will. But...I understand some adventurer teams have been hired by King Caspond to hunt down rogue demihuman bands and protect 'villages' chiefly Black Justice populations, from the attacks by Remedios, and they've started to filter in and get to work. What will you do about those when you're King?"

"I'll simply cancel the contract, I'll tell them it is void because Black Justice has started a rebellion, and they can all go home. We'll also forbid the trade in undead labor, and require that all of them be returned to the Sorcerer King." Handor replied.

"Returned? Not destroyed?" The figure said disapprovingly.

"They're still his 'goods', destroying so many might give him an excuse to attack." Handor said flatly. "I have no intention of giving him an excuse if I can avoid it."

The two men looked at one another for a silent moment, then glanced back to Handor. "Good enough...we'll make sure he's dead soon, just give us his full schedule as best you know it, we'll slip some people into place, and he'll be dead before the next phase of the moon." One of the men said.

Handor had a wolfish grin as he pictured himself on the throne, looking down on the court, the position he knew they'd always deserved, the one beneath him.

 **AN: I know this one wasn't a thrilling chapter, I had entertained thoughts of more action scenes, but I felt a kind of 'decompression' was necessary as part of the transition to the next phase of the story. Frankly combat and whatnot felt like filler, and so here you are, and I hope you enjoyed it, the next chapter will be along soon, so of course, reviews welcome, I do read all reviews, but I don't always have time to respond in a timely manner, but if its a choice between writing expressions of gratitude for reviews...and writing the story, I tend to pick the story, I can catch up on review replies, but I hate not creating, plus...lets be honest, if this is really worth reading, you'd rather have the next chapter out earlier. Which...frankly is the best kind of gratitude I can offer, isn't it?**

 **If it isn't, well I do promise to at least say thank you to everybody who I can...sooner or later, but in the meantime until then, I'll just hope that you'll be satisfied with a reasonable update speed. :)**


	24. On the Move

The public events in Yanana had been big for Neia Baraja, she'd become an overnight sensation. Her speech had spread to the wealthy, the poor, the small middle class, and it had created the largest controversy the city had seen in years. This was made even greater because of the countless eyewitness accounts of her being found guilty by the judge and the priest jury, and her expressed willingness to bear the horrific punishment she'd been sentenced to...followed by the complete inability of her punishers to actually hurt her, followed in turn by the fact that only her persecutor was harmed...followed hot on the heels of that with the very visible complete and total mental collapse of all those involved in her trial, and the disappearance of those who tried to help her, and their families.

Dark rumors swirled that the guards who were imprisoned were murdered in secret, along with their families. The rumor mill pointed to the fact that their homes were all empty, their animals left out, even food had been left where it sat, as if they had gone suddenly.

Now, Neia Baraja had become a household name, praised in some quarters, cursed in others, but when she stopped at a square to speak, she drew eyes, but she also drew something else...those with need. By way of a timely request passed through Sebas, she'd asked for a priest from Hoburns to be sent to accompany her on the remainder of her journey, along with either scrolls of healing or a means of replenishing his mana supply. Sebas had obliged, and a priest had arrived who wore a beautiful amulet. After marveling at the craftsmanship, he explained that it was called a 'Borrower's Amulet' and it allowed him to borrow from his own future mana well, he could use tomorrow's mana, today, but for up to a six month period, after which he'd be unable to use magic for half a year, it would do well enough for their purposes, at least for now...and that purpose was what truly drew the crowd.

She stood atop the high fountain and looked out over the masses as her priest took his seat below her, and CZ stood a distance away, searching for hostility with her usual vigor, vigor that was especially heightened because Neia was not wearing armor.

"Yes, I serve the Sorcerer King! Yes I serve him by serving the people! Yes, he IS the god of justice, the only god in this world!"

Stirrings of outrage began in various places from among the more devout.

"I know some of you do not believe me, but I am a former member of the Paladin Order, I saw the realm of the one true god, the kingdom of the greatest king over all other kings, the one who stands at the pinnacle of might, the one who rescued not only our own king, but our whole Kingdom! He battled a DEMON EMPEROR FOR YOU!" She swept her fingers over the crowd, pointing to them all.

"I tried to fight that demon, and it spared me only to promise to make me suffer, it considered Remedios Custodio, the most powerful paladin in our country, to be nothing but a speck of dust to be brushed off! If he was the emperor of demons, what does that make our savior, if not the god of justice?!" She asked them all.

"You know what was to happen to me, by now I know from those I've spoken to, that word has spread, yet SEE!" She shouted, and raised up the back of her shirt, showing that her back was unscarred. "No scars blight my flesh, but even had they, I would bear them proudly, because I spoke the TRUTH! The TRUTH was what they hated, the TRUTH about the cost of the temples cold and calculated grab for your wealth, I called them extortionists, I called them greedy, I called them cruel and unjust, and they were going to beat me to my knees because the POWERFUL FEAR THE TRUTH!" She shouted.

"But I am protected by a divine power that the dead gods cannot touch, not from whatever realm they've passed to, because the god of this world has seen fit to allow me to spread his will, that nobody should be sentenced to die in pain or sickness because they are to poor, that justice requires strength and strength must be used for justice. That wrongs can only be righted by action. That the will to power unjoined by the will to justice is the foundation of greed, and that this greed flowers into a poisonous tree. But Black Justice rejects that sin, the sin of weakness is not only about the strength of the body, but also of character, of mind, of will. Weakness is the ultimate sin, and in whatever we are weak, we may create our own downfall, or the downfall of our loved ones, or the downfall of our very country! Which almost happened because our weakness was division itself!"

She carried on, eyes searching out the crowd, locking eyes with people even behind her visor, "When the North was invaded, the South did not come to our aid before a foreign King did, and then it was not until victory was already assured, yet had he not come, the South would now be as the North quickly became, we must never be weak again, or would you all face the demon king Jaldabaoth?" She asked, and removed her visor, her terrifying gaze was...terrifyingly effective, and even brave eyes fell downcast.

"Black Justice seeks strength, so that our eyes will not go downcast when speaking of the needs of our fellows, so that we will not give in to fear, so that we will rise to the challenge of tomorrow when the next invasion comes, and we will do as a people what Queen Calca, in all her saintly goodness, could not do, create a country where nobody will suffer sorrow and all will be happy! To that end, I call for those of you who are sick, those of you who are injured, to come to the fore, a priest of Black Justice has joined me today, and he will heal you." She said, putting her visor back on and putting a kind inflection into her voice.

"At what cost?!" Some cynic from the crowd demanded.

"None." Neia said flatly. "We will never...EVER take so much as a coin for healing the sick or repairing the injured. If you feel you must pay something, then pay it FORWARD! Do something good for the next one to need a helping hand, as the Sorcerer King once told me, "Those who are blessed, are blessed in order to be a blessing." Her voice stilled to let the words sink in. "So, pay to your fellows what you are owe by this act, go and be a blessing to your neighbors, if your hand is healed, help your neighbor lift a heavy burden, if your leg is healed, walk to a lonely neighbor, if your sickness is lifted, aid the sick in regaining their own health. What use is a country that does not care for its own, what good are the healthy who do not care for the sick, what good are the strong who do not protect the weak, what good are you, if you are not of use, and what use are you, if you are good to no one, just to no one, and strong for no one?!" She said loudly as her voice reached its crescendo.

The sick were already coming forward, and the priest found himself grateful indeed for his equipment, as it was evident that there were far more people who could not afford temple services, than anyone wanted to admit.

Neia left her perch and moved among the crowd, rejoined by CZ who promptly put another sticker on her cheek with her standard assessment, "Cute."

When the crowd had dispersed and they could walk quietly together...sort of, CZ looked at Neia with her customary blank expression...well...blank to others, but well understood in its subtle variations to Neia. "Don't." She said in a short clipped way.

Neia sighed and looked down a little shamefaced, knowing exactly what CZ referred to, no doubt she'd heard about what was almost done to her. "I won't." Neia said. "I promise."

"Good." CZ said. "I like Neia."

It was, to most ears, a very tame, passive sentence of only the most mild favorable appraisals, but Neia felt her heart swell, because she knew very well how CZ was, and she gave the girl a tight squeeze. "I like CZ." Neia said with a broad smile.

As they walked, they passed one of Neia's former tormentors, a fat self important priest, he was naked, covered in filth, foaming at the mouth, and scrounging through cast off garbage. It was a surprising enough thing to make her pause, and CZ stopped and looked at the same thing. "Friend?" CZ asked.

"Definitely not." Neia said with vitriole in her voice, it drew his attention, and when he turned and saw her, he shrieked, "Divine wrath!" and jabbered nonsense as he scrambled away, before rising enough to start running as fast as he could.

"Terminate?" CZ asked, reaching for her weapon.

Neia reached out and touched her arm. "No, this is his punishment, it is not for me to override the one who gave it to him." She said softly. She almost felt pity for the man, but considered better of it as it was no doubt undeserved.

Soon he was gone from her sight, and he was never within it again.

CZ and Neia were quiet for awhile, it suited Neia just fine, the city wasn't all bad, the buildings were close together, often sharing walls, with only a few alleys, and only the main roads within it were very wide, clearly to allow carriages to pass rather than for the benefit of those who had to walk. But the many fountains were lovely to look at and they provided a venue from which she could speak and catch many eyes and ears.

The shops she paused through had small trinkets of varying value, as well as many useful things of practical value in a city. The one thing she didn't like was the thing she thought she'd like best. The river had been cut through the city in many places, making small canals into which rubbish and waste was dumped, it carried stench everywhere as if it were an open sewer. She grimly thought it would be very unpleasant to see those overflow if heavy rains came.

After awhile, Neia took an interest in food, as people tend to do, and she drew CZ to a small restaurant jutting out from a corner of one of the many intersections. Before ordering when a server approached, Neia immediately asked, "Are the coins of the Sorcerous Kingdom good here?"

The server paused in surprise, but then replied, "Yes. Gold is gold."

"Then bring whatever the cook makes best." Neia said, and a mug of beer." Neia replied.

No sooner than the server left and Neia was turning her head towards CZ than she saw a familiar face looking at her, a soldier, one she remembered from her first arrival, the one who warned her about the nature of the city. It was clear that he had recognized her as well, and she raised her hand in greeting and gestured for him to join her.

He hesitated for a moment, as if unsure if it was wise, but whatever his thoughts, he chose to join her, and he took a seat with his back to the street.

"Nice to see you again." He said.

"You too." Neia said.

CZ said nothing.

The moment was awkward, but he filled the gap. "You've...made quite an impression on the city." He said.

"The city has made quite an impression on me as well." She said, taking off her visor and looking him straight in the eyes.

He had the decency to look ashamed.

"I-ah-I am sorry that happened to you." He said, taking off his helmet and bowing his head.

Inside her own head Neia was kicking herself. "Shit...I shouldn't have done that, it wasn't fair, he didn't do any of that, hell he wasn't even there."

Neia waved her hands, "No no, don't bow your head, you didn't do anything wrong." She said in a frantic way that, to CZ, showed that she knew she'd been a little rude.

She covered her embarrassment by calling another server over. "Beer for my friend here." She said, and the server promptly left.

"You warned me about the city, and I do appreciate it, thank you." Neia said sincerely.

"So...why?" He asked, pausing to nod appreciatively to the server when the beers arrived. He drank some quickly and set his mug down. "Why didn't you listen?" He asked.

"I did listen." Neia said.

"That is exactly why I had to speak up." She continued.

"The things the temples do are wrong, the things my god does are right, that is why I have to promote his justice as I do. People get the world they accept, the leaders they tolerate, the corruption they're willing to live with, the pain that they're willing to suffer or allow to exist in others, the only thing to do when you know its not right, is to act against it. When Jaldabaoth came into the North, we weren't strong enough to face him, because we were willing to live with weakness, and we suffered badly for it." Neia said.

She paused and took a drink of her beer.

"Because we were willing to live in that sin, well, you know our sufferings, and it is just the same way here, the people are willing to let the poor stay sick or injured because of poverty and temple policy, they're willing to live with the extortion, and so they don't try to change it, they ignore the real harm being done, because they care more about how it effects them personally than they do the people they call countrymen, the very people they depend on for the small tasks that, though they are small, must still be done. The South has accepted things as not only normal, but expected, that are definitely wrong and should not be. How could I say nothing? How could I do nothing?" She asked him, her eyes not looking nearly as terrifying to him as they had been.

"You realize that if they'd beaten you," he began, avoiding her question, "You might have lived, but they'd have made you wish you didn't."

Neia shrugged, "I admit, I wasn't what you'd call eager for that, but this is my country, and how can I do nothing about a problem I see within it? How can I not spread the truth? How can I do nothing? If doing nothing was an effective way of making things better, then nobody would ever do anything."

"Well, it was very brave, if very foolish." He said with a twinkle in his eye.

"Uh huh...by the way, I never did get your name." Neia said.

"Sudaj." He said and held out his hand.

"Nice to formally meet you Sudaj." Neia said and shook it.

The guard stood up and finished his beer. "The pleasure was mine of course, but if I may offer another word of warning, not that it'll do much good, you got away with it once, but the wheel of justice may be slow to respond to defiance, but they will respond again. If you can be out of this city soon, do so. And if you find yourself in Wenmark, well keep an eye out for me, I'm going to be stationed there for awhile."

"Thanks for the advice Sudaj, and when I head that way, I'll look for you." Neia said with a smile, and he left with a wave just as the food arrived.

It was only when she began to eat after Sudaj had left that she noticed that their conversation had drawn curious eyes to her, and CZ was giving her a prolonged stare.

"You are being watched." CZ said.

Neia shrugged. "I'm always being watched, I am used to it at this point."

CZ shook her head, "Covertly. Do you want them captured?"

Neia thought for a moment. "No, not unless they try to do anything, we'll be leaving here soon, and its probably best for everyone if we're known to be out of the city. For now..." Neia paused and leaned forward, reasting her chin in her hands and her elbows on the table and showed a humorous smile. "Why don't you tell me about this 'intoxication protocol."

They went back and forth over the topic of alcohol and intoxication when word came that the boats had been loaded and they were prepared to move, Neia and CZ left coins for their food and walked away, it wasn't long before they arrived at the boats, or rather...ferry. Neia couldn't help but notice how alike ports of all kinds seemed to be.

Great wooden logs thrust up from the water, they were held together by ropes and crossbeams secured in turn by bronzes pikes that, if softer, were at least not prone to rust. The wood was old, but people crossed without fear, speaking to the quality of craftsmanship. Rope barriers ran between the large smoothed logs to prevent people from falling off, and large ferries pulled up one by one to the docking points to take on passengers, each one bearing the insignia of Tinamoc, indicative of his considerable success.

Neia met him on board the head of the now floating caravan and she shook his hand warmly. "A successful trip?" She asked.

"Very. Hopefully when we arrive in Wenmal, we'll have similar success. Speaking of success, how did your own personal crusade go?" He asked, his voice taking on a note of serious concern. "I've heard things, you're...alright?" He asked softly.

Neia's smile ran away from her face, but she nodded somberly, "I am. Though Skana was not happy with me over it. I kept it all from her, I was trying to protect her, but instead I just made her feel guilty, so now..." she paused and shrugged, "I feel guilty. Go figure."

Tinamoc couldn't help but smile. "First love?" He asked as the ferry undocked and began to move, the water splashing and the ferry rocking slightly as the crew worked to keep it on course.

Neia gave him a glance like he'd grown a second head, "Are you seriously asking me that?"

Tinamoc spread his hands in front of him and gave her a wry grin, "That's for you to decide how to take it, but we've been traveling together for awhile now, and this is going to be a long ride, if you want to tell me, fine, if not, well I have no right to pry." He answered.

"Well, it is a long trip...so fine. To answer your question...no...well...yes...well...no...sort of I mean?" Neia said almost asking, unsure of how to say it. "I mean...I had...crushes, interest in boys when I was young, but well, I got saddled with THESE." She said, removing her visor and pointing with her fore and middle finger at her eyes. "In the best case I look constantly angry at whoever I'm talking to, in the worst case I look like a violent criminal. So, I guess none of them ever really went anywhere. She turned her face towards the direction they were now floating, enjoying the sound of the spray as Tinamoc listened. Her eyes closed as the wind picked up, she could hear voices behind her along the docks, and streets as they neared the way out of the city and it drifted ever farther from her mind. "I guess I should be glad of my skill with a bow and with scouting, it gave me an excuse to be alone, then I couldn't be disappointed by any comrads disinterest in getting to know me. I suppose if I were honest about it, the first person who seemed to really care about me after my parents was the Sorcerer King." She said in a small voice.

She cracked a smile, "He asked me to return to him safely, he spoke to me, a mere common citizen, a minor low ranking squire of a foreign country's paladin order, like I was a person. He asked me questions about myself, my life, my family. And most of all, he wasn't afraid of these damn things." Neia said, pointing again her eyes. "He didn't assume I was a criminal or angry, he listened to me, he defended me to my superiors and he saved my life." She laughed a little, "The many speeches I've given to promote him aren't even slightly overgrow, if he were a human, who knows, perhaps I'd have fallen in love with him, or perhaps I'd see him the way I do now anyway. I don't know."

"How is it that you see him now?" Tinamoc asked.

"Well, when he asked me to come back safely to him, my first thought was that he reminded me of my father. When I saw him again after the battle where he saved my life, he was holding me, I felt like a babe being held by its mother for the first time." Neia laughed, "The child of a hated undead, can you imagine?" She asked, then shook her head. "Strange isn't it? That I should feel so bound to an undead, I spent all my life hearing that they were evil, monsters, hated humanity, and it was an undead king with the power of a god that is the first one outside of my family who wished me safety in battle. He almost doesn't even seem to be undead at all, since doesn't seem to have any of those qualities, and it was an undead that saved me and saved my country." She paused. "I know...I'm...rambling, drifting from your question, its hard not to though, its all so bizarre. I guess the straightest answer is that I could never see him now as a...true love, like a husband does a wife or a wife a husband, I see him as a parent or grandparent, but divine." She said, and as a server came by carrying goblets of wine, Neia absently took one from the tray and started to drink.

She snorted, "I admit I never learned much about love, not even from watching my parents, never had much experience with it being reciperocated, I guess my parents were good ones for the most part, but my mother could be violent and my father...a little clueless, so I guess you could say in a lot of ways I'm still inexperienced with what to do, or how to make things up to someone we care about that we've done something wrong to. I have...I think...figured out that for lovers to be lovers, there must exist between them a kind of parity, a balance, as much as a mutual trust or anything else. I may be bold in combat and before a crowd, but if Skana had not taken the initiative, I never would have. I kind of envy her that way, I don't call her "Skana the bold" for nothing." Neia said with a chuckle.

"Well if you don't mind the voice of experience," Tinamoc said, taking a goblet for himself as the server passed, "You need to think of it in this way, love is the state in which someone else's happiness and security is absolutely necessary for your own. If your positions were reversed, how would you feel?" He asked.

Neia lowered her eyes. "Not good." She drank again.

"No. Not really." Tinamoc said with a shake of his head. "But you know, the motive matters too, she'll be a little overprotective of you for a bit, but do her a favor and don't take serious risks for awhile."

Neia started laughing uproariously at his final words. It left him stunned as she threw back her head and laughed, her hair bouncing wildly behind her as she clutched at her stomach with her free hand.

It stunned and confused Tinamoc for a moment, until he thought of the absurdity of what he'd just said and to whom he had just said it, and then he joined her in laughter, as if that last piece of advice was something Neia could follow even if she wanted to.

The next two days passed peacefully as they floated down the river, Neia made regular trips up and down the floating caravan by leaping from one ferry to the next, speaking with other members of the caravan and her personal retinue, and she ensured she kept a steady watch rotated among her people to avoid any chance of being caught by surprise, but a peaceful trip it was, all the way up to the lake of Wenmark, and Neia reviewed what she learned of the place. Having one of the largest lakes in all the human kingdoms, it was hundreds of feet deep, it was enormous, and housed a vast body of fish and other animals that helped augment the city's wealth and food supplies. It did not have a river that cut through the city, rather the city was built in such a way that part of the river flowed around the city before reaching the sea.

It was similar to Yanana is its devotion to the gods, and it's vast farms beyond it's walls were made possible by extensive irrigation, as a result it hosted one of the largest populations in the Southern Kingdom and had a thriving industrial base. It also provided roughly 1/6th of the adventurers and mercenaries to roam the Kingdom, as disconnected second and third sons, or unhappy daughters, left home to seek their fortunates rather than be allowed to divide a household's wealth. An oligarchal rule rather than a governor, with ruling body lead by priests, military command, and a merchant and industrial class.

Neia pursed her lips, she'd cracked a few minds open in Yanana, but Wenmark was going to be a different animal.

 **AN: Well there you have another chapter, we've left Yanana behind, though I might do a ONE chapter snapshot of the city in the near future to show the ripple effect of Neia's visit, there are only a few cities in the South I plan to take Neia through before events force a course change, and I have another story to work on. I've had a few requests that I drop the one on Remedios and focus on this and Memory & a Message, but trust me when I say, this would actually be counterproductive. Because of certain plot points that will take place in God Rising, some events 'elsewhere' will drive characters onto their final collision course, and I would not only be remiss in neglecting those events, but also...it really isn't a distraction. I have about a half a dozen stories more or less scripted in my head, so actually writing these chapters takes me no more than an hour on average, you're not missing out on more from your favorite part, because of any time spent on something else. One story feeds the other. The only reason this chapter took me two days (ish) to get out was because of a friend going to the hospital and I had to help out with a few things. **

**Just to let you know a little bit about what is ahead...**

 **God Rising: Yes I'll have another chapter (or three) out this weekend. I was asked how close it is to outright war, and I was going to answer that here, but to be honest I think I'll pass on answering that, I think I know almost exactly when it is going to break out, suffice it to say that...the actual story, when all completed, will probably have about 60 chapters to it, give or take how much length I give to each one.**

 **The Queen in the Sword: (two chapters pending and will be up this weekend...this story will take up no more than 8 chapters, possibly as little as 4 since it only has to go so far before the events of the main story bring characters back together again)**

 **Memory & a Message: (One chapter pending but I'll need to finish another chapter of God Rising first before I do another retrospective global look) I honestly don't know exactly how many chapters this one will have total by the time it is done, most of my stories are extensively planned out, but since this is a retrospective look from outsider's eyes, while I know how they'll react, I don't really know in advance how much should come to pass before I write another one. It probably has about 20 chapters to go though.**

 **The Unholy Rose: New story pending detailing the experience of Blue Rose in the Holy Kingdom, will feature leap frogging back and forth between them and the city of E-Rantel. Probably will only have about 4 chapters and no more than 6.**

 **The Lemurian Paradox: New short pending...probably only 2-3 chapters. You may recall Ainz briefly mentioned he intended to take some time off and visit the city, well, this is what happens while he's away, leap frogs back and forth between his vacation time and what happens in Nazarick during his absence.**

 **Also...one final thing...someone asked in a review if I was going to do a Q &A chapter...and...I understand 'what' that is, but not just how that works, there isn't a comments section under the story or the chapters, so do people just PM their questions in and get answers in an author note chapter? If I've guessed right, well alright, if that would be something y'all want me to do, send in your questions and I'll do a Q&A chapter to the main story.**

 **Oh and always...REVIEW PLEASE!**


	25. The Heart of Darkness

Contrary to expectation, the ferry did not go into the city, instead it stopped at a large dock set along the water. The first thing Neia noticed about this was that there were several such docks, and the string of ferries broke up and went to different ones, leaving only Tinamoc's merchant caravan at this location. As soon as she saw this, she approached him and asked, "Why are we docking here, or perhaps I should ask, why is everybody docking in different locations?"

Tinamoc was kneeling down and rifling through a satchel of documents when she asked, and he paused to look up at her and answer. "Its the way the city works. Wenmark is like nowhere else in the Roble Holy Kingdom, North or South. They've never had a royal governor, only a 'royal adviser' whose real role is mostly for show, the only important task he does is ensure that noble titles are held by the council members and reports to the crown what the city is able to provide in goods and tribute. The council they've got is made up of the wealthiest and most important members of each class, so this city is as a result...very class conscious. Merchants marry merchants, industrial craft families marry into others of the same, fishers marry fishers, and so on. Because they're so class conscious here, even the docks are split up by class." He pointed across the lake to a small dock, "That one is for visitors, people passing through, pilgrims and the like." He pointed to another, "That one is for fishers only. I suppose the higher classes could use them if they wanted to, but they wouldn't becaught dead there." He pointed to another, closer to himself, "That one is for industrialists, they mostly take in raw materials and ship out finished goods, and of course we're at the one for merchants."

Neia frowned as she thought that through. "You're the only merchant here...though..."

Tinamoc nodded. "Yes. I am. The city maintains its security by strict protectionist controls over what outsiders are allowed to trade inside the city, all others..." He pointed to a series of warehouses..."all others store goods there, pay for their own security, and must sell outside the city. I managed to get a license to trade inside the city because my father is the brother of one of the merchants on the council, which would make that one my uncle. I got a 'favored merchant status' which lets me have a license for next to nothing, and so I can sell my goods below the normal cost normally paid by other merchants, meaning I turn a higher profit at a lower point of sale price."

Neia frowned.

"Doesn't sound fair." She said.

"It isn't." Tinamoc readily agreed. "But it isn't meant to be. It is all set up to keep the correct people in power and the money flowing in the right direction."

"And you're...OK with that?" Neia said in surprise and disapproval.

Tinamoc was silent for a moment, then as he found the papers he needed, he closed his satchel and stood up. He gave Neia a very serious look, and spoke with a tone Neia had never heard before out of him, it wasn't happy, it wasn't sad, it wasn't cruel or kind, it wasn't foreboding or warning, it wasn't angry, it sounded...tired. "Neia Baraja...you know how I think about your ideals, your goals, I respect them, to a degree, I even share them, as much as any of my men at arms." He paused, and looked uncertain for a moment...it was a look Neia did not think suited the normally decisive and intelligent merchant. "Let me tell you a story..." he said, "A long time ago, before you were born, there was a young man on fire to make everything better, he thought he could be a King one day, and then he could fix everything...only to learn that to do that he'd have to make everything worse first, and he would have very little chance of making things better after that even if he were successful. Then he thought he could drive off the monsters and free up more land for people...only to find he was completely lacking in martial ability. Then he thought if he had wealth, he could buy a better world, and he found that he had a gift for making coin, turning bronze into gold, such as it were. He worked hard, he scraped enough money together to buy a cart and made his first deal, he bought a second cart, and did better, he did a lot with little. But time ate at him, he married, and doing best for everyone changed to doing best for his wife and his house, he grew tired, he never really lost his wish for things to be better, but as he made gold, he found that all it did was buy him access to make more, he couldn't buy the change he wanted because the people he relied on for the security of any system, profited only from the system not changing. In short, he couldn't even bribe people to do the right thing because the wrong thing was how everybody was getting richer, they had no reason to change. Eventually, he lost hope of changing the system, not because he loved the system, but because he was part of the system, and it was larger than he was, and any attempt at change was only going to destroy him and whatever little good he could do on his own." Tinamoc let out a tired sigh.

"So what happened to the man?" Neia asked.

"He told you that story just now." Tinamoc said with a tired smile. "But you know, as horrible as Jaldabaoth's invasion was, maybe he...in a twisted way, gave us an opportunity to do better. You have power I only dreamed of, and a backer who can impose change on the most recalcitrant subject, he bends emperors to his will and slays demons like a cat does a mouse. I won't say I don't profit from this, because I do, though I'm as fair as I can be, but don't mistake my inability to effect change, with a fondness for the status quo. I don't even particularly like that uncle." He said with a disgruntled snort. "If you can effect a change in there, do so, but fuck if I know how you'll do that."

"Where there is a will, there is a way." Neia said, and then she took off her visor and turned her savage eyes on the city ahead, and though he could not see it from where he stood, Tinamoc could feel a predatory grin forming on her face, "And if there isn't a way, we'll carve one out ourselves." She said, bringing her hand to the pommel of her sword and giving it a tight grip.

Tinamoc did not ask who she meant by 'We'. Perhaps she meant Black Justice, perhaps she meant Skana and herself, perhaps she meant her god and herself, perhaps she meant all of those and more besides, he thought better than to ask, he only looked out over the calm water as the ferries finished docking, and when a wirey man in an expensive looking coat approached, walking over the wood like he was born with a stick up his ass approached and demanded "Papers." imperiously holding out his hand and looking very impatient, Tinamoc didn't say anything. He simply handed over the documents he'd sought out, and waited as the little man went through them one by one and marked off items with an ink quill. "Everything seems to be in order, we will take the taxed portion of goods, and then you may enter the city." He said in his nasal voice, and Tinamoc simply nodded in response.

His behavior seemed very 'off', to Neia, and as soon as the nasal voiced man was gone, she leaned in close to Tinamoc and asked, "You're not acting like yourself. What is it that I need to know?" She whispered softly, her eyes scanning the area suspiciously.

When the man was out of sight, Tinamoc said, "Its this city itself, I mean its 'clean' as any city goes, its not crime riddled, but, it has a miasma of oppression around it, it gets to me a little. I'm the most powerful merchant in the entire country, I have the ear of the King himself, my own uncle works here, but the law is like a weight on your shoulders, its very easy to get into trouble here, and very difficult to get out of it. A few years ago a merchant violated a local law, I don't recall what it was, something minor though, and he ended up not seeing the light of day for several years. His goods weren't confiscated, but they took a large part of them for the 'expense' of securing those goods for him while he was in prison."

Neia frowned. "Should we be here at all?"

Tinamoc shrugged, "If I could avoid it, I would, but their guilds control many of the outlying mines, if I snubbed the city I'd find myself locked out of buying metal or even metal works for miles around." He said in a frustrated voice.

Neia turned to look the city over, its great high walls seemed to change in her mind, from a promise of safety, to the walls of a prison. She crossed her arms in front of her and said softly to Tinamoc, "I take back my question. I'm glad we're here."

Going in to the city was easy from there, the great wide gates allowed the caravan easy entry, and when she rode her horse through the gate, her eyes took in the sights with practiced ease. The buildings were unusual, they went up two stories in height, but rather than stop there, they top acted as a juncture, with one or more rooms cropping out from the sides, sometimes up against another building to which they connected for stability, sometimes they were secured to pillars that jutted up from the ground. The avenues were wide, easily enough for six carriages to pass abreast, and yet except to cross a street, nobody walked through it, instead she only saw people riding on horses or moving carriages, the public street seemed closed to anyone who had nothing to ride, it was frankly bizarre. Those on foot walked on much smaller elevated wooden pathways, these 'sidewalks' were elevated roughly the vertical height of a hand with its fingers spread out as far as they could go, and were wide enough for two or three to pass abreast.

The shops were plentiful, but the boisterous sound of men hawking wares was somewhat lacking, with only a few shouting for attention for their goods. It grew only more bizarre when Neia saw the chains. There were many people in chains walking around, most of them were chained together in pairs, a few were alone, but the chains varied in style, some were painted green, some were painted white, some were painted yellow, and some were left black. It took a lot of looking before she realized what else was really wrong to her...the ones who had ears cut off or mutilated...they weren't humans...they were elves.

She turned to Tinamoc..."OK, I need an explanation...now. This is...all very different."

"Fair enough." He said, "Reports just don't quite convey things like seeing them does." He swept his hand over the view of the odd buildings, "Taxes are higher on taller buildings, but not on wider ones, so as a result, architects had an incentive to build 'around' a primary location instead of 'up'. What is more, because the walkways or 'side walks' are the only place to walk, various alleys had to be maintained to allow people to get from place to place, so instead of a building that is four wide, its one wide then one over on the second floor, thus allowing for numerous side paths for people to follow to get from place to place without being beside the main road. Since the former construction is so common, a lot of these alleyways are nearly pitch black. Candle makers do great business here as a result."

"And...the silence?" She asked, "Only a few sellers are loudly hawking their wares, everybody else is very subdued." She asked curiously.

"Noise restrictions. You have to have a license to yell to call attention to your business. You also have to have a license to hire bards to play music three candle bars after sunset." He said, and her face twisted in confusion.

"What the..." She began, and he raised a finger to pause her in mid question.

He reached into his pack and pulled out a candle that alternated between black and red bands and held it out to her, she took it and looked it up and down. "Each of those bars takes about an hour and a half to burn down, so when the sun sets, one of these gets lit wherever the bard is playing, if the business doesn't have a license for longer playing hours, the bard has to stop playing when the third one is finished."

"And these licenses are..." She began.

"Very expensive and restricted in number, yes. They're issued by the merchant's guild with input from the industrialists who base their recommendations, supposedly, on how many of their workers are thought to be out late at night.

"If a bard goes over the third bar limit on the candle, beyond what it takes to finish whatever song he's playing, he can lose his license to play anywhere in the city, or be fined that night's wages." Tinamoc said seriously.

"And...all those chained people?" Neia asked gravely. "I didn't see anything about slavery in my reports."

"Technically they're not slaves." Tinamoc said, and as Neia was about to explode, he put up his hands and gestured for her to calm down. "Hear me out. Each color chain represents something different. Green are for minor offenses, like public intoxication, they're sentenced to a week of 'public service', red is for more serious offences, violent crime, they can be in chains for years, a lot of those end up in the mines outside of town or working on boats on the lake. White represents debt service, they owed money they couldn't pay back, so the city pays the debt in exchange for public service work until the work is done, in theory this gets somebody out of debt, in practice, often their debts include money for food, borrowing for healing, inability to pay taxes, and so on, the city then sells 'their labor' rather than...technically, them, at auctions in the public squares, to others. Of course they can avoid that fate if someone else pays their debts for them, but such an action is very rare. Yellow chains represent blasphemy or crimes against the faith or the gods, slandering the temples, and so on. These trials are actually conducted by the temples themselves, and then they sell the labor of the convicted if they don't have a use for the person themselves. They also have the option of confiscating a person's property if the person is found guilty, but for most people there isn't even enough to take to make that worthwhile. The black chains...those are life sentences."

"All the ones I see in black chains are elves..." Neia said. "Are they all murderers from the elf Kingdom?"

"NO." He said emphatically. "They're...from the Slane Theocracy." He said slowly.

Neia paused as it sank in...and she thought, "Slane Theocracy...they don't have elf citizens they..." And it slowly dawned on her.

Tinamoc saw her face go from confusion to shock and outrage. "Yes." Tinamoc said. "They were all taken by the Slane Theocracy. From what I've heard, in order to sell these elves as slaves here, when they have a captive and then put him or her up for auction, they mutilate their ears, for the enjoyment of the viewing audience. If the winning bidder is from Wenmark, the auctioneer in the Slane Theocracy then promises the elf can go free if they can best some skilled fighter, and then they drug the elf so that the poor soul can't put up a fight, then they charge the elf with attempted murder when they're beaten into submission. They keep a 'judge' on hand to pronounce sentence in a show trial, and the sentence is always life in 'public service' and the beaten and battered elf is chained and transported here. Now they're considered dangerous would be murderers, and they're left in black chains till they die. The females go to the brothels or are sold to the senior city officials as personal menials, concubines frankly, and most of the males end up in the mines, with some of the older ones ending up doing the public street work."

Neia had a profoundly angry expression on her face. "Tinamoc...?" She began.

"Yes?" He asked, looking around the city and not really noticing her expression.

"Have you ever dealt in...this form of trade?" She asked with utter politeness while her knuckles shook and turned white inside her gloves from the power of her grip on the pommel of her saddle.

"No." He said flatly.

"Good." She replied.

"I'm a little insulted that you asked me that question." He said evenly.

"I'm sorry." She replied evenly, but with evident sincerity in her voice.

"My uncle has." He said.

"Would you miss him?" She asked.

"No." He replied.

"Good." She gave a small nod, and they drifted into silence, neither really feeling like talking as the faces of misery caught their eyes, along the way as they passed through several public squares, Neia noticed a number of oddly placed posts, they looked very familiar, but it was difficult for her to say just why. It tickled at her brain all the way to the warehouse district, though she didn't break silence to ask, she could feel the answer close, like it was just out of reach. They were seven feet high and spaced roughly ten feet apart, they looked like unusually large hitching posts, with iron rings at various heights going up near to the top facing the fountains at the center.

It was puzzling, and it picked at her so persistently that she barely noticed the entire unloading process, and Tinamoc had to touch her shoulder to get her attention. "We're done here, I'll show you where we'll be staying, and then you can brief your people and we can call it a day.

Neia nodded numbly, and the now unencumbered band of merchants, Black Justice, hired guards, and laborers, all made their way to another district, unencumbered, it was not a long trip, and Neia found that the building they were at was unusually large, it was several stories tall and much wider than the others around it. Made of red brick in an overlapping pattern rather than the cheap wood of other nearby structures, it was shaped like a horse shoe, with a large courtyard in front. "This is the Golden Roan, the largest hotel in the city." Tinamoc said. "My uncle thinks it is undignified for anyone related to a member of the government to stay in a cheaper location, so he rents rooms for myself and my entourage once a year."

"He's generous to you." Neia said.

"To me yes, but not for me." Tinamoc replied, "This is all about his own sense of importance, and when I tried to refuse, he offered to pay for my entire caravan to stay here, all I have to do is present myself to the council so he can strut about his connections to the royal court. Not that he fucking earned any of that." Tinamoc's voice turned unusually vicious, so much so that Neia gave him a sideways glance, he didn't break his gaze as he looked over the beautifully made hotel as their followers formed up behind them. "My uncle was the older brother, he inherited everything, my father inherited nothing, which meant I inherited slightly more than nothing, I had to build my mercantile enterprise up by myself, it wasn't until I started gaining a name for myself that he so much as sent a letter to me, then once I was useful, he was happy to call me his nephew. I had to grin and bear it because family strife makes people nervous about investing in someone's name, and...I'd be lying if I said it offered no benefits to me. But if you want the truth, I revile him for what he did do, what he chose not to do, and for what he does."

Tinamoc relaxed when that came out of him, and he spurred his horse forward at a slow canter, "Come on, lets get checked in, you'll need to give your people a rundown of what to do and not do here, and that means I'll have to go over some things with you first." Neia spurred her horse forward, and when they reached the front entrance, they dismounted and handed the reins to a little elf boy with mutilated ears. He was clean and well dressed, wearing fine formal clothing suitable for a noble, but his hands had the same chains as other elves who were 'life sentences'. Neia felt the urge to retch, and only just bit it back, she did not want to draw attention to herself...not yet, and so she didn't glance at the youth, following Tinamoc's lead in seeming blindness when it came to seeing the laborers.

The interior of the hotel was no less impressive than the immaculate grounds outside it, the chained servants were also plentiful, all of them were elves, most of them were female. Neia ground her teeth but kept her face as impassive as she could. The entry of the large body of travelers seems to have given the lobby pause, and for that she was grateful, she was fairly certain she'd have seen some ugly behavior towards the chained elves, behavior she couldn't ignore, if they hadn't been startled by the mass entry of uniformly dressed Black Justice fighters armed to the teeth and wearing faces as severe as if they'd been carved out of stone. The one eyed Skana drew particular notice, as she broke from the group and began to pace the lobby, seeming to study the artwork on display.

Neia quickly gave instructions that they had one hour to eat following checkin, and then were to form up on the grounds outside, and as each one was given money to spend, she cautioned them one by one to go nowhere else but the hotel restaurant, their rooms, and outside. This drew confused looks, but nobody argued.

When all that was done, Neia and Tinamoc went off together, as Skana headed towards the savory smell of a well managed restaurant, along with most of the other members of Black Justice.

At Tinamoc's room, Neia closed the door and sat down at a table, Tinamoc sat opposite her.

"You've already guessed a lot about this city I expect." He said sadly.

"Enough that I'm starting to miss Yanana." She said.

"This city is unique, not only in its labor practices, which is just slavery with extra steps, but also in that it is strongly tied to the Slane Theocracy, far more so than any city in the Holy Kingdom." He said with a hint of disgust in his voice.

"See when the Holy Kingdom was founded, a lot of those founders split off, and this was one of the first cities they built, well this, and the capitol, and the ones who built this city, most strongly favored retaining ties to the Slane Theocracy. They modeled their government on that of the Slane Theocracy, maintained independent trade ties with their former country, they even kept an informal envoy of the Slane Theocracy here for generations, almost as if they were a different country from the rest of the Holy Kingdom. They might as well have been, Slane Theocracy citizens often come here to settle, carrying their culture with them and keeping ties to their homes over the sea. When Jaldabaoth invaded and you went North to the Sorcerer King, according to my uncle, they sent their own envoy West over the sea to appeal to the Slane Theocracy for support from the scriptures. Whether they had authorization from anyone to do that, I don't know, but I doubt they'd have cared what the North thought, it was in no position to complain, without even a King or Queen at the time."

He shook his head and spread his hands open on the table as if apologetic for bringing her to Wenmark, and he leaned back in his chair. "I saw your face when you saw the way those elf women were carrying themselves in the lobby, I know what you were thinking, and you were correct. Expensive hotels cater to the wants of their clients, and elves are relatively cheap thanks to the Theocracy's success, a lot happens that...well...shouldn't. I'll just put it that way."

Neia's fists clenched tight, and she kept them rooted to the top of the table instead of striking it, out of sheer force of will. "Don't the women of the city care even a little, at least about those activities?" She asked.

"No. The elf women aren't a threat, they can't inherit, only be inherited, and offspring are just going to be 'convicted' of a crime themselves when they get old enough and sentenced to life as well, after some public breaking in the manner of the Slane Theocracy's methods." Tinamoc said.

The thing tickling at Neia's brain suddenly became clear. "Those posts I saw at every square..." She said in a hushed voice.

"Yes, similar to the Pillars of Discipline in Yanana, only many more of them scattered around the city." He said.

"And the rings at various heights?" She asked.

"For prisoners of...various heights." He said.

"But...some of those were low enough to have been for..." She began, and the memory of what almost happened to her came rushing back, she barely made it to a waste bucket in time for her to retch in disgust. She vomited for almost a minute, sickened and disgusted. Tinamoc didn't say a word in all that time, he sat, and waited patiently as Neia started to shake as if she were having a small seizure, she cleaned her face off with a cloth from the bathroom, and unsteadily returned to the table.

"I'm sorry..." she said as she slowly suppressed the rush of emotions, fear from her memory, disgust at what she'd learned, still warred in her but she gradually regained control over herself.

"No need to apologize." He said. "I don't blame you."

"Did...the Queen know about all this?" She asked softly.

"Maybe in a sort of, fourth hand removed sort of way, I doubt she ever knew the full details of how things worked here, I met her majesty a number of times, and speaking frankly...she was true to her ideals, but she was also rather naive, assuming people shared them, who very much did not." Tinamoc answered, "Even if she'd heard, I doubt she would have known just how bad it was to be the wrong person in this Wenmark."

Neia gave a very small nod of acknowledgement, and for the better part of the next hour, Tinamoc filled her in on the justice system, laws, customs, and practices of Wenmark, none of which made her like the city much, and in the end it was enough that Neia knew what she needed to say to her people.

When she went down to the lobby, she found Skana and CZ waiting for her, seated in comfortable chairs next to one another. "Are the others already outside?" She asked.

"They are." CZ answered.

"Please wait here, I want to talk to you both afterwards, privately." Neia said.

She didn't wait for acknowledgement, and went outside and saw her formation on the grass in front of the hotel. She did not waste time, she approached and began to speak.

"I will make this simple. This is not going to be the fun vacation that you had in Yanana. We are in the heart of darkness. You will remain on guard here. You will remain vigilant, you will not be permitted any alcohol beyond a single glass of wine or mug of beer at dinner. You will not venture outside of the hotel except in groups of five, not four, not three, not two, not one. I expect if one of you is going somewhere, you will go fully armed, fully armored, and you will go with four of your companions and you will be working in the lobby in shifts of two hours each, the one on shift in the lobby will have a sign out sheet, and you will notify that person of where you and your companions are going, and when you plan on being back. You are not to engage in violence except to buy yourselves time to withdraw, and if you must withdraw, your withdrawal point will be back to Yanana where you will go to the adventurer's guild and send word to us here, do not allow yourselves to be taken. Every morning everybody checks in for accountability at sunrise, and everybody is to be returned to the hotel within five hours of sunset." She took a deep breath, "You've no doubt noticed the elf slaves around the city, they're hard to miss. Any body part of yours that touches them in any way, you'd better be prepared to lose." She said. "With you I don't think I need to say that, but I'd rather say it and not need to, than need to and not say it. They're all off limits, this includes those in brothels. It doesn't matter if they appear to want you and say you're the most attractive stud ever, keep your hands and other appendages to yourself."

There were serious looks given to Neia as she spoke, but she didn't let up. "If you see something you cannot bear to watch, you are authorized to use your own money to pay for a halt to whatever you're seeing, but if you choose to 'buy' one of the prisoners as if they were property, it had better be so that you can free them, and you'd better report it to myself at the next assembly or earlier. Questions?" She asked.

There were none, though there were a lot of dark expressions on faces of men and women alike.

"You are dismissed."

Unlike the previous stay in Yanana, this spreading out of the group did not see anyone with a kick in their step, nobody moved with an air of happy purpose, most of them were acutely on guard, and almost all of them went straight back to the hotel, Neia was no different in that regard, when she walked in she immediately walked past Skana and CZ and said sharply, "We need privacy, come with me." The two shared a glance, but quickly followed after, going up the stairs with her and down the hall until Neia found her room. She entered, waited until her two companions had joined her, then she closed and locked the door.

"Please, sit." She said.

Even as they had started to take their seats Neia said it bluntly, "I want this city to burn."

Skana and CZ looked at each other blankly, and CZ spoke for them both when she said, "That was fast."

 **AN: So, I hope you liked this chapter, I'm settling in to a new setting, and it took a little longer than it usual did because I needed some inspiration from history on some practices from the past and I wanted to get the details right before writing them down, things in government, religion, trade, and so on, but things are going to heat up here. Remember awhile back the way Prart fell in a single chapter? Originally that was going to take three chapters, but the way it flowed in writing was such that the momentum carried it forward against my original intention, and it made more sense if it was a swift fall. Wenmark is different, it is neither Prart nor Yanana, and it will be handled differently as such. I hope you're looking for foreshadowing and hints, and the occasional literary, pop culture, or historical reference, because I scatter them about like sprinkles on cupcakes. :)**

 **If you like this story, please leave a review, if you have suggestions, please PM them to me directly so it doesn't ruin it for anyone else if I incorporate your idea (You'll still be given author note credit for the idea). If there is just something you'd like to see in the city, say so and I may explore that.**

 **If you have a question or two...well since I've been asked a few questions, I do plan to do a Q &A chapter as a kind of an 'intermission' along the way, probably before chapter 30 or right after that. And of course once again, thanks for reading!**


	26. A Permanent Guest in Hotel Hell

"Fast or not, I'd be happy to scatter its ashes into the lake to sink to the bottom, and let the whole city be forgotten forever." Neia said savagely.

There was a knock at the door, and they watched as Neia stiffened up, it was unusual for the unflappable woman, so Skana knew something was intensely bothering her. She decided to wait until after this interruption to find out just what that was, only to soon find out on her own.

When Neia opened the door, a young female elf wearing chains about her wrists was found standing there, eyes downcast, she stepped into the room as Neia, shocked, stepped out of the way and let her in.

"Good afternoon, noble guests of the Golden Roan. I am called Illyana, I am..." she paused and swallowed nervously, her body started shaking, "I am yours for the duration of your stay. If you require nothing of me, I will retire to m-my corner until you wish me."

It took a moment for the meaning of that statement to sink in for Skana, and she went from looking at the trembling young elf, to the stone faced Neia, whose face was now carefully neutral.

Skana's eyes had gone over the room the instant she'd walked in, and some mysteries had been immediately raised, the loop secured to the wall just above the head of the bed, as well as the unusual loop posts at each corner, as well as the large cushion on the floor with the loop secured above it to the wall. At first she had assumed the cushion was for the pets of nobles who stayed here, and the loops were a local artistic flare...but as she understood what the elf woman said, a far darker use for them all became obvious. This prisoner...came with the room, an amenity no different than the bed, the chair, or the table.

She started breathing hard as the nature of the girl's situation hit home.

The shaking female elf seemed unnerved by the silence that her statement was received by, and she said hurriedly, "If...I am not to your taste, I can fetch a...another, if you tell me your wishes."

The name of the hotel sprang back to mind, and its name, seemingly whimsical at first, suddenly took on a much different meaning. The Golden Roan...the elves were all blonde...a roan was an animal to be ridden. Neia felt sick all over again, and Skana clearly felt no better. CZ sat with her customary impassive nature, but Neia and Skana both knew her well enough now to know that she was unsure of just what was happening. In other conditions, the notion of a naive and innocent maid demon was enough to be laughable, but neither of them felt like laughing now.

The shaking of the female had begun to get worse in the silence that greeted her, she had been staring at the floor, but her confusion made her brave enough to raise them briefly, then immediately lower them as she caught herself, only to raise them again and look at the guest's faces.

"Illyana, please sit." Neia said, only to be promptly dumbfounded when the girl knelt on the floor and sat on the heels of her feet, keeping her eyes lowered and her shaking hands in her lap, so that she could not help but see her chains.

Neia promptly glanced at Skana with surprise and uncertainty, and Skana reacted by immediately grabbing another chair and bringing it over to set it at the table. As she did so, Neia reached out and touched the girl's head just above her ear. The woman started to flinch and caught herself, holding stock still for whatever was going to happen.

Neia knelt next to her, "Illyana, its OK, look at me." She said, glad that she still had her visor on, because Ainz only knew how she'd react to Neia's murderous eyes.

Illyana lifted up her gaze slowly, hesitantly at the sound of the soft voice. "Its OK, please be seated at the table with us. I promise, no harm will come to you."

"I'm...not supposed to be on furniture except...that, for awhile." She said, and gestured to the bed. Neia was relieved she had nothing left to vomit. Skana, was glad she'd skipped a meal and so had nothing in her stomach to lose.

"Its OK, we're not like that." She said, and placing one hand on her shoulder, and taking the elf woman's hand, she gently and slowly stood, "Please, sit with us at the table."

Uncertainty warred on her face, but she slowly stood as she was instructed, and sat at the table, she seemed quite uncomfortable, as if it had been some time since she'd done that.

Silence went on for a little while, before Neia asked, "How long have you been here?"

Illyana thought for a moment, and then answered, "I can't really be sure mistress, I-"

Neia held up a hand to stop her from speaking, and Illyana immediately closed her mouth and looked terrified. "Its OK." Neia said, "I only wanted to tell you...don't call me mistress. You can call me Neia."

The elf woman's mouth dropped open. "May...I...may I see your eyes?" Illyana asked.

Neia's face became curious, but she replied, "Well, I suppose so, just try not to overreact." She closed her eyes, reached up, and took her visor off, and with her face turned towards Illyana, she slowly opened them.

"You're her, aren't you?" Illyana asked.

"Who?" Neia asked in return.

"Neia Baraja." The elf woman replied breathlessly.

"I am." Neia replied.

"I've heard of you. You're the squire of the Sorcerer King, you're famous. Most elves here have heard of you." Illyana said.

"What...why?" Neia asked.

"The Sorcerer King killed an entire Slane Theocracy scripture by himself. He's famous, and we heard about him in the Northern Holy Kingdom, and how he was served by the mad eyed archer, the squire Neia Baraja."

Neia rolled her eyes at the name given to her by the demihumans, but it was a relief that Illyana felt more comfortable knowing who she was.

"So you get rumors and stories even in...your position." Neia said.

"We do." Illyana said with somewhat greater comfort. "When men finish, they often babble, we hear a lot, even with our mutilated ears." The bitterness was deep in her voice.

"So...you've been here awhile then." Neia said.

"Since I was sold here after the Slane Theocracy took my town. I was one of the first to suffer under the great breaker, Justicar." She said with hate in her voice and tears in her eyes.

"Justicar...why do I know that name?" Neia asked.

Skana was quick to answer, "That was the name of the inquisitor priest whose head was taken at that village a few weeks ago."

Illyana's eyes snapped wide apart as she stared at Skana. "The great breaker...is dead?" She asked in awe.

Neia stood up and went over to her pack, she took from it a small ornate box, and brought it over to Illyana, placing it in front of her on the table, Neia opened it. "Did he have eyes like these?" She said savagely. "I had him killed for targeting some of our people, his head was severed and stuck to a gate, and his eyes were gouged out for good measure. From what I understand, it was a painful death, if not as painful as he deserved, and he saw everything that happened to him as he died, until his eyes were removed out before his last breath at least. I doubt he saw much after that." She said with sardonic savage pleasure.

Illyana's face went from Neia's, to following her arm down to the box, to looking at the bright green eyes Neia had preserved, eyes that had haunted Illyana's nightmares for years, that had consumed her every fantasy of revenge, that had seen her wake in a cold sweat, and now they stared up at her again, but without a head or face to go with them, but even without those, she knew those eyes as well as she knew the eyes of her own mother and father.

She immediately fell at Neia's feet, down to her knees and hugged her impulsively, sobbing beyond all her ability to control herself. "Its him, it was really him. Thank you, thank you, thank youuuuuu..." She sobbed and buried her face in the leg of Neia's breeches. Her face snapped up and she looked up at Neia with shining eyes, "Anything you want of me, anything at all, its yours, no matter what, I can never repay this."

Neia looked at Skana with uncertainty and great discomfort, and the two women gently got her to disentangle herself and sit back at the table. CZ simply watched the whole thing unfold with her chin resting in her palm and her elbow on the table.

"There are things I need...but...not that." Neia said, "I need information, I need lots of information, on everything." She said.

"Anything." Illyana said.

Over the next few hours Neia and Skana asked for information on everything Illyana knew about how the city worked, who was important, who had what interests, and how things worked, her time at the expensive hotel had exposed her to wealthy people of low morals and loose lips, or at least, loose with those they didn't think mattered. What Illyana didn't know, she said she could find a source who did among the many elf slaves of the city.

"So...you don't leave the hotel though...how then...?" Skana began, and Illyana answered simply.

"We communicate through one another, I don't leave, but others do, they run errands for the hotel, picking up supplies, dropping of sheets to be washed, relaying messages to other people in the city, because many meetings are held here, we often even have some of our own attending to serve the attendees, so there is very little we don't know. We cooperate as best we can, because our lives depend on it. We don't hear much about what goes on in the farming areas, since they'd never let an elf leave the city except for the docks or the mines, but occasionally one of them is brought in and we hear things." Illyana said.

"Do you cooperate with the human prisoners?" Skana asked.

Illyana shook her head, "Almost never. They'd sell us out in a heartbeat to get their own freedom, occasionally we trade in small things, but the short timers can't be trusted and the lifers are usually dangerous, at least here in the city, I don't know about out in the mines where they're in closer contact."

The conversation went on until darkness set in, and Neia said, "That will be enough for now, but there is a lot more we need to know, Black Justice is not an organization known for its tolerance for injustice, and I don't know how long we can stay in this city without doing anything. But we're all tired and can't do anything right now, so we need sleep." Neia said.

Illyana looked down at the table again and said softly, "I...meant what I said. I've never been willing, not once since my capture. But I am now, for what you've done for me by killing Justicar, its the only way I really have to say thank you." She said.

Neia traded a look with Skana & CZ, and then turned back to Illyana.

"Help me in what I want to do, and that will be thanks enough. You can go if you want, and return tomorrow morning, we'll have more questions then." Neia said.

Illyana turned pale. "If you send me back, they'll assume I wasn't satisfactory and they'll punish me." Neia frowned darkly. "I see."

"I can...use that space." She said softly, pointing to the corner where the cushion was.

"You're not a dog." Neia said, emphatic that she wasn't finding that acceptable.

"She can stay in my room." Skana said, "I'm staying here anyway."

"That will do." Neia said, and Skana handed Illyana a key with a room number tied to it. "Go stay there for the night...lock the door, and by the god of justice...please use the bed."

Illyana nodded numbly, stood, bowed, and left.

"Anyone wonder why I want to burn the city now?" Neia asked.

There were no questions asked.

"Now, CZ, I need your help with something." Neia said, and CZ looked at her expectantly.

"I want to request help from the god of justice, can I ask you to arrange an audience?" Neia asked.

"I will. But prepare well." CZ said.

"How so?" Neia asked with a little confusion.

"Lord Ainz came to your country to take I and my sisters. He wanted benefits for his people. What do you offer like that?" CZ said, keeping her words few as she usually did, Neia took a moment to understand.

"I see..." she said when it dawned on her, "Yes...he is a king, he cannot simply throw his generosity around, he must have a reason, even if he wishes to help."

Neia thought the matter over. "How heavily populated is the Sorcerous Kingdom?" she asked CZ. "When I was there I saw only the city of E-Rantel, so...is it overcrowded, underpopulated, what?"

CZ thought it over. "Underpopulated." She answered.

"Sounds right." Skana said. "The massacre probably took a great many lives, if it is even half what I heard, and many survivors would have fled before he took over, even if it has been awhile, I doubt it has a large population still."

"What if we can offer him that? If we can fill his nation up with citizens to labor and produce goods, to farm, to mine, and so on?" Neia asked.

"Might do." CZ answered cryptically.

"I hope so." Neia said, "Can you ask, and tell me in the morning?"

CZ nodded. "I will." And shortly thereafter she stepped through a gate that appeared, leaving Skana and Neia alone.

"I'm tired. This has been a long day." Neia said as she began to undress.

"Ditto." Skana said, "I'll be honest...I was looking forward to some time for fun with you this morning...but after all we've seen...its ruined my mood."

Neia didn't argue, "Bold as ever in your words..." she replied to Skana, "but since we're being honest, I agree. Seeing Illyana that way, there is a miasma of evil that just lays over this whole city, I feel drained, like its sapping me of my vigor just by hanging onto being myself here, its sick."

Skana put one foot up on a chair and started undoing her boot. "I know what you mean, Jaldabaoth was a demon, that explains him...but what is this city's excuse?" She asked as she slid it off.

Neia removed her armor and set her sword beside the bed. "I know. If I'd seen this city before the invasion, I think I'd have just abandoned the country as not worth defending."

Skana removed her other boot. "Oh come on, you're exaggerating now, no way you'd have done that."

Neia rolled her eyes as she began to remove her belt, "OK probably not, but I'd have questioned my decision to fight."

Skana nodded as she reached for her own belt. "Me too." She watched through her one eye as Neia stretched in the candle light, and admired her slender muscled frame, before the young woman lifted the covers and slid herself underneath. Skana slid in on the other side, and curled up close to Neia, and Neia whispered a quiet, "Good night" before the candle went out and left them immersed in the darkness. Only Skana's words, "good night' pierced the shadow after that, and then silence and darkness was all there was, and neither of them minded that even a little.

 **AN: I'm on a spree, can't stop writing now. Reviews please! :)**


	27. A Candle in the Dark City

They woke at the same time the next morning shortly before sunrise when CZ returned to them through the gate. "Lord Ainz will see you now." She said abruptly.

Neia didn't waste a moment's time, if Lord Ainz said now, then now it was. She lept out of bed and charged through the gate, immediately kneeling before the throne as soon as she came close to it's bottom step.

"Eeeehhhh!" His mouth dropped open, and beside him, both Albedo's and Shalltear's fists clenched in a rage. Neia kept her eyes down, "I come at my lord's command." Neia said.

"Miss Baraja, why are you in your night clothes?" Ainz asked in surprise.

Neia kept her eyes down, "I was told my lord that you would see me now, that left me no time to change."

"Miss Baraja, you may return to your room and...dress properly. When I said 'now' I did not mean you had to appear in your night clothes. From now on whenever I say 'now' please know that this includes enough time for you to be bathed and dressed. If I truly do not have time for you to do that, then I will say I wish to see you urgently." Ainz said, and Neia nodded in embarrassment.

"As you say my lord, I will return hastily." She said and rushed back through the open gate to her quarters.

"Excuse me my lord." Albedo said.

"As you wish Albedo." Ainz replied.

"And I my lord." Shalltear said, to which Ainz nodded.

The pair walked out of the throne room briefly, and Ainz heard several loud thuds and a pair of shrieks, and then Albedo and Shalltear returned looking demure as they had minutes earlier. "Apologies my lord, we seem to have hit the wall." Albedo said.

"You are both alright?" Ainz asked with concern.

"We are." Shalltear replied.

Demiurge, Sebas, and Cocytus shared a look, while Mare & Aura looked confused at one another.

After a short time, Neia returned bathed and fully dressed, and again presented herself to the throne.

"Now," Ainz said, "What is it my loyal Pope asks of me today?"

Neia then relayed to Ainz all she'd learned of the city of Wenmark, and some of what she said reminded Ainz all to much of the horrible world from which he came, and the suffering his own mother had to endure, and he found himself grateful for his emotional dampener.

"Would you have me rain fire on the city then?" He asked.

"I do not ask that of the king of kings, of the god of justice, you are rightful ruler of all the world, and so I would never ask you to do something in contradiction to your justice." Neia said, calling upon all her skill as an orator as she prepared to make her case.

"What do you truly want?" He asked, "And how can it benefit my kingdom to do it?"

Neia silently made a mental note to express her gratitude to CZ for telling her to prepare for that question.

"My lord, I want you to take the slaves away, starting with all the elves, but truthfully many of the humans as well." Neia said.

"And the benefit to my nation?" He asked.

"I am told that when your majesty won his great victory at the Battle of Katze Plains, many fools who did not know your magnanimity or your greatness chose to flee your wondrous rule in terror, and that many others were lost in the battle itself, this has left your state with to few people to work the land. If my lord takes away the elven slaves from Wenmark, and sets them free like the other demihumans, then you will gain the labor of the people, whom you may tax accordingly and increase your nation's power." Neia said.

Ainz looked over at Albedo. "What do you think?"

Albedo looked at Neia with an odd mix of annoyance and amusement, but after a bit she said, "The plan has merit."

"Demiurge, what do you say?" Ainz asked.

"I agree with Albedo, but I wonder about the cost." He said. "Taking them by theft...since these are technically citizens or resident aliens, or at least criminals under punishment in the city, taking them stealthily could be counted as an act of war and aggression, a mass kidnapping of a neighboring country's population. Buying them would probably be easy, however they would not likely sell all of them, and the cost would still be very high." He said.

Ainz stroked his jaw in thought, pretending to mull over their words while frantically trying to come up with an option that didn't make him look like an idiot. Frantically he sought to stall.

"Neia Baraja, I am inclined to agree with my advisers, however I must know how the elves themselves would feel about that, would they be willing to come to my nation at all? If I just took them, or if I bought them, they'd no doubt just see me as another master no better than their current situation, they'd never think of themselves as free, even if I declared them so."

Neia's heart beat faster at his considerate and gentle answer, and she was moved by his compassion, even thinking of their wellbeing in how they were liberated.

"I can't say my lord. I had not considered it, forgive my negligence in investigating this subject." She stammered out, and he raised his skeletal hand to stop her.

"Its alright, anyone can make a mistake." He said.

"Related to that, what do you know about what is going on in the rest of your country?" He asked.

"Little." She admitted. "I heard that a number of copies of our sacred text have been printed, they're holding off on officially giving one to the Holy King until they have enough to send copies out far and wide, and Robel has told me that won't be much longer."

"Then you have not heard." Ainz said.

"Not heard what my lord?" Neia asked uncertainly.

"Your king has informed me that he intends to accept your faith after reading your sacred text, so long as it does not contain anything that would ruin his nation." Ainz said.

Neia's heart did joyful backflips in her chest and she could not keep her enormous smile back. "That is wonderful majesty."

"Agreed." Ainz said, "However, as you know, there is opposition to this and violence may occur. So this is my proposal. If the elven citizens are willing to fight for Black Justice should war break out, I will see them armed, equipped, and even trained, on the condition that afterwards they migrate to my Kingdom. If they agree, I will see to it that the ones who did them wrong are punished for their actions. If they are unwilling to do any of these things, I will conclude they have no interest in my support or in changing their circumstances, and I will leave them to whatever fate decrees thereafter." Ainz waved his palm in front of himself and said, "Is this not reasonable?"

Neia held her smile. "It is all anyone could dream of my lord. I will find out what they have to say, and report back to you soon."

"Then you may go Neia, and I wish you luck, and please, be careful out there." Ainz said, and Neia's eyes welled up, "I will my lord, and thank you." She said and stepped through the gate again.

When Neia returned, CZ was at the table and Skana was just stepping out of the bath drying her hair. "How did it go?" Skana asked, and Neia's wide smile said plenty.

"Very well, thanks to CZ's advice." Neia said.

"No problem." CZ replied.

"So now what?" Skana asked.

"Now we wait for Illyana to return, I need her to get some questions out to the other elves, if they're willing, they've got a shot at getting out of this nightmare." Neia said, and just then there was a knock at the door. Neia opened it to find Illyana standing in front of it, eyes downcast, and Neia stepped aside and allowed her in. As soon as the door closed, Illyana looked up at her. Neia gestured to the table where she'd sat before.

"Please, sit. I have a proposal for you, and for all the elves of this city, will you hear me out?" Neia asked.

Illyana looked confused, but hesitant or not, she sat and as Skana dressed, Neia talked, and Illyana's eyes went wide as Ainz Ooal Gown's proposal was presented.

"So the only question is, are you willing to fight if you're given the means to win, and are you willing to leave here and go live in the country of your savior when the fighting is done?" Neia asked.

Illyana asked softly, "Could we truly have a chance?"

"You do." Neia said. "The training the Sorcerer King provided me and my people, as well as the equipment he provided to us, made us dangerous enough that we exterminated a scripture of the Slane Theocracy recently."

"It cost me this." Skana said, pointing to her eye, "But we won. And we won handily too." She finished.

"So the real question is, are we willing to kill humans, to be free of human abuse?" Illyana asked.

"Yes. That is about the size of it." Neia answered.

"I can only speak for myself, the underground has no governing power, they can't make decisions for other elves, but if your master provides us with what we need to fight, I think almost all of us will throw ourselves into his service with joy, if only for the real chance of taking one of these bastards down with us." Illyana said with a soft and menacing voice.

"Then go, carry word around to those who can leave the hotel, have them put feelers out, consider this room to be a place to operate out of." Neia said, and Illyana stood up again and took Neia's hands in hers, "For the first time since coming to this nightmare...I have hope for something other than death. Thank you." she said, and went out the door.

Neia stood up after Illyana left.

"Impressive." CZ said.

"No wonder you follow him." Skana said to them both, "That offer was inspired."

Neia and CZ gave her an almost perfectly synchronized nod.

"I have to go out, check our people, see if anyone left last night, and find out if Tinamoc needs anything, you two can relax here for now, I promise I won't go anywhere without you." Neia said with a grin, and walked out before they could protest.

Neia checked in with the party on watch in the lobby, only one group had signed out the previous day, and they'd come back in disgust, the rest had thought better of it and remained in their rooms. When she went to the formation, several of those reported 'buying' some of the elves they'd seen, and asked, to Neia's pride, how soon they could get them out of their chains and out of the city. It was pretty clear she was not the only one to feel the oppression of this place. Several others had asked for pay advances because they'd been sickened by what they saw and wanted to use their pay to free several of those they'd seen around the city, they heard a scream somewhere in the distance that punctuated their words, and they itched to draw weapons.

"Fight to win, not to die bravely." Neia said sharply. She fell the formation out and had them come close to her, and she whispered to one group after another that she had sought the aid of Ainz Ooal Gown, and that even while she was out here with them, elves were being questioned by a newly recruited agent within the hotel, if the elves were willing to fight, then Ainz was going to make them citizens of his country when everything was said and done.

That seemed to settle them down somewhat. "Return to the hotel for now. I'll let you go out in teams to 'buy' elves for the caravan, and I'll ask Tinamoc to give you advances on your pay or to let us borrow in exchange for payments from our temple's funds to cover the cost of loans."

There was some comfort in what Neia said, and her people filtered back to their rooms, they'd all found elves sent to their rooms as well, and there was a sickening general agreement that the city needed to burn. Neia wasn't about to talk them out of that.

When she made her way to the lobby, Tinamoc was waiting for her. "Let me guess, you need me?" Neia asked.

"Yes." He said.

"I'm going to be visiting the council, and it would help my presence to have you escort me." He said.

Neia gripped her sword tight enough to turn her knuckles white as she contemplated meeting the oligarchy behind this twisted city, but she bit her tongue and ground her teeth together and managed to get out, "If that is your wish."

"It isn't." He said, "But it is necessary." He said somewhat apologetically.

"Should CZ attend as well?" She asked.

"The maid demon of the Sorcerer King?" He asked rhetorically. "Might be a good idea." He nodded. "Alright, her too."

As they left the hotel, the same elf boy from the previous day approached drawing their horses behind him, his eyes downcast, he held the reins out to them, and it was then that Neia saw that he had a large ugly purple bruise on his face. She paused, she was about to ride away, about to keep her 'tolerant' appearance up...but she felt something snap inside her. She got down off her horse and knelt in front of the boy.

"Point to the one who did that." She said, pointing to his face. He turned pale, making the ugly bruise look even worse. "Its OK, trust me." She said. The boy pointed to a man near the entrance of the hotel, and she whispered, "Stay here." And held the reins of her horse back out to him.

"Neia..." Tinamoc began, but she turned her face to him and took of her visor, and his mouth closed. "Just make sure you have a good excuse." He said after a moment.

Her cloak flapped behind her and her killing intent was already strong enough that it didn't take the man very long to realize that she was behind him. He turned around and saw her face, but he was more confused than anything else.

"You've offended me." Neia said with a snarl as she looked over the pampered but...at least somewhat bulky man. He wore silk clothing and expensive leather boots, he also had numerous rings on his fingers and an expensive looking necklace.

"What?!" He asked.

"YOU...have offended me." She said again, her voice colder than mountain snow.

"How?!" He asked.

"That boy over there attends my retinue personally. You made me look at ugly marks on him, you have offended me, and now you will suffer for it, we do not pay at the best hotel in Wenmark to see bruises." She said, and by now several others were gathering who overheard her rising voice.

"He moved to slowly..." The man began to sputter.

"Broken and damaged ones tend to do that." She said. "See, watch."

And before he could say anything more her fist plowed into his nose.

"My dose, you bwoke my dose!" he said, unaware she'd pulled her punch a little to keep him conscious, so that he could feel what happened next, which was her palm striking his ribs, cracking several first on the left side, then on the right. Followed by a punch to his belly button that crumpled him and brought him to his knees.

She spat on his face, and drew her hand back, and began to slap him across his face with the utmost contempt, tears formed in his eyes and obscured his vision of her, but his mind held the terrifying vision of her eyes nonetheless. "Marks offend me. Your weakness offends me. It is very unhealthy to offend me." She said, each sentence punctuated by another slap until he toppled over on his side as he flailed his hands and arms in a futile attempt at fending her off. When he toppled, she drew back her foot and kicked him, it rolled him onto his back, and Neia was suddenly reminded of the meaning behind the name of this hotel and she kicked his ankles, forcing his legs open. "Never...ever...offend me." Neia said, and she brought the full force of her strength, which was greater than that of a platinum ranked adventurer, down between his legs in a brutal stomp, prompting a scream that had people go silent for a long way around her, before he passed out.

Neia looked at the gawking people who had stopped to watch. "Someone make sure this shit doesn't just die right here." She said, her voice clearly conveying that she did not care if he died or not. "Oh, and do pass the word, Black Justice is staying at this hotel, and we are offended by seeing marks on anyone that might serve us."

There were a number of swallows, and Neia was quite sure that the rumor mill of Wenmark was as busy as that of Yanana, and within hours the Golden Roan would find its guests being much more gentle...or at least...not as obvious. It wasn't perfect, but Neia comforted herself with the thought that it was a start. She returned to her horse where the boy barely suppressed a smile, handed her the reins, and walked away. Neia spurred her horse into a canter, as did Tinamoc.

"Feel better?" He asked.

"No. But it's a fucking start." She said.

 **AN: Yeah, so...Wenmark is a pretty dark place, judging by the reviews and PMs I've gotten, I'd say I've evoked the image of this city just the way I wanted, and there is a LOT more to go here. Some of you may be wondering if it is based on anywhere in the real world, and yes, it is, its an amalgam of several places at different times. I'll let you figure out which ones yourselves, but suffice it to say this isn't going to be as bloodless as Yanana or even Prart. Enjoy the ride, and please, leave reviews. :)**


	28. Meeting Evil

They rode in silence for awhile through the city, Neia kept her eyes straight ahead of her and her back was ramrod straight, despite her best efforts, she could not completely contain her killing intent, but as it was undirected at anyone, it gave her an oppressive air that was so generalized that...it helped her fit in. Tinamoc rode beside her, but could think of nothing worth saying to fill the silence that she'd slipped into. For her own part, she couldn't help but notice the guards riding on the road ahead of her, they wore high quality armor, it wasn't plate mail, they were wearing chain mail, but the links were not all steal, many of them appeared to be platinum, mythril, and orichalcum, all interspersed with steel ones.

Neia gradually realized they were closing on one particularly ominous looking building, and decided to break the silence. "Their armor is different." She said.

"Remember when I was talking about the mines out here?" Tinamoc asked, to which Neia nodded.

"They have orichalcum mines mythril mines, platinum mines, iron mines...there is a lot out here, and because it is close, it is inexpensive...relatively speaking, and so they buy materials and make links, they still don't have enough coming in to make full plate suits for everybody, but links are cheap, if produced in odd numbers anyway, and so they make mixed chain armor that is unique to the Holy Kingdom, and to this city in particular. Because the links vary in strength, but it only takes one good link to stop a slash, they use fewer of the strongest links, and it frees up more material for other projects or more suits of armor." He explained.

"Very clever." She said begrudgingly.

"They may not be very good, but that doesn't make them stupid." He replied.

"If only it did." She said.

"If only." He replied.

They fell into silence again, with no small amount of discomfort, as normally happens after a bout of temper, even if it was not directed at the one present.

Neia was grateful when they arrived at a large wrought iron gate, two guards in full orichalcum plate and halberds with mythril heads stood by.

"Tinamoc Garamoj, merchant." He said.

"Neia Baraja, Black Justice." She said.

As they checked the list and opened the gate, the pair rode through without another word. As they passed out of earshot, the guards said to one another, "That was the squire of the Sorcerer King, did you FEEL that?" He asked.

The other one nodded numbly, "I would not...not...not want that one coming after me. Its what you'd expect out of a servant of the undead."

They closed the gate behind the two, and a servant...a human one this time, approached and took their horses by the reins as they dismounted.

It caught Neia by surprise that he wore no chains. This prompted her to look him over more closely, he had sandy hair and clean but not excessively rich clothing, his hands were calloused but his face was soft, he wore good boots and was armed with a small dagger and a short sword. "You're a servant here?"

He smiled, "In a manner of speaking, I'm an apprentice, my father works in one of the offices, I'm going to take over his job one day, so this is where I'm starting out, learning the grounds and how things work."

"That makes sense." Neia said simply, "Very well, thank you for taking the horses." Shes aid politely.

"This way Neia." Tinamoc said, and started walking, the door was opened by another human servant, also a young man, and as Tinamoc lead the way down the corridor, Neia noticed a distinct lack of any of the elf servants that were so common elsewhere. As her confusion grew, Tinamoc noticed and explained, "Simply put, they don't trust them that close."

"If only they did." Neia said with regret as she imagined how easy it would be to bring them down then.

It was the rational efficiency of it all that disgusted Neia the most. The human guards she'd seen were disciplined and well equipped, better than most of the places she'd been, the streets were orderly and clean. The layout for the city was predictable even in their horror, every square contained a a pair of punishment pillars, visible so regularly that she couldn't help but imagine that they were there as much to remind the servant class of their existence, as they were for actual practical use. The servant classes were obedient and quiet, whether human or elf, but only the humans in those green and white chains...and not all of the white ones, had any evidence of hope on their faces.

Neia kept her mouth shut from that point forward, keeping her thoughts to herself as she took note of the layout of the place. It was a step up from the red brick of the hotel, this building was made of soap stone, beautifully polished, and decorated with elaborate paintings and frescos that were literally made by careful placement of stone, it was just before the entry to the main council chamber that she was brought to a sudden stop with a mixture of horror and awe. On the ceiling, the stone patterns had been arranged to reveal humanity and the gods, an elaborate scene representing a heavenly paradise, but in every human hand there were whips. Meanwhile on the floor, there the multicolored stone was laid out to show demihumans and other races, all of them chained or bleeding, all eyes turned upwards towards the ceiling in fear. No human was represented with dignity, and though Neia had fought demihumans before, her experience with orcs, elves, and her time in the Sorcerous Kingdom, not to mention her time in Nazarick, had taught her that they were no less deserving of life and dignity than she was. The contrast between the 'heaven' in the ceiling and the 'hell' on the floor that she was now walking over, made her stomach roil. More than anything she'd seen so far, this beautiful and terrible opulent chamber where people waited to see the heads of the city government, encapsulated all that she saw was wrong here.

"It is...impressive." She said with ambiguous truthfulness, as it truly did make an impression on her.

Pretending she meant other than she did, the uncomfortable Tinamoc replied, "Yes it is, the art style here is quite unique." He knelt to the stone under him, moving his foot off of the terrified face of an elf. "To make this, they mine soap stone in the thousands of tonnes, then the artists cut stone pieces down some times as much as a finger width to make just the right shape, sometimes injecting shading dyes into the porous material to get just the right shade, then they use magic to seal the stone back together seamlessly, creating it like a great puzzle piece. The floor underneath us is probably no more than a finger's thickness and is laid over cheap granite, and I would say that the ceiling is done much the same way. Its all very...impressive." He said, putting the same meaning into the word that Neia had, by way of his tone of voice.

In front of them there were two enormous bronze doors. They had elaborate sculpted shapes, showing the six gods standing with their palms up, as if commanding anyone coming in front of them to halt. It was particularly impressive since the doors went up thirty feet up from the floor to the high ceiling, and Neia wondered just how they planned on opening it. Her answer was not long in coming, when she heard the turning of a crank echoing from the other side as the door opened slowly, she concluded that they used a system of pulleys in the walls, augmented by gears to ensure they didn't have to use muscle to hold anything in place.

She allowed Tinamoc to step through first, and then she followed. The chamber was not the dark and oppressive place she expected, a skylight was atop a rounded dome that the ceiling became, and it flooded the chamber with the light of the Sun. The seating was very high, she saw that the chamber went from being a flat surface at the door, to about three quarters before the other side of the room, and there it became a stairway that gradually moved around the curving side of the room, which lead to a large platform where a black stone panel rested. It to curved around, bowing away from the entrance, and various men and women dressed differently from one another, sat next to one another, those dressed alike, all sat together, which told Neia that they were members of the same factions. The military faction was clear, they wore martial uniforms with decorations on the breast, and bits of light armor such as vambraces on their forearms, and she thought she detected pauldrons and rerebraces underneath the fabric covering the shoulders and biceps. She couldn't tell the material, probably leather or very thin metal, but it gave them a size difference outside the norm. The five of those sat on the far left side of the table. On the far right, merchants were equally obvious, they were richly dressed in silks, and jewelry, and on the breast of each of them she saw a what she guessed was a symbol for the product category they specialized in. Metal, wood, and one of them wore the embroidered image of a whip. She guessed what his product was, and as she smiled politely, she vowed he would die screaming. There were four of them, but five chairs.

The other seats were taken up by men in suits and priestly robes, representing other factions of the oligarchy. Neia barely suppressed her urge to snort at the lordly image these 'creatures' tried to create for themselves. Their finest work was nothing but child's scratches compared to what she'd seen in Nazarick, and their lordly airs, which they tried to put on by setting themselves ten feet higher than a grown man's head, seemed petty. She'd knelt before the king of kings, the god of gods, these were nothing to his ageless and dignified reign. They lacked the air of kings, whatever their efforts. The white light of the chamber gave off an air of an attempt at holiness, one she found sickening given what she'd seen of the city.

"Its good to see you Tinamoc." One of the women sitting with the priests said.

"And you also, Lady Reika." Tinamoc said with a polite bow of his head.

"I expected you to come back with your uncle." She said, "He went to the Golden Roan to meet you before you came here, there are...urgent matters to discuss." She said.

"How strange." Tinamoc said, I didn't see him, we must have missed one another by mere minutes.

"Who is that behind you?" A firm voiced man in the military faction asked.

"Lord Ginya, that is Lady Neia Baraja, the King assigned her and her party of fighters to secure my caravan along the course of our trade mission. Her support has been invaluable, I would not be here if not for her." Tinamoc answered, and Neia nodded politely.

"I've heard of you." He said.

"Thank you." Neia replied.

"I didn't say I'd heard good things." Lord Ginya replied.

"That depends on what you call good. If you've heard what I've said and done, then I say I've done very good things. If you think those things to be bad, well I doubt we will see eye to eye on what being 'good' means." Neia said sharply, offering a not all that subtle implied criticism of his moral worth, it was good enough to shut him up at least, but his eyes didn't leave her.

The priests for their part, had begun to stare daggers at her. Neia took their stares impassively at first, then she looked down, removed her visor and folded it so that it would hang from the breast of her armor, just below her neck, and then she raised her face back up and met their eyes with hers. Between her reputation and her terrifying gaze, it was not something they were prepared for, and the silent war of hate between the rival religions filled the air with tension, but one by one the priests broke their gaze away, unable to bear the terrible eyes of the mad eyed archer.

The tension was broken when an industrialist spoke up, "I understand you've been reestablishing trade ties all over the Kingdom, very impressive, we've actually had contacts from some of the trade offices you've reestablished. Prart sent an envoy recently, and so did several villages through them, we've heard a great deal, and...military concerns aside, its all been a boon for business. So will you be buying up anything in particular while you're here?"

"I'll be purchasing grain with the intention of taking it North on the return trip, but I've also noticed the abundance of elves here, and I was hoping to acquire some for a test run of domestic service elsewhere." Tinamoc replied, quickly creating a cover story for the purchases of elves he was sure was already taking place.

"Would the king approve?" A merchant asked curiously.

"If one won't, the next will." Tinamoc said with a grim voice. It was met with several wolfish grins, but Neia found herself also faced with some concerned looks in her direction. "Is it alright to say that around...her?" Lady Reika asked.

Neia looked stone faced at the woman and stayed silent.

"If you can say it to me, you can say it to her." Tinamoc answered firmly. That drew some looks of doubt, but mostly relief.

Neia's arms crossed in front of her. "My loyalty is reserved for the divine and for my people. No one will hear what you say, who should not." She said in a voice that fairly dared anyone to call her a liar.

There was silence for a moment, and then Tinamoc spoke up. "As I said, I trust her completely."

That fairly settled the matter, for the present at least.

Neia drifted off into her own thoughts as Tinamoc haggled out the fine points of how he would trade, what he would charge, how long he would remain, and what goods he was willing to accept in place of currency for future trading. In the end, he came away with a license that allowed him and his caravan to trade in every quarter square, as well as allowing all his merchants the right to yell for their goods, and the right to take penitent workers...i.e. slaves, outside of the city walls as long as they were guarded. The one thing that caught Neia's attention was the punishment clause.

"...And also, as you have agreed to yield a ten percent tax on gross sales as opposed to net, you are entitled to the punishment clause for life sentenced penitent labor, placing full discretion on the matter of their lives in your hands. However any that you put down will result in compensation to the city treasury for the cost of future resale, with a total fine for unskilled child labor to be seven silver coins, unskilled adult labor to be twenty silver coins, and skilled adult labor to be assessed on a by profession basis." Lady Reika said, reading off the terms.

"I have a substantial party with me at the Golden Roan," Tinamoc replied, "I can't swear that the soldiers in particular will be considerate of the costs of damaging the females. Are they counted as skilled or unskilled?" He asked with a cold mask on his face.

There was a brief conversation between the priests and the merchants, in the end concluding with Lady Reika saying, "At high end establishments costing two gold or higher per day, they will be counted as skilled labor, at cheaper locations where the cost is as low as a few coppers or silver equal to half the value of a gold piece, they will be considered unskilled labor, with the cheapest places being priced the same way as the cost of unskilled child labor." She gave her decision like she was giving the weather report.

Neia felt sick again. She comforted herself by imagining the room on fire.

She tried not to listen in on the remainder before she saw Tinamoc bow, and she imitated him stiffly before, with equal stiffness to her bow, she turned around and began to walk out behind him

Tinamoc kept the mask on his face. "Hold it in." He said roughly under his breath. "Keep it together till we get the fuck out of here and back to the hotel."

"I admit...I drifted off there for a bit, how long are we staying?"

"Three weeks." Tinamoc said.

Neia raised an eyebrow. "Most of our visits have been for a few days at most, why so long?" She asked.

"Because of the way this city is centralized, a lot of goods pass through here that I'll be trading for, I don't know if you've noticed, but aside from dropping people off, I've been dropping weight as well." He said, prompting Neia to look at him dubiously.

He smiled broadly for the first time since getting to Wenmark, and he began to explain in an animated fashion, "I always begin with the heaviest and most raw goods, then I trade my way up, as the goods I acquire get smaller and lighter, more and more value is taken up in a smaller and smaller caravan, until I reach my final step and need only deposit the wealth and the credit documents to the merchant's guild house. Thus my expenses continue to decrease at every step of the journey as less and less food is required, I can even sell the wagons if I don't take on enough passengers looking to move from one city to another."

"That is...brilliant." Neia said with sincere admiration.

Tinamoc bowed in mock humility, "Yes, yes it is." He said with a raw and happy smile.

By then they arrived at the entrance and a pair of horses was lead over to them both, they remounted and rode out at a gentle trot, "By the way," Tinamoc said, "I really enjoyed seeing you beat the living piss out of my uncle."

Neia did a double take at his words. "That was your uncle?!" She exclaimed.

"In all his disgusting glory." Tinamoc said, his face beamed, "Don't even consider apologizing, he's a vile, nasty man and I wouldn't doubt that he was just using visiting me to see if the hotel had any new elf women to make a room worth staying in."

"Will I ever find anything in this city that doesn't disgust me?" Neia asked with a sigh.

"Not much. I'll grant that the artisans are second to none, they make amazing works, but...everything here is tainted." Tinamoc said, "When people are steeped in evil long enough, they lose the ability to tell what is good and what is not. And when one generation grows up after another, learning from the ones who came before who didn't know evil when they saw it, that generation is convinced that the evil they do is actually good." He said. A shriek echoed somewhere in the distance, but it didn't register with anyone except the public workers, their shivvers of fear made their chains rattle.

Neia's hands went tight on her mount's reins. They were silent the rest of the way back to the hotel.

When Neia entered the hotel lobby, bade Tinamoc a productive day and went immediately up to her room, she found Illyana, CZ, and Skana sitting and waiting for her. She closed the door behind her and locked it, then moved smoothly over to the table and took her seat. Emotionally drained, Neia slumped backward in her chair and put the back of her hand over her face. "Skana, I hate to ask, but I'd love some tea if we have any."

Before Skana could react, Illyana had already stood up, "I will do it." She said. Skana and Neia looked at each other hesitantly before Skana said, "Its OK, I'll do it."

CZ looked curious. "Why does it matter who does it?"

Skana turned to CZ and said, "Neia asked me because we're...lets just say 'bound' together, we do things for one another out of affection, like you do with your stickers." She gestured to Illyana, "Illyana is a prisoner, to have her to do it would be not a matter of affection, but of cruelty, treating her as if she were a pack animal."

Illyana smiled sweetly, "Its OK, I know its not like that, please, let me do something, however small, because I want to." Skana hesitated, then sat.

"As you wish." She said.

She left the room, and silence filled the space she'd left, it was only broken when CZ took out a sticker and put it on Skana's cheek. "Cute." She said, prompting a smile from Skana.

Neia had begun to undo her boots, and sighed with relief when they were off. "Anything happen while I was out?" she asked.

"Several of our people have bought elf slaves, CZ suggested creating dossiers on them so we could identify them by name, family, profession, and so on. That way they could be reuinted with their families later, or they could be more easily integrated into the Sorcerer Kingdom. I assigned one of our people to it already, and they're being..." Her face twisted in disgust, "stored...in the warehouse district, a number of our people have donated blankets and other materials to them to make them more comfortable." Skana said.

"Do they know?" Neia asked.

"No, absolutely not. I wasn't going to risk anything until Illyana gave her report to us today." Skana answered.

It was at that moment when the sound of knocking happened on the door. CZ opened it up, and Illyana entered carrying a tray of silver, a glass teapot sat on the tray, as well as three cups. Neia raised an eyebrow. "You forgot a cup Illyana." She said as she began to straighten and return to a mindset that was all business.

Illyana shook her head. "I'm an elf, I'm a slave here, if I brought four cups to three humans, I'd draw suspicious looks."

"I'm not a human." CZ said.

"What...?" Illyana asked.

"I'm one of the maid demons of Ainz Ooal Gown, he sent me here to watch over Neia." She said with a flat emotionless tone.

Illyana could scarcely believe what she was hearing. "You...don't hate humans, or elves?" She asked with surprise.

"No." CZ replied. "These two I like." She added, and put a sticker on each of them again. "Cute." She added once again.

"Amazing." Illyana said, finding that she was having to constantly reevaluate what she was learning.

"So, what were you able to accomplish?" Neia asked as Illyana poured the tea.

"A lot. With all of you here, things are a bee hive of activity, and I was able to get messages to most of the people who were leaving the hotel, the vines are growing, a few have already come back positive. There is a problem however." She said.

Neia and Skana wore concerned expressions. "Which is?" Neia prompted.

"You've seen the city guard, they're arguably some of the best soldiers in the South, they're very well equipped and very well trained, highly organized, just like the rest of the city. Some of the elves here have experience in the war with the Slane Theocracy, but most of them are like me, captured peasants from isolated towns that our wonderfuly king," Her expression turned bitter and her tone was deeply sarcastic, "didn't care enough about to defend, we have no idea how to fight, most of us have never held anything more dangerous than a broom or a pitchfork. If we don't know how to fight, what chance do we really have? Nobody wants to just throw their life away pointlessly, we could do that even without foreign aid." Illyana said sadly, shaking her head as she tried to imagine her fellow slaves trying to fight back.

When she looked up, she saw savage, wolfish smiles on the faces of Neia and Skana, who had locked eyes with one another.

The smiles were vicious looking, and they reached down and took a sip out of their tea cups. Skana cracked first, and began to laugh, and as Neia set her cup down she said, in a voice as sweet as sugar on a fresh baked pie, "I think we know some people who can help with that."

"Good tea." CZ said, as her cup went back down to the table with the others, and Illyana looked on in confusion.

 **AN: The buildup begins, this particular story will be 'on hold' for a few days while I write chapters for the rest...well...sort of on hold, I've already written the chapters, I'm just not going to add them until I've gotten more on the rest done. Thanks to all the well wishes for my friend in the hospital, he's doing fine, came out today, he's on bed rest for the next two weeks and has more pills than a Pfizer factory, but he'll be up and about in no time. I'll be doing some short branch stories (just a handful of chapters) to detail the events through the eyes of Blue Rose, and Memory & a Message will be brought up to speed as soon as I've uploaded the chapter detailing Caspond's assassination. I WILL be doing a bit of a time skip in Wenmark, I tossed out some material I'd written for it as redundant, so don't worry, you're not going to be sitting through 3 weeks of general dislike in this vile city. :) Its enough to establish the place and lay the events out so that I can bring matters to a head. **

**Thanks again for reading! And of course, please review! :)**


	29. Q&A Intermission

Just the Q&A chapter. I was going to hold off on this, but...now is as good a time as any. I think I got all of them from PM and in the reviews for all the stories. Apologies if I missed yours.

Q. Why the short chapters?

A. A few reasons...first, sometimes a point simply feels 'natural' to stop at before transitioning to the next stage. Second, it allows for more frequent updating. Third, it allows me time to 'tweak' a few things here and there, it takes less time for me to edit along the way. Fourth, the story structure actually benefits from this, the flow of the story is the chief dictator of the length of the chapter. A segment that is slow paced can take a period of days to go through, where one portion feeds into the next, by contrast, when a chapter is fast paced, it makes more sense to get it all out in one go. My longest chapter was...I think...11,000+ words, that was the fall of Prart. Originally it was set to take place over several days, with Detective Neia Holmes uncovering corruption and conducting covert operations to bring down the whole rotten ediface, but I threw that entire story away, it just didn't come out right no matter how I worked it, Neia is still young, she's passionate, she doesn't have the innocence she had before the war, but her fanaticism, power, and passion, made immediate action more natural, so that story came out in one go. Others...just work better with frequent breaks.

Q. Why the branches?

A. I like a world to have depth, to not take place in a vacuum, these branch stories let me show the world through different eyes and show how the world at large is reacting to events, and shaping them through their own, giving...if I'm doing it right, a more dynamic and natural feel rather than just the protagonist having stumbled into something or enemy action simply seeming contrived as mere plot devices. Plus...world building is fucking fun. :)

Q. Did X story influence the ideology here.

A. I think it is reasonable to say that 'Masks They Wear' had an influence on this, though how much is hard to say, a lot of influences are at work, but the way that story 'matured' Ainz ten years into his time in the New World, was especially impressive. All in all I suppose its the way I see Ainz himself, as a traditional king, ruthless yes, but not evil for its own sake, and the direction he'd grow in, while trying to be responsible. If I did a story set ten years after the conclusion of this one, I think that would end up a lot like the version of him represented in 'Masks' so I probably won't write that story, that author has already done to good a job.

Q. Has Neia's talent grown stronger?

A. Yes, this was illustrated in a chapter after this question, but to answer it again, yes. She can now influence people beyond simply those who have undergone trauma. Now...she doesn't control their minds, she can't just turn someone against everything they believe in. But she has the charisma to take charge and get people to listen to her who are emotionally lost and in need of direction. She inspires people to do what she wants because they want to, especially after she does something significant to change the world they know. This is why she was able to drive the disillusioned priests and paladins of Prart who survived the riot, to follow her guidance. Had they not been disillusioned, shocked, and disgusted with their orders and themselves, to the point where they didn't know what to do, they might not have listened, and had her power not grown, she could not have convinced them. But constant practice has let her take her ability a step farther than in the past.

Q. How strong is Neia

A. Depends on what you mean, she's uniquely powerful with her archery, her ability to direct an arrow and to put magic power into her shots makes her one of the most dangerous humans in the world...with that particular weapon. But she's not that great with a sword, averaging her out, between her training in Nazarick, items, experience, and innate abilities, she's roughly on par with a mythril ranked adventurer. But...if all she had was a sword, no items, and was facing a mythril ranked adventurer decked out in appropriate level equipment, who was good with a sword, she'd definitely lose.

In ideal conditions with her weapon of choice and innate ability, at a distance she could pose a threat to some Adamantite adventurers, after all at a bow shot away with an arrow you can't dodge that is imbued with power from the Ultimate Shooting Star...that'd present a problem to most figures. In the LN her bow killed...what was it? Fifty in one hit or something? And she managed to hold out against a large number of them for a considerable period of time.

Sooo...not really a black and white question. Lets just say don't expect her to take on Remedios with a sword and win, but don't expect Remedios to be eager to take on her bow at a distance.

Q. Do you even have time for sleep with how many chapters you are writing?

A. I sleep about 4-5 hours per night. That is plenty for me. Six if I'm sleeping in.

Q. What did the guardian's think of a human stealing from Ainz, and how's Ainz going to play it off as his master plan?

A. They're not what you'd call fans. 'lol' The rest would be spoilers, so lets just say you wouldn't want to be Count Handor any more than you'd want to be the Baron.

Q. Why not do all the side stories you asked for preferences on?

A. I plan to actually, some as one shots, some as multichapter stories, that was just to see what people liked best so I could decide what to do first. Yes I can write what I want, but I like all of them, so...why not let the readers cast the deciding vote? What is a writer without a reader? :)

Q. Why did no one question Neia's authority to pass judgement in Prart?

A. Part of it was because of the growth of her evangelism ability, I alluded to this in a much earlier chapter, but another part of this was a result of the public exposure of the corruption of the temples and the city government...and since Neia was the one who overthrew it...well...people rarely question the winner's decisions. These particular men were emotionally 'lost' after what happened, and with her ability as an evangelist she could speak to their need for redemption. If that wasn't clear enough, I may have to go back and edit that chapter of the fall of Prart to detail more about their emotional state after it's fall.

Q. What does the 'BD' in your charity's name stand for?

A. It stands for 'Better Direction'.

Q. How often will new chapters come out.

A. Between daily and semidaily. Expect to never wait more than a week before one or more of these stories is updated, and if it is that long, expect several updates in quick succession.

Q. Are all the citizens of the Theocracy constantly indoctrinated, or is this brainwashing performed only upon the scriptures and special agents?

A. Its a deeply entrenched cultural norm. Based on the LN representation, militancy and faith is imbued in the whole society.

Q. What happens there to produce this fanaticism?

A. This was chiefly answered in "The Waiting Never Stopped" but if you want to skip that story, short version is childhood education. As someone once said, "Give me the child till seven, and I will give you the man."

Q. How preplanned are your stories?

A. VERY. I detail a story arc outline, then under each arc I create sub events, which may have other small sub events. Then I study a subject on at least a surface level if it is relevant, then I write the story and release it. For example, here is a partial outline for a one chapter of "Unholy Rose"

C1 - The Abellion Hills

-Finding cross species habitation

-What species

-What architecture (minor detail)

-Demihuman and heteromorph culture

-Hints of collaboration

-Mutual cooperation

-law

-Dispute resolution

-Crime and punishment and Ainz

-Change in perspective

-Blue Rose reactions

-Blue rose reflections

And to detail the road construction scene, I looked up how ancient Romans built roads without modern surveying equipment and read about that for twenty or thirty minutes before writing that scene. I already know how every story is going to end well before I write a single chapter. I do make changes along the way, but I find structure works best for me.

Q. When is the South going to tip into war?

A. Bit of a spoiler to answer that, but since everybody knows this is coming...well...story wise not that long. In real time? I probably won't be up to that point for a few weeks since I plan on wrapping up the side stories that draw characters where I want them to be first.

Q. Why did you make Neia gay?

A. Well, I don't think she's necessarily 'gay', I mean its not like people don't drift on that subject. Honestly...I almost skipped this question since it seemed more like a complain than a real question...but...I did say I'd do a Q&A chapter and given the ties between Neia & Skana, I'd be doing a disservice to skip this question so...here is my answer. Yes Neia in the LN is a teenage girl who is fairly innocent. However...war steals innocence. She's had to grow up, and she wasn largely grown up already even at the most innocent that we saw her, she was a scout living and working with the Paladin Order, she's 'grown up' sotospeak. Nobody stays innocent forever, and as a human being, she'd seek connection, feel affection, love, longing, and so on, and perhaps more so because her work necessarily keeps her isolated and her physical features diminish her appeal, and always have, which is why her violent mother beat her when she dared express frustration and resentment over her eyes. I honestly wasn't sure just how she'd develop relationship wise, but the character Skana felt right. If Robel or Gilcrest had gone with her, that might have worked too, but Skana was things Neia wasn't, which includes traits Neia felt drawn to. I glossed over it early on, though a few readers picked up on it early...but no, I hadn't planned on any LGBTQ propaganda, I don't plan on doing this as an erotic novel, and I'm not out to bash anyone over the head with a lesbian stick. Neia is, like any other human, more than just a collection of mission oriented goals, and I wanted to show not only an unexplored depth to her character that happened to work best with another woman. If someone is anti-gay or something, I am not writing this story to change their mind, but if they're OK with a story that opens with a skeleton grabbing a succubus tits and have no problem with talking hamsters and lolicon vampire monsters...doesn't seem like two women liking each other should be beyond anyone's ability to suspend their disbelief. :) So...there is that answer.

Q. Could potions or others outside of the temples heal the guilty in Yanana?

A. Yes, the following chapter actually mentioned this as an illustration of the bias of the city's judicial system.

Q. When will all hell break loose?

A. Guestimate? Probably around Chapter 50. Depends on how long some chapters are.

Q. In Chapter 21 why would Ainz do something so reckless?

A. I didn't see that as being excessively reckless. I thought it would be more reckless to do nothing and give the appearance that he can be challenged without consequence.

Q. Why don't you use amnesia spells or mind control magic?

A. Its a bit to overpowered. There might be instances of manipulation, but taken to far it just ruins the story telling element.

Q. If Ainz tells Neia about his true personality and all of his secrets, would she still follow and worship him?

A. Kind of depends on how far that goes. If he tells her how he really is, dropping his kingly act, she'd probably continue to follow him, though it might diminish the worship act. But I can't see her forgiving him for ruining her country with Jaldabaoth. Her parents died, she saw her people tortured, I don't think she'd let that go. Maybe if she thought he'd only held off assisting as a test...but not if she found out he was behind it.

Q. How long does it take you to write a chapter?

A. Between 30 minutes to 1 hour on average if you discount prep time from research and outline construction. A few have taken 2-3 hours broken up over the course of a day before an evening release, but most don't take that long.

Q. Will Wenmark burn in holy flame.

A. Bit of a spoiler it'd be to reveal that. Just don't buy property there. ;)

Q. Will Blue Rose visit Wenmark.

A. I almost didn't answer this...but...fuck it...its not really a spoiler so much as something to look forward to, yes, yes they will.

Q. Will Wenmark be the last city Neia will impose her justice upon?

A. Honestly...probably, I have two more city visits in mind...but I may cut those from the outline as events are drawing more to a head, it would make less sense for her to be away from the center of the storm at a critical time, so those might get trimmed.

Q. If you have more chapters written, why not release them?

A. In part because they overlap events in other stories that aren't at the same point yet. As this comes to a head, the stories will come more in sync together and the branch stories will close, with the main story having the sole focus from thereon out.

Q. In 'The Queen in the Sword' will Gustav's admission to the skeleton earn him a pardon.

A. I guess this isn't much of a spoiler, bottom line is...yes. I think Ainz would forgive loyalty, probably not greed, but loyalty? He might be moved enough by the memory of his friends to forgive that.

Q. Would Gustav betray the kingdom and side with Remedios?

A. Not really no. To save his commander once out of loyalty? Sure. To sit by while she goes on a killing spree targeting innocent people at large? No. The bonds of war are not lightly broken, but everything has a limit, and Remedios as you're probably seeing now, has crossed it.

Q. How the hell do you write so much?

A. Already have it in my head, and have an outline beforehand, outlines are my favorite tool, I think most stories that go completely off the rails, do so because the authors write organically and lose focus. An outline that gets more detailed as I go makes things much, much easier. Know what you want to write before you really write it, and its very simple.

Q. How will other demihumans see Ainz?

A. Depends on how he takes them over. To Neia he is justice because that was how he presented his focus, and it is what she adopted. Demihumans that value strength will probably see him as a wargod, I may do more future stories about taking over various demihuman groups, and each one would probably lead to some variations in how he's understood through the lens of their cultures.

Q. What do you do for a living?

A. I'm currently on active duty military as a result of being 'reactivated' for the reserves. They have me working as an instructor at Fort Bliss where I train soldiers and civilian contractors in various subjects such as combat casualty care, weapon handling (via a simulator called an EST), and a few other subjects. But in my 'real' civilian life I'm a project manager overseeing software development and modification for the Department of Defense. I'm also a writer (I have a few books under my belt for unrelated and mostly nonfiction subjects, such as a short text on Evolutionary Theory) and run a nonprofit charity in my spare time. I like to stay busy.

 **AN: OK well I hope I got everybody's questions from all the current stories and PMs that I've gotten along the way, if I missed yours, I sincerely apologize, send it to me again and I'll update this accordingly. But I 'think' I've gotten every question from every story, and I hope I've answered them clearly.**


	30. Growing the Vine

The next two days were spent just establishing communications, while the elven slaves could not move freely, the humans of Black Justice could, and the Neia's hotel room became ground zero for planning. Illyana became their go to since she was assigned to service the humans, so no amount of coming or going by her was treated suspiciously, as long as she either carried something in or out.

"The elven communication network is good enough that we know a lot before the general populace does, we know who trades with whom, we know who is sleeping with whom, and above all we know what laws will passed or repealed before anyone else outside the central building. However the problem is conveying that information. We've never had a centralized coordinator because we had no place to do that." Illyana said.

"You do now." Neia answered. "You. You'll be working out of here, sorting information for distribution. Your network grows like vines, and we need it to stretch everywhere for this to have a chance. Entwining everything until we find the opportunity to strangle this system."

Illyana frowned, "I'm happy to do that, but I'm only one person, I need two or even three others." She said.

"I have ninety men and women with me, soon to rise back up to one hundred, each of whom has an elf female serving their room. You can have as large a staff as you need. I am just guessing here...but I expect it isn't uncommon for a superior to force a subordinate in the same hotel to give up his...entertainment," she covered her mouth and suppressed the urge to retch, "for the senior's own enjoyment?"

Illyana nodded. "You're correct, it is not uncommon at all." Her eyes welled up, but she fiercly wiped away the tears before they fell, as if to banish whatever she remembered. She then pressed on to say, "That will make this easier. We are your Vines then."

"What else can you tell us?" Skana asked.

"Nobody pays much mind to us." The three women looked at her quizically.

Illyana breathed deeply, "You're thinking of me as a person, but legally I am an object. That chair you're sitting on, when you are not sitting on it, do you take any notice of it? No, you notice it only when you want to use it. Its the same for me, they see me when they want to hurt me, train me, or use me for something, then they forget I exist. Strictly speaking, I am simply a tool that works, according to the law." She said, sounding pragmatic and matter of fact, but beneath it lay a voice filled with heartbreak and bitterness.

CZ looked at the other three women. "Why?" She asked.

"Why what?" Illyana asked in confusion.

"Why do that? In Nazarick, and in the Sorcerer Kingdom, all serve the King, but all who serve are together. Why do you need to do that to each other?" She asked.

"I guess..." Neia scratched her head trying to think of a way to explain this to a demon maid.

"We don't, not really." Skana said. "Some do it because they can, but when someone who wants to be served doesn't deserve to be and doesn't have the personal power to make others serve him, well he will often try to create institutions and laws that will force others down, even though they're no worse than he is in reality. Illyana isn't less than I am. She was born an elf, and I a human, we are closely matched, so enslaving all her kind I could never do, but if I am part of the side who wins a war or captures her while she's weak, my laws and people can break her for me, so that I can get what I don't deserve and she would never give...herself."

Skana's explanation was short, but damning of the city. CZ at least, seemed to accept it.

"Well said Skana." Neia replied.

Illyana continued, her voice carrying a hard edge, "Their neglect of us becomes our ally, when we're not in use, we're locked alone, they do keep guards, but we're thoroughly put through our paces in a terrifying process that turns us into perfect slaves. They create small incentives to keep us divided and easy to rule, for females like me...this place..." she stood and spun herself around until coming back to where she was, encompassing the whole of the Golden Roan with her motion, "this living nightmare of being used like an object is a virtual paradise compared to others. The clients who come here are wealthy, which doesn't make them kinder, but because I'm expensive stock, I cost a lot to replace, so the men and women who come here are not likely to kill me or mark me permanently in such a way that an expensive healing will be required before I can return to work. The low cost brothels are worse, the females there are cheap and easily disposable." She said with a shudder, and Neia remembered the conversation regarding the cost of skilled versus unskilled labor.

"I've been extensively trained in how to please someone, that takes time, but the low cost brothels buy us in bulk, but just as bad as that are the breeding pens, used to offset purchase costs by raising home grown stock, they buy male elves, then they beat them, and the ones that break first are used on females to create children that can be sold..." I'llyana paused as Neia and Skana got up, went to a chamberpot, and vomited in it one right after the other.

"While the males who held out longer are gelded and sold as labor in mines, on boats, or on farms, or do work in the city. But the worst out of all of these things are the pits." She said, her voice taking on a haunted tone and her eyes growing wide with terror.

"What are those?" CZ asked.

"The pits are what they call 'torturtainment' where slaves who are used up and no good for their current work, are tortured to death for the entertainment of the crowd. Its horrific enough that even some of the citizens of this city consider it to be abhorrent, but a wealthy enough part of the population revel in it. I went once, a nobleman wanted to have a beautiful servant on hand to...do things...for him while he watched. I saw...things...before he...before he had me do things...they were terrible enough that it was the only time I was glad to be doing what I was doing...so that I didn't have to see...didn't have to see...but I heard...I heard everything..." Illyana began to shake violently, she hugged her own body as tightly as she shut her eyes, but even that could not keep the tears from seeping out.

"Hey...hey..." Neia said and got up, she went and touched the elf woman's shoulders and knelt in front of her, so that she was looking up at the quivering figure, "Look at me, look at me." She said softly, and Illyana vomited over the front of Neia, then she opened her eyes wide with absolute horror, and terror like Neia had not seen since Jaldabaoth's invasion as she looked at the vomit covered human.

Illyana started babbling apologies, "I'm sorry I'm sorry I'm sorry mistress, please...please let me do anything to clean it up, just don't...don't hurt me...don't hurt me..." She began to sob, her lovely eyes wild with terror as she imagined what could be done to her, she dropped to her knees and searched desperately for a rag before wildly grabbing her own long beautiful blonde hair and wiping at the vomit she'd expelled.

Neia was in shock for a moment, but recovered just as the desperate slave started to wipe at the rather nasty substance with her hair, shaking and crying as she did so, and Neia responded to this by shaking her roughly enough to get her attention. "Illyana, look at me!" She snapped in a fierce, commanding voice that she was sure elves were conditioned to listen to.

Illyana froze and met her eyes. "Its OK." Neia said. "Its alright, I don't blame you, nobody blames you, you didn't do anything wrong alright? You're not there anymore, and you're not going to be punished, do you understand? You're not going to the pits, the pens, or anywhere else, I'm Neia Baraja, and I protect the weak, I do not abuse them. It might be a bit nasty, but...it'll clean up just fine." She gave the traumatized elf a weak smile. "Skana, could you fetch me a towel, it really is rather unpleasant."

"Of course, there are not many bodily expulsions that are not." Skana said dryly, and went and grabbed one for both Neia and Illyana.

"I promise you, on my life and on my faith, nobody will ever do that to you, and you'll never see it or hear it again." Neia said as she began to wipe herself clean, and handed a towel to Illyana to do the same.

The elf woman gradually ceased her shaking and came to her senses, the momentary flashback to her terror passing away, it took several minutes for her to collect herself.

"I think Lord Ainz would hate this place." CZ said curtly.

"Now...focus Illyana, we need to know everything we can, OK?" Neia said to her.

The elf woman nodded mutely.

"Now, you said you're neglected, what kind of conditions are you neglected in? Are you chained up, isolated, able to move around?" Neia asked as she tossed the towel to one side.

Illyana set hers aside and said softly, "We're kept locked up in pens down below, its dungeon like in its security, but we're...expensive, so we're treated a bit better, there is running water to keep ourselves clean, herbs to heal the injuries done by people here." She gestured around to the bedroom. "We are provided with makeup, and basic cleaning equipment, the scraps of what human guests finish are brought to us to eat, so the food isn't even that bad if you don't mind eating what someone else has chewed on and taken bites out of. We don't have beds, we get bed rolls to use."

"And the guards?" Skana asked her.

"The customers fill out comment cards at the end of each stay, and the females with the lowest...satisfaction rating, are sent to the guard's barracks for...practice. I...I went once..." She started shaking violently again. "I won't survive a second time...I won't. But that is all they come in for, after that, they don't come back until morning to open the door to let us out to go to new rooms." Neia held Illyana's hands and waited until the elf calmed herself down.

"That gives us an opening." Neia said softly.

"What?" CZ asked.

"Can I ask Lord Ainz if he can do for the elves here as he did for Black Justice?" Neia asked. "If they are given the time and training we had, then they could fight for their freedom and win." Neia said.

CZ went quiet for a few minutes as messages were exchanged, with CZ asking for help as Neia asked, and waiting for replies, the rest of the room remained quiet, sensing important issues were at hand, until at last CZ turned her attention to the three women. "Lord Ainz has gone from Nazarick to inspect his domain in E-Rantel, Carne Village, and the Empire **(*AN: The Lemurian Paradox story)** , he will be gone for some time. Also, much of the recently made Runecrafted gear has been directed to his army under General Enri Emmot and General Zaryusu Sasha, he will spare some equipment for you however, when you are ready to receive it. He said if you can wait until he returns from his obligations, he is willing to offer some of your elves the training you request."

"It will have to do." Neia said softly. "Illyana, the other females down below, are they willing to fight?" She asked.

"They are." She said, "If there is a chance, then we will take it."

"And how far do these vines spread, can we get training to anyone outside of the Golden Roan?" Skana asked.

Illyana thought about it for a time, tapping her fingers and pondering the question. "There is a way." She said, "It isn't the best, slaves see each other often, but interactions are brief and we live apart. However the public service slaves are the link that binds all within the city. They clean up the discipline places, they work the streets, they collect the garbage, they pass through the great estates to deliver messages, if it happens in this city, somewhere there is a public service slave that takes part in some way."

Neia and Skana shared a look. "This is...not going to be easy." Neia said.

"No." Skana agreed. "This won't be like the villages, the demihumans, or Prart, or even Yanana."

"Tinamoc is 'purchasing' some as well, we can train them reliably at least, we'll just have to establish a camp somewhere secure, somewhere we can train safely." Neia said, "The rest, we can provide them with one new instruction per day and allow them to spread the knowledge of that one single maneuver, and practice it only in isolation each night."

"We only have three weeks." Skana said. "Can we delay departure any?"

"Probably not. Or if so, not by much...this...isn't going to work at all. Not the way I want to do it, not like Prart." She said.

"Why not do the opposite?" CZ asked simply.

"What?" Neia said.

"Just get out." CZ answered in her usual neutral tone, that to the now familiar Neia & Skana was recognizable as at least a little condescending, as if she was stating the obvious.

Neia and Skana shared a look, while Illyana for a moment looked as if she was going to start sobbing, thinking that CZ had suggested they abandon the elves and both Neia & Skana were considering it.

"She's got a point." Neia said, "We don't have to take the city, just get out of it. There are forests, boats, hill country, we need to treat this as a prison break rather than a conquest, victory and freedom are in survival and escape, if we get over the border and in to the Northern Kingdom, all we have to do is make it to Prart, and we can migrate to the Abelion Hills from there, once in the Sorcerer King's territory, his forces would be able to escort us the rest of the way into the interior of his kingdom, far beyond the reach of the Southern Holy Kingdom."

Skana had a broad smile on her face. "CZ you're a genius."

"You're observant." CZ said in a neutral tone that carried only the faintest hint of satisfied pride to her familiar friends.

"You will be the first." Neia said to Illyana and she stood up, went, and took out her sword, she tossed the sheath to the elf girl, who caught it with wide eyed surprise. "You're going to teach the other females what I teach you, if asked why you're going there while we're still in attendance, say we ordered you to go there as I wanted some alone time with my friends and you are to join us in the morning."

Illyana nodded numbly.

"Swing at me." Neia said. And Illyana drew back the sheath and swung it wildly at Neia's side, Neia stepped into the swing bringing her inside beyond the edge, grabbed Illyana's wrist, twisted it to force her to drop the sword in pain, then lifted up her arm and forced her down, as she did so, she drew a knife and pressed it to the elf girl's throat.

For a moment, Illyana started shaking again, fearing just in that instant, that it had all been some cruel trick and she was going to die, a used up scarcely clad slave bleeding out on a beautiful rug, only mourned for what she cost to replace. It was a hateful thought, one that didn't fade until Neia released her and stepped back. "Again, this time we will go slowly, calm yourself, breath slowly, keep control, and I will show you what I did in steps, then we will switch and you will try it on me."

The next few hours left Illyana sweaty and bruised, which to the free and enslaved employees of the hotel, not to mention the patrons, meant she looked entirely normal for a living toy when she eventually left, the brutality of her position, created for her the camoflauge needed to help her overthrow it. It was an irony not lost on the girl as she went unopposed to the pens down below the hotel where the other female elves who were not in use, spent their hours.

She conveyed everything she was told, and using a broom as a sword and a hairbrush as a dagger, she began to train the other women, the collective being instructed to teach the first slave to enter which was also able to leave. In this way, a slow resistance began to form. The next few days were spent learning new combat methods in the style of Black Justice, while Neia instructed Illyana, Skana went to the warehoused slaves being acquired by Tinamoc, and trained them as a group. Tinamoc paid no mind, checking in only periodically, while other members of Black Justice under orders from Neia, began to train their 'purchases' and 'room girls' in the same way Neia trained Illyana.

It was in the middle of this training one day that Neia received a message that shocked her to her core. So much so that instead of blocking the blow, she took it straight to the gut. Illyana's hand jumped to her mouth in surprise. "I'm sorry! I'm so sorry! I thought..." she began as Neia doubled over and raised her hand, to stop her apologies.

"Its alright, you're supposed to try to hit me, its my fault for not responding properly, its just I've been interrupted, wait just a moment." She straightened and Illyana set down the sheath and sat at the table, Neia quietly felt a sense of approval, the elf now sat more comfortably on the furniture again, and a small glimmer of self respect had begun to show in her eyes as she grew in skill, however slightly it might be.

"You have got to be kidding me." Neia said. "You're telling me that Blue Rose is asking for MY help? The same adventurers that let my Kingdom be burned up by a demon emperor are asking me to help them? Why should I do that? Yes I know they did point us to the Sorcerer King...oh...they're on a contract here protecting the Sorcerer King's followers...yes that does rather change the equation. Alright Robel, yes a gate, it'll take to long to get there by foot or horseback, keep your fangs on, I'll be ready to go to Kedyn in minutes." Neia closed the communication with a sigh.

Illyana looked at her curiously. "I have to go to Kedyn." Neia said with a heavy sigh. "CZ, can you take over with Illyana for me? I'm taking a gate there, I should be back within a few days, if all goes well, I'll have an adamantite team in my debt, and that can't be a bad thing." She said.

"Can't." CZ said.

"What...why?" Neia asked incredulously.

"I Guard you." CZ said.

Neia rolled her eyes, "I won't be in that much danger."

"Enough." CZ said.

Neia sighed. "Illyana, please wait here, when Skana returns, have her pick up where we left off, and please explain to her that I'll be back here in a few days and that I'm sorry for the abrupt departure, I have to go to Kedyn."

"Take care of yourself mistress Neia..." Illyana said softly.

"Just...Neia, Illyana." Neia said with a smile.

"When I'm truly free, Mistress Neia." Illyana said with a genuine little smile.

"Oh and tell Skana I'll miss her, and not to worry." Neia said with a little smile.

"I will, mistress Neia." Illyana said, and she stood and began to practice the sword swinging motion Neia had taught to her.

A few minutes later, she'd gathered a few things, taken out a gate scroll and then stepped through it into a place in Kedyn's history. **(*AN: For the events of Kedyn, see the story "Unholy Rose")**

 **AN: Well that concludes the first update to 'God Rising' in the last few weeks, I know, its short, but this seemed like a good place to end it for now, I had planned a longer one, but there is some material I want to revise in the stuff already written, and I figure this will do as a start anyway. Look for another chapter in a day or so, and also 'The Lemurian Paradox' has just been published, the first short chapter anyway. If you enjoy this story, you'll probably enjoy my branch stories as well, Memory & a Message will be updated soon, had planned to do so tonight, but the business of living got in the way, so you'll have to wait. And as always, if you want chapters, I want your thoughts, so...fair trade right? ;) Oh and you're going to ask for longer chapters...well I might combine them at some point, but shorter ones are easier to edit and I'll update more frequently. You can turn pages, you can click a button. Trust me, this works for me, and makes it easier to produce for you. :) **


	31. On Making Plans & Murder

When Neia left abruptly, Illyana found herself sitting alone in the hotel room, she'd been in many such rooms over the years, but she'd never really paid any attention to them, it was after all...all about the guest. Now that she was alone in it however, she noticed it was actually a very lovely place, with only the loops for ropes or chains and positioned bedding indicating it had a far more sinister purpose. Part of her had to wonder though whether it was the room that was changing, or if it was herself. Even the scant training she'd been recieving had been changing the way she saw things. Humans who remained at the hotel might as well have been gods before, at least in the eyes of broken slaves, they held the whip, they held the power of life and death, they might as well have been gods. Now though, she saw them differently, the obese slovens, the ugly faces, the way those weaker groveled and conducted themselves with simpering servility to their wealthier superiors. As she grew stronger, even by the smallest increments, she found herself thinking less of her abusers.

She knew to keep her eyes downcast to hide the spirit of rebellion growing within her, however there was no question that she could never go back to the way she was, she could never see them as being so powerful and terrifying and superior again. She'd die first.

She stood up from her chair and went to run a bath. Very few hotels had something as complex as running water, and she wondered which spells were responsible for it, but regardless, she was grateful to whoever had done that much. The bath ran with hot water and the marble tub began to fill up. She sighed deeply and removed everything she could from her body, and then she stepped down into the sunken tub and allowed the water to subsume her. She enjoyed the warm sensation and reached out for the soap and began to clean herself. She was grateful for the knowledge she was gaining, however despite her long time in human service, she retained the traditional elven love of cleanliness, and for once in her life she did not have to rush things. She could simply soak and enjoy it, she lay back with her arms wide and eyes closed and sighed contentedly.

She must have lain that way for awhile because she heard Skana's voice in the bedroom.

"Neia, I'm back! CZ?!" She called out, only to recieve no answer.

The fruit of long habit blossomed again and Illyana responded quickly, she dashed out of the tub and knelt with eyes down in front of the woman without so much as drying herself. "Mistress Skana, Mistresses Neia and CZ have been called away by urgent business to a place called Kedyn by someone named Robel. She said something about Blue Rose requiring her assistance. She left her apologies about leaving without saying anything, but it was important and she would be back in several days."

Skana blushed a beet red and turned around. "Um...thank you Illyana...but...you can put something on you know."

Illyana remembered who she was dealing with, and her hatred for the breaker and her trainers fired up inside her. "Mistress Skana...thank you." She said and went to take up a towel and dry herself off. "You didn't have to do that for me." Illyana said, commenting on Skana's having turned around.

"I did." She replied.

"Why?" Illyana asked.

"Your body is yours alone. I don't have the right to take it, touch it, or have it exposed to me without your say so. You have a right to whatever degree of modesty you want for yourself with whoever you want it with." Skana replied, quoting from one of Neia's many speeches on justice.

Illyana was quiet for awhile, but Skana kept her back turned as she could hear the rustle of the towel and the slight jingle of collar and chains that had to have haunted her daily for years.

At last she heard the towel being put away and the clothing...such as it was, being restored.

"I'm dressed." Illyana said softly. "Thank you." She added, in a gentle voice.

Skana turned around. "Alright, now first, thank you for telling me about Neia's departure, CZ I have no doubt, insisted on going along for security, but that doesn't mean we're going to slow down." Her voice carried her enthusiasm she felt, and she went and took up the improvised weapons and threw one of them to Illyana.

"I've already spoken with all the other members, they're buying two or three elves each, easy enough in these massive rooms, while Tinamoc is keeping more at the warehouse. Our members are training your fellows in their rooms, and when we're done, I'm going to go out and pick up two or three myself, we'll need every edge we can get. But for now, its just you and I, but don't worry, I'm better with a sword than Neia." She said, and took up her position...

While Neia was gone Tinamoc did very good business, the ability of his merchants to hawk their wares not only announced their existence, but it announced that these were merchants that had the favor of the ruling elite. Anyone with any sense did not sub the most senior of the cities citizens, so the coin flowed into the Tinamoc's hands. He made a point of 'investing' his coin in weapons and armor, and when he mingled among the merchants at the guild he talked about the instability in the North and the way things had been going there. It was then that he learned of the actions of Remedios Custodio.

He was sitting in the merchant's guild hall, a highly refined place with smooth polished dark wood tables and chairs, a gold inlaid bar on the left near the entrance, and an excellent kitchen in the back where food was prepared by the most highly trained elven slaves. 'Beauty hides poison...' he thought to himself he looked around. He saw what others around him clearly did not, or did not care about if they did. The bare chested elves moved silently between tables as they took orders, and as a willowy female approached his table nearly indifferent to her own almost total nudity, she wore a carefully neutral mask...it was the face of a slave fearing to excite any emotional response in their oppressor, her neutral face however, cracked a bit as she looked at Tinamoc long and hard, as if trying to work something out.

The merchant seated next to him slapped him on the shoulder and said, "So business is good isn't it Tinamoc?" The man had obviously had a few to many cups of red wine, but Tinamoc went along with it with some disguised discomfort. "It is Rembal, its been very good indeed."

When the man said Tinamoc's name, he saw the recognition across her face, a moment of awe, before it was carefully replaced with the neutral mask again. Tinamoc kept his own face neutral, but he gave the girl a single wink to let her know he understood he'd been recognized. The vines had spread. "What may I get for you masters?" The elf asked in a voice carefully modulated to draw the least amount of attention necessary."

Tinamoc had been here before, he knew how best to minimize their pain when he could not relieve it. The trays the elves carried when loaded with drinks would be attached to their chests and secured to their waits, requiring very careful movement to avoid spilling, the weight of the tray determined the amount of pull, and thus the pain they would endure. Tinamoc however, noticed that some drinks came in much smaller quantities than others, and were far more potent, thus putting others at the table out of commission earlier. With nothing else to be said or done, he ordered four shots of the strongest and most expensive hard liquors. He covered up any perception of kindness to the much relieved female when she learned what she would be carrying, by saying, "That is how good business is, I get only the best, and I get it for all."

He glanced at his fellow merchants, but then finished his look at the face of the elf, letting her know that his words were more for her than they were for him.

"So," Rembal asked, "Do your heavy purchases of arms and equipment have anything to do with Remedios Custodio?"

Tinamoc blinked. "What?"

"You haven't heard?" Rembal asked, his eyes burning with enthusiasm.

"She's gone completely renegade against Caspond over his ties to the Sorcerer King and to Black Justice." Rembal said.

"Yes I've heard something about this, I've seen the results of her handiwork." He said neutrally.

Rembal leaned in, Tinamoc could smell the wine on him as his rough face grew closer. "Listen, I know you're making use of Neia Baraja because the crown ordered you to, but at your first chance, you need to dump her. Remedios is HERE in the South now. She's been gathering an army, and its growing every day, I've been providing her with some support along the way, but what with all the disruption, she's taken more direct action. I met with her shortly after she began building up a sizable force, and she sent around five thousand men to Kedyn to execute the heretics there. I've known you for years, and I'd rather not see you get dragged down by being tied to the losing side." Rembal said, his voice going from energetic to cautious and concerned as he explained what was happening in the South.

"She's still a fair ways from here though, isn't she?" Tinamoc asked.

"Sort of, but my caravans have been taking her people all over the South for a fair bit now, they train, they ride, they hunt for heresy, they live only to work the will of the gods. It is truly...inspiring." He said, his voice filling with an awe that sickened Tinamoc.

"Yes...inspiring. I had no idea she'd gone so far." Tinamoc said.

"So then the armor and weapons and so on?" Rembal asked.

Tinamoc paused and looked the man over, he'd known Rembal for many years, and he wasn't all that different than the way he was years ago, they had been casual friends until Tinamoc met him here in this very city, and saw first hand how he treated the elves, it killed what respect he had for the man, however as a fellow merchant acting in accordance with the law there was nothing to be done about it except keep quiet and 'remember'. A large and powerfully built man, Tinamoc had often wondered why he never went into the military instead, whatever his reason however, this fitness and what he had observed of Rembal's routine told him that a simple lie would not do.

"The prices for arms and armor will soar soon enough." Tinamoc replied, and he gestuerd for Rembal to lean in closer, and Tinamoc moved in as well and he whispered, "There is no way the current King will last much longer, either the North will kill him, or the South will, or the Sorcerer King will, or the Slane Theocracy will. When that happens supporters of the only true divinity in this world will need arms and armor to defend the true cause, it will be just, and it will be profitable, which is very good accounting from where I sit." Tinamoc finished his statement with a predatory smile, one matched by the unwary prey who had no idea who he truly referred to.

Tinamoc got what he went there for, rumors abounded in the guild hall, and he had a great deal of information to share with Neia when she returned, when he eventually left he made his way over to the warehouse district and rode his horse through the winding streets until he made it deep into the center. Activity was very low here, except for people dropping off or picking up goods...or patrolling to minimize theft, there was no reason to be there. The cobbled stones cliped and clopped under the hooves of his horse and echoed off the walls. Because crime was relatively low even foot patrols were few and they themselves were more for show than to prevent anything specific. When this was combined with the evening hour in which Tinamoc moved, he counted on and got a very quiet uninterrupted ride until he found the set of warehouses he had chosen to rent. He knocked three times to alert those inside that it was safe, and then he walked in.

The lights went on and the elves looked to see who it was. He surveyed the rows of elves, they included only men and women, no children. At first this had caused some suspicion...along with the insane promise that he'd made that he'd see them free, but gradually he had explained what was happening. Neia's name had lent him ample credibility, and he made use of that to explain the intended escape that he and Skana had worked out. Further doubts were erased when he showed them the weapons and armor they'd be using, and if any remained after that, the introduction of a Black Justice instructor crushed those doubts for good measure. Given opportunity for revenge and escape, they took to their training with zeal. The only real drawback was the need for silence, and grunts and cries that were poorly timed could give them all away. To that end Tinamoc suggested a simple and elegant solution. Gags. They bound gags around their mouths to keep them from crying out with more than a whimper.

Now here he stood in front of two hundred silent and gagged elves.

"There may need to be an adjustment to the intended plan." Tinamoc said. "After speaking with the other merchants it seems that due to the reports about heretic activity in the North, the city is going to be increasing its gate monitoring, we need another way out."

One of the elves removed his gag and asked, "Could we tunnel?"

Tinamoc shook his head. "No, we could...probably, but disposing of the dirt would be difficult and we could never make a tunnel big enough to get everybody out."

"Could we break down the wall?" The elf asked.

"Has anyone succeeded at doing that here?" Tinamoc asked.

The elf furrowed his brow thoughtfully, then shook his head slowly.

"What about going over the wall?" He asked.

"How?" Tinamoc asked.

"Find out how high the walls are, then give us the building materials, we'll make ladders of a suitable size, and then we can use ropes to go down the other side, we'll go down the other side and meet up to escape. Nobody will be looking for that, and we only have a few guards to be wary of, plus we can escape from multiple different positions all at once." The elf said in a voice that was hopeful and enthusiastic.

Tinamoc stroked his chin thoughtfully. "That might work." He said. "Alright, I'll acquire some lumber, and have some construction materials brought to you, tonight I'll go up the wall with a string and a rock and work out how high it is, and tomorrow night you can build between training sessions." The elf began to smile, but Tinamoc raised a cautious finger.

"We will do this, but this city's guards are the best I've seen, they're dangerous, and you have only a few weeks to prepare before we have to act, whoever volunteers to buy time for the rest, had best expect to die in these streets." He said seriously.

The elf's face turned red with hate. "We die every day in this city, we die in their torture rooms, we die in their bedrooms, we die bound and whipped in their streets, our very lives are a walking death, endured only in the hope of someday seeing all this end, whoever volunteers for this is different from those who do not, only in that they give their last death a meaning through someone else's life. We are prepared for that."

Tinamoc gave him a grave nod. "I will return when I am able." He said, and left the warehouse as the elf put his gag back on. Tinamoc rode silently for awhile, gathering the materials he needed was easy, just a brick and a string tied together, drop the brick, hold the ball of string, and when it hits ground, cut the stretched out strand, measure the distance, and make a ladder tall enough to lean that high and ropes a few feet longer. Easy. When he had what he needed he went to the nearest tower keeping the small brick in his pocket tied to the string and he went up the stairs. His footfalls echoed along the walls, but this was unimportant, after all, he was one of the most important merchants in the country with direct ties to city leadership...nobody would question him.

He ascended the wall and left the dancing shadows disappear behind him and he quietly removed the brick and dropped it over the side, holding the ball of string in his pocket, in this much darkness, the act wouldn't even be noticed. He however, was. A guard saw him standing there looking out over the crenelations and decided to approach him. He held a torch up and saw the rich robes of a powerful merchant and he slowed his pace considerably. Tinamoc got a good look at the man, he was young, perhaps early twenties, beardless, but hard faced despite that. His armor was a mix of mineral links and he wore a long sword at his side and carried a spear in his free hand. As the guard came closer, he relaxed more and more, perhaps realizing just how significant Tinamoc had to be if he was dressed that way. Tinamoc played his hand calmly and waved to the guard. "Beautiful view, isn't it?"

The guard shrugged. "I thought so when I first saw it, but now...well its gotten old. That all you're here for, just the view?"

"Yes, I've been to this city many times, but never taken the time to do this, its just that tonight I couldn't sleep, so I thought it a good time to fulfill a long intended desire." He replied with a smile that was as warm as it was phony.

The guard shrugged again and stood next to Tinamoc, "Well, have a pleasant evening then, we normally don't allow people up here for nonofficial reasons, but I suppose everybody should see this at least once, I hope you rest easy after you've had your fill of the view."

The young man was polite, Tinamoc approved of his good manners and wished him well, and the guard began to walk past him...unfortunately he walked behind Tinamoc and tripped over the string that hung out of his pocket all the way down to the brick at the base of the wall. The man fell face forward with a loud clattering of metal, prompting Tinamoc to almost fall off the wall himself as the string was pulled

"Shit! Shit! Shit! Shit! Shit! Shit! Shit!" Tinamoc said as he righted himself, the guard had gotten to all fours and grasped his head with surprise, looking for the reason he'd fallen, he rose to one knee looking around, before his torch allowed him to get a glimpse of the string that was still vibrating from the force of his tripping over it.

He followed the strand and realized the wall was being measured, and he realized the implications of doing that alone at night. "What th-" he began to say, only for a desperate Tinamoc to leap on top of him, draw his dagger and stab the guard in the throat. The young man clutched at his injury as blood spewed out, and Tinamoc was grateful that he had chosen to wear chiefly red and black that day, as the blood blended in just fine. That did not stop Tinamoc from continuing to swear as he struggled with the flailing guard, a tumble of flying limbs and kicking legs, until he could get hold of the man as he bled out, and with a grunt, heave him over the wall into the water below, allowing the armor to carry him under.

Tinamoc picked up the spear and threw it over the wall as well, and then he looked down at the stone and himself. The blood on the stone was copious, someone would realize a murder had been done here, the blood on himself was a minimal problem, at least at night, but this was a fresh wrinkle in the plan, as the death of a guard was very rare, and someone was bound to be suspicious.

He wiped his face clean of any blood stains and did the same for his neck and hands, then cut the string and completed the measurements as planned. After that he rushed back down, removed the evidence of measurement, and hurried back to his room as quickly as he could, slipping in without drawing the notice of the front desk and going to his room shaking from the rush of the near exposure and hoping the ripple effect of the dead man would not be to great.

 **AN: Well this was a fairly minor chapter as things went, really more information based and and developing the progress of things as they get their plans together, I don't want to spend a superabundance of time in this city, however this is their most dangerous opponent so far, so thorough evaluation and preparation is necessary, and I'd be a poor author to neglect that. So all in all, I hope you found it worth your time and that you look forward to tomorrow's iteration. :)**


	32. Fracture Points

Tinamoc was not a man used to fucking up, he was also not used to killing, and he was definitely not used to plotting mass escapes. He drew a bath and cleaned himself up even more thoroughly. Though his current dress would hide blood well, he was not a man prone to reckless chances, so he stripped and began to cut the clothing apart into strips, then the strips into squares, then the squares into even smaller pieces and he repeated this process until no square was larger than the nail of his thumb. After that he drained the tub and kept the water flowing, and one by one he dropped the tiny patches in to be washed down the drain, until none were left. When his elf attendant eventually arrived, Tinamoc sent the female immediately to Neia's room to summon Skana to him.

When she arrived, he quickly explained the events of the evening, all the way up to the murder and the measurements of the wall. He was still shaking with anxiety from having killed the guard. He looked down at his hands from where he sat, shaking his head, "I can still see the blood, I swear...everybody will know...I'm fucked, I'm totally fucked." He said softly.

Skana however was a veteran of death and remained cool and calm, she touched his shoulder and said, "Look at me, Tinamoc." He gradually raised his face to hers, he looked into her one good eye, and she continued, "Nobody was there, nobody knows, and they're not likely to find the body any time soon, and even if they do, they have no way to trace it back to you. But you're in no shape to go out today, stay here in your room, I'll send a Black Justice fighter to keep an eye on you if that will make you feel better..."

"Yes, that." He said softly.

"And we'll handle everything from here, I'll get the elves in the warehouses started making ladders and climbing ropes, and we'll be ready to get the fuck out of here in no time. Its still very, very early, nobody else should be awake yet, or have found the man missing so I have time to at least sort of fix this, just stay here, and do not leave, not for anything." She said.

He nodded grimly and just went to the bath and ran the water again, and held his hands under the rushing torrent without moving, waiting for the nonexistent blood to disappear from his haunted vision.

Skana was no fool, she was quick to act, she rushed out of the hotel as quickly as she could without drawing attention to herself. She made her way to the tower Tinamoc mentioned and climbed the stairs as quietly as she could, the darkness had been her ally on the way there, and it remained on her side as she got to the top, nobody had found the brutal scene yet, so she took out some coins from her pouch and laid them down quietly in the blood, carefully staining both sides and leaving only a few. Then she lightly dropped her money pouch into the stain on its side, staining it with blood as well, and then took out some higher value coins and dipped them in the blood, then put them back in the pouch. She shook it lightly to spread the blood around inside, then took out a cloth from her pocket meant to clean her blade, and dipped it in the blood as well, and then she rushed back down the way she'd come.

She walked the streets for awhile searching for a target, and fortune favored her when she came across two guards whose route seemed to be taking them past the site of Tinamoc's murder. She felt a brief pang of conscience about what she was about to do, but that vanished when they pointed to one of the punishment places and laughed as one talked about how a particularly buxom elf woman had screamed there the other day.

She crept up behind them and took the bloody cloth, and then slapped it to the back of one man's shoulder as if she just happened to overhear them, and shared in their laugh. They glanced at her briefly in surprise, but seeing that she shared their demonic humor, thought her only an idle passerby, and she for good measure said, "OH yes, I saw that, the way she bounced around like a ball, it was hilarious, those big ones are always the best sport!" Skana said, suppressing the bile in her throat as she forced out the vile words and hated her own sadistic laugh.

"Aye it was fun to watch." The guard said, "I even paid a few coins for a go with the whip."

"I wish I could have done that." Skana lied, "Sadly beer costs money, but screams are still free!" She said and prompted some good natured laughs from the hearts of darkness she was chatting with, "Well you guys have a safe patrol." She said, "May I pass by you?" She politely requested.

"Aye of course." The guard said, happy to oblige someone as sinister as himself, and as she went around the other guard she palmed the bloody pouch of coins and dropped it softly into the guard's kit, and slapped him gratefully on the back with the palmed bloody cloth.

Skana gave them a wave as she walked past them and into the darkness, then she turned down an alleyway and was out of sight. She threw the cloth into a sewer grate as soon as she was alone, and made her way back to the hotel before the sun rose.

The alarm was raised in the city when the sun crested the hill and the next shift came and found the bloody spot on the wall and the guard from that evening missing. The investigators quickly concluded it was a robbery and called together everyone on patrol that evening to see if anyone saw anything.

When the two Skana had encountered were called forward, they described their evening in uneventful terms when the guard standing behind them said, "Wait...why do you have blood on you?"

They appeared confused and the investigator's eyes narrowed, "Seize them and show me!" Weapons snapped down and the two men protested, but when more of their fellows arrived they had no choice but to acquiesce, and they were turned around for the investigator. "Yes, you both do have blood on your clothing, and its not even dry yet. Why?" He asked.

"I don't know?!" The first man said.

"Neither do I! We didn't do anything! We didn't see anything!" The second one said.

"Search their things!" The investigator shouted, and several other guards closed in on them, and though they flailed and protested as fingers fumbled for the straps on their armor, their kits, etc, they were gradually separated from their equipment. A guard began rummaging through the first man's pack.

"This one is empty." He said, and the first man snapped, "Of course it is!"

But no sooner were the words out of his mouth than a guard rummaging through the second pack pulled out a blood soaked coin pouch, he dumped the coins out on the stone floor and many of them were stained with fresh blood. The second man protested, "I've never seen that before! I swear! I swear! I didn't do anything!" He tried to turn and run, only to be tackled by three of his comrades who brought him down in a tangle of arms and legs.

"I'm innocent! I'm innocent!" He shouted.

"Where did you dispose of the body?" The investigator asked them both.

They looked at him with terror in their eyes and protested their innocence again.

"Do not insult me by denying what you've done, its painfully obvious, you went to the tower, killed him for his coin, took it, and planned on dividing it up after your shift when nobody would notice. But your victim left his mark, and left his blood on your clothes in the struggle.

"NO!" They shouted together, practically wailing their innocence.

"Take them away, have them crucified for murder." The investigator snapped.

They struggled and pulled and tried to escape, but with so many other guards present, there was not a chance of escape, and they were dragged away screaming. Word spread rapidly through the city of the greedy murderous guards, and many turned out at the square where they were still screaming their innocence.

They didn't stop screaming their innocence as they were stripped, nor as they were strapped to the cross, indeed they only stopped screaming their innocence when the screams turned to unintelligible screams of pain, and they only intensified as their arms and feet had iron spikes driven through them, and that did not change until they had screamed enough that their vocal chords allowed them to scream no more.

Skana stood and watched with the crowd as authorized vendors held up whips and people got in line for a chance to whip the murderers.

As their screams redoubled at the first lash of the whip, Skana let a dark grin grace her face. "Nameless female elf...wherever you are, I hope you rest in peace, knowing that at least some of your abusers suffer what they did to you." She whispered and moved away, leaving the two unfortunate wretches to their fate.

It was cold comfort, but Tinamoc's fuckup was at least fixed for now, unless or until they fished the body out of the water and found that the poor fool still had his coin pouch on him.

When she made her way back to the hotel, she stopped off and informed the elves in the warehouses of what was needed in terms of ladders and ropes, and she ordered some of her people to go and acquire the necessary materials for them to work during the day in order to make what was needed for the escape. When she returned to Tinamoc's room hours and hours later, he was still staring at his hands while a Black Justice fighter sat at the table.

"Its done." Skana said with a sigh of relief as she closed the door.

"What?" Tinamoc asked.

"I said it's done." She replied. "I bloodied a few coins, transferred some blood to a few guards, put a bloody pouch with blood stained coins into one of their kits, and it looked like they'd killed their colleague for money. When the investigator saw the blood on them and found the coins and pouch, he must not have waited long, they're now hung up on crosses and being whipped to death." Skana said.

Tinamoc withdrew his hands from the water and turned it off.

"So...that was quick." He said.

"Not ideal maybe, but good enough, nobody will be looking for you anyway." She said. "I'd like to get to the body and take his coin pouch off of him just to be safe, but if they bother to even look for him, well maybe they won't find his pouch, or maybe the person who finds it will just keep it, or maybe they'll figure he had two, its very unlikely that they'll realize...or admit...that they put two innocent...sort of...guards to death." Skana said with a shrug of her shoulders.

It was then that Illyana entered after a brief knock, "Mistress Skana, I am ready to train again." She said.

Skana sighed, she didn't much care for the term 'mistress'...but Illyana had promised to stop using it when she was free soooo...what could she do? She shrugged it off and they took position.

They tumbled about as Illyana learned more new throws and grabs and holds, and learned to incorporate sword and dagger into her routine so that she could handle more powerful opponents.

That was how the next few days were spent, Skana and the other Black Justice members would teach the elves in the hotel who would in turn teach the other females who had less kind guests or who were not in service, those who acted as public servants would carry the knowledge to others in secret, and a designated party would travel to the warehouse and train others. Arms and armor would be stored in the warehouse, and every day saw a little improvement.

That was still the state of things when Neia Baraja & CZ returned to the city, right to her hotel room. She slept through the night and in the morning held a formation for her warriors on the common grounds, quietly took a roll of how many slaves they'd 'purchased' and were hiding and training, and then dismissed them for the day. She met with Tinamoc and asked him to go to her room for a more in depth discussion. Then when they parted ways, she went to Skana's room and knocked. When Skana opened it and saw Neia there, she jumped into the woman's arms and gave her a very tight embrace and a welcome touching of lips to lips. "Welcome back." She said softly, prompting a very deep blush from the surprised Neia.

Behind Skana, Illyana knelt politely and said, "Welcome back Mistress Neia."

Neia rolled her eyes and looked at Skana. "She's still doing that?"

Skana let her death grip on Neia go, stepped back, and matched the rolling of her eyes, "Yes, she still says she won't stop until she's truly free."

"Well we're going to get to that very...very...very soon." Neia said. "Come with me to my room, Tinamoc is waiting there."

They followed Neia to her room and when Illyana entered last and closed the door. Illyana made to go prepare drinks, and CZ took what seemed to have become her favorite seat at the table. By now they were all used to Illyana insisting on providing at least some form of service to them and had stopped fighting her over the issue since she seemed to actually feel the need to do something for them.

When the drinks were served to all at the table, Neia explained what had taken place, when she got to the siege Tinamoc spoke in a hushed whisper..."Five thousand...at least?" He shook his head.

"Yes, and after we finished them off, almost by pure dumb luck, it turned out that the priests, not only in Kedyn, but in a great many places, are actually Slane Theocracy agents, its not just the ones who were more obvious like Justicar..." She paused as Illyana let out a snarl of hatred, then resumed, "There are others who blend in very well, and they've been active for awhile over most of the South and at least part of the North, and from the documents I was able to gather, they're working with Remedios Custodio, it wasn't just coincidence that those priests were helping the attackers, this is much bigger and much worse than I had imagined." Neia said with an ominous voice. "Anyway, after we finished them off, the survivors fled South. Since people flee the routes they know, that means they almost certainly came from the South, and their camp was very well supplied, I am certain Remedios is directly receiving Theocracy support, and that she has a much, much bigger army out there somewhere. We absolutely cannot stay here." Neia said.

There was silence around the table. "Are the elves ready to act?" Neia asked.

"Not yet." Skana said.

"They just started making ladders and climbing ropes early this morning, it won't take long to make all that we're going to need, give it two days, but there isn't a chance in hell that they'll defeat the city guard without much more extensive training and much better equipment than what we could get our hands on here." Skana said.

"I can get some out by the main gate." Tinamoc said. "Nobody will check the wagons going OUT, so if I load it with the untrained and the children, and turn the goods I was going to use at the next stop into coin, well I can get a great many out, then all I have to do is turn North and head for Prart. If I leave early in the morning and we disguise a large number of elves as Black Justice warriors, and other mercenaries, I can get another hundred or so out. That way you can stay behind and help in the escape. Give me a day or two head start, then make your break for it." He said.

"I can send out advance riders to gather support from farther North to come and meet you as close to the border as you can get in that time." Tinamoc added.

"I'm not liking this." Neia said.

"Too many variables." CZ said.

"Got any better ideas?" Skana asked.

"No." CZ said.

"Then I'll convert goods to currency tomorrow." Tinamoc said, "And get to acquiring and disguising as many elves as I can. Day after tomorrow I'm getting out of here and I'll make my way past Yanana, I'll send a scout a head to see if they have a Black Justice branch there yet, and if they do I'll get help, if they don't, I'll bypass the city and head straight for the border and send someone to Prart to get people sent down here to get help to you."

Illyana started shaking, so much so that she spilled her drink on the table, her eyes took on a horrified look.

"You're going to leave me." She said softly. "Oh by the gods you're going to leave me..."

Neia and Skana looked at each other in confusion.

CZ said flatly, "She's right."

That prompted the two women to look at her in surprise. "What?" They said at the same time.

"She's right." CZ repeated.

Illyana spoke up, "When he leaves, you have to clear out the hotel, the other slaves your people have bought can be hidden at the warehouse, all he has to do is pay for a few days more of 'storage.' Her voice trembled as she managed to get the words out, her voice only just audible. "But I can't leave, if I run, they'll look for me, they might find the warehouse, or torture me to find out why I thought I could escape, and they're very good at torture, they might break me again, if they do...nobody will get out...you're...you're going to leave me here."

She shook more and more violently and her eyes went glassy with tears. "I'll be given to someone again...someone will make me do things I don't want to...but I've...this...it was a taste of freedom. How can I go back to...that." She said looking at the bed and finally breaking down so hard that she fell to the floor in sobs. "I can't...I can't go back. You'd do better to kill me than leave me, please believe it would be the greater kindness, if you'd never come, maybe I could have kept bearing all this, but I can't anymore, not anymore...not anymore." She choked out as she looked up at the women.

"Do it quickly, and I'll be free." She whispered. CZ pulled out her spell gun and leveled it inches away from Illyana's forehead.

"Wait!" Neia snapped. CZ didn't squeeze the trigger.

Skana was breathing hard, and Tinamoc sat stunned at the turn of events.

"There is another option." Neia said. "What if you got sick?" She asked.

"Sick?" Illyana asked.

"Yes, we can mix a low grade poison, something that mimics an illness, it only has to last for a day or two, you can say you got it from something you were made to do, will they pay to heal you right away?" Neia asked.

Illyana thought for a moment and then shook her head. "No, I'm expensive enough that they would pay for it, but not so irreplacable that they wouldn't wait to see if I get better on my own, there are plenty of us...but I guess...someone else will just suffer another two nights in my place." She said as she looked down in shame and dejection.

There were no happy faces at the table, but CZ moved to reholster her gun.

"It can't be helped, frankly you're the best trained of the Vines and we can't pull this off without you, we can't risk you getting hurt by a client and being unable to function." Skana said.

"She's right." Neia said, "But when the elves escape here, see if you all can bar the doors and burn the place down."

"With pleasure." Illyana said hatefully as her shaking began to subside ever so slowly.

 _...In the capitol of the Roble Holy Kingdom...King Caspond's chambers..._

Caspond stretched out as he walked to the bed, it had been a very productive week, and a very productive day. The black book by his bed was a marvelous thing, and the 'dopple Caspond' had been duly impressed with the work of Neia Baraja, she had almost perfectly encapsulated what the Sorcerer King wished for the world at large, at least as far as a mere doppleganger could understand the will of a Supreme Being. He almost wished it didn't have to come to this, he'd have been overjoyed to drive the Kingdom headlong into the religion of the Sorcerer King, but it was what it was, and the matchless planning of his masters was finally coming due. He listened carefully, they were already climbing the tower, he could hear the 'clink, chink, clink, chink' of climbing spikes striking into the gaps in stone as the assassins hauled their way up. The guards below were definitely dead, he'd heard them die a few minutes ago, and now it was his turn to play his part, just as the assassins themselves unknowingly played their own role to perfection.

He pretended to read the book while his peripheral vision caught the sight of a gloved hand reaching over the window's ledge, he pretended to pay no mind until the figure was already inside, then he said, "What the..." and let his eyes go wide with shock as he jumped out of bed, a second, third, and fourth man were quick to follow the first, they wore black cloaks and black masks and carried short daggers and short swords.

"Time to die, your highness." The lead assassin said menacingly.

Dopple Caspond looked to the door as if to call for help, but a brief use of a swift martial art put one of the assassins between the King and the door. "Tut-tut, no getting out of this one highness." The man said politely. The doppleganger pretended to relax. "No I suppose not." He sighed and shook his head.

"Can I ask for three small favors first?" He said.

This was new, the assassins looked intrigued and the leader nodded politely, and even bowed, "Please feel free." He said.

"The first request, I ask that you give me your names and faces so I may carry those to the afterlife." He said.

The leader shrugged and lowered his mask, at his act, the other three did as well.

"Gartin." He said.

"Ginta." Said another.

"Inaba." Said the third.

"Keylor." Said the fourth.

"Thank you." The doppleganger said. "My second request is that you spare my face when you kill me, so that I make a respectable looking corpse."

The one called Gartin nodded politely. "Accept your death with grace, and your face will be left unmarked."

"Thank you." The doppleganger said. "My fourth request is the name of the one who is behind this."

"Count Handor." Gartin answered flatly.

"My final request is that my death be as painless as you can make it." The doppleganger said.

At that Gartin shook his head. "That I cannot give to you, he requested that your death be exceedingly painful, as much so as we could make it in the time we have."

Dopple-Caspond shook his head sadly. "Then I truly feel pity for what you will be made to endure because of this."

Gartin shrugged, "It isn't us you should be worrying about." He answered.

"Your loss." King Caspond responded, "Please permit me some feeble resistence before my suffering begins." He said politely.

It was the most bizarre sentence Gartin had ever heard, it was enough to shake him up and rethink everything...but a contract was a contract, and the King charged swinging a wild fist, only to lose his hand for his trouble and fall to the floor, before he could scream, Gartin was on him and gagged him with a cloth. The King writhed on the floor holding his wrist, and the rest of the assassins fell to work on him. Over the next four hours he was cut, stabbed, poked, lost fingers, toes, achilles tendon, tongue, and EVERY appendage, they made it as painful as possible for as long as possible, though they left his face alone...before finally slashing his throat and watching his mutilated corpse bleed out on the carpet. When he was absolutely, completely, totally dead...the assassins made their way out, leaving the body to be found in the morning. On the way out, Gartin casually grabbed the Black Justice holy book and threw it into his bag, and they lowered a rope and made their way back out the way they'd come. They were long gone before anyone discovered the body.

However, as soon as they were gone, Demiurge passed through a gate and stood looking down at the body of the doppleganger. "Enough overacting, get up." The demon bard said.

The doppleganger got up promptly as his limbs were restored to their natural almost formless malleable shape. "Well, that was interesting, that would have really hurt if they'd been using weapons capable of killing me. To bad they refused my offer of mercy though." The doppleganger said as Demiurge threw the wrapped up body of the real Caspond onto the floor where the doppleganger had been playing dead.

"Never mind that." Demiurge said, "Recreate your 'injuries' on that corpse and then lets get out of here, we can retrieve those four later, let them think they got away with it all for now."

"As you wish my lord." The doppleganger said, and he quickly went to work on the corpse and finished the task, within minutes, it appeared that the real Caspond had been utterly butchered by an assassin, and the two stepped through the gate and back to Nazarick.

 **AN: Yes yes I know you want longer chapters, when do you not? But this is a pretty good place to close this one out, and everything is starting to come to a head, if you want to see what happens next, well you know my price, you must feed me with reviews! :)**


	33. Contemplation

_...In the Capitol of the Roble Holy Kingdom..._

When Caspond did not come down in the morning to hold court, nobody thought much of it except that it was odd. Whatever his faults, he was very good about getting up before most and being on the throne before anyone else got there. The nobles who frequented the court were there early, and the absence of the guards at the base of the tower leading to the window into the King's chamber was noticed, and that prompted a search by their superior who was most displeased by their failure to do their duty. Their relief took their places dutifully enough and the captain of the guard began to seek out the wayward fools who he assumed had taken off to a tavern or a brothel and lost track of time.

He was still looking three hours later, along with a number of other guards, when within the palace itself a maid dared entreat entry into the King's chamber, was granted it, and immediately began to scream, raising an alarm throughout the palace. The body of Caspond had been badly mutilated and he was very obviously dead and had been for hours.

The hue and cry went from his chamber to the entry to the palace and out into the city, the death of the King sent people into shock or panic, but the lords, the nobility...however cowardly many of them may have been in battle...found courage in their chosen arena of political engagement. This was their world, the jockeying for power had already begun before the King's cold corpse was taken from his chamber.

There wasn't a man, woman, or child of age who did not know of the death of King Caspond by the time restaurants began opening for lunch, and terrible were the mutterings among commoners, priests, and even opportunistic nobles.

Robel & Gilcrest sat in deep conversation in the new temple, each having arrived independently of the other on learning of the news, and each rightly figuring that the matter must be discussed between them and a plan of action formed for any possible scenario.

"I wonder who killed him." Robel said, shaking his head slowly, "He wasn't a perfect King, but he was at least willing to listen to us, hell he was going to join us."

"Well that more or less tells us who killed him, doesn't it?" Gilcrest replied as he poured two goblets of wine and placed one in front of Robel and one in front of his chair, then he took his seat slowly, placing the bottle on the table in anticipation of early need.

"Not really." Robel said. "Yes we can say with certainty that no follower of the Sorcerer King would do this. But priests, nobles, hell even the Slane Theocracy is not above suspicion given the experience we had bringing down some of their operations...or their considerable involvement in other goings on in the rest of the North...or the South if the other reports are right. Fuck, they sent a goddamn SCRIPTURE out to bring down the pope. Killing a king is not even a step removed from that!"

Gilcrest raised his goblet. "The King is dead. Long live the...whoever the fuck takes over next." He said.

"I second that." Robel said and raised his goblet and clinked it against Gilcrest's own.

Gilcrest drank some and set the goblet down, while Robel seemed to prefer to finish his. "What I mean is, there are really only two sides here...those with the Sorcerer King, and those against him. If those with him didn't do it, those against him DID, and what THAT means is that no matter who actually drew the blade or gave the order, they will all united to bring us down here." He picked his goblet up again and resumed drinking.

"True enough." Robel said, putting his goblet down as it emptied and picking up the bottle to end the tragedy of an empty cup. "But you can't ignore the important fact that the only reason they'd actually DO this...other than to prevent his official acceptance of our beliefs, is if they could...or believed they could, get a fitting replacement on the throne. It doesn't do any good to kill King Caspond, if his successor is of the same mind as he was."

As Robel drank from his goblet again, more slowly this time, Gilcrest took his turn to refill from the bottle and nodded in agreement. "I can't argue that point, it means that we need to take precautions, we control the city guard here in the capitol, and our villages and towns are well protected now, thanks to hiring numerous adventurers out of the Re-Estize Kingdom and the Sorcerer Kingdom, plus our emphasis on combat and security has turned us into the largest militia in the country, our towns are basically armed camps, and after what happened in Kedyn...well openly challenging us may take some time. The real problem will be in securing our populations in divided cities. We have one chief advantage here, and that is that the next ruler, whoever he or she is...is basically living under our swords, most of this city is now in our hands."

Gilcrest drank slowly and relaxed into his chair. "Have you read any of the reports lately on conversion progress?"

"I did." Robel replied, our free healing policy is proving very popular, a lot of Red Paladins were lost helping Gustav...well...a lot for that little area anyway, but they stood toe to toe and held their own. And the end result is a lot of people aspiring to join them, our priests have spread the story far and wide, the healing policy has won a lot of good will and people are leaving traditional temples in droves, we've even had some success among traditional priests. There is only one oddity."

Gilcrest looked at him curiously. "Oddity?"

Robel nodded. "Yes, an unusual belief has sprung up from a priest of Surshana, that the Sorcerer King is actually the father of Surshana descended to the world to complete the work of his son who sacrificed himself for us against the Eight Greed Kings. This belief has proven difficult to deal with, its very popular in areas where Surshana was held in high regard, usually the most dangerous areas. Still, other than that, it seems not to have been a problem. I suppose it is something we can eventually just ask the Sorcerer King about."

Gilcrest gave him a smile, "Nice to have a god who can and will actually answer fucking questions isn't it?"

"It does make things easier." Robel said in agreement.

"So how much of the North is on our side?" Gilcrest asked.

"Its hard to say with certainty, but probably over half of it by now, between Neia's...I mean Pope Neia's efforts, and the efforts of our mobile priesthood...plus...oh I can't leave this out...our economic policy on rentals of the undead...well its all been very effective." Robel said.

"What does that last bit have to do with anything?" Gilcrest asked, his eyebrow raised in curiosity.

"Well, because our people have had more leisure time, they're spending more time learning new skills, some of them have taken to rhetoric, others to arts and crafts, others to specialized labor practices that the undead are not suited for, plus the merchants have taken to using undead labor and Black Justice fighters exclusively, spreading it heavily among the merchant and farm labor populations. The result is that people join our temples entirely out of self interest or respect for our abilities in getting things done, and the newly enriched spread their religion to others, and those who develop their skills find it easier to persuade others who want to share in their comforts and abilities. Undead labor is changing the face of the Kingdom, and most of all it is changing minds." Robel replied happily.

"So basically aside from seeing all the tangible benefits to joining us...they're getting more and more comfortable among the undead as part of our way of life, familiarity breeding comfort and all that, and finding that the old prejudices just aren't cost effective anymore?" Gilcrest asked.

"That's the short version, aye." Robel said flatly.

"That makes it pretty obvious what a hostile King has to do first, doesn't it?" Gilcrest said.

"Yes. They have to target the use of the undead and if they plan to do violence, they have to remove the security hired by the previous King." Robel said.

"And if they do that, we have to be ready to respond." Gilcrest replied.

"Yes, we do. Do you have any ideas?" Robel asked dubiously.

"I have a few." Gilcrest said as he picked up the bottle and shook it over his goblet. "Damn. Its empty." He said flatly.

 _...In Wenmark..._

When Illyana had calmed down enough, she was quick to resume her hand to hand combat training, in particular against Skana, who was far better with a sword than Neia. As she did this, Neia sat in conversation with CZ. "When the time comes to make a break for it, I'd like you to take a position on the biggest escape point and provide us secure fire."

"Can't." CZ said.

"Can't?" Neia asked bewildered. "Why 'can't'?" Neia asked.

"I guard you." CZ said, and put a sticker on Neia's cheek. "Cute."

"I can take care of myself for a little while you know, I'm not totally helpless." Neia said.

"I know. But I guard you." CZ said again in the flat tone that would have sounded totally indifferent if Neia didn't know her better. The truth was that CZ was genuinely concerned, and Neia felt touched. She sighed in exasperation.

"Look, you can guard me, just take up a position where I'm going to rush to and provide secure support for me." Neia said, trying to compromise.

CZ paused as if considering the option, then nodded. "I can do that." She said, and poured a glass of wine. "Intoxication protocol?" She asked, as she offered a cup to Neia.

"Please." Neia said. "I think tomorrow will be a very long day, might as well enjoy this one." She reached out and took the cup as CZ poured one for herself.

Skana ignored CZ and Neia for the time being, and focused on teaching the steps for a hip throw to Illyana. As she had the elf on her back and her wrist locked and arm out, Skana spoke to her. "You won't have the strength or the training to take on these men at their best, you 'might' have some better equipment, but quantity is its own quality and they're going to be better than you. So you have to use your strengths against their weaknesses, and you have to turn their strength against them. Remember your goal is escape, your goal is to empty this city of elves, not die in some stupid battle for pointless revenge, time enough for that later, and false courage can destroy the finest battle plans."

She helped Illyana up and took her through the motions again, more slowly, and then had her repeat it over and over again, they paused to eat after an hour or three and found that CZ's intoxication protocol had taken full effect, the demon maid was slumped over on the table snoring and whispering 'Cute, cheek, cute cheek, sticker cute cute sticker...' over and over in a whistful voice. Neia was actually conscious, but she was more troubling in her own way. She just kept staring at the wall, shaking and trembling and saying nothing.

Skana was concerned, she looked over to Illyana and then quickly scrawled a list of ingredients onto a piece of paper. "Illyana, could you go ask Tinamoc to check on the warehouses and see how the construction is going, also give him this and ask him to send a servant to acquire the things on that list? Oh, and stay in his room until he gets back, make sure nobody goes in. You can grab a bite to eat there and use his bath to wash off the sweat first." Skana's voice was casual, but she couldn't entirely keep the concern out of it. Illyana however, knew better than to argue, and she politely nodded and went to carry out the instructions.

When the elf girl was gone, Skana sat at the table and reached out to touch Neia's hand, to her shock, Neia almost jumped as she yanked her hand back in surprise. Skana looked at her fretfully. "Neia...Neia what is it?" She asked softly. The pope of Black Justice kept shaking, but the sound of Skana's voice seemed to bring her somewhat back to reality.

"Its just...I was remembering, I try not to think about it, I really do. Her face as she stood over me, the way the steel slid through my arms like a hot knife through butter, the way she beat me, kicked me and all I could do was crawl. It took everything I had to mock her as she knocked my teeth out, I didn't want to scream, I didn't want to give her the satisfaction, but when she cut me again...and again...and again...I couldn't keep my screams back. Then...god...the whip, I thought I was going to be whipped to death in Yanana...I thought it was the end for me, and all I wanted to do was not give in to the screaming that time."

Neia's eyes glistened as she looked at Skana and she reached her hand out across the table, Skana reached out again and took it, Neia did not pull away this time. "The memories are worse than the moments themselves, there's no time to think then, no time to do anything but act, but after that...how do I get rid of all that I feel after that?" She asked, and Skana squeezed her hand.

"You don't...I guess." She said as she lifted her eye patch and revealed the place where there was now nothing but a socket. "I saw a flash of the thing that did this to me, and that was the last thing that eye ever saw. Truth is, I still wake up remembering, and I still think of the raid on the intelligence center in the capitol, and I still remember the girl I had killed...Torli, the look of shock on her face as the sword ran through her neck hasn't faded."

Neia gave small nods as Skana spoke, the calmness in her lover's voice offering comfort in that moment that was badly needed. Neia slowly stopped shaking. "Sorry." She said, "Its just, I started thinking about Illyana and CZ's weapon at her head while that poor elf girl was on her knees begging to die, and it just...it all came back from there. Its easier when I don't think of these things, any of them." Neia said softly as Skana dropped the eye patch back over her empty eye socket again.

"Maybe so, but if these things didn't have a lingering effect on you...what would you be? Not the Neia I know." Skana said with a small smile. "I think its better that you feel something, even terrible, than to be just a cold and calculating monster who feels nothing about anything."

"Cheerful thought." Neia said and pushed away her remaining wine. "Thank you, I needed that." She said. Neia glanced over at the snoring CZ. "She'll be out for awhile, but I still prefer privacy, lets go to your room, I'm sure Tinamoc will be awhile."

Skana nodded, "I'd like that." She said with a smile, and still holding Neia's hand, Neia got up and they walked out of the room, leaving CZ asleep at the table.

Tinamoc looked the list over that Illyana presented. "Odd list, what is this for?" He asked her curiously.

"To poison me." She answered flatly.

"Oh to...wait to what?!" He shouted hoarsly.

"To poison me when you leave the city." She said to Tinamoc. "This will make it appear as if I've gotten sick, that way the hotel owner won't...give me another assignment." She said as blandly as she could, shuddering at the meaning behind those four words.

Tinamoc's expression turned unpleasant. "Oh, I see, that makes sense. I can get what you need easily enough, but can I suggest something else?" He asked.

"Go on." She said.

"Well, this will make you sick, but it won't do much good for the rest of the females here, but with the right mix of materials, if added to food and drink, you can essentially give the men here whiskey dick." He said with a grin.

"What...?" She asked in confusion.

"Look, you mix some of a particular concoction into some food or wine and within an hour the man who consumes it will have a cock as hard as a boiled noodle and it won't be up for the better part of a day." He said maliciously.

"Won't the hotel be suspicious?" She asked incredulously.

Tinamoc laughed. "No man I've ever met will go to the owner of a hotel and loudly complain that he can't get hard. Every man there will keep his 'problem' entirely to himself I promise you. Oh sure over a few weeks or months this would definitely come out, but this only has to be seen to for a few days at most, I can't promise all of the reactions from frustrated patrons will be pleasant ones...but...given the options, which one do you want?" He asked. Illyana imagined the faces of the human men coming to the hotel intent on their personal urges being satisfied, only to find that their spirit was willing, but the flesh was weak. She giggled like a school girl and said, "Get me the other thing too, we'll do both." She said. "Thank you."

"Entirely my pleasure." He said, "I used to do this to my stupid uncle every time he came to visit me in the hotel, I'd insist on a meal, slip him that stuff, and he'd always look angry and embarrassed when he left the next morning, so I know this will work." He laughed at the memory, "I'll be back soon." He said, and walked out, leaving Illyana to her own devices.

When he left the hotel the first thing he did was go to check the goings on in the warehouses, they were binding ladders together, using ropes and hand powered drills to either bind rungs between the long rails or to insert the rungs into matching holes before sealing them with glue. Dozens and dozens of ladders were already done, while stacks of individual ropes and hooks cut to length were arrayed around the warehouse. "How many do you have?" He asked bluntly.

"Enough for one wall." The elf in charge replied.

"Three more to go." Tinamoc said.

"Yes. Three more walls to go." The elf replied with a mix of hope and fear.

"Work quickly, because when it is time to go, what you have is what you work with and nothing more." Tinamoc reminded him.

"I know, we will." He said, and went back to wrapping rope over and under a small improvised rung, ensuring it was bound tightly to the long beam, then tending to its mate on the other side, the rapidity of his pace told Tinamoc that the idea of stopping had not even occurred to the elf captive, it was a sentiment he approved of as he thought about what he was going out to pick up for Illyana and the other permanent prisoners of the Golden Roan.

 **AN: Yes yes I know you always want more. Greedy lot you are, but I wouldn't change that for anything, enjoy the story and have a nice night, reviews as always are what feed the beast. :)**


	34. Perspectives

_..In Kami Miyako...Slane Theocracy...Council room of the cardinals..._

"Gods be damned things are getting worse!" Dominic shouted to the other cardinals. "The massacre of Kedyn turned into the massacre BY Kedyn! Black Justice is stronger there than ever before, and these 'Red Paladins' are manifesting their own abilities, and these priests of theirs are now moving around wherever they please and are starting to trickle into the South! Exactly...WHAT do you all propose to do?!" His voice turned harsh as gravel and he stood and hunched over the table, resting his body on his fists.

Ginedine held his face calm as Dominic ranted. "Its not all bad. King Caspond is dead and the holy book he was given has been taken and is on its way to us to see its contents for ourselves. Handor is a front runner for the crown and with our support he'll get it. Not that I like the man much, but he'll be useful in uniting North and South, and he's no friend of the Sorcerer King or his worshipers."

Berenice interjected, "And lets not forget that Remedios has turned out to be a very useful asset, I really thought we'd have to put more work into that spiritual heteromorph stuff to convince her to go along. Plus with all those agents of ours in the South, she's drawing in more and more every day, she'll have a fully trained army strong enough to take on the North in no time."

Yvon's narrow eyes went all the more narrow as he spoke, "Granted, but can she deal with the Sorcerer King OR his armies? We all saw what he put onto the Katze Plains, even if he can't use that spell again, according to Jircniv he has a number of others at his disposal, not to mention his legendary undead."

Maximillian leaned back in thought, "Well lets see...if our current projections are accurate, Remedios can command an army of perhaps forty thousand, but if we raise the nobles of the South to the cause as well, that adds another one hundred thousand. If we send most of our own army to unite with them, that will be two hundred and fifty thousand moving North, I don't know how much of the North still supports us, but lets say we can draw fifty thousand, that gives us three hundred thousand to our cause. If Handor 'invites' us in to help restore order, that will give us a number of diplomatic advantages..." He tapped his finger thoughtfully against the table. "I have a proposal...but I don't know how you all will see it."

"What?" Raymond asked hesitantly.

"I propose we do two things...we draw in nobles from the Re-Estize Kingdom and we make peace with the Elf King and forge a grand alliance to bring this threat down." Maximillian said boldly.

Dominic stared at him like he'd grown a second head. "You're not serious."

Ginedine held up his hand before Dominic could start to rant. "Its not a bad idea, the Elf King never cared for our territory, that much has been obvious, he's been trying to create strength in his people and...well...failing. If we tell him that he can have first pick of any powerful females we find during the fighting, he'll listen. Like him or not...he's absurdly powerful and should be able, by himself, to handle many of the dangerous undead that we would have trouble with."

"But would the Re-Estize Kingdom nobles really join with us?" Yvon asked doubtfully.

"Maybe." Raymond replied, "The massacre raised a lot of inept and egotistical fools to positions they were not prepared for, as a result they're equal parts incompetent and hungry to prove themselves, plus the shame of defeat and their own poor opinion of their betters before them might make them open to siding with us. The Re-Estize Kingdom has an enormous population even after the massacre, we don't even need them to fight that hard, just the weight of numbers alone would force the Sorcerer King to respond.

"Do you really think that the peasants of Re-Estize will fight for us just because the nobles say so?" Dominic asked skeptically.

"No, but if we promise to feed them, that'll do the trick." Maximillian said confidently. "Starvation is a slow death, a spear in the face is a quick one, even with the Sorcerer King's help, they're not in great shape."

"Maybe, but what about the King? He may not be steady on his throne, but he has enough sway to keep that from happening, he's no fool after all, he was there at the Katze Plains, he won't want to risk his people against that again." Dominic objected strongly.

"So he dies." Yvon said flatly. "He'll be easier to kill than Caspond was, and then we take a few hostages from some of the noble faction families and force Zanac to capitulate, even if he responds unenthusiastically, it won't matter, by drawing in so many of his nobles and his own people, his armies are effectively hostages if he tries to sell us out, and the death of his father will certainly be...illustrative."

Dominic actually smiled, it was a rare thing for the whirlwind of wrath that was the hot tempered cardinal, and it was as unpleasant a smile as one would expect.

"Only one problem." Ginedine said. "The Golden Princess presents a possible foil, a rallying cry for opposition. Should we try to capture her, kill her, or turn her to our side?"

Raymond tapped his fingers on thet able and spoke up, "I don't think she matters as much as all that, the Re-Estize Kingdom has never had a woman on the throne, and she's never had much clout, she can safely be ignored for now and we can have her put down if necessary. But there is one thing we can do to ensure beyond question that she won't turn on us."

"What?" Berenice asked.

"She has a special attachment to her bodyguard, she's had him with her since she was very small, if we capture him, she'll keep to the sidelines. There's no reason to expect she won't once we have that leverage, what else can a woman in her position do then?"

There was a short round of general agreement.

"Now, how are things going with the army?" Berenice asked.

"Good, we've routed most of the remaining elf armies now, though not without cost, and lucky for us its only a relatively short march from there to the ports, the navy can take ship and land near Wenmark in no time. So we'll be well positioned to begin the fighting. All I'd really like to do is bring in any other forces we can gather first, Re-Estize, Elf, doesn't matter, both would be even better, it'll take a few trips and a lot of ships, but when they're all landed, no army in the world will be able to face what we will field when we include the Southern forces." Dominic said, he was shaking with agitation, eager to just get the fighting started, it was all he could think of.

"Alright, so we'll dispatch a letter to the Elf King with our offer, and then send the black scripture to deal with the King in Re-Estize and to take any hostages we can, the families of the nobles who side with the crown first and foremost, but also, we'll capture the young man who goes by the name 'Climb'. Anything else?" Dominic said as he wrote out a few notes.

With no other matters to attend to, they council stood and went off to see about their individual duties.

 _...Hoburns...Capitol of the Roble Holy Kingdom..._

The death of Caspond sent a wave of uncertainty throughout the city that echoed throughout the country, he had no children, no living heirs in the form of an extended family to turn to, the dynasty was dead, so factions quickly sprang to life supporting this or that candidate, and murder was quick to follow, internally within factions as much as between them. However there was one figure who had things going for him that others did not, not only did he have ties to both North & South, which allowed him to build the only truly cross sectional noble faction, he also had the outside support of the most powerful human nation. Count Handor, with the aid of their assassin contacts, his own copious wealth and the augmented resources they provided to him to bribe others to leave their factions, the issue of who would be crowned King was settled in a handful of weeks.

He was confirmed by the nobles under the watchful eye of priests and guards alike, they gave his name their support in the stone walls of the palace where Caspond & Calca had ruled, some of them did so fearing the rumored promise that a hand that did not go up for him, would be confiscated, some did so because of hostages that had been taken in secret, others because they had been paid, still others by common interest. There was little enough love for the man, but there he sat on the throne as the nobles pledged their loyalty and the priests of the old gods conferred their blessing.

Notably absent was a priest of Black Justice, or any form of representation by their segment of the population. Handor had refused to so much as invite them, it was a clear insult and out in the streets many of their members were outraged. Still others held the opposite position, that his invitation to them would have stained their dignity and their justice. Count Handor's reputation was well known by then, but who listened to the complaints of commoners?

The coronation was traditionally a holiday for the capitol city, and this was no exception. However holiday or no holiday, Robel & Gilcrest had much to do.

"I want to start moving our people out of the capitol as soon as possible." Gilcrest said firmly.

"Look," Robel replied, "I don't disagree with you, but we have to think this through, we can't empty that much of the city, and he can't kill or imprison that many people, hell, we still control the city guard and we still have most of the people."

"True, but he has the army, the priests, about half the paladin corps is still loyal to the throne, and we don't have the 'entire' population, just a lot of it, maybe even most of it, and a good many of those we do have are either to young or to old to fight." Gilcrest said.

"So lets just get 'those' out. The pregnant, the lame, the very old and very young, we can sponsor those to distant villages. Shit is going to get bad here and we need to look after our own." Robel replied fervently.

Gilcrest blinked. "OK, so you want to split up families and send the ones least able to handle things, out of the danger zones to be...what...'fostered' I suppose, by our fellow members in various villages and towns? Or do you want to send them off to the Sorcerer Kingdom in the hopes that he'll take them in as refugees when the war breaks out? Say we do that, how do we get people brought back together when its all over?

Robel thought for a moment. "We create a registry. Send word out to all the villages that have a sizable population of Black Justice members asking for people to volunteer to take on a person or two, and at services we post listings of different villages and volunteers, people take one, make one copy for us, and then we have a schedule made for departures using Red Paladins as guards or hiring space with various merchants, with our next payment to the Sorcerer King, we send a letter asking for him to store the paperwork for us so that after everything is over, people can be reunited, that way it will surely be safe and we don't have to worry about espionage...because fuck this city leaks like a seive."

Gilcrest thought it over. "Its workable. Alright, we'll send the undead mounts to as many villages as they can get to, its not perfect safety, but Count...King Handor has made it clear he's looking our way. Everybody who remains, triple the training regimens, I do not want to have everybody end up like Gascon."

"No...neither do I. Hail Gascon." Robel said and raised a mug to the first martyr of the faith.

"Hail Gascon." Robel said, raising his mug in turn, each wondering how many more martyrs there would be before a final peace came to the Holy Kingdom.

 _...In Nazarick..._

Demiurge stood next to the roaring dragon while he skinned it. It didn't threaten him anymore, it had learned that this would 'slow down' the skinning progress, as if to punish him for his temerity. "Still regretting your defiance of the supreme being Olasird'arc Haylilyal?" Demiurge said in a whimsical tone. "Its unfortunate for you that the last batch of scrolls we made from your skin were all used up, we still have some from your son Hejinmal though, but I'd rather not run out."

Olasird'arc looked at him in surprise, he was so surprised that he actually spoke. "You're using Hejinmal too? Didn't he surrender to you?"

Demiurge had paused from the skinning to answer, "Well yes, yes he did."

"So you're torturing him then, surrender bought him nothing." Olasird'arc said, almost relieved, his pride as a dragon hadn't cost him anything that was going to happen anyway, and at least he didn't go the route of his worthless son, or so he thought, until Demiurge started to laugh.

Olasird'arc felt the illusion shatter even before the inhuman being spoke, but listened anyway, "Oh my no. My lord is a merciful being. Hejinmal volunteered to be skinned, trading his skin for more books to read, and in exchange not only did he get the books, but he was treated by Pestonya, in short, the taking of his skin was done completely without any pain, then he was carefully wrapped up, and has been given the greatest degree of comfort and respect he could be afforded for his diligent and devoted service." As he saw the dragon's face fall, he resumed skinning, and the musical screams and wordless roars kept Demiurge happy the entire time the dragon was cursing his resurrection.

 _...In Wenmark..._

Tinamoc still thought about the man he'd killed, but oddly enough the thought didn't trouble him as much as he thought it would, he was more disturbed by how close that lead to him getting caught. Everything could have come undone, and it would have been all his fault for being careless in the wrong moment. He shook his head as if to shake off the thought, and went about the marketplace buying up the materials he'd need to make the Golden Roan a more sexless place than a bad marriage. It was relatively easy to grab the materials without suspicion, individually they were common enough, and valuable enough trading commodities that nobody thought anything of the famous Tinamoc buying up quantities of them for delivery. His only concern was delivered to Neia that afternoon when they spoke privately.

"To make enough of this 'whiskey dick powder'..." he began.

"Is that what we're really going to call it?" Neia said, scrunching her face in distaste.

"Well I just assumed..." He said.

"Assume something else, that name is awful." Skana said in agreement with Neia.

"Fine, call it 'tripod powder'." He said flatly.

"What...?" Illyana asked.

"Tripod, its a thing with three legs, used in surveying, the third leg always points down, never goes up." Tinamoc said.

The three women froze for a moment, then laughed at his play on words.

"Anyway..." He said with a roll of his eyes, getting the materials is easy, even mixing them is easy, but to make enough and avoid getting caught we need to use some of the warehoused elves to do it, and then it has to be put into the bread and other supplies that guests will be consuming while here, that might slow down hooked rope and ladder production by a day or two." He said.

"Its fine." Neia said, "We still have some time left before we have to get out of here, a day or two we can work with, and since I've already sent word to a contact in Yanana and our people in Prart, we should have at least some help on the way to receive us. I'd like to poison the water supply for the city as well...not lethally, just enough there will be a lot of sickness and weakness until after our escape...but the more we try to do, the more likely we are to get exposed before we can pull off the breakout."

"When do we go then?" Illyana asked with trepidation.

"A few days, once enough ladders and ropes are made. We'll create a distraction with a fire in the city somewhere, and that will be our go signal. I just with there was some way to slow the city down more." Neia sighed, "Perhaps a walk will help clear my head, you'll excuse me I hope?" There were collective nods, and CZ stood up.

"Not alone." CZ said.

Neia knew that tone, there was no arguing with her. "C'mon then." She said, and headed for the door.

As she exited the hotel she saw the young elf boy from before, his bruises hadn't completely faded, but there were no new ones, word had evidently gotten around that marks offended her, and she was 'in good' in high places, he dared give her a smile, and she returned it covertly after checking to ensure she wasn't being watched. CZ followed her as she went out into the city streets. It ws in times like this that she appreciated the quite company of CZ. In subtle ways, ways Neia could not properly express, CZ's quiet strength and companionship was a much needed relief, in a way that even Skana's passionate company was not. If Skana was a participant, CZ was a presence, and that made all the difference in the world right now, in a few days everything would come to a head, in a few days it would all be over and the elves would be fleeing North. The pressure of command was nothing new, the fear of defeat was never far away no matter how well she prepared, so she needed these silent times in order to calm herself.

It was for that reason that she wasn't paying much attention and knocked a young man right on his back when she bumped into him. He fell with a clatter and that snapped her out of the daze in which she'd been walking. She looked down at him with surprise, "Sudaj?" She asked.

He blinked from on the ground, and she leaned over and held out her hand, he hesitated, then took it and pushed up as she pulled him to his feet. "I'm very sorry." She bowed her head politely. "I was lost in my own thoughts and I wasn't paying attention, I hope I didn't injure you." She said apologetically.

He shook his head, "No not at all, I'm perfectly fine. My pride may have taken a minor blow, but I'm bodily intact." He gave a wry smile, and changed the subject.

"So you made it here after all." He said, "Was it what you expected?" He asked, and a distant scream punctuated the question. He winced as he heard it, a motion Neia did not overlook.

She had a very grim expression on her face. "Walk with me?" She asked, and resumed her forward stroll, CZ fell in behind them, ever watchful as Sudaj fell in to step next to her.

"Its bad." Neia said frankly.

"It is." He said, wincing visibly as a man's scream echoed out of sight, chained ones walked the streets, human, elf, and young half elves that spoke of the horrors that the female elves were subjected to.

"So...how did you end up here?" She asked him curiously.

"Guards may serve their city in particular, but here in the South the cities cooperate and shuffle people around for promotions, suppose a guard does very well in Yanana, he wants to become a shift leader or squad commander, but no slots exist in that city, he can write to the guard leadership of any other city and ask for open positions that are a step up from his current one, if the guard leaders of his current city will write him three recommendations, then the head of one or more cities may offer him a higher position, this ensures that talent continues to flow upwards and doesn't become 'stuck' because someone is holding a position for themselves and won't move on or retire or die." He said. "Its a fairly good system, I did well in Yanana, and got a squad commander recommendation, Wenmark had a space open for that, and it is close by. I don't like how this city works...but I can't do anything from the bottom so...here I am." He finished with a shrug.

A thought occurred to Neia, a way to gain an edge...however thin it might be.

"Tell me Sudaj...how do you feel about elves?" She asked curiously, folding her hands behind her head casually as she walked.

 **AN: Well we're getting close now, close to the great escape, and with it the beginnings of the greatest war the New World has ever known, the end of one era and the start of another, no matter who wins, nothing will ever again be the same. Reviews welcome. :)**


	35. Leap of Faith

_...Re-Estize Kingdom..._

In that gentle night, the last of hours of peace died, like a candle burned to long, it flickered and died away. People from the farthest South of the Holy Kingdom, to the deep woods of the Elf Kingdom, to the far North of the Baharuth Empire, slept soundly in their beds, never knowing that those who moved through the night were taking the final steps towards war. There were twelve teams moving through Re-Estize that night, each one with a different goal.

The first team climbed the tower of the palace, slipped in to the chamber of the King, one took a poison bottle out, another took a pillow out of his pack, then two men grabbed his arms while the third dumped the poison into his mouth when he opened it to express his shock, and then the third covered his face to stiffle any noise. It was over in less than minutes...then the long ruling King of Re-Estize...lay dead. They had one more task, this one only made difficult by the youth of the victim. Climb, they knew, slept near to Princess Renner, and thanks to the sieve like gossip of the maids, they already knew his schedule and when he would rest. Him they would take alive. They moved back out the window through which they'd entered the King's quarters, and moved along the rooftops and walls until they'd reached the tower where his isolated chamber lay. He was only close to the princess's room, but that was the only place he wanted to be, and his relative social isolation made this even easier. They went in through the window, one by one letting feet fall soft on stone, their padded shoes making not a sound, they went so quietly that darkness itself might have overlooked them. There they beheld the sleeping form of a handsome, youthful blonde male, in the flower of youth about to bloom, and the ruthless assassin felt a twinge of regret that one so young should be caught up in forces he could never have understood. Still, he had a duty to his nation, and he carried it out, nodding to his comrades, they gently went to grab his arms as another pillow was brought out. It was doused with tincture of the zina plant, and would induce unconsciousness in short order. Then they grabbed and he started awake, trying to reach for his sword, but the pillow was over his face and though he was uncommonly strong, he was outnumbered four to one and could not flail even a little...well...maybe a little.

"Thenner! Pwintheth Thenner!" The boy tried to cry out, but held at legs, arms, and head, and muffled as he was, it was over soon, and the boy was unconscious.

"Loyal lad." The leader said softly under his breath. "You are a lucky one, if the loyalty is returned to you as much as I am told, rest easy, you will see her again." They then stuffed him into a very large sack, and crept back out the window, and climbed down to the ground where a cart was waiting to race them away. An inside agent would be slipping a note under the golden princess's door soon, informing her of Climb's abduction and telling her what to do if she wished him back alive, and promising to deliver her pieces of him if she even appeared to stray from command.

The other teams targeted the families of the royal or noble factions who had both the clout and the wisdom to avoid conflict with the Sorcerer Kingdom, each one seeking out and snatching someone of significance from their household, an heir, a wife, a brother or sister or grandchild, leaving a note behind cautioning silence and demanding compliance while also promising their safe return. There would be mourning and fear throughout Re-Estize when the sun came up again.

 _...Elf Kingdom Palace..._

The Slane Theocracy ambassador stood before the elf king, the elf was imposing and dangerous looking, and he clearly looked down on the human ambassador as somewhat of an insect, but disgust with his people was greater than the loathing he held for the human ambassador, who at least had some strength in his nation, and so he listened.

"You and I both know you did not attack our Kingdom for want of gold or land." The Slane Theocracy ambassador said.

"How do you know that?" The elf King said, already bored by prattle as he sipped from his goblet of wine.

"Because of what you did with the woman you took from us. You didn't do that just to start a war, you wanted powerful children, you wanted what your people failed to provide you, but we could." The ambassador said calmly, keeping his temper carefully restrained as he casually mentioned the elf King's rape of a black scripture woman.

This perked up his attention. "And? What of it? Either my people will grow strong, or they will be exterminated, I have no use for weak children or weak people." He said with a sneer at his own court.

"What if I were to tell you that we can offer you what you want?" He asked.

His ears twitched. "How?" The King asked.

"The Sorcerer Kingdom has many powerful females, as does the Holy Kingdom. If your armies march with us, if YOU ally with us, we will let you have the first night with any female you believe worth getting a child on." The ambassador said, swallowing the bile his offer induced in him. Part of him wondered about the women he was damning, beginning the future to forgive him in his nation's desperate hour.

"Even if she's a human?" He asked pointedly.

The ambassador swallowed hard.

He couldn't bring himself to say a simple yes, the question hung in the air, finally he got out, "I am authorized to accept that as well."

The elf King drank the last of his wine and cast the cup down, "Then I accept!" He began to laugh heartily, happily, like a child given exactly the gift they wanted on their birthday, and the ambassador felt stained by the very sound of it, silently reminding himself that it was for humanity's sake...and he had to bear with it for now...and so would his victims.

 _...Draconic Kingdom..._

The Theocracy Ambassador stood in front of the little Queen, Draudillon Oriculus, who he knew quite well did not really look the way she appeared. "My nation is asking for your help." He said flatly.

"And my nation is saying no." She replied with a frosty tone. "When we sought your help during the beastman invasion, you did nothing. When they ate my citizens, you did nothing, when they captured my cities, you did nothing, now you come to me for help with a problem you began, and I will do for you what you did for us. Nothing." Her voice had a winter chill so cold that the ambassador felt that Ainz Ooal Gown himself would have shivered.

"We could not help you because of the Sorcerer King, he destroyed the scripture that bled for you in the past, and even now he runs rampant through the Holy Kingdom through his vile proxies. Its only a matter of time before he turns his gaze on you." The ambassador said.

"He DID turn his gaze on us." She said flatly.

"What?!" The ambassador said with utter shock.

"Yes, after our third city was consumed and you rejected us again, after he defeated Jaldabaoth, we appealed to his Kingdom for the help you denied us. He provided what you did not, and the Beastmen withdrew." She said.

"Ho-wha-in..." He spoke, starting and stopping, trying to find the right question to ask.

"In exchange for allowing him to buy some of our land on which to settle refugees, we'd lost much of our territory anyway, so trading away a little of what we already lost was nothing. So he bought a strip of land spanning the length of our border with the beastman kingdom, and extending west just over the nearest of the dead cities to that, and a strip of land wide enough for several roads to connect it to his own kingdom. The only condition was that he stop the invasion." She said.

"And...he did?" The ambassador said.

"Its why I'm still alive and so is around half my population." She said with a thin lipped expression.

"How...?" He asked.

She shrugged. "I have no idea. All I know is that he went where we didn't, did what we couldn't, and the beastman kingdom withdrew all of its forces and even released all the humans they hadn't yet eaten, and they have not come back."

"But he hasn't occupied any of the land yet...so...wait..." He froze as he remembered her exact words. "You said...on which to settle refugees."

She nodded seriously. "I didn't understand it at the time, he had no refugees, there was no war in the aftermath of the conflict with Jaldabaoth except for mine, but he bought it anyway, to settle refugees on that did not exist yet. Now I wonder ambassador...where did he get the idea that he'd need the space for that?" She cocked her head slightly to one side and gave him her best childlike expression of curiosity.

The Theocracy ambassador went pale as ice. "He saw this coming...years ago."

"And I think he said exactly what he did, exactly so I would tell you what he said, he wanted you to know." She said. "He knew you'd do this, he knew he was better off with us neutral and he knew he'd need a place to settle people. Do you know what else?" She asked.

He shook his head, unable to form words.

"He's had small numbers of undead working on that area since he cleared it of beastmen. I've had people go look it over, there are villages with no people there, farms being laid out ready for planting, just...waiting. I've even gotten reports that he's had undead laying out orderly towns, ready for people to move in and occupy." She said.

"Why didn't you tell us this...?" He said with a frostyness that matched her own.

"That would be doing 'something' she said, and I was only willing to do for you, what you did for us, and that was...nothing." The silence hung between them like the sword of Damocles about to fall and cut the last thread of peace. "Go to hell ambassador, you're dragging your entire kingdom down into annihilation, the only thing I'm willing to do for your nation is this...when the Sorcerer King moves through your lands and decimates them, I will send wagons to ferry the refugees to settle under the rule of the Sorcerer King. Your grand alliance, will be nothing but a very big fire that you all burn on, and I will not be joining you, my people have suffered enough for nothing." She said with ironclad finality.

"We will not forget this." The ambassador said coldly.

"Neither will Ainz Ooal Gown, and between your memory and his, I choose his. Now get out of my sight." She said, and her guards moved to escort him out, only for him to turn on his heel and stamp out.

 _...Holy Roble Kingdom...Hoburns...days after the swift coronation..._

King Handor signed the missive with a satisfied flourish in front of the entire royal court. "There, that useless drain on our resources has now been dealt with. The crown will no longer pay for any adventurers outside of or inside of our kingdom to protect Black Justice temple members."

There was a smattering of applause, they were polite but subdued, but smug grins were on many a priestly face. Gustav's was not among those who applauded, or who appeared smug. He was departing again in the hunt for Remedios today after he finished replenishing his forces, but he had been ordered to remain for some unknown reason, along with all his replenished numbers.

"Next..." He said, and another sheet was presented to him, which he likewise signed with a happy flourish. "From this point forward, the use of undead in any form is strictly prohibited, they will not serve as labor or security or perform any task whatsoever, this vile necromancy is an affront to the gods, and it will no longer be tolerated in a kingdom that has long prided itself on its holiness before the gods."

Again the smattering of applause and smug looks were abound, and again Gustav did not share the expression, he'd seen the way the use of undead labor had benefited people's lives, taking that away would be a hard blow, farming would suffer, harvests would be smaller, everything would get worse.

"Anyone caught engaged in this affront to the gods will be imprisoned and their property confiscated." He added for good measure. Gustav felt a shiver under his skin, this was directly attacking Black Justice practices, they would be outraged.

Another order was presented to King Handor, and he signed that one with a flourish as well. "There, from this point forward anyone caught engaging in healing without an official license from the crown will be subject to fines and imprisonment."

There were very few applause for this, and the only satisfied looks were from priests, Gustav was sickened, he already knew what would happen, there would only be enough licenses for the old gods temples, this was targeting the core beliefs of the Black Justice temples and the practices that made them popular. He swallowed hard, he could already envision the riots.

"Now...Commander Gustav, please step forward." Handor said with a smug entitled voice. Gustav gritted his teeth, approached, and knelt.

"You are to have some of your people ride out immediately, seek out Remedios Custodio, and present her with this." King Handor gestured to a functionary, who brought forth a sealed scroll.

Gustav took it curiously. It bore a royal seal. "Majesty?" He asked curiously.

"It is a full pardon." King Handor said. "Commander Remedios was manipulated, deceived, and was striving to protect our country, she was not wrong in her actions, King Caspond was wrong in condemning her. She will be restored to lawful status and given the task of enforcing our decrees."

This was to much for Gustav. He knelt, holding the scroll in utter shock, horror, disgust. He'd seen what Remedios had done to villages, to villagers, the guilt had been weighing on him, eating at him, knowing he...he was responsible for releasing her, allowing her the chance to do the things she'd done. He wanted to vomit, his eyes went cold as he stared at the pardon as if he was holding a live snake...or...more accurately, a fetid mound of dung. He closed his steel eyes as decision struck and the King looked at him expectantly.

He bowed his head. "It will be done your majesty, but...finding her may be difficult and dangerous, even though almost all the demihumans are dead, the roads are still dangerous, I will need a company of men to be sure of success."

King Handor nodded. "Of course, and I'm sure you're eager to give the good news to your commander yourself, so please, see to it that this is done, personally." He answered, his voice dripping with false sincerity.

Gustav stood and bowed deeply, glad not to look at the unworthy King, and he backed away and left the hall. He went out to the barracks where his men were packed and ready to go. "Time to ride!" He snapped, and the various unit and line leaders rushed about, and within the hour the Paladin Order rode out of the capitol again, refreshed and riding with two thousand paladins and six thousand squires...sounding more impressive than it truly was given their relative inexperience, but making for an impressive appearance as they rode out of the city in bright armor reflecting the light of the Sun, and leaving behind the capitol city.

Gustav said nothing as he rode at the head of the column, he said nothing to anyone all day, not until they were many miles from the capitol and stopped to rest and make camp for the night, he ordered a camp erected and ordered a formation be made ready to hear him out.

They did that well enough, and as the Sun began to set, they stood close to hear him.

"You all know who I am, how I am, and what I am. But what you do not know is why we are here now." His voice, which had carried over the din of life and death battle, carried over the men like a leaf in a gale force wind. "You also know what Remedios has done! Some of you marched with me, you saw the destruction, living in the capitol, you know of her attempt at massacring our own people in their beds, is there anyone among us now who feels the horrors that she has wrought are justified?!" He asked, nobody spoke, nobody raised a hand.

"Then you should know this, despite our earlier instructions to hunt Remedios down, our new King..." Gustav paused and spat on the ground in visible disgust, as if to expel the saliva that the word 'king' had passed over, "has given me a document pardoning Remedios and restoring her to legitimacy in the eyes of the crown, whats more, she's ordered in this document to actually hunt down all those who violate the new laws. Such as the prohibition on healing, which I know some of you personally benefited from when the Black Justice priesthood saved your relatives or even yourselves. The King is attacking everything that has been improving our lives and rebuilding our kingdom."

There were hateful mutterings among the corps.

"I do not intend to follow this order." He said. "I intend to hunt down Remedios and make her pay for what she's done. If you do not wish to march with me, fine, run back to the capitol and tell the King I did this." He said, and holding Remedios's pardon aloft, he took a torch and held it up, and burned it into ashes.

"I mark myself traitor to the King, but I mark myself loyal to my country. Anyone who wishes to make the same choice I did, we're riding out in the morning to resume the hunt for Remedios, if you don't want to do that, get out now. Nobody moved.

"Alright, then get some sleep, tomorrow will be a long day. Fall out." Gustav said, and the formation broke apart and the gossip began as men and women went to their tents to sleep.

Gustav went to his bedroll and laid himself down to rest, it was a hard and bitter day, and he had little confidence that tomorrow would be an improvement.

 _...Wenmark..._

Neia's conversation with Sudaj had gone better than she hoped, he winced at every scream, and the noise restrictions on the city began to make a lot more sense, without the loud noise of hustle and bustle, the screams of those being punished were heard far more clearly and by far more people, elf, human, criminal, and free person, it had to be very effective. He looked with pity at the elves, and he seemed to shake with impotent rage when he saw an auction, an elf woman was torn away from an infant who was clearly not a full blooded elf, and she barely had the strength to resist, and even that was sorely punished with heavy blows.

Neia ached to start cutting people down, but she would settle things soon enough, without its underclass of property, this city could not function well, she was sure a mass escape would be almost impossible to respond to.

She gradually lead the way back to the Golden Roan, and went to Tinamoc's room, which she found to be empty, and let him in. She gestured to a seat, and he looked around him in awe at the expensive materials, the wealth, the taste, the opulence of it all, he almost hesitated to sit, until Neia did, and he forced his distraction back.

"I need your help." She said.

"With what?" He asked.

"Getting the elves out." She said.

He blinked. "I'm sorry, I don't think I heard you."

"I said, getting the elves out. I'm going to do a mass escape in a few days, but I need an edge to be sure I'm successful."

"By...edge...do you mean all the gods descending from heaven to fight for you, because that is what you need, and even then you might not win." He said flatly.

"I'll settle for beer." She said bluntly.

"I'm lost." He said.

"I want to get the city guard as drunk as possible the night of the escape. The more they're weighed down by beer in their guts, the less effective they'll be at a critical time, this final edge should be what I need to get almost all the elves out of the city." She said.

"So...what do you want from me?" Sudaj asked.

"It'll look suspicious coming from me, my reputation is to well known, I'm only able to do as much as I am, because I'm tied to Tinamoc, but this would draw a suspicious gaze my way. However if it comes out that a 'loyal soldier' such as yourself did a great favor for a great merchant, say recovering some incredibly valuable lost item...then a donation to you to distribute to the city guards would be all but entirely unquestioned." She said. Basically it puts two trusted layers between me and the act itself. Do this for me, and we will alleviate matchless suffering." She said.

"And what then?" He asked, "Suspicion will fall hard on me." He said.

"Come with us." Neia said.

"And do...what?" He said.

"Join me, join us. You'll get to fight for something worthwhile instead of just enforcing evil for a handful of coins. Do you really just want to muddle your way through the middling ranks of city guard work for the rest of your life?" Neia asked.

He looked down. "Fair enough." He said. "But...why are you trusting me?" He asked.

"Call it a leap of faith." She said, "It is a risk, but so is everything I do, everywhere I go."

"Alright." He said. "I'll draw up an order for enough beer to get the garrison drunk, you just say when you're ready for it to be distributed, and I'll have the bill sent to Tinamoc." He stood up and looked at her with worried eyes, "I sure hope you know what you're doing." He said, and started to walk out.

"Me too." Neia said softly, and that was when the bells began to ring all over the city.

The sound of running was everywhere, and Neia and Sudaj shared only a momentary look of confusion before they rushed outside.

"King Caspond has been killed!" The news flew everywhere, many people were openly cheering while others were shocked into silence, criers shouted about his violent death from every street corner and public square. The city government, not being a fan of Caspond, responded within hours and announced a temporary moratorium on work and trade, declaring a public holiday and an impromptu festival wherein all license requirements for noise and music were suspended. Neia swallowed, that would slow things down a bit...but on the other hand...perhaps that wasn't to bad of a thing, even if, as it turned out from further reporting, that the death was being reported late this far South.

She was still thinking that when she returned alone to the hotel and began to speak with Tinamoc, Illyana, Skana, & CZ, explaining what she'd learned and discussing the death of Caspond when she paused and received a message from the Sorcerer King. "Neia Baraja, your presence is required." The Sorcerer King said politely.

"As your majesty commands." Neia said. She looked to the curious parties and said, "The Sorcerer King, he is summoning me."

A portal opened. "Don't keep him." CZ said, and Neia bowed to her friends, then stepped through the portal, and found herself in, of all places, a village.

AN: Well here you go, another chapter for my greedy readers. :) Enjoy, review, and expect another update to the Lemurian Paradox and the final chapter or two of 'The Queen in the Sword'.


	36. Falling Short

_In Kedyn, days after King Handor's edicts..._

"So...we're not getting paid anymore?" Gagaran said bluntly.

"Not by the Holy Kingdom." Lakyus answered. "When this month is out, our contract ends too, a shame, this has been the easiest job we've ever had...well, at least since that other mess was taken care of."

"Really? That other mess?" Tia said.

"That is what we're calling the near collapse of the city against an army of thousands?" Tina finished for her sister.

"Its just as well, frankly with things this easy, I'd feel guilty taking pay at this point, this is more like a vacation now than a job, and if the job is over, then we can go to E-Rantel..." Evileye said.

"And see Momon again?" Lakyus said with a grin as she interrupted Evileye.

Evileye was rarely glad of her mask, but as she was wearing it for public appearances at least, she was glad of it now as it hid her blush. "No...well...yes, but the truth is I want to meet the Sorcerer King."

Lakyus gently inclined her head, "I would actually like to do that as well." She shook her head, "As a priestess I held him as the source of evil, but seeing the gifts he's given to his followers, and now being an apostate...well I find myself rethinking everything. I have to see for myself what it is behind all this. Perhaps he really is a god the way Neia says. I'm not sure of anything but my sisters anymore." She smiled, and though her words might have been taken sadly, she wore a genuine smile on her face because she WAS sure of her sisters, and that was all she really needed to be sure of, anything else could be up in the air. They though, they were her rock and her constant. "When we go, if things are fine with Neia, we should ask her to go with us as an intermediary, she knows the Sorcerer King better than any human alive that I can think of." There was a round of agreement about this as they finished their meal, then got up to go about their business.

 _...Wenmark..._

Sudaj had listened attentively as Neia spoke, her voice connected to him very deeply, her eyes were compelling, her passionate nature seemed to pour out like river over mighty falls, but just as when he had seen her before, for all her words, for all his listening, he was more interested in her than in anything she believed. Running into her the first time had been mere chance...but not the second time. Nor was it coincidence that he was here now, when he learned where she'd be going, he lied about how he'd come here. His obsessive watchfulness of her let him see, like no one else, that she was haunted by the suffering of the elves, and that made it easy to present himself as someone more like her. He wondered that he was not detected, but considered it most likely because he was not watching out of hostility. Her youth, her passion, her vigor, he wanted Neia, and learning of her union with Skana had sent him spiralling in frustration, but he'd managed to get himself moved to Wenmark and his careful observation in his free time had hinted to him that something was up, and now here she was...so close, yet so out of reach, asking for his help, even offering to let him closer to her, letting him join her, his thoughts were a whirlwind at the possibilities there...but the others, the demon...and...well the other demon. Skana and CZ, they were in the way, if he joined her on her terms, even after helping her, they'd still be in the way. Her plan though, that gave him the chance he wanted, he could help her the right way, the way that left her to himself alone.

As she laid out her plan to him, he laid out his own in his own mind. Let the escape attempt begin, ensure it fails, ensure that she is captured, use the leverage his saving the city into a high placed promotion, offer to free the captured Neia by marrying her, and as a wedding gift, leverage his position into finding some reason to let the surviving captive elves free, she'd be grateful and she'd welcome his embrace the way he longed for, he could even offer comfort, sympathy for the loss of her dear friends, she'd be vulnerable and emotional then, especially locked away in one of the torture chambers of Wenmark, after a week or two there, he couldn't imagine there were any lengths she wouldn't go to in order to get free. So much was so close in reach, and her plans, her foolish overreaching plans...would give her over to himself.

"And that's the idea." Neia said as she finished laying the plan out, leaving out the part about Tinamoc's smuggling people out himself, indeed keeping his very involvement out of the matter, also keeping out a few other more personal details meant to help a handful of female elves, Sudaj had listened intently, she'd watched to see how he reacted to her, and to the environment, he'd winced at the screams, he'd clutched his weapon as if restraining himself from acting, he was staring at her intently, fiercely, passionately, for a moment it reminded her more of the looks of heated passion that she and Skana had shared as the lights of their room dimmed and they embraced, but as he peppered her with questions, she thought, 'Its the intensity of a desire to take action, righteousness and justice know no bounds.' She thought, and found herself relaxing around him, his seeming confidence in her was a relief, her plan had seemed so large sometimes that she feared its moment of execution, but her leap of faith in reaching out to this acquaintance, was being rewarded as he gave his assent.

"I'll help." He said softly. "Have a voucher sent to me authorizing me to bill your merchants for enough beer to get the entire city guard drunk, and I'll get started immediately."

"Thank you Sudaj, this will change everything." Neia said and reached out and offered her hand.

He hesitated not a moment in matching her gesture, taking her hand in his, he clasped it as in a handshake, and barely restrained himself from pulling her to him, he comforted himself about his restraint by thinking of the day he would set her free of her mad plans, the day he'd enter the dungeon as her savior, and win her heart by releasing the elves she seemed to care for, and comforting her wounded heart over the deaths of her friends. Briefly he considered whether or not the undead would respond, but he doubted it, to involve himself in national affairs was one thing, but to personally act to save a single person, kings don't do that.

When they parted, Neia felt more hopeful about her plan than she had since it first began to form, and she informed Tinamoc, Illyana, Skana, & CZ of what she'd accomplished, CZ for her part, was skeptical. "You ran into him again?" She asked.

"Well, yes." Neia said.

"That isn't strange?" She asked.

"I mean maybe a little, but...I'm out in public a lot, so if someone else is out in public a lot, like the way guards are, surely I can expect to see them again a time or two." Neia answered. "Why?"

"Don't like him." CZ answered.

"What, why?" Neia asked.

"His eyes, not cute." She said.

Tinamoc scrawled out a voucher and handed it to Illyana, "Deliver this to the front desk and have it sent to Sudaj of the city guard." Illyana nodded her understanding, took the voucher, and left.

Skana pursed her lips. "This is all a very big risk, but...we're used to taking risks at this point, all we can do is move forward and hope this leap of faith is rewarded. Besides, the way he acted doesn't suggest anything nefarious."

"Still not cute." CZ said with finality.

The other two women sighed and shrugged it off.

"I have all that I need to create enough poison to 'sicken' at least some of the female elves here, I can't do anything for the rest of the city, but we can do it here at least, it won't take long to make the necessary doses, and I also have enough to create the whiskey dick powder..."

"You're bad at naming things." Neia said with a roll of her eyes.

"Really bad." Skana agreed with a laugh.

"Tripod powder then, whatever." Tinamoc said with a roll of his eyes, "Nobody will be getting anything up, but there should be no other ill effects."

"To bad." CZ said.

"Agreed." Skana & Neia said in unison.

"I'll have the elves in the warehouses make what we need, and then tomorrow I'm going to prepare to leave. The day after tomorrow, I'm rolling the wagons out of here and I'm going back to the border as fast as possible with as many as possible, then I'll wait for you at Prart." Tinamoc continued as if they hadn't spoken. "Good luck, to all of you, I've got a lot of work to do before I move out, so I might not have time to come back here, just send Illyana back to my quarters to pick up what she'll need to make this hotel safer for the little time between my departure and her escape."

Neia & Skana both stood, "We will, and thank you, worst comes to worst, know that it has been an honor." Neia said and held out her hand, Tinamoc shook it firmly and went out to undertake the final stages of his part in their plans.

The next day was a heady one, with all their final preparations made, and a few armor sets sent over from Nazarick at CZ's request, helped boost the odds as they were quietly smuggled to a few of the elves who had displayed the greatest aptitude for combat in their relatively brief training.

Illyana took the handful of poison doses she'd been provided, both for her and for the 'guests', which she smuggled to the elf cooks who were more than happy to play a role in punishing those who abused their women. The day after that, she and a few others consumed the toxins, just as Tinamoc began to roll his wagons out of the city, and just as predicted, when someone came to fetch Illyana to send her to another guest, they found her violently ill and left her alone, just as she predicted, they chose to wait to see if she'd get better on her own before spending money to treat what they believed to be a simple illness.

Neia, Skana, & CZ, along with most of the elites, hid themselves in the sewers under the city, having appeared to depart with Tinamoc and his caravan, thanks to the judicious acquisition of full face helmets that let elves pass for Black Justice escorts and walk right out of the city, increasing the number of escapees.

As he rolled towards the gate after closing up his 'business' Tinamoc looked around him, he doubted very much the city would ever look the same, and he was confident that this would...eventually at least, be for the better. His nerves were much calmer now, the constant danger of his guard and companion in his proximity had made him braver than he had been in his youth, and the creaking sound of wagon wheels was a calming influence anyway, their familiar sound like that of a warm and well used blanket to his soul.

The portculis was up to allow egress during the day, and nobody challenged his departure, he casually turned his head and looked at the moat, thinking about the body of the dead man in the water, the man he'd killed, he wondered if the man deserved to die, if he was as bad and rotten as much of the city...or if he was one of the few who was sickened by it all. It was a futile curiosity, even if he didn't deserve to die, he had to die, to much was at stake, the same went for the two that Skana had framed, they had to die too...and now a lot more had to die, the ground would be watered with the blood of righteous and unrighteous alike very soon, and as much as he hoped that the plan would succeed and all the elves would be freed, the truth was he was really more concerned with his friends, and that was how he saw them now, it was a rare thing for merchants of great success to have real friends. Everybody was a client or a competitor, and strangers saw in his abilities and resources someone they could exploit for themselves, friendship was a rarity at best, now he had several, and all of them were at risk and he was leaving them behind.

He clutched the reins tightly and forced himself to look forward, he felt the urge to turn and charge back at the city, to fight as Neia had fought in Prart, to do what she had done...but he knew it was impossible, he wasn't Neia Baraja, he was the merchant Tinamoc, and this was what he could do.

So the city began to fade behind him, growing ever smaller as he headed 'South' where he would wheel around and take a long route North so that anyone looking for him would go in the wrong direction. As the city grew smaller and smaller, he felt himself relax, his part of the plan at least, was a success, as when he reached his duplicitious position and turned on the long and isolated road that would take him well around Wenmark, still no one had come for him. The elves marching in disguise behind him, or riding on horses, or sitting on wagons, remained tense, and that tension did not go away for several days, not until someone came to meet him on the long road North.

 **AN: Well here you go, another chapter and we're getting very close, hope you've been enjoying the ride so far. :) I 'was' going to put off releasing this chapter for a day or two, but quite frankly after the reviews, most especially the inspired written review of RocketScientist...holy fucking shit I HAD to get this out to you guys today. Also, reviews equal chapters, sooooo...the more that come in, the more 'well fed' my motivation is. Of course there is no WAY that you'll get this up to 600 reviews fast enough to get me to publish another chapter today or tomorrow, so I 'suppose' you might have to wait on the next chapter until I'm ready. Of course if it DID go up to that, well then I'd feel obligated to release another one quickly. But you can't possibly get it up there before the weekend is out. ;)**

 **Incidentally, you're probably wondering a little bit about Sudaj, yes he was always intended to betray her, his name is an anagram of 'Judas' after all.**


	37. Bonus Material

**AN: BONUS CHAPTER (Yes its short, its just a bonus of material that I couldn't use elsewhere)**

Private meetings with the council were practically unheard of for ordinary people, Tinamoc only got one because of who he was related to, and who he had personally become in terms of his political significance. But Sudaj was a nobody. An obsessive nobody, but one with information that would make him somebody. To get this meeting he had to do only one thing however, he had to say he had vital information pertaining to Neia Baraja. She'd made a powerful and terrifying impression on the council when she'd met with them, and the promise of information was nothing they were going to turn down. They had privately reasoned that if his presentation had no value, all it cost them was a few minutes, and they could always execute him for hampering government business.

Sudaj however, was not wasting their time.

"Before I tell you what I know, I will tell you what I want." He said loudly as he stood in front of them, his eyes locked on the center figure, this had their attention, very few people dared demand anything of the council, the only ones who did, were either in a supremely powerful position...OR they had something the council desperately needed...which was basically the same thing as far as they were concerned. To open with such a bold statement spoke of either his stupidity, or his absolute rightness about the importance of what he knew.

"Go on." He was urged.

"I want forty chests of silver, the position of captain of the city's guard, a house in the interior, a title, and one more thing...I want Neia Baraja to be captured for what I tell you, not killed. You can make her suffer in the dungeon first, fitting punishment I think, but I want the right to take responsibility for her when I am ready." Sudaj said, his price was steep, they exchanged glances with each other, it was overwhelming compared to anything they had ever paid out of their treasury.

"If we deem what you say is worth that much, very well, but if it is not, your life is forfeit for presuming to ask so much. Do you accept?" He was asked by their military command. The terms were meant to intimidate him, but Sudaj was not only no coward, he knew the value of what he had to say.

"I accept." He said flatly, stunning them into silence.

"Then say on." He was instructed, and as he spoke, they listened with rapt attention and uniform horror as he spoke of his conversation that afternoon with Neia Baraja, he laid out all he knew, and when he was done, he went silent for a moment.

"My life or my reward, which will it be?" He asked.

"Reward." They said, one after another, it was unanimous, the very existence of their city was under threat from within. It required a response, but within the plans of Neia Baraja lay the answer.

When he showed them the voucher from Tinamoc for his assistance, there was some question about Tinamoc's involvement, however Sudaj answered, "If he was involved, she didn't mention it, frankly he seems to be oblivious to everything she does, he might approve of some things, but if he had any direct knowledge, well she didn't reveal it, besides, what would he have to gain, she probably got him to write this voucher with some excuse, or intimidated him into cooperating as far as he did."

This satisfied them, but that brought them back to the solution. Tinamoc's uncle was the one to speak it, "Go out and acquire the beer, but make it the kind given to children the sort with very little alcohol that they use when water becomes toxic, tell the soldiers to act drunk, to be out 'in force' but to give the appearance of being heavily intoxicated at the appointed time, we will turn this trap upon them, and we will punish them all for the temerity of challenging our divinely given place under the heavens, after we've ensured your 'trophy' has suffered enough, you can do with her whatever you want, make her beg for it if that makes you happy, but first this threat will be nullified."

Sudaj bowed deeply. "I will wait until after the crisis is passed to accept my reward, for now I will see to the beer, and leave the matter of informing the command about their orders to your authority."

There was a general agreement in the room, and Sudaj bowed, and walked out smiling, he expected he would spend a lot of time smiling in the near future, and he indulged in a private fantasy of a grateful Neia falling into his arms as he unchains her from a rack.

 **AN: So this is filling in a short span of time, I had actually originally intended to put this into the previous chapter or the next one, but it interrupted the narrative in both places, so I made it a bonus instead, because I liked it and didn't want to NOT use it. Reviews feed me, don't let me starve. :)**


	38. The Burning of Wenmark

There had been a lot to do when Tinamoc left. Neia and Skana had little time to spend with Illyana, they had roles to see to, and their own private plans, slipping their people beneath the sewers and briefing the elves hidden in the warehouse district, they smuggled in an extra two days worth of food and water where it was needed, and the hours flew past like a small bird fleeing a large one.

"I hope you're ready." Neia said to an elf in the warehouse he was hidden in.

"To be free or to die, I'm ready for both." He said, his face was marked with scars and brands, and his eyes burned with hate and rage that was finally bubbling to the surface.

"Good, when you see fires rise around the city, that is when you open the door and go, don't stop for anything if you don't have to, just remember to link up with the rest of us, flee North, don't stop, and we can get through this. The city won't be in a position to chase you, not with nobody to do the work anymore. There will be help coming, but I can't say how soon it will reach you, just move, move, move like your lives depend on it, because they do." Skana added.

The elves were ready, ladders and ropes were neatly laid out and ready for use, and this was the scene that greeted them at each building they visited. When they finished with the elves, they slipped beneath the sewers to meet with the hidden members of Black Justice.

Neia looked over her fervent elites, their eyes reflected their dedication as surely as those same eyes reflected the torches that lit the dark and unpleasant corridors of the complex city sewer system. "Tinamoc departs tomorrow, so I'm sorry you have to endure this for as many hours as you do, just put up with it, the city thinks you're all busy preparing the caravan to move out, we need them to see the entire process as 'you' get ready to leave. Remember that this is an escape, not a conquest, we need to get the elves OUT, your role is to break them out wherever you can, brothels, work rooms, everything, a handful of other elves who know the city will do the same, just stick to your assigned areas, and when you've hit your targets, move to the North wall and make your escape, we won't get all of them, but if we get enough, the remainder will at least be so valuable as labor that they can't be lightly abused, and we can return and rescue them later when we can come in force." Neia said softly, her voice echoing off the dark stone walls of the sewer. The water flowed beside the walkway and carried the waste of the city out of it, but that did not improve the stench, it was worse than the stench of battle, but also familiar, because there was always shit in both places.

"I don't want martyrs if I can avoid it, but I can't promise you'll all survive or all be resurrected, just know that this is for the justice of the Sorcerer King, if we do nothing now, we will be saying his justice is subject to our convenience, do your best, and I'll see you all after, just keep to your positions, and when darkness sets in, go, start your fires, and lets light up the night before we plunge evil into eternal darkness." She said, her voice was filled with an evangelist's passion, and her words struck deep into their hearts, renewing their spirits and imbuing them with the readiness to fight, kill, or die no matter what.

"For Justice." She said, and saluted them.

"For Justice." They said and saluted in return.

Neia and Skana felt a little guilty for leaving their people in the sewers, but they did not miss the smell when they snuck out and returned to the Golden Roan, whatever else they could say about the horror of this city, they knew a fair bit about comfort, and the luxurious room they were in was a testament to this. Illyana returned to them briefly that evening, and sat at the table with Neia, Skana, and CZ, they were silent for awhile, the weight of their plans and ambitions bearing down more heavily than ten thousand suits of armor. Illyana was the first to speak. Her breathing was heavy and her body was trembling as she looked the three women over. "I...listen...thank you. No matter what happens tomorrow, this is the first time I've wanted something other than death, and the first time I've had the will to die if I had to. You gave me back my self respect, I thought I'd lost it after so many nights...there." She said as she gestured to the bed that was adorned with the means to secure slaves to it. Her voice seemed to be soft and timid at first, like when she first met them all, but as she spoke it gained boldness and had a timbre of strength to its flowing tone.

"I don't know what happens tomorrow, but whatever happens, it was all worth it, even if it goes wrong." Illyana said with a warm smile. "My offer you know...I still meant it, you killed the breaker...you're risking yourselves to free us...all I have to offer to thank you is myself."

Neia blushed furiously, while CZ looked a bit mystified, and Skana could not restrain a smile. Ever the bold one in such matters, Skana reached out and took Illyana's hand, "I'm not saying it wouldn't be great, but...I'm bonded to Neia, if you want to offer yourself, then offer it to the god of justice, sacrifice yourself to him through a life of service in spreading his justice, and then when you make such an offer in the future...to the right person, you can do it out of love, and in gratitude for love, not in gratitude for doing the thing that any moral person should always do." Skana then leaned over, taking Illyana gently by the back of her neck, pulling her lightly forward, and as she bent towards Skana the bold, the one eyed warrior woman gave Illyana's forehead a kiss. "Just stay alive." She said softly to the elf girl, whose trembling had not stopped and down whose cheeks ran tears of happiness, hope, fear, and gratitude.

"Humans are so complicated." CZ said with a shrug.

Neia felt a rush of gratitude to Skana's insightful understanding of what to say in such a delicate circumstance.

"I'll do my best." Illyana said softly and disengaged herself from Skana as she stood up, "I should go explain the poison to the other women, with any luck, the cooks are already ensuring that those who are more ravenous for food than flesh are not going to enjoy the latter, but there are...others, and I need to do my part to make sure no more suffering occurs...if you don't need anything more of me, I will stay with them tonight."

"Good thinking." Neia answered, "Go, and please be careful we only have one shot at this."

"I will be." Illyana said.

"Cute." CZ said, prompting a sniffled laugh from the elf as CZ put a sticker on her cheek.

The door closed behind her as she left the room, and they were left in silence again.

Neia looked over to CZ, "There is one more thing we can do to save as many as possible." She said, and CZ inclined her head indicating that Neia should continue.

"The Sorcerer King could not...before this, simply open a gate and let elves walk through it, that would create an international incident on...all the levels...in every way it can, and I know he doesn't want to do that. However in the chaos of the escape, there are places where we can't easily reach, and nobody will be looking for those gates or have any reason to expect them, I doubt most of the people in this city even know those are possible. During the escape, perhaps we could ask that the god of justice intervene to help us save more people...CZ, it shames me to go to him and beg his assistance outside of the most dire need, so could I ask that you return to him to make this request for me?"

CZ said, "Cute." And put a sticker on Neia's cheek, and stood up, "Go nowhere, I'll be back." A few moments later and a gate had opened for CZ, who stepped through it and left Neia and Skana alone.

"That wasn't why you asked her to go, was it?" Skana asked.

Neia blushed. "No..." She said as Skana stood up and began to unfasten the armor that had been like a second skin to her up to now.

Skana grinned, "I'm not the only bold one I see." She said as Neia began to help her to remove the burdensome war gear.

"We might die tomorrow, tonight might be our last, one of us, both of us, anything could go wrong, and I don't want..." Neia began to say before a pair of lips covered hers and imposed a silence on doomful words. It was many hours beneath the sheets before anything but blissful words of want and need and adoration could even be thought of as they sought release from fear and tension and thoughts of their own potential ends. Tangled limbs and tangled hair, steam rising from the sheets told the story of their desire even as they later washed the results of the heat from their bodies in the luxurious bath. It was a good night, and if it was to be their last, it was one to be carried with either or both into whatever world awaited them beyond this one.

CZ returned in the morning just as the two dressed, and they went downstairs and checked out of their rooms, returning keys to the desk before they left the building.

Down below the hotel's upper floors, where the 'livestock' in the form of female elves resided, Illyana was puking up her guts, nor was she alone in this, and that was how she was found when an employee came to send her to another guest, it didn't take long for the hotel to conclude she and a few others had been made sick, but being concerned with profit margins, just as planned, healing magic and healing potions were withheld, and cheap herbs were used instead. As she threw up, Illyana thought about how close she'd been to death when CZ pointed that strange weapon at her head, it would have been quick, and she quietly resolved...between vomiting episodes, that when she made a break for it, she'd seek a quick end rather than surrender to the monsters that owned her again. Were there no hope of escape, she was sure that she'd already be seeing to her own end instead of waiting eagerly for the cover of darkness.

"So...what did he say?" Neia asked.

"He said to call on him at greatest urgency, and he will save those he can." CZ replied, "He has one of his number who can use gate very well, and who is also very good at killing."

"I see, that is a relief." Neia said, the chill of the early morning air that she held responsible for her shivering, seemed not to have been the culprit after all, as she felt immediately better when she learned the answer of her plea to the god of justice. "Then for now we join our comrades in the sewers, then we wait, Tinamoc will be moving soon, and look..." She said, pointing to the many barrels being transported around the city, "Sudaj has kept his word, there is alcohol being carried all over the place, they'll be drinking like fish all day long, that should give us a much needed advantage."

As if to tell the truth of her words, guards already on shift began to break open casks and drink, only to be joined eventually by their replacements, as Neia, CZ, and Skana walked, they saw this more and more, the shifts seemed to be coming together and bonding over alcohol. When they secreted themselves away in shadows, they watched with ever increasing confidence as more and more soldiers appeared drunker and drunker, some of them vomited over the walls, others eventually slumped against the walls, some pissed themselves, others were singing or dancing, it was probably the most enjoyable work day ever.

When they accessed the sewers and linked up with their personnel, they reported what had been observed, and sent plains clothes Black Justice members out to the warehouse district to inform the hidden elves of what was happening. That was how the day went, the guards of the city seemed to be having a grand time, while Neia and company endured the horrific stench of a large city's sewer system. Definitely not something the bards made mention of in any stories she'd ever heard...the smell of shit, despite being on every battlefield...was never something to sing about in stories of triumph, and she very much doubted that after this, that would change.

Time however, marched on, and minutes became hours as they waited for the Sun to set.

When at last the light that was cast from the skey into the sewer grate and on to the dirty stone began to fade, it only seemed to go slower as the hour grew darker, but Neia knew that just had to be her imagination. Neia snuck a peek through the grate, she saw a few guards snoring drunkenly, she heard others she couldn't see, her heart pounded hard and loud, she felt certain that her heart was betraying her position and intention, as if it would tell them what she was about even while she stayed hidden. "Be still, damnable beating heart..." She said softly, cursing what seemed to her like an overly loud drum beneath her breast.

Inky blackness began to paint the roads and walls of the dark city of Wenmark, and as if triggered by some hidden signal told to her from inside herself, she whispered "Now" and lifted the grate and crept out, one member of Black Justice after another, without hesitation she sped to the nearest sleeping guards and cut their throats. As teams made their way up, they broke off and rushed out to their positions in the city. A few minutes later Neia was watching the sky for the bright orange flames that marked war and destruction, but none reached her eyes. She had just begun to worry when the screaming and shouting began, she heard the clash of arms as she moved with Skana and CZ. "Something is wrong." She said in alarm, "Something is very, very wrong." That was when she saw guards stand up, straight and true as if they had never touched a drop. "Get them!" The men shouted and charged at her from the place where they had appeared to be sleeping.

"SHIT!" Skana and Neia shouted together as they reacted as only well trained fighters could to surprise, with an attack of their own, whipping out bows and putting arrows through several as CZ drew her rifle and put down several more, the remainder came close, and for their trouble they were grabbed by CZ's hands as she dropped her weapon, she took them by their throats, and squeezed with such tightness that she severed head from body, then dropped them as blood soaked messes at her feet.

"Check them!" Neia said to Skana. "CZ, check the barrel there, tell me what's in it!" Neia said urgently.

Skana knelt over a few bodies, "They don't stink like drunks!" She said with alarm.

CZ reached into the barrel and touched its remaining contents. "Not with this." She said flatly.

"What...why?!" Neia said with shock.

"Almost no alcohol." CZ said.

Neia turned pale. "Its a trap!"

Bright orange flames began to spring up around the city as some teams began to have success, the elves hidden in the warehouse buildings made their break for it, many of them bearing weapons, but rather than finding intoxicated drunkards caught completely by surprise, pitched fighting was breaking out all around the city.

"We've got to move!" Neia shouted and began to run.

"Where?!" Skana shouted, there was no more point to silence or stealth, not now. CZ moved swiftly and silently beside them.

"Everywhere!" Neia said desperately as another group of guards came from around the corner, they drew their bows again and arrows flew like startled birds, the excellent armor of Wenmark was not easily pierced, except by Neia's incomparable bow, and though Skana took down several, Neia severed limbs and heads and put holes in torsos as though there was no armor there at all, nor was CZ to be taken lightly as her mysterious weapon blew heads apart like a heavy war hammer could smash a melon.

"We can't be fucking everywhere!" Skana shouted.

"There!" Neia said as she saw a group of elves reach a wall with a ladder and try to climb up, there were men waiting there, but the elves didn't care, they climbed up anyway, and the guards began to kill them, still the elves climbed, hands and fingers were lost trying to grab the guards and pull them off the wall, another ladder went up, and a more clever guard lay down and waited for them to climb, then just as the neared the top, he sprang up as if from nowhere and kicked the ladder over. The elves screamed as they fell, those highest on the ladder having their screams cut off as they hit the stone road with a sickening thud.

Neia and Skana saw the next wave of elves rushing for the same position, and they used up yet more of their arrows picking the guards off, Neia using her visor to guide her arrows to maximum effect, while heads exploded as CZ picked a target and ended them where they stood. These elves made it where others had not, and ropes went over the wall.

Neia breathed a sigh of relief for these, and yet more elves rushed for the same position, the ropes went over and the elves went down the other side. The trio rushed to that position and went to the top of the wall after the last elf had climbed up, and she dared to glance over the side of the crenelations, and she fell to her knees with a wail of heart rending pain as she saw what had to be three companies or more, perhaps an entire battalion of horseman charging into the fleeing elves and cutting them down, their screams were shorter than Neia's own, and it was when the sigil was caught by fire that she knew who it was.

"Remedios! Remedios Custodio you vile bitch! I will fucking kill you! I'll kill you I'll kill you I'll kill you!" Her screams were filled with sobs, and her words carried their way to the former head of the Paladin Order, and Neia's despairing sobbing cries and rage filled the former paladin commander's heart with warmth and happiness the likes of which she had not felt in years.

Remedios was finally happy, and she raised her sword as if in mock salute and shouted back, "Come on! Send me some more!" Another group of elves was over the wall not far away, having not realized the danger, or been indifferent to it, and Remedios directed her people towards them to add to the body count.

"Noooooooo!" Neia wailed and reached for her quiver, and wailed again as she found it empty.

"Skana! CZ! Kill her! Kill her!" She shouted.

But no sooner than she'd shouted these words than Skana shouted back, "I'm out!" And before CZ could take out her weapon again, the horsemen had already ridden out of sight around the wall.

"I haven't got a shot." CZ said, her flat voice bearing a note of unhappiness.

Desperate, Neia shouted for other elves to rush to her position, calling them away from the path of the cavalry counter attack over to where CZ could provide covering fire.

As she saw figures moving in her position, she remembered another option. Without care for the consequences, Neia sent her message. "Lakyus! It's Neia, I need you to fulfill your promise to me! I need your help NOW!"

A moment passed.

"Well Pope Neia, we're at your service, open a gate, and we'll be right there." Lakyus replied.

Her fingers fumbled as she went for a scroll, the seconds seemed like hours just to get it, and if those felt like hours than the near minute before Blue Rose stepped through to Neia's side of the gate seemed like an eternity. The sounds of battle rang everywhere, Lakyus saw Neia as she'd never imagined, her terrifying eyes were filled with pain. "What is it?!" Lakyus asked in shock, "Remedios! Killing elf slaves! We're betrayed, it's an ambush, just kill every human in armor other than what my people wear!" Neia shouted, giving the shortest mission brief ever, "Rescue the slaves! Get as many out as you can! Please!" She pleaded.

"Oh god...no..." Neia's voice took on a sudden horror as she looked over at CZ and Skana. In an instant they knew what she was thinking.

"Illyana!" The pair shouted. CZ looked confused. "If they knew what we planned, the brothels are locked down, they've got no way out and they won't know until its to late! We've got to GO!" Skana shouted and CZ nodded.

"Not cute." She said, identifying their betrayer in two words, sickening Neia to her core.

The members of Blue Rose looked at Lakyus, and she made an instant decision, "Lets go my roses! We've got a debt to repay!"

They rushed off leaving Neia, Skana, and CZ to their own devices and it wasn't long before they found a dire situation. A group of elves were fighting tooth and nail against a wall of shields that they couldn't hope to get through, they were being driven back step by step, it was clear what was going to happen. Evileye did something all but unprecedented, she tore off her mask and fought as a vampire princess. She flew like an arrow launched from a bow into the back of the human ranks and began to tear them apart, the terrible magic caster was fighting like a berzerker, her vampire claws and teeth tore through flesh like scissors through paper, the twins were only a hair slower to react and their kunai found gaps aplenty even in the excellent armor, while Gagaran waded into the fray like a giant, swinging her hammer as if she were building a home rather than bashing in brains. Lakyus was proud of her sisters, and emulated their savagery in battle, cutting through the armor with her demon sword as if it wasn't even there. The elf survivors were frozen to the spot, unsure of what to make of what just happened.

Lakyus broke the frozen moment, "We're Blue Rose, Neia sent us, go that way!" She pointed to the direction they'd come from, "You have a chance at escape that way, there are horses outside the wall who just rode in the direction you were going for, they'll kill you, so please don't go over there if you want to live." She said swiftly, and the elves were in no mood to argue, they rushed in the direction they were told to, and Blue Rose resumed rushing through the city.

Neia, Skana, & CZ knew the city well enough at least to find the Golden Roan, and just as they expected there were soldiers aplenty, CZ covered from the rear blowing apart heads as Neia and Skana rushed over the grassy open ground, their one handed style now their only option, and a very effective one it was, the unfamiliar method and their significant veteran experience was leaving bodies in their wake, these guards were skilled...for city guards...but they had not marched to war or faced the same trials as those who faced off against the demihuman hordes lead by Jaldabaoth.

Against that trio, a scattering of guards were insufficient to pose a threat and they made their way to the entrance, there were elves dead at the entrance, but also a surprising number of humans, most of them clearly not guards, the elf slaves who had resided in this hell had apparently taken the course of revenge, willing to die on swords as long as it meant taking one of their abusers with them. The front clerk was dead and slumped over the desk he'd worked at, he had at least been taken by surprise. Blood and corpses littered the area. The trio followed the sound of screams, when a person poked their head out of their room doors, Neia allowed herself the indulgence of killing them, its what she wanted to do from the moment she'd gotten to this gilded hell, and now she was able to do it, so she did as she rushed through the long corridor, the screams grew louder as she drew ever closer and ever faster, till she found their source, down a set of stairs to where she was sure the female chattels were kept.

She rushed down as fast as she could, she faced no enemy on the stairs, nor was one waiting for her when she reached the bottom, she thought at first the screams were of people dying, but a sick feeling in her gut told her it was nothing as clean as that, these were the creme de la creme of the elf flesh market, no ordinary guard could afford to stay at the Golden Roan, it was the playground of the elites, and because they were working in the line of duty putting down an elf rebellion...anything went.

Neia couldn't suppress her scream, it was louder and more painful than when Remedios Custodio had run her body through with sword after sword, she moved so quickly that she began to leave her sisters in arms behind, until she came to the quarters of the women, there were living and dead elf females there, but the dead were obviously the lucky ones, their time of screaming was over, and that was how Neia found Illyana, she heard her screams.

Neia found the quarters she'd been trapped in, and though there were three dead humans nearby, there were obviously to many, she was still holding a knife, but she couldn't use it, not with two guards holding her down. They could have taken it, they could have cut off her hands, but it was clear at a glance that she'd been allowed to keep it only to torture her with her inability to use it, they had blood on their bare legs and it didn't take any imagination to figure out how it got there. Neia's scream of outrage took them all by surprise and the guard lept up and to one side to grab a weapon, revealing the humiliating abuse and torment they'd been putting the beautiful Illyana through. He never got a chance to grab it, as he bent to grab the weapon, the other two who had been securing her, loosened their grip, and her arm darted out and stabbed the man firmly in his thigh, sending him tumbling to the ground in agony, the other two recovered from their momentary shock, but Illyana was riding on adrenaline and even as Neia was moving to kill the injured guard, Illyana had turned on the other two, and leapt on one screaming and stabbing over and over and over and over in his neck, sending blood fountaining out into her screaming maw, his companion however, had enough time to use his weapon, and he shoved it directly into Illyana's side, it pierced her between the ribs, in one side, through her lungs, and out the other, just as Skana entered, shouted in horror, and stabbed him through the mouth. The sound if CZ's unusual weapon echoed into the room as she took down other guards rushing to the commotion, and soon there was silence, the guard that Illyana had been stabbing wildly, fell to his knees, and Illyana herself, pierced through by the blade, had jackknifed and tumbled backwards, her eyes staring up as Neia rushed to her side.

"No! No, no, no, no, no, no, no, no!" She shouted over and over again as the other two women began to check the bodies before coming over to the crumpled elf slave.

She coughed up blood and bits of lung, as Neia pulled the battered body of Illyana into her arms, "Stay with me! You're almost free! We'll get you out!"

Illyana couldn't speak, though it was obvious she wanted to as her life ebbed from her.

Neia called out in a desperate message, "My lord, your servant begs your aid in this, her hour of need!" She heard more screaming down the hall, the fighting wasn't done yet.

"What do you require Neia?" Ainz asked calmly.

"Am...out." Illyana spat out through blood, before her body ceased to move at all.

"I need a miracle! Please! We're betrayed, those I sought to save in your name and for your justice are dying, Remedios is killing so many! There aren't enough of us! Please my lord, please god...do anything! Even if you must claim my life as the price of my failure!" She sobbed out with such desperation that Ainz's heart was moved to a moment of pity. While he felt no true connection to humanity as a whole, he felt a connection for those he knew, and the expression of one his dearest friends...'Saving the weak is just common sense.' came back to mind.

"You will have your miracle." Ainz said, and terminated the message.

"Shalltear, open a gate. Go to where Neia is, open gates wherever you find elves, and gate them to..." He thought for a moment about where to send them, "send them to the land we acquired from the Draconic Kingdom, its time we put some of that land to use. Tell them to wait there until we send someone to instruct them. Kill any human in armor you see threatening an elf."

"As you wish my lord." Shalltear said with a smile, the gate appeared, and Shalltear went through it. It was to her shock, that when she did so, she found that Ainz had followed behind her.

Neia was in shock, that much was obvious, and Ainz did not blame her. "Shalltear, go outside, get to work." Ainz said, and she quickly obeyed, rushing past the shocked Skana and CZ.

"Neia Baraja, look at me!" Ainz said firmly, his divine voice cutting through the haze of her shock, he held out his skeletal hand, and she took it, and drew her closer to him.

"I failed you, and failing you failed justice, failed the weak..." Ainz picked her up effortlessly and cradled her as he would a child, it was in that moment that he realized he'd forgotten how young she really was, true she had grown up much, but she was...he tried to remember her age...twenty? Nineteen...so much had been laid on her, he thought of himself at that age, he felt horrible, as if he'd set her up for failure.

"You did what you could do, you made a mistake. You are not the first to have taken a risk, trusted the wrong person..." He said.

"But...look at her...them...they're paying the price..." She said and gestured to the body of Illyana. When Ainz saw what had been done to the girl before her death, the half naked guards gave him an indication of how bad it had been, and rage swelled up in him.

"I pronounce doom on this city, it does not survive the dawn." He said. "First before I end this place, you will have your chance to avenge her on everyone you can. Shalltear will rescue as many as she can, you need only kill till you cannot lift your arm, can you do that for me, and for her?" Ainz said, his noble voice restoring the broken fractured spirit of Neia Baraja.

Her eyes began to return to their clear and focused state, restored by the power thudding through the Sorcerer King's voice, he set her gently down again. Neia bowed deeply, as did Skana & CZ, "Your will be done sire. Your servant will earn your forgiveness and erase the stain of her failure."

She reminded him all to much of Shalltear in that moment as grief and shame were replaced by an eagerness and bloodlust, "Majesty can I beg one more humble thing...please...take her body out of here, don't let her lie in a city that she hated?"

"That is a small matter, it will be done." He said, and he took of his cloak and to Neia's shock, he covered the naked body of the young woman, a priceless cloth used to preserve the dignity in death of a dead, bloody, abused, elf slave. It was a gesture only the truest and greatest of kings over all other kings could make with such a natural motion, and Neia resolved again to grind her bones to the dust in his service.

Ainz began to walk out of the room, followed the women out of the building, fighting was relentless and elves were clearly getting far the worst of it, the humans of Wenmark had some of the finest armor in the South, they were some of the best trained guards, and they were out in force and prepared. Elves were little trained, few had ample arms, but they were many more in number and they had the strength of the desperate, some abandoned the plan completely and chose to sell their lives for revenge, others sought to escape as planned, and numbers were cut down by the cavalry of Remedios who only had to ride in a circle killing as she went.

Ainz though, had only a fragment of the story, but it was not one he needed all of to do what he wished. Occasionally as he moved through the city he encountered a human guard, which he killed with a simple 'grasp heart'. They were worth nothing more than that.

Neia though, she had only one objective, she knew the traitor, she needed only to find him, and as she thought more and more on the matter, she reasoned that he was probably not going to be far from where he expected her to be, she carefully narrowed down her options, he'd want to be mobile but secure and have a good visual, that eliminated all one story buildings, it also eliminated any buildings that were on fire...and there were now a lot of them thanks to the arrival of both Blue Rose...and Shalltear, and the presumed success of her own Black Justice.

That narrowed it down considerably, and she made an educated guess that it would be the tower of the wall nearest to where the Golden Roan was at. Getting there wasn't hard, the city guard was spread thin even in force, clearly even prepared as they were, they'd underestimated the degree to which the Vines had prepared to free themselves, if the city won, it would still not have enough slaves to do work for a long time to come. Humans in bondage, as evidenced by the occasional corpse, had evidently been treated as an enemy by one side or both.

This made it easy for Neia to get where she wanted to go, occasionally she'd encounter someone she felt deserved to die, and she killed them, quickly, painfully, but coldly with white hate filling her vision, and it was when she neared the tower that she spied motion, and intuition told her she found what she wanted. She executed several martial arts enhancing her speed, and she climbed the stairs leading up to the top of the wall as fast as she could, the figure had already been moving, but in full armor he was nowhere near fast enough. Not while Neia wore armor that weighed almost nothing, and had both martial arts and training on her side. Suuuuudaaaaaj!" She shouted furiously, drawing his instinctive look in her direction at the sound of his name.

"Traitor! Traitor! Traitor!" She screamed, and he staggered back in shock at her anger.

"No! I did it for us!" He shouted madly, but Neia didn't hear him, her ears were closed to everything but screams, that was all she heard and all she wanted to hear, her sword cut through his arm and removed it from his body. He flailed desperately, but this was not combat, this was torture plain and simple, Neia wanted him to suffer, so if he could lose it and still live, he was going to lose it. His ears were gone, then foot and leg, then nose, then arm, she let him keep his tongue and a single eye, but most importantly to her...she let him keep his life, she bound his wounds tight and scorched them with flame to sear them closed, savoring his agonized cry as he was reduced to a stump with a head.

She stripped what was left of his armor and his clothing, and all remaining unnecessary body parts, grabbed his hair, and began to drag him down the stairs, every thump from step to step drawing a fresh scream.

The sun was just beginning to peek over the horizon when Shalltear informed the Sorcerer King that she could find no more elves in the city.

He then instructed her to see to the removal of all surviving Black Justice members to the same area as the evacuated elves and then to join them herself.

"My lord, should I not stay with you?" Shalltear asked.

"No, I have something to do here." He said.

"Neia Baraja, your people are being removed, yourself, Skana, CZ, and Blue Rose should join me at the city center as fast as you can, you are not far away." Ainz said.

To the city guard, it seemed as if they were having victory, elves were fewer and fewer in number, and though they occasionally heard the sound of fighting, it waas clearly few and far between, they were still hunting for Neia Baraja, some had already thought her to be dead, killed in the darkness somewhere. Civilians had mostly hidden in the darkness, some killed in their homes by rampaging elves, others killed outside when they fled the fire, but most had remained relatively safe, and it was because of that, that they refrained from going outside their homes until it was announced to be safe to do so by some official party.

This meant that when Neia conveyed her information to Blue Rose, both she and they were able to easily cover the short distance to the center of the city.

Neia dragged the whimpering stump of Sudaj behind her as she entered the center of the mighty city, quickly followed by CZ Delta & Skana, and shortly thereafter by Blue Rose themselves coming from another direction.

Neia turned to Lakyus, "Were you able to kill Remedios?" She asked.

Lakyus shook her head, "No. I'm sorry, we tried, but she lead her cavalry off after another group of elves that had fled East and she was to far out of range, we would have given chase, but a group of elves nearby was in trouble and we were forced to choose between ones we could save, and those we could only avenge."

Neia looked angry, but nodded in understanding. "She'll suffer soon, I promise you that."

"Who is that?" Ainz asked, pointing at the stump of a man and wondering how long it would be before a guard with sufficient vantage caught sight of himself and Neia and had them surrounded. Soon...he hoped.

"The betrayer. I thought him a good man, horrified by cruelty, he fooled me, and betrayed us all, but what he was to get, I don't know." Neia answered as she cast the stump towards the feet of the Sorcerer King.

Ainz looked down at the man, whose naked flesh was cautorized in a number of places, including one that made it impossible for him to even piss himself anymore.

"What were you to gain by your betrayal?" He asked.

Sudaj told the truth, and when he mentioned his desire for Neia, that she was thrown into the bargain for himself like she was nothing more than another box of silver, she felt sick to her stomach. Skana was no less disgusted, and nor was Blue Rose, but for the members of the elite Roses, Sudaj's motivations were as nothing, their eyes were on the towering figure of the Sorcerer King.

In the distance, Ainz heard the sound of commands, they'd been spotted, Blue Rose was clearly also on alert.

"They're mobilizing to come take us." Ainz said simply as he looked at Blue Rose "So I will be brief, you have no doubt heard of this city and its reputation, now you have moved through its streets. Does it deserve to exist?" The great X shaped whipping posts, the torture rooms, they'd found, by chance, the pits and the mutilated living and dead occupants, they'd seen the marks on the elves they rescued and they'd seen what the some of the more comely ones were wearing...and not wearing, and it was obvious what they existed for. It was not even a moment of silence as the members of Blue Rose uniformly said, "No." Lakyus however chose to add, "All those of age to know better than to do these things, do not deserve their lives, however children are not guilty for the sins of their parents, and should be spared."

The reason for his inquiry was not lost on them, and the roads to the city center began to fill with soldiers blocking every path, boxing the Sorcerer King, Blue Rose, and the leadership of Black Justice's elites in on all sides. They locked shields and seemed to be waiting on orders...or following them, or perhaps waiting for those they surrounded to surrender before overwhelming odds.

"I agree." Ainz said. "It is time for this city to die. Neia Baraja, I will take possession of the traitor Sudaj, and you, Skana, and CZ will ride out to find the elves who fled the city safely, and escort them North to Prart. And you, members of Blue Rose, have aided my servant, after we are done here, will you join me in Nazarick for a more formal introduction?"

His noble voice had the majesty of a mountain and the sonorous rhythm of a timeless sea, Lakyus could not fathom the idea of refusing him, and she bowed deeply, followed quickly by her sisters and answered, "It is my deepest wish to do so sire...but may we stay to see your justice through to its end here first?"

Ainz nodded his assent, but a voice from the guards rang out, "You speak as if we aren't here, just where do you think you're going, what do you expect to do! We out number you by the hundreds and more are coming!" The man let out a deep hearty laugh.

Ainz spoke in a normal voice as he spoke with his allies, but when the soldier spoke, Ainz turned to him and laughed uproariously, the way a lion might laugh if it could, when a gazelle threatened it. "I am the Sorcerer King, Ainz Ooal Gown, just what do you think you can do to me?"

The man went pale, "You're lying!"

Ainz shrugged, "Let those be your final words." He said, and then he cast a spell that sent his voice throughout the city, "Citizens of Wenmark! You have committed great evil here! So I, the god of justice, have descended here to punish you, your city is declared to be unfit for continued existence, as such I am going to burn it to the ground, no two stones will stand together, and no two of your people will ever knowingly stand side by side again. Know however, that I am as merciful as I am just, and your children will be spared the consequences of your many evils!"

Within Yggdrasil, there were spells that could be used with conditions attached, and here in the new world, through his many experiments, he found that the conditions he could attach to them had expanded greatly, he could target sex, physical feature, and most importantly for his purposes here...age.

"Gate." He said, and then sent a message calling for Pestonya and ordering her to gather as many NPCs that had vampiric speed or greater as possible to join her, and they stepped through the gate into the city center, the human guards were flustered and shocked into silence by the pronouncement.

"Detect life, child." He said again.

"Time stop." He said. When the world froze, he turned to his NPCs and said, "Go, take every child you find, and while you're at it, anyone in chains, and remove them beyond sight of this city, now go and act quickly."

He then waited as they rushed with inhuman, monstrous speed to obey his will, they would normally move very swiftly and gracefully no matter what to carry out his orders, but when he emphasized speed, there was no stopping them, not any of the many he had called for were slack in their efforts, they moved faster than horses, faster than arrows launched from bows, they moved from place to place, taking every infant, toddler, and other underage person, and all chained adults, and ferrying them well beyond the city's reach.

When this was done, Ainz cancelled his spell, and the world returned to normal, the wails began almost immediately as people noticed that their children were all missing. Another man said, "What did you DO?!"

"Your children are removed from harm." Ainz said, prompting the man to be befuddled beyond measure at the seemingly nice sounding statement, "Screw it, I'm not waiting on orders, kill or capture all of them!" He shouted, but before two steps had been taken, Ainz cast his final spell.

"Mass burning." He said, and moved his finger around in a circle, encompassing Blue Rose, Skana, Neia, CZ, Sudaj, and himself, the great blue magic sphere sprung up, it was a 10th tier spell, and there was nobody in this world that he knew of who could survive it, the magic pattern could be seen from every part of the city's walls that was not obstructed, and those who saw it, recognized that they truly were seeing their doom. The fire sprang up beyond the city center, and moved outwards from there, consuming building after building, soldier after soldier, there it moved down hallways it moved down cellars and into alleyways and into the very sewers, it seemed to be chasing all within its range, and it could not be outrun, bargained with, or protected against, its only mercy was its relative swiftness as the heat seared the very oxygen in the lungs as fast as it scorched the bodies themselves.

Lakyus watched in horror and fascination and...satisfaction to some degree, as she saw the vile city emptied of all living evils, buildings began to fall as fire caught, and some people tried to dive into fountains or tubs of water, only to end up boiling alive instead of burning to death, their bodies rendered down to soup, while others simply leaped to their deaths rather from on high when they could not bear the thought of burning. Wenmark was not a little place, so this did not happen quickly, the flames were quick yes, but many saw it coming long before it reached them, and lived long enough to know that they were going to die. It took more than thirty minutes, but in time the screams were gone, and only the city center was untouched, where those Ainz had chosen to protect remained. Not a sound echoed around them.

"Justice is done." Ainz said softly.

A moment later he summoned a trio of undead mounts, gestured for Neia, Skana, and CZ to mount them. "Your miracle has been granted. Think not of Remedios for now, I want her to see this city after she thinks she's won something here." Ainz said.

"Thank you majesty..." Neia said softly, enjoying the moment of imagining Remedios coming to the silent ruin of Wenmark and wondering what the hell happened. "I will send another servant to retrieve the elves who died here, especially your friend, so that you may personally visit her burial site. My cloak is still on her, so nobody will mistake her for any other."

"I'm sorry, cloak, what?" Evileye interrupted.

"Someone Neia valued was...abused, before she was killed, her naked body had to be left where it lay, I covered her form with my cloak, that will make it easy to identify her and it leaves her...the dignity they tried to deny her." Ainz said.

"But...you're a king? You put your own cloak on a raped slave corpse, you don't mind that the filth and blood...one like that...stains your royal garment?" Gagaran asked in disbelief.

"Clothing is replaceable or cleanable, but dignity in death is not, giving her that deprived her killers of something of their victory, any worthy king must know and understand this, else he is not worthy to be king." Ainz said by way of explanation.

Lakyus was visibly moved, and nor was she alone, as their estimation of his character began to rise by leaps and bounds as they stood amidst the fire and ashes of his judgement.

"Pestonya," Ainz said as he sent a message, "Have the children taken to orphanages, tell Shalltear to keep opening gates until it is over, also I'm leaving a living stump here in the city center, have someone retrieve it and take it to Demiurge for his happy farm, I know he prefers to work with sheep, but this thing might have some use to him. Just make sure Demiurge knows that the use should never not hurt him. And send someone to retrieve the bodies of all the elves here, have them interred somewhere beautiful, leave the humans unless you find any wearing Black Justice armor, those we can have resurrected. Understood?"

"It will be done my lord." She acknowledged, and Ainz considered his work to be complete.

"Gate." He said, and a hole in reality appeared in front of them. "Now Blue Rose, would you care to come with me?"

He stepped through the gate, leaving the burning city of the dead behind him, and Blue Rose was quick to follow.

-END OF PART ONE-

 **AN: And there you have it, the long awaited burning of Wenmark. I trust it left you satisfied that it was worth the wait? I can be a poor judge and harsh critic of my own writing, so I leave it to you to tell me...is this good...or is this not? Earlier today I felt very off my game in writing the other works, but published anyway because I was moved by the strong wishes of reviewers and messages asking when it would happen and frankly hoping I'm not dead. 'lol' I also kind of blame my vacation for dulling my a little bit, leaving me to relaxed, so I HOPE this is up to a worthwhile standard. But all is not over. Part ONE of God Rising has come to its conclusion, but there will be an aftermath, a miniature epilogue, before I begin Part TWO as the war begins. How quickly you GET that epilogue and PART TWO...depends on how well 'fed' I am with reviews. :) Mwahahahahahah! I know, its evil, but I love feedback, so I'll hope you forgive me for asking for a bribe in feedback form. :) Yes I'll still count a one word review, but if its not to much to ask, I'd like to hear more, favorite scene, favorite line, favorite character, what you'd like to see, how you felt as you read the story, were you moved, were you angry, did you weep with emotion or crow at the victory or final vengeance, inquiring writers want to know! ;)**

 **Well, till the next part! ALSO...Kudos to those of you who got the Genghis Khan reference (Ainz's speech pronouncing sentence) the biblical references to Judas and the 40 pieces of silver, and any of the other little references to history found in this one. The richness of history and reality itself is the finest inspiration I can think of. I hope that this chapter and this story, has given you cause to agree with me.**


	39. Part I Epilogue & Intermission

The last living man in Wenmark was Sudaj, who without arms or legs, could not move beyond a wiggle, all he could do was lay there under the sun as it burned his face and naked body, until at last someone came to retrieve him, of all things, it was a dog woman, and she was...much to his surprise, very gentle. "W-water" he begged and she gently hefted him up to let him drink from a water skin. He had the good sense, or warped decency, to thank her for it. And he was taken from there to Nazarick, fear was the first thing he knew from the moment he entered the gate, and it did not fade as other monsters eyed him like a meal, mutilated version of a human though he was, he had no wish to die. When he was delivered to Demiurge however, that quickly changed when the demon said, "I wonder...if you cannot piss yourself, how much water would you have to drink before you rupture from the inside out and start to die? And come to that...what if you cannot relieve yourself from the other end, I wonder how long it would take for that to kill you...oh we have so very many wonderful experiments to run." He said with a sadistic grin on his face, as Sudaj managed to get out, "Where...am I?"

"You're in my happy farm, your new home until I run out of experiments for which you are useful." Sudaj swallowed hard, and over time, he forgot what it meant to wish to be alive.

The guardians had a habit of meeting privately after Ainz had undertaken important actions or done something significant, and this occasion was no different, Ainz had utterly destroyed a city, an entire way of life had simply ceased to be at his pronouncement. "Truly the excellence of our lord is beyond our reckoning, and with such expertly undertaken skill he has completely won over one of the most powerful human teams in the world. No matter what I do...I cannot seem to catch up to him." Demiurge said with equal parts frustration and admiration.

"I know, its true for all of us, but what has he got planned now?" Shalltear asked.

"I believe I know." Sebas said, though not an official guardian, he frequented these gatherings because of his close affiliation in service to Lord Ainz, and he was respected for his intellect in his own right, even if they seldom agreed with him. "I believe it hails back to something he said when we first began to exact his will, to win the world in such a way that they wish to be ruled over for all time. By destroying this evil city, he wins both elves and good humans to his banner, or will, when it is revealed that he is the one who did it."

Albedo clapped her hands in giddy display, "Of course! I had been turning this over in my mind as well, but hadn't considered this, by freeing the elves, the story of that cities behavior will spread, it will be condemned, it will be hated, the old gods will be disgraced.

"Have we stumbled upon one of his plans then?" Aura asked brashly.

"M-maybe?" Mare said tentatively.

"His plans are deep, there must be more we do not see yet." Cocytus added.

"Maybe, but I believe Sebas has hit upon a key point." Demiurge said, inclining his head towards Sebas Tian, "Therefore we should ensure we carry out his plan and make the story of their abuses widely known, leave the city intact for others to see, so that they can come and know the evils of the people there, and our lord's righteous wrath, this will make the elves reluctant to fight against him, as he comes to them as a savior."

"Marvelous my beloved Ainz!" Albedo added...

 _Wenmark..._

Wenmark burned for days on end, and when Remedios returned to the city with her army, she expected a warm reception for her heroic slaughter of the escaping elves, what she was greeted by was silence and fire, there were no guards on the walls, seemingly not even an attempt at putting out the flames. "What the hell...?" She asked Yuri, and the woman sitting next to her shrugged.

"I don't know. Lets get a closer look I guess." Yuri replied pragmatically. As they drew closer, she saw that the drawbridge was down, but there were no guards, nobody to meet her, nobody challenged her, it was silent as the grave, it was eerie, haunting, terrifying in a way that pitched battle was not.

It was when they went in to the city that horror greeted them. Every brick had ash on it, buildings were fallen down left and right, there was nobody anywhere. As they approached buildings, they found that inside many of them were bodies, some burned, some boiled to a thick soupy state, some killed by swords, but all were scorched by flame, the only question was whether they had been killed before or after the fire, and there were clearly many cases for both. It was when they reached the city center that the scale of the horror became clear, as they found the mass of bodies burned inside their own armor, someone had been boxed in, and killed everybody with ease. Remedios ordered the army to break up into teams and search everywhere for survivors, and for hours their voices rang out. "Hello! Is anybody alive out there?!" Stones fell as soldiers pushed them over to check a corpse, beams were broken as they lifted them out of the way to check a cellar that had been buried by debris.

The council chamber was no better off, the beautiful intricate work that Remedios knew by reputation to have contained great works of art showcasing human superiority, had been burned away to nothing as if to destroy something wicked or blasphemous. The council members were still in their seats...or their bodies were, burned in their very chairs.

When they reconvened hours later at the city center, the only place not burned, Yuri said, "Did you notice anything unusual?"

"Of course I did! Everybody is dead and everything is burned!" Remedios snapped.

"NO! Yuri said, "I mean two things...they're all ADULTS...and as near as I can tell...they're all HUMAN."

Remedios let out a dullards, "What?" her confusion evident.

"The children are all gone!" Yuri snapped, and while we know many elves had to have been killed, all their bodies are missing, even the ones you killed outside the city, except for those you pursued back towards the advancing main force, all the elf bodies are GONE!" Yuri's voice contained a rare sense of urgency.

"Where are the children?" She asked the dullard she followed, and she saw the lights gradually go on in Remedios's eyes, and when it did, the woman lost it, she began to wail and rage at the uncertain fate of the Lost Children of Wenmark. Her great height of joy when she thought she was accomplishing something great, had plummeted to a new low as she saw this as another failure to exact her queen's will for the safety of her citizens. She immediately isolated herself, took out her sword, and begged in futile desperation for her queen to speak to her again...

In the years to come the Lost Children of Wenmark became a popular story, with most of them to young to even know what city they came from, they were scattered to the orphonages around the Sorcerous Kingdom, the few who did know were so few and far between that they were seldom believed when they said they came from there, and as a result virtually overnight the city's entire population ceased to exist as a culture. The small population of pregnant women who were counted as a result of Ainz's spell effects, had their memories erased or sealed so that they did not know who they were or where they'd lived...perhaps that was kinder. They could start new lives without fear. Some citizens survived who had been working on docks far from the city, or in distant mines, many of these would go on to be hunted down by Black Justice members who lead bands of escaped elven slaves, the extermination was so thorough and so brutal that those few who did still live, only did so because they changed their names, abandoned their homes, and traveled far away and never revealed to anyone where they had come from, and not a one of them did not spend every day to their last day in fear of being found by a vengeful elf...so one way or the other, Wenmark's people vanished into history.

The city itself...or the ruins of it anyway, became known as the City of Lost Children, as other visitors came to it and found the bodies of adult humans, sans any children, and it was long said that the city was depopulated entirely as a result of elven rebellion, the mistreatment of elves in the dead city was well known in much of the South, and such was the horror of the extermination of Wenmark that forced labor began to lose favor with all but the most reckless in the Southern Holy Kingdom.

 _...Outside Western Prart..._

The funeral for Illyana was held on a beautiful day, sun in the sky, green rolling hills somewhere in the west of Prart, a gentle wind blew both Neia & Skana's hair whimsically, as if it was being caressed by some gentle spirit. was attended by CZ, Tinamoc, Skana, and Neia, as well as many members of Black Justice, and a number of female elf survivors of the brothel that was the Golden Roan, who had survived because Illyana bought them a few moments to run or to hide when the trap was sprung. While there was a 'chance' at resurrecting her, Ainz had informed Neia that failure would turn her body to ash and dust, and Neia could not imagine that Illyana would have wanted to risk having her body further mutilated...not even by good intentions, so she was laid to rest, the seed of a great tree was planted where she was buried, so that it would draw nourishment from her form and give life to something that would grow for many generations. Neia was the first to speak.

"When I met Illyana, she was everything nobody should have been, abused, broken, living in fear, but as soon as she had the chance, she ignited that spark of self respect in herself, and regained her dignity, she found her courage, she grew more in a handful of days than many do in a lifetime, and in a sense, she left this world as a free person, just as she'd come into it. She chose in the end to fight, to resist, to let nobody take from her without consequence, she found her justice, all on her own, and died defending it, like Gascon before her."

Neia began to choke up, she had to swallow several times and wipe her face before she was able to continue, her sharp eyes blurry with wet tears, she forced herself to continue. "She did not go quietly into the fate others decreed for her, but chose to exist this life on her own terms, a free woman whose body and life were hers and no others. She had choice, the essence of justice and freedom and life itself, and if we remember nothing else, we should remember that, and hold to that ideal for ourselves, until it comes to our turn to join her, and to join her on our terms."

She took a deep breath. "May you rest in peace Illyana, nobody can ever abuse you again." Neia stepped away from the place where she stood, and Tinamoc got up.

"I knew Illyana for only a short time, I know nothing of her childhood, family, or life before I entered it, but the woman I knew was fierce, dedicated, and brave to the last, and if those are the only things anyone can put on a headstone, if those are the only character traits known by those who remember us, then we're someone worth remembering. I wish it could have gone differently Illyana..." He said as he looked at her burial plot. "But I hope wherever you are, that you know we won't stop until everyone is as free for all their lives, as you were in those moments before your death when you declared yourself free by striking down those who saw you as mere property."

He too stepped down, and Skana stood up. "I'm not Neia Baraja, I have no gift of voice, I am not Tinamoc, I have no real eloquence to me, and I did not know Illyana longer than any other here, but I knew a woman who preferred to die than live without her self respect or dignity, who preferred to die rather than risk destroying the chance at saving everybody, that's the kind of person we should all be, even if it kills us, because that way we're worth remembering. Good bye Illyana, if you can wait for us on the other side...wherever that is...do so, and next time maybe we'll take you up on your offer." She gave the grave a wry smile as tears ran down from her eyes as she tried to throw a joke at the corpse about her physical offers to the two women.

In her turn, CZ stood up, and said, "She was cute, in all the ways cute could be." And she took out one of her stickers, and laid it over the grave. To most, this was a mysterious and confusing reaction, but to Neia, Skana, and more recently Tinamoc, CZ's actions represented a deep well of affection.

A few of the girls who had known her over time had more to say, but as all things did, the funeral eventually ended, and flowers were laid over the grave around where the tree's seed was planted. Then one by one the attendants began to part, Tinamoc got to the front of a wagon and returned to Prart without another word, lost in his own thoughts. Neia seemed inclined to stay the longest, even the elf women who knew her longest left earlier, having to return to their work, but Neia stayed and stared at the grave.

Skana and CZ remained on either side of her, flanking her silently until the sun began to descend. Finally Skana could bear it no more and she tugged on Neia's arm with gentle firmness and insistence, "Its time to go...OK?" She said, leaning in close, Neia nodded, her head going up and down very quickly.

"I know...just..."

"Illyana, if you can hear this...somewhere...somehow, I promise you I won't rest until every elf is free, then I'll come back here again, and tell you its over, and I'll wager your tree with the blood of their former masters." She swallowed. "I promise you..." She said again, the grave did not answer, graves tended not to do that, except by silence, and that was all she got back.

"OK, lets go. We've got a lot of work to do, and I have a promise to keep." Neia said, her voice regaining some of its strength, she bowed deeply to the grave, then straightened and did an about face, and walked away from it, leaving Illyana alone to her rest.

 **AN: And that completes the intermission and the epilogue, we're going to enter Part TWO of the story of the growth of the Cult of Ainz and the great war, this completes a huge part of this project, one I've had LOTS of fun with, and I hope you have too, I've seen some ups and downs along the way, lost a few readers due to some choices, gained a lot more I think, and I've seen my long held style shift to something a little different than the way I usually write, and for the better I think. I hope you found all this worth your time to read, and of course if you didn't, well neener neener you can't unread it. ;) And if you did, please leave a review telling me what you thought, I love reading your reviews and trust me, if you write a long one, I'll read all of it, even (or especially) critical ones, though I might not always agree with a criticism, its always worth considering. Thanks for your time, your eyeballs, your reviews, and so on.**

 **SEE YOU ON PART TWO!**

 **OH! And by the way, you're probably wondering why I'm posting both parts now and didn't wait for the reviews to hit 600? Well the answer is that somebody offered to donate $10 to my charitable organization if I released them early. I agreed, they did it, so...here you go. I can never say no to good deeds.**


	40. Casus Belli (Just Cause)

_...In Kami Miyako..._

Raymond went over the first piece of material. "Handor is dead, and we've successfully framed Black Justice for the deed. With our people filling the council, the first thing they...or should I say 'we' did is 'appeal' to the Slane Theocracy for help in restoring order from the 'insurrection'."

"Are they actually rebelling?" Dominic asked in idle curiosity.

"Does it matter?" Berenice asked, "It only matters that we have an excuse to say they are. Remedios's actions have resulted in reprisals, some priests have been murdered, the fact is that the only difference between loyal citizen and rebel at this point is who is in charge, since they get to say who is what. Had Caspond lived, our people would be called rebels, hell Remedios essentially was. Thanks to Handor, we turned that around, now that he's a martyr and we've blamed the right group, our council is in charge and we've got Black Justice branded as rebels. We essentially rule the Holy Roble Kingdom now."

There were some smug grins around the table, the Sorcerer King had been thoroughly outmaneuvered now.

"He may be a clever undead, but with all of our heads together, we're vastly superior." Maxmillian said confidently. "We now have the upper hand, he can't invade without casus belli, and such an invasion would set off a chain reaction that might even draw Argland to support us, and even the Sorcerer King wouldn't like to face all of us at once."

"Gentlemen this worked because we thought ahead, everything from Handor's edicts to the call for our 'help' being prepared and even the advance movement of our soldiers to prepare to send them into the South, would have been impossible if we were simply always reacting, it was our preparation that made us successful here, we shouldn't forget that lesson. Now that we're proxy rulers, all we have to do is send our scriptures and our armies in, and even Black Justice won't stand a chance against all our precautions." Yvon added.

"With our orthodoxy dominant between here, there, and Re-Estize, we should have enough support in the temples to defeat the heresy coming out of the Baharuth Empire, and with heresy in the Holy Kingdom obliterated, well that should be the end of this damn cult!" Dominic said with satisfaction and venom filling his voice.

That was when a messenger dropped another report in front of Raymond, a report from Thousand Mile Astrologer.

He read silently for a moment as his colleagues looked on expectantly.

"Wenmark is no more...its gone." He said in barely a whisper.

"What do you MEAN Wenmark is no more?!" Dominic shouted in outrage.

"I mean it doesn't fucking exist, what don't you grasp?!" Raymond snapped, his frustration with Dominic's temper was more or less constant, but he rarely let it spill over like it did just now.

"HOW! What happened?!" Dominic snapped back.

"If you would stop interrupting, you'd find out!" Berenice snapped in return. "Its damned hard to get a full report out if you stop every three minutes with a question that is going to be answered anyway if you'll just listen!"

Dominic settled back into his seat, sullen and angry at the rebuke as Raymond continued to read the report.

"A rebellion began by a group of elves, the city caught fire, every human is dead and the elves are gone." He said softly.

Five other mouths were about to start shouting when he raised his hand as he looked at the paper in front of him. "There is more...this is strange, all the human children...they're all gone...all of them. Thousand Mile Astrologer went above and beyond on this one...she reached out to our contacts in Remedios's ranks before submitting this...and what they tell us is that she showed up at the city, killed many elves trying to escape, but left to chase down more of them, and when she came back to the city after linking up with the rest of her army...everything was burned and destroyed. They searched the entire city, the bodies of the elves were gone, the children were gone, all that remained were the thousands and thousands of charred human corpses some killed by fire, others by weapons, but whatever it was...everyone is indeed very...very dead."

"Probably she couldn't believe what she saw." Berenice said solemnly.

"Does she know where the children went?" Dominic asked, his voice taking on a subdued tone that was not characteristic of his usual behavior.

Raymond flipped through the pages. "No, no idea." He said softly. "One other strange thing, the center of the city was completely untouched except for soldiers who were blockading every road into and out of it, they died apparently instantly, fell where they stood, nobody even attempted to flee as near as we can tell, they simply fell over dead and burned where they were. My guess would be that they 'thought' they had somebody cornered and did not know who or what they were dealing with, and that was when this magic was unleashed."

There were collective swallows by the cardinals. "Anything else?" Maxmillian asked.

"Neia Baraja and Black Justice were clear participants, Remedios saw Neia herself atop the wall. They even traded words."

Yvon frowned. "Neia Baraja is not a magic caster, the most we know she can do, aside from a few martial arts, is imbue her arrows with power, she's good...but she's not...well not capable of THAT." He said as he waved his hand towards the report.

"The Sorcerer King." Dominic said. The other cardinals turned to look at him.

"When I met with Jircniv to seek his assistance, to ask him to stop the Synod and to try to coax him back from his current course, he warned me about this, remember? He said the Sorcerer King had more spells like those he used on the Katze Plains. This had to be one of them." Dominic's voice was regaining its temper and its urgency.

"Well...what can we do about it?" Raymond asked.

He was met with silence, the only relief they felt was that they had an unquestioned diplomatic victory that would keep the Sorcerer King OUT of the Holy Kingdom in an official military capacity.

 _...Sorcerous Kingdom...Nazarick..._

"How much of her body do you have, Demiurge?" Ainz asked as he looked down at the thorough mess of a corpse, it was impossible to say how much was really there, bits of arms, legs, fingers, and...lots of messy guts littered the table.

"Thanks to the efforts of Kyouhukou's children, we actually have most of it. I cannot put a precise number on that, but excess of 90% of her body is present on the table." Demiurge said with ample confidence, "More than enough to facilitate a resurrection if an item is used, and even if it isn't, with your limitless magic, I'm sure it would be trivially easy for you to do."

"Yes, I see..." Ainz said as he took out a wand, similar to the one used on Neia when she had previously died, she'd returned from beyond with a new job class, one incredibly useful to himself as it turned out, idly he wondered if that was related to his absurdly high 'luck' stat, and whether or not that would happen with this one. 'Only one way to find out.' He reasoned in his own head.

He held it over the remains and said, "Raise dead." He watched as the organs and 'mush' that made up the body began to reassemble themselves, moving and writhing as they came together, the body had been so badly mutilated that it took longer than usual, but gradually it took form, the shape became human, ample breasts took shape, and long golden spun hair grew out to its former length, delicate features and cyan eyes went from dead and glassy to full of life, and then she began to breath. The bare breasts rose and fell with a rhythmic pace that was common with good health, and the eyes of a living woman stared upwards in shock, confusion, and fear at the skeletal face of Ainz Ooal Gown.

Ainz had forgotten the issue of her lack of clothing when he used his wand, but it was impossible to ignore now as the naked woman tried to sit up, and blushed deeply at her nakedness. Ainz was glad that he could not blush, as it would have ruined his solemn intentions. He took his cloak off, and draped it over the woman.

"I see you're awake, Queen Calca." Ainz said, forcing his noble voice to remain calm and collected, as she looked around in confusion. "W-where am I?" She asked.

"You are in the Great Tomb of Nazarick, my home." Ainz said politely. "I apologize for your lack of clothing, I'm afraid there was none with you when your remains were reclaimed."

"My...remains?" She asked, her already pale skin going from a red blush to a more pale white. "I was killed, I died?" She asked softly.

"Yes, you were killed by Jaldabaoth during his attack on your capitol." Ainz said.

"Then how...?" She began.

"He used your body as a club, and kept your corpse with him for quite some time, he finally 'tired' of doing so and threw what remained of you into the council chamber where I was meeting with your surviving leadership, including your brother, King Caspond." Ainz said.

"Please...tell me...everything?" She said, her royal voice cracking with emotion as memories began to return to her.

"Your nation was all but destroyed by Jaldabaoth after your death, the survivors came to my capitol and asked my help. I provided it, I killed Jaldabaoth and assisted the North in its resistance, your brother was made king, the demihuman army was destroyed, I conquered the Abelion Hills after my first attempt at defeating him failed...I'm afraid I miscalculated and used to much mana helping your people, however my second attempt was a success, and that was sufficient. After that, I was assisting my squire, one of your citizens in overseeing the rebuilding. Things have taken a dark turn since then."

"Why...what has my brother done...?" She asked, shock filling her voice and her body began to tremble as she took in all that she was hearing.

"Died, unfortunately." Ainz answered, "He was assassinated, a man named Count Handor took over..."

"I know him." She said with a grim and much displeased voice. "He is as corrupt as they come, I'm sure any reconstruction efforts first served his own ambitions. I was never able to justify his removal, he wasn't that stupid, but with him as king..."

Then her brother's death hit her, and she brought her knees up to her chest, bent her head forward, and began to weep. Ainz placed a skeletal hand on her shoulder, offering her his sympathy as best he could. "Caspond...no..." She whispered softly.

"There is...more, if you are ready to hear it, if you wish to wait..." Ainz trailed off on the offer as she shook her head.

"I have a duty to hear it." She said softly, wiping her face clean of tears.

"Count Handor became King Handor, and King Handor became a corpse. While all this was going on, Remedios Custodio attempted to exterminate those who had chosen to follow my ideals, and after her arrest and escape...well do you remember how she felt about the undead?" Ainz asked, and she nodded numbly.

"She declared that anyone who followed me was not a human anymore, and she's killed many of those I worked to save, most recently at Wenmark, do you know the city?" He asked.

She nodded numbly, "Southern Kingdom, prosperous, strong ties between their rulers and the Slane Theocracy, reports filtered my way about cruelty to prisoners, I heard some...bad things, I had thought to send some people to investigate under cover of a trade mission, but then the invasion happened and...I guess I died."

"It was worse than you know," Ainz said, "Wenmark was engaged in the enslaving of elves, their females were concubines or breeding stock, their males were laborers worked to death or the lowliest of servants, the squire who served me became an important leader, and undertook a rescue attempt, trying to help the elves escape. Remedios killed hundreds, perhaps thousands, no way to know...before she rode off pursuing another group of them, inside the city, everything went to hell and the entire city is now a burned out ruin."

She stared at him in shock. "Can I...see?" She asked.

Ainz nodded, "I can take you through it, yes."

"I mean...am I not a prisoner?" She said, letting one of her fears be voiced.

Ainz let out a sigh, a gesture that shocked her since she knew the undead did not breath, she concluded that he'd learned to mimic the living to set them at ease, and her estimation of his ability as a ruler jumped up more notches.

"Hear me out," he said, "Handor has been killed and a council staffed with Slane Theocracy friendly persons has taken control, the edicts put forth and the framing of those who followed my ideals have given free reign to exterminate all those who served under me, all those who fought for your kingdom, all those who followed my ideals of justice, and because your nation 'invited' the Slane Theocracy, and because my servant is nominally a mere citizen of your country with no authority over it of her own, she is now considered a criminal and any action of my own would constitute an invasion. Do I need to explain the ramifications of that?" He asked.

She shook her head, "No, I understand, the form matters as much as the action, if you act while they're under invitation, you're the aggressor occupying a peaceful nation that is just putting down a criminal insurrection."

"Precisely." Ainz answered, "I must adhere to diplomatic norms...ruling is so...complicated, even when trying to do what should be done." Her estimation jumped another notch as he expressed so simply the frustration that she had felt herself so many times, she felt the power of his noble voice and the overwhelming power of his presence, even the simple gesture of a touch on her shoulder spoke volumes of his compassion and understanding. She felt a certain kinship with this king, but he had not answered her question directly so she chose to ask it again.

"Am I a prisoner?" She asked, meeting his glowing red eyes, it was a vital question, it dictated her treatment, her life, her fate, perhaps even whether she survived the next moment.

"No." Ainz answered flatly and she sighed with an abiding relief.

"How long as it been?" She asked.

"Several years." Ainz answered.

"Why wait so long to revive me?" She asked curiously.

"The paladins refused the attempt previously, as there was a chance you could be revived as undead." Ainz answered truthfully, "I admit even now I was a bit reluctant, some do not wish to be revived after they die, and I assumed they would know your wishes and that you would not want to risk coming back like me or worse...but the truth is I need you." He replied.

She felt the answer like a slap to the face, she felt as if she'd been rejected by her people, she was horrified by what she had heard Remedios had been doing, the ascent of Count Handor, the manipulation of the Slane Theocracy, a sister nation no less...it was all to much, she wanted to cry, but she held back her tears and listened on.

"With you revived, you can be returned to the throne." Ainz answered, and instantly she understood what he intended.

"I am your just cause." She said, "With my life restored, I am the rightful queen of the Holy Roble Kingdom, I can authoritatively depose the Slane Theocracy controlled council, I can deal with Remedios, I can order the removal of the Slane Theocracy's forces if they enter my kingdom. I can set things to rights." She concluded.

"Your reputation for intelligence is not baseless I see." Ainz said.

"Will you help me?" He asked as bluntly in return as she had asked after her status.

"If I refuse...do you take my life, imprison, or hurt me?" She asked, the shock of all she'd heard sending numbness into her voice.

"If you refuse, I will offer you an estate in exile in my kingdom, or if you wish to return on your own and see what you can accomplish, then I will provide you with an escort to your border, and order a Black Justice...those are my followers, or an adventurer team I'm paying for, to get you to your capitol. The choice is yours and I will honor it, I swear it on my name." Ainz said, but the oath was unnecessary, the power of his voice thudded into her with the certainty that air filled her lungs.

She thought long and hard, "What do you want...if I accept your help?" She asked, her noble voice sounding meek as the impact of her death, her shattered nation...her nakedness, all exposed how powerless she was, all she had was a status that was currently denied her, what chould she offer an undead king? If he were a mortal, even a demihuman, she could offer marriage and heirs to him, but her body was useless to a skeleton who was already immortal and so had no need of heirs.

Ainz raised his hand and began to tic off his wants. "First...a complete ban on the slave trade, including the use of convicts in bondage, that is the loophole they used in Wenmark and they got away with it under your nose for I do not even know how long. The second, permission for my followers to practice their faith openly and freely, in all the ways that they are called to do so, and just so you know, this does not include harming anyone except in self defense. Third, we open trade routes. Fourth, the expansion of my postal system, and finally...I want war crimes trials for all those who have abused the innocents who adhered to my ideals of justice, or who perpetrated violence on civilians at all. This guilty, I expect to be permitted to punish myself, save for those you deem it necessary to punish yourself."

"You..." She could scarcely believe what she was hearing, she didn't know what the devil that postal system thing he mentioned was, but the rest of it, she couldn't believe what she was hearing.

"You're not demanding half my kingdom? You're not demanding to plunder my treasury, you're not demanding I marry someone convenient for your interests...?" Her voice was filled with disbelief, "You're asking for a pittance, for nothing really." She wanted to let tears out, she was no fool, for all the naivte asserted about her, she was a Queen, she was a ruler through and through who had a matchless mind that even her brother acknowledged so well that he stepped aside for her to be the first female leader of her nation in all its history, she knew the ways of politics as well as she knew how to care for her own body, and this did not make sense to her, he could demand nearly everything, yet he was hardly asking for anything. It occurred to her briefly that he might ask so little because all she might have to do is appear in the capitol and she would be restored to the throne, but given what she knew of the Slane Theocracy and its methods, she knew all to well that they would never let that happen, in all probability they'd just kill her and pretend she'd never been there in the first place.

"Why?" She asked.

"Why what?" Ainz asked in return.

"Why are you asking so little?" She clarified.

"It would be unjust to demand everything of a woman who does not even have clothes on her back. The throne is yours, the people who follow me however, depend on me, an unworthy king forgets that, I will not be an unworthy king." He responded firmly.

She felt the iron in his voice, and she saw the servant of his nearby looking visibly moved, she couldn't disbelieve him, she couldn't find it in her to doubt he was anything less than the pinnacle of nobility, that which she aspired to be, he already was.

She swung her legs over the side of the table she lay on, the cloak that covered her front fell away, leaving her naked again as she descended to one knee in front of the Sorcerer King with her head deeply bowed. "Lend me your strength Sorcerer King, restore me to the throne, help me right what has been made wrong, and I swear to meet all your conditions, or die in the attempt."

"I have one more condition." Ainz said, and her heart thudded in her chest, threatening to burst through her breast, was this it...was this the moment when the hammer of limitless demands came down on her desperate head?

"...Yes, Sorcerer King?" She asked through trembling lips as her courage threatened to flag and falter.

"Get dressed." He said, and Queen Calca blushed all over...all over again.

Ainz took up the cloak and covered her body again, giving her a rush of gratitude that her modesty was restored, "Demiurge, have some clothing brought for the Queen, first we must make her status known, then we will begin to right the ship of state."

The next few days were heady ones as Calca was given guest quarters in Nazarick that befitted a noble woman, maids of incomparable beauty attended to her and meals were like unto those prepared for gods, the drinks alone would rock the most hardened noble to their core, and this time was not idly spent. Ainz had invited to his home, not only Jircniv, but also members of his diplomatic corps, as well as diplomats of the Draconic Kingdom, Argland, and Re-Estize, people who knew the Queen from having met her at official gatherings before, so that they would know beyond doubt and spread the truth, that the true Queen of the Holy Roble Kingdom was restored to life and able to rule again.

 _...Arwinter...Royal Palace..._

Jircniv relayed the events to his favorite woman, and she tittered a great deal. "He really got them didn't he?"

Jircniv nodded firmly, "Oh yes, the Slane Theocracy did not know who they were dealing with, I warned them, I tried to warn them." He said, shaking his head as he sat next to her in bed, happy and at least momentarily sated by their urgent lovemaking.

"Now that she's restored, she's the rightful heir, but they can't let her have the throne again with the Sorcerer King's backing, and they haven't a chance in hell of assassinating her while he is having her guarded, which means they can either pull out entirely or they can stay and be the invaders, and we both know what they'll choose to do, don't we?"

Jircniv sighed heavily, "We do. They're stubborn, being out maneuvered like this will frustrate them, horrify them, but damn those fools...they saw the way my lord shattered my attempt at resistance in front of them, he destroyed our chance to ally against him in one blow and brought me under his authority without a fight, how can they have not thought he would have planned for this...did he plan for this...oh by..." He paused as he locked eyes with his woman.

"He did, didn't he?" She said. "It makes sense no other way but that he planned to restore her to life just when the Theocracy was most invested and could NOT pull out, not without handing him the entire kingdom just months before the Synod. How many others know about her?" She asked the emperor.

"The Draconic Kingdom's Queen is probably hearing about it right this second, I'm sure Zanac already knows as well by now, and the Argland Council is probably hearing about it too, I was the only actual ruler to appear there, no doubt because I'm his vassal directly, but with my diplomats who had been there before in tow, well even if I had doubts before, I wouldn't now. She spoke just like her, looked and moved, the Argland Council diplomats were more insistent on thoroughly questioning her, and in doing a magic exam to ensure she was indeed human and not controlled, nobody doubts their skills...now that we all know the truth, there is only one side we can be on. Though the Argland Council will stay neutral, that is a victory unto itself. I'm...so glad I'm on his side now." He said with relief.

"Me too." She said, "Now turn your attention away from nations and back to the bed my love, let the Sorcerer King finish his diplomatic checkmate, you've got something else demanding your attention." She said as she threw the sheets on the bed open and moved to stradle him again.

"Ahhh, its good to be the emperor." He sighed as she lowered her weight onto him, the earthshaking events of the world forgotten as the shaking of the royal bed drew his attention again instead.

 **AN: I trust you find the start of the next arc to be to your liking. If not, to late, you already read it. ;) Reviews are urged, they tell me that the story should continue, and I love hearing about the things you liked, wanted to know, want to see, and so on.**

 **To the reviewer who said he was feeling down, well I hope this cheers you up even further.**

 **And to the reviewer who asked the following:**

 **How many part will god rising have: Around 80 chapters, give or take. Total parts...well honestly as much as I've drawn it up, that can adjust somewhat depending on the fine points, what looks like a good break point now, might not look good in practice so we'll see.**

 **If the story ends: It will, unless I die, I WILL finish the story.**

 **Will you consider doing another one following the ending of god rising: Probably not. This will probably be my last Overlord fiction, once I've told the story I want to tell, time to do new things, and I have other projects waiting for me.**

 **Also will Tinamoc be present there: IF I did another fiction, he might be a minor character encountered briefly, unless it was centered in his sphere of influence, bringing him in would be awkward at best.**


	41. Of Living Legends & an Undead God

Time, for Blue Rose, had moved like molasses going uphill. They'd been given quarters that made the noble house of Lakyus look like a dirty pig sty, that made Renner's palace appear to be a pauper's shack in the woods, the beds were as comfortable as if they were being cradled by angel's wings, and the food was as sumptuous as anyone could ever ask for, but the greatest shock had been the maskless Keeno, their shorty, their Evileye. They'd finally seen her beautiful face and heard her beautiful voice without her mask, but what they'd never seen before was the comfortable glow she exhibited as they settled into the comfort of the home of the Sorcerer King.

As they were relaxing in a deep heated bath together, Lakyus could not take her eyes off of Keeno, prompting the little vampire princess to look at her quizzically and ask, "Do I have something on my face?"

Lakyus shook her head, as if shaking herself out of her reverie.

"Then...what is it?" Keeno asked softly.

"I'd ask if you're alright...but clearly that is the case, so...I guess my question is...WHY are you SO alright? I've never seen you like this." Lakyus asked and said to her in a confused voice.

"Oh." Keeno said, and the rest of Blue Rose looked over to her. "I guess...well how do I put this..." She asked of herself and thought for a moment.

"When Neia called for us and we answered...we saw horrible things, didn't we?" Keeno asked her team, that drew grim looks and solmen nodding.

"The torture places...gods the pits...the abused females, the terrified children, the mutilated males, the brothels we stormed through, it was the first time in my life I ever really enjoyed killing humans, because never in my life have I ever been so sure that people deserved to die. I guess part of it is that we unambiguously did the right thing there. But it is more than that. Lakyus, why didn't you hesitate in agreeing to the destruction of that city?"

Lakyus paused, "I saw what Remedios did, and I saw what those...people...were doing. They were butchering civilians, they were butchering the young, the old, and I saw what those they were killing looked like. The mutilations, the near nudity...it was enough to make me think that that...what was it they were calling it? 'Spiritual Heteromorphism' was actually real, they may have looked like people, but their actions were more like monsters."

"But why so many?" Keeno asked, "It was a whole city after all, the guards sure, I understand, but the population?"

"When we split up, how many whipping points did you all see?" She asked Gagaran and the twins.

"Many." Tia said.

"Very many." Tina added.

"More than one was bad enough, I found someone still in one, poor guy...coin box was near him, he was living entertainment, people had been throwing money in the box just to get the chance to hurt him." Gagaran said with a shudder, she splashed some of the hot water onto her face and ran her fingers through her hair. "Never seen anything like it."

"Same." Lakyus said to Keeno. "I figured none of that should be possible unless the whole city was rotten to the core. But what is your point?"

"Well, I guess its because I'm safer among monsters than I am among humans." She said.

That drew blank and hurtful stares.

"Please don't look at me like that." Keeno said, "I didn't mean you, now that the...secret...is out of the way, I feel much better, more 'whole' now that I don't have that dagger in my heart that I've been hiding some deep dark secret from the sisters that I love. I know you accept what I am..." She said as her blood red eyes locked to each unflinching pair from one sister to the next. "But think about it, what would you have done if you'd learned I was a vampire the first day we met?

That drew some shamefaced looks back at her, while some looks turned away in shame.

"Exactly. You're the heroes of humanity, but without knowing me, you'd have killed me and felt no more regret about that than you would have for pissing on an ant hill." Evileye's voice took on a bitter note. "I know what I am, and I didn't ask for it, nobody cared what my opinion was when they did this to me, but still...to most humans, I'm just something to be killed, even though I...Landfall...fought for humanity against the Greed Kings, without my mask, I was nothing more than a mad dog to be put down and forgotten. Now tell me sisters...who do I have to fear in this place? Who hates me? Who fears me? Where are the ones who would burn me with fire, hang me, cut me and gut me just for the crime of daring to exist in the same world as they do?"

There was silence among her sisters then.

"That is why I can relax like this, because there are only two types of beings in this place. The sisters who I love and trust with my life, to whom I offer everything, even the secret of my nature..." She began, only to be interrupted briefly.

"And...?" Gagaran asked.

"And beings who would face the same fate as myself if they were left at the mercy of humanity, heteromorphs, monsters, I don't know how many are good or evil or just plain neither, but none of them think twice about seeing my face, my red eyes are no more notable than your hair color, I'm actually safe here at every moment, I've never had that, not even once since that was taken from me as a child." Keeno said, happiness returning to her voice.

The mood was somber.

"Well, there is one danger." Gagaran said.

Evileye looked concerned. "What?" She asked.

"Getting your hair wet." Gagaran answered, and her giant meaty hand pushed a wave of water at the little vampire mage, who...soaked and stunned, looked at the large laughing goofball...and then started to laugh long and loud, the tension was gone and laughter filled the bath that was as comfortable as the heated water itself.

Lakyus privately filed away Keeno's words for future contemplation, alongside a mental note to give the Sorcerer King further thanks for offering her and her team a few days rest in Nazarick before a formal meeting, she concluded that he had recognized the mental drain of what they'd seen and done, and that they badly needed downtime to cope and recover mentally as well as physically. It stood at stark contrast to the cold way in which he had annihilated the city of Wenmark, but she did not forget that the children were themselves spared from the punishment of their parents, in accordance with Lakyus's request, it made for a complicated set of thoughts that she was not sure she would ever be able to resolved.

The horseplay was just dying down when a beautiful blonde woman entered the room, she was wrapped in a pure white robe, and she looked at the group more than a little shyly.

"Oh we don't need anything, thank you so much." Tia said with a wave.

The woman looked confused for a moment, and then realized what they thought, and said, "Oh no, I don't work here, I'm a guest...at least I suppose that is the best way to say it."

"Oh, well there is room in the bath, gods this thing is enormous." Tia said as she leaned back and slowly kicked her legs under the water.

She looked hesitant still, and Lakyus gestured to an open space, the bath was very large, Tia had not been exaggerating, she'd seen homes that were smaller. "Please feel free to join us, we might be a while, and I would hate to deny you use because of us, we've had a...very hard time, and need to relax a great deal." Lakyus said with a gentle smile. "I'm Lakyus, and this is Keeno, Tia, Tina, and Gagaran." Lakyus carefully made sure not to announce that they were all Blue Rose, unsure of just who this was, but reasonably comfortable that she was at least somewhat trusted by the Sorcerer King.

The woman gave a gentle smile that fairly lit up her face. "Wonderful to meet you, she said as she set her bathing materials down and slipped into the bath, "I'm Queen Calca Basreaz of the Holy Roble Kingdom."

That drew shocked expressions of silence, Tia blushed with embarrassment that she'd mistaken a queen for a bath attendant.

"Oh um...sorry I mistook you for...you know." She muttered.

The Queen actually giggled. "Its definitely a first." She said.

"But weren't you...?" Lakyus began.

"Killed? Yes. Jaldabaoth killed me before he killed my country, several years ago apparently." She said sadly, "The Sorcerer King managed to scrape together enough of my corpse to facilitate a resurrection."

"Are you his prisoner?" Gagaran asked.

She shook her head, "I could be I suppose, but no, he assured me that I'm free to leave, but he's offered help to reclaim my throne, since it seems that my family was otherwise wiped out and the Theocracy has seized control, if only by proxy."

"If you wanted to leave?" Tina asked.

"He offered me an estate to retire to, or an escort to my kingdom to do what I wished on my own, without any charge or cost for doing so. He has been very generous." She said softly, gratitude in her voice.

"What do you know of Wenmark?" Lakyus asked, her eyes taking on a hard glint, prompting the Queen to look down in shame.

The next few hours were consumed with conversation, with the Queen answering for her oversight of the horrors that took place in the Southern Kingdom and promising never to let it happen again, she broke down for a time when some of the things they found there were told to her, and all she could do was hold her own body as it trembled.

"I failed twice as Queen it seems." She finally said, "I was naive, I thought most of my kingdom, North & South, shared my vision for a wonderful place, I knew there were a few who needed to be brought low, like Count...King Handor. But I didn't know the South had all but abandoned me, I'm almost glad I died before finding out how little they cared for the North, or even each other. In retrospect it seems obvious, but I won't be that naive again, not ever." She said with steel in her voice.

"Now however, I'm back, and I won't be so foolish again, I will take back my kingdom, my throne, and set everything to rights." She said with a bold confidence that came from being raised a noble of destiny.

"What does he want in return?" Lakyus asked with some degree of cynicism.

When the Queen told her, she almost couldn't believe it, and then she told the story of her last few days occupying the Sorcerer King's time, meeting former acquaintances from the surrounding Kingdoms to confirm it was really she, but that was the least of it, the truly shocking thing were the things the Sorcerer King spoke of. They knew of his postal system already.

But then he talked about stamped coinage to certify true weight, another recent innovation he was rolling out to replace old coin systems, he talked about the use of an insurance system for his bankers to ensure that a bad or dishonest lender didn't lose or steal everybody's money, preventing the destructive hoarding that actually caused so many problems for kingdoms in the past.

Gagaran and the twins were frankly bored by that kind of governmental gobbldygoop, but Keeno and Lakyus were stunned, he seemed to be hell bent on fixing problems that had not even been well understood before, let alone addressed.

"So wait...he holds back a sum of his kingdom's treasury, and any lender that wishes to operate must pay tiny fraction of their net profit into that treasury as well, and in return they're 'certified insured' and then if something happens, for example if they get robbed and the money taken, all they have to do is notify the Sorcerer King's agents, turn in their books, and all the money can be restored. And all they have to do is keep a reserve of their own in addition to loans made out, and subject their books to regular inspection by the local accounting constabulary to prevent fraud...its genius. Plus it must make it easy to tax the lenders as well, and nobody is going to borrow from an unsecured lender." Lakyus said admiringly.

"It seems every time he speaks, he starts a revolution in something." Calca said, her voice as crystal clear as the bath's waters. "I have known many nobles, fair, false, fine, frail, and faulty, but never have I encountered a king I would term 'supreme' he seems to think leagues ahead, and by simply restoring me to life, he has made it easy to turn those who have taken away my nation, the ones who should be the villains...into the villains they truly are, even while they disguise themselves as heroes, and he asks nothing special of me or my kingdom to do it, his only thought seems to be to protect his followers that are otherwise out of his reach. He called it the obligation of the nobility, the mark of a worthy king. He said that absolute power begets absolute responsibility, I confess his philosophy is...compelling." Calca went quiet for awhile and lowered herself deeper into the bath and let out a sigh.

"Oh by the gods this feels good." She said as a water jet pounded her lower back, "Did he tell you what he calls these baths?" Calca asked.

"Hot tubs." Tia said.

"I want one." Tina added.

"I think it is safe to say we all do." Lakyus said as she felt the tension being pounded out of her sore muscles.

They luxuriated in relative quiet for what seemed like hours more before hunger began to gnaw at their collective bellies.

"I'm starving, girls, are you coming?" Lakyus said as she stood and reached for a nearby towel.

A collective growl from several stomachs said yes, and as they got out, they bowed to the resurrected Queen and departed.

After they had dried and dressed and returned to their rooms, Keeno said something that made them freeze. "I have been offered the chance to feed tonight."

"How...?" Lakyus asked.

"The Sorcerer King has informed me that one of his heteromorphic servants has...my condition as well, and aside from servants of her own, there are some others who do not attend her directly, but who were created expressly to serve as donors to her or others with...that need." She said.

"Are they compelled?" Gagaran asked softly.

"I asked the same thing, and he said no, they were created beings, who were created not only for this purpose, but also to enjoy the process. I'm the first guest to have this...nature, so he tells me they are very excited by the possibility and hope that I accept." Keeno said softly.

"If it makes you uncomfortable to think of me that way...I don't have to, I'll refuse." She said.

"No, I have to get used to this, I have to." Lakyus said more to herself than to Keeno. "I have to get past who I was, to accept all that you are, I won't let my issues, stay your issues." Lakyus said. "Let me come with you." She said.

That drew the surprised looks to Lakyus instead, but her voice was resolute.

Keeno's beautiful red eyes went narrow, "You are sure of this?" She said with doubt.

"I am." Lakyus said with confidence.

"Then follow me." She said, and Lakyus gave a glance to the rest of the team, and then walked out behind her vampire sister.

The bar they arrived at had an unusual nonhuman creature behind it, and an odd little penguin fellow drinking there, but over in the corner of the otherwise empty bar, there sat a corner booth, with a large round table, and two figures of shocking beauty, one male, one female.

Lakyus followed quietly as Evileye moved with purpose to the booth, and sat down next to the man there, he was bare chested and had rippling muscles and youthful vigor, and the pair seemed to welcome her enthusiastically, and this set Lakyus much at ease, and then Evileye gestured to her.

"This is Lakyus, a dear sister, but she is not like me, she doesn't have my needs or desires." Evileyes words were not hurtful, but very plainly spoken as if she were giving a weather report. "She's still getting used to the idea of what I am, and she wanted to join me to better understand, and probably to see that there was no compulsion on you to do this."

The pair gave Lakyus a slightly dirty look. "Of course we're not compelled, this is what we are here for, its why we were created." The sylvan, willowy woman said in a lilting voice.

"Created." Lakyus said incredulously.

"Yes, created." The man beside her said. "By one of the forty one supreme beings who created this place."

Lakyus looked dumbfounded.

"Forgive my ignorance, I don't understand." Lakyus said politely.

Her good manners seemed to wipe away their distasteful expressions, "We are a symbiote class of life, though we appear human, we are not, we draw sustenance by giving of ourselves in turn, we specialize in giving to vampires, bestowing many benefits and buffs on them when they consume our blood, in return, we gain as well. We draw physical pleasure, but we also draw knowledge, understanding, and sustenance, when a vampire feeds from us, a small amount of their saliva enters our bodies, and this provides us with the nutrients we need. The more we give, the more we learn and improve ourselves. It makes us better hosts."

"Hosts?" Lakyus asked, already stunned and confused.

"Yes, we were created to ensure patrons enjoy this place, though our lord allows us to go anywhere, there is nowhere we would rather be." The woman said, her voice like a babbling brook or a bird's song.

"Did the Sorcerer King create you?" Lakyus asked, awestruck.

"No." They said and shook their heads, "We were created by Lord Peroroncino, the same one who created Shalltear, though we're much nicer than she is." The man said with a wry grin.

"Was he the god of the Sorcerer King?" Lakyus asked softly, prompting the two to laugh uproariously.

When the laughter began to die down "Oh how I wish you could feed on me, I'd love to gain your sense of humor." The woman said, her breasts still heaving from the force of her laugh.

"Lord Peroroncino was one of Lord Ainz's subordinates." The woman said with a titter, "Lord Ainz was the ruler of all the other forty supreme beings, together they created everything in Nazarick, from the walls and floors and ceiling, to the grounds around it, and everything that fills it, except for some of the treasures they got from god hunting."

"God...hunting?" Keeno swallowed hard. "What the hell is that?"

"They hunted others like themselves." The man replied, and Lakyus felt like the world was opening up under her feet and swallowing her whole, Ainz appeared to have the power of a god of gods, her original concern was almost forgotten in the face of this revelation, and she forcibly wrenched her thoughts away from that course of contemplation.

"Forgive me, I have gotten side tracked, please...if it will not offend you, may I watch?" She asked the pair of hosts.

The two shared a look and shrugged, and the man held out his arm and turned it over, baring his wrist to Keeno. She took it gently, reverently, and he nodded with a grin, and Keeno kept her eyes on Lakyus, and opened her mouth, baring her fangs, and sank them slowly into the vein. If the man felt any real pain, he didn't show it, he didn't try to pull away, he simply relaxed himself into the plush of the seat and waited.

Lakyus could not look away, part of her instinct was to flee, part of it was to fight, part of it was to shake Keeno and ask what she was doing, but as she watched, she realized how much of her response was built up around her own prejudice against what Keeno was, everything she'd been taught to think about vampires was clouding her vision of what was actually in front of her. Keeno didn't hate this man, she wasn't even trying to hurt him, she was just trying to exist in the best way possible for herself, and he was a willing participant who was neither harmed nor forced. After a few minutes, she saw the man take and squeeze Keeno's hand gently, and she released her grip and pulled away from his wrist.

He lowered his arm back to the table. "Would you like some more?" The female asked as Keeno licked her own lips, drawing in flecks of blood that had fallen away.

Lakyus remained silent, and her attention was diverted only for a moment when the bartender placed a drink in front of her. She was about to speak when he said, "On the house." She nodded numbly, and watched as Keeno leaned in, and latched on to the woman's wrist in the same way as she had that of the male. The woman shivered as it happened, and for a moment Lakyus thought it was distress, before she recognized that the woman had a blissful expression on her face and that was not at all what her shuddering was over. Lakyus's discomfort took on a whole other dimension, and eventually Keeno released the woman's wrist and leaned back into her seat again.

She looked at Lakyus, who downed her drink sharply and slammed the glass down, and Keeno's red eyes, which were bright in normal conditions, now shone like twin red suns and they bored into the very core of her dear sister. "Look into my eyes." She said to her sister, her leader, her friend. It was a chilling sentence out of most vampires, but Keeno said it in a way that showed she was vulnerable, like a dog offering its belly to show trust, and Lakyus did not want to fail her, and so she met Keeno's gaze straight on, eyes of the living and eyes of the undead, one met the other, and Lakyus felt no fear. She did not break her gaze, and the boldness that made Lady Aindra a woman of legend showed again, she held out her arm, placing her wrist in front of Keeno.

"I would give my life for you without hesitation, so why wouldn't I give blood for you by the same standard? If you want it, its yours for the taking." Lakyus said with a confidence that was distinct and sharp and strong, her moment of apostasy was a tense one weeks before, she'd struggled mightily to rid herself of her bigotry, her past vulnerability born of the heat of the moment, but which prompted her to bury or burn out every part of herself that hurt the little vampire mage she'd loved, and this act was the culmination of those efforts, freely, thoughtfully, and with compassion.

Keeno's eyes were held with hers, and the red eyes clouded with tears, and she grabbed the wrist, and pulled Lakyus over to her, clear across the table, knocking the glass aside and surprising the two symbiotic beings, and she squeezed Keeno like a child would a stuffed animal, her small arms wrapped like a vice around the tough noble adventurer, pinning her arms to her side, and Lakyus looked down to see a joyful smile on Evileye's face, she tried to return it, but the vampire's strength was...ample.

"Sister..." Lakyus said, "I know I said I'd give you my blood...but...I'd rather not have broken bones...too...tight!" She gasped out, and Keeno let go in embarrassment, allowing Lakyus to collapse and breath again.

It was at that moment that a small brown haired human looking maid entered and said to the disheveled pair of adventurers, "The Sorcerer King will see you now. I have already informed your companions, so you may proceed directly to the throne room for a private audience. Please, follow me." She said softly.

That prompted the two women to collect themselves hastily, after being somewhat disentangled, they walked up behind her and casually Lakyus said, "It wasn't what it looked like, I swear." Her face was beet red at what it must have appeared. The shy girl blushed a bit, and said, "It is not for me to judge." In a small sweet voice.

Keeno had a blush to herself as well, but chose to fill the moment with a question, "Can I ask which supreme being created you?"

"I was not created here, I am a human." She said softly.

"A human, like me?" Lakyus asked.

"Yes, Lord Ainz had me rescued from Eight Fingers, my husband, his Head Butler, killed Zero and the rest of my captors and saw to my safety." She said with a voice full of warmth and bitterness both. "I was one of the toys that worked in the slave brothels, Sebas Tian found me...saved me. When Eight Fingers tried to trap him to exact revenge, he took me back, and became my husband."

Lakyus listened with care and looked over at Evileye. "I know this story, or parts of it anyway. I've heard of your husband from a boy named Climb."

The maid smiled, "I know of him, my husband spoke of him warmly." She said.

Then Lakyus added, "We wondered what happened after all that, your husband left the capitol, and we never heard anything more."

"The Sorcerer King said he owed a debt to my sister, that he learned things from her diary after her death, so he repaid his debt to her through me by allowing me to live here with Sebas. He has given me clothes, good food, let me work, kept me safe..." She said softly, her voice broke up a bit, "So many nobles...they treat us like animals, like pets at best and disposable playthings at worst, its how I ended up where I did, the noble of my village used me till I became boring, then sold me to a living hell for less than a bottle of good wine. Lady Lakyus, I don't know what you have heard of the Sorcerer King, I do know about the thing that happened on the Katze Plains, but please don't let that cloud your judgement, he's terrible to behold, powerful even to look at, he has the appearance of a monster...but inside...he's not that at all, just..."

Lakyus touched the maid's shoulder, "I have had hints at this, I met him briefly and saw what he was capable of doing, and I don't believe he's what he appears to be, I don't know what I should think yet, but I do have an open mind."

The maid swallowed emotionally as they came closer to the throne room, and when the door opened, Ainz was there, attended only by Sebas, the other members of Blue Rose were present, but it was otherwise empty as the pair stepped forward into the center of paradise. Ainz however, had locked his gaze on Tuareninya, who had obviously just had tears running down her face. "Tuare, are you alright?" He asked, his voice echoed with concern, which shocked them to their collective cores, not many nobles were attentive enough to their mere maids to detect distress, or compassionate enough to respond to it.

The girl nodded, "I am sire, its just...memories." She said.

"Sebas, why don't you go attend your wife, I will be fine by myself with our guests for a little while." Ainz said politely, and Sebas bowed, deeply.

"As you say, my lord." And he stepped down from beside the throne and took Tuare's hand and escorted her out.

When the door shut behind them, Ainz gestured for the team to approach the throne. They knelt in front of the throne, and after a long moment, Ainz began to speak.

"I think most great rulers would have a profound speech to make at this point," he said as he stroked his chin, "but I will not waste time on flowery prose just now."

His red orbs swept over them all and the large skeletal king on the magnificent throne seemed to grow before their eyes, it was like the opposite of a killing intent. Where killing intent created paralyzing fear, he seemed to have in him 'Noble Intent' where his pressence swelled and filled the room, where their eyes could not leave his form and their ears could not help but hear him speak.

"Instead I will be blunt." He said, "The world is changing, most of the time that happens whether people want it or not, frequently it happens because the wrong people want it to change in the wrong ways. This time will be different, because I am going to change this world, and I am going to change it for the better. There will be no more Wenmarks, there will be no more slavery, nor 'contracts' that are slavery in all but name, rape will not be the right of the victors, and peasants will not be toys to the corrupt, nor will I tolerate corruption. The cycle of destruction and abuse will be ended, and the peace and prosperity I desire will be made real. Everyone no matter their race, be they beastman, heteromorph, human, vampire...anyone and everyone who accepts the social contract to live, let live, care for their community and prosper through service to the public...will be welcome in that world."

His words pierced their hearts like arrows, they'd heard Princess Renner speak of lofty goals before, but she had no power to enact them, in fact only a handful had ever been successfully applied, and those were frustrated at every turn by powerful nobles. The Sorcerer King seemed to be able to upend what he wanted, when he wanted, and things did not end well for those who dared to try to stop him.

"Do you intend to oppose any of those aims?" Ainz asked, leaning forward with orbs of red meeting each gaze in turn.

The legendary team looked at one another for a moment, and then Lakyus answered, "Sire, may I speak freely?"

"I would have it no other way." Ainz said.

"Sire, you know what my sister is." She said matter of factly.

"Yes." Ainz replied.

"Had I known what she was, before I called her sister, I would have killed her. You showed me I was wrong, she showed me I was wrong, one of your priests in Kedyn showed me I was wrong. When I passed through Commonton, a snakewoman told me that under your rule she for the first time lived without worrying that someone would kill her children, when I expressed surprise at her care, I was reminded that she was a mother, and loved her young like a human mother would. When I spoke with dwarves, they told me you saved their nation, when we saw the way your followers prospered, the use of the undead, the reverence for the living, the willingness to sacrifice...when we saw that your priests not only healed others for free, they would not even consider payment for it...I cannot deny I was moved by such compassion. I have seen a great deal in my travels, but no rule like yours."

She took a deep breath in, and exhaled very slowly, "Queen Calca has told us what you've asked of her in exchange for your help, and...well with everything that we have heard, and everything that we have seen, I do not have it in me to oppose your vision. Your vision gives my sister, our shorty, our Evileye, a place in this world, but the old ways of which I was a part, demand that she die, my gods demanded that she die. I abjured my gods, I condemn them for condemning her, I do not know that you are a god...I no longer even know what a god is anymore...but you've made me rethink the world, and as I see the way you change it, I find myself wanting you to succeed."

"Does that answer your question my lord?" She asked, gaze meeting gaze.

"It does." Ainz answered. "But it begs another question. Will you help me?" He asked just as bluntly.

"How?" She asked softly.

"There are those who do not want change, who want a world of Wenmarks, a slave trade, who want to wipe out those who are different and impose their corruption, these advocates of the old are on the move, striving to prevent my upending of what they know, and they call me evil for it. By reputation alone you would change many minds by siding with me, but more than that, my armies have been mustering and are ready to go, only a handful of preparations remain, I would ask that you join the ranks of my army under General Zaryusu. His army includes the volunteers of my nationalized adventurers who have thrown their support behind me, including someone you know, I believe you've met Momon before?" Ainz asked politely.

Keeno blushed furiously, suddenly missing her mask.

"May we consider it for awhile sire?" Lakyus asked.

"You may." He said.

"Are we free to leave?" Lakyus asked.

"Have you done anything that leaves you deserving of being detained?" He asked.

"No sire." She answered.

"Then you are not prisoners, tell me where to send you, and there you will be sent." Ainz said.

"Back to Kedyn, our contract may have been cancelled, but we're paid through the end of the month." She replied.

"I will continue to cover your costs for work in that region for the foreseeable future." Ainz answered, "I am already doing the same for adventurers I have allowed to be hired out of my Kingdom, I will extend that courtesy to you as well, as a show of gratitude for your assisting of Neia Baraja." He added.

"Thank you majesty...for this...and also for the wonderful chance at relaxation and recovery, we badly needed everything we got here." Lakyus said with deep respect in her voice.

"Think nothing of that, and instead think on my offer." He answered, and when he summoned a gate and gestured to it, the women stood, bowed, and stepped through without hesitation.

 **AN: Well readers I hope you enjoyed the TRIPLE updates today. :) For that you should thank the reader who made a generous charity offer in their review of a previous chapter, I promised I would do 3 updates the day of his donation, but I was so moved as a result that I was compelled to double down...no...triple down...today. Of course it remains to be seen whether the offer will be kept, nobody can know the future, but I'll take their word on the matter until I shouldn't.**

 **Truth be told this chapter IS indeed something of an intermission, I wanted a more involved 'Blue Rose in Nazarick' moment, and a chance to further refine this characters and show some consistency of growth in Lakyus from her time in the story 'Unholy Rose', plus I really thought it was neat to get a chance to introduce them to Calca and to Tuareninya, a cute, tragic, and often ignored minor character and show what had become of her life since moving to Nazarick.**

 **To answer other questions:  
The only side story I currently plan is the short one taking place before ALL the current events here, with the defeat of the beastmen invasion. That will be relatively short, I 'might' do a few whimsical little shorts along the way, oneshots and the like, but when God Rising is done, truth be told, baring some significant inspiration, I think this will be my last full fledged Overlord story.**

 **As far as the 'Part 2' I should have clarified. Part 2 is still continuing through this one main story. See I did a MASSIVE FUCKING OUTLINE for this one, and 'part one' detailed the rise of tensions. Part two begins with the straw breaking the camel's back, the declaration of war, and the ensuing conflict. Part three with pacification and peace, and part four with the aftermath and the Synod. Original chapter length was to be 50 odd chapters, however the end result I am expecting a MINIMUM of 80 and more likely well over 100 as I continue to add details to the outline before writing them out. All of them however, will be HERE in this single story title. Incidentally...I've been writing the epilogue off and on for awhile now as this story has unfolded to ensure I left nothing out worth mentioning.**

 **And as to how I could put you through all this...well what can I say...I'm the kindest sadist you'll ever meet. I torture you, and you love me for it. Why...I'm the male Shalltear. )**


	42. Trials & Trauma

_...Kami Miyako...a very comfortable prison..._

Climb sat in a chair. That alone probably made him the most comfortable prisoner in the kingdom. But more than that it was a very comfortable chair on its own. His room however, was not ONLY decorated with a comfortable chair, it had a table. It was a very nice, polished table. Why he even had a real bed to himself. What he did not have was a weapon or the ability to leave, even if he had the former, he couldn't have done the latter. That was because of who sat across from him. A half elven woman of curious appearance who...when they'd first met, carried a large scythe and demanded he fight her, promising to get him out and even to protect his princess if he won, or even lasted a few minutes. It had been embarrassingly brief, though he'd fought and fought and fought, rising time after time. First she'd broken a rib, then another rib, then another rib, then another rib, every time she knocked him down, he was getting back up and she punished him by breaking another bone.

She had not however, taken his life when he couldn't get up anymore because his bones simply would not cooperate. That had not stopped him from trying, and her eyes went wide for a moment and she said, "Its to bad you're not both kinds of strong, but you are at least powerful in one way." She'd left him after the cryptic statement that he thought...sounded rather like praise. Though he'd believed that she had let him go, she actually returned and used a potion to restore him.

Only then did she introduce herself. "I'm Zesshi, and I'll be guarding you." She said bluntly.

He stood up in surprise, "Was that why you did all that? So I'd fear you as my jailer? Well it won't work, I have someone to get back to, I will escape from here no matter what."

She shook her head. "One thing at a time," she said, "First of all, no, I didn't do that to make you afraid...though I admit I'm surprised that beating didn't do it. No, I fought you to see if you were worth having a baby with."

He had blushed a furiously deep red and sat down at the table in surprise.

"The only man worth having a child with is the one who can give me a strong child, the only way to tell if the child will be strong is to fight him, so...I tried you out. You failed the test, just in case you were wondering." She said matter of factly. "Although..." she added, "your spirit is strong, most people can't get up after having that many bones break or being knocked down that much, and I think if I had allowed it, you'd have continued trying to get up until you'd died on the floor from your injuries." The bizarre half elf had sighed dejectedly. "If it weren't for bad luck, I'd have no luck." She said, "So if it makes you feel any better, you half passed. Now on to the second thing."

"Second thing?" He asked.

"Yes, you want to get back to see that princess of yours, right?" She asked, and he nodded rapidly and said, "Yes, and I will!"

"Do you want to attend her funeral?" She asked.

He paled.

"No huh, alright, then you don't want to escape." She replied.

"What?" Climb asked in confusion.

"OK, obviously they didn't tell you much. Here's the deal kid, you're here so that the Theocracy can keep your princess in line, so she doesn't interfere with the war, as long as you're a hostage, she'll stay in lie, but if you escape, then to keep her from interfering, she'll be killed." Zesshi said indifferently.

Climb began to tremble.

"You're getting the picture now," Zesshi said with a satisfied nod, "so if you want to save your beloved princess, then you need to cooperate with me, and with us, and stay a quiet and obedient hostage. Do that, and we'll let you go when the war is over and she can't work against us in any meaningful way. If you pose to much of a security threat, then that makes her a threat, and since you're her body guard, well who is responsible for her safety?" Zesshi said from across from him, passingly twirling her scythe on its butt as if to drill it into the stone where the butt end of it stood.

"I am." He replied.

"Well, if you escape, not that you can, but if you did, or if we thought you could, then our next step is to take her life, and before you ask, the former king was killed the same night you were taken, if we can kill a king, a third princess twice removed from the throne...is no problem at all." Zesshi finished her explanation with cold reason. "So you see, your best bet at keeping her alive, is to stay right here. We can't kill you because we'd lose our edge over her, and we won't kill her precisely because we have you. So if you cooperate with me and make this job not annoy the fuck out of me...there'll be no shackles, there'll be no binding, the food will be decent and you'll keep your comforts. I'll even have you brought some entertainment, and all you have to do is stay loyal enough to your princess to NOT try to escape. How's that sound?" She asked before adding... "If it is no good, then I can just kill you for trying to escape, and she'll be dead before she finds out you are. What will it be?"

Climb swallowed. "Fine. But if anything happens to her..." He began, and Zesshi perversely leaned in as if she were about to hear a salacious story, she put her chin in the palm of her hand and encouraged him.

"Yes...what if?" She asked, and he went quiet.

Zesshi sighed, "How boring." She'd said, and she reminded him faintly of Gagaran in that moment, he had half expected her to call him cherry boy.

Nonetheless she visited him surprisingly often, such that Climb actually began to enjoy her company...even if...even if...every single time she visited, she threw him his sword and told him she'd not only get him out, but make sure his princess was safe in the process...if only he could beat her. Which he tried to do, and every time he tried he ended up merely embarrassing himself with a failure. Granted she had him healed every single time and it couldn't have been cheap. Climb knew quite well how expensive healing potions were, but it didn't make much sense for her to keep doing this.

After her twelfth visit in as many days he'd asked her from on his back while she dumped yet another expensive healing potion on him, "Why do you visit me, don't you have more important things to do than beat me to a pulp every day?"

"Maybe." Zesshi Zetsumi shrugged and threw the expensive glass away like it was garbage. "But on the other hand, maybe I'm wondering how many beatings it'd take to break you. Or, maybe I like that you keep getting back up until your body just won't let you anymore. Maybe I'm hoping you'll get stronger, maybe I'm even a little impressed by your unwillingness to give up despite facing the most powerful fighter in all the world." She added another cryptic shrug and took a seat. She raised an eyebrow when he laughed as he stood slowly onto his feet again.

"Oh you're not the strongest, you're not even close." Climb said in all seriousness. This had her intrigued.

"Who? Who is stronger and how do you know?" Zesshi asked with a fanatical gleam in her eyes that vaguely unsettled Climb.

"A man named Sebas. I know he's stronger because I've seen him. He could have killed me with his killing intent alone, I saw him move, and he is faster than you. I saw him kill Zero in front of me, Zero is...or was...one of the strongest monks in the world, but Sebas took a blow full in the chest and did not even move an inch, and then he killed Zero in one blow. You are strong, but he is on a whole other level." Climb answered with absolute confidence.

Far from being intimidated, Zesshi began to squirm at the description as if she could not contain her excitement. "Tell me where I can find him...and I will get you out of here right now, I'll even go get your princess for you and take you somewhere safe beyond the reach of the Theocracy."

He blinked, he'd only ever half believed her promises, but when she grabbed him and squeezed his shoulders and stared him in the eyes...then he believed whole heartedly that she was completely serious.

"I don't understand, aren't you loyal to the Theocracy?" He'd gasped out in pain, and she, realizing she was hurting him, let go and stepped back.

"Sort of." She said. "They did rescue my mother after she was raped by the elf king, and they raised me, trained me to fight, and they promised that I'd get a chance to kill my father. They call me the hope of humanity." She snorted. "Truth is, all I want is a fight I can't win, and besides that, I'm half elf, which means they deem me inferior. Strange as that may seem, given their laudable praise of me otherwise. I hate my father, I love my mother, but I like myself and you can't really hate half a person. If I'd been weak my mother might have kept me, but they'd have thrown me away. So as much as I appreciate what they did for me in a way, well how loyal can I be to people who hate half my existence and consider me inferior as a matter of decree by the gods? Would you be as loyal to your mistress if she hated you and deemed you an animal?"

"OK yes...I understand that, but still...why would you turn on them for a chance to lose a fight?" He asked, dumbfounded.

"I told you before, I want to have a strong child." She replied matter of factly.

"Oh." He blushed again, prompting her to actually laugh a little. "I...thought you were just saying that to toy with me."

"No." She said with utter finality. "I want a family, a life, a child, just like anyone else. But unless it is with someone strong...well you know quite well what can happen if the mate isn't strong, what can happen to children if they're not strong." She looked at him with hard eyes, "Don't you? You may be the most innocent young man I've ever seen, but you can't have any illusions about what the world really is." Her voice turned bitter for a moment, and then she snapped back to the subject, "Now...tell me where this man is, and you'll both be safe once I've found him and fought him."

Climb sighed, "That I honestly do not know. I know where he WAS, but after the demonic disturbance he disappeared and I don't know where he went."

She sighed with disappointment, "I swear, if I didn't have bad luck, I'd have no luck at all." The hard look faded from her eyes and she reached down to a pack she'd brought with her and opened it up, and then she took out a book and placed it on the table in front of him. "You can read, right?" She asked curiously.

Climb nodded, "My mistress had me taught." He said and looked down at the book, it was brown leather bound text, the title reading, "Techniques of the Survivors", after quickly flipping through it, he saw that it contained a number of illustrations, stages of different types of attacks and how to chain them together.

His eyes went wide, "Thank you." He said sincerely as he held the book delicately in his hands and looked back up to her.

"Think nothing of it. It might make you a little bit more worthwhile to fight tomorrow, so work hard." She said and stood back up to leave.

"I will, but I have to ask again, why so much time with me, you must be important, why throw me into your care, its obvious I'm no match for you. But I'm not especially strong, I'm sure they have the guards necessary to keep me contained?" Climb said.

"Probably because of who might be sent to rescue you. I asked the same thing, guarding a weak virgin twerp isn't part of my usual job description." She said bluntly, but so casually that he got the feeling she didn't really mean to be as insulting as she sounded. "Apparently the princess loves you very deeply, and they seem to think she'd hire strong people to rescue you, maybe even adamantite ranked adventurers." Zesshi grinned. "When they told me that, oh I'm happy to follow this order, and if I'm going to be here anyway, I might as well have some fun with you as best you can manage it."

"Oh, I see." He said, blushing at the mention of his princess's affection for him.

"And I guess you're more interesting than the average person I deal with around here, so...there's that. And who knows, if your body catches up with your spirit, you might be worth lying with." She said, tweaking him into an even deeper blush, and definitely reminding him very much of Gagaran. "Till next time...cherry." She said and walked out the door.

Climb sighed with exasperation as he looked at the first page of the book. "Kidnapped and taken across what felt like half the world...and somehow I still find a woman who calls me 'cherry'." He said as he took out the practice sword he was permitted, and made the first swing out of the many he would make before he would exhaust himself.

 _...Re-Estize Kingdom, Renner's Quarters..._

The golden princess was a horrible mess. She had not left her quarters in days, she still had enough sense to say it was to mourn the death of her father, but the truth was that she barely cared about that. It was Climb she was worried about, Climb that she wanted. She'd have traded the former King's life ten thousand times over to have him back and not even blinked at the choice. Without him, she felt fragile, and she could not trust that her image would not slip. So she had her meals brought to her and ate barely any of it. Ironically it enhanced her reputation that she seemed to be so distraught over her father's death. In her more composed moments she wondered if this too was part of the Sorcerer King's plans for her, to build her reputation up so as to ensure a strong position when the last sword was dropped. From a practical level she appreciated the delicious irony of the Slane Theocracy protecting her precious puppy for her. But from a personal level being without him was a living hell from which there was no escape.

But she would endure...to have him back safe, she would endure. She saw her disheveled appearance in the mirror, her beautiful hair, her true crown and glory was as neat as a haypile and not cleaner than that either, casting every which way in countless tangles, dark circles were under her eyes for want of sleep, and quite frankly she needed a bath. None of that mattered though, not even a little, she picked up a hairbrush and flung it at the priceless mirror with a scream of frustration and enjoyed the sound of it shattering, bringing her a moment's peace as she breathed heavily. She might have broken more, but a 'gate' opened and through it stared her superior, Albedo. Renner had the sense to kneel immediately to the stunning succubus and lower her head.

"You are a mess." Albedo said bluntly.

"I do not care." Renner said swiftly.

Albedo's eyes widened. "You had better explain that." She said with rising fury.

"How much would your beauty mean to you, if your beloved was hidden away from you, beyond your reach, without a touch, without a look, without the sound of his voice?" The golden princess said bitterly.

That made Albedo go silent, she had little care for humans, she saw no real use for them most of the time, though occasional flashes of surprise came to mind, Neia's devotion to her lord was certainly remarkable, and despite their weakness relative to the forces of Nazarick, her Black Justice forces had proven their wild dedication, it had only enhanced her opinion of her far sighted king. This however, was the first time she had actually emphasized with anyone outside of Nazarick, perhaps because it had become personal, she understood...even if she was not overly attached.

"Well get yourself cleaned up anyway." Albedo said, "My lord has a task for you, and I am authorized to offer a reward for your success."

She looked up hopefully. "Can I see Climb?" She asked.

Albedo frowned. "It may be that my master has some way of making this possible. I cannot say what reward he intends."

"I will prepare immediately." Renner replied with a zeal in her voice that left her no doubt whatsoever, but also did not disguise the question of what this unfathomable master would ask of a nearly powerless princess.

"I will return for you soon." Albedo replied, in a voice no less doubtless than Renner's own.

 _...Southern Holy Kingdom, Northeast of the Dead City of Wenmark...Just after the extermination, but prior to Illyana's funeral..._

With undead horses, a lot of hard tasks became easy. They didn't rest, eat, sleep, or resist the will of their masters. And with Neia, Skana, CZ, eighty-five surviving members of Black Justice, and around a hundred and fifty elf volunteers, scouring the area beyond the ruins of Wenmark, finding the loose Vines proved fairly easy.

Even driven by adrenaline they could only move so fast without stringing themselves out and abandoning their slowest movers, something most groups refused to do. So handful by handful the survivors who had made it over the walls were gathered together into one body was following the designated path, it took two full days for them to be sure they'd gotten nearly all those who had escaped, but it was still much better than they could have hoped to do without the assistance of the god of justice. Neia hardly said a word the entire time, except to notify others of an observation, give an order, or take a report.

CZ and Skana shared mutually disturbed expressions, though in CZ's case this would have been undetectable to any who did not know her well. But neither apparently thought it best to approach her until after they had rounded up the last group of grateful and exhausted survivors and loaded them into wagons pulled by the undead mounts.

That night however, was another matter. The fires were few and conversations dim, Neia did not offer to give a service that evening, a thing all but unheard of in the time Skana had known the woman. She watched her friend, commander...her lover...and her one good eye welled up, she'd seen Neia wounded before, when the sword of Remedios practically tore her apart. Neia had not broken. She had seen Neia weep when the fear began to shed from her as she was nearly whipped in Yanana. She had seen Neia raging when the woman had brought down the city government of Prart. She had seen her even shed tears over fallen citizens and fellow worshipers of their common god. Never though...never had she seen...or thought she would see, Neia broken in spirit.

Neia had always seemed a giantess in the time Skana had known her, older than her years, stronger in spirit even than those who could defeat her, but as she was now? Now she seemed another person, so small, so tiny, she was barely out of girlhood really, something had cracked inside her in Wenmark. She sat before the fire staring into it as if she were back at the city of evil, as if she were watching the flames consuming it all over again as her plea for a divine miracle was answered by the very wrath of the world's only remaining god.

Most of the time Skana knew or had a good idea what Neia was thinking, but now she felt like it wasn't even Neia sitting there. It was deeply disturbing. Finally she could bear it no more, the Pope of Black Justice had eaten nothing since the fall of the city, she'd had almost nothing to drink and would not have even done that if CZ had not interjected and shoved a water skin up to Neia's face and refused to let her pass without taking some. She had food in a bowl in front of her, but she hadn't taken it, she hadn't seemed to even notice. So Skana slowly stood from the rock she was sitting on, and seeing her do so, CZ stood as well and they approached Neia together.

Skana reached down and touched her shoulder, she hadn't seemed to even see Skana there, or have any awareness of her presence at all until the touch got her to look up.

"Hey...listen, you need your rest, come on, lets go get some sleep." She said to Neia.

"Yes. Sleep." CZ added.

Neia shook her head. "I can't." She said.

"Well come anyway." She crouched down in front of Neia, two eyes met one as CZ moved to Neia's side. "They don't need to see you like this." Skana whispered softly, "They're your followers, you can't shine while you sit in gloom."

"They shouldn't follow me." She said softly, looking down at the bowl in her hand and not really seeing it. "I got fifteen of my people killed, and that is bad enough, but I made a mistake and I got a lot of innocent people killed too, following me is good if you're suicidal, but not if you want to live, not if you want..." Neia's soft words were interrupted when CZ did something unusual for her. She reached down, grabbed Neia's shoulder, and squeezed it painfully tight, so tight that Neia dropped the bowl in shock at the pain, and before she could even finish raising her head to look up at CZ, the maid demon pulled up, forcing Neia to her feet, and she began to march her back to their makeshift tent.

Were it not for the darkness it might have appeared that there was a struggle, but so swift was her action and with such control did she act, it looked as if she was simply walking the pope back to her resting place.

Skana followed in surprise at the uncharacteristic action of the maid demon bodyguard, and when they were alone in the tent, before Skana or Neia could ask what that was about, CZ slapped Neia full in the face. It was cleary that it was not meant to injure, with much of the power taken out of it, but it had hurt nonetheless.

Neia touched the side of her face and looked at CZ in utter confusion. Skana questioned whether her one eye was deceiving her.

"Wrong." CZ said.

"I...failed." Neia said in a voice that was more a whimper than anything else.

"Wrong." CZ said, and slapped her again on the other cheek.

"Illyana is dead because of me! Dead! And so many others more besides! Didn't you see what happened?! I was so stupid! How can anyone follow a commander as stupid as I was?!"

"Wrong." CZ said, and slapped the other cheek. "Illyana is free. They are free."

"That wasn't the freedom I wanted for them!" Neia said as tears poured over her cheeks like waterfalls over a cliff after a great storm. "They were supposed to live free! I'm Neia Baraja! I'm supposed to serve the god of justice! I'm supposed to work his will and shape the world according to his desire! I'm supposed to WIN DAMNIT! I'm not supposed to make mistakes! I'm not supposed to trust the wrong people! I'm not supposed to get an entire city full of slaves massacred like sheep! They died because I was stupid!" She shrieked as CZ slapped her again.

Skana noticed that Neia wasn't even trying to stop the strikes, but even so she might have intervened if it had continued, but CZ reached out and grabbed both her shoulders.

"Wrong." CZ said. "Only Lord Ainz is always right."

Skana jumped in, "You did the best you could...OK yes trusting Sudaj was a mistake, but for the sake of justice tell me did you really think all this was impossible? That we were going to go on without casualties, that evil equals stupid? That they wouldn't strike back, counter attack, and that they'd just let you act with impunity? Honestly yes, Sudaj was a bad mistake, but this whole thing was a huge risk no matter what, they probably would have figured out what was happening anyway even without him."

Neia didn't have anything more to say then, and she slowly sank to her knees, the weight of the last three days, the slaughter, it was a heavy burden her body could no longer carry alone, and as she went to her knees, Skana gently touched CZ's shoulder and said softly, "I've got her...please go make sure camp is secure."

CZ didn't even bother to nod, she simply walked out as Neia fell forward into Skana's arms, her head into Skana's chest, and started sobbing like a baby, she didn't even have the strength to raise her arms to return the embrace that Skana gave her. "I got them all killed...I promised them a future and I got them killed instead...at least if I'd died back there I could have justified my failure to my god by saying I fought to the death, but here I am while their bodies are being prepared for burial. And do you know what's worse?" Neia said in a tiny voice, lifting her face from Skana's breast and looking into the eye of her lover.

Skana shook her head slowly, and Neia answered, "When the Sorcerer King delivered the miracle I begged for, and I realized I wasn't going to die...I was glad that I was still alive. So many dead because of my bad decision, but my first thought was that I'd still be here...and I'd still be with you. But how can I deserve to feel that, have that, if..."

Skana put a finger to Neia's lips to silence her and pulled her back into the embrace. "Shhhh..." Skana said softly. "Its natural to want to live, to be glad to live, perhaps most of all when we think we shouldn't have. You're not the only one to have felt this way." Skana swallowed hard enough that Neia felt it through the flesh where her head lay still and unmoving.

"While you were a squire during Jaldabaoth's invasion, I was a village girl. My entire village was exterminated, and I alone survived. Not by fighting, not even by running at first, do you know the real reason I survived the first day when nobody else did?" Skana asked softly.

"Why?" Neia asked.

Skana let a smile out that Neia couldn't see, which was for the best, because it was a bitter smile, that of a person who hates what they'd done even though they gained from it. "Its because I was in the woods nearby when they hit."

"Working?" Neia asked.

"No." Skana said. "I was going there to meet a boy."

Neia's head snapped up in surprise, for all she knew of Skana, it occurred to her in just that moment that she only truly knew of Skana's life during and after the war, but very little...save for tidbits along the way, of what her years before then had been like.

"You don't think my boldness began with you, did it?" Skana asked with some bemusement, and in spite of how she felt, Neia blushed.

"See, the woods were a popular place for the young to go and have a little fun away from the prying eyes of our elders, oh I'm sure they did the same thing when they were our age, and probably their parents before them, but at the time we all thought ourselves oh so clever to have found a way to fool around without preying eyes. There was a boy there, a man really, when I was some nineteen summers old, he was twenty-four of them, and he...well he had a wife."

Neia listened but said nothing, and Skana continued, "I'm not proud of this...but...well I wanted him, at least for some fun. It also didn't hurt that I didn't like his wife one iota. He had beautiful eyes, green as grass, dirty blonde hair, and arms like tree trunks, he made me feel beautiful, and I wanted more than he was supposed to give, since he was married and all. But I was impulsive, stupid I guess. So I flirted with him a bit, showed off a bit, you know...and then I told him I'd be in the woods at noon on the day he normally went out there to chop wood." Skana sighed heavily and shook her head, "God that was stupid." She said softly, "I waited for him out there, I thought he'd come for me, but he didn't, so I waited for a long time, till I heard the screaming, and I rushed to the edge of the woodline and saw the demihumans." She swallowed hard, "I hid there. I...Skana the bold. I was Skana the cheating temptress. Skana the coward, Skana the betrayer, Skana the fool."

Bitterness filled her voice and Neia felt the tears of her lover drip to the top of her head. She felt Skana swallow hard again. "God I was a stupid, naive girl. I hid and watched as everything and everyone I knew was killed. I'm sure he stayed with his wife, that was where I found his body when I went back to check to see if anyone had lived. The few who did were not really part of our village, none of my own survived, the man I'd hoped to enjoy didn't, and the only reason I did was because I was horrible and because I was a coward. That was the first time I ever hated myself for who I was. That was why I tried to change, because the people who deserved to live had died, and I who should have died, got a life I didn't deserve. Hiding, running, I and a few others I linked up with did our best to make it through another day, of course you know how that turned out...and now...here we are...my love." Skana said softly.

"Why did you tell me all this?" Neia asked, "Now of all times?"

"Because even terrible things can have good outcomes. Because I lived, I was able to help take down Theocracy agents, I was able to help free Prart, I was able to help kill a Scripture, I got to meet you...I was glad to be alive because there was more of life I wanted to live, maybe I didn't deserve it, but I have it one way or another, so I have to use it the right way. So do you."

Neia nodded against Skana's chest. "Its just..."

"You feel guilty." Skana finished for her, "That is perfectly natural, but the Sorcerer King himself did not hold you fully to blame, you took a risk, we all took risks, and all those who died, knew what they were risking, and all those out there..." She gestured to beyond the flap of the tent, "they know what they're risking too, and a lot more did get out than the ones we saved in the escape attempt, Tinamoc got large numbers of them himself, and we still have others we have to see to, we've got to raid the mines and the farms, and we don't have long to do it. You made a mistake, but one you can learn from. Lets get those free that we can, then see to the burial of the dead, and we'll do what we can to make sure that those who died, didn't die for nothing." Skana said and stroked Neia's hair, her gentle touch soothing the frayed and battered mind of the powerful pope.

Neia did not stop shaking, or crying quietly as Skana held on to her, even when they lay down together, Neia did not, could not let go. Skana felt like she was a teddybear being held in Neia's arms for security, and if that was indeed what it was, she lay close, bound and determined not to let her down in that regard.

 _...In Nazarick..._

"I'm a terrible boss." Ainz said as he watched Neia and Skana talk. "I put far more on someone that young than I should have. Now I think she's got PTSD." Ainz sighed to himself as he stood alone looking into the mirror of remote viewing.

He stroked his chin as he thought about what to do about this, and as he did so, he realized he was going to have to deal with that a great deal more in the near future, so he summoned Pestonya & Mare to his side as he went to the Library of Ashurbanipal.

When the dog woman & the elf boy walked just behind him, he looked to Pestonya and asked, "What do you know of battlefield trauma?"

"Woof woof...of the physical wounds...everything there is to know...woof woof."

"What of mental trauma?" Ainz asked.

"Some...woof." She replied.

"That will have to change." He said.

"At your command sire...woof." She said.

He went to the card catalog and flipped through it with care, "Ah hah!" He said softly, and he ordered a book be brought to him, and then handed it to Mare.

"Open it." He said, and he did and began to flip through the pages.

"Your task is as follows. I want you to choose a plot of land beyond E-Rantel, any plot of land you like, and I want you to build a dreamlike place. Build gardens, fountains, create creeks of gently flowing water, flowering trees. Create buildings with comfortable beds and the safest feeling environments. You will make a paradise of grass and natural comfort. When you have finished building this, you will take your plans to the emperor and have one built there as well. Each should be large enough to hold several hundred to several thousand people in absolute comfort. And when you are done..." He scrawled out a name on a scrap of paper and handed it to Mare, "give it this name, and instruct the emperor to use this name for his own center. When the space is ready in the Holy Kingdom, be prepared to do the same thing, and give it this name." He scrawled another name on another scrap of paper.

Mare looked down at the papers. "Neia's House?", "Epizelus's Respite", "Illyana's House"? He looked at her lord in great confusion, "My lord m-may I-I ask...what is this?"

"Call it penance. Call it the right thing. Or just call it the King's will and get it done." Ainz said. Mare's eyes snapped up to his in surprise at what sounded like a rebuke. Ainz immediately realized how what he'd said sounded and he knelt in front of the little elf boy and touched his shoulder. "No Mare, I am not mad at your, only at the mad foolishness of this world that creates such pointless suffering, and that I need to impose upon you, my precious friends wonderful children, to right it all."

Mare's eyes welled up, touched. "Illyana was a female elf that my most dedicated human servant strove to help, the elf woman was killed as a result, along with many others, and it has deeply traumatized my servant. So two of these are named in their honor, to show Neia that I do not begrudge her what went wrong. The other is named after the elf woman, so that my servant will know that the woman she tried to save, will still have a legacy after her passing. The third is named for the first man ever to have been known to have suffered great trauma and personal suffering in his mind as much as his body as a result of war and conflict. To be a worthy king, I must care in turn for those who sacrifice body and mind to fulfill my will and protect my people. If I cannot care for them after they suffer, I should not send them to suffer, and the war ahead will create may victims who do not die in body, but in spirit. These facilities are built along the lines of those used to treat such conditions in ancient times, to create a soothing paradise that allows the mind to repair itself."

He turned to Pestonya, "You will gather widows who have lost their husbands in past conflicts, they are going to be in need of work, call for them to come into your service, and you will train them to provide care and comfort to the wounded of body and mind. They are chosen for this task because on countless battlefields around the worlds I knew before this one...the timeless call for a mother's touch and rescue has come from the lips of the wounded. Also, you are to gather puppies, which you will raise to offer comfort and service, the details are in this book and in others, you will learn their contents, oversee all relevant training, and when the time comes...we will do what we can to rebuild what is broken, in body as much as within borders."

"Woof woof...as you command sire." She said.

"You are both dismissed. Get to it." Ainz replied, "I have a meeting to attend to." He said, and went off to meet with Princess Renner.

 **AN: I'll be frank, this was not an easy chapter to write, it is HARD to write PTSD like material. Maybe it comes easily to some, but it doesn't to me, its hard practically, and it is hard on a psychological level because I live with someone who suffers from it. Survival guilt is a brutal thing, and even where guilt is minor, it can be magnified far beyond all reason, and perfectly natural emotions can become the basis for self hatred and moral recrimination, untreated, these can utterly destroy who a person is, make them into a shell of who they once were. I wanted to represent this in Neia in particular, who up until the burning of Wenmark was an unstoppable force who made no mistakes, precisely because she couldn't be who I represented her as unless she felt the consequences of her actions in the negative as well as in the positive. She's suffered pretty horribly, but if you look carefully, you'll note that over the course of the story, her reactions to this has gotten steadily worse. From the brutalization at Remedios's hands, to her emotional reaction at the burned villages and her turning to sex for comfort, to her almost total meltdown after she was nearly beaten half to death in Yanana...Wenmark served as a breaking point for her, and similarly, you'll note that while she was always a risk taker and always able to be somewhat bold, in the Wenmark arc she was desperate for every edge she could get, even to the point where she made a bad decision just to get one more edge, a decision born of her youth and her deepening trauma and the unconscious hope that she can avoid further suffering.**

 **Ainz's response here details some of the actual measures taken past and present to help combat veterans recover from the stress of violence and suffering that is brought about in war, ancient Roman sites had large pavilions, grass and gardens, artificial flowing water for its calming effect, and young women to serve as a kind of nursing corps to help ease and comfort soldiers who had been scarred by the horrors of open conflict. Epizelus by the way, was mentioned by Herodotus, he was an Athenian spear carrier who fought the Persians at Marathon in 490 BCE, and though earlier records from ancient Babylon detail soldiers suffering trauma from war, he is the first man ever to be expressly named as having suffered such trauma.**

 **Anyway, I have two more parts to release today, I have a promise to keep to a reader who expressed a willingness to donate to charity, (I promised a triple release) and I see a donation came in yesterday, so I assume that was them, and I've got to get to it. Incidentally dear donor, I know I said I'd do it yesterday, but I simply could not break away from work in time to write. So, I hope you don't mind the delay. :)**

 **P.S. If you think I did a great job or a shitty job, review please. :)**


	43. Ruin & Restoration

_...Nazarick Throne Room..._

When Renner entered the presence of the Sorcerer King, she did not see the need to hide her true self, but she did see the need to immediately kneel in his presence. He was her master, there could be no other. The silence lingered as her head stayed low, she wondered for a moment if she would be forced to keep it there, if he was displeased by her tone when she spoke to Albedo...she wanted to go back in time and slap herself before she spoke, enraging this being was a sure way to lose everything both slowly and painfully, of that she was sure. But after a long minute of her punishing discomfort, he spoke.

"Raise your head." He said. "You are troubled. Speak."

She spoke. "Sire my Climb...I need my Climb...please...please let me have my Climb back. It hurts to be without him, my mind, it hurts, I can't think, I can't sleep...please...whatever I did...don't punish me more. I've tried so hard to work your will to your satisfaction!" Her hands popped up together and folded in prayer, she went from one knee to two as if praying to god, and inched herself along the floor on her knees, her neck craning up at the god of death before her. "If I have not displeased you and this is truly your plan...please give me some solution to where I do not have to suffer his absence. Please. There must be something!" She practically wailed as her desperate mind sought solution and as she came near to the steps of the throne she fell forward in front of them, hitting her head on the first stone step in the hopes that her royal blood would be an acceptable sacrifice.

Inside his own head, Ainz was panicking from the outset. 'Oh wow, she looks crazy scary, like Albedo when she is about to come after me again. Oh crap, she's still looking down, she's waiting for me to speak...didn't I tell her to raise her head? Oh, I didn't did I?' He mentally smacked his face and told her to raise her head, and then a moment later he watched her deteriorating mental state unfold in front of him.

When she fell forward and bloodied the step, Ainz immediately stood up, wondering if she had been seriously injured, but she rose back up to her knees and looked to him as rivulets of blood ran down her face.

"Is this enough your majesty? Or do you need more?" She begged him desperately.

Ainz thought as fast as he could, and spoke slowly as he tried to buy time enough to find some way to handle her insanity. "It is proof of your devotion to your Climb, but now you must prove your devotion to me. I have a task for you, if you do this, I will provide you a way to visit Climb in secret, he will remain in their custody for now, but I swear on my name he will be restored to you, and he will be kept safe from all possible harm."

Her eyes shone bright as stars, she really was quite beautiful, even if she was utterly insane beneath her calm exterior. "Tell me how I can serve you sire." She said breathlessly.

"I want you to host a ball. You will invite all the royal faction and you will invite all of the noble faction. You will host this just after the war breaks out, but just before the Slane Theocracy can draw the noble faction, including those idiots under Philip, into the fighting. Make up whatever excuse you want, honor your father, honor your brother's coronation, a hope for peace, I do not care what excuse you use. But host this ball in the palace of your king. Do you understand?" He asked.

"I do sire. But what then?" She asked, mystified.

"During the ball, you will get the idiots thoroughly drunk, I will assist in their distraction by ensuring that there are many beautiful ladies available to be hired to serve, and they will be focusing the majority of their attention on these hot blooded nobles and young idiots. You will use that distraction to your advantage, and one by one you will draw the royal faction members away to a private location where you will have these stored." Ainz said, and he gestured to one of the maids, and an insect woman wheeled out a cart holding a chest and she opened it up and tilted it so that Renner could see inside. There were many scrolls rolled up within.

"Those scrolls contain the same spell I used to bring you here." Ainz said as he recited the words he memorized, "I will meet with these royals, and inform them that I know of the location of their heirs and relatives within the Slane Theocracy, and will see to their rescue on five conditions."

Renner's eyes went wide as she realized the position he was putting them into, she listened as one would to a god.

"The first is that they maintain their support for Zanac as King and for you as a chancellor..." He began before she raised her hand.

"Forgive me sire, but...what is a chancellor?" She asked, mystified.

"It is a position of power and authority, which appears to not have the power and authority that it has. The King becomes the face of the kingdom, but the chancellor retains most of the power. In that vein, they will also support your unconditional marriage to the boy, Climb, if you should wish it." He added as an afterthought.

It was clearly the right guess, she beamed with overwhelming joy, as insane as she had seemed, now she seemed to shine like the sun on a bright clear Spring day. "My lord please I beg you once more for your indulgence." She said.

He nodded. "Go on."

"I pledged you to myself once before, yet to have such a boon from your hands...I must pledge myself again. I, Princess Renner, third princess of the Re-Estize Kingdom daughter of the last king, sister of the present king, pledge all my life and my death to your will, until there is nothing left of me." She said in a soft voice that carried to all the throne room, but only did so because the architecture created perfect accoustics.

"Your fealty is noted. When all is done, you will effectively rule, even if it does not appear as such to the common people." He answered.

"The second is that in exchange for my supporting him on the throne and rescuing the kidnapped family members, the royal faction accepts vassalization of the country on terms roughly equal to those under which the Baharuth Empire & the Dwarven Kingdom have accepted. I tire of the chaos and weakness on my border, I will see it grow strong again, secure again, and stable again." Ainz said ambitiously.

"The third condition is that a number of the nations laws will be amended to bring them into line with my ideals, you are I am sure, already familiar with them and will pose no objection?" He asked.

"None sire. They have done nothing but positive things, I would be utterly mad to oppose them" She replied.

"The fourth condition will be the development of trade routes at my direction." He said, being quit reasonable as far as Renner was concerned, if it meant she could have Climb, she'd have traded blood by the ocean, how much more was she willing to trade for increased prosperity as well?

"The fifth and final condition is that all those who violate the laws of war laid out when the war is joined, be subjected to trial and if guilty, that they be handed over to me for punishment." Ainz said, and Renner could hear the objections being voiced, but when she compared them to the voice of the Sorcerer King stating that condition, she could not imagine a single voice rising above him, or even speaking such an objection in his presence.

"I accept all your conditions sire, while I cannot swear that my brother or the other royals will accept it at first, in time they will have no choice, as others are sure to do so." She answered confidently, then her voice became delicate, uncertain. "Sire...I know I have not earned it yet...but please...please let me see him?" She asked softly.

"Very well." Ainz said, "Perhaps he should know what is going to happen anyway so he does nothing rash. He is brave, your Climb." Renner beamed in silent answer as Ainz opened a gate, and Renner stepped through it and found herself standing behind a sweating Climb who was busy chaining a series of strikes on a practice dummy. She waited until he finished and fell to one knee in exhaustion.

She applauded with a smile and he jumped up and whirled around. Seeing his princess, his golden jewel, he froze, unsure if he should try to hide her, escape with her, or kneel to her.

She put her finger to her lips, and he did not move. She drew close to him, closer than she had in a long time, since they were small really. She reached out to him, she took his hands, sweaty and grimy as they were, into her own and she looked up at him with her wide and innocent eyes, captivating him utterly, he could only fall into them.

"Princess Renner...mistress...what...how?" He forced out despite her command, and she spoke in a hushed voice. "Through the power of the Sorcerer King." She said. "I must make this quick, I do not know long he will allow me before closing the gate, but know this...you are safe here. Stay here, stay a comfortable and cooperative captive of these brutes in the Slane Theocracy, the Sorcerer King intends to rescue you, all of you who were taken at some point in the near future, when it will have the best effect on his plans."

"H-His plans?" Climb asked..."What is happening?" He said with fear emanating from his voice.

"War Climb. War worse than the yearly one against the Empire, worse than the massacre of the Katze Plains...but this time the Sorcerer King is on our side, he's offered to support my brother as a king, end the threats to our kingdom...and I must ask this...Climb...do you love me?" She asked, sounding vulnerable in a way he'd never heard before.

"I...yes of course my lady! I live to serve your will!" He said with devotion, which lead to shock when she threw his hands down and reached up and grabbed his shoulders so tight her little princess fingers whitened with the pressure.

Climb, that isn't what I mean, foolish man." She sighed and explained, "If I were a peasant girl, would you have loved me as a wife? Or if you were a noble, would you have been happy to have me as your noble lady?" She searched his eyes and saw them well with tears.

"My golden princess...I've loved you since I was a worthless husk of a dying child, when I saw you, I thought you were an angel descending to take my ruined body to paradise, and in a way, you did. For all the horror of this world, I called it heaven every time I saw you, and when something seemed to hurt or threaten you, I wondered if I was in hell. In the quiet times at night when I sleep outside your room, I dream fantasies of being born a nobleman so I could have married you, or curse your title as the obstacle I can never surmount no matter what I do. Yes my lady, I love you in the ways I am not permitted to ever have. Since I cannot have that, I must content myself with elevating and protecting you and..." his voice cracked and went into a bitter tone she'd never known he had in him, "any husband you have, and any children you bear with him."

"Then you will have to protect yourself, and your children Climb." She said, "One of the conditions the Sorcerer King has laid out to me for his help, is that no remaining noble or royal oppose us marrying, you can be my husband, I can be your wife." She said, and she saw his face go blank with shock.

"He's undead...why would he..." She pushed a finger to his lips again, "Hush...my future husband, trust your future wife, you have protected me since childhood, in ways you never really knew, now let me protect you, and our future, so for now, stay here and wait until we come for you again." She said, and backed her way into the portal again.

It was the single happiest moment of her life up to that point. "Now, you may return to your chambers." The Sorcerer King said, and this she did with the deepest and most sincere bow of her life, and when she saw her brother and Raeven waiting for her as she stepped through, she immediately was awed that the Sorcerer King could have even predicted this fortuitous visit that would let her bring them into the fold.

"Please. Sit." Renner said, and gestured to a table, "We have much to go over."

They did not object as they took the seats she offered.

 _...Dead City of Wenmark..._

Remedios walked through the streets of the burned out husk that was once a mighty metropolis, she'd been walking for hours as the search continued. It was an ugly process, they flipped over burned up beds and opened cabinets and walked into dark cellars, most of her army was encamped outside of the city, while a smaller contingent operating under Yuri's direction performed the search itself. The smell of burned meat...human flesh...hung in the air like a demon's perfume. It was especially slow going because the soldiers themselves were either afraid...or because they were getting sick when they found some particularly horrible sight. Remedios however, was used to these things, everyone who had fought Jaldabaoth was used to these things, but these Southerners had barely known anything of the demon. As a result, this was more Remedios's domain than theirs, and she moved with calm and hateful confidence. Her armor clinked and cloak flapped as she searched in mental distress for some sign that the good people of Wenmark were NOT all wiped out by the vile elven rebellion.

She walked so long she lost track of time, and it was sunset by the time Yuri caught up with her passing through yet another alleyway where several bodies had to be climbed over because they had died atop one another, their blackened burned flesh was 'crispy' and it stank.

Yuri called out to her, "Remedios we've got to stop this!" She snapped, and the former Paladin Commander turned back to her. "What? Stop what?" She asked.

Yuri approached as Remedios halted. "Stop this search!" She gestured around, there is nobody alive here but us! Its madness to remain! We've got to GO! There is nothing LEFT here! Its all burned out husks of buildings and ashes and bodies!" She snapped.

Remedios didn't seem to really register what Yuri was saying for a long time, and when she did, she snapped back, leaning forward and shaking her fists, "NO! We won't search until we know for a fact that nobody is left to save! Its what Calca would do! Calca wouldn't stop until every single building had been searched so that we could be sure that nobody was left that we could save! That was her dream! A kingdom where everybody could live and be happy and we didn't have to sacrifice anyone! I won't fail her by abandoning anyone here!" Her voice was hoarse from shouting, and as if to mock her words, a brick tumbled off a building and landed on the head of a nearby corpse, smashing it open and letting the cooked brains ooze out onto the ground.

"Calca is DEAD Remedios!" Yuri shouted back and hit the side of her fist against a building, knocking soot loose from it that fell like black snow on a burned black ground and a burned blackened corpse.

She sighed heavily and reached up and rubbed her forehead, "OK look, we can keep searching, but we need to send out search parties after these elves, we have to find the ones who did all this, do you want them to burn more villages? More towns? More innocent people like the ones here in Wenmark?" Yuri asked, drawing closer, the fury she had begun to spark in Remedios when she reminded the commander of Calca's death was skillfully deflected onto Black Justice and what she'd insisted were 'spiritual heteromorphs'.

After a long time of thoughts drifting through her dull head, Remedios gave a numb nod, "Alright, we'll send out scouts, and we'll send out companies of infantry at a quick march, if we can force them to slow down with cavalry, our infantry can catch up and butcher the butchers."

It was sound enough, if not exactly inspired leadership. "I'll horsemen out right away." She said, and walked away, leaving Remedios to her walk of quiet futility, searching for survivors in a graveyard made out of a city.

Husbands and wives died with hands held fast, cribs sat empty and burned to a crisp, there was only emptiness and death wherever she looked, only the sound of crumbling buildings disturbed the silence...and the distant sound of her soldiers overturning fallen debris and calling for the living that were not there. After walking for she did not know how long, she found an empty home that was far from prying eyes and ears, and she drew out her sword and laid it reverentially against the wall, tip down and pommel up.

She knelt in front of it, "Please, my Queen...speak to me again...speak to me...tell me what I need to do. I'm lost, so lost, everywhere I turn there is death and burning and the specter of the undead. I came here, I killed the elves, I burned heretics who profane your peace, and for all my effort I now stand in a ruined city. Your good people, your citizens, they lie dead and all is lost, what do I do?" She whimpered in prayer.

But nothing answered her, no voice, no sound, no vision of her face...she received nothing, her prayers went unanswered, though she stayed kneeling and pleading before her sword until the Sun rose the following day.

 _...Black Justice encampment, North East of the ruins of Wenmark..._

Neia had listened to Skana's story raptly, but perhaps the biggest shock was the idea of Skana with a man. When she asked, Skana snorted and said, "I am me after all, yes I've always preferred girls but...well every rule has an exception, and he really was beautiful." She gave a little winsome smile, one that was bitter sweet even though she knew it had been something wrong, it had still been part of life before Jaldabaoth, before the ever present specter of demihuman invasion had plunged her comfortable life into hell and turned her world upside down. As Neia lay herself against Skana's chest, the reality of everything that happened had been to much and the pain of CZ's slaps to her face had returned, she touched a cheek gingerly and Skana said, "I'm sure she'll apologize later, I think she was just trying to bring you back to reality, you were scaring me you know, probably her too." Skana lightly pulled Neia's face back and kissed each cheek. "You're in dire need of rest, you can't serve the god of justice if you haven't enough awareness of the world around you to recognize the difference between justice and a boiled ham." Neia forced out an uncomfortable laugh, but didn't resist as Skana guided her bodily to bed and helped the conqueror of Prart, destroyer of scriptures, hunter of demihumans...undress from her armor as if she were a child learning how to get undressed on her own. She finally got the stubborn pope down to her undergarments and covered her up. Though Neia did not resist as this was taking place, when Skana tried to get up Neia immediately grabbed her wrist. "No...I don't want to be alone." She said softly, and Skana looked into the eyes that had terrified the powerful, that she had seen in the dim light of a candle as they filled with passion, that had moved people to tear down their rulers and that had broken armored men down into weeping weak children, and she saw fear.

Skana paused, about to object that she had duties, but relented. "You come first." She said, and lay down beside her, it had been difficult at best as days went, but sleep would do them good. That thought was shattered a moment later by thrashing beside her, Skana awoke with a start, thinking there was a life or death struggle going on, immediately she reached for the weapon she always kept near, but froze in shock when she realized that if there were any life or death struggle, it was in the dreams of the warrior pope. Neia was thrashing and crying out, she briefly made out Illyana's name, Jaldabaoth's name, her own name, and the name of the Sorcerer King. Whatever dream had her, it was a nightmare, and Skana could not bear to let her suffer alone. She grabbed Neia by the shoulders and shook her hard, "Wake up!" She said, "Its just a nightmare!" The violent shaking and Skana's voice cut through the sleep and Neia shot up to a seated position like the arm of a catapult in launch, her terrifying eyes were instead filled with terror, they were wide and seemed to see nothing of what was really there, still caught up in the dream that had been real enough that she was obviously still not certain if it had been real, or if this was. Neia's entire body was drenched in sweat, and when she saw that Skana was there, holding her, looking fearfully at her face through her one good eye, the warrior pope collapsed back on to the bed, still shaking.

"Where were you?" Skana asked softly, hoping to draw her out, but Neia shook her head. I lost you, CZ, Illyana, I saw it all happen while Remedios cut me up." She reached and began to touch her body in various places, ensuring that she in fact did not have sword wounds there still. "She took everything from me and I was to weak to stop it..."

"Shhhh..." Skana said and drew her close again, "She's not here, I'm here, CZ is here..." She began, only to be interrupted when CZ drew open the tent flap and walked directly over to Neia, she pointed down at the drenched sweat stinking pope and said, "Come. Lord Ainz wants you now."

"Should I...you know...dress?" Neia said, only for CZ to shake her head. "The gate is waiting, make it now."

Neia stood slowly, as best she could, and Skana got up to go with her, then Neia reached out and touched her arm and shook her head. "No, he has called for me, no doubt he has settled on my punishment, its OK." She gave a cracked smile and tried to straighten her back to go meet her god and accept his judgement. "Lead the way CZ." She said as resolute as she could.

CZ wordlessly lead the way and as she said, there was a gate just outside the tent, flanked by two Black Justice guards, Neia would have blushed if they had been facing the tent, at least she had that much dignity. CZ walked through the portal, and Neia stepped through immediately after. She found herself in a paradise, the Sorcerer King stood a few yards away, looking out from the top of a low hill, and Neia could only stop and stare at him. He seemed so very godly there, the epitome of kingship and power, his noble aura radiated from him like a flower's fragrance.

She stood there so long he said without looking over his shoulder, "Are you going to stand there staring at me all night, or are you going to come over here and say something?"

She blushed and walked past where CZ had stopped, she knelt at his back and shook like a half withered leaf in an autumn breeze. "No, come over here." He said, "Stand beside me." She rose, confused, and went to his side. "Does this look familiar?" He asked.

"No my lord. It does not." She said honestly.

"Really?" He asked. "Only a few months ago you spent a year here, training, grinding away any weakness from yourself, learning everything there was to know about strategy, combat, leadership, here you became the woman who brought down a city, who kings listened to and usurpurs feared, who the corrupt wet themselves over and who the people followed."

"It looks so different now though..." She said with awe.

"Do you really think that changing this would be beyond my power?" He asked. "I had this place changed before many times, right in front of you, but this...this is how it was originally, before you came to it, this was how my friends and I designed it to be." He said proudly.

"They must have been amazing." She said, and she went down to both knees in reverence. If he minded the gesture, he said nothing, so she held it, as she was now on sacred ground.

"They were." He replied wistfully, "The most precious of friends I ever had, and I will never forget them, and I think though I will learn to live with missing them, I will never stop wishing to have them back." He looked down at the sweat drenched Neia, who suddenly remembered her state of near undress again. She blushed, and Ainz held out his cloak, it looked familiar, and that was when she saw the stain, blood...there could be only one source for it, and when she took his cloak, she didn't put it on, she broke down, held it to herself and sobbed and rocked back and forth. Ainz didn't say anything for a long time, he let her be. When her eyes ran out of tears to shed, she was reduced to strange mix of coughing and choking.

Finally, he spoke. "I did something terrible to you, Neia Baraja." Ainz said.

She looked up at him in shock. "No sire! I was just weak, I was stupid! I wasn't good enough and because of that I failed you! You are a god, the god of justice, my justice, you can do no wrong to me! Nor would you if you could!" she said with alarm.

Ainz sighed internally, she reminded him of the guardians. "I did." He said. "And because of that, you have been badly wounded."

"If his majesty commands it, I will strip to show him that I am whole." She said with conviction. "Not a scratch on me worth mentioning, I swear it on your justice."

Ainz was very glad he could not blush.

"Not in body, in mind, your spirit, your mental health is badly damaged, I placed so much on your shoulders alone, when you took Remedios's swords into your body over and over, I thought nothing of your mind after your body was restored. When you walked among the dead who followed you, I thought nothing of your mind as you gazed at horror. When you were nearly beaten in Yanana, when you nearly lost Skana, through all the terrors and horrors you have faced, so long as your body was intact, I gave no thought to what was happening to you here." He said, and his skeletal finger reached out, and touched her forehead.

"Sire I..." She began and he put that skeletal finger to her lips to silence her. "Listen to me." He said as he shook his head.

"You have spent so much time inflicting death, preventing death, enduring suffering the likes of which most never do...taking on responsibilities far beyond your youthful years...and I gave no thought to how much that was wounding your mind along the way, forgive me." He said, and he crouched next to her and bowed his head.

"Sire please! I am your servant, please raise your head, do not bow to me!" She said, frantically gesturing for him to rise.

"What is wrong with me is wrong with me because I am weak! I must be weak else I could keep it together, I'm ashamed that I can't be as strong as you need to be, as I'm SUPPOSED to be!" She half shouted, half sobbed, "If my mind is troubled I should be able to just push it aside and deal with it, just suck it up and drive on, that is what it means to be your warrior pope, that is what it means to be a soldier in your service sire! I cannot be weak! There can't be anything wrong! I just have to..." She froze as his skeletal fingers closed on her cheek and turned her to face him, shocked into silence, he said firmly...

"You...are not...WEAK!" His voice carried the thunder of absolute authority. "Tell me Neia, why have you not told Skana to just open the bad eye and see with it already?"

Neia touched her cheeks briefly, but was silent at the odd question. "I...don't understand sire."

"When Illyana was stabbed through the lungs, was she weak because she just couldn't keep breathing? Was she weak because her blood was lost to her and she couldn't stand back up?" His red orbs that served for eyes held her face like the way a snake's gaze held a small bird still. "Was Gascon weak when he stopped moving after being stabbed many times? Why did you not simply tell him to not die, or tell Illyana to just suck up the sword wound and walk it off?"

Neia frowned, "Sire those are serious injuries, they require extensive treatment or powerful healing magic to restore, and even then it has to be done quickly or all is lost."

"Correct." Ainz said, "And THIS..." he touched her head again, "can be wounded just as badly, just because the wounds do not bleed, just because they cannot be bound up or fixed with a potion or a convenient spell, that doesn't mean they are not there, these are insidious wounds, inflicted as a consequence of other wounds, and just as there is no shame in Skana's partial blindness, or Illyana or Gascon's death, there is no shame in the injury you suffer, that nobody can see. Why should you be ashamed of it? The very reason you have it at all is because of WHO YOU ARE!" His voice became passionate and began to rise as he continued on, "You have served me loyally and well, you are not to blame for suffering wounds when I am the one who commanded you to the position that led them to be inflicted in the first place! I ignored the signs of your well being because you kept winning so easily, and I gave no thought to the cost and the toll it was taking on you. But you bore those wounds for my sake, you have nothing to be ashamed of Neia Baraja!"

He crouched next to her again and took her shoulders, "Nothing, do you understand me. If it is not a shameful thing to be blinded by blade or arrow, if it is not a shame to lose a leg to an ax or have a sword scar your arm and need treatment before using them again, then it is not a shame that your mind needs healing as well. You are my servant, I am responsible for your well being, and I neglected that gravely. How just can the god of justice be, who lets his soldiers fight while wounded and does not treat them afterwards?" He asked her, and she let herself melt into his touch, he felt to her, less like a god, less like a king in that moment, and more like a father. Where others saw his power, his majesty, his terrifying aura of absolute nobility, Neia saw a paternal figure, not a skeleton that was cold and unthinking, uncaring, but a sire in the most literal sense, and perhaps it was because she felt this way, that she dared raise her arms to hug him.

"I know that if I command it, you will accept my will and get the help that you require, but this is not like other wounds, Neia Baraja, this is not cured by a potion or a spell, I know something of these, through another world far removed from this one, where terrible wars left people shells of who they were, they did not have merely amputated limbs, but amputated spirits that they had to come to terms with, and the fact that they 'appeared' normal and uninjured, made them deeply ashamed of the mental scars that were invisible, many took their own lives in dispair and shame rather than get the help they needed, and I will not let that fate befall you, nor any who follow me. Now stand, I want to show you something." He said, and he helped her rise to her feet, and the cloak she'd held, he put around her. "You and you alone can see to your own restoration, perhaps I could do it for you, but it would require that I erase part of your memory, perhaps much of it, seal it away, and you would forget Gascon, you would forget Illyana...and I do not think you want that." He said, and she nodded her head in agreement, she never wanted to forget. "You must embrace the process of restoring your mind, and so must all others."

It was an awe inspiring feeling, to feel his warmth and his attempt at reaching down to his broken servant to see her restored, and his cloak, stained still with the blood of a dead slave, she knew he could have easily rid himself of the mark on his clothing, wiped her blood away as if she had never lived, bled, and died, but he hadn't, it was such a small thing, but to Neia it meant the world. She clenched the magnificent garment close to her body, and followed where he lead, and when they crested another rise, that was when she saw it, a magnificent structure, far below her, she could see down what seemed to be hundreds of feet, there were magnificent gardens, a grassy seats, creeks and small waterfalls, she took all that in and much, much more. "What is this place..." She asked.

"This...doesn't exist yet." Ainz said, "But I wanted you to see what would be. I am going to build these in every nation that I rule. This is going to be the first of them, I call it..."Illyana's House" after that friend of yours, I thought you might approve of her name living on. Neia's eyes welled up again. "But...what is it?"

"A place of healing." Ainz said, "Where those who are scarred by war and trauma may come and be nursed back to health, magic is a wonderful thing, it heals the body with ease, but the mind requires other measures, and in the world I spoke of in the past, that place of terrible wars, there were many in dire need, though many cultures looked down on such wounds, considering them to be defects of character or courage, others, much wiser figures, saw them for what they are, the cost of battle paid for by spirit, and so these muuch wiser figures developed a myriad of methods of treatment, some of them dating back many thousands of years. This will be the fruit of their knowledge. We are on the verge of a terrible war, and those who follow me, no matter how well we win, will pay a terrible price to see it to a proper end, and it is a bad ruler who forgets the sacrifices of their followers."

"Do you want me to be a bad ruler, Neia Baraja?" He asked her.

She shook her head vigorously. "Do you trust me?" He asked.

She nodded just as vigorously, still to stunned to speak.

"Do you understand, I am not ashamed of you, that I am proud of all that you have done for me?"

Her nod was not vigorous, but it was there.

"You have nothing to be ashamed of, your wounds are the price of your service, if you are ashamed of your wounds, then you must be ashamed of your service. Are you ashamed of your service?" He asked her.

The vigorous head shaking returned.

"Then do not be ashamed of your wounds. I know I must ask much, much more of you, more than most could ever bear, but will you promise me of your own volition, without order from me, to visit Illyana's House when events permit, and seek treatment and recovery before you return to duty?" He asked gently, holding her gaze to his own.

"I...yes sire, your majesty...Ainz." She said, daring to use his name for the first time since they had parted ways after the war against Jaldabaoth, when he had permitted her to do so.

"Good." He said. "I want you to relax here tonight, take your ease, time will be frozen for you for a little while, to grant you extra hours, and when you are bathed, rested, and ready, I will send you back, you must see to the liberation of the mines around Wenmark, and you have only a little time before Remedios gives up on Wenmark and hunts you in earnest. Will you thrust yourself into the breach again for me?" He asked.

"I will sire...and...thank you." She said, and when the illusion was dispelled, she saw a lake and a gentle creek, and she reverentially laid his cloak down and headed towards the water, and Ainz walked away, leaving her alone.

 _...Nazarick in a break room..._

"Do you see?" Sebas Tian said to Calca as he shut off the mirror of remote viewing that had been focused on Ainz & Neia. She collapsed to a sofa in awe. "Never in my life...never in my whole life, have I seen anything so noble as what I just saw right there." Queen Calca looked up at Sebas, emotion filling her face, "I have always thought I was a good Queen, I tried to be, I wanted to create a place where nobody would suffer, where everybody would be happy, that is the kingdom I wanted, but as I see what he has done, I realize he is so far beyond me that I may as well be the worst of tyrants. And...if what is said of Remedios is really true, and all the things she has done, I am truly a fool to have not seen what she was, or what she could be."

She shook her head, but the royal in her asserted itself, "But I must ask...the stain, the blood on his cloak, it isn't his...so where did it come from and why doesn't he clean it?"

Sebas then relayed the story of Illyana as he had heard it, and her face fell forward into her hands in shock. Sebas, ever the perfect butler, stood silently waiting for something from her. When she managed to raise her head again, she looked up at Sebas and asked..."Do you think he would accept my kingdom as a province of his nation, or will he only permit us to join him as vassals?" She asked, her voice clear as crystal and resolute as an steel sword.

Sebas was quietly awed that Demiurge had seen so deeply into his master's plans that Queen Calca should see the benefits of his rule through his character. Though she had believed him before...and how could she not have with such overwhelming nobility and charisma, this had taken it to a whole other level. And Sebas replied dutifully, "I cannot speak as to my master's will in that regard, however I am sure he would be generous enough to hear your request at least. But please, when you speak to him, do not tell him that we permitted you to see what you have just been shown, he can be...a little stand offish about his privacy, and he might be concerned that word might come back to the lady Baraja that her moment of unburdening was witnessed."

"Of course Sebas." The Holy Queen said, "I swear nobody will ever know what I saw. The secret is safe with me."

 _...In the mines of Wenmark a day later..._

The fire that burned the city was so great that it illuminated the darkness all the way to the great mines that provided the vital ores of orichalcum, adamantite, and platinum that had so enriched the city. Within the mines, human and elf prisoners worked without pause and without hope. Though they ate well, better than most any other slave in the city's possession this was not a kindness, this was a practical necessity. Mine workers had to be strong to haul rocks and wrench the precious ores from the merciless and uncaring rock. So they ate well, they had a diet rich in meat, but a life rich in scars, the beatings began on the first day of arrival. The guards would beat a slave without mercy so that they would know fear, then when the slave healed they would be fed and put to work. Children were used to crawl through small spaces, while females were used to carry water and treat the injured and provide entertainment to the guards. When the work was done, the billeting locations were ramshackle shacks surrounded by high wooden walls and towers with expert archers. Prisoners were shackled together in the evening, and they slept in the dirt with nothing worth mentioning to protect them from the elements.

When the fire lit up the night, slave and guard were united in awe, curiosity, and fear. Everybody knew that such a massive fire could not possibly be natural, and anything could have caused it. While the slaves had no love of Wenmark or its guards, they knew as well as anyone that there were worse monsters out there, and anyone who could burn that city was a potential threat.

The guards however, were smart enough to mandate silence and confine prisoners to their quarters, the next morning they sent out the wagons with their daily delivery of minerals, and the wagons did not return. They sent out a few guards to investigate, and those guards did not return.

When the prisoners were all within the mines working, the guards stood outside and spoke amongst one another.

"I'm telling you Tesse, we should abandon the slaves and get the hell out of here." A large armored man of thick black beard and tanned leathery skin said adamantly.

"And I'm telling you Nabok," his wirey lean muscled spear wielding companion said, "if we do that and its nothing, we'll lose our pay and an easy gig. You go if you want, maybe they'll even promote me for staying behind." He had a smug look on his face as he spoke, and it infuriated Nabok into a purple face and a silent, sullen expression.

"Fine, but if nobody comes tomorrow, either back from delivery or to tell us what happened, I say we high tail it out of here as fast as possible." Nabok said, and several of his companions nodded.

"Fine, fine." Tesse said with a shrug and rested his spear on his shoulders, flinging his arms casually over them as if it were an ox's yoke. "I get it, that's fair, but where do you want to go exactly." He glared at them all sharply.

"Anywhere but Wenmark." Nabok said, "Whatever happened there, would probably still be happening and I don't want to walk into it." He said bluntly, "Do you?"

Tesse sighed heavily, "No, no I guess not, so we're settled just on 'away from whatever the fuck is happening there, then?"

There was a general round of agreement, and they went about their business until the sun set and the darkness of the mines covered the world around them. Through that darkness cut a number of figures, they wore black armor, carried bows, a sword, hammer, or mace fit for a single hand, and no shield.

They moved in teams of four, and carried with them hooked ropes. The large metal hooks would normally have made abundant noise, but to prepare against this they had wrapped them with thick cotton coverings, so that instead of a loud thunk, it hooked smoothly. This mine was quite proud of its reputation, it held hundreds of slaves both human and elf in a state of near perfect control. There had never been a successful escape, and its quotas had never been missed, but this was also why it was chosen, and this choosing exposed its greatest weakness.

The walls and towers were designed to keep those present IN, not to keep enemies OUT, the very notion that enemies would strike at them was practically foreign, after all, Wenmark was one of the great cities of the South, it had perhaps the finest city guards any population could ask for, unlike most cities, they could actually project power without a call up, and as a result, bandits were few and far between, and smart ones avoided Wenmark like the plague, lest they end up becoming plunder themselves. As a result, the guards fell back on long habit despite the mystery of the late return of their wagons, and nobody was watching where the hooks and ropes went up, and nobody was watching as the dark clad figures silently pulled themselves up the wall, the darkness their shield, their speed their weapon.

So each of the teams went up the walls, one by one, then dropped silently to the ground below, the first one to the ground raising up their arms and helping to slow the drop of the next person.

A distance away from the fortification, more figures in black waited for the signal.

On the inside of the wall, the silent figures one by one began to assassinate the tower guards, while another team moved to the gate, and oh so gently unlocked it and opened it just enough to step outside, and one figured did just that. With nobody in the towers to see her, she lit small flame to a torch and waved it chest height in front of herself, and then extinguished it, while other teams went in to the towers of the now assassinated guards.

Hundreds of figures had seen the light, and they crept up as slowly as they could until they'd reached the gate, and once there they quietly opened it. It swung in, the way any gate intended to keep others in, rather than enemies out, might do. That was when hell was unleashed and the fire from Wenmark found its way to the first of its mines. Those in the tower nocked arrows, put flame to them, and began to fire on the guards billeting quarters. It was a satisfying string of 'thock' like sounds as the flaming arrows found their marks on the nicer buildings and the guards who could not fathom just what they'd heard, stepped out, only for the first of them to take flaming arrows to the chest. Most of them were not armed or armored, some were barely dressed as they amused themselves, all were caught off guard...a delicious irony for those who appreciated it. And that was when the screaming began, Black Justice swords came out and they charged en masse through the gate, the eighty five survivors of Neia's elites went hell for broke, and behind them stormed hundreds of vengeful elves who had armed themselves with whatever they had been able to scavenge from the city and from any other humans they had killed. It was a motly force following a professional one, and both were vengeful and filled with merciless rage.

Neia's evangelistic voice carried like the booming of thunder and pounded power into their stride and into their blows, and struck terror into those who heard it, she was a banshee, a whirlwind, she wanted only bloodshed and death, she was a reaper, and as Wenmark had sown, she reaped from them a bitter harvest. A large looking black bearded guard came at her with a heavy mace, he swung and Neia deftly stepped aside, lept back, and as she did so she used her bow and put an arrow into each of his knees, severing his legs where they struck and sending him falling back screaming. She then drew her sword and the desperate man swung his mace up from across his body, and she leaned back again and kicked his weapon hand at the wrist, breaking it, but not his grip, though it propelled his hand to painfully strike the ground. She had already slung her bow and drawn her sword as she pressed her weight on the fractured wrist, pinning down. In an instant she was reminded of the way she'd seen the guards holding down Illyana, how she'd been held at the wrist, how they taunted her by letting her continue to hold a weapon she couldn't raise to defend herself, and when the fire caught nearby, the man beneath her saw her face, he saw her eyes, and he knew who stood over him. She listened to him scream in terror at the eyes of death and terror and judgement, the squire of death itself, and the tip of her sword went to his chest. "Does it feel good...to force it in?" She asked in a sickened voice, leaving the man confused and terrified as she said without waiting for an answer, "Lets find out." And then she began to press the blade into his body between his ribs, it was not over quickly, she made it hurt, she made him scream through the blood that began to rise up past his lips and down the sides of his mouth as he thrashed helplessly under her, and then she moved on to find another victim.

She was not alone in her bloodlust, not even slightly. Though CZ stood atop a tower and blew apart head after head, for her it was cold and calculated, but for Skana it was more personal, she ran low across the ground, leaning in to her fast moving stride, though she did not kill with Neia's slow sadism, she sought the points that would hurt the most before she sought the points of the body that would kill the quickest and she left half naked sleepy guards screaming behind her, unable to move, living only long enough to know the fearful realization that they were indeed dying. A wiry looking spear wielder rushed her out of the darkness, she turned and hacked her blade down, cutting the spear in half but he was not an untrained fool even if he did lack armor, he turned one weapon into two and began to swing at her with both, keeping her on the defensive, forcing her back, and alternating between strikes and stabbing attacks. However the one handed style of Black Justice was built for this, and she waited until he overextended his swing and she reached out and grabbed the broken half of the spear and spun clockwise with his swing, using the momentum to throw him, as he stumbled forward, her sword hand stabbed out, striking him in the back of his left side, and penetrating all the way through a kidney. He went down screaming, and for good measure, she stood over him as he lay on his belly, and stabbed him through his other kidney as well, before she moved on.

For all the fighting and screaming and dying, the elf and human slaves could only scream and shout questions and rave in terror, there was no way out of their restraints and no way out of their pathetic buildings, so for all the fighting going on, they were not even spectators. Having caught the mining operation by total surprise, with most of the guards entirely lacking in armor, many of them having been drinking, and all either asleep or distracted and tired, it was a one sided fight if ever there had been. Seven unarmored elves had died in the fighting, but the guards were uniformly dead before dawn. Nobody had been interested in taking prisoners that night.

Immediately after the fighting, they stripped the guards of anything useful and dragged their naked, dishonored corpses to the center open area of the mining operation. Neia turned to one of the elves. "Go, get the prisoners out here, I want to do this only once." She said, and he took up a set of recovered keys and went from shack to shack. By the time he was done, the Sun had begun to peak over the horizon.

The armored elves were a shock, but the rows of armored members of the Black Justice elites were an intimidating sight, and behind their concealed cloths in front of their faces, who they were individually or collectively was a mystery. Mystery is a very bad thing for slaves in the best of times, usually nothing good comes of what is unknown. However the pile of bodies that had formerly been their oppressors and abusers left them some room for hope, and the presence of so many obvious elves was even more exciting...at least for the elf captives.

When they were all gathered, Neia pulled back her hood and removed her facial covering. "I am Neia Baraja. Do you know who that is?" She said, her evangelist class sending power to her voice, but despite the intimidating state, most looked uncertain. An older elf stepped forward, rubbing his wrists still where the chains had held him fast and tight. "Ma'am, we have...many of us, been here a long time, we don't know much beyond the mines. Please, tell us, and tell us what happens now?"

A human spoke up, "I know of you." He said softly, awed, he felt a shiver as the mad eyed archer gazed at him, "You are squire of the Sorcerer King, you are the mad eyed archer. You killed the Grand King Busar..." He trailed off, "I-I don't know much else, but before I was imprisoned, I heard that much." He swallowed hard, wondering if he should have kept quiet.

Neia wiped the black off her pine green armor as she spoke, "Then I will fill you in. Wenmark is burned and what elves could be brought out of it, were saved, some of them stand behind me now. You have two choices. You can come with me, return to my band and escape, or you can join us as we attack the remaining mining complexes and other facilities in the area and free all the other prisoners."

"What then?" The older elf said cynically, "We'll just be caught, tortured, and killed again, there is nowhere to go."

"Yes there is." Neia answered, "The Sorcerer King is taking in all elven refugees and escaped slaves, every member of Black Justice is obligated by our service to the god of justice, to never accept being enslaved, never enslave any other, and to assist those who are enslaved in acquiring their freedom, through resistence and aggression if necessary."

There were many disbelieving stares. Wenmark burned, a refuge, a massive organization obligated to free them? It was all to much.

"Events have spiralled out of control." Neia said bluntly, "You have to make your choice now, but if I were you, I wouldn't stay here." She held a torch out to Skana, who lit it for her. It sprang to life and Neia threw it on to the pile of bodies. "You have enough time for one thing, grab something, set it on fire, and throw it on to this pile of fetid meat that had been your guards, and then we're getting out of here. If you want to come with us, we'll get you a chance to be free, and a chance to strike back. If you don't want to come with us, I won't force you, but there are others out there who will find you and kill you, so be quick about your choice."

Her speech was blunt and powerful, but as the bodies began to catch on fire, the reality of the situation began to hit home. Female elves clung to one another and wept with joy, but they were not alone, humans went to their knees and stared at the rising flames, elf males were dancing...save for the older ones, those who had spent more time in hell than others, they were cautious. They stared at the rising flames and feared their turn to burn was coming. Neia, seeing this, approached them, "I don't blame you for fearing the fire." She said, her voice haunted, but firm and resolute. "I think it will be a long time before I draw comfort from its warmth again, if I ever do, but unless you want to end up in it the way you fear you will, you should come with us, we have a few days to operate, and every minute is precious."

Her encouragement and caution seemed to work their way into the minds of the elder elf slaves, and they went to work. The valuables of the dead were quickly distributed to those best suited to use them, while elf slaves took up their tools of service and held them as if they were weapons. "Its funny." One of the elves said with a grim humor in his voice, "Yesterday morning I got up, took this thing in hand, and I hated it, I despised it as much as I despised the guards and overseer, every day I wished it would break, because my tools were my enemies. But as I hold it now, and I think of this sharp end that pulled ore out of rock, and I imagine it swinging into the naked neck of a Wenmark soldier, I love it and don't want to stop swinging, just send me more to swing at, and I'll be a blood miner." He grinned and chuckled at his gallows humor.

There was a pause as his last two words were repeated. "Blood miner?" Was carried from tongue to tongue, ear to ear. Neia sensed an opportunity and spoke up, "Blood Miners you are, and if you the Sorcerer King, he will lead you to many fruitful veins! Will you come with us, Blood Miners!" She shouted out at them, and they shouted in return, "Blood miners! Blood Miners! Blood MINERS!" The Noise was deafening, and Neia gave a wicked smile, her eyes were sharp and terrifying as they reflected the fire, and stray captured swords and spears went up, as well as picks and mattocks and the implements that had formerly been a source of profit for the dead city, instead became implements that would see the last vestiges of it torn down and burned.

The journey back to camp was relatively quick, as it had been moving in relation to the advance party, the wagons of the mine had been confiscated, along with all horses and other goods, and this proved a great boon, as more of the survivors were dispatched east in wagons, in this way they would link up with the Black Justice defenders that would see them out of the South and into the freedom of the North where Black Justice was heavily influential, most especially in Prart.

The newly liberated mining slaves were made up of two groups, humans and elves, and when they returned, Neia was quick to meet with them both. "I will be blunt." She said, as Skana stood behind her, body locked stiff and hand threateningly held onto her sword. "We made sure Wenmark burned to the point that there was nothing left, but in that time, we learned that humans and elves in captivity are treated in two very different ways, with humans...mostly, having some way out of their captivity and elves having none. What is more we learned that the elves and humans who labored under bondage within the city did not get along and were never willing to trust or work together. The Vines never collaborated with human servants of any kind, however they also said they had no idea how things worked in the mines. So I will ask you now." Her eyes, lit bright in the clear day, were soul piercing as she looked them over.

"Blood miners...do you trust these humans to fight beside you?" It was a question that had a very stark meaning to the humans. "Are they of the same chain, will you fight with them, die with them, mine for blood with them...or not? If not, then know that I do not have room for prisoners and I will not risk betrayal." Her voice became bitter to such a degree that it shocked Skana to the very heart.

There was a long silence as the humans waited for what amounted to the verdict in a death penalty case.

The elves spoke among themselves, and in the end they sent a representative forward from among them who said, "There are three who need to die. If the other humans will kill them here and now, we will offer our continued trust to the remainder, and we are all Blood Miners."

"Name them." Neia said firmly, then paused, "Wait. Before you do..." She turned to the humans who stood frozen on the spot, "You heard him I assume, but if you did not, he says that the elves will offer their continued trust to you, but only at the price of three who must die. I want you to tell me who he was about to say." She said bluntly. It did not take long.

"Goraj, Inkas, & Telim." One of their number, a young man with little beard and many scars said with confidence filling his voice. The three immediately began to protest, but Neia ignored the protests and turned to the elf representative.

"Are they right?" She asked.

The elf nodded. "They are." He said bitterly.

"See it done." Neia said sharply to the humans, who quickly began beating the three shouting men to death, fists and feet flew out and connected, and after a short, brief racket, the protests that became screams, in turn became silence, and the three humans were beaten entirely to death. Their killers were breathing hard, but Neia had another question. "What did they do?" She asked curiously.

"They were informants, they traded information for extra food, even ruined one of our attempts at resistence once, traded information for shortening the sentence and a few turns on one of the elf women." One of the men said bitterly, he spat on the small corpse pile in disgust, "Truth be told we wanted them dead as much as the elves did, but we couldn't do anything."

"Why not?! Its because of them that Foltli was burned alive!" One of the elf women said bitterly, her voice a hateful shriek.

"Did you want to burn too!" The human snapped back.

"They were protected by the guards, if anything...ANYTHING happened to them...even if it were an accident...or 'accident'" he said, placing further accent on the repetition of the word to drive home his point, "then they told us we'd be burned to death, the children would be burned to death, you'd be burned to death...then they'd just send our corpses around to the other mines as a warning of the results of rebellion, and then requisition another batch to replace us all."

The elf children stayed behind the adults for the most part, and Neia saw their haunted, hollow looks, as if they were moving through the world, but unaware of it, she knew that look very well, the face of witnessing horror. She swallowed and took a deep breath. "So...you are on the same side then." She forced herself to say with confidence, and the elf and human representatives that had impromptu asserted themselves as such, approached and clasped hands. "Yes. We mined for ore together, now we'll mine for blood together." The human said, and both he and the elf exchanged wolfish grins, probably the first time either had smiled in a very long time.

Neia gestured to CZ, who approached her silently and waited, and Neia leaned in, "I'd like you to request a banner for me." She said softly.

"What kind?" She asked.

"A blood splattered man, with a mining pick in his chest." She said in a moment of inspiration. CZ understood, with a nod, sent her message along with an explanation.

 **AN: Well I have...good news...and I have...bad news.**

 **The GOOD news is that yes, I WILL be continuing this story to the end.**

 **The BAD news is...I literally JUST noticed that there is a limited life on the stories on this site, when its done, its over, of course fortunately backing it up is easy. BUT...it seems a shame that this should be the case when people seem to actually enjoy it. With that in mind, I'd like to ask y'all for recommendations for other fan fiction sites to load it up to.**

 **I may just have to create a website backup to host these kinds of things, both the fan fiction and my original works.**

 **Anyway, I hope you enjoyed this chapter, to be frank, some of it was just as hard to write...or harder...than the previous one. Let me just add this, if you know someone who seems to be suffering from depression, or who has PTSD or some other form of trauma, and you tell them to just 'suck it up and deal with it' you're being an asshole. Mental wounds may not be visible to the naked eye, but they are no less real and no less debilitating. You wouldn't tell a person in a wheel chair to just get out of it and walk, you wouldn't tell a person with a broken arm to just take the cast off, and you wouldn't tell a blind person to just start seeing, mental trauma is no different. If you want to say anything, it should be words of support, try to get them the help they need, because we live in a world where mental injuries like PTSD, or mental illness like depression, are thought of like splinters that people just need to yank out an be done with it. But it isn't that simple, if it were, everybody would do THAT. If you or someone you know and love has or may have these kinds of issues...**

 **Please visit** ** _mentalhelp dot net_** **to find more information.**

 **Writing up the fracturing of Neia's mind and the urgency of getting her help took a lot out of me, so I'll be frank, I probably won't have a chapter up for a day or two, I need to decompress. So don't worry, not posting for a day or two doesn't mean I'm dead or that I've given up on the story. 'lol' I will be back. Go read the fantastic new work 'Brave New World: The Summit by 'ALearningMan' whose update schedule is almost as fast as mine and who is doing such a solid job that he's pissing me off because he's ripping ideas right out of my brain that I now probably can't use because I don't think I can add more than he has to that kind of story. ;) Just kidding man, you're awesome, keep em coming!**

 **Oh, ALSO...YES I am well aware for those few who might be snarky enough to say it...that Ainz could theoretically cure Neia's PTSD via magic. And to that I say...**

 **Here is the point-.**

 **And here you are-whoosh**

 **The whole series could end in one go with a use of Armageddon Evil: Ainz activated Armageddon evil...and those who did not surrender, died.**

 **But who wants that? Nobody, that's who. Never let the details get in the way of a good story. And I HOPE this is a good story. :)**

 **OK, thanks for reading, reviews please, I'll be back in a few days with more! :)**


	44. Cry Havoc

_...Re-Estize Kingdom...Renner's Private Quarters..._

Renner sat quietly while the maid poured tea for her, her brother King Zanac, & the Marquis Raeven, she smiled as sweetly as she could, which chilled the two men quite a bit given that they knew the real nature of the golden princess, but silently they sat as the maid, who each of them knew was the daughter of a noble house that was part of the noble faction, did her work. They looked her over as she tended the task, she was a slender girl in her early teens, younger than the princess, with hair the brown shade of a field mouse and small equally brown eyes that looked rather dim. At first glance she did not appear to be all that bright, but as they knew very well...appearances deceived. So wait they did until she left them alone.

"What exactly did I just see?" King Zanac said in a hushed voice.

"I have the same question." The Marquis Raeven said.

Princess Renner enjoyed this part, when men were uncomfortable around a woman of uncertain ability, they were bound to be more pliant, more willing to reason and negotiate. Known quantities made them confident, brash, less likely to give way, their uncertainty in this was her ally. She sipped her tea as they spoke and set it down gently, the way a princess should. "She did a very good job with the tea." Her smile was sweet and polite as the cup moved from her lips, but when the little clink of the glass cup hitting the glass saucer echoed, her smile returned to the more twisted one they knew.

"That my brother, Marquis Raeven, was me returning from a private audience with the Sorcerer King." She said, and their faces turned pale.

"He can...how could...no..." King Zanac began, but could not finish what he was about to say. Largely because he himself did not know his own intentions.

"It can't be true." The Marquis Raeven added, shock in his voice.

"Now, stay calm, it isn't a bad thing, not at all." She said sweetly. "We talked about a lot, why he even let me see Climb." She said happily.

"He did what? He is behind the kidnapping?! Did he kill father as well?! Did he kidnap all our faction's heirs?!" King Zanac leapt to his feet, fists curled in outrage, while the Marquis Raeven ran his hands through his hair as thoughts rushed through his head.

"No...no he didn't, did he?" The Marquis said, his voice quivering as he spoke, he stared wide eyed down at the ground, "But he knows where they all are doesn't he, he knows exactly who has them, where they are, and how they are, he didn't take them...but they're still his hostages nonetheless!" He exclaimed loudly, freezing Zanac where he stood while the princess sweetly smiled in her seat and drank her tea.

"Are you two finished? Because I'd rather tell you everything before the tea grows cold." She said, and Zanac slowly reclaimed his seat.

"You are correct Lord Raeven." She said, "Very impressive. He did not kidnap them, but he knows where they all are and he can retrieve them at any time, I walked in to Climb's...quarters, without any effort whatsoever, spoke with him, and walked out the same way. Nobody knew I was even there."

"But...why didn't you rescue him? Leave with him I mean?" Zanac asked, mystified.

"Because while the kidnappers, the Slane Theocracy if you had not already guessed, have all of them, all of you and your other family members are completely immune to assassination, all you have to do is cooperate and do nothing while the traitors out themselves." She said, and began to pour another cup for herself rather than call the maid back and slow this business down.

Raeven and Zanac exchanged a look of uncertainty, and Renner watched as understanding dawned.

"So because they are hostages, they are safe and the enemy grows bold." Raeven said.

"Yes, his majesty intends to ensure that you remain on the throne brother, you will not lose the crown. There are however, some conditions, however he has promised that if we meet all these conditions, he will destroy the noble faction, erase the Theocracy threat, and he intends a comprehensive plan of investment and reconstruction of our kingdom. You by the way, Marquis Raeven, will be off the hook for having me marry your son, one of these conditions is that I be permitted without opposition, to marry Climb." They listened for the next two hours as she outlined the events predicted by the Sorcerer King, his timeline as he expected the war to unfold, the expected treason of the incompetents and the drawing in of the noble faction, the insight was shocking, but also heartening.

"Sister, I do not know if this will matter to you, but the Marquis & I were already discussing bestowing a noble title to Climb, the only real question was where it should be, though if events are to be as you say, we will have no shortage of places to offer him, perhaps we should simply allow him his choice as a wedding gift to him." Zanac said, and he saw the first indication of real affection on her face when he spoke.

"It does." She said, her smile sweet and dainty again, "So for now, don't worry, your relatives are all safe and will be kept that way, there will be some changes of course..." Her eyes narrowed, "I have worked well with the facade of powerlessness, weakness, and being the odd but beautiful daughter of the King. I have carefully ensured I am not thrown to some noble's bed as a broodmare in exchange for some political support, but I will not be so powerless again. I will never be in a position to have to maneuver my way out of such a situation, instead I will ensure I am in position that nobody would ever think to bring it up. Are we clear...your majesty...Marquis?" Renner asked.

"When was it?" Zanac asked.

"When was what?" Renner replied as the sweet smile replaced her dark expression.

"When did you join with the Sorcerer King?" He asked. "Really?"

"Oh brother, you're so funny." She gave an idiotic little titter of laughter.

"When?" He asked again, more forcefully this time.

Her eyes went narrow, "You've grown up, King Zanac. In different circumstances, you might have surpassed father in stewardship. The answer is...years ago, though he asked little more than to make me aware of any threats to his interests. This is the first time he has sought me out to pass terms on to you. Now, what do you say gentlemen? Will you accept his terms? I remind you before you answer...the royal faction is not in the best position to say no. When the younger nobles and their allies force us into the war, and the Slane Theocracy is holding so many hostages, if you are not on the Sorcerer King's side, and you are not on the noble's side, you will be caught in the middle and crushed between them both. You will obviously not survive that. So you need to decide whose forces you want to face. Do you want to fight for the Sorcerer King...who guarantees your lives, throne, estates, and future...or for some idiotic nobles with delusions of grandeur who promise you nothing, can offer you nothing, and will behead you when it is all over, if you survive that long?"

It wasn't even a question. The King & the Marquis exchanged a glance and said, "The Sorcerer King." Renner smiled brightly and poured more tea, and explained that they needed to host a ball, and as they nodded in assent as they listened to her explanation. When they consented, she was sure she'd earned a reward from her true lord, and she began to let loose with her mad laughter, chilling them to the bone, and swelling their hearts with pity for the boy, Climb.

 _...Black Justice raiding party, Northwest of the dead city of Wenmark..._

Neia, Skana, & CZ rode on undead horses at the head of their unit of raiders, Between themselves and the Blood Miners, there were one hundred and fifty in total. This was not the entirety of their numbers, others escorted more refugees East, while still others went out to raid farms for food and other necessary goods. Those were the easy tasks, ones that a band of fighters that were poorly equipped could still manage if they took their targets by surprise. Their orders were simple. Start...fires...everywhere. When Remedios did eventually give up in Wenmark's ruins, Neia wanted her chasing shadows, finding nothing. Meanwhile Neia, Skana, CZ, & most of the remaining Black Justice elites, took advantage of their mobility to raid small mining complexes and free captives.

Though they rode in silence for a time, it could not last and eventually CZ turned to Neia and said, "Sorry."

Neia shook her head, "No, you were trying to help." And she smiled at the demon maid to show that it was alright.

"Cute." She said, and put a sticker on Neia's cheek again.

Neia rolled her eyes and gave a long suffering sigh, which drew a laugh from Skana that spilled back over to Neia, a feeling they badly needed.

"So...what happened?" Skana asked, "Can I even ask that?"

Neia turned her head back to the road in front of her. "The Sorcerer King...well he gave me a talking to, he told me things...I can't really explain it. Look...I don't really know how to say this in a way that makes sense, but he described me as having an invisible wound, and that it needed to be treated. I don't really understand it all, but...I know I don't have to think I am weak for feeling the thing I've felt, for...for wanting help, needing help." Neia didn't look at them, but they looked at her.

"I know that I have nothing to be ashamed of, though I guess that doesn't stop the feelings I've had, these are the risks I've chosen to accept, and these...invisible wounds to my mind are things I have to live with. His encouragement let me vent a lot, and his home...so tranquil...I didn't want to leave, but I have work to do. I can't stop this, but by knowing whats wrong I can, at least for now...cope with this." She shook her head, bouncing her now somewhat longer hair around in a way that might have seemed playful from the back, "But I'll need your help and support, I can't do this alone. We fought together through a lot, the three of us, I guess you could say I'm just going to need you to look out for me as I try to get better..."

CZ nodded. "War sister." She said bluntly.

Neia smiled a little weakly.

"If I'd help you walk when you're wounded with an arrow to the knee, well what kind of companion would I be if you had a wound in your head?" She asked rhetorically.

Neia swallowed and held back tears.

"I couldn't ask for better than what I have right now." She said, "But speaking of...how do you think Tinamoc is faring? He got out earlier than we did, but I haven't seen or heard from him." Skana asked.

That brought a worried look from Neia. "He's clever, I'm sure he's fine, if he were dead or captured that would have been used against us by now. He probably just took the long circuitous route to get to safety."

CZ didn't say anything, and anything she might have said was interrupted by the return of a scout. "The mining facility is just ahead, around three hundred slaves, one hundred guards. No wall higher than six feet, all we need is a ramp and we're in."

Neia's expression became predatory. "Good." She looked over her shoulder, "Bring the ramps and form up for the charge!" she snapped out, and her fighters began to prepare. "Remember, no prisoners among the guards, and burn whatever is still standing when we're done!" Her voice was vicious, made more so by the power of the evangelist, and as they drew closer, before the charge was sounded, Skana said softly, "No prisoners? Are you sure? That isn't the Neia I know."

She turned to her lover, her eyes went from terrifying to gentle, and reached out and touched Skana's hand and said, "That isn't who I was, but it is the Neia that I am. Are you with me Skana?" She asked.

Skana nodded and drew her sword. "I am, to the end." Neia's eyes turned hard again as the lines drew up and they closed in a few minutes later.

She took out her sword, raised it, and lowered it forward, her voice cutting through the peaceful air.

 _...Hoburns, court of the Roble Holy Kingdom..._

The new King Astraka was in a fairly good mood despite everything, the council had uniformly voted him into position the death of Handor was of little note, he didn't much like the man anyway...and Black Justice was to blame. The formal extension of a request for aid from the Theocracy had been positively answered, and the capitol's population of heretics had dropped considerably as penalties increased in severity and criminal statutes expanded to create things to find them guilty of. He was practically giddy...up until the afternoon when he recieved word that Wenmark was a smoked out ruin. For a moment he wondered if it was the traitor Gustav, but that was to far away from his last known sighting, and burning such a city would require more force than he had at his disposal. Wenmark was an important city in the Southern Holy Kingdom, and many nobles were reliant on the metals and armor they produced.

He responded to this with yet more laws, stripping the priests of their status if they were thought to have heretical sympathies and even banning the formation of any priestly order without approval from the crown. Black Justice members responded by disguising their priests and remaining mobile...and also dangerous, more than one paladin had been cut down, and it was this that gave him cause to declare a national emergency because of the 'rebellion'.

Sitting on his throne, he laughed at the petitions delivered to him by blasphemous priests of an undead deity, it felt good to laugh, he tore up their petitions in front of them, and sometimes arrested them for heresy, other times he played the benevolent figure and let them return to tell their people what happened. But this arrogant dismissal changed when the old man came to court calling himself an ambassador of the Sorcerous Kingdom.

"So, what does the undead want with my kingdom?" He asked condescendingly. The man looked good enough, dignified, back straight, the picture of a perfect servant, more a butler than an ambassador, but he would hear the man out anyway.

"The Sorcerer King sends three messages to you King Astraka. Only two however, are to be read aloud, how you respond to the first is going to determine which of the other two is given next. The butler-like ambassador said formally.

Astraka stroked his beard and then nodded, "Very well, say on."

The ambassador drew a document from his breast pocket and read it, silence fell over the court.

"I, Ainz Ooal Gown, king of the Sorcerous Kingdom, send greetings and good tidings to King Astraka, yet also I come to you seeking to resolve troubling matters that have grown up between our nations since the defeat of Jaldabaoth. Aid I have dispatched to you has been stolen by those intended to use it to rebuild, those who follow my beliefs have been imprisoned and killed, those who would heal the people have been punished for doing so without the accompanying greed displayed by their rivals, and the practice of slavery has risen to prominence in the South, and a foreign power has been allowed to operate with impunity to harm those who merely speak positively of the aid I have rendered and the way of life that they have chosen to emulate in accordance with my ways. For peace to reign between our nations, these and other practices must change. The foreign military units and accompanying agents operating with permission of the crown must be withdrawn, those who follow my beliefs should be released from prison, and persecutory laws created solely to punish them for their beliefs, and all enslavement of elves and other intelligent beings must be rescinded and those responsible for these crimes against civilization must be punished. Alternatively, all those who wish to practice their faith and are willing to leave your nation to do so, should be paid fair value for any homes or other property left behind and they should be permitted to emigrate to my nation, in which case I should be compensated for all charter towns sponsored by the Sorcerous Kingdom up to this time." When he finished reading, Sebas returned the document to another pocket and looked at King Astraka, awaiting his answer. He got it.

Laughter, Astraka was laughing. "Absolutely not. The King of this nation is the only one to make laws for it. Nor will we allow our citizens to simply leave to make a new army against us, they will remain, the prisoners will remain, if anyone tries to leave, they forfeit their property for nothing, I refuse all of your nation's commands, killing one measly demon is no reason to give you such influence, nor will we."

"Very well. Second answer it is then." Sebas said and drew out the another letter.

"So you have refused, pity. Then we also demand the immediate restoration of Queen Calca to the throne, she has been wrongly deprived of it by death in the service of her nation, and the declination of her revival by religious authorities. I, the Sorcerer King, have revived the Queen to life and she should be restored to the throne immediately. If she is not, then for the purpose of restoring to her her rightful place, and other reasons pertaining to the crimes against the dignity of free intelligent beings, the Sorcerer King will consider this to be a declaration of war."

You could have heard a pin drop in the court of Hoburns.

Astraka was the first to speak. "Queen Calca is DEAD!" He stood up in outrage, "She cannot rule!"

"Was it not clear? My lord has recovered enough of her body to revive her, using a ninth tier spell, she lives again, and because my master knew you would doubt his words..." He put away the previous document and took out another, he held it up and opened it.

"My master has brought Queen Calca to each of the relevant diplomats and rulers of the surrounding kingdoms, the Baharuth Empire, the Re-Estize Kingdom, the Argland Council State, & the Draconic Kingdom. Each ruler has placed their seal on this document attesting under oaths to their gods that she is who she appears to be, and each diplomat who encountered her in the past was able to identify her as the true Queen. They further attest that they support her claim to the throne, as they have confirmed that she is not under any form of magical compulsion that would invalidate her rule. She IS the rightful Queen, you are sitting on her throne, and she orders you to remove yourself from it so that she may resume the rule of her nation."

The sound of cotton rubbing on cotton could have been heard, and a pin's drop could have been as loud as a thunderclap in a raging storm.

"If she is not undead, then she is a fake, if they say she is not a fake, she is under control, if they say she is not under control, then I say they are under your influence!" Astraka pointed at Sebas Tian and raged away at the declaration. "This is my kingdom, she had her chance to rule, and she nearly destroyed us by her failure, the best thing she ever did was die so that someone more competent could take over, and we will not have our nation destroyed because of the restless dead!"

"Very well." Sebas said, "Then war it will be. To that end, my master proposes a meeting to settle the terms of the war."

"Terms? What terms?!" Astraka shouted in utter fury.

"My master values the wellbeing of those who would not choose to be victims, to that end he is willing to trade certain concessions in the fight to come in exchange for certain behavior out of his opponents." Sebas said flatly.

This gave him pause, he sat back down on his throne. "Very well. We propose a meeting to take place in thirty days in a neutral location to be determined." King Astraka said, fury still boiling in his eyes.

"I suggest the Draconic Kingdom." Sebas said, "They have friendly ties to each nation and favor to none of them."

It was a quick answer, and Astraka narrowed his eyes, it was to quick, they knew this was going to happen this way, still it was a good selection.

"Very well." The King replied. "We will see you then." He snapped, "Now get out."

Sebas bowed politely and walked out of the throne room, resulting in a bustling of activity and communications running to the Slane Theocracy.

 _...Kami Miyako, council chamber, three days after the declaration of war..._

"Can we win?" Berenice asked.

"To late to ask that now I think." Raymond said dryly.

"I say its about damn time we took the fight to the undead!" Dominic responded sharply.

"I prefer only fights we can win," Maximillion said, "but first thing first, what do you suppose he's going to offer at this prewar negotiation?"

"Unconditional surrender maybe?" Ginedine replied, resulting in a hearty round of laughter.

Yvon pondered the matter, his slender eyes going even more so as he stroked his chin in thought. "This undead persistently expresses his concern for the living, in contradiction to what we know undead to be like. This undead has tremendous power, yet he abides by the norms of diplomacy rather than simply ignoring them. He is also inordinately intelligent, it may be he intends to negotiate away the use of certain weapons..."

"Absolutely not!" Dominic snapped.

"Calm down Dominic." Raymond said with a measure of exhaustion, the man's temper was truly beyond the endurance of a saint. "Nobody has agreed to anything, but we will attend this meeting, and hopefully catch him offguard by our presence. Perhaps if he sees a united front, he will prefer to negotiate a peace favorable to us rather than risk a war?"

He knew it was incredibly unlikely, perhaps impossible, yet in saying something like that, Raymond had hoped to boost their spirits a bit and restore some rationality to the group.

It was hard to be the most calm of the lot.

 _...East of Kedyn..._

Gustav Montagne stood over the body of a paladin, a paladin he himself had just killed. Nor was that the only one, his men and women finished mopping up another heretic hunting band. Since he had officially branded himself traitor and outcast over the pardoning of Remedios, everything had changed. New laws reached his ears, there were prison wagons to raid in great numbers, and heretic hunters moved openly. Black Justice fought back, and he with them, and they were not to be lightly taken. There were also adventurers aplenty to contend with, those of the Sorcerous Kingdom were quick to accept his pay and continue to operate privately, but now they were on poor terms with the local government, and that made communication and resupply harder. But all that was being topped right now as he finished off the last heretic hunter, he saw Blue Rose coming over the rise.

They had weapons out, drawn by the sound of fighting, but when they saw Gustav's banner they sheathed their armaments and approached. Gustav cleaned the blood from his blade and sheathed his in turn, and as he came close he held out his hand, and Lakyus took it gladly. "I wasn't expecting to see you hear!" He said with a grin, "I heard the King fired you."

Lakyus offered a return grin. "We were fired, the Sorcerer King decided to hire us to continue to protect his people, he even offered to hire us to help his army."

"You'd work for him?" He asked, "After the Katze Plains?"

Lakyus's face was somewhat conflicted, "Our...thinking on this subject has evolved, for now we're content to do our part to protect the people here. Having met his majesty though, I am beyond impressed with him. I admit the thought of working for him more directly has crossed all our minds."

That caught Gustav by surprise, but if he had anything negative to say on the subject, he didn't speak it aloud. "Well, good enough that you're here. I assume word has reached you about Remedios?" He asked.

They gave unhappy nods. "She was pardoned, restored to the fold, and I've heard of what she's been up to in the South, but more importantly we've seen first hand what she's become, we saw her. We were in the South just recently." Lakyus said, and Gustav's eyes went wide with surprise.

"What do you mean?" He asked softly.

"You've heard of Wenmark?" She asked.

"I have." He said with a grim expression.

"It doesn't exist anymore." Lakyus said bluntly.

"What happened?" He asked in a hushed voice.

Lakyus and the rest of Blue Rose began to fill him in on the events of the dead city, the horrors they found, the failed escape attempt lead by Neia, the way Remedios had slain fleeing slaves like they were putting down wild dogs. Gustav took that especially hard, he sat down and stared at the ground shaking his head. Lakyus touched his shoulder, "I know, who ever thought she'd turn into...this? But it isn't your fault."

"It is..." he said softly, "You know how she was arrested, how she was imprisoned, what her sentence was?" Gustav asked.

"We have heard stories about that..." Evileye added.

"I helped her escape, oh I had additional help as well, setting a few fires, distracting some guards, but I got her out, her and most of her core retinue. I didn't want this, I didn't see this coming about as a result...I was just being loyal to my commander, the one I bled and fought and risked it all beside. I just didn't want her to die that way, I thought she'd escape, and...I don't know what I thought she was going to do, but not this!" He said softly. "Never this."

Lakyus was surprised, shocked, but also understood. "I'll be frank, given what she's done, I won't be surprised if the Sorcerer King intends to hold you to account for her freedom to act as she has."

Gustav could only nod, "I can't deny it. If it comes down to it, I'll accept the judgement, I chose to save her, so I have some responsibility at least, for what she does with the life she got back. My only defense would be that it was done out of loyalty to a precious comrade, and that I did not know what she'd become. The only thing that is worth is a quick death as opposed to a slow one. I'll turn myself over when everything is said and done."

It was an awkward moment, one Lakyus ended by asking, "What are you doing now?"

"We were tasked with hunting Remedios, then we were tasked with rewarding her, we've abandoned that task and," he crouched down and began drawing in the dirt with his finger, "we've been making a circuit since our time in Kedyn, rebuilding our strength and numbers, we were planning to make a wide loop and pick up volunteers as we moved towards the border, with one final stop at Prart, and then move South to engage Remedios directly."

"Were you planning to swing by Kedyn?" Lakyus asked.

"I had, it is my last stop in this part of the country before the straight march to Prart, we've been going to the places where we were most likely to find volunteers. It has been hard going however, we're now the hunted ones, so we have to avoid patrols and others who would bring us down."

"Kedyn is fairly close by now, its why you've run into us, after our time in Wenmark, we visited the Sorcerer King's realm, and he sent us back here at our request, offering to pay for this continued service and to make us part of one of his armies if he we wished. You'll have a safe harbor in Kedyn for now at least, and you can move on from there after a few days, I'm sure you'll have many volunteers." She said encouragingly.

"Let us go out to the surrounding villages and towns and ask for volunteers for you, we have to visit those places anyway, and you can gain at least some recreation time before moving on." Lakyus offered generously.

Gustav did not have to think long before he accepted, and they mounted horses and began to ride back to Kedyn once again.

 _...Draconic Kingdom...Royal court..._

"So the Sorcerer King wants our nation to host the prewar negotiations?" The Queen asked.

"He does, your majesty." Vermillion said politely.

"I'm not about to object." She answered, "Neutral or not, I'm hardly in a position to politely refuse, and more than that I actually want to see what happens up close."

The nobles who stood around the court seemed very small to her in that moment, petty concerns about marriages and trade and low politics, now she found her nation about to be, for a little while at least, the center of power for the world, as the leaders of the world's great powers came together. Privately she prepared to hire a few artists as observers, the moment would be captured forever, and she wanted it immortalized.

Messages came in over the next few days as the Baharuth Empire, the Re-Estize Kingdom, the Slane Theocracy, the Argland Council, and the Roble Holy Kingdom stating their attendance, and their purpose being to declare officially, their status in the war to come. There were no words calling for peace in those messages, it was far to late for that.

Preparations were extensive, the Draconic Kingdom, despite the breathing room they'd been given, had suffered much and was low on resources. However when it came to the matter of state appearances, she could not appear to be a failed nation, therefore they drew out the best of everything, the finest cooks were brought to the capitol, the finest meats were selected, the finest wines, drawn directly from the storage of the Draconic Queen herself, everything had to go perfectly. An empire could be won at dinner, a throne lost over wine, in this, politics was war, and banquets were the front lines where nations were born and died in a single moment.

Her nobles were of a somewhat hardier stock than many other nations could say of their own, they had to be, the threat of the beastmen was so ever present that few could forget it for very long, and though her nation produced its share of useless fops, it was also fair to say that she had a higher than average number of pragmatic ones, though their concerns might often be petty and personal, they would not lose sight of the importance of presenting a good face to their neighbors. National humiliation could easily become national extermination, and she did not want that.

So the Draconic Queen worked tirelessly, personally overseeing every detail and requesting information from the other countries as to who was attending, while she quietly sought information on their personal preferences in food and drink. It still seemed utterly bizarre to have to ensure a chef knew what to prepare for the 'late' Queen Calca, from what she knew of the Queen's death, it should have been impossible to return her to life. Yet here she was attending with the Sorcerer King. Power over life and death like that...it was enough to make her shudder, perhaps more so than whatever mysterious actions he'd taken against the beastmen, a few human witnesses had witnessed him simply standing there and watching as the beastmen fell over dead while he pointed at them. Even that scanty information dried up when it came to whatever he had done IN the beastman kingdom, of that she knew nothing, only that they had not returned. Was he truly a god? It was a troubling thought that occupied her nights before she slept, and it occupied her days while she set the management of the Kingdom into Vermillion's hands, as she herself continued to oversee the most important gathering she thought she'd see in her lifetime.

It was all so furitive and quick that the days and nights passed like hours, and carriages began to arrive, she'd ordered the streets completely cleared of traffic, and from her palace she could see the advance, the gates were opened, and one by one magnificent carriages came through, they were easy enough to recognize. The gilded gold and cherry colored carriage of the Baharuth Emperor. The white carriage of the Slane Theocracy. The green and gold carriage of the Roble Holy Kingdom...the green & gold carriage of the Roble Holy Kingdom...she blinked, she looked again. There were two...so which was...it hit her. "He's given Queen Calca a carriage modeled after the one she used as Queen, it was an impossible to miss symbolic act, one no nobleman or woman would miss. She was there as the legitimate ruler, not as a mere proxy of the Sorcerer King. King Astraka would not like that, but it was a clear signal to the allies of the Sorcerer King that they were not simply fighting to expand his power. "He really is brilliant." She said softly. Behind her came the Re-Estize Kingdom's carriage, aged wood, silver, and gold, their cultural love of their heritage and deep history had influenced the design choices in obvious ways. Argland, their carriage had carved scales all over it, reflective and shimmering, it was either very beautiful, or very gaudy, depending on who you asked...but if you didn't like it, you were unwise to let the dragons know. The elf kingdom, green colored wheels and a soft colored wood that looked almost like brass, decorated with painted white trees and branches around it.

Finally the black of the Sorcerer King, it was simple onyx color, carved from some unfamiliar type of wood, with golden wheels, ornate and enticing, it was impossible not to be impressed by the fine craftsmanship. But more impressive was that it was pulled by undead horses. The delegates had not skipped on their method of arrival. This was not a surprise to her, and she watched as the carriages slowly navigated the winding streets, drawing ever closer to her palace. She felt her breathing quicken with some measure of nervousness growing inside her.

By all the gods she desperately wanted a drink.

 **AN: Well here we are, war has been officially declared, what remains are the terms of war, and then the fighting begins in earnest. Its been a LONG road getting to this point, my INITIAL outline had this entire story arc ending in 50 chapters. OBVIOUSLY that is not going to be the case, I found I had to expand the outline considerably, and future chapters will probably take a little longer simply because I have to go back and reference earlier material and I don't want to create any conflicts.**

 **Thanks to those of you who have been reading up to now, I know I lost a few readers along the way over the whole Neia/Skana relationship being a thing, but for those who stayed, I hope that added, rather than detracted from the story as it added a humanizing element to a complex character's growth and maturity. A few of you caught on to Neia's growing darkness, her comfort with killing, a few of you even impressively caught on to the increasing evidence of mental trauma that she suffered, and wrote in to say it either helped to see how it was presented, or in one case, that they were going to get help for someone else because of it. So...yay. Nice to know this is having an impact. I was particularly touched by the people who said they shed some tears over a scene or two, well I guess that means I'm doing something right. :)**

 **Now as far as Neia's damaged mental state goes, some things I should make clear. I'm not going to throw a mcguffin in there to solve the problem. (I fucking hate those contrivances) she's got shit to deal with, and its going to change her behavior as a result, how she will develop long term as she struggles to see the war to its end, I will not tell you. Arcs within arcs, you'll just have to wait and see. The actual war will be...lets just call it large. I know some have pointed out that I've boosted a few numbers, and yes, its true, I have. A battle of 2,000 is just not very enjoyable for me to write, a battle of 200,000 on the other hand, is. So, I took some liberties there, and in the end I hope you think I made the right literary choice.**

 **Also, I know I said I wasn't going to post again for a few days...but this was ACTUALLY supposed to go up yesterday, and I forgot about it, so...here. Plus...ALearningMan posted today, so 'I' have to as well. ;) If you haven't read his fiction 'Brave New World: The Summit' you should. You really, really should. You should ALSO tell him to stop taking things out of my brain because 'I' had a story like that planned and now I can't write it because I don't think I can do it better. But seriously...if you're reading this man, keep it up, I want the next chapter already.**

 **Alright, well that's all for now, I'll be back in a few days with new chapters, and there is no waaaay you could forcibly drag me back early by getting it up to 900 reviews, that's impossible, I don't know how often this particular story is read, but it can't be that much, so ha ha ha, I've now set an impossible measurement to force an early chapter release so NOW you'll just have to wait.**


	45. A Game at Dinner

As Ainz rolled through the city gate he found himself equal parts pitying the Draconic Kingdom, and unimpressed by it. The buildings were close set and though the road was wide enough for travel on foot, horse, or by carriage, the roads were not the most well maintained. He sat in the carriage with Sebas & Albedo, patiently drumming his skeletal fingers and passing the time as he looked out. When he was about halfway there, he had a passing whim, and ordered the carriage halted. Sebas and Albedo looked at him with curious eyes.

"Proceed to the palace, I wish to walk the rest of the way. I'd like to look over the streets of our host. Inform them that I will be along shortly." He said, glad that his voice naturally seemed to hide his anxiety at being nearly alone with the rapacious Albedo.

"My lord you cannot just wander alone out here!" Albedo said plaintively, "If anything should happen I'd..." She clutched her belly tight and looked away as if she were about to cry, Ainz knew full well her obsession with having his heir, but what troubled him more was her profoundly upset state, she was the child of his dear friend, he should not be the cause of her tears.

"Shall I accompany you my lord?" Sebas asked, seeing Ainz was about to relent.

"No...but she makes a fair point, have the eight edge assassins monitor me and scout my path for threats."

Sebas inclined his head. "As you will sire." He said, and Ainz opened the door of the carriage and stepped out. Though the streets were open without any traffic, that did not stop the citizens from crowding the side walks, and the sign of one of the vaunted carriages of the powerful stopping in the middle of the street, and a tall skeleton stepping out and...walking, was a bit much.

Some people froze in their tracks, rumors had been ample about the Sorcerer King and his undead nature, but seeing him in the flesh was another matter. Ainz had an aura of power about him that made people notice him...though who would not have noticed the skeletal king in the rich robes? But more than that, he had maxed out his charisma, it had let him convince Pluton, Rakesheer, and countless others support him, it had brought Neia Baraja on as a dedicated follower and promoter of his views, and now it made the crowd of unknowns conflicted between fear and awe, for a moment Ainz did not take a step, he simply looked around the city in the place he'd gotten out, and pretended he was NOT standing out like a sore thumb. He found it impossible to move under the unwavering stares of fear, awe, and uncertainty, as if he were back at his office job again meeting senior coworkers for the first time. How that might have played out if it had continued, there is no way to know. But what did happen was a voice pierced the eerie silence, a voice calling for the Sorcerer King to notice its source. He looked, and saw a hand waving high over people's heads, and a figure was evidently jumping up and down, he looked with confusion at the unknown figure, and the crowd, realizing something was amiss, moved out of the way of the owner of the voice. It was then that the owner was evident, it was a young woman, and she charged full tilt at the Sorcerer King, for a moment he thought she intended to attack him, a reckless move at best, and he nearly used 'Grasp Heart' to bring her down.

That was when he recognized her face, it was bright and cheerful, much more contented than it had been the first time he saw her.

This had the crowd remaining rooted in one spot, seeing a peasant rush up to an undead king was not something one saw very often. "Vanysa?" Ainz said with surprise as she fell to one knee on arriving in front of him. "So good to see you again!" He said and reached down and touched her shoulder, "Please, raise your head and rise, walk with me to the palace, tell me how you've been!"

This left the viewers dumbfounded beyond belief. Vanysa wore common clothing, perhaps a little bit better than average, but certainly nothing that would hint that she could possibly have connections to royalty. She stood, nay, leaped up to her feet as if she had springs attached. "You member me sire!" She said with a broad smile.

"Of course, we were together for a few weeks, why wouldn't I remember you?" He said as he began to walk and she fell into step to his left.

"Not many who rule kingdoms remember those of the class that clean those kingdom's streets." She said with a wry self depricating grin.

"Well those are poor leaders then. What did I tell you years ago?" Ainz asked.

"A kingdom is its people and a king is their voice." She said proudly. Her blonde hair bounced with her ample breasts as she fairly skipped beside him, and he idly wondered if Albedo was going to take issue with his next idea.

"Very good. I see I did not speak to empty air." He said kindly.

"No sire, you didna." She gave him a toothy grin that had people dazed and confused as the etremely mismatched pair walked the streets.

"Your capitol is in disrepair." He said somewhat reproachfully.

"Aye it is." She said somewhat shamefaced. "So much money went to defending against the beastmen...you know...well..." She paused. "I did what you suggested sire, I promise I did."

"And...what happened?" Ainz asked, his voice slightly warmer than a fall day.

"I was told there ain't no money. The Queen borryed money from so many countries to pay adventurers so we wouldn't be eaten...we c'n barely keep together what we ave, an with so many dead an wiped out and in need of...evrthin, there just ain't enough money to pay for improvements or repairs, when we c'n still barely stay alive as a country." Vanysa's blue eyes welled up.

They walked in silence before Ainz said patiently, "I can solve that problem." Vanysa bounced with the vigor of a child, it was hard to remember she was a woman in the flowering of adulthood, young yes, but not that young. He reflected that her traumatic experience among the beastmen had seen her regress some what in the maturing of years and had given her an overly excitable nature. He mentally shrugged, he knew quite well she could have had it worse than she did.

"I wouldn't hold it against your Queen to much." Ainz said, "If her finances are truly in that horrible a state, well even the most heartfelt appeal cannot change reality itself."

"Aye ah know, ah know...sire." She said as her hands folded behind her back, "But ahd still like to have roads like E-Rantel."

"Well you'll have them, perhaps not right away, but you'll see them here one day." He answered.

"Now tell me what else you've experienced since last we saw one another?" He asked politely.

For the next few miles she walked beside him, telling him everything she'd done with the life that he had returned to her, and it was more or less what one would expect, she had taken advantage of her education and begun a business selling sandwiches out of a shop, but then the high taxes had ruined her and her goods were confiscated, so she worked in a larger business and because of her somewhat higher base of knowledge she was made an administrator, and she had settled in to that position. However as she closed out her story she asked him, "Sire s'it true that Neia Baraja was your personal squire?"

"It is." He said.

"Is she really as powerful as they say?" She asked.

"How powerful do they say she is?" Ainz asked with curiosity and amusement.

"They say she killed a legendary demihuman, created a new combat system, and..." She went on about Neia's purported deeds while Ainz listened quietly, as he listened, he couldn't help but think that yes, she had become a very impressive figure to hear about, some of the stories were obviously exaggerated, like the size and preparedness of Prart's security forces and city guard, but they got the gist of it right.

"That all sounds about right." Ainz said, deciding it wouldn't hurt to pump up his most loyal follower's reputation a bit, "A little understated, but still yes, that is about right."

"Sire, as soon as possible, I want to see a Black Justice temple open here, and I'll perform any role you want me to in seeing that happen." She said with vigorous enthusiasm, before Ainz could reply they found themselves approaching the gates of the castle courtyard, which had been left open for him, and the delegations were waiting.

Vanysa paused, "Oh, you've gotta go...um...thank you for everything your majesty. From the bottom of m'mortal heart." She bowed deeply and began to back away when Ainz said, "Wait...why don't you join me, as my guest?" Ainz asked.

The girl shook with pleasure and her face lit up in a way that reminded Ainz of a girl he knew in childhood, a bright faced girl who went outside one day...and never came back in alive.

"Are ya sure sire...I'm not...dressed for that?" She asked hesitantly.

Ainz shrugged. "Does food taste differently based on how you are dressed?" He tilted his head as if confused.

She giggled. "No sire."

"Humans are so complicated." He said with a long suffering sigh, and held his hand out to her, inviting her to join him, and this she did, skipping up like a kid to an ice cream truck.

This confused the delegation so much that any expression of displeasure anyone might have felt was wiped away and replaced. The Baharuth Emperor was the first to speak.

"Welcome sire, your delegation arriving without you was a...bit of a surprise. May I ask what happened?" Jircniv asked curiously.

Ainz shrugged. "Nothing dramatic, I wanted to walk, so I did, you know quite well my good emperor, how I feel about being out among the people." Ainz said nonchalantly, prompting a chuckle from Jircniv.

"I should have guessed, and may I ask...who is this?" He asked and gestured to Vanysa, who was very conscious about how her simple green cloth shirt, plain brown pants, and leather shoes...and how she compared to the wealth that was worn by those around her.

"This is Vanysa, she accompanied me for my...visit...to the beastmen on Queen Draudillon's behalf, after I brought down the city of Ha'ak Pale. " Ainz replied, and she bowed deeply to the emperor.

"It is an honor my lord, the Sorcerer King told me much about you." She said.

Jircniv was not a man easily caught offguard, but it seemed the Sorcerer King made a habit of doing that to such an absurd degree that he no longer considered it hard to take him off guard. "All of it good I hope." He said with a handsome grin, and bade her rise, which she did, if somewhat less than gracefully.

Ainz looked to the Draconic Queen. "I trust there will be no issue if she accompanies me as my personal guest?"

Queen Draudillon was glad she chose not to appear as a child today, she looked ridiculous in that form when she was confused and surprised. "Of course, we can easily accommodate one more guest at dinner."

The Elf king snorted. "Picking up wayward trash, Sorcerer King?" Vanysa shook under the withering gaze of the powerful elf king, she held herself as he found amusement by releasing killing intent at the peasant girl, she could not meet his eyes, his contempt was thick and rich enough to be drizzled on hot cakes, but a moment later, it seemed to vanish, she stopped shaking and looked back, there was a wave of darkness rising from the body of the Sorcerer King that seemed to be ripped from the night itself, the shadows welling up around him danced like flames ready to burn away all light and drown the very world in its cloak, the Sorcerer King no longer seemed to stand as tall as he did, he seemed to be towering like a giant of myth, tall as a mountain, and raw fury poured out of his body like water bursting from a weakened dam. Yet she didn't feel any fear herself, she realized instantly that she was not the target, it was directed in one place, at one figure, who suddenly seemed to contemplate his own mortality and rethink his own notions of invincibility.

It was the first regret the king of the elves ever had.

The Sorcerer King's killing intent then vanished as if it never were, and he turned to look at Vanysa. "Are you alright?" He asked. She nodded numbly.

As if to over the uncomfortable moment, Queen Calca spoke up, she appeared radiant, but the sudden burst of killing intent had thrown her off, and she had to recover her sensibilities as she greeted the Draconic Queen. "My lady, its good to see you again."

"And you also." Queen Draudillon said politely, and she leaned in and gave the woman a kiss on the cheek.

Princess Renner & King Zanac turned to the Sorcerer King, with Zanac taking the lead he said, "It is good that I finally meet you in person." He said with a polite bow of his head.

"And you also." Ainz said in a noble voice that threw Zanac for a loop, he had expected the voice of the undead to be raspy like a lich, but this was clearly not the case.

Greetings went around after that as if they were friends or new neighbors, it was flatly bizarre to Vanysa, who knew quite well that they had come together to agree upon the terms they would abide by in killing each other's people. The banality of their casual interactions made it all utterly terrifying, but what really drew her eyes after that was the one she heard referred to as the Platinum Dragon Lord, approaching Ainz Ooal Gown.

"I've heard a lot about you." The dragon lord said.

"Probably not much of it very good." Ainz said bluntly, which seemed to surprise the dragon with its frank admission.

"No, not much. You admit it?" He asked.

"I admit only to the prejudice against me on the basis of preconceptions. It is true I have taken life, indeed many lives. But I have saved many more, and I have generally given those whose lives I would take, a chance to live on by removing themselves from my path. Am I different from you in any of that?" Ainz asked pointedly.

That made the dragonlord pause.

"Perhaps not." He answered.

"I ask only that you judge me by my works, not by what I am or appear to be." Ainz answered him further, "Ask her what I am." He said as he gestured to Vanysa.

This turned the dragon lord's eyes to her, and he decided to take the request literally. "Well, what is he?" The eyes of the armored figure loomed large to her, but this she could answer with confidence.

"Ma savior." She said breathlessly. "He killed the beastmen dead! He slew'em like they were nothin, they were eatin our city, they were torturin us for fun, by the time he got th'r I wasa shell, I was goin to be eaten cause there was no fear left inside me to draw out, I was empty, when I saw him approach the wall, and felt the bear man's tongue on my body, tastin me like an animal, I thought this was the end, and I was happy it was finally over...n'more suffering...n'more pain...n'more torture...then the monster just...died. And I lay on m'side and watched for an hour as he simply commanded that they die, an they did, an I lived. I stayed with him for the next few weeks, servin his every need as he crushed the threats he faced...so when ya ask me what he is...he is a savior...he is a hero...he is a god." Vanysa may have been speaking to the Dragon lord, but her words were not unheard by others.

There were some unsettled looks by the other delegates, not least of all King Astraka, who had refrained from doing anything but looking angry until Vanysa spoke. She looked at him in particular, he was a large man, powerfully built with a thick brown beard and piercing, intelligent looking black eyes. He wore rich looking clothing but his hands had thick callouses that...given the lack of manual labor done by the average lord, was probably from holding swords. His demeanor screamed 'soldier' which meant Vanysa thought little enough of him, soldiers had not saved her after all, they had abandoned her.

"Ahem...well let us go in then." The Draconic queen said, when Ainz asked...

"Where is the Slane Theocracy?" The red orbs looked at her curiously.

"They...elected not to wait and chose to proceed to the gathering hall." She said somewhat uncomfortably, Ainz turned his look to Albedo and Sebas, who bore unhappy expressions on their faces, clearly the Theocracy had not chosen their words with diplomacy.

"I see." Ainz said, "Then as you say, let us proceed, I am in your care." He said, and gestured to the entrance.

Draudillon's mind was a whirlwind as she walked, Vanysa had borne personal witness to the work of Ainz Ooal Gown? An eye witness to his actions left her considering him to be a god? And his aura when he had been displeased by the elf king...the whorling darkness and that oppressive air had struck the elf king practically to his knees and silenced the foul man completely, she had only been near, and it had left her shaking where she stood, his own servants had trembled. When all this was over, she privately resolved to ensure she was never in conflict with the undead. Yet of greater curiosity to her was his seeming unwillingness to make full use of his unbelievable power. He could dominate the conference goers one and all, terrify them into submission and utterly break them, he could point at things and make them die, and he was going to be sitting a few feet away from all his enemies...why won't he just do it? Why won't he do the things he obviously can do?

Gradually she thought she understood, he was adhering to mortal diplomatic norms, to gain acceptance of who and what he was from the mortals he ruled and from the mortals he lived alongside. His unwillingness to simply hammer them in to submission with ninth tier spells...the very highest tier there was...had to reflect his desire that he be accepted on their terms. She was glad she was in front, nobody could see her swallow as she came to that conclusion.

As they walked through the palace, the world leaders looked at the sights with interest, the Draconic Kingdom was an old one as human nations went, and its art and architecture reflected that. Ainz found it to be quite beautiful in a way, though nothing compared to the work in Nazarick. Vanysa walked behind him in absolute awe, gaping at every painting and statue along the way.

The elf king did not seem to care, and snorted at everything he passed. As guests went, Ainz found him to be profoundly rude, he noted that the other rulers looked with interest, even King Astraka, but not awe, the way Vanysa did, reflecting their own status and their own possessions of comparable worth and quality.

It was not a large residence, or if it was, it was at least not a long way to the main hall where a banquet had been laid out for them. Ainz...for obvious reasons, did not partake. However he encouraged Albedo & Sebas to do so. Initially they refused.

"My lord it would be inappropriate for a mere butler to eat while his lord did not. I am here to attend you, please allow me to do that." Sebas had said, his voice, always that of the elder gentleman, had a hint of unhappiness to it.

Albedo for her part said, "I doubt very much I would enjoy it even if I did, what can they offer compared to Nazarick?"

Jircniv was nearby at the time and was inclined to agree, and as he was near and party to their side he interjected, "I am compelled to agree with the lady Albedo. I eat some of the most sumptuous meals in the world as common fare, but after dining in Nazarick it all tastes like sawdust now." He had a somewhat frustrated expression on his face, and Albedo actually deigned to give him a faint expression of praise for his assessment. Ainz noted that as the years had passed, while her general feeling for humanity...or anyone outside of Nazarick...had not really changed, she seemed to have come to favor certain humans in particular, viewing them if not as peers, then at least as having some merit of their own, and as such she got along rather well with them. In their repeated meetings, Jircniv and Renner were two such figures, both exhibited usefulness to Nazarick, and both had shown loyalty. Though she had never had much contact with Neia, the girl's absolute and fanatical devotion to Ainz and his vision had a particularly valuable and powerful effect on the leader of the guardians, tempering her general contempt when she understood that some forms of life could see him as she did. All in all, it was a good thing.

Ainz nodded with understanding, "I understand, yet you must, while Sebas may refrain as a servant, and I cannot consume anything, and Vanysa is a peasant, if you refrain it will be as if we are saying their best is fit only for peasants. While you may see it that way, you must not show it, you will be a bad guest, and you will bring shame on Nazarick for our poor manners. I will praise you if you comport yourself well." Ainz said encouragingly. Albedo lit up, and quickly moved to take up a plate and seat herself. Ainz and Vanysa likewise took seats, and Sebas attended his duty stood behind his master. One by one the guests took their places in turn, and a string of servants began filter in, they walked in double rows and were finely dressed, the laid out a grand feast, sumptuous cuts of the finest cattle, sheep, duck, and other beasts. Vanysa sat looking entirely out of place, less than the servants themselves who laid out a plate for her. She was somewhat embarassed, but they were professional enough to simply do their jobs and move on. Next came the wine bearers, who brought a series of bottles and glasses, asking each guest their preference, when it came to Albedo, she chose a rose wine to pair with her meal, and she seemed to enjoy the looks of discomfort from the enemies of her country as the males among them could not avert their eyes from her overwhelming beauty. She had a secret smile within, they could look all they liked, but she would rather touch most of them only to claim their lives. 'My body is for my lord alone!' She thought satisfactorily, though with fresh impatience for him to finally act and claim what was his alone. She looked over at Vanysa and evaluated the girl, though a mere human, she wasn't bad to look at. Still in a contest between women, the perfect Albedo gauged that she came out ahead of the 'pet' Ainz seems to have taken interest in, at least the girl had the sense to consider him a god. She snorted in contempt at the failure of so many 'great' leaders who failed to recognize what had been obvious to a mere squire years ago and obvious to an even lower peasant now.

She ate gingerly, not caring for the taste, but saying nothing critical either. The Slane Theocracy delegates had entered last and claimed their seats last, and when they sat, they showed less interest in their meal than at staring with open hostility at Ainz Ooal Gown, though Ainz deigned not to notice them. Albedo then unleashed a bit of mischief, she gradually allowed herself to emenate a dusky scent of desire, her pheremones passed to the male delegates, particularly those among the Theocracy, and their hostility towards her lord was turned into mind fogging lust for her. She gave them a sweet smile, knowing full well what they felt, and she allowed her little manipulation to infect the women as well as they began to notice the expressions on the faces of the men. She wondered how far she could press them, but then a skeletal hand covered hers, and Ainz said softly, "Albedo...don't." Just loudly enough for her to hear. She pouted, and began to deactivate her ability, and they slowly returned to themselves, seemingly unaware of why they had all been so caught up in the thoughts that had occupied them.

The lines were clearly drawn. On one side sat the delegation of the Sorcerous Kingdom, the Baharuth Empire, & the Roble Holy Kingdom's Queen. On the other side facing them sat the Slane Theocracy, the Elf Kingdom, & the Roble Holy Kingdom's current King Astraka. At the far end of the square table facing both delegations and the host country sat the Agrland Council & the Re-Estize Kingdom. At the far opposite, one entire side was made up of members of the court of the Draconic Kingdom who were acting as hosts.

The world they all knew was heavily divided, and no unity was to be found here today. When the dinner and wine and pleasant conversation had passed and meals had been eaten from one course to the next, Queen Draudillon stood and began to address the gathered leaders. "Leaders of the world, we know why we are here, and to that I can only express my heartache at seeing two nations who have rendered invaluable services to me over the years, out of their love of peace and their reverence for life, must come to such heavy blows. Though it aches my heart, I am honored by the trust you have bestowed in me to host this gathering in common security. In that same spirit I ask that all who have attended this gathering speak openly and honestly as to their aims, that the tragedy that is to unfold may be lessened by clear understanding of when the time to stop has come...and I think I speak for all of us, for all nations and all peoples within them, in that I hope that end comes swiftly, that the return to peace that we have so long been without, returns and does not leave us again." There was a smattering of applause, and Vanysa found herself impressed with her queen, most of the things she'd heard about the woman were that she was a hard drinker and like to tempt lolicons. Not exactly a noble reputation, yet as she sat and watched, she found herself giving a favorable reevaluation of the one who ruled over her. Her words sounded genuine, if prepared, and so Vanysa remained silent and could not look away, as she, a peasant girl, found herself privy to the machinations of the great.

Queen Draudillon gestured to Ainz Ooal Gown, "As the delcarative agent, you have the right to speak your wishes first, let all hear and know beyond doubt what your aims are."

Ainz stood, and his brief uncertainty from earlier now seemed strange, perhaps it just had to get out of his system as he moved into an uncertain situation, or perhaps it was because this was what he had prepared for. Most of these figures had never met him, only heard of him, so this was a moment of true first impressions. "We are much aggrieved by the actions of our neighbors, the Slane Theocracy has ended the lives of those I saved, persecuted the lives of those who simply follow my ideals of justice, they have meddled in the affairs of their neighbors, they have enslaved intelligent beings and brutalized them in ways that any god worthy of the title would abhor, and as a final insult, with the rightful Queen restored to life, their puppet king refuses to step aside and let her rule, because through him," Ainz pointed to King Astraka, "they may do what they want in a country not their own, while she," he gestured to Queen Calca, "will govern according to the needs and wellbeing of her people. My material goods meant to rebuild their country have repeatedly been robbed by the nobles meant to use them to benefit the citizens, and they have openly backed lawless slaughter of anyone who disputes or does not share their beliefs." There were daggers stared at Ainz, some of the delegates in the neutral area looked on with interest as the litany of misdeeds was laid bare.

"My aims are these...slavery will be abolished for all intelligent beings, not only in those parts of the Holy Kingdom which have practiced it, but also in the Theocracy itself. Freedom of religious belief will be respected by nations outside the Roble Holy Kingdom, persecutory laws will be eliminated, all foreign forces will be withdrawn, and Queen Calca will be returned to her rightful throne. If these conditions are met, then there will be no war." Ainz paused, and his piercing gaze met one figure after the other before he continued.

"If however...if...if..." He emphasized the word with heavier and heavier inflection in repetition, "those conditions are not met, then those nations who take up arms against the restoration of the Holy Queen to her rightful throne and other related aims...will cease to exist."

Shock appeared on the faces of the Slane Theocracy delegates as Ainz declared that either he got what he wanted, or he would take everything and leave nothing. Nobody...nobody conquered a great nation in a single war, not even the beastmen could do that, and they were vastly powerful beings, which could still be turned back by human efforts, to openly declare his intention to conquer the nations who opposed him was a bold and terrifying statement. Astraka went pale, and Raymond found he had trouble breathing for a moment. The neutral states had furrowed brows as they listened on.

"I will not fight the same war twice, nor leave a struggle to future generations to fight and to die over, if my neighbors wish to meddle, corrupt, and destroy, then their lands will become my lands, their citizens my citizens, and their walls my walls. I do not wish to commit genocide, and I will not. However I will also not tolerate the persistent corruption and cruelty of evil pressing against the peace and tranquility I treasure."

There was a great deal of heavy breathing, but Ainz did not stop.

"The purpose of this gathering is that you may know how I will fight this war, and to give you, my enemies, an opportunity to influence it to minimize innocent deaths, I have no wish to slay those who have no say in why I am there." This drew interested and curious looks, even from his enemies. "Therefore I have prepared a document naming the terms under which I am willing to fight this war, for each condition my enemies agree to abide by, I will remove one tier of magic that I am willing to use. As long as they abide by that agreement and its six points, I will also, when they violate it, I will consider myself free to use whatever magic will end the conflict most quickly, and thus minimize the suffering that they would otherwise choose to increase."

Dominic laughed. Ainz turned and fixed him with a look to which Dominic answered, "You would have us believe that you would trade away all six tiers of magical use to save a few lives? That is to funny." His fellow cardinals looked displeased at his demeanor, but they did not contradict him.

"No Cardinal Dominic." Ainz said, "I would trade away ONLY six."

"What does that even mean?" Dominic snorted in contempt.

"It means that if you abide by this agreement, I will only use the first five tiers of magic, and not the next six. There are eleven tiers of magic, and I can use them all." Ainz said, and a pandemonium of speech erupted.

Ainz waited patiently as delegates lept to their feet in denial, Dominic pointed a finger at him and said, "You lie! That isn't so!"

The Argland council traded glances, as if asking each other if this could possibly be true. The elf king looked mildly curious, but otherwise showed no interest. The Re-Estize Kingdom's King Zanac looked at Renner, and leaned in to ask, "Is this true?" His whisper was louder than usual, but in the noise and confusion, it was not heard, nor was her answer in response, "Yes." Which lead to the King suddenly feeling very glad he had privately agreed to the terms relayed by his sister from the Sorcerer King.

Queen Calca looked shocked, but did not seem to express doubt, while the Southern Holy Kingdom and the Slane Theocracy were shouting denials, ahe guards the Queen stationed at the doors, began to bang the butts of their weapons on the stone floor like a judge's gavel seeing in this way that...eventually order was restored and Ainz continued.

"I assure you, this is indeed the case. There ARE eleven tiers. The first ten, and then another called 'super tier' You know of course, of the events on the Katze Plains?" Ains asked the table, there were numerous nods and blood drained from several faces. "The spell I used was of the super tier variety." That drew stunned expressions, but Maximillion spoke up.

"Even if we accept this, you have several more years to go before you can use that spell again, therefore it poses no benefit to us to have you 'give up' what you cannot use." His expression was something of a 'gotcha' one, but it vanished as Ainz sighed as if he was weary of suffering fools.

"Do you really think that is the only spell of that tier? I have many more. Do you wish me to use one on your capitol?" Ainz asked, exhibiting a sense of intimidating wrath.

The Argland council was shifting uncomfortably, and the Slane Theocracy asked to see the six rules of war. At a nod, Sebas took out several copies from his pocket, and walked around the table handing them out to each of the delegates.

I. All surrenders will be accepted, and no surrenders will be false for strategic use.

II. No captive will be subjected to forced labor, sale, or deprived of their lawful property.

III. No religious or cultural sites will be desecrated or used for military purposes.

IV. All instances of sexual or sadistic violence or slaying of the civilian or prisoner populations, to include torture for interrogation purposes, will be considered criminal acts, subject to trial by a neutral nation.

V. No use of world items

VI. All wounded are to be treated and restored to health, no matter their nationality or race.

Sebas wanted to weep when he read over his copy, it was as if his creator had written the words, and he was deeply moved. When he finished, he handed his to Vanysa. She trembled in her seat having never seen anything like it. The elf king had his ever present bored expression on his face, but he appeared not to be to stupid because he had no smart remarks to direct towards these terms. The Argland council delegates looked up and down between the document they held and the skeletal figure who had apparently authored them, it seemed so incongruous that such a being, part of an existence known for its hatred of the living, should author something designed to preserve as many lives as possible. Suddenly they found themselves forced to reevaluate their opinions on the undead king.

King Zanac wore a neutral expression, but he longed to wear his true face, a relieved expression, he knew what was in the offing and this would preserve an abundance of his nation.

As the Draconic Queen read over the terms, she asked, "What exactly are these?" Her voice was mystified.

"Call it a...system of accountability." Ainz said. "In one of the worlds I visited, they had terrible wars, horrible wars, building weapons the likes of which you cannot even begin to fathom, and such was the brutality of their excess, that the belligerants became horrified at their own behavior. As a result they crafted 'laws of war' with a judicial system in place to punish those who broke those laws. These agreements ensured that the innocent who had neither a say in its beginning nor a chance at avoiding it, would not suffer unduly as a result of it. I have made some...improvements, relevant to here, though in time I would like to expand on this system, for now this serves as a trial basis. If false surrenders are made to lower guard, then eventually surrenders will not be accepted and...more people die who shouldn't have to. If captives can be enslaved or goods lost, a land can be decimated and the innocent suffer. If religious and cultural sites are destroyed, eventually none remain to inspire those who come after to build upon them. If the wounded go untreated, then again more people suffer and die without need. And I am sure I need not tell you more with respect to the use of sexual violence and wanton slaughter. I revile these acts and will not suffer to see them carried out. Therefore I am willing to trade away my greatest advantages and win through conventional means, if that will reduce the suffering that people endure."

Jircniv had a thoughtful expression on his face as a concept of the Sorcerer King's began to take shape in his head.

There was one point of confusion, brought up by the Platinum Dragon Lord. "What does this part mean? No 'world items' what is a world item?"

"World items are items that come from the same place I came from, they have the power to shape the world itself in unique ways. I do not know that any of them came to this world other than my own, but if any others out of the twenty that exist are present, they are extremely dangerous." Silent faces greeted his description, and the Dragon Lord spoke up again.

"How would we know them, I've never seen one." He said, his voice suddenly much more respectful than before.

"You would know if you had." Ainz said bluntly, "They are singularly powerful, defying all others, one of those items was an article of clothing that could dominate any mind, even the minds of the undead, turning any individual into an absolute slave. For example if someone used it on yourself," Ainz gestured to the Platinum Dragon Lord, "they could compel you to turn on your fellows and your people, and the only way to remove the effect would be either a counter world item, or to kill you and restore you to life through resurrection. Therefore the inclusion of that on this list. If anyone should have one, and use it, this entire agreement will be considered to be violated and I will consider any means necessary to close the war as quickly as possible." The Platinum Dragon lord paled.

"Wait...sire...did you say...other than your own? You have these items?" Jircniv said softly.

"There are some two hundred minor ones of 'significant' power, but only twenty of them which truly merit the term 'world item', and yes, I have some of them. Most I believe have been destroyed on another world, but I cannot rule out their presence here." He said firmly.

"So you are also pledging not to use any of those you may posses?" The Dragon Lord asked bluntly.

"I am." Ainz said, spreading his hands wide in front of him, "I have no need of them, and have no intention of bringing them out. Assuming the Slane Theocracy and other belligerents have none either, then this condition is greatly to their advantage and should pose no problem."

As he spoke, a whirlwind of thoughts ran through their heads, items that could change the very world itself, and he had them? Other WORLDS? It was a foundation shaking moment for the table delegates, and many questions arose that would demand answers, but for now they remained focused on what was happening in front of them.

Suddenly it hit Albedo like a bolt of lightning. She wanted to laugh uproariously at the desperate situation into which the Theocracy was thrust. She knew quite well that a world item existed in this world, and they had long suspected that it was the Slane Theocracy that held it, and which had used it. Now they were in a position to where they could either admit to owning an item that made them a threat to the entire world...and thus united it against them and eliminating neutrality as an option. Or...they could vow not to use it and rob themselves of the greater part of their strength. Or...they could agree, pretend not to have it, and then if they used it later they would again create unity against them in one stroke. She wanted to faint with admiration for her beloved. Worse, his other terms were all so generous and reasonable that refusing to sign would create a situation in which they looked like immoral monsters. It was a masterful move, one that cut the legs out from his enemies in a deadly game and left them nothing to stand upon.

"Now, with that understood, if my terms are acceptable, I ask that every nation's representatives sign each provided copy, and I would hear from the representatives of my neighbors, neutral, friendly, and belligerent alike."

There was a heavy discomfort in the air among the Slane Theocracy delegates, including from their ally, King Astraka, who seemed to be quite uncomfortable with their lack of motion to actually sign the document. The moments passed as the Sorcerer King and Guardian Albedo signed them and passed them to the Baharuth Empire, who signed in turn, who passed it on to Queen Calca, who signed in turn...eventually every document lay next to the nearest Theocracy delegate, and they had not signed anything, instead they were looking around as if they were in a panic, hoping for some way to escape the fate of either becoming oath breakers, cutting out their best weapon, or admitting its existence to everyone. Raymond was stunned, it called everything leading up to this moment into contention, how much had they been dancing in the palm of the undead's hands. He recalled the briefing he received about the meeting with the Draconic kingdom. They'd heard the threat was ended, but only the most vague information, little effort had been put to it because they had assumed that the beastmen had withdrawn on their own and it had just been a larger than usual raid. The Sorcerer King's involvement was a revelation, but what was worse was what Queen Draudillon had said about land for refugees. How much up to this moment did he have planned...and how much more was there still to be revealed? The elf king

Their hesitation and slowness, the bottleneck they had created in passing the documents around to have every copy signed, was drawing more and more suspicious looks.

"If that document is not signed, I am initiating a vote among my peers to join forces with the Sorcerer King." The Platinum Dragon Lord said ominously.

Raymond was the first to give in, he took up a quill and signed each copy in turn, passing them to his fellow delegates to sign as well. Eventually each copy was back in the hands of its original holder and the greatest weapon of the Theocracy that Ainz knew they had, was effectively rendered useless unless they wanted to draw even more nations against them. "Now, I will hear my opponents, and then we will _let slip the dogs of war_." Ainz said, his eyes had not changed, but as they focused on King Astraka & the Slane Theocracy, they had a distinct feeling that they were being eyeballed like prey, especially as his final words reached their ears, they felt he was quoting something, but they had no idea what, whatever it was, it was not good for them.

And so it was a bitter, bitter moment for the Slane Theocracy, but in this game at dinner, they had lost the first great battle.

 **AN: Well this was fun. I took a long drive and enjoyed some good weather, smoked a good cigar and had a good time. Decompression achieved. Now a couple of things. Kudos to those of you who got the Shakespeare reference in the chapter title that was bracketed by Ainz's final statement in this one. Good for you. :)**

 **A special note by the way, one I noticed after the last chapter reviews...and this really made me laugh. The FIRST time I had Remedios targeting humans, I had a number of readers say SOME variation of "But Remedios wouldn't do that." However by the time we got up to the chapter 'Cry Havoc' when Gustav expresses dismay at what she's become, EVERY review I read up to this point about what he said, and EVERY message that said something about that subject has said some version of:** ** _"Oh come ON Gustav! Of COURSE she'll do that, how did you NOT see that coming?!"_**

 **I had to laugh at that, and I flatter myself to say I've rewritten canon in your heads.**

 **Now, you may be wondering why I've released ahead of the 900 review requirement. Well somebody remembered a previous condition, wherein charitable donations result in early releases. Someone donated some money to my charitable organization and let me know about it and asked for the next chapter...so...screw it, here you go, I can never say no to charity.**

 **Now you might be wondering why this chapter is a little short compared to the last two...is because you're REALLY going to like the next one, and I wanted you to have something to anticipate and look forward to, I'm really quite the humanitarian that way. ;) If you're wondering who the hell Vanysa is, well you can draw conclusions without knowing the story, but otherwise for more direct knowledge sans inference, you'd need to read 'Taming of the Beasts' where she is introduced in the third chapter. I really like her as a character, she's like a ditzy budding sadist with an insane streak and hero worship for Ainz. Basically perfect for Overlord.**


	46. Revealed Truths & Veiled Fates

While all members of the Slane Theocracy's cardinals were technically equal, it was Raymond who was their spokesman, and when he stood, he answered as forcefully as he could. "We have done what we can for the sake of protecting humanity. We do not deny the hardships that must be endured, but against the undead, who hate the living, whose power poses a threat to all life, human, demihuman, and even heteromorph, what choice is there! You know of his actions on the Katze Plains, do you think he would hesitate to use that power on anyone?! No! He must be stopped, and if our two nations must stand alone, then stand we will!"

"You have one, don't you?" The Platinum Dragon Lord asked. His voice was firm and calm, tranquil and even, he was the soul of diplomacy as he asked the question on every mind.

"What?!" Raymond turned to the Argland council leader.

"A world item. You have one." He asked again.

Raymond sputtered.

"Or was it the bar on slavery that had you hesitant? Or were you eager for your soldiers to commit rape on the population? Or will you tell us you were eager to destroy the sacred sites of the Holy Kingdom? Which of these rules of war did you find so objectionable, if not the ban on the use of a world item? Surely you don't think we're stupid enough to expect you to proclaim that you found the notion of healing the injured repugnant enough that you would hesitate?" The Platinum Dragon Lord's eyes were narrow as he looked around through the armor of his avatar, the faces of the Slane Theocracy members were of shock, anger, dismay, and discomfort.

"What exactly do you have?" Queen Draudillon asked.

"Yes...what do you have...and could it have worked against Jaldabaoth? Did you have...the whole time...a weapon that could have stopped him before he destroyed my capitol, before he killed me...before he killed so many of my people?" Queen Calca's eyes were cold and cruel, a state that nobody who knew her had ever seen before.

"If...if you had that...why? Why didn't you use it?! You LEFT US! You left us all to DIE and to burn and to be tortured by DEMONS!" She shook her fists in anger and her beautiful face was a twisted mask of rage. You called yourselves the defenders of humanity! We begged for your aid! We are your sister country! But you cut us off like a diseased limb and left us to rot in the dirt!" She shrieked at them with passion, "You had an item that could alter the very world! Whatever it was, however it worked, whatever it did, you could have done anything, but chose to do nothing! You valued your weapon so much that you kept it secret! If a demon and demihuman force tearing apart a human nation was not reason enough to come to our aid, what was?! WHAT WAS?!"

"You DARE to criticize the Sorcerer King? He is why I live! He is why my people live! He is why YOU live you traitor!" She said as she turned an accusing finger at King Astraka, who had the sense to look somewhat shamefaced. "I have been briefed about the South, after my death you cut off the North, you pretended that we were NOT a single nation and you fought only lightly until the Sorcerer King brought hope for victory and then you snatched at the crumbs that dropped from his table, he gave us back our kingdom and now you curry favor and power from the nation that abandoned us! How DARE you call yourself a KING?!" Her beauty made her wrath more terrible as she unloaded her rage at the usurper.

King Astraka looked shocked and angered at her outburst, but all he could do was fume until her wrath had cooled enough that she could seat herself again.

Raymond chose to ignore her completely in her outburst and in the question that had been asked, and he said..."I am under no obligation to reveal to you the nature of our nation's defenses, do I know the contents of YOUR weapons which you have hoarded for yourself?" He asked, pointing to the Platinum Dragon Lord, "No, so I will not reveal our weapons, I have signed the agreement and we will abide by it, whether you want us to or not, we will save you all!" He snapped as if to say her tirade was irrelevant, but to those who observed it, it had been not been.

"You refuse to fight Jaldabaoth who brought you nothing but death and war, you refused to fight him in Re-Estize, and you refused to fight him in the Holy Kingdom, yet I save the Holy Kingdom, I offer you peace, and you instead bring war? Just what will you save them from?" Ainz asked. "From peace? From prosperity? From security? Have I not provided all of these things for my subjects, allies, and neighbors?" Ainz asked. "Yes, I admit the spell I used on the Re-Estize Kingdom's army was a brutal one, done at the behest of my ally, and done in the hopes of ending the war in one blow so that I would not have to slaughter more. I do not wish any to die who do not need to, and I ask you, King Zanac, did I simply attack your kingdom? Or did I send notice to you of my will and offer terms of peace?"

It was a bitter pill to swallow, but Zanac replied, "You sent terms of peace...yes. We just...didn't know the price of not accepting them." He said softly, his head went down for a moment.

"Did I not render aid to your nation after the peace, and send food to stave off hunger?" Ainz asked.

"You did. It...saved many lives." He admitted.

"Did your nation not send your people to fight me?" Ainz asked.

"We did." He said, and looked up, "But my father was doing what he thought was right! We didn't know what would happen, we had to defend our land, we thought you a mere proxy for the Emperor, an excuse for the war that year."

Ainz nodded, "Your father made the best call he could, I understand he was a wise king who cared for his people, I admit we were rivals, but I did not hate him. Yet when it was over, did I demand sacrifice, death, or destruction? Did I plunder and abuse the people I began to rule?" Ainz asked.

"We feared you would, but you didn't." Zanac said, "You are..." he paused as though the words hurt to say, "...a good king to them."

Ainz turned to Draconic Kingdom's queen. "How much of your population died by the beastman before you called for aid from my nation?"

"Half. I don't know exact numbers, but almost half." Draudillon said bitterly.

"How many have died since my venture there?" He asked.

"None, no beastman has crossed the border in the years since." She said.

"Vanysa, did I abuse a single human in all our time together?" He asked.

The girl blushed at the thought of a mere peasant addressing the kings and queens of the world, but she said, "Na, yah killed all them beasts, but yah didn't so much as touch a hair on our heads less we said't was alright." She said with a big grin on her face.

The elf king snorted. "You ask 'permission' from peasants to touch their bodies? They're property of the strong, do with them what you want. If they don't like it, let them get strong enough to resist."

Ainz's fury began to build, a pressure began to mount in the dining hall, breathing for the delegates became hard, labored as it built, the dragon lords began to have flashbacks of terror to the Greed Kings...but worse. "I will say this only once, and if I ever have to say it again, I will say it as have your balls removed, whether you inflict yourself on human, elf, or demihuman. No one has a right to another's body, if permission is not granted, then the person who takes liberties anyway is the scum of the land, the lowest of the low, and I will not see it happen." The pressure continued to build, and then it simply vanished.

"Excuse me." Ainz said with a bowing of his head to the table. "Certain...misdeeds, bring rage to me that is not easily quelled. I apologize for any distress I have caused anyone who did not deserve it."

Queen Draudillon was clutching her chest as she began to catch her breath, it was the force of a monster she felt, a presence that could devour the world...but what had upset him so...as a woman she knew very well the ways of the world and what terrible fate could befall those powerless ones who fell into the wrong hands. Who did not, but never had she heard it so enrage a monarch as it did the Sorcerer King.

"I will say this again, I do not...hate...the living. I do not fault anyone here for believing this to be the case...at first, because it is the normative behavior of the undead. But is it not obvious by now that I am not bound by that rule? I have grown beyond the hatred of the living, true I will take life when I must, but did I not offer a path to peace even now? Is she not the rightful queen?" Ainz gestured to Queen Calca. "Does anyone doubt that he," he gestured to King Astraka, "Is merely serving the will of the Theocracy with their prejudice against me? He is not serving the interest of his people, he is serving the interests of a foreign power, a foreign power that did NOTHING when his nation was in danger of destruction. Did I not venture forth myself to face their enemy after the death of Queen Calca?" He asked.

"Shall I call forth a witness, my former squire is ready to hand if needs be to tell you for herself. "In fact, why don't I? I will summon Neia Baraja, let her tell you who I am, what I am." Ainz snapped.

"Neia, are you prepared to speak for me?" Ainz asked via message.

It was not a moment later when she answered. "I am always prepared sire." She replied.

A moment later the portal in reality appeared, and through it stepped the squire of the Sorcerer King. She found herself in front of a closed door, and knocked three times, a guard standing nearby opened it, and she entered, taking long confident steps, her back straight and her visor on. Ainz turned to her, and she knelt in front of him with her head bowed. "I am prepared to work your will your majesty." She answered.

"Then tell them," Ainz gestured to the room, "who I am."

"We know who you are insolent fool." The elf king said dismissively, to which Ainz snapped, "You're the fool...who a person is, is not just their name, who a person is, is what they DO!" Ainz snapped, and the elf went quiet as Neia rose and faced the assembly of the rulers of the world.

"You should remove your visor before speaking to rulers you insolent squire!" Dominic snapped.

"I was leaving them on as a courtesy...Cardinal." She said, "But since it is a request from you..." She removed the visor, and her eyes were closed, and then she opened them. Eyes of terror. That was what Dominic wanted to call them. As he looked into her eyes, he felt like he could see demons, not frolicking, not ruling...but suffering, like demons were being tortured inside the eyes of a worse danger than themselves. She turned her evangelist gaze on one ruler after another, passing over the cardinals, passing over the Queen of the Draconic Kingdom, lingering on King Astraka, who found himself forced to look away, unable to bear her terrible gaze. When she looked to the elf king, he chose to release his killing intent, but unbeknownst to him she had attained a new skill as a result of the events of Wenmark. The skill of the Hellwalker, no matter how much killing intent he unleashed, it was nothing to her but a warm blanket, it could not touch her. She smirked at him, realizing he wanted to terrify her, and watching him fail. "That is nothing." She said dismissively of his power, as if it could not hurt a fly, and it cut off as fast as a sudden end to a rain storm. She met the eyes of the Dragon Lords, and in her they saw her voice, they were readers of beings as a result of their long lives, and they had seen evangelists before, they did not appear often, and not without great trial, cost, pain, and above all, faith. And they resolved to listen.

"I am Neia Baraja, squire of the Sorcerer King, bearer of the armor of the Grand King Busar, founder and Pope of Black Justice, conqueror of Prart and destroyer of Wenmark, defender of Kedyn and slayer of demons and paladins. And I will tell you what I know. I know that when my nation called for aid, nobody would come...except that king." She pointed to Ainz Ooal Gown. I know that when we brought him into our camp, Remedios Custodio took credit for the ideas that he had which would save us from eradication due to the incompetence of our leaders. I know that when it became necessary to sacrifice to win, our paladins failed us because they were unwilling to do what needed to be done, and so the Sorcerer King had to fight our battles for us. I know that he used his magic time and time again when our strength was not enough, and saved thousands upon thousands of our people. I know that when he did so, he was weakening himself in the fight against Jaldabaoth. I know he did it anyway, so more of us might live. I know that he alone, when Queen Calca's body was thrown away like used garbage by the demon emperor, ascended to fight without any aid. He fought not only Jaldabaoth, but also the four maid demons that this dark emperor had ensnared. I know that he freed one of them before he was defeated, falling to the ground in the Abelion hills, and he so crippled the demon that Jaldabaoth was unable to fight for weeks, which gave us time to save ourselves. I know that while there he subdued the region by himself, and lead an army to link up with us at the final battle. I know that the South did nothing until this time, nothing of merit anyway." She paused and turned her eyes against King Astraka, who was suddenly looking very small as he could not meet her gaze.

"I know that when Jaldabaoth returned and the Sorcerer King came to our aid before we could be destroyed, he fought at full strength and easily destroyed the demon emperor, giving us back our nation, and he refused all other reward from us thereafter. More than that, he sent mountains of aid and support, which Southern Nobles...and some Northern ones...frequently STOLE...including the former King Handor...who I believe is YOUR relative...KING Astraka?" She spat the title out and the man blushed with fury.

"That is who the Sorcerer King is, that is why I call him the god of justice, and that is why I support him, who the hell are any of you next to him? Useless as a life preserver in a desert you 'defenders of humanity. I know of one defender of humanity, and he's on this side of the table." Her evangelistic voice thrummed through the air and resonated through their bones, and it deeply embarrassed the Sorcerer King's adversaries. But worse...

"Majesty, if it please you, I would withdraw, the company of lessers offends me, and I have much work to do." Neia said as she knelt again to the Sorcerer King.

"You may go." He said. She rose, turned, looked at the hateful face of Dominic, and spat on him, it landed on his cheek, and for a moment he was to stunned, everyone was to stunned, to so much as speak. She walked away, back out the door as if to go to the Sorcerer King's carriage, and closed the door behind her. She heard the shrieking of the outraged cardinal, and smiled with satisfaction, regretting that she had not spat on the usurper King as well, and she used her gate scroll and returned from where she came with nobody the wiser.

"How dare she!" Dominic was yelling, Astraka's fists clenched and he was snarling, and the elf king seemed utterly lost that a mere human had not been distressed by his killing intent. "How dare she! The heretic will burn! I will see her dead!" Dominic raged, completely losing all decorum, while Raymond and the others frantically tried to calm him as his outburst, however provoked, made their nation look violent and irrational on the international stage, it was as if she knew just who would respond worse, and poked at him in just the right way, it frustrated them all to no end.

When he had calmed down, Ainz launched back into his speech as if that moment had never happened.

"I dare you! Check the Queen, check my former squire, check this girl here! Find anyone who will say that the Sorcerer King is unjust, unfair, or cruel without need! Or that they are ensnared by my magic, some of you have already seen that they are not!" Ainz challenged them with his eyes, daring them to speak against him. "You however, are more than willing to slaughter innocents for no reason at all!" When I first came to this world I encountered one of your scriptures, you came to kill one of the great heroes of humanity, Gazef Stronoff, and what is more, if that were even excusable, you sought to blame the Baharuth Empire and then your scripture intended to slaughter the human villagers that I personally saved from your soldiers. How many villages did you burn? What wrong did they do? What injustice did they commit, that you sought their demise?! If I were capable of spitting, then I would spit upon your claim to be the defenders of humanity, you are not its defenders, you are its PREDATORS!" Ainz said as his voice rose to a crescendo and he leaned in and held their now very fearful as much as furious eyes.

"Mark my words Theocracy, you will not survive the war you chose to begin, and it will not be because I sought your demise, but because you sought the demise of so many others."

There was silence around the table...the elf king had still not fully regained his ability to breath, and Ainz marked him down as profoundly unintelligent if he could so quickly forget the last lesson he had been taught.

Ainz straightened up. "The terms of war are settled, I will allot one month for all belligerent nations to return to their home countries, no soldiers of mine will cross any borders until then, but after that...the world will change, and for the better, one way or the other. Either be inside the wheel as it turns, or you will be crushed underneath it." He turned with a flourish and stepped away from the table.

"Vanysa, it was good to see you again," he said and reached into his robe and pulled out a small pouch and handed it to her "an apology for what you had to endure here as my guest."

He turned to the elf king. "I'll be seeing you again." He said ominously, and he walked out, Albedo and Sebas followed him, while Vanysa looked numbly down at the pouch.

When the Sorcerer King and his party had gone, the Queen turned to her and asked, "Well, whats in it?" Because Vanysa could only stare down into it in shock. She stood up, and dumped the contents onto the table, revealing scores of platinum coins of the Sorcerous Kingdom, easily enough for a person to live on for lifetimes. Their clinking and clattering sounded like applause for the success of the sorcerous kingdom. The rules of the world looked at the little pile, it was not a small thing, those bearing dragon's blood felt their eyes drawn to the stack as if they were lustful men and the coins beautiful wanton women. Vanysa scooped the coins back into the little sack and turned to her queen. "Majesty, may I take ma leave...this...is a bit much..." She said nervously.

Queen Draudillon shook her head. "No, not yet, I have questions to ask you, but don't worry, they will not be hard ones. Only wait a while." She gave the girl a smile to reassure her, but the other delegates had other things on their mind.

Jircniv stood up. "I do not know what he was talking about when it comes to other worlds...but if he has world items, items you consider to have come from your gods...which I believe you have, whether you deny it or not...well what does that make him? I warned you...do not get in his way."

As Jircniv stepped away from the table and left, Dominic stood up and shouted, "Blasphemer! The gods will punish you! We will make sure of it!"

Jircniv paid the man no heed as he returned to his carriage and departed.

Queen Calca stood and stared daggers at the Theocracy, "You deprive me of my throne to defend humanity, you defend humanity by butchering humans through a puppet, I will have my throne back, and I will not forget what you have done to us." There was ice in her voice as the beautiful queen turned around and walked away from the table.

The Argland Council stood and the Platinum Dragon Lord addressed them, "You have not lived long, I have, I know the power of the greed kings & the demon gods, and what you have awakened surpasses them by far. You had better think long and hard about prosecuting this war, and perhaps if you ask his forgiveness and concede to his will, he will spare you his wrath. Whatever world he comes from, whatever worlds he has been to, that ancient being has clearly seen through you so far and so well that he not only prepared against your having a weapon of incomprehensible power, he got you to admit it, and he got you to swear before all nations not to use it. You are up against an intellect you cannot beat, with power you cannot match. You are all dead men, which is the only reason I am not siding with him already. I wonder how many you'll drag into the grave with you along the way?" He said it as a question, but it was not, instead he and the other dragon lords departed, leaving the Theocracy cardinals, Astraka, and elf king seething.

King Zanac stood up and said, "You think you can win, you are damn fools, I will not drag my country down with yours." He turned to his sister. "Princess?" He asked, and she gave the Theocracy a look, however brief, at the inner monster, before she returned to her sweet expression and caught up to her departing brother.

Queen Draudillion looked at the three nation's leaders and gasped out softly..."What the hell were you all thinking...have you all gone mad?" Her eyes were wide with shock.

The elf king had returned to his arrogant posture, "He appears powerful. But I will break him."

King Astraka summed it up smartly, "When you can neither run nor win, you might as well fight, he's chosen conventional war, I can win a conventional war. Send enough bodies back to him, and they'll stop coming." He said, a hard look on his face as he began thinking the campaign through." He stood up and left as well, at the same moment as the elf king, leaving only Vanysa and the Slane Theocracy alone with the queen.

Dominic said, "It is the gods will that we defend humanity, and by the god's power we will win." His eyes smoldered with rage, but as he stood, and the others with them, they had less confident expressions on their faces, and they cast dark looks at Vanysa, who sat fidgeting nervously as they walked out.

When they were alone, Draudillon sat at the corner of the table next to the peasant girl. She reached out and touched the surface of the girl's hand, she was obviously nervous, and the Queen was not intending to be cruel, so she gave the girl a smile. "Please, look at me?" She asked of her, and Vanysa slowly lifted her gaze to that of her Queen.

"I am forever grateful for what the Sorcerer King did for me, for my country, he did what I couldn't, and what nobody who could have was willing to do." She had a bitter expression on her face for a moment, but then shook it off, "I am not asking you to betray any confidence of the Sorcerer King, I can see your faith in him, I think it is well placed, but please understand, I am Queen here, I have to know what I'm dealing with, please just tell me what you saw, I only ask so that I can govern well, to make the right choices for us all. I know you think of him as a great ruler, I only want to do well enough that I'm seen as one as well. Please...help me?" She asked gently.

Vanysa looked uncertain for a moment, and then her eyes became full of life and bounce and she perked up, "Aight! There's lotsa stuff I can tall ya, guess we should start at Ha'ak Pale where ah met'im..." She said, gleefully recounting his actions and the spells he used and the things he taught her over the ensuing series of weeks while he brought down the Beastmen and ventured over the border where no human could go and live. Queen Draudillon listened with care, but noted most interestingly was not his displays of absolute power over magic, but his seeming ocean of knowledge of other subjects, teaching her about kingship and economics and social policy, and dozens of other things, he seemed a font of experience, and when she got to the present where he said he had a solution to her country's problems and promised to speak with the Queen at length on how to do so when the opportunity presented, she hoped for an even faster end to the war.

"Thank you Vanysa." She said politely, "You've been very helpful"

She pushed the pouch over to the girl, "Take them, he gave them to you." She said with a smile, and Vanysa bounced up to her feet with a happy grin, "Appy to help yer majesty! An fer what its worth, ah think yer a good Queen, just got dealt a bad and is all! Jus stay on is side an we'll be fine!" She smiled and bowed deeply, and when the Queen waved her hand, Vanysa popped up, turned, and scurried out.

Queen Draudillon left the dining hall and returned to her throne room with a heavy sigh, this had been an exhausting day, she slumped on her throne and Vermillion asked, "Would your majesty like a drink?"

"Very much so..." She said as she rested her head to one side on her closed fist. "But I shouldn't, I need to think these things through, and to do that properly I need to be sober."

"What of his majesty the Sorcerer King?" He asked her, folding his hands behind his back.

"Our national policy on him going forward can be summed up as...do whatever the fuck he tells us to and hope we don't piss him off." She said, "We need to stay on his good side, and I daresay we should join with him as soon as the war is over. If we receive half the benefits of the Baharuth Empire, then we'd be looking at the most prosperous age our country has seen in centuries. Perhaps we should even go a step farther and ask for full integration into his kingdom. I'd rather be a governor of a prosperous region than the Queen over the ashes of a kingdom."

That startled Vermillion quite a bit, and they sat in silence for quite awhile, each turning events over in their heads. "What did your majesty think of his 'other worlds' comment?" He asked.

"I don't know...we know the gods came from another place, and we can guess that this secret treasure of the Slane Theocracy is one of their possessions, one of those 'world items'. If he came from the same place...well Emperor Jircniv said it best. If he came from the same place as the gods, and has the same items...what does that make him? I don't like thinking about it. Damn the Theocracy! They're just not thinking!" She snapped. "I don't even want to think about what kinds of items he has in his possession if he has several of these things." It made her breathing hard, "I think I need a walk, the Sorcerer King mentioned how he liked to walk the streets of the city, I don't think I've ever done that, perhaps I should try it?" She said thoughtfully.

"If it is her majesty's will, but I insist that you have a body guard." He said.

"Of course." She replied and she walked out of the palace with Vermillion behind her, several guards were summoned, and a few minutes later they were on their way out, the courtyard was empty by now, the hour was late, darkness covered the area, and the carriages were all gone, the leaders of the respective states departed for home. It was a cool, airy night despite the warmth of late spring setting in and transitioning to summer, the moon overhead was a mere sliver, and the stars covered the world like a blanket, Queen Draudillon found that she was able to easily relax under that cloak of darkness, the dim torches were all the light she really needed, but as she continued to walk, her foot kicked something, it flew away with a 'clink, clink, clinck' noise, and she approached the place it had stopped with some curiosity. She crouched down and reached to the source, it was dim, but as she rubbed her fingers over the surface, she recognized that it was a platinum coin of the Sorcerous Kingdom.

Vermillion approached, "Is something the matter your majesty? What was that?" He leaned over and waved for a guard to bring a torch to bear from behind them, as they leaned over the cause of the noise, the light of the torch reflected off the surface and confirmed that it was indeed a coin of the Sorcerous Kingdom.

"Oh, its nothing, it seems in her 'bouncy' way of departing, that Vanysa dropped one of these coins, she obviously either did not notice in the darkness, or could not find it and did not want to seem suspicious looking around for it in the night." She turned to one of the guards, "I didn't think to find out where she lived, so tomorrow have a few guards go out and work out her residence, we should return this to her as soon as we can, this is worth far to much to simply brush it off."

"As your majesty wishes." The guard said, internally groaning at the ordeal it would be to find one girl in such a large city.

 **AN: Well here you go, double release, I'm truly moved by the willingness of people to contribute in blood donations (kinda makes me feel like a vampire, extorting blood from y'all for more, so that is very cool. ;) ) as well as monetary donations, you're amazing, the Overlord Fandom really is the best! So, as promised, I've got a few double releases to do, some of these will be pretty time consuming, but I promise at the very least I won't be skipping any days! In the meantime, well I hope you enjoyed this chapter. Reviews please. No minimums necessary, the donations to bdgiving dot org and the promise of blood donation to save lives has moved me to write like a demon possessed madman for the next few days.**


	47. Credit Where Credit is Due

_...Several miles outside the capitol of the Draconic Kingdom..._

When the carriages were a few miles away from the capitol of the Draconic Kingdom, Ainz halted his own, and in short order this action was followed up by the carriage of the Bloody Emperor and Queen Calca.

Ainz stepped out of his own, and they removed themselves from theirs. They approached one another with serious faces until they were within arms reach of one another, and then Ainz began to laugh, it was deep, it was long, it was loud, he threw back his head and sent his laughter to the skies, and before him knelt the Holy Queen and the Bloody Emperor, and though they knelt before him, they shared in his laughter, sending their satisfaction to the skies just behind that of their liege. Ainz clapped them both on the shoulders and said, "Stand! Stand! You have truly earned it! Those fools, those foolish fools!" Though his face could not smile as it lacked flesh, they could feel his warmth and joviality as they stood before him.

"Your solidarity with me has meant much, and I will not forget it, the Slane Theocracy came away looking foolish, their 'puppet' of an ally looked weak, their elf king like a monster, and we very nearly had the Dragon Lords ready to fight beside us!" Ainz wished he could give the broad smile he felt, but he let his voice carry his emotions.

"Queen Calca, we will sign the documents of integration after the war is over, for now we must put you on your throne and set everything to rights. Emperor Jircniv, I trust your troops are where I instructed them to be?" Ainz added.

Jircniv grinned, "Yes my lord, our soldiers stand ready to march, we will go where you command us when the time comes."

"Very good." Ainz said, "And Queen Calca, are you ready to deal with Remedios Custodio?"

The Holy Queen looked incredibly sad, but she gave a quiet nod. "I am, I have a duty to do, she has grown twisted beyond all words, in ways I never imagined...but...should have." She choked on her words for a moment, but gathered herself to continue, "I know I can never make up for having...died, or for having left her the means to do the things she did, but maybe if I get her to yield, maybe I can set things to the way they should be. I don't know that she'll even listen to me anymore, but I promise I'll try."

"All anyone can ask of anyone else is their best." Ainz said as he touched her chin and lifted her face up to meet his red glowing orbs.

"If you have done that, if you have done what you can to make things right, no matter what happens, life, death, success, failure, advance, withdraw...then you have nothing to feel ashamed of, not in war, not in peace, and not in life or death. If you do what you can, with what you have, where you are, and while you live...even if you do not achieve all your goals, you may inspire others who come after you to achieve them in your stead. Then you will have no reason not to rest easy when you finally pass away the way you should, old and satisfied and in your own bed, having left your kingdom better for your having ruled."

She gave a small nod, the force of his charisma hit her like a thousand thunderclaps, his noble voice seemed to speak to her soul, and she found herself forgetting, even looking at his skeletal fleshless face, that he was an undead. To her he was the one who saved her nation, and the one who would save it again, a being of ageless wisdom and unlimited power, a traveler of worlds and a walker among the gods, the king of kings, and she was grateful that she could kneel before him as a supplicant and offer her kingdom the blessing of his reign...but first...first they had to take back what was stolen.

"Everyone did very well." Ainz reassured them.

"But...that was Neia Baraja?" Queen Calca asked with disbelief, "And she was just one of my squires?"

"Yes, though an exceptionally gifted one, even if she did not fully appreciate it at the time I met her." Ainz replied, "She has come a very long way from the desperate squire who offered me her head in my throne room if it meant bringing aid to her country even a little bit sooner." Ainz chuckled at the memory, "I still remember the way she lowered her head as it was offered to me by her superior for any offense she called. She went to both knees, leaned forward, closed her eyes, put her neck out and bare, and waited to die for what she'd done. I was...impressed. I suppose you could say I thought that if a nation could produce people like her, it must surely be worth saving." Ainz said as he looked back on it.

"She was offered to me as a squire, though it seemed some of her comrades were glad to be rid of her, she did not get on well with most of them, save Gustave Montagne. She was however, dedicated, strong, brave, and relentless. I came to understand it was her eyes that set her apart from other humans, it made her an outcast that put everyone else into an uncomfortable emotional state, and left her alone. She has since then found comrades, peers who treasure her and who do not tremble at her gaze, despite all the pain she is in I believe in her very much, and though it is a shame no others did for so long, I am glad that I have her faith and confidence now." Ainz said, he smiled at the memory.

"I hope, after all this is over, I can find some way for her to heal." He said wistfully, and Jircniv marveled at his compassion, he had found Neia Baraja to be a terrifying presence, yet the Sorcerer King spoke of her in an almost paternal way, it was...enlightening.

Queen Calca for her part, was embarrassed at such a show of feeling from her liege to be, but she was also embarrassed for her country. "We overlooked a great talent, I suppose it is good that she is being applied to our betterment now though. However I must find some way to reward her service myself when all is said and done."

"I believe she would welcome that." Ainz said, "Now, I will open the gates, and we can return quickly. Tomorrow the march begins and we bring our armies to bear." He paused and cocked his head in thought as he opened the gate for Jircniv, "I wonder how long it will be before they break the agreement."

No answer was forthcoming, as Jircniv bowed and then walked through the gate, leaving his carriage to return back on its own. "Our turn." Ainz said to Calca, "We will see you to your proper home, soon enough." She bowed with a smile of gratitude, and when it opened, they stepped through together, followed by Albedo & Sebas, and their carriages as well, began the long ride home unoccupied.

 _...Midway between Wenmark & Yanana..._

When Neia returned through the portal, CZ and Skana were waiting for her. "Well, how was it?" They asked.

"Seeing my god is always a glorious moment." Neia said.

"And the rest?" Skana asked.

"Our enemies are lesser figures, not worthy of mention." She said with empty disinterest and a dismissive shrug. She sounded more like CZ than herself.

Skana touched her arm as Neia began to walk past and took up her bow again. "Hey, are you alright? You don't seem yourself?"

"I'm fine." Neia said, "Its just the last few mining complexes we visited, seems every place we visit is worse than the last, and now we're done, we're on our way out of this hellscape, but some of the blood miners haven't caught up to us yet, and we haven't seen any sign of Remedios. Isn't she looking for us? And why do I think those two things are related?" She asked as she got on to an undead horse and signalled the party to move on. Skana & CZ mounted their own undead horses and fell into step beside her at the front.

Skana was not sure she believed what Neia said about what bothered her, but that didn't mean that her commander was wrong, and that bothered her too.

"They probably are related." Skana said bluntly. "But there is nothing we can do about it. Look the groups we sent out to start fires and burn farms to free their slaves, they volunteered for those missions, some of those tasks were bound to go wrong, and Remedios may have a massive army, but she can't send everybody everywhere, I think we're just out of reach having gone this far East."

"CZ, what do you think?" Neia asked.

CZ frowned for a moment and thought it over. "Ambush ahead." She said.

That caught them off guard, for a moment they imagined that she meant immediately, but then they came to their senses and thought it over.

"Skana, let me see the map." She said, and held out her hand. Skana reached into her pack, took it, and handed it to Neia.

Neia studied the map and their present position. "If I were going to lay an ambush...where would it be?" She asked of herself, thinking aloud.

She began to trace her finger over the map, "It makes sense, they know the nearest safe area is Prart, they know we have some allies in Yanana, so why bother chasing us all over the area around Wenmark when they can just ambush us on the way to a place they know we have to go. To keep us from guessing it, they have to put down a few raids, but if they knew we were traveling west along the north first, then they could march in the opposite direction and snatch us all up at once. So...where would I do this?" She thought out loud again, she looked up at the terrain, she looked down at the map.

"I would say it would be over there." Neia said as she pointed to a narrow gap. "But Remedios is probably not planning this, she's a bull, all she knows is to rush in and kill, she hasn't an ounce of tactical sense to her name, so lets say someone intelligent is planning this." Neia said. She traced her finger along the road, and that was when she saw it.

"I know where it is." She said in a hushed voice.

"Where?" Skana asked.

"We traveled to Wenmark over water, that was easy, because the way we went there was down stream, but to go this way, we have to go overland, that means we have to pass by these woods and that hill. Just before we reach that is a village, they can use that to acquire supplies, they can disguise agents as part of the population, and when we're past the village, they can hit us from every direction at once." Neia said as she pointed out the utility of the different features.

"So...what do we do?" Skana asked.

Neia pondered the matter for a few hours, and then had a decidedly mischievous smile on her face. "Oh...I have an idea." She said, let me think on it a bit more first however. They looked at her, curious, but consented.

As they moved along for the next two days, gradually more Blood Miners, and a few of the Vines who had escaped and been neither caught nor picked up before, filtered to the line of march of Neia's band. Both reported the same thing. The Blood Miners reported that behind them lay foot soldiers and light cavalry, while along the north west there were foot soldiers shadowing the line of march as if they knew where Neia was going. When CZ went out to scout the other side, she reported the same. Each report carried similar information, though the soldiers were relatively few in number, they were disciplined, well equipped, and watchful. Good, but not great.

"So that means the bulk of them are ahead of us, I expect these ones surrounding and shadowing us intend to link up in the village to fight as a united front, while the bulk of the force we're to face will be in the woods and in the hills just beyond the town itself." Neia said, her voice growing more confident as the plan took shape. "How long till we get there do you think?" She asked CZ.

CZ's eyes went blank for a moment, "Twenty two hours at our current pace." CZ said matter of factly.

"Alright, I want us a few hours away from the village at nightfall, we need the darkness." Neia answered.

At her instruction, the formation slowed down, until they were roughly three miles from the village and the sun had begun to set. Dutifully they made camp like every other night, and Neia gathered her people together. Skana was much relieved as Neia began a sermon. "Consider the old gods! What did they do for you! For us! For anyone! Oh they might have been a thing in their time! But they did not tell anyone not to own slaves! No! The Sorcerer King has told us to be just with one another, he has told us that we may profit, but not by cruelty or exploitation, that we may live, but that we must provide for one another, that we are a community no matter what our race! You who were the residents of Wenmark, see how the Blood Miners stand together being both elf and human alike? See how I stand before you, a human, weak, but willing to turn what strength I have towards justice! And what did we all accomplish together, with the aid of our god the dark city became a dead city! Evil has been crushed because good people were willing to raise their fists and say, "NO MORE!" Now we face another enemy, one who escaped our grasp before, she has sent out a detachment to slay us, to kill us, to turn us into food for the crows and the beasts of the field, will you leave your brothers and sisters to suffer that fate?!" She exhorted them with a call to courage, and they answered as the power of her voice thrummed through them as if she were playing an instrument and making beautiful music.

"NO!" They shouted.

"Then this is what we will do!" She said, creating the world's first battle sermon.

The plan was explained, and when the darkness consumed the area completely, they began their work. Neia and Skana took a group of Black Justice elites under cover of darkness into the forest, they covered ground swiftly, driving their bodies to the limit, relying on stealth and surprise. Overhead the sky was blessedly covered in clouds, they looked as ominous as the circumstances the humans found themselves in, a low rumbling ahead welcomed them and warned of the coming storm. As she looked up at the clouds, she gave a smile and a stare that seemed to say to the clouds, 'Let us see who is the greater storm!' When they reached the woods their operation began. Black Justice had the advantage of the lessons of the Sorcerer King's domain, and learned like no others the skill of sentry removal, clad in black and Neia's forest green, they moved like moonlight over water, a part of the darkness for which they were named, and one by one they terminated those who could warn their ambushers. Neia approached a man, he looked young, barely old enough to grow a beard. He carried himself well enough, his spear at the ready and his eyes scanning the trees, but as she looked the area over, she noticed that he kept his eyes ahead, and one sentry could not easily see the other. So she climbed up as stealthily as she could until she was above his field of vision and crept along the branch, holding on to the one over head as her feet slid forward, then she dropped slowly to the ground, using her martial skills to silent the landing, she was only a small bit behind him. He seemed at the last moment to realize he had eyes on him, she felt the tension in him as he tried to turn around, but no quarter was given, no mercy was shown, the mad eyed archer reached around and grabbed him over the mouth and pulled back, stiffling his cry even as her other hand pulled out a dagger and drew it across his throat, leaving only choked gasps as he bled out. He must have been a strong one, because she had to hold tight to keep him from turning all the way around, and even so, he managed to turn his head and look over his shoulder. Her face was covered, but not her eyes, and when he saw those, he knew who had killed him, his eyes went from shock to abject terror, and then the life began to fade with the flow of blood. She did not let him drop, that would make to much noise.

Instead she held him, and gently lowered him to the ground. She looked the body over, in the past she knew this should have troubled her, he was young, no doubt he had family behind, she wondered what folly lead him to this place, to die in the woods fighting against a better world. She sensed no evil or hatred, yet he had to die because of where he stood...and somehow she didn't have it in her to feel the tragedy that she knew she should have felt it to be. He wasn't completely dead yet, but he couldn't speak, not well, not with his throat cut. She knelt down, she could at least close his eyes for him, as if he were in rest. She heard his final words gasped out..."Momma...no...momma please...It hurts, I'm scared..." and then he said no more, and she took two fingers and placed them over his face, and closed his eyes forever.

When it was done, she stood and wiped the blood from her blade, and left him there in the dark, scanning for her next target.

Where Neia was good, Skana was great, she crept along the low ground, hiding within the bushes and thrust her sword through the gaps in armor at the pit of the arm, driving it down into the lungs so that no words could pass their lips, and she drew them back into the darkness like a monster whose deeds were told to children to keep them in their beds at night. So it was that one by one the sentries established to prevent exposure were dispatched, and Black Justice, though few in number, drew ever closer to the camp.

CZ for her part, was a maid demon and she killed like it. She did not draw close for sentry removal, she didn't need to, the hill was her target and she was the tip of the spear. She sniped her enemies from a distance, dropping them easily and then moving up. In her mind she contemplated the plans of Neia Baraja, she rather liked Neia, considering her to be a friend, but even without that favorable view this was a good plan. No doubt the encampment a few miles from the village made these soldiers think they had another night before they could spring their trap, that Neia and company would pass through the village in the morning and could be caught by surprise as they left, the few scattered soldiers that were meant to come together in a body in the village and cut off retreat were well out of reach, having stayed in a U shape a mile or more away from the encampment, which meant they were several miles away from where Neia and her soldiers were actually acting.

As her forces took out the sentries and drew closer to the base of the hill, she realized what Neia had also predicted was quite accurate, they had encamped behind it rather than on top of it where they might be seen, so rather than attack the camp directly, she lead the Blood Miners and the surviving Vines up to the top of the hill. They were armed chiefly with bows and spears, but had a few swords, but elves were renowned for their archery and as they went to the top of the hill, there was only a smattering of people there which were quickly sniped in rapid succession. When it was done, she looked to her massed ranks.

"Gather arrows, form ranks." They moved quickly to the dead, rummaging through their materials and finding a number of additional arrows, and then forming up where CZ instructed them.

"Where I shoot bright, you shoot." She said in the cold emotionless tone that she always had, privately looking forward to her intoxication protocol after everything was over, and promising herself she'd give Neia two stickers for this.

Then she took up a torch, walked to the hill facing the woods, and waved it side to side overhead.

It was the signal they had been waiting for.

CZ went back to the formation of archers, her maid demon eyes looked down into the camp, they had few people awake, and though they were there in numbers, she did not see anyone who could compare to her. She picked out the area where she saw the most people sleeping, raised her spell gun, and fired a bright shot that served as a tracer. "Fire." She said flatly, and the elves lit their arrows and then lit up the night, the bright flames fell like stars out of the sky and landed in the area where people slept in their tents, and the flames caught and screams of shock and pain and fear filled the air. CZ shot again, and so did the Blood Miners and the Vines, they shot again. It became an arrow storm. The Vines and the Blood Miners had in their ranks many captive veterans of the war between the Theocracy and the Elf Kingdom, and as a result many of them were already trained archers, and by selling these enemies into bondage, they brought them to within reach.

Neia saw from a distance as the third flight of arrows lit up the darkness and fell, and remembered the saying of her lord, "Evil will, must evil mar." Now its meaning was stark and clear to her as never before, and she sounded the charge. From out of the darkness Black Justice warriors ran screaming into the camp, and Neia played her part to the hilt, she used her evangelist voice to instill panic in the force they struck, "It is an ambush! We're routed! Run away! Run away!" she screamed as if she were one of their numbers, and her own forces held back private smiles as the panic set in, they kicked over pots and lit flames and everything that would burn, they tried to burn, smoke rose from within and the ambush was itself ambushed, and as men have known since Vegetius, an ambush, if detected and promptly surrounded, will have its intended mischief repaid with interest. The interest repaid was high, dressed in the darkness they moved through, they were hard to see, while the soldiers of Remedios were either undressed as they slept, or dressed in brighter armor that made them stand out in the reflected flame. The unarmored fighting against the armored is not a battle, it is an execution, and drowsed from sleep and not expecting attack, hit by the power of a fear inducing voice, devoid of order and thrust into chaos by a band of veterans of unknown numbers, told to flee by an authoritative voice, they never had a chance. Even the bravest are frightened by sudden dangers, and many simply ran into the darkness with no idea where they should go.

It wasn't a battle, it was a prolonged execution.

Where CZ stood things were only slightly different, the falling arrows gave the shocked soldiers a target, and some few managed to gather a form of order and advance up the hill. However CZ's spell gun and ability to target was second to none, and no one had armor that could withstand her shots. The arrows flew into the formation and though the common arrows of the Blood Miners and the Vines could be stopped by ordinary armor, the mass of them meant that some got through, and with hundreds flying into the advancing ranks, every time a man fell the formation grew weaker. They overlapped their shields as best they could, but CZ simply targeted anyone who seemed to be giving orders, or anyone who seemed to have survived for to long. They would have left a trail of bodies, but on the step hill, the bodies rolled back down to collect in a heap at its base. When she saw the formation begin to waver, she snapped out to them, "Surrender and live!"

They had sterner stuff in them than that...at first, and they advanced further up the hill, but when the maid demon became visible to them and they realized they were not fighting something human, and saw how she simply shot them without any evident effort, the next call of surrender was accepted, they were not halfway up the hill, and CZ called a halt to the killing. Blood Miners and Vines rumbled at this, but CZ's cold expression stilled their bloodlust.

"Go, bind hands. Take weapons. Hurt none." She said flatly, and went to give the signal to Neia that the first stage was complete.

 **AN: Well Here we go again readers, hope you enjoy this, yes there is a double release today, I owe you five more days of them, perhaps more if others end up donating. :) I'm honestly very proud of this Community in general. If you want to ensure I continue to do daily releases, you can donate to bdgiving dot org, or you can donate blood to a local Red Cross or similar organization. Simply snap a photo to prove your donation, and I'll do an additional double release that day. If you can't, I'll also accept getting someone else to donate in your stead. The way I see it, you should enjoy everything the world has to offer, but at the same time, we should do what we can to make the world a bit of a better place, and if enjoying Overlord helps save a life or improve some other corner of the world...well everybody wins. :)**


	48. Back From the Edge

_...Draconic Kingdom...Morning after the summit..._

Queen Draudillon counted herself a reasonably competent Queen, admittedly she had an unusually high alcohol consumption, but that had tapered off since the beastmen invasions had been stopped cold. This did not mean she was without challenges, but she was willing and able to work at them, and the benefits of trade with the Sorcerer King had begun to show since the last days of the beastmen war. She'd slightly increased the services her kingdom provided and paid for more healings of the wounded, but now with the founding of Black Justice and their stance on healing, she'd dispatched a request that a temple be built in her capitol, and she was sure it was only a matter of time before this happened. All that said, she also genuinely cared for her people's well being beyond the role of being a pure administrative requirement, so returning the incredibly valuable coin that had been dropped by Vanysa became a personal matter for her.

With no idea where the girl lived, she was forced to have a contingent of guards go out and ask after her, the girl stood out, that much was in their favor, not many peasants were that...bouncy, and she was admittedly rather beautiful, she would be recognized even by those who didn't know her, and in this way they were able to narrow down what part of the city she'd been seen in within a day. A quick sketch of the girl handed to a few guards had helped immensely, the artist, a rather gifted person, had even captured her spirit and 'posed' her playfully and with her toothy grin.

So within a day they knew which quarter of the city she lived in. Within four days they'd narrowed it down to which block, and at first she'd just stationed guards in the area with her description and they'd been told to keep an eye out for her and catch her attention when she was seen...but within four days of that...there had still been no sign. So the Queen ordered them to find her residence. Within two days of that, they'd found her residence and her immediate neighbors, and that was when she received unpleasant news. According to the people who lived around her, she had not been seen since the day of the summit.

When this was delivered to her, the Queen shot up from her throne and immediately went to where she was known to live. The carriage ride was very quick and for that she was very grateful. She wrang her hands nervously, the girl was a personal...friend...servant? Of the Sorcerer King, he had been a guest of his at her palace, she had disappeared immediately after...this did not look good. Her heart beat loud in her chest as Vermillion tried to calm her down.

"Please, your majesty think nothing more of this, she probably asked to go with the Sorcerer King, she's obviously bound to him in some way, having served him in the past, she probably simply went with him that night and that is why she didn't come back here. Please calm down!" He said, leaning forward intently.

"I hope you're right Vermillion." Queen Draudillon said anxiously. "She stayed behind because I asked her to. That makes me the last person known to have seen her, she was alone with ME in MY palace, what would you think if you were in the Sorcerer King's position?"

Vermillion had not considered it that way, and he sat back in his chair and touched his forehead where sweat began to bead. He swallowed anxiously, "Shit...shit...shit...shit...shit. This is bad, this is very bad, this is very, very, very bad." He gazed up at the top of the carriage as it slowed down and began to stop.

"You're right, and its made worse by our very slow response, we have to make up for lost time, gods what if he should return here at some point and ask about her, what would we do then if he couldn't find her and found out she disappeared after being alone with me? You've seen how far he goes for people who work for him, he'll turn this kingdom on its head to find her and I don't doubt he'd burn it to the ground if he thought we were responsible for her dying. Do you want that?!" She snapped as the guards began to dismount from the carriage.

"No." He said.

"Then stop telling me not to panic and start panicking. This is the PERFECT time to panic, this is the exact situation that panicking was made for! Now get down with me and lets find out just how fucked we all are!" She snapped at him again and he went quiet, the door to the carriage opened and she said to the nearby guard who had found her residence, "You, lead us to it."

He didn't have to ask what she meant, he didn't even stop to bow, he spun on his heel and walked into the alleyway to a flimsy wooden door. The alley was grimy, dirty, the cobblestones were loose, the wooden door was practically rotted, it wasn't so much a door as it was just termites holding hands. She paused in front of it, "Are you sure this is her residence? The Sorcerer King knew this girl personally, she served him for weeks, I find it hard to imagine that the same king that would hand over a fortune as compensation for an unpleasant evening would have left her in poverty after weeks of service?" Her eyes narrowed angrily at the thought that his might have been another dead end.

"Yes your majesty," the guard said nervously, "I spoke with her neighbors, she does live her, she took the compensation from the Sorcerer King and opened up a shop, but a new tax was passed focused on her area that made her goods very expensive, in addition several fees were imposed that hit her hard, and she lost everything, everything was confiscated and she was forced to live here." His eyes were a bit nervous, but he was confident he was right.

Suddenly she briefly remembered something the Sorcerer King had mentioned, about something called 'protectionism' but there was no time for that now. "Open it, break it down if you have to." She said sharply, and the bulky guard put his shoulder into it as he slammed himself against the fragile door, it splintered and opened easily, and in they went.

"Seems to me a girl with a fortune in hand would have spent some of it by now." She said as she looked around, the place was a wreck, rotted furniture, rotted bed stuffed with old straw, but much to her surprise there was one nice piece, a book shelf that was clearly not very old, and it had several books on it. Draudillon approached and took one up, "D is for dog." She read the title aloud. "She learned to read?" The Queen asked in surprise.

She thumbed through some of the other books, "Where could she have gotten these?" she asked as she touched them, they were immaculate, there were candles burned down by her bed, she went through far more than the average peasant did. but the real question was the books themselves, they were very finely bound, obviously expensive. "Could she have spent money on these?" She asked the guards.

"We don't know..." They said. "Find out! Send two of your number to the nearest book sellers, ask if they have any of these titles." She briefly scribbled down what she saw here and sent them off. "Tom Sawyer & Huckleberry Finn...Please Teacher...Marmalade Boy...Kama Sutra" She flipped through the books, several of them were filled with pictures, unusual art, but oddly compelling...one of them was compelling for an entirely different reason, and she almost 'borrowed' it, but with some regret she put it back.

She looked around the room, there was food on the table, but it was rotted. "No way she ate this recently." The queen said, "Not after the meal she had at my palace." She began to wring her hands, and in a nervous gesture she opened one of the books to the inside of the cover and read it aloud. "Library of Ashurbanipal...Nazarick." She put the book down like it was going to bite her and turned pale. "Fuck." She said. "We...are...so...fucked."

She pointed to the nearest guard. "Wait here for the others to come back from the book sellers, then lock this place down, I want a guard here every hour of every day, if the book seller reports anything purchased since the summit, I want to know about it." She pointed to Vermillion. "Go to every hotel of note in this city and send word to all those outside of it, if she gave herself a little vacation to reward herself, I want to know where it is and I want to know that she's alive and safe, and I want to know yesterday!" She was getting more and more anxious.

"May I suggest majesty, that we inquire with the Sorcerer King himself? If she is with him, all is well, if she is not, well the longer we delay telling him of her disappearance, the worse this might become. We're well past the point where we can just pretend ignorance, to many people have seen guards looking for her, if he comes back later and investigates himself and finds that we learned she was missing and did nothing..." Vermillion said seriously, letting his voice trail off ominously.

She felt her breathing grow labored, "You're right, you're right of course, I have to get back to the palace, I have to send word to him immediately." She rushed out into the street and got back in the carriage, she had the coachman move like he was being chased by demons, and soon she found herself back in her throne room. She sat on the throne, and it felt more unstable to her now than when the beastmen invaded.

She gave it several hours, waiting only until word had come that the girl had not been seen at any of the finer hotels and no guard had seen a bouncy blonde girl with a toothy smile leave the city in quite some time, two even knew who she was, having flirted unsuccessfully with her in the past.

Grimly, she wrote a secure missive to the Sorcerer King, phrasing it as gently as possible and hoping the fallout would not be to terrible for her or for her kingdom.

 _...Miles outside the Draconic Kingdom...Night of the summit..._

King Astraka was an unhappy man, a very unhappy man. He sat in his carriage with arms folded and stewed. He'd looked WEAK. He snarled and fumed, that girl...that damn girl had made him look like a coward. He was a KING...and he couldn't meet the eyes of a jumped up SQUIRE?! The hell was wrong with him...or her? He fumed over the matter to the point of distraction, and he looked at the unconscious girl laying across from him. It disgusted him what he'd done...but the opportunity was there and he had to take it. She knew a great deal, and he needed that knowledge if he was to survive. So he'd had his coachman pretend to be working on a wheel, hoping that the opportunity would come, and as if the gods favored the action, it was already dark and the desire for privacy had seen the absence of any guards in this area. She'd skipped out happily, bouncy hair dancing behind her and looking down at the little sack of coins. It was an invaluable sum to give to a mere peasant as an apology, even the notion that a king should apologize to peasants was a strange one, she should have just been grateful to be present and to eat with them, that alone was gift enough.

It ate at him, it ate at him a lot. And whether he would admit it or not, his conscience was a problem, but a king's duty was not to his conscience, it was to take the actions necessary for the greater good. So he killed his conscience lest it could make him play the coward again as he had under the eyes of that monster with the vicious eyes. As she giggled at her sudden wealth, he came behind her, and before she could turn around or skip one more step, he struck her on the back of the head and caught her before she could fall. He was a soldier through and through, and though he didn't like what he was doing, he knew how to do it so as to not take her life. She had dropped her coins, but as he shoved her into his carriage, he rushed back and snatched up the sack and the few that had fallen out, and had his shocked coachman drive them out as quickly as he could.

Now there he sat, looking her over, she was a very pretty girl, the sort of thing that pervert Handor would have enjoyed. He looked her over again and again, she was very tempting, but his eyes narrowed, it was an ugly thought and he was fairly sure she'd be less than happy with this, and so...not willing, and whatever his faults, that was not one of them. To bad. She was lucky it was him, and not his predecessor. 'Ah Handor, how I wish I'd been the one to kill you.' He sighed at the thought, and tore the sleeves from her clothing and then he rolled her over onto her stomach, and used the strips to bind her wrists and ankles. Fortunately they were long, but not quite long enough, so he cut part of the legs of her pants off, just below the knee, and rolled her over onto her back again, and he improvised a gag, testing out the knot, he found it secure, not perfect, but plenty good enough, and then he settled back down into his seat and crossed his arms again, and settled in for a wait. He did not envy the headache he was sure she'd have when she awoke. The sun was just cresting the horizon, she'd be awake soon.

 _...Ambush site, morning after the massacre..._

Neia looked over the prisoners CZ had taken. Neia had not taken any herself, there had been no opportunity to surrender given, and so none taken. CZ however, had chosen to take them, and now fifty men sat bound and under guard in a pit they'd been made to dig to hold themselves under the arrows and spellgun of their captor. They were bound in the hole and they were obviously frightened. Neia's visor concealed her eyes, but they knew who she was by appearance alone.

Most of their people had returned to the 'camp' before sunrise, taking circuitous routes around the village to avoid leaving any indication of who had been there. There was no way that the villagers could have missed the chaos taking place so close to their homes, the fire and noise was less than a mile away, and even if it had been distant, peasant did not equate to stupid, and they seemed to have thought better than to investigate.

"Well I can't say I wanted prisoners." Neia said, "But you did the right thing by the Sorcerer King's justice. We can still lure their comrades past the village, as long as they follow through to the other side, it will be fine. But I'll need you to stay here and watch these men personally." Neia's voice had an edge to it, a hard edge, and the men in the pit who stood nearly naked with an improvised barrier above it in the form of supply crates stacked around the perimeter, shook with fear. Neia looked over the edge and down into it, "You are alive because the Sorcerer King prohibits the execution of those who have lost the will to fight, you are alive because of the grace of the god of justice, whose wisdom stands above all. Think long and hard about the difference between how you would have treated US...and how we are treating YOU." There were some nervous looks and a smattering of 'Thank yous' uttered, a few wept, happy that they were going to live. "Can any of you read?" She asked.

One man hesitantly raised his hand, he was young, perhaps in his mid teens, he had a patchy growth of hair on his face and stormy gray eyes, he still had the gangliness of youth that Neia remembered of those years, but he was filling out into a strong looking man. Neia reflected that, if this manish boy or boyish man survived to the end of all this intact...he would be quite handsome one day. "You? You can read?" She asked in disbelief.

"Yes ma'am, I ah...worked for our village priest, he taught me so I could help him more." He said, his voice still at a somewhat crackly pitch and filled with uncertainty.

Neia's eyes narrowed behind her visor. "How old are you boy?"

"Fifteen ma'am." He said with at least some measure of manly self respect.

Neia rubbed her forehead. "The hell are you doing here, you're to young for this?"

"Priest said if'n I came here, my papa, I-uh-mean my father could go to Heaven." He said.

"What?" She asked as if she did not believe it.

"My father was executed, killed a man over a cow, was'n accident, the man hit his head on a rock, but the priest said it was murder anyway, so my p-father, he got hanged an so I had to work for the priest for money, then all..yah know, that stuff happened, an he said he'd take care'a momma for me an my father, he'd go to heaven since I fight for the gods."

A sinister picture began to form in Neia's mind, the change in her demeanor was palpable and she began to soften, they began to visibly relax as they picked up on the decrease in her hostility.

"Is your mother beautiful, son? Do you want to see her again?" Neia asked, putting a note of kindness in his voice.

The boy actually beamed. "She's very pretty, sister is to, kinda didn't want to go because now tha' father's gone I was watchin out for em, but...gotta eat an the priest said he couldn't pay me no more, an he told me gettin father to heaven is good work. I do wanna see em again though, I miss home."

Neia paused. She took out a copy of her book of Black Justice and said, "Here, catch!" He looked up in confusion and she lightly tossed the book down.

"What's this?" He asked.

"Listen son, you want to get home, and I want to send you home...alive, and not in a box to be buried in. The fight is over for you now, you're a prisoner, we don't kill prisoners as long as we don't have to, and the only way we have to, is if you make us. So you stay there in that hole for now, OK? I want you to read that book out loud, and I want everyone else in that hole to repeat every sentence after you, that way we know you're not planning with each other on how to escape, not that you could, but this way I know I can send you all home alive...alright?" She asked as gently as she could manage.

The boy nodded numbly, "You're nicer than I thought you'd be."

"Thank you," she said, "But give thanks to the Sorcerer King, its his will that no one die before their time." She took off her visor and looked down in the hole, her eyes swept over the group, "do not bring that time on yourselves. Am I understood?" A chill swept over them as they felt the threat of her wrath over them, and the boy hastily opened the book and looked down at it, and began to read.

"Justice requires action..." She heard him recite as she moved out of view, she sat down on the other side of the crate and pulled her knees up to her chest, closed her eyes to the world, and listened to the words of her god, and she, the terror of the corrupt and the destroyer of cities, put on her visor to hide her weeping, glad for the moment that it was only she and CZ up there, as the rest of Black Justice, the Blood Miners, and the Vines, had moved to other positions. The majority went back to their original camp, and 'broke it' like usual and began to move, certain that they were being shadowed by the smaller forces that had no idea that their ambush had been shit wrecked well ahead of them. Some moved into the woods in place of where the ambushers had, while others waited at the base of the hill, ready to charge around the corner...effectively they had stolen the ambush of their enemies and made it their own.

Neia remained on top of the hill where she could provide direction and instruction, and CZ guarded both her and the prisoners. As Neia sat where she did, the terrified face of the young soldier she'd slain came back to her again and again, she wondered about his life, where his mother was, and if there was any way she could have avoided killing him. She had no answer, but she was grateful for the Sorcerer King's justice...without it, she would have killed those men down there, and there would be more to haunt her dreams. She wondered if that boy's mother was really being looked after. Or...was she being 'looked after', and what of his sister? There was no point in telling him her thoughts, it might be nothing. Perhaps it really was just a coincidence, that his father died leaving a family unable to care for itself, that a young boy should fall under the sway of the most important man in any village, and be dispatched to fight for what they all believed in, perhaps it really was a kindly priest whose only eye for the vulnerable women was to their wellbeing? But she doubted.

She shook off her reverie when she saw CZ waving her over.

"They come." She said as the two stood next to one another, Neia had good vision, but nowhere near as good as CZ's. The maid demon pointed at the moving dots that were now a few miles away.

"Thank you CZ." Neia said and took her friend's hand and squeezed it affectionately. "For everything." She smiled and took off her visor, CZ never flinched from Neia's eyes.

"Cute." She said, and put a sticker on each of Neia's cheeks. And she began to move away, back to where the prisoners were contained, and then she did something unusual, she looked back, pointed at Neia and said, "Also Strong." And she returned to sit on the crates and looked down at the band with indifferent eyes as they read the book sentence by sentence. Neia gave her a slow and somber nod and moved to the edge of the hill.

She watched as the dots became larger, and to be safe, she laid herself on the grass with legs out and head only inches off the ground. She still had an excellent visual, but as she saw her people approach and began to pass through the road that cut the village into two halves, the other groups came into distant view, they couldn't be seen from where her people were moving, but from her view atop the hill, she could see everything for miles, she put all other thoughts out of her mind and watched as her group went in to the village, and then passed beyond it. The buildings were not high, but it was a village of a few hundred people, so it was trivially easy for a small number to break off from the carts and take positions on the sides of homes and other buildings.

The shadowing groups became more evident in their numbers as they drew closer, they were a few hundred total, a handful of cavalry and some infantry, they began to close the distance, and suddenly her caravan took off, the carts and horses and people afoot sprinting as if to cross the danger zone, and from the forest came more of her people as if to catch them in the flank, it gave the appearance that the trap had been sprung after they thought themselves spotted, so they charged hoping to catch Black Justice in the back, only to find...as they closed and got a better look at both groups...that both wore the same armor...and both groups had turned and were charging at their front. No sooner had that realization hit their psyches, than the archers of the Blood Miners and the Vines came from around the hill and launched arrows into their unprotected flanks, and those who had dismounted and briefly concealed themselves behind homes and other buildings charged in from the rear. Neia stood up at the top of the hill, locked on her target, poured power into her arrows as she hefted the Ultimate Shooting Star, and by then it was not a battle, it was not even an ambush, it was pest extermination, caught from three sides and sniped from the hill, all expected support absent, there was nothing to do but die, and die they did, though they did not lack the will to fight, having had more stomach for death than the last, no chance to surrender was offered or asked for, and the killing did not stop until the moving did.

Neia descended from the hill and shouted orders, "First treat the wounded, check them for survivors, if they have any wounded, treat them, but also secure them, we take prisoners among those unable or unwilling to fight!" Skana approached and held out her hand, and Neia clasped it firmly and gave her a grin, "You did well. It was a bold move to 'charge' our own lines like that." She said.

Skana returned the grin, "I'm Skana the bold, wouldn't much live up to the name if I didn't do that, or this..." And then she pulled Neia in and kissed her, hard and fiercly, and just as Neia began to melt, she broke the kiss and stepped back with a giggle. "See. Bold. And you're looking better, like part of you is back. Not like yesterday."

Neia blushed, not much caring to make her affection a spectacle, but all it did was draw some laughs her way as their forces resumed treating the wounded of both sides. "I ah...well I think I just feel reminded of why I'm doing this, I didn't mean to make you worry." She looked a little ashamed of herself, and Skana took her chin between thumb and forefinger and closed the gap between them to inches again.

"Don't be, you understand, I'm supposed to worry about you, as my commander, my pope, and my love, whatever happens, yes I'll worry, but we'll get through it." She said, giving a soft smile to the mad eyed archer.

Neia shook her head with a laugh, "You're a bold one, careful though, or that boldness will get you into trouble one day!" She grinned as Skana laughed in return.

"Uh huh, I'm going to help check for supplies among the dead, we don't have a lot of time, I don't know where Remedios is, but when this unit doesn't check in again, she's going to come looking for it, and I don't want to be here when she gets back." She backed away and Neia waved her off with a roll of her eyes.

She then called over to one of her other members and said, "Go to the village, tell them who we are, and tell them who we just wiped out, tell them that if they bury the bodies, we will pay them for it."

"Just ours ma'am?" The soldier asked.

Neia shook her head. "No. All of them. They'll draw a silver for every body they bury, and that we will pay the priest for performing the services over them...but also that we will be back at some point to see that the work was done. Tell them that when someone else comes by eventually to find out what happened, they can say that Neia Baraja has killed them all, and that the dead were buried in accordance with their religious beliefs."

"But...why?" He asked with surprise.

Neia sighed. "My first instinct was to sever their heads and put those on pikes all along the road here for that vile bitch to find...I admit...but I don't want to be that person, and I would be violating the Justice of the Sorcerer King. So we'll show respect to the dead, no matter whose side they were one, they are all equally dead, so give them equal respect. That is what the book of Black Justice says, so that is what we will do...even if it is hard." She sighed, feeling very tired all of a sudden, and the soldier moved back to the village, it took him over twenty minutes to coax someone to come out so he could explain everything, and by that time the work of seizing weapons, coin, food, and useful armor was done, while a half a dozen Vines had died and two dozen Blood Miners, Black Justice had only a few injured, the reverse ambush had been a complete success.

That left the matter of the prisoners, and to that end she purchased two carts out of the village and had them modified with a series of iron loops being added, and the prisoners were one by one taken out of their hole and bound to the loops within the long wide carts, it was crowded, but it could have been worse, they were depressed and dejected, but they were alive, and Neia reasoned that they would be thankful for that later. They had lost their war for now, but not the hard way, not the way of the ones who were even now having graves dug for them.

As they began to pull away, the prisoners saw some villagers digging holes, and one of them ventured to ask..."What is happening? What are you doing to our comrades? Just dumping them in a mass grave?"

Neia shook her head as she rode on her undead mount beside the prisoner's cart, which was also flanked by CZ and Skana. "No, we paid the villagers to dig proper graves for them, and we paid the priest to give them their final rites." Her voice was grave and she didn't look at the man, but she could tell from the feeling she got that he didn't believe her.

"You're not turning them into undead?" He asked in disbelief.

"No. Absolutely not." Neia replied.

"But..." He began and she sighed, cutting him off.

"Yes we use the undead, we use them for labor and for security, and yes there are cases where someone might be turned into an undead against their will, a killer or a rapist or something of that nature, however it is not a crime to be a soldier, and as far as I know those men and women back there did nothing but fight for the wrong side. Therefore it would be a violation of our faith to turn them into skeletons, it would be an egregious violation of the will of our god to abuse someone's body, and because our god tells us all are equal in death, we must offer the dead equal respect, and bury them in accorance with their religious beliefs. Anything else?"

The man looked down, he had nothing else, but some of the prisoners were obviously moved by the kindness, if they had anything more, they said nothing, and Neia clicked her heels against the flanks of her undead mount and moved to the front of the formation, that was her place, and she had a job to do.

 **AN: Well here is my next double release, I hope you're all happy with it, though this is 'tomorrows' double release (I went on a spree and wrote four chapters in one day) I'm releasing it some time this evening in the hopes that most of you will just 'see it' in the morning. So of course, enjoy. And of course if you want to 'ensure' you continue to get double chapter releases, the way to get that is to either donate blood or platelets (providing me a photo of your arm being vampired by the blood sucking Red Cross...(yes I made the word 'vampired' up, I like it, go with it) OR donate food to a nondiscriminatory charity, you know what I mean, not one of those that kicks people out over their orientation or won't feed single mothers or any of that...OR you can simply donate a sum to bdgiving dot org and let me know you did it. Every donation earns an additional double release day.**

 **In case you're wondering WHY I'm going this route...Six years ago my eldest son contracted a rare strain of Spinal Meningitis, and he fell into a coma, shortly after his 13th birthday. So every year from the date of his birth, until the date of his death, I do a considerable amount of charitable work in his memory, because that was the kind of kid he was, and that was the kind of man he would have been. THIS year, I've been incorporating media efforts, including my secular humanist facebook page, and now...well this. :) If I can both entertain you all...AND properly honor Gabriel's memory, hell yes. :) Donating blood saves lives, donating food feeds families, and if you do that just so you can get more overlord fanfiction...then fuck me if that's not the best goddamn use fanfiction has EVER been fucking put to.**

 **So...enjoy.**


	49. Choices

_...Carriage of King Astraka..._

"Do you want water?" He asked Vanysa. She stared at him. She seemed to like staring at him. What she did not like was speaking, she hadn't said a word.

"Wine then?" He asked. She just stared at him.

"No eh?" He said, and reached for his own goblet, he poured it himself, it wasn't something King's usually did, but he wanted as few to know of what he'd done as possible, when it was all over, when he was the unquestioned King of the Roble Holy Kingdom and the inept Queen Calca was dead again...permanently this time, of that he would be sure, this was a story that he would make sure did NOT make it in to the stories of the bards.

"You know its going to be an awfully long and boring trip if you won't speak to me. Its been what, three days, and so far all you've done is nod when you needed to relieve yourself, and you haven't opened your mouth to me except to eat or drink. You should be thanking me. This is probably the most comfortable you've ever been."

She shook her head vigorously, but did not speak.

He gestured with both his hands, waving his goblet around the carriage and looked as if to be sure he was still where he thought, it was somewhat mocking, but he was quite incredulous. "Come now, you expect me to believe you, a peasant from down in the gutter of the city, has been in a more comfortable place than this?" He reached over and took a grape and popped it into his mouth. It had a sweet and savory juice, and he enjoyed it thoroughly and made sure it was clear to her that he found it delightful.

She nodded vigorously again.

"Oh come on...really?" He reached across to where he lay, and touched her cheek with his bare hand, his touch was not cruel, it was a caress, but as soon as his fingers touched her, she flinched away and thrashed in her bonds, her eyes meeting him with hate and terror, and it looked as if she were about to cry, and he yanked his hand back as if it were burned.

His eyes flashed with anger, "I'm not Handor. I wasn't going to hurt you...that way." He said with disgust. She looked at him accusingly, she obviously didn't believe him, but even with her gag out, she didn't speak.

He sighed, "I don't expect you to believe me I suppose, its what a lot of people do when they have a beautiful woman bound and helpless...who they're not especially fond of." He gave her an equally accusing stare, reminding her she was being very uncooperative.

She looked at him like he was an idiot, and he rolled his eyes.

"Do you take some perverse pleasure in not saying anything?" He asked.

She nodded.

"Let me guess, taking the piss out of me?" He asked, she smiled, it was answer enough.

"Would you like to know where we are?" He asked.

Her expression said she did.

"Well what if I said I have a deal to offer?" He said. "Not many peasants are given the opportunity to make deals with kings you know." He finished his goblet and laid it aside.

Her eyes sparked with interest.

"You tell me one place you've been that is more comfortable than this. And the next time we stop, I'll make sure we grab some things you like to eat, I'll eaven cut your hands free so you don't have to be fed like a dog, but you have to cooperate when I secure you again. Do we have a deal?" He asked, and he leaned forward, resting his elbows on his knees.

Her eyes danced like jewels and she said, "Ah need bread, some turkey meat, an some lettuce, tomato, bacon, pickles, an..." She frowned for a moment as she thought, "guess ain't got no mustard...ahhhh...some kinda sauce...oh ana knife, but not a sharp one."

"Deal." He said as he poured himself another goblet of wine. "Now," he said as he began to drink, "Where has a peasant girl like you been that is more comfortable than the carriage of a King?"

She lay there looking at him for a moment and said with sparkling eyes, "Tha bed ah tha Sorcerer King."

Vanysa giggled when he spat out most of his wine and choked on the rest. She did not even care that some of it got into her golden hair.

 _...On the road to the Slane Theocracy..._

"We looked like FOOLS!" Yvon snapped.

"We looked worse than fools, we looked like monsters!" Maximillion snapped back.

"We looked like petulant children!" Berenice said, glaring at Dominic.

"Bah! What does it matter what they say or what they think?! We just have to win!" Dominic clapped back.

"How do you expect to win the war if you can't even defeat your temper!" Ginedine said with a sharp tongue, "You were put into a fit of rage by a girl barely into her twenties, how stable do you think that made us look eh?"

Dominic looked sullen at the rebuke.

"No..." Raymond began, his low and even voice cutting through the tension and the cacophony of noise in the large carriage. "Its worse than that. We looked guilty, they know we have it, and I suspect the Sorcerer King has known that we have for a long time, and with everybody else knowing it, and what it does, if we ever use it we'll be presenting ourselves as an international threat. Calca's words cut deep, the neutral nations don't trust us, Astraka doesn't even trust us. The Draconic Kingdom is all but in the Sorcerer King's pocket and we only narrowly avoided having Argland coming against us."

He shook his head. "Remember when we thought we were so clever, we thought we'd outmaneuvered him by removing his cause to intervene? We thought that all together we has outdone him, that we had the perfect set of conditions to break the undead worshipers and rebuild the Roble Holy Kingdom into a more united place, one right in line with the sacred doctrine of the gods? His voise sounded wistful, "Only now look at us? Now we're the invaders who suborned the throne, supported a usurper, and are using him to butcher his people while the legitimate queen lives in exile under the hospitality of the same king that saved her nation." Raymond actually laughed, he couldn't not, it was either that or cry.

A sour mood filled the carriage, "I think he planned this." Yvon said.

"Do you think so...really...how insightful." Dominic snapped.

Berenice sighed. "Shut up Dominic, its not like you saw it coming either. Who the hell even knew the ninth tier existed at all, let alone...the rest of it."

"We should have intervened when Jaldabaoth was active, if we had...well at least we could have answered Calca, at least we could have had a come back to that 'Pope' of theirs." Ginedine said dejectedly.

"Speaking of," Maximillion began, "Did you see her eyes?"

Dominic shuddered.

"It was like...I could see demons in them, like there were thousands of them whorling inside her eyes...but they were being tortured and screaming for help, it felt like they were saying I was going to join them...and her voice...gods her voice, I've never heard anything like it." Raymond said.

"Do you think she really killed Busar? I heard he was exceptionally powerful." Yvon pondered.

"You saw what happened when the Elf King tried to use his killing intent on her. She smiled at him like a parent praising a child's first attempt at drawing a picture, like he wasn't even there, how could that have not had an effect on her?" Dominic asked.

"Well its simple, we have to kill her." Ginedine said.

"Well...that's easier said than done, but more than that, how long till our soldiers reach the South?" Berenice asked.

"They'll be in the South before we reach the Theocracy." Raymond said.

"Good. Its about time this happened, now what about our promise to the elf king? We promised he could have the women he wanted to...breed with, but we signed an agreement with the Sorcerer King that prohibited this exact behavior." Maximillion said, not without some disgust in his voice.

Raymond felt sick.

"We might even get another defender of humanity out of it, like we did with Zesshi." Dominic said.

Raymond looked at him with daggers in his eyes.

"What? You don't actually consider a treaty with the undead to be binding...do you?" Dominic said, and started to laugh.

 _...Kedyn..._

When Gustav entered the city, it was to great fanfare, not least becaus the twins had used their speed to bring them back to the city well in advance of the rest of them, and he entered the city with a hero's welcome, one which redoubled when the armor and sigil of Black Justice was seen on some of those who marched with him. Lakyus, Evileye, & Gagaran walked beside him as he played the role of 'returning hero' quite dutifully, though being as close to them as they were, they could feel his discomfort with a pretense he did not feel he deserved. Similarly when they made it through to the keep, they heard as he breathed a sigh of relief.

Though there were guards along the walls...more alert, better equipped, definitely more disciplined, the passive gazes of duty didn't seem to bother him, it was praise that Gustav did not like. When he reached the entry to the keep, he called a halt, turned and faced his men. "You've got till high noon tomorrow, go enjoy yourselves, you earned it! But don't forget to mind the law! I'll block a paladin's sword to save your life, but I cannot save you from guilt! Dismissed!" There was a round of cheers, and the soldiers scattered.

Gustav turned on his heel and walked into the keep with Blue Rose behind him. "You don't like praise, do you?" Lakyus said.

"After what I'm responsible for? No not one bit." He said, his pace was quick as he made his way to the inner keep to greet the Viscountess.

Evileye grabbed his hand as it swung behind him in mid-stride and turned him to face her. "You didn't MAKE Remedios this monster that she's become. You can't take on guilt for that!"

"Oh no?" He said gruffly, "Watch me." And he pulled his hand away, "And more importantly, what do you think the Sorcerer King is going to do to me when he finds out I let that woman go? He stepped close to Evileye, who removed her mask as he did so, meeting his gaze with her vampire's eyes. Maybe I didn't mean any harm, but we're past intentions here aren't we?" He huffed, "Maybe I don't swing that sword in her hands, but every time she does so, a little a that blood splashes on me too! I can't just pretend that isn't so!" He figited in frustration in the shadows of the overhanging stone just before the main door, "I've got no choice now! I have to fight for the only side that seems to give a damn about life anymore, an its not the Theocracy, its not Remedios, an its not the damn King. The only one that seems to give a damn anymore is a bloody undead and...by the gods I don't even have words for her. But sooner or later a bill is going to come to my table and I'm going to have to pay it in full." He ran his hands through his hair and the sweat beaded on his face.

"What about the Queen?" Cercei asked as she stepped out beyond the door.

"She's dead!" He snapped. Then suddenly realized who spoke behind him, and he turned to kneel, but confusion rapidly appeared on his face.

"You didn't know?" Cercei asked.

"Know what my lady?" He asked.

"Queen Calca is alive." She said softly.

"You beat me to it." Lakyus said with a smile.

Gustav had shock on his face. "No...how?"

Evileye gave him a grin. "His majesty's magic."

Cercei reached down to him, and he took her hand, and rose slowly to his feet as she raised it. "Follow me to my private council chambers, you've clearly been out of the loop for awhile."

Gustav sputtered until he fell silent and followed her through the hall until they entered the main court, and then she took them in to a familiar side room where they could speak in privacy.

Ulthis was already waiting for her, and she said to him, "Ulthis, have refreshments brought for our guests," she paused, "Evileye...would you...care for a drink?"

Evileye looked confused, and the Viscountess gestured to a bottle. "A few of these arrived the other day, the Sorcerer King sent them to me as a token of appreciation for your help in Wenmark. He included a few for myself as well for my favor towards Black Justice, and they are absolutely marvelous." She said with a grin.

Evileye smiled happily, "How could I say no?" She said, and Ulthis went and ordered something prepared for them all, he returned shortly thereafter and took a seat next to Cercei.

"Before we get down to business," Cercei said, "Let me tell you how we've been doing, Gustav, obviously I haven't been able to write you any letters lately." She said sardonically, to which he gave a wry smile.

"Messengers have a hard time finding people on the run." He said, "Its part of the point of being on the run, since most of those messages involve daggers in the kidneys."

"Point taken." She said, and a round of laughter ensued at the terrible pun.

"Well you are better at jokes than his majesty." Lakyus said with a grin.

"Well I'd trade the joke telling to have all his other gifts." She said, "But as it is...well we make do with what we have, don't we?"

Servants entered and poured wine for them, and then exited with a bow polite bow and a nod of acknowledgement from Cercei, when the door closed Ulthis stood, poured wine into three goblets, and handed one to Cercei, then to Evileye, and then took one for himself.

"To doing what we can." She said, and raised her goblet.

"To doing what we can." The said, and raised their own in turn.

"That's from the book." Ulthis said.

"The book?" Gustav asked, "What book?"

"The Sorcerer King's, he says it is on everyone to do what they can, with what they have, where they are." Ulthis quoted with a little smile, "Looks like we're going to see just what that means for all of us soon."

"Just...what do you mean, and m'lady what happened with the Queen? You can't mean she's literally alive? I saw her body, there was nothing left of it but the ruined stump of a leg!"

"Be that as it may, she is alive." Cercei said. "And she's demanded her throne back from King Astraka, and he's apparently gotten very comfortable on the throne in very little time."

"It can't be..." Gustav said, leaning back in his chair in disbelief.

"It is. We met her in Nazarick where she had been staying...temporarily. Gagaran thought she was a bath attendant." Gagaran blushed and the rest of her teamates laughed at the memory.

"Its definitely her?" Gustav said.

"Well we didn't meet her before then, however she met with a number of diplomats and other leaders, everyone who could confirm it, did confirm it, she is herself and she is not controlled in any way." Lakyus said firmly.

"Is she his...puppet? Doing anything under threat?" Gustav asked.

"Not that we could tell." Tia said.

"She seemed to be enjoying herself." Tina added."

"She genuinely believes he'll restore her to the throne." Gagaran said with conviction.

"Well...this changes things. I'm going from a rebellious outlaw hunting law abiding paladins...to a loyal soldier in her majesty's army." Gustav said as he drank.

"Do you think Remedios knows?" He asked with a grin.

"I doubt it, word got to me through Blue Rose, but official word is racing around now and has reached the general public here only now, which means its racing all over the Kingdom." Cercei said, baring her fangs as she drank blood from the goblet.

Evileye seemed to enjoy her own, and it struck Lakyus how ordinary this kind of thing had become.

"Would it be a bit of sour grapes for me to say I'll enjoy the irony of her most fervent supporter fighting against her because of the undead fighting for her?" Gustav asked.

"Yes." Tia, Tina, and Gagaran said in unison.

"Well, then I guess its a bit of sour grapes on my part." Gustav said, and raised his cup, "To sour grapes."

"They make good wine...sometimes." Ulthis said, and they raised their goblets again.

"So you'll fight for the Queen then?" Cercei said expectantly.

"Absolutely." Gustav said. "I assume I'm in the right place for that?" He said wrly.

"You are." She replied, "You'll find no shortage of volunteers over much of the North, King Astraka may not have passed many of the policies Handor did, but he's not backing off of them either, and since he needs the Slane Theocracy and the South to keep the North, well...it's going to be a long year."

"What about you?" Cercei asked Lakyus, "Will the roses bloom for the Queen? Or will you stay closed for the winter of my nation?"

There was silence around the table as eyes turned to Lakyus.

Lakyus took a sip of her wine, and set the goblet down. She looked into the ornate cup and watched as the red liquid moved back and forth like waves against the inside of it, never quite rising to the top and spilling over, and eventually becoming still as death. She then lifted her eyes and took a deep breath. "The Sorcerer King asked me to work for him directly, to join one of his armies, our reputation is such that just doing that alone might win many to his side." She looked to her sisters. "I believe he is right, and...seeing his ways, the way his people live, seeing what the undead, vampires, can really do and really be like, I think its why I'm sitting next to my sister now, instead of weeping over the grave I would have put her in." She reached next to her where Evileye sat, her body shook a little as she spoke, but Evileye took her hand and squeezed it. "In a way, he gave my sister life, saved my life, I don't know what would have happened if I'd been the person who struck the undead first and listened later...and I got to see her happy, playful, at peace in his realm, relaxed in a way I'd NEVER seen her before. If he wants to make our world like that...then I want to fight for it too." She looked down, and made a fist with her free hand.

"But I'm an adventurer, we're not supposed to fight in wars, its one thing to act to protect individuals, or small villages, but joining armies? If we set that precedent in the traditional guild, what happens in the next war? Will the adventurers of those two nations, in a wave of patriotic ferver, join the armies of their home nations and kill one another? What happens when monsters appear and those adventurers are dead because they killed each other? That is just why we're considered to be immune from conscription in national levies. I have to think beyond what I believe in, I have to think about what is best in the bad times, as well as how to make good times. I will continue to protect villages from harm, that is the contract I agreed to, and that is what I'll do, that is what my roses will do. But I cannot join an army. If I impose that change on our world, its consequences may move far beyond what I intend here, and beginning something that I cannot see through to the end is not something I'm prepared to do. So to the larger invitation, I have to decline." Lakyus said.

Cercei lingered in thought for a moment, and then nodded. "I understand. I'll convey your answer and your reasoning to his majesty, I'm sure he will accept it and be content that you will protect the people as you have before."

Gustav looked curious, "Will he?"

"Will he what?" Ulthis asked.

"Will he accept a no? No is not a word often used to respond to the wishes of kings." Gustav elaborated.

Lakyus nodded, "He will, he may be disappointed, his servants may even be angry, but he will accept it, he's that kind of king."

Gustav emptied his goblet. "Well if our Queen is that kind of Queen, then there are two of them on the thrones of our nations, our part of the world may be entering a golden age."

"Maybe so, but a lot of people are not going to live to see it." Evileye said, "I've been alive a long time, golden ages float through time on oceans of blood, and they sink the same way."

"Well, with an immortal behind it, maybe...not this time." Cercei said hopefully.

"Maybe not. May I have some more?" Evileye asked.

"Of course." Cercei said, and gestured to Ulthis, who poured it into her goblet, bloody eye to bloody eye as they thought of the future they were seeing unfold.

 _...Argland Council chambers..._

"Well we have a problem now, don't we?" The Platinum Dragon Lord said bluntly.

"We do." The Blue Dragon Lord answered.

"Well we all know that but what is there to be done?" The Diamond Dragon Lord added.

"Should we consider an alliance with the Sorcerer King?" The Obsidian Dragon Lord asked seriously.

"Why should we? Let the monsters kill each other." The Worm Dragon Lord replied.

"He did do us a favor. None of us knew they had a weapon like that, now we know they do beyond any reasonable doubt. More than that, I think I know what weapon they have." The Platinum Dragon Lord said as the thought ran through his head, his fellows turned their gazes to him and he answered...

"They have the one that controls minds. That is why he said it. He knew what they had, or suspected at least, and now if they use it, we'll know what they did." He elaborated.

"But...why not just say it?" The Diamond Dragon Lord asked.

"Because he wasn't sure, or perhaps he wanted them to be uncertain if he was sure or not." The Obsidian Dragon Lord answered.

"It doesn't matter." The Worm Dragon Lord replied. "They'll fight, one will win, the other will die, and we'll still be here, and then eventually the winner dies too, its how things are."

"You forget, he's an undead. We can't wait for age to take him like we did with the others, he's also cunning and absurdly powerful, if he were only powerful, maybe we could simply wait for him to do something stupid and die. If he were only intelligent, we would have power on our side, but he has both, and wealth to match. You saw wheat he wore, you felt the pressure he was able to release, and you saw the plot unfold before your eyes. Now yes this war will end, and he will probably win it, but what then?" The Platinum Dragon Lord asked.

"Explain." The Blue Dragon Lord asked.

"Do you think he'll be more likely to remember...or to forget...who was on his side, who was against him, and who was on the sidelines?" The Platinum Dragon Lord asked.

There was a heavy silence.

"Fair point, but what are we allying with? He has a city doesn't he? Lets send representatives there, official and...unofficial." The Blue Dragon Lord suggested. "If he's really a good king, we'll see a good kingdom, if he isn't, then we know we should at least not side with him, if he is, we can work with him, and if the Slane Theocracy uses one of their weapons on us or anyone else, we'll ally with him to bring them down." The Blue Dragon Lord said reasonably.

"Well thought out." The Obsidian Dragon Lord said. "All approved?"

"Aye." They said in unison.

 **AN: Well I hope you're enjoying these rapid releases, I for one have been having a blast. Thanks to all of you who have donated either blood, food, or financial support so far, I don't even mind that you're a bunch of goddamn greedy slave drivers. I'm MORE than happy to churn out Chapters for Charity. Of course if you want me to churn out even MORE double release days, well every donation gets you another day of them, sooooo...go get vampired at the Red Cross (and send me a snapshot of your blood sucking moment so I know you've done it) or donate to my favorite charity organization bdgiving dot org, and you'll keep me rolling them out. Don't worry about overworking me, I love this stuff, and if I HAVE to miss a double release day because of work, well I'll catch up. :)**

 **Thanks everyone for all their contributions and reviews and of course, reading! Gotta love you guys, the Overlord community is the best. :)**


	50. Character & Connection

_...Carriage of King Astraka..._

King Astraka was not given to being easily surprised. He counted himself practically unflappable even when he was angry, which is why it perturbed him to see Dominic so lose his temper, fits of temper made for bad decisions. Right now he was wondering if his own impulsive act to simply kidnap the girl as a source of intelligence on the Sorcerer King...was a worse decision than that of his ally in the Slane Theocracy.

He wiped his mouth, and then took out a cloth from his picket and wiped the wine off of the giggling blonde peasant, taking care to pat down the wine from her hair as well. Her giggling tapered off, but she didn't flinch like before, probably because the cloth was between his skin and hers.

"The...bed of the Sorcerer King?" He looked at her dubiously.

She grinned back in silent response. "You're joking." He said.

She shook her head. "Back to silence are we?"

She nodded with a smirk.

"Can you prove this?" He asked.

She grinned and nodded.

"How?" He asked in surprise.

She looked somewhat frustrated.

"You want to tell me, but you don't want to talk to me until I've held up my end of the bargain?" He asked.

She nodded vigorously.

"You enjoy this don't you?" He asked with annoyance.

She nodded vigorously.

He sighed with exasperation. "You know...most kings would have asked you 'hard' by now."

She looked at him with an expression of confusion.

"I mean hurt you, tortured you, frankly you should be grateful I haven't decided to make you talk." King Astraka said in a perterbed tone of voice.

She shrugged and looked at him like he was an idiot for saying that.

They rode in silence for awhile, and eventually came to a town, when he realized they had reached some semblance of civilization, King Astraka ordered the carriage to stop. Realizing where they were, she took a deep breath to let out a blood curdling scream, but quick as a snake strike King Astraka covered her mouth, her eyes went wide with terror at his touch.

"MMMWAHHAHWMAH!" She managed to muffle, and thrashed under him, trying desperately to wiggle away. He took up a cloth, and forced it through a gap in his fingers and then down into her mouth, as he did so, the bright candy like eyes dulled and she looked about to weep. His conscience gnawed at him, but he moved back to his seat.

He opened the slat behind his seat that let him speak to the driver and said, "Coachman, resume the ride, take us just outside of town, and then go back and retrieve the following items." He quickly scribbled out her list, and slipped it through next to the coachman's feet.

"As you say sire." The man said, and the clip clop sound of horses resumed, carrying them beyond human ears within a fifteen minute span.

She looked at him with eyes that had dulled considerably, and he could hear choked sobs coming from her and she rocked back and forth, profoundly upset.

When they were outside of town and the coachman unhooked a horse and trotted it back and they were again isolated and alone, King Astraka said, "I'm going to take out your gag, but no screaming. There is no point to it anyway, we're alone till the coachman comes back." He said, waving one finger at the helpless Vanysa.

He reached over and snatched it out of her mouth, and she gasped and began to cough.

"The things you asked for are coming, is that good enough?" He asked.

She stared daggers at him.

"No eh?" He said.

"How about something in good faith?" He asked.

She looked at him, skepticism and uncertainty written all over her face.

"Can you explain at least, why you react the way you do?" He asked her.

She seemed to consider what he'd asked, but he wasn't sure at first whether or not she was considering how to answer him, or whether to answer him at all or just stay silent.

After a little bit, she swung her legs over the edge of the seat and began to wiggle herself to sit up. King Astraka, seeing her intent and thinking it a chance to win some favor with her as he sought answers, leaned over to help her sit up, and she uttered her first word in awhile. "No!" She said, and he sat back down very slowly.

Eventually she managed to get herself up to a seated position and looked at him.

"So...you're going to answer then?" He asked.

She paused for a moment, and nodded.

"Cause its mah body, ain't nobody gets ta touch it thout my sayin its OK." Her voice had a note of finality to it.

"Ah don't want nobody puttin hands all ovah me, nobles'r alays like that, thinkin cause I'm pretty an'a peasant, that ahm just a bouncy lil toy theh can play with'n thow away. Know how many nobles...know how mana soldiers...tha come up an think cause they big n' strong or rich n' noble, just come up and..." She looked away, "Ah KNOW what ah look like, think ah don't see yer eyes on mah chest, think ah don't see when yer eyes look at me, think ah don't see whatcha think when yah hands come ovah? Do yah think ah don't hear when folk like you call me over, like yer callin a dog that can do tricks fer yah? Ah can hear whatcha want in whatcha say!" She snapped. "Ah can see yah armed and yah threats'r alays there!" Her eyes watered.

"You all think yah so smart, an strong, and powerful, an yah thin that means yah can do anythin to lil bouncy me cause I'm a peasant an a girl an ah ain't got no say, or even thin I wantcha! That just cause you got so much an I got so little that yah can just walk up and grab me an mah legs'll fall open for yah! That's all I am to yah! S'why yah thought to hit me! I ain't done nothin to yah! I don't even know yah! But'cha snuck up behind me, yah hit me, yah hurt me, yah took mah money, cut up mah clothes, an dragged me into yah carriage an did ah don't know what while I was sleepin gainst my will! An yah think ah should be happy! Grateful!" The welling in her eyes didn't fade, it started to overflow as frustration and anger came out in her voice.

"Why? Cause ahm poor? Cause ahm a peasant? Cause ahm a girl! Yah can do anythin, and can't nobody do nothin bout it, yah think ahm just dumb an should giggle an bounce on yah when yah want an when yah say? Or yah think just cause ahm all them things, that ah want to do stuff wit ya! I see yah weapon there..." She said looking below his waist.

"Weapon?" He blustered as she realized what she referred to.

"Whatcha think ah should call it, yera noble, yah use that tah hurt people like me an think we should be glad of it, yah nothing but a bunch a good dressed bandits." She snapped. "Ah know whatcher gonna do with me, an even if yah don't, one'a yer men will cause ahm a prisoner, or just cause he bored an I'm there. Its whatch ya all with power, do to us w'thout!" She snapped. "Course I hate yah, course I don't trust yah! Course I flinch an scream an try an get away!" Her anger peaked in her voice, and King Astraka could scarcely believe a peasant would speak to him this way...but he for now at least...needed her cooperation.

"Well if it means anything...I didn't touch you in any way I didn't have to in order to bind you." She looked at him doubtfully.

"I have no reason to lie," he said and poured himself some wine, "Who would you complain to, I am a King, and its as you say, I can do what I want, so...why lie?" He asked.

She thought about it, "Ah guess that makes sense."

"And here is your money." He said and opened a drawer holding her pouch, "When I get what I want, I'll give it back to you and let you go." He added.

She frowned with uncertainty.

"Listen," He said, "I won't deny you're beautiful, I can't not notice that, but I swear I am not going to violate you that way."

"Y'know how many like you have tried tah just grab me?" She asked him with narrowed eyes. "Soldiers with their swords, merchants with money, nobles with power, they think cause ah what I am, ah can just be...wha'ever they wan me to be. Ah don't trustya."

He paused. "Can I give you my word on my name?" He asked.

"Nah," she replied, "Yah already kidnapped me, kinda not worth much tah me."

"My word as a noble?" He asked.

"Ah been to close to to many that ah had to run away from." She replied.

He paused and thought about it for a moment and leaned forward and said with great solemnity..."I swear on the Sorcerer King's vengeance that I will never force myself on you, or permit those under me to do the same."

The light came back into her eyes. "He might kill yah anyway fer what yah done tah me...but if'n yah keep that promise, ah'll tell 'im yah kept yer were when it was given in his name, do nae know what that'll be worth to yah, but...ah can tell im. assumen yah don't kill me n'stead."

He drank from his cup and said, "The Sorcerer King is no different than most other nobles. After all he used you for his bed when he wanted to, didn't he?"

She shook her head vigorously.

"So you made that part up? You did say you could prove it?" He said.

He saw her struggle to bring her bound wrists under her feet.

"You need your hands?" He asked.

"Ah do." She answered.

"Swear in the name of god that you will neither fight, nor flee, nor resist being re-secured afterwards, and I will free your wrists for now." He replied.

She looked at him, square in the eyes, the bounce was gone, as was the gray, these were not the candy eyes of the bouncy girl he'd first seen, these were clear and intelligent. "I swear in the name of Ainz Ooal Gown, the one true god of this world, that I will not try to escape, resist, or fight...for the next three hours."

He looked at her in shock, her crude peasant speech was gone, and she twisted herself to expose her back where her wrists were bound. "Release me." She said authoritatively. He reached out and undid the knot, to surprised to even consider reprimanding her for not using the courtesy of his title.

She then reached to the front of her shirt, and pulled something out, and held it out where he could see it, but did not let go.

"What is this...?" He asked.

"Itsa picture, what the S'cerer King called a 'photograph' he gots these magic thins, they make perfect pictures in tha moment." She said, and her peasant speech slowly returned.

He looked at it, it was a picture of Vanysa, hugging the Sorcerer King's arm, sitting up in what had to be the most expensive and luxurious bed in the known world.

"So...he did use you, you just enjoyed it." He said, quietly filing way the knowledge of that fantastical device.

She shook her head vigorously. "Nah, see, he's diffent."

She started to laugh, "Ah teased him, lots, ah let meself ave some fun with'im, ah even pretended ta be asleep once, an ah undressed close to im...but he didna ever touch me, 'cept when he was bein nice ta me, when ah was sad 'r lonely cause mah friends all got eaten or ran an lef me...or turn on me cause I gots pretty an they thought..." She looked away again, and then continued, "but he didn't."

Her voice firmed up, "He coulda, he done saved me, fed me, even started ta teach me, ah can read now!" She beamed with pride. "Ah can write, an he even gave me letters, an he let me visit'im...ell...if'n he'da tole me to do it, I'da said hell yes! But see he ain't like that, he don't like that t'all, cause he don't want what don't want back" She looked indignant at the apparent assault on the Sorcerer King's character.

She giggled, "Ah teased im lots, ah admit that, an ah know he liked it, but ah wasna in'is bed cause he was'a playin with me, ah was in'is bed cause ah got real sick, so ah wrote 'im goodbye, cause...losin someone...it hurts right bad, an ah didn't wanna hurt im by goin an dyin without sayin bye or nothin, few days later after ah sent the message, ah woke up in'is bed an he was standin next ta me." She said wistfully.

Her eyes became clear and intelligent again, "I thought I was in heaven, that my god was really welcoming me in to paradise, because I was in his home, and it was truly a paradise like no other, he laughed when I asked if that was where I was, and said no, I was in his home, I asked him what the difference was, and I guess there wasn't one because he only laughed at me again. I got to spend several days there, and then he sent me home when I was well, with a few books to read that he let me take from the Library he has, telling me to let him know when I'm done with the books and then I can come back and borrow more."

Her eyes began to change again, they regained the sparkly 'bounce' to them, they seemed to dance before his eyes, "D'jyou e'va do that? Ah bet if'n yah had a peasant girl in yer bed, it'd be just fer you an then yah'd have the sheets wash cause a peasant'd touched em! He's a right proper king, all a'yah, yah don't care, we just things! Just THINGS!" She said, her emotions clearly beginning to rise again, and as the dancing in her eyes faded, the piercing intelligence returned.

"I was out with him once, walking through the streets of E-Rantel, he saw a boy talking to a girl, he was...well maybe not sweet on her, but he wanted her, he reached out to touch her, she pushed his arm away and said no, not mean, but she didn't want him to do that, the boy, he said to her, "oh come on, let's just..." I don't know what he was about to say to her after that, because a moment later he found himself staring up at the Sorcerer King. I will never forget what he said. "She told you no, lad. Do you want your wishes ignored when you express them?"

The boy, he said, "Well...no sire."

And then he said, "Then do not ignore hers. If you like her, listen to her, if she says no, assume she means it, do not treat her wishes about her flesh as if they were optional for you. They are not. She belongs to herself, you have no right to use one more finger on her than she permits, am I understood?"

Vanysa laughed, "The boy practically wet himself, but when the Sorcerer King said to apologize, I could see he felt a little ashamed of himself at least, and he did it. You think that kind of king, that kind of noble, is the sort that would just use me just because I can't stop him if he wanted to do so?" She shook her head. "No, he's not, and that's why he's better than all of you."

She crossed her arms stubbornly, and King Astraka slowly took in everything he was told, silence ruled for several minutes then a knock broke the reverie.

"Enter." The King said, and the door opened and the coachman offered out the requested items.

"Resume the journey." King Astraka said, somewhat sullenly as he offered out a covered platter to Vanysa.

The intelligence faded from her eyes and the dancing eyes and bouncy demeanor seemed to return, "Ahhh! Sanich time!" She said with a giggle. "Ahm not gonna tell you nothin that'd elp you against the S'cerer King, but ah can learn yah this!" She said, and she began to make a sandwich in front of him, drawing a curious look from him in return.

 _...Queen Draudillon's private office..._

"Did you send the letter, your majesty?" Vermillion asked somewhat reproachfully, as if he expected her to put it off, which she had...for an hour, before the fear of the consequences of not telling him outweighed the fear of the consequences of telling him.

"I did." She said unhappily. "I've sent it over our fastest couriers to E-Rantel, with the courier's having enough money to buy fresh horses along the way so that they needn't stop for much of anything."

Vermillion nodded. "Good." His arms were folded behind his back and the silence stretched between them. She sat, half slumped over to one side in her chair, her head resting on her fist, drumming her fingers on the arm rest with her other hand.

He stood straight and stared at her.

"What?" She asked.

"Do we know anything...else yet?" He asked as if that should have been obvious.

"Not a damn thing other than that we're more fucked than we thought we were." She said flatly. "We've kept a guard at her home every hour of every day, and we've searched the place constantly for any clue, and do you know what we got for that trouble?" She asked him.

He shook his head.

"A panda skin coat...obviously made from a beastman...and worse...these!" She snapped and opened her desk drawer, she snatched out a sheef of papers and slapped them on the desk.

"Do you know what these are?!" She said harshly.

"I...don't." He asked.

"They're letters." She said.

He looked nonplussed, "We knew she could read already, unusual for a peasant but..."

"From the Sorcerer King." Queen Draudillon said in an icy voice, Vermillion's mouth snapped shut in mid sentence.

"You heard me right. A peasant...has been corresponding...with hand written letters...between herself...and the most powerful monarch in the known world. And not only does it turn out that one of our nobles imposed taxes on her with the explicit goal of destroying her business...effectively stealing money that an impossibly powerful king gave to her as a reward for good service...she's now gone entirely missing...while I was the last known person to be with her. And if you want to know how much worse it can get...don't even say it Vermillion, I know that face." She said and opened another drawer and took out a picture and put it gently on the desk, she slid it over, and rotated it so that her prime minister could see it.

His face went pale.

"Yes, its what you think it is, now I don't know how long they had to stand for the artist...or how the artist did this without producing any evidence of his hand, but that is a picture of our missing peasant, who spoke for him at our meeting, who personally vouched for his many deeds and his character...hugging that monarch...from what I can only assume is his personal bed. They found that hidden under her mattress, I can only assume she wanted it close, but not obvious to anyone else."

She reached for a bottle and poured two cups.

Normally Vermillion tried to keep her from drinking, at least to much, but on this occasion when she gestured for him to sit, he did, and when she offered him a cup, he took it.

"I wonder if there will be enough left of me to bury." She said, "Gods...what if he should think our kingdom is trying to curry favor with the Slane Theocracy...what if he thinks we did this to punish him for taking part of our kingdom...what if he decides this is a prelude to activities of our own?" She finished the cup and threw it away and slammed her elbows down on the desk and then slammed her head into her hands.

Vermillion had no words of encouragement to offer her at first, he only set the cup down after finishing it, poured another for himself without asking, then sat in thought.

"Not going to say anything?" She asked without looking up.

"Nope." He said abruptly.

"No words of encouragement, no criticism, no clever remarks?" She asked.

"Nope." He said with equal brevity.

"Well aren't you helpful?" She asked.

"Nope." He said.

She sighed as he finished another cup.

"Would it make you feel better if I offered to have myself put to death alongside you?" He asked.

She shook her head. "I'm the monarch of this kingdom, if it comes down to it...if he is prepared to upend my country to find him, I'll...surrender without a fight on the condition that he doesn't punish my people...other than that noble who used the system to rob Vanysa. Maybe that way I will be remembered for my sacrifice instead of my incompetence." She said with dispair.

"Well..." Vermillion began, "we may be misjudging this. Remember he is not like the average noble or the average monarch. I mean even the fact that she could be this close to him as a mere peasant...how many peasants do you even know by name?" He asked her pointedly.

She was about to speak when he interrupted, "Outside the ones who work here." He added.

Her mouth closed. "None." She said glumly.

"If any left your employ and went elsewhere, would you write to them?" He asked her.

"No." She said, looking down in thought, then looked up again, "This is also what makes this more dangerous, he builds connection to the commoners, maybe not all of them, it happens and he goes to great lengths over those it happens with. He turned a squire into one of the most powerful people in the Holy Kingdom, he upends reason, he upends method, he's flipped the game board and I do not know how he'll respond to this." She said with frustration.

"All true, but he may also be reasonable, and prefer to find her and find answers first, I don't think a being that clever would be so rash as to punish us first and find out the facts second." Vermillion added.

"Fair enough." Draudillon said, "But I still want another drink."

"I'll get you another cup, my Queen." He said.

"Do that, and two bottles, I think we'll go through more than one." She said with a sigh.

"Agreed." He added.

 _...Near Yanana..._

Neia was relieved. After the successful extermination of the ambush party, she'd made great headway in the push back to the North, Remedios had...for some reason, at least temporarily broken off pursuit, and they were a few miles from Yanana, and the first sign of aid had come her way in the form of a company of Black Justice soldiers, Red Paladins, & Chained Priests. They were only three hundred strong, but that was a substantial increase, not least because of the intelligence they'd gathered.

"So you're saying that Black Justice units have been forming over most of the North?" She asked.

"Aye," the company commander said, "The capitol is much...smaller now. Word reached me a week ago that Gilcrest & Robel had been getting people 'sponsored' out into various towns and villages, mostly places with solid defenses, and that arms shipments from the Sorcerer King increased ten since you first went South, we have enough people for an army, and all we need to do is gather them."

"That is probably why they haven't come North." Skana reflected, "Remedios needs to reform her army from one of rapid pursuit to one of military conquest, and I'd wager she's gathering her allies there to march North, their population is much larger, and they still have a navy, we have to get North and get ready quickly, because I don't think they'll give us time for anything else."

"Agreed." Neia said. "CZ, about how long till we get to Prart?"

CZ thought for a moment, "Forced march...five days or less, fewer if the weaker are either left behind or put to cart to follow."

"OK. Then this is what we do, we use several scrolls and summon undead horses, we send messages throughout the Kingdom to all friendly centers, and order them to come to Prart, we must fight united, we will use that position as an anchor, and bottle Remedios up in the South for as long as we can, with our southern most position being in Kedyn, we can issue fiscal writs to people with undead labor asking for them to donate their skeleton and zombie labor to create an additional army for Remedios to face, we all know her, she won't be able to resist putting that down, and we only have to wait a short time, and then our allies will begin their own efforts at bringing down these fools." Neia's voice was confident and firm, there was a fire and zeal to her face that had been...lost at Wenmark, but was now refreshed and vigorous. While she participated in their planning on how to delay Southern advance...and how to counter any Northern official government intervention, in truth Skana was more focused on Neia, who seemed more herself now than she had in...perhaps months. It was a good feeling.

AN: Well here is Chapter 50, this one took a bit longer than usual, despite its relative brevity, trying to think like someone who is vulnerable is not easy for me. When I'm dressed up, I look like a mob boss, when I'm dressed down, I look like a death row inmate so...for most of my adult life, the idea of someone touching me against my will, threatening me, or doing anything to me that I didn't want...just wasn't something I ever had to worry about. But as my daughter has grown up, I've found myself paying more attention to just how many entitled pricks are out there...and with the growth of the internet and the emergence of the 'incel' community and other pricks who feel entitled to do what they want without consequence, empathy, or concern for others comfort...and perhaps most surprising, a recent incident at my base that...shall we say...kicked up some dust, I thought this would be a good theme to wind through this part of the story, between this chapter and the next, to highlight differences in character, concerns, thought processes, and how those impact behavior. I'm pretty confident that the overlord community is...adult enough, to accept themes like this, and actually think about what is said and done. I 'think' I captured the spirit of all this here, while still capturing who the characters are carrying them further through the plot.

If you think I did, or didn't, leave a review.


	51. Deeds & Misdeeds

_...Carriage of King Astraka..._

The next two days were quiet ones for King Astraka and the captive Vanysa, her tirade had yielded a 'little' intelligence, trivial mainly, but it had taught him a considerable amount about the thinking of the undead rival that he had to fight against. They weren't pleasant thoughts. He counted himself as a proper noble and a proper king, he considered it his duty to provide for his people, and clearly the inept failure Queen Calca could not be permitted back, so it fell to him.

But curiously, the Sorcerer King, Ainz Ooal Gown...seemed to take a more 'personal interest' in his people. For King Astraka...it was abstract. He looked at facts and figures, was there enough food, was the military budget funded, were laws obeyed and were those charged with enforcing those laws doing so lawfully themselves?

By the same token, he had to balance the issue, if a noble kept a harem of peasant girls or had some...unsavory predilections...but that noble was critical to his rule, well sometimes someone had to suffer for the greater good, he might be personally disgusted with the man, all he could do was behave somewhat better himself...but he could let it go on within that noble's domains to keep the peace. That was how the game was played. But from her description, the Sorcerer King had chosen to flip the board over and not play the game at all, he involved himself in the lives of his peasants, he took the time to reprimand a peasant boy and reason with him rather than simply having a guard give the kid a beating, or just ignore it as they were only peasants.

He furrowed his brow while Vanysa slept lengthways on the seat, there were now chains on her wrists that held her in place, and not for the first time since meeting her, he felt more than a little ashamed of what he'd done.

"Agh! Why does this BOTHER me!" He snapped to the air and grabbed at the hair on his head. He'd spoken with her a few more times, the sandwich had been good, he'd even made one for himself...a first for the nobleman turned King. Yesterday had been a bit of a breakthrough...

"Ah don't much feel like sayin anythin ta the man what got me all tied up an helpless, ahm no more appy than you are yah know, proly a lot less!" She snapped at him. "But so ah can just stop bein bored, ah tell yah what, yah let mah hands loose an ah promise that while 'you' av let em out, we can at least stay entertained an ah won't go callin fer help."

He'd frowned. "I don't often bargain with peasants."

She shrugged. "Well yah wanna be bored, ain't no way ahm gonna stop ya, an yah already done bargained with me once, an that gotcha a sanich, and yah know yah liked how that came out, so why nae do it twice?" She'd asked him, and giggled at the way she said it.

He'd rolled her eyes and said, "deal."

She'd been willing to talk to him, but when he tried to get information...she locked up. Now she was tied up again, and chained for good measure, so that he could sleep in peace without risking her trying to escape then. Part of him wondered if he was making a profound mistake, or if this was the best possible decision he could have made. A part of him told himself to cut her throat and hide the body to avoid any possible detection later, but he set the notion aside.

He'd be home soon, and then he'd try in earnest to draw out what she knew of her...benefactor.

 _...Royal Palace...Re-Estize Kingdom..._

Princess Renner had been very thorough in planning the ball, and both King Zanac & the Marquis Raeven had been enthusiastic supporters of it, so much so that it seemed most of the nobles of the Kingdom were all going to be available, no matter what their faction. Even the learder of the new faction of incompetents, one 'Philip' had chosen to attend.

For this event, no expense had been spared, the finest meals were being prepared by the finest chefs, only the most high quality well born servants were in attendance to wait upon guests, and the finest clothing was worn by all. The great ballroom was bathed in orange light by hundreds of candles, there were so many in fact that there were four servants who had no other job but to walk around the room and ensure that every candle remained lit and that any that burned down or broke was quickly replaced.

When the palace was opened King Zanac stepped out on to the grounds where they all were awaiting entry.

"Nobles of Re-Estize, may I bid welcome to the most dedicated and fine citizens a king could ask for!" A round of cheers greeted him, no matter the faction, national pride tended to be high.

"The purpose of this ball is to celebrate our unity! While the world beyond our borders is divided, our neighbors at one another's throats, their futures withering, while we stay strong, united, and growing. We of course...have suffered over the years..." He gave pause to his words, allowing for a solemn moment of silence, "But we still STAND!" He said, thrusting his fist into the air as she shouted his final statement.

"In that spirit, come within, and celebrate with me! Enjoy the wine, the music, and the fruits of a peace I pray that may long endure!" He said, opening his arms wide as if to embrace old friends, and he stepped aside and gestured to the entryway, a broad smile on his face as the cheers met him and the crowd moved forward across the grass and up the smooth clean stone steps of the palace.

In his head, Zanac wanted to practically cry, every word he'd said was a bald faced lie, he as now essentially a puppet of the Sorcerer King, who somehow essentially had their heirs all hostage without having been even remotely guilty of actually taking them as such, indeed he was going to be their rescuer.

When the last guest entered, Renner approached him. "Brother, you did very well, father would have been proud."

Zanac sighed, "It doesn't feel better."

Princess Renner sighed heavily, "Welcome to my existence, it did not feel good to be bartered like livestock, it did not feel good to pretend to be powerless, foolish, or weak, and you tolerated my enduring those for years." She said smartly.

"Well, I'm sorry." Zanac said sincerely, "This is very unpleasant."

"Most medicine is bitter, but the people of the Kingdom will survive, and you just need play your part." She said pointedly.

"I will." He said, "I have had a number of entertainment features planned, and provided assigned seating that gave front row preference to the novice faction of nobles, our people are mostly in the back, during the entertainment, I leave it to you to get them out to where they can meet with the Sorcerer King."

"Never fear brother, I won't fail." Renner said solemnly.

"I know, you're excessively clever, and...well most of these nobles are idiots." He said with a semblance of exhaustion, "Now, lets go in before somebody notices our conversation, see you afterwards sister."

"And you, King Zanac." She replied with a charming smile and moved among the crowd.

Philip sighed, the Kingdom was so pathetic, he looked up at the short, chubby King Zanac and reflected that it should be himself up there, not the fat lump that had inherited the throne. He was sure the man's talent was ordinary at best, and there really were so many idiots here, especially among the royals, but at least it gave him a chance to show himself off, and he never hesitated to do that. "Worthless. They're all so worthless." He said as he wandered around and mingled with the guests, quietly as he walked, he picked out which ones he would behead as he shook their hands and made small talk, all he needed was the opportunity to act, and quite soon that opportunity would come to him. He wandered over and casually caressed the bottom of a servant girl who was passing by, she turned around quickly and when she saw it was he, she blushed. Philip grinned, she must have been excited to get the attention of 'Philip the Great'. "More wine." He said, standing very close to the woman, she must have been very impressed with him, because she stammered out an acknowledgement and backed away as fast as she could to obey. He leaned against the wall and casually indulged in his favorite dream for the future.

He imagined himself there, standing over the body of the Sorcerer King, the beautiful Albedo kneeling in front of him, so very impressed, as well she should be, his name being written down as 'Philip the Great', and with the massive wealth of the Sorcerer Kingdom, he wouldn't need the Slane Theocracy, or the stupid nobles, he could behead the ones he didn't like, he saw their heads rolling away in his mind, and his crest flying over Kami Miyako, and if he had that, why the Holy Roble Kingdom was all but broken and the Draconic Kingdom wasn't much better off, he imagined he could conquer both of those easily...it was his...it would all be his...one day.

The servant returned, bearing a bottle, she appeared nervous...'The presence of greatness...it must do that to women.' He thought smugly as he held out his cup. She poured, not looking him in the eyes, which didn't bother him, because he was staring down at her ample breasts.

He casually reached out to touch her, "I ah...sir...the other guests..." She said. 'Obviously shy.' He thought, 'Its ok, I just need to take the lead.' He thought, and stepped closer, "They're fine." He said, and finished his cup, and held it out for a refill. "Another." She did her best to bury her discomfort, and poured for him again. "Good, you're very...attentive, and its good to be...attentive, to the right guests." He said, and he touched the side of her face, she flinched as if slapped, and he put his hand there again, more slowly, 'I need to ease her in...when she understands how nice this can feel...' He thought, and then he felt a touch on his back and turned around, and found himself face to face with princess Renner. The golden princess herself, he turned from the servant woman, and the princess spoke.

"Ahh...Philip, isn't it?" She said with a winning smile, and he bowed politely.

"The one and the same." He said with a satisfied grin. "There is some entertainment about to take place, I pray you'll come join us for it, surely your friends would be lost without your guiding hand?" She asked indulgently.

'She's right.' He sighed in his head, 'They're all idiots, they'd be lost without my brilliant direction and leadership, I'd better go or they'll say or do something stupid.' Aloud he said, "As you say highness, I would be a bad friend indeed to leave them alone on such a marvelous evening." He bowed again and began to walk away, though he turned to look at the servant girl somewhat regretfully, only to find that she was moving away as fast as she could, no doubt upset that he had to leave her.

He shrugged and thought, 'Next time' as he moved to the seating area.

 _...E-Rantel...Governor's Manor..._

Leinas Rockbruise was doing something she hadn't done much of in her life. She was enjoying herself. The Sorcerer King had come by E-Rantel and praised her efforts, he'd even offered a reward to her, she'd requested a few days of relaxation, and as a result she spent two weeks being pampered in the spa of Nazarick, she still felt as relaxed as a slime.

Her work around E-Rantel overseeing the fiscal shifts and the investment in the demihuman district were largely successful, more demihumans were building businesses, some had sold their homes, others had become landlords, many others had leveraged their property into business ventures.

Leinas had ensured she was scrupulously fair, and the incorruptible elder liches that served as beaurocrats and judges simply could not be bribed, while the use of mind control magic exposed the corrupt and cost some their fortunes, and others their freedom. As she came to understand more of the vision of the Sorcerer King, she came to appreciate the value of it, especially seeing the end result of it all. Fighting for a better future had gone from meaning the need to swing her sword, to the need to move her pen...all in all, she was all smiles and positivity.

That was her mood when she saw a document on her desk, it was a letter, addressed to the Sorcerer King from Queen Draudillon. Correspondence for Ainz Ooal Gown was not common, but nor was it unheard of, but Albedo had been quite firm in that Leinas had an obligation to ensure her master's time was not wasted with petty concerns, so she was obligated to filter out the polite greetings and other nonsense for 'bulk' delivery, while only urgent matters were expressly brought to his attention immediately.

It might have been a tedious chore, but it was one that showed the highest level of trust the undead could place in her, so..she gingerly broke the seal and was about to read it when a servant knocked on the door and informed her that the Platinum Dragon Lord was there to see her.

"Send him in." She said with surprise, and set the letter down, deciding to skim it while she waited.

'Who the hell is Vanysa?' She thought to herself, shifting through her memory trying to place the name, until...gradually...a vague recollection came bubbling to the surface, an offhand remark from a battlemaid about a bubbly blonde girl that visited Nazarick and...once slept in the Sorcerer King's private chambers. She swallowed hard and put that into the urgent stack and activated a scroll calling for a courier to come urgently.

The courier came and went before the Platinum Dragon Lord arrived, and Leinas found herself missing her vacation much sooner than she thought she would. She did her best to hide her discomfort, and invited the lord to sit in front of her, and then she sat herself.

"Good morning my lord, how can I help you?" She asked, folding her hands formally in front of her. He, for his part, sat straight and kept his hands in his lap.

"I will be blunt, I've come to see what kind of a country this is." He said. Leinas nodded sagely, "Of course, I assume you passed through the orientation already, correct?"

He nodded, "I did, and I will admit I did not believe what I heard there. So far however, if there are any lies, I have yet to find them."

"What more can I do for you then?" She asked, spreading her hands open invitingly.

"You are a human, formerly of the empire, and one of the great defenders of humanity, but you are here, serving the undead. Why?" He asked, and leaned in intensely.

She sighed heavily, "You probably know about my curse?"

"I did." He answered.

"He cured it. I was cursed, then cured, and blessed. In exchange, I serve him as I served my former emperor." She answered as honestly as she could.

"Were you 'stolen' from his service?" The dragon lord asked.

"No, he released me with a favorable recommendation, the Sorcerer King did what the emperor could not, and I offer all that I am able to, in return." She replied.

"And you are happy about this?" He asked.

"I am." She replied.

"Because you got what you wanted?" He asked further.

"I won't say no...but it is more than that." She said, leaning in herself, "I have come to believe in his vision for this world, between Carne & E-Rantel, I'm seeing the model of the world he wants to create, and its one I want to see. I won't say he's without his ruthless side, how far he'll go when he's pushed, but..."

Their conversation was interrupted by a gate opening in her office, and through it stepped the Sorcerer King, he came in from behind the Platinum Dragon Lord, such that he did not realize who was seated, and he slapped the letter down on Leinas's desk.

"When did this arrive?" He asked.

Leinas knelt immediately and said, "Sire it came in with the morning paperwork, I sent it to you the moment I saw its contents." She answered with her head bowed.

"Do you know who Vanysa is?" He asked her.

Leinas shook her head. "I only heard her name once sire, a battlemaid mentioned that years ago a girl by that name visited your home, she mentioned you seemed to like her."

The pressure in the room began to build, "She personally attended to me during the entirety of my sojourn into the Beastman Kingdom, and more recently she personally spoke before great leaders as to my character, no easy thing for a peasant to do. Her disappearance is unacceptable. Have your forces been assembled yet?" He asked her.

Leinas swallowed, "Most of them sire, but others are still coming in, we will be ready to march at the end of the month if you want them all."

"End of the week, the rest can be rerouted to the border and catch up to you. I want your entire army ready to march step over the border the very day that thirty day window ends." He answered as the pressure continued to build, Leinas felt it pushing her down, she could not hold her head up, she was breathing hard.

Then it vanished, kept breathing hard, and Ainz reached out and touched her shoulder, "I'm sorry, I did not intend for you to feel that, it is simply that this outrages my greatly." He said.

It was then that he noticed the Platinum Dragon Lord sitting there, breathing very hard as well.

Ainz inclined his head, "I did not see you there, I apologize, my mind was...occupied."

"No...think nothing of it, it is simply that I was hoping to learn more about your kingdom, perhaps take a tour of your city so that we could know one another better." The Dragon Lord said diplomatically, then he tilted his head, "Vanysa has gone missing? She's the busty gutsy blonde girl with the funny manner of speech, right?"

Ainz chuckled, "A more apt description I could not make, yes, she has vanished, apparently the night of the conference, that is what the letter from Queen Draudillon says. I am on my way to see her about it...momentarily."

Leinas swallowed, she did not envy the Queen.

The Platinum Dragon Lord felt uncomfortable, "I'm sure she had nothing to do with it." He said.

Ainz paused..."I agree, but this letter is very lacking in information, it asks only if she is with us and expresses some concern, something about a lost coin and being unable to find her, and her not being at her residence lately and a fear that if she is not with us, then she has been taken...and she is not with us."

The Platinum Dragon Lord took that in slowly, "I understand your concern..." He said. "You will not be to hard on her though?"

Ainz thought for a moment, "No, not unless she is involved."

"How will you find out?" He asked.

"Quickly." Ainz replied, and the pressure began to build again, only for Ainz to cut it off immediately.

He gestured to Leinas, "Send word to the others, get them to the march immediately, and I want all the weapons and armor Neia needs to be waiting at Prart when she arrives. There will be a heavy price to pay if Vanysa is made to suffer. Also, have Albedo bring Aureole Omega to the throne room and be ready to meet with me when I return, along with the rest of the general command, to include yourself."

A moment later, Ainz was gone again, leaving the Platinum Dragon Lord alone with Leinas.

"Should he...have said those things in front of me?" The Platinum Dragon Lord asked, mystified.

"Be glad he did." She replied.

"Why?" He asked.

"First, it means he does not consider you an enemy, and more importantly, he does not consider you to have been involved in this." She said, letting that sink in.

"Second, it means he does not expect you to betray what you've heard to anyone that it would matter to, probably because if word got out, he'd know exactly where it came from and you know it...that means he considers you smart enough to act on your own best interest and keep quiet." She paused again, allowing that to sink in.

"Third, it means he's thinking you are more likely to be an ally than you are to be a threat." She finished and let all that sink in at once. The Platinum Dragon Lord was almost offended for a moment about something existing that didn't think of him as a threat...but then he questioned his sanity and set that absurd thought aside.

"Exactly." She said as it all sunk in. "You could be much worse off now. Something else to keep in mind though, either he knew you were here and was able to plan his behavior to let you see him behave this way over a mere peasant...in which case he is incalcualbly cunning...or...he didn't know, and you saw what kind of king he was by virtue of his obvious care for a peasant that isn't even a citizen of his nation. He's either a genius or he's genuine, both set him a cut above the norm that I have seen." Leinas said, and after a moment she added, "I can't give you a tour now obviously, but I suggest you take a look around, enjoy the city of E-Rantel, see who your neighbor really is." She said and stood up, "Now, thank you for coming, I'm sorry you had to experience that disruption, his majesty is...passionate about the wellbeing of those who have served him loyally."

The Platinum Dragon Lord stood and bowed, "I wish you luck, General Rockbruise."

"And I pray I have no need of luck." She said with a smile, returning the bow, and leaving the room to emptiness.

 _...Black Justice line of march..._

The high walls of Prart were seen sooner than expected, and the city even from a distance, looked much improved, but the sun was setting and they were still a long way off, so Neia ordered encampment for the night and defenses were swiftly set into place. Both the Vines & the Blood Miners had learned the Black Justice methods, and they applied themselves to those methods religiously, stakes were hammered into place, improvised walls were made of carts, and a watch was set over the prisoners, who were kept gagged and bound in their improvised prison cart, and the torches were laid every twenty feet surrounding the exterior of the camp, allowing the camp that was shrouded in darkness, to see into the light to target any threats. When those were established, cook fires were laid and a watch was set, and it was only then that tents went up for people to sleep in, some only had bed rolls, but it was good enough.

Around their cook fire that night, Skana asked, "Do you think Tinamoc is there?"

CZ shrugged, "Do not know. Maybe."

Neia nodded, "I expect he will be, he had a head start, even if he is delayed, well we were the hunted ones."

"Maybe." Skana said, "But I'll be a lot happier when we know."

"Cute." CZ said, and placed a sticker on her cheek.

Skana smiled indulgently and left the sticker in place, it upset CZ when her friends removed her stickers.

"What about these prisoners, what do we do with em?" Neia asked.

"The King says we're an insurrection, but the Queen says otherwise, so I guess it comes down to whom you believe." Neia said with a shrug.

"I still can't believe she's alive again." Skana said.

"Saw her myself." Neia replied, "We officially declare for the Queen, and when the month is over, we have official international aid with full just cause.

"You should rule." CZ said, pointing to Neia. When Neia's jaw fell open, CZ said, "Cute, and placed a sticker on the tip of Neia's nose.

Neia froze for a moment and then gasped out..."WHAT?!"

 **AN: Well another double release day, by the time you see this it should be the 25th, and I owe a few more double release days yet. :) These two chapters were unique in some ways, first, I responded to some reader feedback about the way Vanysa speaks, I've made her language more simplified so it doesn't have to be read out loud to understand, but I don't think it changed her character any to do so, a little more of her mental state is revealed, look carefully, you'll find the pattern for it. The characters are explored in somewhat greater depth now, and we're coming to the end of the time spent returning home for all the characters. Ainz is obviously really pissed off, and events are about to spiral out of everyone's control.**

 **If you want to increase the number of days in which I do double releases, you can donate blood to an appropriate location and simply send me photo proof of your donation in the form of your vampired arm where they're draining the blood from your body...I know, you just thought of Shalltear, its why I like y'all. You get me. ;) Anyway, alternatively, you can donate to charity at bdgiving dot org.**

 **...you slave drivers. ;)**


	52. The Last Days of Peace

_...Kami Miyako...Slane Theocracy..._

Raymond was not happy. Being not happy was the norm for him now, the armies of the Theocracy were massive, but seldom used because of the small teams of elite scripture units, from the Gray to the Black, heroes filled their ranks, and most of the problems that the Theocracy had needed to address in the past required small unit actions, only the war against the Elf Kingdom had required the use of the army, and that had been a slow and methodical conflict. This was going to be different, the rapidity of the mind of 'The Adversary' told him not to expect a slow and plodding advance, the confidence in his victory was tremendous, such that Raymond was very concerned that there might be a basis for it.

And so they sat together around the table and held yet another meeting, he and all the cardinals, a map was laid out in front of them.

"The Sorcerer King's chief base of power is concentrated here." Raymond said as he pointed to E-Rantel. "If we take that city, we'll have knocked most of his resources out of the conflict."

"It isn't his real capitol though, is it?" Dominic asked rhetorically.

"Well no, but we can't advance to his true home without taking it, plus we can advance on Carne right after that, those are his only real centers of power beyond his actual residence." Maximillion said reasonably.

"The problem is the 'IF'." Ginedine said with a sigh, "Even discounting the magic he's sworn not to use, he still has legions of undead and legendary monsters, not to mention the loyal followers he's managed to accrue, the Emperor's legions alone are a massive problem. Tomorrow the thirty days expires, and our scouts beyond the border have reported a armies of demihumans, humans, and undead marching out of the city of E-Rantel and our spies in the Empire have told us that similar forces have been moving since the summit."

Yvon sighed heavily, "We can only trust that we are acting in accordance with the will of the divine. Are we ready to spring the trap from Re-Estize?"

"We are." Raymond replied, "The ball they held in the capitol meant to show their unity showed their division instead, and the entire royal faction is crippled. After the ball was over, I had the princess act as a messenger, she's practically broken by the loss of her bodyguard, and the royal faction very...meek, in their acceptance of instruction. Her only condition was that they be allowed time to run away." Raymond's voice was forceful and confident, but still the whole thing ate at him. He dismissed the matter as one of conscience, as Berenice spoke up.

"Do we know where she wants them to run to?" She asked.

"Not exactly, but one of the maids mentioned overhearing her asking a soldier what life in the woods was like, and another maid saw her trying on clothing meant to make life in forests easier, and she was also seein reading in the library, the book she put away was inspected, and it turned out to be about the Great Forest of Tob." Raymond replied.

"Large enough to hold them and any supporters, hard to find those who don't want to be found, and survivable for a small number, and if they make it out, they could stay in exile in the Baharuth Empire and wait out the war in comfort." Dominic said thoughtfully.

"I think that is what we should expect, some might put up a fight anyway, but I doubt it. Then we can advance this way, with the armies of Re-Estize traveling along the road from E-Pespel to E-Rantel from West to East, while we advance from South to North from Gandu." Raymond said in a whisper as the plan laid out took shape in his mind.

"There are no roads into the Abelion Hills from our country, so how do we deal with that?" Maximilian asked.

"Let the elf King do it." Yvon replied. "It won't be bad for the women of the world if that monstrous fuck spends the next few months fighting demihuman tribes."

Raymond felt pretty good about that.

"Granted, but if we don't send any support, well we have the city of Partraka near the border, he might just switch sides or decide to 'visit' it with his army. And we want him to actually win against the Demihumans, so I suggest we send the Clearwater Scripture and the Windflower scripture, and twenty five thousand soldiers, once the in the Holy Roble Kingdom we can link up with King Astraka's armies and set about putting down the insurrection, between ourselves, the Elf King, & King Astraka's forces, we should have no problem bringing the place to heel, then we can bring the united forces back through the Abelion Hills and put down any remaining resistance, they're mostly just tribals, and they are badly depleted between Jaldabaoth's failed invasion and the fact that some of the survivors outright left to join the Sorcerous Kingdom." Raymond added.

"What about the Southern Holy Kingdom?" Yvon asked curiously.

"They're raising arms against Queen Calca & in support of King Astraka, she was never as popular in the South as she was in the North, and she's seen as a failed monarch. They should easily be able to raise a hundred thousand spears." Raymond replied, "All in all, our odds are good. But I'm still not happy."

Dominic looked at him with a curious expression, "Why?" He asked.

"I don't know, and that is what is making me more unhappy." Raymond replied with a mystified and tired sigh.

 _...Carriage of King Astraka..._

The silence was thick as a side of beef when Vanysa finally broke it. The chains on her wrists held them over her head, and her breathing seemed to hold his eyes firmly to her chest. She stared daggers at him as he poured himself another cup. "Can ah ask yah somethin?" She began.

He inclined his head indicating for her to proceed.

How come yah hates me?" She asked, a curious tone in her voice.

"What?" he asked with confusion.

"Ah said...how comes yah hates me? Ah ain't done nothin to yah, ah swear, all 'ah done is be friends with a right p'werful king who done rightby me an what saved mah people...so why yah hate me?"

He swirled the wine around in his cup and looked down at it in thought then raised it up and drank it down swiftly before setting it aside. He leaned forward, resting his arms on his thighs and folding his hands together past his knees.

He wasn't a bad looking fellow, Vanysa had to admit.

"I don't hate you." He said.

She looked at him in disbelief. "Do yah normally hit girls yah like? Do yah normally tie 'em up and take em way far away from home an make em tell yah things?"

"No." He shook his head.

"An all tha other stuff?" She asked with a snap in her voice.

"Other stuff?" He asked, mystified.

"Ah ain't as stupid as yah think yah know. Jus bein a girl, an poor, an a peasant, don't mean ah was born w'thout a brain yah know." She said testily. "I can see yah just starin at mah chest here, ah can see whas in yer eyes while yah doit, yah think it don't hurt ta jus be looked at like ah side a meat? Yah tryin t'scare me, makin me think ah what you'll do when yah get tired a jus lookin? If'n yah think ah don't see that, then yer as dumb as yah think ah am!" She snapped.

His eyes flashed with fury, but she didn't stop.

"How many times yah gonna humiliate me eh?! Ow can yah even ask 'what other stuff?' like yah don't know! When yah feed meh, yah do it by hand, yah won't even let me hold the cup no more...an when ah...gots to go...yah humiliate meh worse, yah take me out on a chain or with a rope b'hind mah back an make me...go...like that, yah ain't seen mah face! Yah aint seen how ah feel bein treated like a damn animal what ain't got no pride or self r'spect?! So...course yah hate me! Why else yah do all this to me like ah deserve it?!" She asked in a voice full of hate.

She tried to lift her leg to kick at him, but they were bound, and all she managed was to stomp on the tip of his boot, barely striking his big to within, it might have been small, but it stung.

He snapped and reached out, and slapped her across the face with the back of his hand. Her head snapped to one side and slapped the wall behind her, it stung, and drew blood from her lip. Her tongue darted out and licked it away as if to confirm it was there, and she looked at him again.

He calmed down...his repeated attempts at friendly questioning had yielded very limited results at best, and now he was close to his capitol. It was time to start asking her hard questions...in hard ways...she had refused to talk about the spells he used, how many, what they did, or how much difficulty he had in using them, she'd refused to tell him about the defenses of the Sorcerer King's home, what kind of military assets it had, or anything else. She did reveal he knew a shocking number of 'sandwiches' which were incredibly good...but not much of value.

"I don't hate you. But you know things I need to know to ensure I win this war, the more I know, the more easily I can win, and the fewer the number of people who need to die because of it. I didn't ask for this, and I'm not proud of kidnapping you, but I will not apologize for doing what needs to be done to end this conflict." He said.

She looked at him, when he'd hit her, the bounce and brightness faded from her eyes, they were clear as shining steel as she stared at him. "So you're going to torture me then?" She asked.

King Astraka didn't hesitate to answer, "If that is what it takes. Its really more up to you than to me." He said, "I've tried to ask you nicely during this entire trip its been weeks, I've promised you wealth beyond measure, a position at court, a noble title, I've offered you a place in my luxurious harem, I've offered to let you build one of your own if that is what it took! You refuse every offer of kindness and you speak to me as if I'm some tavern keeper you can just mouth off to whenever you like!" He snapped.

"I will have the answers I need, or I will have them ripped from your tongue with implements of pain." He said harshly.

"You'll die screaming." She said without a trace of her previous peasant speech. "You are lower than a tavern keeper, you're lower than the one true king, the one true god, you cannot bribe me or buy me, because I got something from my time with the Sorcerer King that is more valuable than anything you could ever offer me, even more valuable than the throne you're willing to burn your kingdom to the ground to get!" She snapped.

This had him intrigued, so Astraka ignored the insult for the moment and asked, "What was it? An item? A treasure? A power? Did he offer you a high station in his kingdom, or yet more wealth?"

The bright dancing look came back into her eyes, "Ah gots mah self r'spect, mah dignity, an mah pride. Ah gots ta know ah ain't jus what ahm told ah am, an ah gots mah courage. Ah may nae be strong, or gots lotsa power, but ah belong ta none...less I wanna, yah caint take mah integrity, yah caint take mah self r'spect, ah can only give em up mah self, and ah ain't gonna do it, and yah ain't gonna buy em!" She said confidently.

Astraka took a bite out of a strawberry and enjoyed the sweet juice within, listening to her as she ranted.

Her eyes went clear as day again and she said, "Maybe you can terrify me, maybe you can make me hate my existence, maybe you'll even get me to beg to die...but I've been to those places before, who I am now was born from them, and the Sorcerer King helped shape me after them, by teaching me, by protecting me, by letting me see his example, giving in to you would be like throwing away the only gifts of value anyone has ever given me, so no matter what you do to my body, all you'll hear in return are screams, and I promise you...you'll make plenty of them yourself before all this is over. Go...fuck yourself."

There was nothing more to say. So she stared at him as if her hatred could bore a hole in his head, and he stared at her as if the only entertainment was what the bumpy road was doing to her chest. She rankled the chains every now and then to make herself comfortable and just to make noise, it annoyed him, and that was something at least.

But eventually the common need for sleep overtook them both. She didn't resist as he changed the position of her body to let her lie down, but she did spit into his beard, and get another slap to the other side of her face for her trouble, it had caused her to cut her tongue on her teeth, so she spat blood on him next, and she braced herself to be hit again, looking at him as if she was daring him to do it, but he didn't. Instead he resecured her chains and ropes, and then went back to sleep himself.

The cold gaze of Vanysa the sadist returned in the shadows, she could only make out the shape of the king, the one who was the enemy of her god, and she wanted him to die, she wanted him to die for so many things, his 'kindness' had almost tricked her...she still wasn't sure if he was being honest about not having her violated, but a man who would resort to torture was not one she wanted to chance that with...and she wasn't much in favor of being tortured either, though she couldn't think of a meaningful difference, what good was it to be spared the noose if you received the sword? She'd paid careful attention to everything in the carriage, and careful attention to everything he'd done, and now she finally had a measure of success.

When he'd leaned over, she'd managed to sneak the key out of his pocket when she'd leaned up to spit in his beard, and hidden it when he was distracted by hitting her. So in the deepest, darkest hour of the night, she undid the chains, and then she crunched her knees up to her chest, and fumbled with the rope around her ankles for several minutes, undoing them was easy enough.

Vanysa looked over at the King, he was asleep, he'd been asleep for hours. He'd tied her up, he'd chained her, he'd gagged her...to be fair he'd helped her lie down and he hadn't even groped her. But...if the best she could say about him was that he didn't abuse someone helpless...well there wasn't much to be said about him. She was cloaked in darkness, how long had they been on the road how many times had he asked her questions, how many times had she had to feel the utter and abject humiliation of relieving herself while he held a chain secured to her neck or a rope that secured her wrists behind her back.

She'd played along, she'd been patient, her background of ignorant peasant had been favorable to her...as had her thick peasant voice and her very bad grammar and pronunciation, she felt his view of her generally decline as he saw her as less and less of a threat.

Now here in the darkness of the carriage, she would show that she wasn't stupid. She really wished she knew just where she was, somewhere in the Slane Theocracy maybe? Near the border? How long did it even take to get across a whole country? With no view out the windows she couldn't even try to figure out how fast they were going using the math her master had taught her, and even if she had, she had no idea how big the area was they had to cross. It didn't matter though, once she got out, she could make a run for it, she could hide, she could live off the land and make her way home...or perhaps to the divine one's nation where she could beg his forgiveness for being captured.

When she was free, she felt around, trying to find a dagger or a weapon or anything that could be used as such, her own weapon was gone, and the way the king slept, his arm was over the drawer holding her money. She felt the chains in the darkness, she looked at the shadowy outline of his sleeping form...kill him...and a great service would be rendered to her savior...but the door was right there, if she could open quietly, she could leap out and perhaps the coachman wouldn't even notice? She felt her breathing intensify, her eyes went wide as she looked from the sleeping king to the waiting door, the improvised weapon in her hand, do it...it was heavy, if one blow didn't kill him, several would.

She closed her eyes...there was only one way to show her gratitude. She drew her hand along the length of chain, the humiliations and fears were roiling in her gut as she folded it in half and grabbed the loose ends.

It was then that the carriage struck a rock and his eyes popped open from the jolt, he saw her standing over him and she screamed and raised the chain and brought it down at his head, he raised his arm to protect himself, and his habit of sleeping in armor probably saved him a broken arm, perhaps even saved his life...though it would hurt a great deal later, she drew it back again and tried to make another swing. "Die! DIE! DIE! DIE! DIE!" She shrieked as she continued to swing the chain in the darkness, managed to grab it on the third swing and pulled her down, each one struggling in the darkness to find purchase to gain the superior position. He pulled the chain away and struck her hard on the face, she scratched and clawed, trying to get at his eyes, swinging her arms with wild desperation, her banshee like voice as he forced her down onto her back did not diminish, but with his armor on there was little available she could hurt, finally he fully had the upper hand, and drew back his fist for a heavy blow. The light of the moon shone threw a crack in the curtain, and it illuminated his furious face to her, streaked with scratches, he could see her, and she could see him, and she screamed into the night, "Maaaasteeeeer!" Calling for aid before his fist connected to her again, and sent her cascading into the darkness of unconsciousness.

 _...Re-Estize Kingdom...Royal Palace..._

Renner was smiling the morning after the ball, it had been an enormous success, the royal faction members had one by one been taken aside and 'gated' to meet with Ainz Ooal Gown. She grinned happily, the memory of these mighty figures, shaking, trembling, kneeling...even prostrating themselves before the unparalleled might of the one who had broken their army...it had been beautiful. The braver ones had not responded the same way immediately, but they did eventually. They did when Ainz allowed them to see their loved ones within Slane Theocracy territory. He even permitted them to pass through a gate, to explain things to their loved ones, and then return. Renner wanted to laugh, so many of them...so stupid. They were overwhelmingly grateful for the safety of their families, for being able to speak to them, none of them realized that through the subtle machination, the Sorcerer King was effectively the true holder of the hostages. Only King Zanac & the Marquis Raeven seemed to be cunning enough to recognize the way the Sorcerer King had taken advantage of the situation.

"...Very impressive, Sorcerer King." King Zanac had said as he knelt before the skeletal being that sat upon the Throne of Kings. "The Slane Theocracy has effectively handed you my nation, and handed you hostages, while trying to act on their own. Truly your monstrous intellect is not mere rumor. I accept the bargain, formally and absolutely. Save my nation, and it will become your nation. Secure my throne...and hand my sister the power. Crush my enemies, those who have done so much to weaken us from within for their own sake, and I am your man forever. Grant my people prosperity, and I will grant the boy Climb a suitable title that will allow him to marry my sister. Save our families, and our estates will send tribute to you for all time. I swear it in your name, and in mine, and in my fathers, and by the blood of those who live and die on our decisions as kings...until the very dust of the ground decays."

'What the hell is he talking about?! I didn't plan ANY of that!' Ainz thought furiously, until he realized exactly how advantageous the situation was as Zanac laid it out. As it became clear and King Zanac spoke, Ainz laughed deeply and heartily, and his guardians could barely contain their glee. "I accept your fealty King Zanac, you are a worthy man, son of a worthy man. I regret that he did not survive, for the many tomorrows ahead will see a bright future for your nation...once we have passed through the shadow of war. You have made the right decision, as any of my vassals can attest to. Your faction will be the only one to survive the conflict, save any among your rivals you designate as meriting their continued survival after all is done, and then there will be no factions. There will be my will, and the execution of it, which between yourself, your sister, and your exceedingly capable Marquis Raeven...I am sure will be carried out to perfection."

"Shall I sign a formal document now sire?" King Zanac asked.

Ainz shook his head, "No, let the histories say that you did not bend a knee until the nobles sought the destruction of the kingdom for their selfish ends. I will even go one better. If they do not bend to the sway of the Theocracy as they plan to do, if they change their minds and yield only to you and keep your nation from war, I will guarantee your independence and invest heavily in your nation's reconstruction." He said, prompting a look of surprise on both Zanac & the Marquis Raeven's faces.

"But...why would you do that?" King Zanac asked as the Marquis looked on, utterly surprised. Albedo gave him an angry look and was about to speak when Ainz raised his skeletal hand to stop her.

"You are bending to me to save your nation the destruction that the Theocracy is bringing down on you, the nobles are acting for their own self interests, which they have woefully misjudged. If your nation is not in fact thrust into danger after all, then your bending to me would not be just, therefore I must give your nation a chance to save itself. Thus, should none of that come to pass, you know that your neighbor nation can be trusted. However if all of that should come to pass, you can kneel to me in clean conscience that you did everything a king should do, before going to the last resort a king must undertake to save those for whom he is responsible."

Zanac kept his head deeply bowed. "You are truly a noble ruler. I accept your terms."

When they had returned to the ball, nobody had noticed their departure, and most of the incompetent faction had been 'distracted' by the women Renner had sought especially for this event, arriving some time after ample wine had flowed into greedy mouths...courtesans, beautiful women trained in the arts of love, lust, and the pleasing of the wealthy elites. The noble faction had lost much talent and great incompetence was the norm, so when these courtesans that had been filtered to her through the remnants of Eight Fingers that now served the Sorcerer King, took the soft hands of spoiled, inept, unprepared nobles who knew how to most excellently work those fools over both mentally and with physical desire, great intelligence was acquired.

And all they had to do...was allow some self important fops to talk...since they did not know how else to use their tongues. Those foolish nobles had turned the grand ball into a seive that let intelligence leak out all night long. Renner scoffed as she watched the gangly looking idiot, 'Philip' awkwardly trying to paw at a woman and saying ridiculous things that he thought sounded smart, clever, or powerful, she tittered and played along, leading him to a back chamber to what Renner suspected was going to be...boring for her...but at least yield ample information. Renner shrugged, professionalism was professionalism, whatever the skill.

The nobles of the Re-Estize Kingdom

 _...Return to Prart..._

Neia's return to Prart was celebratory to say the least. Her advance party informing the government and citizens of their arrival had become cause for a massive city wide holiday, the soldiers of Black Justice...those still alive that is, were well remembered as the front line heroes of the fight against the corruption that had plagued the city, fight for justice within the city had started a revolution, and the subsequent circulation of the Black Book...as it had become locally colloquially known, had pushed that revolution even further alone.

When Neia's forces entered the city, first Black Justice, then the Vines, then the Blood Miners, walking in ranks four abreast, lead by Neia Baraja, CZ Delta, & Skana the Bold who rode on undead horses in their best armor, cheers smashed against the lot of them like waves on a shore. Neia privately reflected that they probably had no idea what the groups of motly armed elves and humans with them were...but for a crowd, well anyone who marched with those they cheered for, was to be cheered in turn.

As they rode along the streets she noted that they were clean of debris, that the houses she saw were in vastly improved states of repair, that the public works such as the fountains were all fully functional again and that the general air of the entire place had taken on a completely different feel, even the air felt different, there wasn't a spirit of repression or fear hovering around her as she guided her people to the one place she wanted to visit most.

"Where...exactly are you leading us?" Skana asked curiously from Neia's right hand.

"Where else?" She asked, "We're going to see our temple."

CZ gave an approving nod, and turn by turn they made their way to the massive black structure. It was everything she remembered, and much more besides, at top of the stairs waiting for her were several dignified looking and well dressed familiar faces...and one figure sitting center front three steps from the foot of them who was even more familiar. Neia grinned widely and as they came within thirty paces she shouted, "Soldiers, HALT!" and the formation stopped. Vines & Blood Miners had all acknowledged themselves as soldiers by this time, motly as they might have looked, there was no questioning their purpose.

Neia dismounted her horse, followed quickly on her left and right by CZ & Skana. She approached the figure sitting at the steps who was holding a cup...and had three more next to him sitting in front of a bottle. He finished his cup, set it down, then stood up and grinned, opening his arms wide at her approach. "Neia! How good to see you again!" He said with a joyful expression on his face. Skana! CZ! I'm so glad you're all well!

Neia did not even hesitate, she gave him a bear hug, then slapped his shoulders hard, held tight and said, "Good to see you too Tinamoc! We've been worried about you!" Her smile was broad and genuine as she spoke, and he was clapped on the back by Skana who said, "I told them you'd be alright! But they're worriers." She shrugged, "What can you do?"

He answered that question by shaking CZ's hand and saying, "By leaving those stickers on as long as possible until we can get another."

The corner's of CZ's mouth twitched...it was slight, but it was the closest thing she did to smiling...other than what she did next, which was to put a sticker on his cheek and say, "Cute answer."

The figures at the top of the stairs were waiting patiently, but this was clearly not unexpected. Neia looked briefly over Tinamoc's shoulder and shouted to those at the top, "Hey, you all got proper weapons and armor for everyone here right?!"

"We do!" A satisfied voice answered.

"We'll drink in a moment Tinamoc, first a few words." Neia grinned, and Tinamoc began to take up the cups and pour.

"I'll hold the toast, but not to long, be quick about it." He said with the kind of smug grin that only a person who brought the alcohol is allowed to have.

"Intoxication protocol is now active." CZ said.

"Before you speak..." Tinamoc shouted, "There are some people you should see!"

Neia looked confused for a moment before Tinamoc called out. "Alright, get out here you lot!"

And as his words were echoed, people began to emerge from various buildings, armed masses, swords and black armor, cloaks and bows, there were hundreds of them. It took a moment before Neia realized what she was seeing, as from behind them stepped small children whose faces were more clearly visible and their features more obvious...they were elves, they were all elves.

"We made it out!" He shouted, and Neia could not keep back her tears, she almost collapsed from the shock, she'd imagined him a lone survivor, hunted, losing people...but here stood the third miracle of her lifetime. Skana and CZ grabbed her as her body started to collapse from the sheer relief she felt, and she touched her head and shook it, struggling to regain her composure.

"It...it wasn't for nothing..." Neia said, the words so softly spoken that only CZ could hear what she'd said.

"I-I'm fine...I just...its overwhelming." She said, the words barely pushed out past her lips, she tapped their shoulders and said, "I'm fine, I'm fine, let me do this." And as they let her go and stepped out of the way, she began to ascend the steps of the temple, she felt so small beneath its shadow, like it was the physical incarnation of her god's power.

When she reached the top, she shook hands with the leaders she'd left behind and turned to the crowd.

Her voice was more forceful now, it carried, and though she struggled, her words were clear as crystal.

"It was not for nothing...the losses were great...very great..." she paused for a moment, and thought of Illyana. "But we who survive, carry with us the memory of those who died so that we could be here today, and to speak of them, is to give them new life, and pass the knowledge of who they were and what they did, onwards as an example to all of those to young to know what they need to do, we must show them the way, and ensure that those who perished, who did not perish for in vain, but instead gave their lives to make their spirits the guiding light that leads us to a glorious future. Let us remember them together, all those we have lost, the empty chairs and empty beds, the laughter stilled and life extinguished...their blood watering the tree of life, so that from every branch, a new generation may come into bloom. Please, give one more moment of your lives, to those who gave up all the moments of their own...and bow your heads with me in silence to their memory."

As one, heads bowed, elf and human, Black Justice, Vine, Blood Miner, priest, red paladin, adult...and child. It didn't matter. The city was as silent as Wenmark for a moment, and when it passed Neia lifted her head, and saw many a mourning face, and she continued.

"Now we come to a crossroads, our enemies are many and powerful, and trials come ahead for us the likes of which we had not imagined in our childhoods, yet they are here now, and we must face them...we must face them so that the children we have now, and will have in the future, must not face those trials themselves. For now however, we have a moment of respite, all soldiers are dismissed for the day, with my thanks for a job well done, but two days from now you must present yourselves here at the temple, raise all the cups you need in memory of your honored dead, but break no law, break no faith, and do not be late when I need your swords again! DISMISSED!" She turned to shake hands with the representatives of the city she had left behind, and most importantly to her...the temple administration.

"I will be with you again gentlemen...but you know...Tinamoc did lug that bottle all the way here, it would be rude of me to ignore that." She said with a wry smile that brought sincere chuckles in return.

"Of course, come see us over dinner tonight, and we will speak in greater depth." The temple priest said, "We will dine here in the temple, late, so you have ample time for whatever you wish."

Neia grinned, "Smart thinking." Then she descended the steps, and Tinamoc handed a cup to Neia that was filled to overflowing.

The crowd had largely dispersed, save those hundreds of armed and armored elves and their children that had chosen to remain, though they kept a respectful distance as Neia reunited with her traveling companion, and when the bottle was empty she said, "I assume you have another bottle at wherever you're staying here?" She arched an eyebrow and her voice was a mockery of a demanding tone.

"I do. Join me at the 'Faraway Home' after you're done with them." He said, "CZ, Skana, why don't you go ahead and join me now, looks like they want to say their hellos to her," he gestured his thumb at Neia, "and it may take a little time."

The two women shrugged, and Neia nodded at them in approval, prompting them to leave as elves began to filter up towards her in ranks of two. This...would take awhile indeed.

 _...Draconic Kingdom...Palace of Queen Draudillon..._

Ainz stepped out from the gate and in front of the Holy Queen. She could not hide her nervousness.

Ainz did not bother to hide his displeasure, he threw the letter on the ground and said sharply..."Explain." His red orbs bored into her, and she trembled nervously. Vermillion stood beside her with his arms folded behind his back, he was no better off.

"Did you do it?" He asked. She did not need to pick up the letter, she wrote it, she knew its contents.

Seeing a moment of decision was at hand she got off her throne, grateful that she'd had the hall cleared in the expectation of his arrival and not wishing this to be public, and she descended from the throne and went down to both knees, and prostrated herself before the Sorcerer King. "I swear, on my life, on my magic or yours, on the lives of my citizens...I had nothing at all to do with the disappearance of Vanysa. If your majesty does not believe me...if your majesty believes in my guilt...then I beg to be punished, I make the offer I did when your glorious self chose to save my people...anything you would have of me, including the sacrifice of my life, I beg only that you punish no one else for the guilt you hold to be mine...but I swear I didn't do this."

The words poured out, they were unpracticed, but they were sincere. Vermillion, stricken by an impulsive urge, descended from the steps and prostrated himself beside his queen, "Sire this worthless dust is named Vermillion, I am prime minister to the Queen, I have served her for years, I know her as I do a sister, she has her faults to be sure...she can be drunken...impulsive, tempermental, snarky, whiny, judgemental, rash..."

Queen Draudillon let out a phony cough, and it brought him up short.

"...but she's no monster, she loves her people, she's dedicated to them, and if she were guilty of this, I would know it, have me tortured for information if you must, take my life if you must, but please do not hurt my queen, I swear to you she is completely innocent in this." Vermillion and Draudillon were breathing hard as they held the posture before the skeletal monarch, wondering if any moment might be their last.

Finally he turned his back and stepped away. "I believe you, rise."

They quickly got to their feet, bearing the faces of people who just found out that they were being spared execution.

"Now," Ainz said, "When did you find out she was missing?" He asked, and they looked as if they feared execution all over again.

They relayed the events since the summit, and Ainz heard them out until they were all the way up to the present.

"Show me her residence, I assume its in the wealthy district?" He asked.

They swallowed. "Not...exactly..." Vermillion let out with a sigh.

"Oh well that isn't of any matter, she was never a greedy woman, is she living in the merchant class district?" Ainz asked curiously.

Silence greeted him.

"Common district?" He asked.

"Ahhh...my lord..." Queen Draudillon began, "Perhaps you would prefer to judge her residence for yourself."

An hour later Ainz was standing in front of the splintered remains of her door. He looked around, utterly baffled. "Why was she HERE of all places?" He asked.

"With the money I gave her after our time in the Beastman country, she should have been able to live comfortably for the rest of her life even if she had to pay an army of servants. Surely she did not CHOOSE this?" He asked.

"Sire...did she ever tell you anything about a 'sandwich shop'? Vermillion asked.

Ainz paused, "Yes, she said it a number of times, she said she was going to open one when she was done, I gave her enough money to build a hundred of them and still live comfortably, what does that have to do with anything, even if it failed, she should have been fine."

The Queen looked down, "What happened is I failed."

Ainz looked at her. "You need to explain that." He said flatly with an undertone of hostility and anger.

"The nobles that control the districts are allowed to collect and levy taxes to raise money for the effort against the beastmen, but the nobles own most of the eating establishments, so when Vanysa opened her shops and...started doing very well, it cut into their profits, as I had the story relayed to me recently, they passed taxes on ingredients she needed, but sold 'exemptions' to themselves and their cronies, it made her food very expensive, then they started levying fines on everything about what she was operating out of, enormous ones, fortunes worth...and just to punish her further, they levied taxes on her residence...any one she moved to, such that she was essentially deprived of everything she had, any remaining goods were confiscated and...well she ended up here." Queen Draudillon gestured around the room.

"SO...you're telling me that your government first STOLE the reward I gave to a servant who followed me while I was saving your country, destroyed her entire life and drove her into a pathetic hovel...then while that servant was attending to testifying for me personally before the world's leaders at a summit, you were the last one to be seen with her...then she disappeared, along with all the money I gave to her a second time...and you did not notice ANY of that happening?" Ainz asked.

Queen Draudillon looked down at the floor, she felt like a child explaining a bad performance at school to her parents.

"No...I'm...sorry..." She said, unsure whether she should be saying goodbye to her throne or her life.

 **AN: Well this one took awhile to write today, busy with quite a bit, but its a little on the longer side as well, I'll have another one up this evening as promised, tomorrow is another double release day by the way, but then that will be it, it will back to daily or semidaily releases. So...enjoy it while it lasts. :)**


	53. Ripples of Change

_...Elf Kingdom border with the Slane Theocracy..._

The Elf King was not unhappy. This was an unusual state for him because his usual emotional state was either boredom or anger...with occasional bouts of lust taken out on the females of his people...married ones were his favorite. Humiliating the husbands and watching their agony as their wives went to the bed of the king and having to hold their then broken wives on the next day...or week...or month as they wept out the memory of their time in the arms of a monster.

Those were some of his few amusements in the interminable boredom of his existence, but this was something new. A war against the Theocracy had failed to grant him the strong children that he needed, a war against the Sorcerer King and the...whatever they were, of the Holy Roble Kingdom though? That might do it.

He looked over at his copy of the treaty, he'd made a special point to bring it along. He threw a dagger at it, and it tore through a corner and stuck against the wooden wall. Desecrating the document was a pleasant past time, so much so that he'd made a game of it. He threw another knife, and another tiny sliver was cut away. The game was simple, the treaty would be kept until he'd cut it to pieces this way, over twenty five percent of it had already been cut up, it would be completely gone long before he reached the Abelion Hills.

A knock echoed on his carriage door. "Enter fool." He said dismissively, and a slender figure opened the door and bowed deeply. "Sire, our forces are being approached by a Theocracy liaison, they say they have twenty five thousand ready to join our line of march."

"Then have them do it, idiot, and get this formation moving again!" He snapped and tossed a dagger with casual strength in the direction of the unfortunate messenger. It hit the door and passed through it, impaling itself in the fellow's foot. He collapsed, clutching at the wound and thrashing around uselessly.

"Useless...all my children are so useless...can't even shut a damn door..." He said and closed it himself as the young male struggled to rise.

 _...E-Rantel..._

The Platinum Dragon Lord was enjoying his visit to the market district, it had an enormous variety of goods, some of which he'd never seen before, a plethora of rune crafted items intended for very ordinary use, kitchen knives that did not need to be sharpened and saddles that reduced the weight of the rider on the horse, it was a magical bonanza, but what most interested him were the toys. He picked up a set of toy soldiers and approached the merchant selling them. "What is so special about these? They're a bit pricy at three silver aren't they?"

The merchant laughed, "Oh no, those little toy soldiers are enchanted, see, watch this!" He exclaimed proudly and took them from the Platinum Dragon Lord and laid them out on the table in front of him on two sides. "Red knights, advance left five. White infantry, advance right three." After each order, a set of them moved a small amount of space, he gave several more commands, and when the knights were close to the infantry, he said, "red knights, charge nearest infantry" and they moved quickly the last bit of space, and small quick motions showed them fighting each other, and soon only the knights were still standing.

The Platinum Dragon Lord looked at that in bafflement. "How...how...?" He couldn't complete his sentence before the merchant laughed.

"Its simple really, well...as simple as magic ever is, these aren't really strong enchantments, the little figures can only accept a few commands, and its meant to be done with game boards, but children seem to really enjoy waging these mock battles, the figures aren't intelligent, feel nothing, and their appearance of combat is really just predetermined motions based on your choices, but it still takes awhile, that is why it costs a few silvers." The merchant explained, "Frankly at only three, it is a huge bargain."

The Platinum Dragon Lord was forced to agree, and he handed over three silver without complaint. "Who makes these?" He asked.

"It was apparently a project of a mage's guild student, he got something called a patent that lets him and him alone produce this game for seven years, and the first round of sales let him hire some other students, they buy the figures in bulk, enchant them in huge numbers, and then have regular laborers assemble them into sets which are then sold directly to the merchant's guild which in turn licenses us to sell them, after seven years, anyone can make it, and anyone can sell it, but by then the original maker and his partners are all rich. Once anyone can make it, we expect the price to drop a lot, and then most people will be able to buy it." The merchant grinned happily as he pocketed the coins.

"Very...ingenious." The Platinum Dragon Lord said, "So the Sorcerer King's rule has been very good for you."

"It has been, its why I worship him as the god of commerce and fair deals." The merchant replied.

The Platinum Dragon Lord raised an eyebrow, "Is he not the god of justice, that is what I've heard of him as?"

The merchant chuckled, "As if a god could be so easily limited, to folks like Neia Baraja he is the god of justice, for the adventurer's he's usually the god of courage, for others he is the god of death, or the god of magic, or the god of war or pride or...a hundred or a thousand other things. When we call him the god of these things, we don't mean that these traits come from him, we mean that we emulate him at his best in all these things, and focus upon our core values as individuals. I have no conflict with someone who calls him the god of magic, nor deos that person have issue with someone who calls him the god of life, nor does that with someone who calls him the god of death. Worship for us is not simply an act of submission, it is an act of REFLECTION on our values and who we are and who we want to be and who we want to avoid being, our faith calls us to challenge ourselves, to be better than we were, stronger than we were, to apply ourselves to make our homes and communities and lives better, to be good neighbors, parents, children, and even good strangers."

The Platinum Dragon Lord couldn't think of anything to say to that. "I...see...well that is very educational, you've given me much to think about."

It was an honest statement, and he was still thinking in his room at the hotel when the Obsidian Dragon Lord joined him.

"What did you find?" The Platinum Dragon Lord asked as he glanced over at his newly arrived colleague.

The Obsidian Dragon Lord sat in the chair opposite him. "I tried to find slaves, I found no slaves, I found former slaves...but no slaves, just former ones who were building new lives. I found a former guard turned adventurer who apparently rendered a service to Neia Baraja and was rescued by the Sorcerer King and given a chance at a new life as a reward...he had nothing but good things to say. I tried to find a poor district, and instead I found growing commerce, I tried to find ignorance...and I found schools. I learned that the literacy rate has been rising and that the undead administrators have been utterly incorruptible. I thought at least one of us would find a sordid underbelly to this city."

He lay back in his chair and let his arms fall at his side in mock exhaustion, "Its been three days now, maybe he really is what he seems by his conduct, if this is a trick, its one I can't find the end game to."

"Speaking of games..." The Platinum Dragon Lord began, "look what I found, I want to try it out." He said, and took out the small sack of toy soldiers and laid them on the table. "Do you want to be red...or white?"

 _...Prart..._

Neia Baraja was a very happy woman, elf after elf embraced her, young elves called her big sis, and the ranks of Black Justice had been swollen greatly by this addition to the ranks, she was sure her other officers would soon be outfitting the Vines and the Blood Miners with proper equipment, and with a proper army...it would be time to face off against Remedios Custodio again soon. The bitch had to die. But that was not high in her mind right now, she made her greetings and played the role of the devoted pope that she was, and when the last one was gone, she made her way to Tinamoc's hotel room. She found it easily enough, and was quickly directed to a luxury suite. The hotel was every bit what you'd expect a successful merchant to stay at. The carpets were thick and the furniture was ornate, with marble tables and smooth high quality wooden furniture with cushions coated in silk sewn on to them. Candles lit the way and bathed the room in golden light as she made her way up the stairs, ahead of her walked a well dressed servant, his back was straight and his clothes perfectly clean. His every step was equal distance from the last, he was almost as impressive in his dignity as Sebas, at least to Neia's relatively inexperienced eyes.

She thanked the man and handed him a silver coin in appreciation when they'd reached the appropriate room. She knocked three times on the smooth red stained door, and from within a familiar voice granted entry. She opened with gusto, closed it quickly behind her, and within a few long steps she'd hugged him for a second time that day.

"So, first thing's first." She said, noticing that CZ & Skana were already waiting at a table in the large room. "You pour some wine, then you tell us what you've been up to." She grinned and walked over to the table and sat between Skana & CZ.

"Alright, fair enough." He chuckled and took out a bottle from a nearby cabinet and brought it over to the table. He filled each glass, including one for himself, and took a seat.

"After we left Wenmark, we went Southwest, following the road along our expected route, but then instead of moving towards the coast, we ventured further South and took the road East, but this is the important thing...our scouts spotted Slane Theocracy ships when they went West to watch for trouble, lots of them, the Slane Theocracy must have taken ship awhile ago to have gone all the way around to land there, so we can count ourselves lucky we didn't end up in their line of march. From what we saw they were heading North, meaning they were probably going to link up with Remedios Custodio."

Neia frowned, and traded a look with CZ & Skana. "Remedios tried to ambush us, but she never pursued us with any seriousness after Wenmark, we wondered where she'd gone and why she didn't chase us down when she had enough cavalry to do it. I guess we now know why, she must have been informed of their arrival and moved to join forces."

Tinamoc put his glass down briefly and topped it off. "I expect so, well as we moved East, we made sure to scout around us as much as possible, we saw a lot of soldiers, and I do mean a LOT of soldiers. We don't have a precise count, but there had to be many thousands of them, the Southern nobles are going to arms, fortunately they seemed to have been focused on assembly points, they weren't looking for anyone otherwise we would have been screwed. We made our way North along the main highway until we got to the border between North & South. We were able to get through easily with the royal trade letter, nobody ever thought to cancel it, I guess they had other things on their minds, and nobody even inspected our cargo."

Skana set down her cup and held her hand out. Tinamoc passed the wine and she refilled her own glass. "Did you send word to our settlements, the places where most or all are loyal to the ideals of the Sorcerer King?"

"I did." Tinamoc answered, "I dispatched as many of the Black Justice soldiers as I could and ordered them to pass the word to every settlement in the area, the networks of communication that were established turned out to be very useful. Word reached me just the other day that Gustav Montagne has been gathering up volunteers, and our armies are joining up at assembly points of their own, some are moving to Kedyn, others are moving North to here, at least in this part of the country."

"Hoburns?" CZ asked.

"Underground cells primarily, we still have people there, Robel & Gilcrest have had to flee the city, they traveled East towards the Abelion Hills and a small army of human and demihuman followers is gathering near a little place called Commonton, it may be awhile before they're ready, but they should have ample time to gather their forces, I assume they're in contact with E-Rantel, but I didn't want to risk any interception using a message spell. All in all, things are looking better, I did hear that war was officially declared, and word reached me about Calca, but I don't know how Remedios will react to that, or has reacted. I doubt she'll believe it though. You know how she is better than I do." He said, turning from CZ to Neia as he explained the situation.

Neia nodded, "I do, I just need the means to bring her down. That bitch has got to die, without her...we'd have more..." She looked down sadly, "Without people like her...Illyana would be sitting here with us instead of...instead of..." She stopped talking and finished her glass immediately, wanting for the alcohol to numb the pain, she poured another and finished that as well, and then poured another.

Skana took the bottle and poured one for herself, then topped off Tinamoc & an increasingly intoxicated looking CZ.

"To Illyana, and the revenge we'll have for her." Skana said.

"To Illyana." They said in unison, and they finished the wine, Neia's mood had turned black.

"I want to visit her grave tomorrow...if that's not a problem for you all." She said.

They shook their heads slowly. "No...not a problem at all." Tinamoc said softly.

Neia sighed, "I was supposed to join the priests for dinner tonight, but honestly...I don't think I should. CZ...I hate to ask...but if it isn't to much trouble could you visit the temple tonight and tell them that I am worn out from the journey and need my rest, offer my apology and tell them I'll see them tomorrow."

CZ's eyes went clear as day again. "Intoxication protocol deactivated. I will do that." She said, she put a sticker on Neia's cheek. "Be cute." She added, and walked out.

Neia let out a heavy sigh, amazed at all the ways that the word 'cute' could be used by that little maid demon.

"Tinamoc, I really am glad to see you, but...I need some rest. I'm suddenly finding myself to be very tired." Neia said apologetically.

"Of course, I've already made arrangements." He said and drew a key from out of his pocket. "You are three dours down to the left from me when you exit this room.

When he slid the key across the table, Neia took it with a grateful expression and stood up. "Skana, are you coming?" She asked, and the taller woman looked at her with her one good eye and nodded.

"See you in the morning Tinamoc, lets have breakfast, sometime shortly after sunrise." Skana said sweetly.

"Always a pleasure." He responded, and gestured towards the door.

They walked out and quickly found their room, Neia fumbled with the key and the lock for a few moments before she got it in and unlocked it, when they both entered and she locked it behind her, Skana lit several candles, and just as she was turning back to speak to Neia, she found the warrior pope was inches away and she pressed herself in to the embrace of Skana the bold and kissed her passionately. Then she stepped back and began to undress as Skana looked at her in surprise.

She was about to speak when Neia's forefinger covered her lips. "No...no talking, not now, I don't want to talk, I don't want to think, I just...this...don't ask...just let me feel this...something else." She said softly and Skana allowed the embrace of skin to skin, and did all she could till the candles died and they were left to drift into slumber in the darkness around them, to bring Neia out of the darkness that held her inside herself.

 _...Draconic Kingdom...Vanysa's Home..._

Queen Draudillon did not know what else to say as Ainz looked at her, she did not meet the orbs that were his eyes.

"What of your reward to her, was that stolen also?" Ainz asked.

"Our...ah...well...the thing is, she didn't want anything." Vermillion said.

Ainz looked around at the hovel of rot that she had been reduced to living in. "At this point? When reduced to this?" He asked incredulously.

"We...didn't know, she never told us, if she had..." Queen Draudillon's face snapped up to look at Ainz, "If she had, I would have done something, she was a great hero, of course I wouldn't have let her be reduced to this, to a ruined life and a dirty hovel to die in. If only she'd have told me...I promise..." She looked down, ashamed all over again and wrang her hands.

Ainz sighed, "No that does sound like her, she wasn't keen on rewards, not that kind anyway, and she developed a great deal of pride, she was probably ashamed of having lost it all. But your nobles will be punished for this, severely. And as for you Queen Draudillon...I must give serious thought to your continued rule when your nation is officially integrated into my kingdom."

She nodded numbly. "Am I going to die?" She asked softly.

Vermillion, hearing her question, prostrated himself on the filthy floor of Vanysa's hovel of a residence, "Please...your majesty...my queen is truly a good ruler, I know it looks...bad...really bad, but she is devoted to her people, and she isn't stupid, she is capable of learning. You surely must know how she loves them, she offered to give up everything to you to save them, a queen like that doesn't come along every century, surely you see the value in a leader that has the common sense to protect the weak, even if she lacked the power to do it. If someone must suffer for this...I am her prime minister...it is my responsibility to ensure she knows everything that goes on, surely the failure is more mine than hers, if one must die for this...let it fall on me, and send a wiser adviser to the Queen in my place."

It was the right approach to use on Ainz, and they could feel the tension fading away. "A fair point. You will require AMPLE education before I deem you fit to govern after the integration, but the nobles who robbed her must perish. Will you surrender them to me?" Ainz asked.

She nodded numbly, "I won't miss them. Nobody will." She answered, "I will raise up new ones in a new system, borrowing from the Bloody Emperor's methods and creating a more competent administration."

At a gesture from the Sorcerer King, Vermillion began to rise slowly to his feet.

"Good, I also require one more thing." Ainz said.

"What will that be?" She asked fearfully.

"Twenty thousand soldiers, to open up a new front against the Slane Theocracy when the time is right." He said.

"It will be done." She answered.

"Good." Ainz replied with finality. "Now, we need a way to track her, so I need something of hers that she'll have on her, but...I don't know what she might have carried."

They returned to the palace as they discussed the matter and one item after another was shot down, finally the Queen asked...

"The coins you gave to her perhaps sire?" Queen Draudillon asked.

Ainz shook his head, "She had just recently been given them, to little time for them to be impressed with her essense, plus with them being given as a set, and you having one of them, it would be treated as a 'broken item' and of little use. But...perhaps something else will do." He said thoughtfully.

"Demiurge, send me Kyouhukou...and his children...yes...all of them." Ainz said through a message, and a moment later a gate opened, and through it passed a short, well dressed lordly postured insect.

Neither Queen Draudillon nor Vermillion knew quite what to make of this, and so rather than risk rudeness, they remained quiet.

"Kyouhukou," Ainz said, "I have a task for your children, you and you alone can do this for me." He said in a noble voice.

"Of course my lord," Kyouhukou said in a polite manner, "my children and I live to serve, only name the task, and it will be done."

"I need you to find a blonde hair, not one attached to somebody, but a stray one, you are to search this room, the courtyard, and this entire city if that is what it takes, when you have it, bring it to me. If you find many, bring them all." Ainz said, and as the army of cockroaches came through the door, the lone pair of humans were heartily glad they were neither under suspicion nor standing to close. They began to swarm all over the room, their tiny forms perfectly suited for finding the clue Ainz desired

While the insects went to worked, crawling all over everything, Queen Draudillon & Vermillion carefully edged their way around the working masses with slow and steady side steps that inched their way in a curve to a table that had already been searched, and when they reached it, they took a seat, and were quickly joined by Ainz, who simply folded his skeletal hands and waited.

"Sire...what will you do with her hair if you find it?" Vermillion asked curiously.

"I will use it to find her location, hair is counted as a body part in magic, therefore with a single strand of hair, you can find the person to whom it belongs...if of course, you use the right magic." He answered, raising one finger to express that caveat.

"And if it isn't the right one?" Queen Draudillon asked.

"Eventually one of them will be. We just check them all." Ainz replied.

"So it will be a long evening then?" Vermillion asked.

"Not if we're lucky." Ainz said.

 _...Hoburns...Palace Dungeon..._

King Astraka had a very comfortable chair under him, something he was quite glad about, after all even the most comfortable carriage was...tiresome, after awhile. All that motion and rocking, it was a real bother. It was even more bothersome when you had an unpleasant 'guest' who you really did not like for company.

But that was behind them both now. He touched his face where she'd dared to scratch him, and rubbed his arm where the chain that she'd turned into a weapon had struck him, it was a nasty bruise and it would be awhile before a priest with healing magic arrived. He got up and went to the unconscious woman who was propped up against the wall, she had better chains on her now, and would not be going anywhere. They were also the only thing she was wearing anymore. Her little stunt had cost her the last bit of his patience with her stubbornness.

Her head hung low, and he grabbed it by the hair, close to her scalp and pulled it back and he looked at her face. She needed a healer more than he did, he was fairly sure her nose was broken...but she wasn't going to get one, at least not until they were sure she'd need one in order to survive more interrogation.

"You could have had everything a person could want." He said to the unconscious Vanysa. "You could have had wealth, power, position, you could have had a life of luxury and ease, instead you spat on me, you tried to kill me, well...look where that got you? Instead of a comfortable room answering easy questions, you're naked in a dungeon and its going to get a whole lot more painful before its all over. What have you to say for yourself?" He asked in a gruff, angry voice. He shook her by the head, it jostled wildly in its limp state. "Well?!" He snaped, and then thrust it back down with such force that her chin bounced against her body.

She didn't answer. Unconscious people seldom had much to say.

"Whats the point?" he asked her as he strode back to his seat and reclaimed it, he propped his head up on his hand and rested his elbow on the arm of the chair. "Why do all this? What use is your loyalty to the Sorcerer King? He doesn't even know you're here, nobody does, the coachman who saw the kidnapping is...disposed of, and nobody else has even seen you. Its so stupid for you to have held out like you did." He sighed, and then he saw her stir.

Vanysa must have awakened sometime while he was speaking, because she answered.

"Don't...matter." She said and spat blood out onto the stone. "Don't matter if'n he never knows what ah done, what ah endured, don't matter if'n he don't even find me, or even if'n he don't care no more. Ah tole yah, dontcha get it? Stupid kinglet!" She snapped, her head swaying groggily as she raised her face to meet his. "Eben if'n he don't ever know...AHD know...an ah ain't no traitor, ah'd do anythin fer him, endure anythin fer him, don't matter whatcha do ta me, yah think ahm just an animal, just some thin that done been born ta give yah pleasure or power...but tah mah true king..."

Her eyes went clear and cold, and pierced him forcefully and confidently, even with her voice made thick from her broken nose, she kept iron in it, "He treats me as a person, he is worthy of my loyalty, he is worth dying for, and no matter how much you do to me, I will tell you nothing you vile letcher!" She snorted blood out of her nose and onto her skin.

She looked at him with a contemptuous and hateful smile, like he was the vomit of a dog beneath her feet, and then looked down over her exposed body, "You think this shames me?" She asked with a laugh that sounded half way mad. "Or did you just want an eyefull of what I'll never give you willingly?" She gave him a sadistic smile, "Maybe you're thinking that I'll be ashamed...because you are ashamed of what you look like naked...maybe you don't 'measure up' to the crown in more ways than one." She laughed and he turned beet red. "I look glorious in my beauty, its nothing to be ashamed of, and I would give it up to only one kind, one god...and...well one other that is none of your damn business...and you aren't worthy to lick the dirt from under their. No if there is any shame here it is with YOU, because shame comes from your actions and your choices, not from things beyond your ability to choose or change. In trying to shame me, you shame only yourself. Look all you want, even if you violate me, all I'll ever feel for you is hatred and scorn." She laughed again, and that was to much, he approached her swiftly, grabbed her hair again, forcing her face up to him, and said...

"No, you forgot one other thing you're going to feel." He slapped her again. "Fear. You'll feel a lot of that...till you tell me what I want to know." He said, and it was then that the torturer entered.

The King stepped back and sat in his chair as a burly looking fellow with dull, cruel eyes approached, Vanysa tried to kick at him, but could not find purchase to do so, and he' clearly had much practice at this, within half a minute he had her standing with her back bare to the king and her body secured stretched out. The torturer showed her the whip, holding it just under her eyes. "Speak...no pain. No speak...much pain." He said, she could smell the rancid stench of his breath as he leaned in close to whisper to her, she hated the feel of his dirty fingers on her skin, she hated the stink of his body that was...through some hellish miracle, worse than his breath, his nose reminded her of an ogre, and his eyes resembled those of a pig, he seemed more demihuman or beastman than human. She shut her eyes tight and shook her head in small, rapid motions.

"Ah said nobody gets tah touch me w'thout mah say so!" She shouted and flung her head back, smashing into the torturer's face, getting him to drop her hair and his whip, and sending him sprawling to his ass.

"You bwoke mah gawdamn dose you bitch!" He shouted, and went back to the king's side.

"No speak." He said bluntly as he wiped the blood away.

He picked the whip back up, and King Astraka spoke.

"What spell did the Sorcerer King use at Ha'ak Pale?" He asked, "What was its tier, how quickly did it kill, and was it easy for him to use?" His voice was disgustingly reasonable, but she said nothing as the torturer gave the whip a few practice swings.

"You can save a lot of lives, and yourself a lot of pain by telling me." He reminded her, and again Vanysa shook her head, she wished at least she could stop the shaking.

"Fine, be stubborn about it." The King said, and looked to the torturer. "Proceed."

The whip lashed into her back like a hundred knives, and Vanysa screamed like a banshee, it reminded Astraka of when she'd tried to kill him. Another strike came right after the first, and she arched her back and screamed again, this one ending in a wail, her flesh spasmed violently as her body tried to escape. A third lash scored the back of her thigh, tearing flesh away, and a detached part of her mind noted that the torturer was frankly amateurish. She knew there were much better ways to do this. Still it hurt like hell, and she couldn't keep back the scream that came with it.

"If it matters, I really don't like this, I'm not especially cruel, if you'd just answered me, you wouldn't be hurting like you are." Astraka said, he raised a hand to pause the torturer, and approached her from behind, moving directly against her flesh and whispering into her ear, holding her head back so she could neither move away from his voice or strike at him as she had at the torturer, she tried, she struggled.

"Ah said getcher hands offa me!" She managed to snap out, but he ignored her and whispered on...

"Did you know that there are limits to healing magic? If a body is too heavily mutilated, the person's injuries may 'heal' but they just become a mass of scars, we're going to do your back, top to bottom, and when we're done, its time for your front, and finally your face. You can hold out some...maybe even for an impressive period of time, but in the end you will tell me everything, and even if you do get to see the Sorcerer King again, he won't recognize you, not under all the marks you'll have, you'll be repulsive, ugly...you'll find out if the undead can vomit and retch, and I'll hate every minute of doing it to you...but you'll hate it more, and I'll do it anyway. Do you want kneel at his feet again, some ugly disgusting mass of pain, see the pity and revulsion you evoke in everyone around you, and have to beg others to touch you just so you can feel something, is that what you want? You'll kill yourself in a month, and just merit a few words of disgust before your corpse is tossed in a pit near the gutter you die in."

Vanysa began to wail softly as his words forced the scene into her mind, "But no matter what it takes...you...will...talk!" He snapped, and pushed her hard against the stone before returning to his chair.

"Resume." He said to the torturer, and the whip returned to her flesh...again...and again...and again, till she'd screamed herself hoarse.

"Master...see master...ahm brave fer you...promise ahm brave...ahm nae strong...but ahm brave...ahl eben be disgustin ta look at...ta stay loyal...fergive me master...please..it hurts so bad...k-k-kill me...please...make it stop..." She whispered out so softly that for a time they did not even realize she was speaking, and by the time they did, she was falling back into unconsciousness from the pain, her head hung down again and King Astraka sighed with frustration.

"Shall I call for a priest to heal her sire?" The torturer asked.

Astraka was furious, "Absolutely not. Let her fester that way, just give her a bit more chain, we don't want her arms dislocated...while she's unconscious. We'll get back to this tomorrow, and try that next."

He got up and left the room, and the torturer went with him, leaving the naked and bleeding body of Vanysa to hang painfully from her chains. Her unconsciousness was less enduring than they expected, and she awoke only a few hours later, a crumpled mess on the floor, and forced herself to rise at least a little, the torch had been left going, and she could see a little around her, the room was wider than it was deep, and she was all alone. Water dripped in from somewhere, and the stones were rough cut and very hard. She was in agony, her back was on fire, her legs were on fire, her wrists were on fire, it felt like she'd been cut to ribbons back there and the burning was unbearable, and there was an awful stench where she'd soiled the stone. Her nose felt broken and blood was dripping down, she could move at least, the chains on her wrists were a few feet long, though only by a few paces. It hurt to much to stand, she reached back to try to feel the injury sites, but had only minor success, the pain was to great to allow her to keep back her tears, but hatred burned more than fear in her eyes as she stared at the door, her gaze was clear and intelligent in this moment, and a low snarl passed her bleeding lips.

She spoke aloud to the empty room. "I told you...you won't win you bastard." She looked around, there was nothing she could readily use, but then a moment of inspiration hit, and she took a deep breath and dipped her finger into the blood she'd lost that had pooled onto the stone floor. She felt another flash of gratitude to the Sorcerer King for having taken the time to teach reading and writing, and with some struggle and effort, she began to write in her own blood on her own bare chest. "Faithful servant."

Her tears when that was done were not for the pain of what was done to her, but for what she was going to miss. She spoke softly to the air, "I'm so sorry master...I'm going to miss you...miss teasing you, miss seeing you...miss your glances at me that showed me what you must have been like in life...miss that wonderful Demiurge...ahhhh how I'm going to miss our music...or will I, I don't know if the dead miss anything, or even if I'll find out...there was so much more to learn and to see and to do. I'm so sorry...but I can't let them win, and at least this way...he won't break me...I just hope you get the note on this chest you liked, that you understand, and that you forgive me." Her tears kept falling as she spoke to the air, and she opened her mouth, closed her eyes, stuck out her tongue as far as she could, pulling it out just a little farther with her fingers, and after just one more bracing deep breath...she bit down as hard as her jaw would let her, severing the tongue completely as close to the base as possible and spitting the severed part out as a bloody lump.

With no tongue to speak of, her screams failed to properly materialize, and she laid herself back on the floor and tilted her head back, it wouldn't take long before she'd choke on her own blood, then she'd be safe, and nobody could hurt her anymore.

As she gradually lost consciousness, she stared with sadistic eyes upwards at the ceiling, somewhere up there, Astraka was asleep, confident in his victories to come, but this wouldn't be one of them. As the blood began to fill her mouth she choked out a mangled, "Ah wen mudder fugger..." Then she couldn't breath as the choking began in earnest, that hurt too, for about a minute, then her eyes began to close.

 **AN: Well I hope you've enjoyed this chapter, there is much to go, and I've been really having a blast with this story. Of course double release days have now been extended to Monday thanks to food bank donation I just saw a little while ago. :) So...you slave drivers have me doing it yet another day. Gotta say this is probably the best use fanfiction has ever been put to. Blood donations save lives, food donations feed families, I'm really proud of all of you for your generosity. I chose the right series to write for. Eventually when this is done and I send off the series to the original author to see what he thinks of it, I'm going to have to make mention of all the positivity that came out of it. See you in tomorrow's doubles! ;)**


	54. Condemnation & Redemption

_...Prart..._

Neia woke up in the morning after a long night with Skana, she woke up warm...happy...comforted, and had not had a single nightmare to disturb her rest, the warm embrace of the woman she loved had left her with a sense of security in a moment of sadness that she had not realized was very badly needed indeed. But morning is not as kind to lovers as the night, and when the light struck like an arrow and it pierced the one good eye that Skana the bold still had. She rolled over, away from the glare of morning light and murmured something unintelligible about how much she envied the undead not having to deal with those first rays of sunshine.

Neia was already out of the bed and drawing a bath, the running water created noise that was as much pollution as the sunlight to poor sleepy Skana, and the bed bound woman grabbed Neia's pillow and covered her own head with it with a determined 'harumph' of disgust with the daytime.

Neia laughed, "You going to stay in bed all day?" She asked from the bathroom.

"You going to let me?" Skana replied, her voice muffled under the pillow.

"Tempting as it is to keep you there love, I did say I'd go meet with the temple today, and I'd also like to walk around the city a bit and see what has become of it since we were last here. We saw part of it walking to the temple, but that is only a small part of the whole. We still don't have to really work until tomorrow, but that doesn't mean I have nothing to do today." Neia shouted as she slid herself into the warm soothing water and began to scrub her body clean.

"Does that 'I' include me, or can I stay in this perfect comfy bed and just stay dead to the world all day?" Skana asked as wakefulness cursed her to stir.

"No, you can stay and relax, I honestly won't be long, just meeting with a few people and making arrangements for new arrivals joining the army, we're going to officially declare our support for Queen Calca as a city just as soon as the ranks have swollen some more. Kedyn we already know is going to do that too, and I don't know how many other places, we should have most of the north on our side, all we need is for someone to go first, and that will be us. It'll make us a target for Hoburns & King Astraka, to take the first city to support the Queen would be a damaging symbolic blow, and Prart will not fall again." Neia said as she washed her hair.

Skana sighed, "You give to many speeches my dear, you don't have to persuade me of anything, I'm with you to the death no matter how things turn out from underneath these covers without breakfast."

Neia laughed, "You promised Tinamoc you'd join him for breakfast shortly after sunrise, remember?"

Skana rolled out from under the covers and lay splayed out on her back looking up at the ceiling. "Shit. I did say that, didn't I." She let out a heavy sigh and got up, alright, that bath is big enough for two of us, and I'd rather not have him knocking while I'm dripping wet and naked, so make room." She laughed and Neia scooted aside.

A short bath and a change of clothes later, Neia was out the door on her way to the temple, it was a short trip, she could never forget the way there, and she arrived just as the priests themselves were walking up the steps.

She shouted for them and waved as she went up the steps, and they waited until she caught up with them. For a moment it seemed...so strange. Neia was not a tall woman, a grown up...sort of, in her early twenties, the very flowering of the beauty she'd carry life long, she hid only one part of herself, the one thing to stain it, which was her greatest strangth, the eyes of the Hellwalking Evangelist, the eyes of terror, fury, and wrath. With her visor on, she looked like an ordinary well to do girl, perhaps a young adventurer from a well off family that bought her some good armor, a good cloak, and good equipment to start her off with, but as you grew closer and saw the little things...small and trivial details only...how she walked, with light confident steps, the way her ear turned to noise, the ease with which she moved in the armor set she wore, a trained eye would see her for someone who was more than a little experienced, and yet when her visor came off, she bore the eyes of a torturer of demons.

Everybody knew about her relationship with Skana, it had been going on for long enough, and for that matter, most everyone knew Skana the bold as well, the veteran warrior of Black Justice who helped take down a scripture and stormed a Theocracy headquarters...but reputation or no, the old man watching her approach could never understand how the one eyed warrior could look lovingly into the eyes of Neia Baraja, a lovers gaze was often tender, warm, inviting...but it was impossible to imagine Neia's face ever allowing for that. He mentally shrugged his shoulders as she came close, didn't matter, she was on the right side, and that was good enough.

He held out his hand to her, and she clasped it firmly, but relaxed enough not to hurt his withered old hand.

"Feeling better today, Pope Neia?" He asked.

"Yes, much, I was truly worn out after yesterday...well...after a lot of yesterdays." She said with a sigh, "Still, I hope I didn't keep you to long before you got my message."

"No not at all," his fellow priest said, "your woman CZ was very direct and prompt, why the meal was still hot when we found out you weren't going to make it, so we didn't even suffer cold food." He was jovial in his attitude, and Neia's temperment matched.

"Well I'm glad to hear that, there's just a few things we need to go over, and then if you have nothing more, I want to walk the city...and there is somewhere else I want to visit." She said, and gestured to the great double doors.

"Of course, lets go." They said and walked together into the temple, each in turn bowed before a stained glass window bearing an image of the Sorcerer King's victory over Jaldabaoth. It was a marvelous representation, the artist must have been truly talented, Neia stopped to look at it as they moved on, when they realized she was standing there looking at it, they paused and looked back at her.

"Remarkable isn't it?" An old priest asked, "The man who made it survived both the prison camps and the war against that monster...only to end up being imprisoned in the city he helped liberate. After you came here and he was freed, he set himself to that every waking hour until it was done. Masterworks like this are the product of time lovingly spent, not only on the work itself, but on the refinement of specialized skills to create the work itself." He said, and gave a crooked little smile.

"It is remarkable, he perfectly captured the moment of Jaldabaoth's death, the way the Sorcerer King seemed to descend to the ground as if from heaven above to save us...it is...truly beautiful." She said, and then moved to catch up with them. They sat down in a quiet office and a young woman entered bearing tea. She set each cup down with gentle attention and set out a pitcher of cream in the center, then she bowed and left as quickly as she'd come.

When the door closed, Neia leaped straight to the matter at hand. "War has been declared I'm sure you know."

"We do." They said, and nodded in assent.

"Black Justice is going to officially declare for Queen Calca's reign, and we are going to do so from here in Prart. You know what that means, right?" She asked.

There were numb looks her way.

"It means that the armies of Astraka and Remedios and the Slane Theocracy will see Prart as a primary target, as the first city to declare for the Queen, and as the city with the largest membership of Black Justice, and as the linchpin of the defense tying all the way down to Kedyn...they can't ignore us, and we won't let them." She said bluntly.

"Can we win, or are we just going to die gloriously?" A younger priest asked with a furrowed brow. "I'm OK with either, but I'd like to know what I'm walking in to." He said.

"I plan on winning." Neia said with conviction. "We have more coming in every day, this city is filled with people who have experienced sieges, and I assume the defensive structures have been considerably reinforced?" She said the last of her statement as a question, raising her voice inquisitively.

"Yes, we are well prepared for a siege, we have abundant supplies and the storehouses of our warehouse district are used by most of the farmers in the surrounding villages, the roads are good and we have ample patrols, under arms since more refugees and 'hosted' people from Hoburns have arrived, we have over over thirty thousand ready to fight, and more every day are coming in." One priest said confidently.

"Good, but not enough if they hit us with a concentrated force. We need to up the odds further. We don't have to 'win' the siege, we just have to make sure we don't lose it. If we tie up more of their soldiers here, that will free up more people to fight them elsewhere, but more importantly the capitol has to fall. We need to take Hoburns, and we need to capture King Astraka AND Remedios Custodio. If we can do that, we'll cut the head off the snake." She said eagerly.

"I hate if." The old priest said.

The rest of the next two hours were spent detailing the equipping of the new recruits, training times and progress, and a short discussion on the doctrine of the church. Eventually however, Neia stood and bowed to the group of priests, who stood and bowed in turn, and then she left to walk the city. She enjoyed seeing the recovery the city had made, while guards walked the streets like before, these were smiling, they were well armed and armored, moved in disciplined ranks and not like spoiled bullyboys looking for a brawl. The citizens did not try to avoid them or look fearfully at them, this was evidence to Neia that the guards were now truly servants of the people.

The people themselves looked healthier, the buildings were rebuilt, and the merchant quarter was clearly thriving, in three hours walking the city streets she did not once feel as if she were going to have to start or finish a fight. Prart was as it should be, as it always should have been, and as it was going to stay, she paused at a stall briefly and bought a gift, and went back on her way as she thought about how much the place had changed from its lowest point.

But for all that on her mind, there was one place...one place she had to visit, a place she'd only been once, after the burning of Wenmark. She went back to her hotel and took her undead mount from the stable and trotted it to the gate, she knew the way, she'd never forget it. She didn't rush when she got there, there was no reason to rush. The one waiting, wouldn't be going anywhere and wouldn't complain if she was late. It didn't take long to arrive, no more than an hour, and then there she was, in sight of her destination.

To her surprise, her friends, her companions, were there waiting for her. "CZ, Skana, Tinamoc...how long have you been here for?" She asked as she dismounted her horse and approached.

"As long as you needed us to be." Skana said with a little smile, and took Neia's hand, the other two wore solemn looks and approached the grave beside her.

Neia knelt at the grave of Illyana and laid the flowers down that she'd bought.

It was a nice arrangement, the shade of elvish green and the color of Illyana's long hair, representing all that she was. The grass crunched underneath and the arrangement rustled as Neia let it go, and they bowed their heads in silence when she rose and stepped back.

Softly, Neia spoke to the resting place of Illyana. "Well, I'm here again my friend, still free, still fighting, you know...we freed a lot of your people...and that city of evil is gone, we even got miners out, and we took down the people who were charged with ambushing and killing us. It wasn't for nothing, but its also not over yet, Remedios is still out there, the Slane Theocracy is coming, and sick as this may sound, the elf King is siding with them. We still have a lot of work to do, but every time we shed blood, its making the world a better place...I know that seems strange, but we're careful about who we kill, and...I'll be honest...I almost went over the edge a few times. Killed a sentry in the woods, must have been just a kid, heard his last words, heard him call for his mother...didn't feel a thing, just went on to kill someone else. I had to...but that doesn't make it better I guess. I had the nerve to tell CZ I hadn't wanted prisoners, only to find another kid among the captives who seems to have just been duped into fighting...he's alive, and we'll send him home after the war. I stepped back from the edge, thanks to CZ, Skana, and definitely Tinamoc, he saved more people than I did, gold was stronger than steel this time...but...anyway, I just wanted to tell you that we're doing OK, we're all still with you, we still think about you...and...well I'll come back and visit you again when all this is done, hopefully the seed we planted isn't a giant by the time we get back..." she sniffled a little and then finished, "but whether its old or young, whoever is still alive at the end of this, will come back and see you again."

She stood staring at the grave, the mark of her greatest failure, and what almost turned her into a butcher, and then turned and walked away with her friends. At the grave behind her, beneath where she'd laid the flowers, unbeknownst to Neia Baraja or any other, a little sapling began to punch its way up through the soft grass.

 _...Draconic Kingdom...Royal Palace..._

The cockroaches swept over everything with incredibly intricacy, and soon there were several blonde hairs on the table in front of Ainz, they'd been found in different locations, and the 'children' had begun moving out into the city at large, much to the disgust of a number of citizens.

Queen Draudillon & Vermillion looked at each other in askance, each hoping that one of these would be the hair that hauled them out of trouble. Ainz laid them out neatly from left to right, and cast a spell on the first one, hoping his luck stat was high enough to give him the first one right away. No sooner than he had an answer, than he dispatched one of his eight edge assassins out to check out the location, they came back with a negative. He checked the next hair...this one was a little farther away, but she was also revealed by the team to not be Vanysa. The Queen and her prime minister were visibly sweating. Ainz found it hard to feel empathy for them over their emotional state.

He cast the spell on the next one...and found...nothing.

"Strange." He said.

"What is it sire?" Queen Draudillon asked.

"The 'companion' to this hair is far out of range, I have a direction, but nothing more." Ainz said, a bit miffed.

"I see." Vermillion, who definitely did not see.

"It means she's very far away...very...far away." Ainz said.

"Like out of the city far away?" Queen Draudillon asked.

"No, out of the country. One of the delegates took her." Ainz said, though his face was nothing but bone, they could feel the fury coming off of him.

"Is there a way to tell which one?" Queen Draudillon asked gingerly.

"Send someone out with the hair and the appropriate spell, then keep heading in that direction till you're close enough to get a poin point location." Ainz said with severe unhappiness.

"If you had several hairs, couldn't you send out several at a time?" Queen Draudillon asked.

"Yes." Ainz answered.

"Well her residence probably has many if she's lived there for very long, so have the...ahem...ah...children, go there, find what you need, and send out someone to every country at once. That should do it, right?" She said hopefully.

"You just saved your throne." Ainz said softly, "I was waiting to see the queen Vermillion spoke so highly of."

She gave a slight smile, "I'm not just lolicon bait with an alcohol problem."

"Evidently not." Ainz said, and he sent the roach children out again to Vanysa's residence after briefly giving directions, and in short order he had over a dozen hairs, more than enough for the task at hand.

"I am returning to my home now to provide these to those who will be tasked with finding Vanysa, while I am gone arrange for a gathering of your nobles, ask for volunteers to take a position in the military force you will be raising. Those who take that risk of their lives, for my cause will find their penalty lessened, those who do not, well make a list of them, and I will return to visit again." Ainz replied firmly, resulting in the pair kneeling and bowing their heads.

"As you will my lord." They said in unison, and before they knew it the entire scene had ended, when it was over and they were alone, Queen Draudillon stood and slapped Vermillion across the face.

He touched his cheek in surprise, and then saw the wet tears in his queen's eyes.

"Don't you ever try to throw your life away for me like that you idiot." She balled up her fists, and she shook with fury and fear, "I thought I was going to lose you there for a moment, you don't get to throw your life away on noble gestures like that...understand...you're stuck with me till you die...of old age." She gave a crooked smile through her blurry eyes and he returned it to her.

"Ahhh...yes...sorry majesty, can I get you some wine to make up for my ahhh...breach of protocol?"

She raised her hand as if to say yes, then paused, lowered it, and then shook her head no. "No, not this time, I don't think I should." She said softly, "Instead lets get to work on raising those troops."

"A fine idea sire, lets get to it." Vermillion replied enthusiastically.

 _...Hoburns..._

It had been late when the priest arrived for the king's injured arm, and King Astraka was in a foul mood, he was not used to being insulted, defied, denied, or attacked...and the new prisoner had imposed all four of those on him, and all in the same day. Worse, he'd failed to find out what he needed and she'd slipped into unconsciousness first. He spoke out loud to the empty air, "No...its not a failure, its not a failure till she dies from this." His voice was smug and enthusiastic, and when the priest had arrived to heal him, well that presented a new chance to rub it all in.

So rather than be healed in his quarters, he told the priest to follow him, and he lead the man down to the dungeon, he hoped she was asleep, he'd get to wake her up, but if she wasn't, well it would feel just as good to have his minor injury healed in front of her as she lay there in agony, perhaps she'd beg for it, beg to be healed, beg for a spell to be cast to numb the pain, perhaps she'd offer herself in exchange for an end to the agony, or maybe she'd just lay there on the floor, naked, stubborn, and bleeding, there was no downside that he could find to any of those scenarios.

So he had a smile on his face as he unlocked the door and entered with the priest. "Oh Vanysa..." He said loudly, letting the echo of his voice off the walls I thought you might need to see a healer...you won't get to use one of course, but you can see one." He said as he turned and closed the door, laughing at his own cleverness.

She was on her back, he rolled his eyes, worst place to be with those injuries. He went over to her and looked down at her unconscious form, she really was beautiful, she had three small pinkish freckles over her left breast, as if it was the finishing touch of an artist, and fawn like legs that must have made her a sight to see when she ran, her stormy eyes had been like rain clouds, and when they lightened it was like seeing the sunshine behind them, and when she darkened with fury it was like looking at a coming blizzard. He sighed to himself, he really didn't enjoy hurting something like her. Curiously, she'd written 'faithful servant' on her chest.

She wasn't moving, the priest stepped forward asking if he could assist in waking her, and froze in mid sentence, he stepped on something, it made an awkward squelching noise, he lifted his foot, drew it back, and looked down.

"Bwagg what the hell?!" The portly priest snapped as he staggered back to the door, "Is that a tongue?!"

Astraka's head snapped back to where the priest had been standing and looked down at the floor where he pointed, it was indeed a tongue. He turned back to Vanysa's form, his eyes widening.

"No...you didn't...you couldn't?!" He snapped out and grabbed her jaw and opened it up, there was a thick well of blood in her mouth, it didn't take a genius to understand what had happened. He flung her head to the side to drain it out, but as he touched her, he felt that her body had already gone cold. The warmth was gone from her flesh and it had not been just the light of the torch giving her skin its more pale appearance.

Astraka fumed, he slapped her dead face several times in anger. "Damnit you bitch, you bitch, you fucking bitch!" Her head moved back and forth, unresisting with every blow as his will was foiled by...of all things...a fucking peasant.

He stood up, breathing hard and roiling with furious anger, he had planned to kill the bitch to keep her quiet after taking what he needed from her mind...but she'd deprived him of both her knowledge and the satisfaction of victory.

He looked down at the dead meat that had been a beautiful young woman and said, "I'd planned to at least give you a decent burial for your courage, but now you've made me angry, make a mockery of a king's will? Think death is an escape from everything? I've still got your corpse, you won't even go in a hole, you can go in the damn river, thrown out like garbage and forgotten." He snarled and called a pair of servants to him.

He drew out the key and tossed it to one of them. "Take that thing and dump it in the river, don't even bother to weigh it down, let it float all the way out to the endless sea and be torn apart by animals and the elements." He said with disgust and contempt.

He walked out with the priest, leaving the servants to their work.

They obeyed, as servants tend to do, she was loaded onto a wagon that was piled up with waste, and taken out to a river, it was a long one, it cut a wide swath through many regions, though as they'd never been much beyond Hoburns, they had no idea how far it traveled, or how many tributaries it had, and since they were also dullards, who looked with awe at how a button fit through a button hole...they also didn't care. They simply dumped her corpse along with the other garbage and went back to their lives.

Astraka however, was not a dullard, he had a war to win. The army was called up and the South was rallying, support for his rule was...oddly enough, very low in the North, and very high in the South. A curious thing to him, given that Calca failed the North most of all. But curious as it was, it didn't matter, what mattered was imposing his will and ensuring this matter got settled as quickly as possible.

Unable to sleep, he went to his private office and wrote out his instructions. Thirty thousand soldiers would march East to face off against the Sorcerer King's Abelion Hills, he selected a general he knew to be loyal to him, and attached an appointment notice.

He wrote out another, twenty thousand would be dispatched to secure villages, to be split up as needed on site based on population size and how his people were received, overall operational control would fall to one man...another loyal general, a southern nobleman this time, was appointed to the task.

Finally...he looked down at the map, there were other cities, but some would pose a special problem, but as he looked at the map...when he interposed his own vision of what he knew of the spread of Black Justice, they were found all over the place. He sighed heavily, he reached into his inner pocket over his chest and pulled out the treaty he'd made with the Sorcerer King.

"They really were nice terms." He said to the paper. "But you can't fight a war that way and win." He shrugged, and tore it up. If some peasants had to die, then they had to die and that was all there was to it. He uttered a prayer to the gods, asking that they grant him wisdom in the battles to come, and began writing orders.

 _...Remedios's army..._

"What the hell do you mean "Calca is alive?!" She snapped incredulously at Yuri as they rode at the head of the army.

"I mean what I said. They are saying that Queen Calca is alive, and that King Astraka is just a Theocracy puppet." Yuri kept her hands folded behind her back and tried to keep her temper from getting the best of her, she was heartily tired of the idiocy of Remedios.

"King Astraka has declared that she is an impostor, or that if she is real, she's under the control of her primary supporter." Yuri continued.

"And that is?" Remedios asked with anger and trepidation.

"The Sorcerer King." Yuri answered flatly. "He is sending an army to put her back on the throne, Gustav Montagne has declared his army...whatever is left of it, to be hers, which means he's gone from outlaw to either rebel or loyalist...depending on what side you're on."

Remedios's eyes went mad, they went wild, "Of course! That is why she has not spoken to me...she IS alive again..." Her gaze turned dark and she looked away, still speaking out loud, but not evidently to anyone. "But...the Sorcerer King is backing her...no...the Sorcerer King is holding her prisoner, we've got to save her!" Remdios said and grabbed Yuri's shoulders so tight that Yuri felt her armor give.

"Well then, aren't you glad you listened to me now?" Yuri winced and said, "Since you abandoned chasing Neia and linked up with the Slane Theocracy that gives you over one hundred and forty thousand soldiers with which to save her. And with the Southern nobles rallying in earnest all over the South, that will be another one hundred thousand following behind." Yuri said enthusiastically. As she imagined all those bodies...so many dead...she felt herself growing excited...she wanted to be alone now...just to find the sweet release that only death on a mass scale ever gave her. Remedios was now an inconvenience to her desires...but one more thing had to be said.

"The Sorcerer King by the way, made a treaty with King Astraka, the Slane Theocracy, and all other involved countries. A treaty regarding the treatment of citizens in this war." Yuri said, barely believing her own words.

"And...what does it say?" Remedios asked. "Does it require that the dead be turned into the undead, that particular methods of torture be used?" She asked, miffed and indifferent at the evil undead's desires.

Yuri took a copy out of her pocket. "This was being distributed everywhere, one of our contacts gave it to me, its supposed to be the terms of the agreement."

Remedios snatched it away and read it. Her face darkened, "He didn't write this." She said flatly.

"I assure you, the information I received was accurate, he presented this himself. You'll see his name as the first signature on it, Queen Calca's is right below it." Yuri said, "That wouldn't make sense unless it came from him first."

"He didn't write this!" Remedios shrieked, "Only Queen Calca could do this!"

"But...wait...what are world items?" She asked Yuri with uncertainty in her voice.

At that Yuri could only shrug, "I don't know. I've asked a great many people, and nobody knows, the only real lead I got was that they were unusually powerful magic items...but what they do or where they are remains a mystery."

"Its fine." Remedios said, "Its a good thing I decided to abandon Neia for now and link up with the Slane Theocracy, between all this, the rebels in the North don't have a chance, no matter what they bring to bear." She laughed with grim satisfaction and Yuri shrugged and rolled her eyes, it didn't matter that Remedios had stolen credit again, let the idiot pretend she had a good idea.

"The real question is...do we abide by it?" Yuri asked. "Queen Calca is a signatory on it, but you're on Astraka's side...aren't you?" Yuri's voice suddenly went doubtful as she thought that through.

Remedios was quiet for awhile..."I'm always on Queen Calca's side, and she's a prisoner of the Sorcerer King, goodness knows what tortures he's putting our beloved Queen through, what vile degrading acts he had to make her endure just to get her to sit quietly at a table with him." Remedios clenched her teeth. "We will defeat the Sorcerer King and his allies, rescue Calca, and then after that I don't care what happens to Astraka, maybe they can marry and unite both sides, but Calca will be in her throne room before that damn Synod and the undead worshipers are all going to die."

Her eyes glazed over, and there was no further point in discussion, Yuri rode in silence, focused on all the suffering she'd get off to later.

 _...Kami Miyako..._

Climb was still practicing when Zesshi entered the room. She never knocked, it had lead to at least one embarassing incident, but she didn't start knocking after that either, he supposed that was grateful enough for all the lessons she was giving him, even if she was even more lacking in decorum than Gagaran after a barrel of mead.

"Ready again?" She asked him and pulled out a practice scythe.

"Always, lady Zetsumi." He said.

Two moments later he was on his back trying to get up again.

"Congratulations." She said, "You've improved."

"That was improvement?" He asked as he gritted his teeth and climbed back up to unstead feet.

"Yes, you lasted two moments instead of one, and that blow that you're standing up from was three percent stronger than the one that knocked you out entirely a week ago. You should be proud of yourself cherry boy." She gave him a wicked grin, fairly daring him to get angry at the nickname.

He didn't take the bait, he'd been baited by countless nobles who tried to manipulate him into a bad reaction so that he would bring shame on the princess, but it hadn't worked before, and it wouldn't work now.

Two more moments later, and he was down again, and he wasn't able to rise.

"You have your own strength, I'll give you that." Zesshi said, "The truth is, you're facing off against power you can never overcome, I've never had that trial, so I don't even know if I have the same strength you do. Its the other reason why I want to lose, to know if I really can just keep fighting until the end of my body's ability to serve my will." She was very casual about everything she said as she pulled out a healing potion and put it to his lips.

When he drank it and got back up again, he said, "But aren't you a powerful fighter, haven't you fought in countless battles against dangerous enemies of humanity?"

"Well yes, but it was never really a fight for me." She said.

He looked at her doubtfully.

"Think of it this way...suppose you drank a potion that made you utterly invincible, no enemy could harm you or escape you...would it be especially brave of you to go into battle?" She asked as she poured two cups of wine, and cut Climb's with a half cup of water.

"I guess not, I mean how brave is it to fight knowing you can't possibly lose?" He said.

"Cowards be more rare than feathers on a fish if everybody went into fights knowing they couldn't lose." She said as she handed him a cup and took one up herself. "I'm the strongest in the world...as far as I know anyway, I've never been in a fight that I ever thought I could possibly lose, even if I went in naked, asleep, and with one hand tied to one ankle. So...I never get my courage tested, and I'll never know if I'm really brave or not, as far as you're concerned, I AM invincible, and the same has gone for everything I've ever fought."

She finished the cup with a satisfied sigh and set it down, "So...how brave can I really be? I won't know unless I ever find a real fight, at least you have that going for you, you actually are a very brave cherry boy." She teased him as part of her praise, and he rolled his eyes.

"So what is happening now?" Climb asked, hoping for a change of topic. "You're my only source of news you know."

"Well, your golden prize...I mean princess..." she gave him another teasing grin, "is playing her part very well, the royal faction is broken and the nobles are getting more bold, all she asked for was time to run away."

"And what will you be doing all this, just playing my jailer until the end of the war?" He asked.

"No, I demanded a chance to fight, and I'm getting one, so I'll be leaving here soon." She said a little whistfully, "I'm sure there is nobody I'll be sparring against that will be getting back up, so I guess I'll miss you 'just' a little bit." She said and held up her hand, and brought her thumb and forefinger just a tiny bit apart from touching.

Climb stood and bowed, "Then thank you for everything. I cannot wish for you to win this war, but I will pray to the gods that you survive." He said sincerely.

"Till next time cherry boy." She said when she stood up, she waved behind her and walked out of the room, she didn't bother locking it behind her, there was no need, she was entirely certain that Climb was bound securely enough by his word.

 **AN: Well here we have another chapter, another step forward in the process of easing my constant torture of you all. :) Just a few quick notes to go with this though:**

 **1\. No the one shot with Demiurge & Vanysa in "Desires of a Demon" is not really 'canon' it was just a fan request and a fun little experiment for me to see how well I could write out something like that. Now...that said...that doesn't mean I wasn't doing such a divergence from the usual...without a reason. But I'll let you stew on that for awhile and grumble about waiting for another branch story. **

**2\. You got another day of double releases coming, someone donated last night. You slave drivers. ;)**

 **3\. You're probably wondering when the first really big battle is going to happen. I'm not one for spoilers...so you'll just have to wait.**


	55. City of Faith, Demon of Vengeance

_...E-Rantel..._

The Platinum & Obsidian Dragon Lords wasted most of their day on what amounted to a children's game, first it was just marveling at the workmanship that went in to creating these little magical pieces, but then they began to get creative, taking items from around the hotel room and creating obstacles and 'natural barriers' that the pieces would have to overcome in order to advance, and they learned the subtlties of the game quite easily. Soon after that, they were playing in earnest, and before they knew it, the day was all but gone.

"Marvelous." The Platinum Dragon Lord said as he stood back up and stretched.

"Truly." The Obsidian Dragon Lord replied.

"I wonder if they have tournaments for this?" The Platinum Dragon lord wondered aloud.

"If they don't, well we'll invent them, you should buy a hundred or so of these sets, distribute them around the country and create a tournament system, who knows, we might get some great generals out of this children's game." The Obsidian Dragon Lord said offhandedly.

"Maybe that was the point?" The Platinum Dragon Lord said.

"What do you mean?" The Obsidian Dragon Lord asked.

"Did you notice the toys being sold when you were out and about, or the things children played with?" He asked.

"Not really, they're just toys aren't they?" The Obsidian Dragon Lord asked.

"Something I heard a priest say while I was walking around, something about shaping the minds of the youth being a parental duty." The Platinum Dragon Lord said, he paused in contemplation.

"All the toys for sale, or nearly so, had some form of active and creative engagement to it, it required children to be inventive, thoughtful in order to accomplish goals within the games, even this one rewards deeper thinking, and did you see the book sellers at all?" The Platinum Dragon Lord asked.

"I did, a marvelous selection, I asked about it, and the book seller said that the Sorcerer King had an invention that allowed books to be printed cheaply in mass production, it makes books inexpensive and with literacy rising, more people are reading, I saw the parks he established, public land just for people to relax and enjoy, and lots of people were reading on benches or under trees. And the lending libraries, books just to be taken on the promise of their return..." The Obsidian Dragon Lord pondered the matter.

"Yes, we're dealing with the kind of society a genius creates, children are shaped to think and be creative in finding solutions, adults are encouraged to learn, knowledge flows out like a river to the sea, we're dealing with a figure who is thinking long term. Not a simple brute or an indifferent ruler who is only thinking about his own position's security." The Platinum Dragon Lord said thoughtfully.

"Is that...good...or not? To be frank I do not know which would be better for us." The Obsidian Dragon Lord said with an exhasperated sigh.

"I think that depends on whether or not he sees us as a threat. Based on what I've experienced, he doesn't. So the best thing we can do is craft a policy of friendly relations and openness, he seems to value trade, so if we put more effort into developing those ties, he won't want to disrupt it. We might also consider 'selling' him some assistance in his war against the Theocracy, for example providing minerals for his rune smiths to aid his war effort. We don't have to be directly involved, just favorably remembered as a friendly neutral country." The Platinum Dragon Lord said.

"Reasonable enough, so are we done, its been a few days now and I don't think there is much else in the national interest to find at this point?" the Obsidian Dragon Lord asked.

"Just one more thing." The Platinum Dragon Lord said.

"What's that?" The Obsidian Dragon Lord asked.

"I want to try out that place they call an 'amusement park' then we can go home." He said with a grin.

"Ahhh...I believe you require an escort for that my friend, lets go." The Obsidian Dragon Lord replied with a laugh, and out the door they went.

 _...Prart..._

Neia stood beside the ruler of Prart and let her voice carry to the entirety of the crowd, most of the city was there, but from the force of her voice, those nearest her were fairly certain you didn't have to be there to hear her. She took off her visor, and the atmosphere around her changed to a heavy one, befitting the subject of the day. "People of Prart, I am Neia Baraja, and today we face the start of a great trial, as those who have ever lived have always known, there can never be two rulers over the land, and now we face a time in which this is the case. Queen Calca, the rightful ruler of our country, who stood and died against Jaldabaoth, sacrificing herself for her country...is being challenged for her right to rule by King Astraka, a usurper king who serves as mere puppet of a foreign power, a power come not to liberate us, as the Sorcerer King did from Jaldabaoth's terror, but to oppress us, to kill us, to burn us alive and upend every great thing we have done! Even now their armies have landed in the South and joined with other traitors, and we will not have a false king over us, we will not have their sins taint us, we will not stand by as our people are tormented by fanatics who exploit us in our hour of need or demand submission that they do not deserve! Black Justice declares for Queen Calca, and we call no one brother, no one sister, who does not do likewise! Astraka came late to the aid of the North, and now he demands our submission, he demands our obedience, he demands that we bow to those to whom he bows, but I...WILL...NOT!" She shouted and took off her famous bow and thrust it into the air.

"They come for our city, our land, our lives, they who are meant to defend us, come only to kill us and return us to how things were before, so we must prepare, we are not alone, we have allies coming to support us, the power of the Sorcerer King is behind us, the power of the Baharuth Empire is behind us, and yes, almost all the entirety of the North stands with us, so there is but one thing and one thing only that you need to fear." She said, and her voice grew soft as it carried over the crowd, and they looked at her, on the edges of their hypothetical seats as they waited.

"And that is running out of things to boast about to your grandchildren when this war is etched in history as an eternal legend!" She shouted, and from above the towers, the banner of King Astraka came down, and the banner of Queen Calca went up.

The cheers were like the thunder of the gods and they washed over those who stood beside Neia.

"Send your representatives from each of your neighborhoods to the temple, there you will find your neighborhoods tasks, each one should strive to outdo the other, let no man or woman fail in doing their part, all of you will be veterans of war before the end, and know that whatever happens, nothing will be done in vain, if we all do our best!" She shouted out as she resheathed her bow.

As she stepped away, the crowds dissipated and she looked to the other speakers, they'd done well enough, but they were not evangelists. Neia shook hands with each of them, they were sincere, they were driven, though some of them had more trouble meeting her gaze than others.

"Now we prepare to defend the city in earnest." Neia said, "We'll be fighting a defensive battle, a protracted siege, but wars are not won by waiting, we need to take the initiative, to get inside their decision loop and force them to act on our terms. Keep preparing the city, but I'm going to take a contingent of soldiers out, and we're going to make King Astraka dance for us." She grinned with savage glee, but Tinamoc spoke up.

"I have to object Neia." He said firmly.

"Why?" She asked, and her eyes turned on him viciously, causing her friend to tremble as he was caught in the icy gaze, "Have you lost faith in me after Wenmark? You don't think I can handle this, because of what I let happen, because of my mistakes?! Well? Out with it!" She snapped.

Skana touched her shoulder and whispered, "Neia...don't." Neia realized what she was doing, forced herself to calm down, and then she turned her gaze to her feet in disgrace, "I'm sorry its...please, say what you were going to say."

Skana let her arm fall away again.

"The people of this city see you as a symbol, you're their hope, you're the focus of their morale, even if you leave with intentions to help them fight...they'll still see you as leaving them to their fate, that will weaken their resolve more than a hundred thousand knights at the gate. You MUST stay here, let someone else go." Tinamoc said passionately.

Neia sighed heavily, "You're right of course...I guess I'm...just wanting to make up for it still."

"I'll go." Skana said. "I went through the same training, I have much of the same experience, I can handle it, plus it should be someone who knows you well, so we can predict each other even when we're not in communication."

Neia clenched a fist. She wanted to say no, but it was the best answer. "Alright, do it, gather up what you need, not many, you're going to be moving fast, you are going to make their lives very unpleasant, but do NOT engage in any pitched fighting if you can avoid it, don't take any bait they offer, and of course, come back to me safely...OK?" She asked, and Skana darted in and stole a kiss from Neia, then grabbed her hands and said, "I will, I'd say wish me luck, but I plan on making my own on the way." She grinned.

"Alright, go and get started." Neia said regretfully, and as Skana departed, she turned to Tinamoc, "I really am sorry about before, I didn't mean it."

"Forgiven and forgotten." Tinamoc said with a dismissive wave of his hand.

"But are you going to stay here?" Neia asked, "Do you really want to hunker down for a siege instead of on the road?"

He laughed, "Where am I safer, behind thick walls and lots of swords and armor...or on the road with nothing but my belly protecting my guts from pointy objects?"

"Point taken." She said, making a wicked pun and prompting a laugh.

"I've got work to do, so I'll see you back at the hotel Neia." Tinamoc said, and departed as well.

"Come along CZ, I want to see how things are going." Neia said, and nodded to the government officials behind her. CZ followed along, they descended the steps slowly and Neia began to stroll down the street.

"We could ride." CZ suggested.

"We could, but its better for them to see us walking among them." Neia said.

"Why?" CZ asked.

"A book of the supreme ones said that the ones in charge should be seen, its good for their spirits." Neia answered.

That it came from something of the supreme ones was answer enough, and CZ filed that knowledge away.

While it was slow at first, the city came to life, and people were filling bags with earth and sand, they were sharpening swords, making arrows and putting bundles of them near where the archers would be positioned. Beyond the city, pacers ran ropes that were marked at equal intervals to show ranges of fire, and in the more open spaces, siege engines were being constructed. The city was bustling like an ant colony over a pile of sugar.

"Tell me CZ, what do you think of humans?" Neia asked.

CZ shrugged. "Don't care."

"Well, I'm human." Neia asked.

"I like you." CZ said.

"But not most humans?" Neia asked.

CZ shrugged. "If I don't know, I don't care."

Neia scratched her head a bit at that, "I guess that makes sense, it takes a god like the Sorcerer King to care about everybody the way he does.

"Yes." CZ said.

"Did you really mean I should rule?" Neia asked, turning her look to a peasant who was working hard sawing a plank, she waved and smiled, and he waved back, and picked up his pace.

"Yes." CZ said.

"I'm just a squire to this country." She added in bafflement.

"Ask for more." CZ said.

"From who?" Neia asked.

"Lord Ainz. Be a Paladin of the Sorcerous Kingdom." CZ said in her customary monotone that made everything sound obvious.

"I...hadn't thought of that." Neia said.

"But...I have responsibilities to Lord Ainz as a citizen of this country don't I?" Neia asked incredulously.

"It will be his too." She replied. "Then rule what he says." She added.

Neia contemplated that for the rest of her walk around the city, turning it over as she waved and shook hands and praised efforts. In its own way, maintaining the mindset she had to was more work than what they had to do.

 _...Hoburns..._

King Astraka enjoyed the woman under him. She was there by choice, and showed it by her passionate responses, however his head was elsewhere, the brutalized body of that dead stupid peasant did still trouble his conscience, but worse was that he'd gotten nothing from her. The woman under him though, looked actually kind of like her, and that did make the coupling all the sweeter as she thrashed under him or bounced upon him, she could move her hips like a snake did its body, and when they found common release, he actually allowed her to linger in his bed for awhile before he sent her scurrying away, as a maid in his castle, she had a lot of work to do.

He did too if he was being honest about it, the missives had all gone out and soldiers were already moving, they'd be occupying the nearest villages before the day was half over, and then his engineers would begin making small fortifications for security and rapid deployment, he would strangle this rebellion like a babe in its crib, there would be a King, not a Queen in Hoburns...for as long as he lived.

Gilcrest and Robel watched the soldiers leave the city and they moved like greased lightning on their undead mounts, the soldiers were mostly on foot, which meant it was easy on the tireless horses they had, to reach the nearest villages and send out alarms warning others of the departing soldiers, it would still take time, but with the 'Undead Pony Express' that their god had devised, it proved easy to transmit messages from one village to the next, and easy to mount these strong undead to carts to pull reinforcements in, or noncombatants out. They'd split up at the first village, and raised the alarm wherever they went, shouting "Astraka is coming! Astraka is coming! Astraka is coming!"

If these had been ordinary village militias, or villages without militias, that would have been cause to either run or lay down and die, but the faith of the Sorcerer King...and his copious production and distribution of arms and his emphasis on discipline through training had created a new kind of villager, even if they were not professionals under arms, they were stalwart, strong, brave, and above all for these, they had something to fight for. So peasants unfit for fighting due to great youth or great age began to evacuate and other messengers went out, and the militia members of different villages began to join forces on the road, gathering in greater and greater numbers, they were ready within minutes to depart, they did not need long lines of supply, they would go to fight, and then withdraw to their homes if possible. Nothing was going to take anything from them, not without a hard fight against many a brother and sister prepared to die. Dozens became hundreds, and hundreds became thousands, and they sent out scouts to track the movements of their enemy.

 _...North of Kedyn..._

Gustav Montagne was happy, behind him the city of Kedyn had raised its banner for Queen Calca, and Blue Rose and Black Justice instructors were providing joint guidance to well armed and confident population that was confident that they would indeed 'hold the wall' a second time. Besides that, he had a number of volunteers from the city itself, more Red Paladins and some priests encountered on the road had chosen to join him, and if that were not enough, he kept running in to peasant members of Black Justice who were already armed and ready to fight, and were happy to join him in his march north, when asked where he was going to make his stand, he replied, "There is only one place to go, where all will go. We will go to Prart, I am sure I'll find Remedios there, and then I can finish what I never should have started."

Most of his answer was lost on them, but all that mattered was that he was going where the fighting was, that was reason enough, and his ranks began to swell.

 _...Nazarick Throne Room..._

"Now go, find her." Ainz said after explaining what had happened in the Draconic Kingdom and what they were to do. And with that, he nodded at Shalltear and several gates were opened, each one to another kingdom, each of his undead servants equipped with an item that would allow them to cast the same spell he had used, and each one carrying what he believed was one of the hairs from her head to track her by. It was a fairly quick process of elimination.

After a few minutes, one after another the servants returned...a negative report from the Argland Council State...a negative report from the Draconic Kingdom...a negative report from the Slane Theocracy...a negative report from the City State Alliance, a negative report from the Abelion Hills, a negative report from Re-Estize...then the last one returned.

"Masster...I have found a signal...but...cannot...pursue, she issss tooo fassst." The liche servant said.

"To fast? Is she on horseback perhaps?" Ainz wondered aloud and stroked his chin thoughtfully.

"Thisss one cannot say sire, I apologize for my failure..." It said in its raspy voice.

"I see, think nothing of it, you cannot do what is beyond the limits of your form, I will send another to retrieve her." Ainz replied, and he dismissed the liches.

"I supposes she's alive, but if she's moving fast she might be on the run from someone." He said to himself, he summoned Demiurge immediately, "Demiurge, we have found where Vanysa is, but the liche reports she is moving to quickly and is still to far away for him to pursue on his own. Would you go and retrieve her for me, I have questions about what happened to her." Ainz said with a wave of his hand, gesturing to Shalltear to open the gate.

Demiurge bowed, "Of course my lord, and when I retrieve her, after you are done asking questions, would it be to much to ask that I be permitte to make music with her again, it really has been to long."

"Of course, now go, before whatever she fears is chasing her, catches up." Ainz replied.

Demiurge stepped through the gate and found himself several miles beyond where the signal suggested she was, he had a little time, it would only be a matter of minutes. He looked around, it was an open plain, a simple dirt road was cut through the grass, he snorted at it dismissively, crude work by unguided humans, contemptible. The river babbled side him and to pass the time, he pretended it was speaking with him.

"Yes you're right good river, Ainz is indeed a genius who will much improve this pathetic land." He said with a grin.

"No, no of course not, good river you must surely be mad if you think I would feed you one of Lord Ainz's servants. The audacity." He said with a harumph, pretending to be offended by the very rude babbling waters. He glanced up and looked in the distance, she should be very close now, but he didn't see a horse or cart, nothing that would carry a human at a pace faster than an elder liche could move.

His crystal eyes were hard by nature, but now they were hard by temper, and he looked back to the river, and that was when he saw the body. The long blonde hair was impossible to mistake for anyone else, she was moving rapidly with the current, floating on her chest. Demiurge frowned, she had obviously been tortured, even from this distance that was obvious. He used his magic and pulled her from the river and laid her on the grass on her back.

Her body was naked and badly abused, she'd been cut to ribbons, even with the skin in its current state, it was obvious she'd been beaten, on her chest, carved in thin cuts, were the words 'Faithful Servant'. It was a grim end for the talented musician. Demiurge let out a somewhat regretful sigh, and called for his lord to open a gate. "My lord we are returning." He said, then corrected himself, "I am returning, I mean."

"You? Not you both?" Ainz asked curiously, "Was she not there after all?"

The gate opened and as if to avoid answering, Demiurge picked up Vanysa's body and carried her through the gate.

He stepped before the throne and laid her corpse at the foot of the steps.

Ainz didn't say anything. It was clearly her, he knew that beyond a shadow of a doubt, even partially decayed and water logged. "Did she drown, do you know how she died? Is it possible that this was an accident?" Ainz asked.

Demiurge shook his head. "I saw her back my lord." He rolled her towards him, and showed how badly she'd been cut to ribbons, and then he laid her back down. "She also appears to have a broken nose and many bruises." At that moment her head fell to one side and her jaw opened, clearly revealing that her tongue was missing.

Demiurge knelt and checked, further, "Her tongue is partially severed, based on where it has been cut, I would say that she did it herself, she bit off her own tongue, also there is this." He said, and pointed to the words 'Faithful Servant' that had been carved into her chest.

"Why would her killer write that?" Ainz asked.

"My lord I think she did it herself," Demiurge replied, "it is the width of one of her finger nails, she probably did it with her own blood, and cut in too deep, leaving it to mark her even if the blood wiped away. I expect that this was a message to you."

"So she was murdered then." Ainz said.

Demiurge said, "Forgive my impertinence my lord, but I believe she took her own life, she probably was severely tortured...by an amateur...and then when she realized she couldn't escape, she didn't want to risk giving up what they wanted, so she cut that into her chest in the hopes that you would see it, then bit off her own tongue so that she would die."

Ainz's emotional dampener kicked in. "That sounds a lot like murder to me, Demiurge, would you not also take your life to prevent information from being wrenched from you?"

"Without hesitation my lord." He said, still kneeling by the corpse and looking down, not meeting the gaze of the Sorcerer King.

"Well, she won a victory over them, I assume she gave them nothing, whoever they were." His emotional dampener activated again.

"But one victory is not enough..." He said as his anger built, "they must be utterly crushed into the darkest dispair, and denied even this."

"Wrap her body and preserve it for now, first, tell me how you found her, why was she moving so quickly?" Ainz asked.

"Sire she was floating down river, the current was swift, that is why she appeared to be alive and in motion when being tracked." Demiurge replied.

"That river cuts through a lot of land, she was found in the Holy Kingdom, but that does not mean she was killed there, or that any of the delegates are guilty, the Draconic Kingdom can still be a dangerous place, she was carrying money at night, she could have simply been abducted by a sadistic criminal, tortured for fun, robbed, then killed."

Ainz pondered further, "Well I suppose we'll just have to ask her." He said.

"Pardon my lord?" Demiurge asked, "Her body is severely mutilated, in some ways worse than Calca was, and she's not as powerful as the Queen was either, will she survive resurrection?"

Ainz gave a wicked laugh, "Did I say anything about resurrection? No. This is different. Come with me." Ainz said, and he left the throne room, with Demiurge following behind him.

"My lord may this humble one ask your intentions?" Demiurge asked as Ainz silence kept him in suspense.

"No." Ainz said, "Better to show you."

Demiurge went quiet again, and he found himself in the treasury following behind his master.

"Tell me Demiurge, what do you know of morphomancy?" Ainz asked.

"Nothing my lord, please forgive my ignorance." Demiurge said fervently.

"Its alright, it wasn't a popular school of magic, most of those who practiced it, did so on a lark, turning others into chickens, pigs, and during that one hack, giant dicks. The shitty devs never put a lot into its early levels." Ainz said as he sorted through a shelf until he found what he wanted, and he began the walk back.

"The really interesting thing about it though, was what it could do at the higher levels, at low levels, it was used by those like me for 'pranks' and 'distractions' to throw people off, the middle tier users of it could do more devious things, disguise themselves as trees, disguise items as different items, it was a whole other level of play to the game if you put the effort in."

"Like illusion magic my lord?" Demiurge asked.

"No, illusion was only a matter of appearance, morphomancy changed the thing itself, and for those early levels, it was only temporary, for example a first level morphomancer could turn an equally low level enemy into a chicken for three seconds. A higher tier morphomancer could turn a rock into a tree of roughly equal size, as long as they did not greatly exceed the mass of the target, and as long as there was no resistance to overcome, well there was no problem. But it got really interesting at the higher tiers." Ainz said, and Demiurge listened raptly.

"At the higher tiers you could alter species, for example a level one hundred morphomancer could turn an archdevil into an archangel, and the amount of time that change endured, depended upon the resistance of the target, from complete failure...to permanent."

"I see my lord, but...what does that have to do with this?" Demiurge asked.

"What magical resistance does a low level human corpse have?" Ainz asked.

"None my lord." Demiurge answered.

"So this will be permanent then, wouldn't you think?" Ainz asked.

"Yes my lord but..." Demiurge trailed off.

The doors to the throne room had opened, and Demiurge had to move quickly as the stride of his lord became faster and more purposeful, still...he followed behind his lord as they approached the much abused body of his deceased servant. He took up the scroll and held it over Vanysa's corpse. "Change form, Erinyes." The scroll burned up, and blue light swirled around the corpse, her arms fell open, her legs fell open and began to thicken with more muscle, her hands changed so that her nails became pointed and sharper than a needle, and her ears sharpened to a point, the ribbons of torn muscle and flesh that had been dangling from her back, stretched further and turned black as they formed bats wings from her shoulder blades, twin horns sprang from the front of her head and curved upwards, and her skin had taken on a more golden hue.

But still she lay there.

"My lord, what is the point of a dead...whatever that is?" Demiurge asked.

Ainz chose to answer through his actions, and he said..."True resurrection." Ainz voice filled the hall as he began casting his ninth tier spell, and the light of his magic radiated over the body of the girl. "You may come back Vanysa, and serve me once again." Ainz said softly, and as if pulled more by his voice than by the magic itself, air filled her lungs and her eyes popped open.

She rose to all fours and touched her head. "Ahhh...what th'ell happened?" She looked down at the razor talons that were her hands and shot up to sit on the balls of her feet, she looked at her body, she touched her head again and felt the horns. "Ah gots horns...why do I gots horns?!" She shouted, and the tip of a wing touched her foot, she looked, and saw the wings springing from her back. "Why ah gots wings?!" Then she saw the Sorcerer King standing to one side.

"Master!" She said and prostrated herself, and her voice shifted to the lear intelligence he knew quite well, "Sire what has happened to me?"

"Simply put, you died, I was hoping you could tell me how." He answered.

"I don't know...I was answering questions for the queen, I left, then something hit me and I got knocked out, I remember..." She closed her eyes tightly, I remember pain...there was so much of it...so much I couldn't bear it...was I tortured to death?" She asked in horror.

"No." Demiurge said, "We believe you committed suicide to keep from betraying our master, you had carved the words 'faithful servant, onto your own breasts before you died. Not bad...for a human that is." He said, "Though I guess that compliment doesn't apply so much to you anymore."

"What...am I?" She asked touching the unfamiliar parts of her body in abject confusion.

"You are an Erinyes, otherwise known as a fury." Ainz answered.

She pouted a little..."Sire...I still don't know just what that means."

"Oh, yes...a 'fury' is a kind of demonic female being, sometimes worshiped on another world as a kind of goddess, simply put, they punish the guilty, you it appears, have inherited the nature of Tisiphone, the avenger of murder, if your claws and wings are any clue." Ainz said. "I trust you are not unhappy with your new body, your human form had very little chance of surviving resurrection, so I transformed your corpse first to something more survivable. Combining two magical disciplines is impossible for most, but for me it is simply a matter of will, childs play."

She prostrated herself before him.

"My master saved my life, gave me a future, and has given me new form...new life, truly you are a god, a better god than this world deserves. I offered you my body in absolute sincerity, and if this was your will, then my body was yours to do as you saw fit...and you chose to give me a better one, and now I will use it in your service, until this one is more torn up than the last. Can I ever see my...old body...again though?" She asked curiously.

"Withdraw your wings, and you should resume your former appearance, the better to allow you to move among humans." Ainz said, and she tried it out, realizing it had to have something to do with her back muscles or shoulder blades, she flexed and tried to draw them in, a few tries later, she was as she had been again. "Amazing sire...I am truly thankful that you grant your servant a chance to follow you once more. But I have one question master?" She asked while still looking at the floor.

"Ask it." He said.

She sprang her wings back out and her form shifted back to that of the fury, and she bounced up to her feet, put her hands behind her at the small of her back just below her wings, and she leaned forward in all her glorious beautiful nudity and with a cheeky smile asked, "Ahm ah still pretty an nice ta look at?" She giggled...and added a few flaps of her new wings for good measure. Though for all that, her eyes were filled with a sadistic wrath and a desire...to make music again.

Ainz emotional dampener went into overdrive as he shouted, "Uwaaag!" and Demiurge could not stop laughing.

 **AN: Well I hope you enjoyed this chapter, this one was a lot of fun to write, MOSTLY because I knew I had you all in agony over poor Vanysa's fate. :) I didn't know I was making a new 'best girl' with her, I didn't expect her to be that well liked, I just thought she'd be fun to write for and fit with some of the things I wanted Ainz to be able to experience. I'm SURE some of you will wonder about Albedo & Shalltear, and hey, they'll get a reintroduction soon enough. For now though, enjoy the ride, the world is about to burst into a bright and beautiful flame, so until tomorrow...have a good one! **

**OH...almost forgot...tomorrow is another double release day, somebody donated.**

 **On an unrelated note, if there is a particular story you want me to write, a 'fan request' if you will, I am willing to take commissions and the occasional freebie if the reason for it is a good one.**

 **If you enjoyed this story so far you can support the author's favorite causes by donating to bdgiving dot org.**


	56. The Long Road

_...Before the Argland Council..._

The Platinum Dragon lord stood beside his counterpart, the Obsidian Dragon lord, in front of them were their peers on the council, no sooner than they had returned than an urgent summons had gone out to all council members to return for the report of what they had found, both officially and unofficially.

"We spent a week in the city," the Platinum Dragon Lord said, "and I found a world of amazement. In my official capacity I was present when I accidentally learned just how far the Sorcerer King will go for his servants. One of them went missing, an ordinary human, and for that he launched an army. I toured his city, and found that he is widely worshiped as a god, while other temples remain open, their members decline not because of oppression, but rather because the people see HIM as a god more than the absent silent dieties of old. They worship him in many ways, but for them worship is an act of reflection on their morals and a decisive call to action, they worship through their service to their fellows, and neither make nor tolerate distinction between human and demihuman, or even human and heteromorph. He has encouraged education, and shapes children's minds to think creatively and he rewards innovation with success and status. His administrators are incorruptible and his methods are fair. I believe him when he says he does not hate life, he has enough power to bring death wherever he chooses, but he chooses not to do so. While I would like to know more of him personally, from distant observation, he is a king we can deal with. Therefore I recommend expanding our trade relations with him and that as a 'friendly neutral' nation in the war we passively support him by selling minerals at low rates to the dwarves, and providing a 'wartime discount' on raw materials to his country."

This produced some muttering among his peers. The Worm Dragon Lord spoke up, "That is...generous, but if we compensate the merchants for the loss, how will that impact our budget? Can we afford it?"

The Obsidian Dragon Lord spoke up, "A better question is...can we afford not to? While he was there officially, I moved in a subtle fashion, not announcing myself, I searched for a seedy underbelly and could not find one, I sought out poverty, and found that a myriad of programs were established to help the poor escape their conditions, he paid for their children to attend school and learn to read and write, among other things, so that they would not be bound to the fields, the unemployed were provided a stipend to stave off the need to resort to crime to stay alive, and this was tied to both a land grant, job training, and job location program so that they could learn a skill, own a farm, and find honest work. The 'toys' we brought back are marvels of magical workmanship and he promotes this extensively. Yes there will be a cost to favoring his nation, at least to the budget, but the greater cost is doing nothing and being ignored or worse, considered less than friendly. He fights a common enemy of ours, and if we forget that, then we may as well forget common ground. While we must steadfastly maintain our independence, expanding our relationship with his nation cannot be a bad idea, too...think on his victory, if he achieves all his aims, he will control all the land of the Slane Theocracy, the Draconic Kingdom will not stay independent for long, and the Roble Holy Kingdom's Queen will only have her throne because he put her there, he will rule most of the world and we will be among his last independent neighbors, do you want to be a brother nation to that...or a rival?" He asked.

It was a hard question, and it was met with a long silence. The votes on trade terms and rebates and wartime generosity to the Sorcerer King easily prevailed, and the terms were settled on easily, and dispatched by messenger, with confidence they made the right choice.

 _...Outside Prart..._

Skana was all smiles as she rode out the gate, she had seven thousand soldiers behind her, many of them had gone through training guided by elites like Sebas or Cocytus, trained in Nazarick per the administration of Robel & Gilcrest, and they were equipped with the finest runecrafted gear that the dwarves could make. Riding on undead mounts raised from countless scrolls and used on the cheaply purchased dead horses, these summoned mounts did not disappear, did not feel pain, did not tire, did not feel hunger or thirst, and did not feel fear, and they were much...much stronger than their living counterparts.

Leaving Neia behind was hard, but Skana was smiling because she felt invincible, like she couldn't possibly lose, and her spirit of victory was infectious, though it was also shared independently by the competent fighters who rode out with her, they had learned to fight in a realm of the gods, and had been equipped in ways that those veterans of the war against Jaldabaoth could only DREAM about.

It was an otherworldly feel, with the black armor and cloaks, the finely made swords, they felt light as air, strong as giants, energetic as colts running wild. It was a heady feeling, but they were not going out to confront the army they knew was on the way, rather they had another goal, they rode out from the city and began to loop far around it, they ate up the ground like fire ate up dry grass in high winds. Skana leaned in as they galloped on, there was no need to spare the untiring mounts, and gradually they began to break off. First there was scout removal, they needed to deprive King Astraka of his eyes and ears, so they broke off in groups of twenty, riding out into the countryside while village militias gathered their forces under Gustav Montagne. After a few hours of breaking off small groups, there were five thousand riders remaining, and this one had another task. Skana knew that an army marches on its stomach, they couldn't march if they couldn't eat, so she was tasked with raiding the supply depots and caravans of food, a soldier with no food is already out of the fight...if the fight is days away. It didn't take long to find the first one. One of the Astraka backing towns, when they reached it, the gates were shut and there were soldiers manning the walls.

She called her five thousand to a halt, and they arrayed themselves against the town in an intimidatingly perfect line, they held still as stone statues, while on the walls, their spears swayed and even from a distance, it was clear that those on the defensive were afraid.

Skana raised a white flag and approached the town. "Who speaks for you?!" She asked. A hard looking man came to the space over the gate. "I do, I am Takra, military governor of the town of Lampiole."

"Will you open your gates and surrender?" Skana shouted.

"Never!" He said. "I will not allow my town to be burned!" He shouted back.

"Nor do I wish to burn your town!" Skana shouted in return.

"I will not allow my town to be plundered!" He shouted back.

"I do not want to plunder your town!" She shouted.

"Then what do you want?!" He shouted in confusion.

"Per the agreement of our god with your king, the willful destruction of all citizen property is a serious crime, in our faith, as it defies the justice decreed by our god, it is also a sin, therefore I must avoid all needless destruction. However I cannot allow your military supply to continue to flow to King Astraka. If I must go through you all to get to it, then I have no choice! BUT...if you surrender, I can spare every single one of your soldiers, I can guarantee their lives, and I swear in the name of my god...Ainz Ooal Gown, Sorcerer King...my Queen...Queen Calca...and my beloved...Neia Baraja...that the ONLY thing to come down will be those places which are responsible for supplying the King against us! Now what say you!" She asked.

He appeared hesitant.

"You have perhaps five hundred armed men beside you in front of you, you have perhaps seven thousand men women and children behind you, and I have five thousand veteran warriors with enchanted equipment behind me. Do not die for nothing!" She shouted passionately.

She looked over the walls, they were low, only about eight feet high, it would be easy to ride the horses up to the walls and use them to jump up the rest of the way, or even for one man to climb up from another two assisting him. She shook her head regretfully and looked over her shoulder, "Draw bows! Prepare to fire!" She shouted.

Bows came out and arrows were nocked in one single motion...five thousand times behind. "Form double ranks!" The line began to stretch the entire length of the wall, it was now impossible to defend it all.

Takra wavered, but fear of failure was greater than his fear of death. "Bows! Draw and loose! Don't take the time to aim, just shoot!" He shouted and dove for cover.

The exchange of arrows was brief, Black Justice archers outnumbered the smattering on the walls by well over ten to one, even with the protection of the walls, enchanted bows with rune craft symbols were far better than the simple yew mass produced for underpaid guards. It was...in its own way, awe inspiring to see the desperately outnumbered guard force try to stop the considerably larger force. But it wasn't really worth much, and people dropped like flies from the wall.

"First rank! Advance and mount the wall!" Skana shouted, Second rank, covering fire! Cease at breach points!" The advance was quick and large and the handful of soldiers that tried to resist were either put down by arrow fire or died quickly when they tried to defend their position against overwhelming numbers, any one they kept back just had to wait until someone got up the wall on one side or the other, and then they were outmaneuvered.

Takra drew his sword and defended the barred gate, but against three Black justice fighters, he was quickly cut down, and lay bleeding on the cobblestone inside the gate, while four members of Black Justice opened it. The arrow fire had ended, and Skana rode in, the people of the town hid in their homes, making it appear as if the town were deserted. Someone moved Takra's body out of the way, and the undead horse simply rode through a puddle of blood. She was followed by members of her army moving four abreast behind her. "Stow bows! Ready Swords!" She shouted, and five thousand swords being drawn at once created quite a sound, sound enough to keep most peasants inside their homes. There was one objective, and under iron discipline, they held to their course. A large warehouse near the garrison post, built of wood, it wasn't much of a structure, but it held enough food to feed thousands for at least a day. There were a dozen or so guards who had remained to defend the structure, but at the sight of so many advancing on them, they cast down their swords, went to their knees, and raised their hands.

"We surrender! So please...don't hurt us!" They shouted, fear etched on their faces.

"Today you live, per the edict of our god, we are prohibited from taking the lives of those who do not oppose us. Go to the gate, check your wounded and see them healed, warn them not to oppose us again." Skana said menacingly.

They scurried off and stumbled away as fast as they could. Skana approached the gate with her sword out and kicked it open, she entered, and found that yes, there was an abundance of food there just as she had expected.

She walked back out, "I need five hundred men!" She snapped, "Empty this warehouse, distribute a half sack of grain to every citizen in this town, man, woman, and child, inform each one that we are leaving thereafter. Do not take a single thing, do not buy a single thing, absolutely no destruction! If I find that anyone has so much as siezed a hat, I'll see them hang for it! All the remaining food in the warehouse, goes to Prart, I need twelve men, and load the military supply carts and take them back. Follow our planned line of march to reconnect with us afterwards!"

The orders were swiftly carried out, and when the warehouse was empty..."This...this we can burn!" She shouted, and within a few minutes she was watching the flames rise, she wondered if any of Astraka's people could see it. She hoped so. She felt a malicious grin on her face, this was nothing but a skirmish, but it was a blow nonetheless.

 _...In Prart..._

Neia went over the supply lists, the ranks of soldiers continued to grow, as did the supplies of food and grain that were coming in, but soon enough she'd find that changing, and more importantly, traitors were a possible issue, she knew from the books in Nazarick's library that most sieges were lost from the inside, she remembered the impossible city of Byzantium that fell because one idiot forgot to lock a door and it allowed a tribe called 'Ottomans' to bypass the city's defenses. That had been a powerful facepalm. It was only marginally better than if somebody had opened it for them.

She needed a way to ferret out potential traitors, there had to be 'some' way to do it reliably...

 _...Hoburns..._

Astraka walked the line of soldiers, they were a disciplined lot, a number had gone out yesterday, but here was another division, proud, strong, well trained, in gleaming armor that made him smile with satisfaction, good soldiers made for good ruling, and he was confident that his were among the best in the world now. The martial culture of the Holy Kingdom had not dulled over the years, and he was a proud member of that line of greatness, yes, everything was going to work out just fine. He moved to the front, time for a little encouragement.

"Soldiers! Today you go out to fight for your King, for your nation, for your gods! You go out to fight against servants of the undead and their phony Queen, you go out to fight for your glory and your honor, and to make an eternal name for yourselves, etched into history forever, serve with honor, break those who would break our ways, and we will make the nation that we DESERVE!" He shouted and raised his sword.

"Astraka! Astraka! Astraka!" They shouted back with raised swords and spears of their own.

King Astraka had a very wicked smile...and...for some reason, his mind went back to the river corpse he'd had disposed of, he wondered how much of her body was left now, not much...he was sure of that, it still irked his conscience a little bit...but just a little, after all...she was just a peasant, and who really cared on a personal level what happened when one of those animals died?

 _...Gustav's formation..._

"We have our orders." He said, "We're to keep watch on the border wall, and when Remedios crosses it with her army, we are NOT to engage, we are to observe and continue to gather our strength."

The soldier in front of him sighed, "But sir...she burned my village, she killed my parents...how do I do nothing?!" He said with anguish.

Gustav sighed, "By keeping your sword sheathed, soldier. Listen to me, the chance WILL come to face her, but we are not fighting for ourselves or our personal revenge, no matter how justifiable, we are fighting to win a war, we observe, we report, we wait for the order to engage, and we continue to gather strength, do you want to attack her and fail, or succeed?" He asked.

The soldier looked glum. "Succeed." Same here, "We don't throw lives away like dust, we fight to win, if you want to die for nothing, you're in the wrong place." Gustav said firmly.

"Yes sir..." the soldier said, "Can I at least volunteer for the scouting expedition, I can at least play a larger role in bringing her down."

"That you can do." Gustav said, and the soldier lit up happily. Idly, Gustav wished every problem were so easily resolved.

 _...South of Carne Village..._

General Enri rode her horse at the head of an army, her goblins were a fierce sight indeed, but it was so surreal to see humans, goblins, ogres, dwarves, and others all marching in unison towards the border with the Slane Theocracy. She'd studied hard in Nazarick, the goblin strategist had helped immensely, the training scenarios, the simulations, the dry runs, learning logistics and military orders and drills...the time when she'd been an illiterate peasant girl fleeing a pair of knights with her little sister seemed so...far away now. Now she was the leader of a large population, and a military commander, wife of the greatest alchemist in the known world, educated, literate, able to think and act dynamically and perform tasks that seemed like the magic of nobility once upon a time. It seemed like it was the first true opportunity to repay the kindness of the magic caster that had saved all their lives. She took a deep breath, this was the most important thing she'd ever done, perhaps the most important thing she ever would do. In all her youth, all she'd ever known was the harvest, but now this was something new, but all to familiar, she would be harvesting lives, a bloody harvest that would change the state of the world forever.

 _...North of the Katze Plains..._

General Nimble rode next to Emperor Jircniv, they were marching with sixty thousand soldiers, their goal...E-Rantel, the city of the Sorcerer King that had become his administrative capitol and one of the trade capitols of the world. If the Sorcerer King was right, then within a matter of weeks, perhaps sooner, civil war would be on Re-Estize. And if it was one thing the Emperor did not do anymore, it was doubt that the Sorcerer King was right.

"What are you thinking General Nimble?" The Emperor asked.

"How bizarre all this is. I've seen many things, I saw the massacre at the Katze Plains, but...to imagine us walking into E-Rantel as its defenders against an invasion that hasn't happened yet? I don't know what to say?"

Jircniv laughed, "Well I don't blame you, but such is the way of the world now, everything is going to change, and look at it this way...we are inside the wheel and helping it to turn, the ones we're going to see are outside of the wheel, and it is going to crush them underneath as it rolls unstoppably forward."

General Nimble nodded..."Well, at least it is nice to know we're going to win."

"Yes, it is." Jircniv replied, and they rode in silence for the rest of the day, save for the constant noise of falling armored feet.

 _...General Zaryusu..._

It was strange to lead dwarves and Quagoa as well as lizardmen and frogmen...but it was better to lead them all than to fight them all, and they made for the mountains of the dwarves in earnest, they would link up with dwarven units there and focus on securing any mountain passes, if they were lucky, nobody in Re-Estize would be intelligent enough to think to attack the empire over the mountains, but Zaryusu remembered what he'd learned in the Library of Nazarick..."One is secure against defeat only when prepared against attack." And so they would secure the passes, hold it firm, and dwarven engineers would work to build defenses that secured them against potential assault. It was a large task and of vital importance. Zaryusu wondered if he should have felt resentment. After all the Sorcerer King had killed some of his people, conquered, and subjegated them. Still, he hadn't been unjust in his rule, indeed his people were prospering more than ever before, their numbers increased rapidly and their infrastructure was expanding to allow for more, they had stopped struggling to live just day to day and had started to think of themselves as a people with a future, trade with the toadmen had benefitted both groups, and between the engineering of the dwarves and the mining of the quagoa, roads and fish farms were feeding more and tying them ever more firmly to a wider world had ever increasing benefits, merchants were now showing up from as far away as the empire and even the Draconic Kingdom, bringing new goods and new ideas. In the end, it turned out to be a good thing, so he shrugged off the lingering resentment of the defeated, and turned his attention to the promotion of their greatness under a just rule.

 _...In the Abelion Hills..._

Leinas Rockbruise struggled to maintain her sense of reality as she looked at the ranks of demihumans and undead, there were twenty thousand demihumans and thousands of more undead in front of her, and here she was their general, there were Nagas, Sprigans, Stone Eaters, and many other species, it was nowhere near the massive army that had been together under Jaldabaoth, but the casualties had been so high that much of their population had been exterminated, but now here they were enough of them that even if they could not fight and win, they could fight and delay, her scouts had reported large numbers of both Theocracy forces, Elven armies, and Astrakan Loyalists were coming to the Abelion Hills from both sides. The demihumans now felt what the humans must have, years before when they had invaded under Jaldabaoth. Now it was there turn, but they were not without allies, she knew from communication with Gilcrest and Robel that Black Justice fighters were gathering in the thousands to defend the advance into the Abelion Hills, and the irony of their dependance on humans for their safety was not lost on them. It left her a more free hand to defend against the eastern front, but she had little hope of long term victory without reinforcement.

 _...Nazarick...'Harvesting grounds'_

Olasird'arc Haylilyal was in a lot of pain. That was a regular thing for him, being skinned again and again, every time their supply of scrolls ran out...or every time he healed naturally when that happened, he ended up losing skin and scales to a demon far to powerful for him to ever challenge. In the end, it could be said that he had entered a broken state that no dragon ever had. He had no more will to resist, no more will to fight back, and he envied Heijenmal who had the sense to submit willingly.

Now he was staring into the face of the one who had killed him with ease, Ainz Ooal Gown.

"I've come here to make you an offer Olasird'arc, will you hear me out?" Ainz asked reasonably.

"Does it involve an end to pain?" He asked desperately.

"It does." Ainz answered.

"Tell me, please I beg you tell me!" He said with wide eyes as he lay still, unable to move under the force of the chains which bound him.

"I am now entering a war to change this world forever, and despite being as weak as an ant next to me, you are strong compared to many in this world, and I would use that strength to save many lives." Ainz answered.

"How?" Olasird'arc said.

"You will fight for me, you will carry warriors, supplies, and personally fight against my enemies, you will show them the power of the Sorcerous Kingdom, and aid in my victory. If you do this, while you will continue to surrender skin to me, you will no longer be a prisoner as you are, your sentence will end, and the skinning will be done with no pain whatsoever. You have the right to refuse my offer, but I would not, were I in your position. As a bonus, if you serve well, I will erase the memory of your torture, you will only be left with the memory that you know it is best to serve me." Ainz answered.

"What has my clan said?" He asked.

"All of them are willing surrenders, as are the other dragons and the frost giants you once called enemies. Do as I have commanded, and you may see your mountain again, you will be paid for your work and for your skin, your attempt at taking my life will be forgiven, and you will guard the dwarves against any threats, you will in time, have a better life and more wealth than you ever dreamed...or...if you prefer..."

Ainz stepped aside, and Olasrid'arc saw Demiurge...and beside him, a horned winged woman of some other species he did not know, who had very sharp looking claws and eyes filled with bloodlust and a cheerful smile.

"You already know Demiurge, this is Vanysa...she's got a...musical talent, and she wants very much to try it out on you, Demiurge has told her all about your singing voice, so she's perfectly comfortable with you saying no. So...what is your answer?" Ainz asked.

"I accept your offer, my breath, my scales, my claws, my wings are yours, only remove the memory of torment from me, grant me what you have offered, and your enemies will freeze or bleed until they are no more. But I ask one more small thing, before my memories are wiped, let me see my eldest son, and tell him he was right about the power of knowledge, it is why he is out there...and I am here. That...and my own foolish arrogance." Olasrid'arc said, noting the pouting look of disappointment on the sharp fanged Vanysa.

"Excellent." Ainz said. "Set him free. Now come along Vanysa, there is someone you need to see, or rather, someone who has something to say to you, and something else we must do." She looked disappointed, but she flapped her wings gently and flew after him with nothing but a pout.

 _...Kami Miyako prison..._

Climb lay there reading another book when Princess Renner passed through the gate again, he never knew when she was going to come or go, but it was always exciting when she did. They ate dinner together, they talked, and she filled him in on the latest news.

"Climb, its going to happen, the noble faction is on the move, they're under the leadership of a low ranking noble named Philip...I've met him, he's a nasty simpering egotistical incompetent...but don't worry, everything is in hand, I might not be able to come back for awhile since I have a part to play, but this war won't last, the Sorcerer King is going to set everything better than it was before all this began, father will be avenged, and you'll be free, can you bear it just a little longer?" She asked.

"For you I would bear dragon flame." Climb said with iron conviction.

"Good, just be patient." She said, "I have to go, but this quick visit was at least enough to let me endure what happens next." She said, and as she turned back to the gate, Climb could not see the mad smile and wild eyes that had taken over her face, he knew only that his golden princess was doing what needed to be done, and that was all he needed to endure more of this.

 _...E-Rantel..._

Philip was on top of the world, just as Hilma had promised, the other nobles had responded to his call, even those who outranked him technically, he was after all, the one who had the right backing, tomorrow they'd be moving out in earnest, they'd sweep away the nobles of the royal faction, and within a few weeks he'd be Philip the first...King of Re-Estize, then he'd invade the Forest of Tob with a nomal justification of routing out the escaped members of the royal faction, and attack E-Rantel by surprise, with the Sorcerer King's capitol in his hands, surely the overblown reputation of that lone magic caster would shatter, and people would flock to the banner of the heroic Philip, and in no time he'd be master of the known world...maybe he could even have that beautiful Albedo...women loved men with strength after all...it was a pleasant thought to have as he lay under the covers, and he fell to sleep with a happy smile on his face.

 _...Draconic Kingdom..._

The Sorcerer King had informed her of his coming that day, and as a result, Draudillon was equal parts nervous and relieved, he'd heard that the girl had been found and was being brought to see her, she had also been told that she must have all the responsible nobles gathered in the courtyard for him to address personally.

Queen Draudillon & Vermillion worked overtime to be ready, everything had been perfectly cleaned and Queen Draudillon was perfectly sober, the nobles she had charged with the financial future of her kingdom were all assembled in the courtyard, and they were expecting a measure of praise for their abundant work on behalf of the Kingdom...while quietly wondering if there was an excuse to be found for further lining their pockets as a result of whatever was to happen next.

The Sorcerer King stepped through the gate, and Vanysa approached behind him, she looked perfectly fine, the same as when she'd left, and Queen Draudillon put her hand to her chest and sighed heavily with relief. Both she and Vermillion bowed to the Sorcerer King first, and then the Draconic Queen took the initiative and approached Vanysa. "I'm...very sorry for what happened to you." She reached out and took the girl's hands in hers. "I did not know you'd been robbed of everything by my nobles, and it was my job to know that was happening, therefore it is ultimately my responsibility. I'd like to restore everything to you that was lost, and accept whatever punishment your master decrees for me..." The queen looked down embarassed, bowing her head, and Vermillion standing beside her did the same. "I deserve that much, I should not have sent you home without an escort, I'm just glad you were not hurt." She said softly.

"I was." Vanysa said softly.

"Oh you were healed?" The Queen asked.

"Sort of...but first...I was tortured to the point that I killed myself." Vanysa said. "The Sorcerer King tells me that my back was ribbons, all the way from my shoulders down...to my feet...that my breasts had a final message carved in to them, that my nose was broken and my tongue was bitten off, I was broken, bruised, and badly abused, and I must have killed myself to keep from saying anything to whoever took me."

Queen Draudillon and Vermillion looked stunned at this clinical description of horror. "I am alive...but I'm different now." She said, and flexed her back muscles, popping out her wings, and to late remembering she was not dressed in such a way that allowed their emergence without tearing her clothing...regrettable, but...demonstrative, she fluttered her wings lightly, hovering inches higher than the Queen stood, her fangs sharp and her claws like needles, "Now I am this, a fury of the Sorcerer King, restored to this new state as an agent of punishment and retribution." Her voice was calm, clinical, and cold, even though her face was cheerful in its expression.

"And you are here to punish me?" Draudillon felt resigned to this.

"Nah, ah came here fer yer apology, and yah done given me tha, yah didn't do nothin on purpose, but ah wanna know who took me, them ah gets to play with, them ah gets to punish." She said.

"That I cannot even guess." The Queen answered.

Vanysa pouted. "Ah wasa fraida that." She sighed. "Majesty," she said to Ainz, "Can ah have one a them nobles ta play with at least?"

"Very well." Ainz said magnanimously. "Queen Draudillon, who among them is the worst of the worst in every way." He asked.

"Count Lancoptra." She said without hesitation, "Not only is he a thief, he is a killer, I know beyond doubt that he has killed at least ten of his own peasants...but I could never find a way to bring him down, he commanded to many men and to do so would have brought down the whole kingdom." She said regretfully.

"Perfect." Ainz said. "He is yours Vanysa."

She prostrated herself to the King, "Thank you for your generosity master." She replied, her bouncy voice disappearing and bloodlust rising.

"Now, lets pay a visit to them, show me to your balcony Queen Draudillon...oh and...do stay with me to watch, this will be...illustrative of how I see corruption."

She and Vermillion nodded at one another and bowed their heads obediently, within a few minutes a very human looking Vanysa stood a pace to the left of the Sorcerer King, while the Queen stood a pace to the right, and Vermillion just behind and center to them both, allowing him a view as well.

In the courtyard, drinks were flowing freely, and servants distributed delectable morsels, while musicians played in low gentle tones to maintain a jovial atmosphere. When the Queen clapped her hands from above, all went quiet. "Servants are dismissed, the nobles alone deserve these words!" She shouted, and they looked smugly back at her.

"First, may I have Count Lancoptra step forth, for I understand he is most deserving of all of this." Ainz said in his booming kingly voice, a self righteous looking bloated man with a beard on his neck swaggered forward and bowed arrogantly to the balcony.

"At your service." He said.

"Very good." Ainz said.

"First let me inform you and all your compatriots of why you are here. Some time back I rewarded this girl with great wealth for good service, and as she sought to use that to live a better life, you all conspired to rob her of her wealth, you left her in the gutter to die in poverty and hunger in a hovel not fit for a stray dog, in doing so to a servant you have stolen from me as well, and thieves have no place in my world, and that is all you are, mere thieves who are incapable of the tasks laid out for you by an honest...but far to trusting Queen."

Protests began, but Ainz began to release the pressure of his aura. "I would not bother speaking to you beneath me at all...but I believe all should know why they are being punished...and why they must die. Vanysa, sieze the Count, and do with him as you see fit."

Her wings sprang out and her form shifted, "As yah say majesty!" She said with a cheerful look, and she hopped down from the balcony, she took Lancoptra by his neck beard and began to rise up into the sky, "Hiya, I'm Vanysa, pleased ta meetcha." She said as she took him up and began to have her fun. Blood began to drip down from above as mad and joyful laughter rang out, but down below, nobody could find themselves to care. The pressure Ainz was exerting continued to build...and build...they fell to their knees, and then to their stomachs as they were crushed by the weight of his power. Please for mercy rang out at first, but eventually they could not even open their mouths, until at last...as Vermillion and Queen Draudillon watched in absolute horror...the bodies of the nobles were crushed into a red paste before their eyes, and the pressure immediately ceased.

The blood that dripped down from above became a rain, and it finally ended with a head falling down to the courtyard and rolling like a ball away from where it landed, followed quickly by a bloated neck bearded body that further stained the stone ground. When Vanysa landed, she was a blood soaked mass of gore and happiness.

Ainz looked at the two and said to the Queen, "Now...find better nobles, do not force me to pay another visit like this one."

Draudillon & Vermillion knelt in submission, "You will not, I swear it sire." She said.

"Good." Ainz said, and Vanysa smiled happily and gave a little wave behind her as the gate reappeared, and they returned to Nazarick.

 **AN: Thanks for everything you all, you'll notice this is a triple release, and the reason for that is...thanks to the donations to bdgiving dot org, among a few other smaller actions, one larger goal was accomplished, you who have donated, have paid for the tuition, uniform, books, school supplies, and food for a class of students at the Kasese school in Uganda. So...I figure...fuck it...triple release, y'all earned it. Enjoy. If you'd like to support this fan fiction effort, you can donate to bdgiving dot org and continue to act like slave drivers and get me to shell out double release days. :)**

 **Because if you don't believe in a better world, and you're not doing anything to make it...what the hell are yah doin?**


	57. Victory and Defeat

_...Argland Council..._

"Then all is settled, we will route trade South through Re-Estize and offer select deals to merchants in E-Rantel, and compensate our merchants for all discounts they offer to their counterparts there, especially the government of the Sorcerer King." There was a round of agreement as one by one the final measure was approved, documents drawn up, and notices sent out to all merchants going South.

All went well for several weeks time, until reports began to come in of...something unexpected. Merchants that had long passed through extensive road systems engaging in trade along the way, began to experience problems that had not been at issue before.

Specifically, they encountered fees that did not previously exist, laws that made little sense but grew expensive and difficult to compensate before were passed seemingly at random by the young heads of many noble houses, and sometimes merchants were imprisoned for days or weeks on trivial charges, sometimes their goods were confiscated as a result of some petty transgression that may not have existed in the first place, or which no one had ever heard of.

As these reports began to filter back to the council, the government began to send out inquiries to the Re-Estize Kingdom, asking for the cause of this sudden hostility to their merchants.

Had they not always had a good relationship when it came to the exchange of goods? Were not the Re-Estize merchants always welcomed politely and with respect for their efforts and contribution to the betterment of both nations? Why all this hostility now?

The response of the King was to promise an investigation, but preliminary reports indicated that the nobles themselves within those lands were responsible, and many speculated that it was a result of word of their passive friendliness towards the Sorcerer King, and word of special trade terms to aid in the Sorcerer King's war effort.

The Argland council appealed or an impartial mediator...but all they got in return was silence.

The matter was summed up by the Platinum Dragon Lord in three simple words during one such meeting:

"This...isn't...good."

 _...Outside of the city of Kasaga...Holy Roble Kingdom..._

Skana was in high spirits, they'd burned down eight warehouses in the last twelve days, confiscated most of the grain and distributed the rest to the citizens in the towns themselves, and now they were about to make that nine. She formed up her ranks outside the small city of Kasaga. It was the first actual city she was going to seize, the walls were thirty feet high, it had a population of some forty thousand, and a defending military force of five thousand.

Despite being in high spirits, the place looked formidable and their army was almost as large as her own, plus...well they did have walls. Though on the other hand, she had rune crafted equipment and the best training in the world behind her and a string of unbroken victories. Morale was very high.

As before, she raised her white flag and approached the city and gave her usual speech. "If you surrender, no citizen will be harmed, no soldier will be mutilated, no home will be burned, no plunder will be seized. The only thing to be taken down to nothing will be those supplies used to wage war against us, and we will occupy the city as its governing authorities until the duration of the war...but per the Draconic Accords all good laws of the land WILL be honored! But if you do not surrender, we will batter your gates, break your lines, and all that follows is upon your heads!"

An arrow shot from the top of the gates and struck her in the chest...and bounced off her rune crafted equipment. She touched the spot where it hit...that'd leave a bruise.

"You've made your choice! But don't worry!" She said, spreading her arms out to show she was unhurt, and laughing maniacally, "You won't have to live with it for long!"

Her own forces, who saw the sudden attack under a white flag of truce, was outraged. Skana lowered her sword at the gate and shouted, "Unleash the undead! I want that gate turned to splinters!"

Undead horses were sent in and their tough undead horse bodies began to kick at the iron portcullis and gradually bend it inwards. The humans above the wall began to throw rocks and shoot arrows, but these were undead, and such minor projectiles were all but useless.

"Archers ready!" Skana shout, and the bows of the thousands were drawn and arrows were nocked. "Loose!" She called, and arrows flew out from along the line, and on the wall, soldiers died. Some arrows went to far, they missed their mark, and a civilian cry came out, but most had the sense to hide in their homes.

The metal portcullis began to break in places, but still the horses kicked, tearing more and more of it apart, and where able, darting in to kick at the wooden gate, which...being made of wood as it was...well just was not all that durable compared to the already broken iron.

'Chock...chock...chock...' the noise resounded like the ticking of a clock as the wood was kicked apart piece by piece, as holes began to appear, spears were thrust through them in order to strike at the undead, but they simply could not strike well without the ability to see what they were trying to hit.

"Horses withdraw!" Skana shouted, and as the mounts returned to the lines, she called out, "First rank! Light your arrows, aim for the gate! Burn it down! They like fire so much, let them have all they want!" She shouted over her shoulder. The sound of burning could be heard behind her. "All other ranks, sweep the walls!"

Archers on the walls set their priority as aiming for the undead, a deadly mistake for which they would pay dearly. Skana snorted dismissively and muttered under her breath. "Foolish fanatical amateur, isn't it obvious you should target the living who rule over the undead? What a waste...well, makes my job easy, so I'm not one to complain."

Arrows flew into the under passage from portcullis to gate, and the fire caught and burned, some by chance, went through the holes the horses made, and found a home in the body of an unfortunate soldier, weakening whatever defenses they had managed to muster against entry there. Skana rolled her eye, it was such a stupid waste to die or a king that just didn't give a damn about you.

The flow of arrows from her forces began to taper off just as she saw the gate begin its collapse. "Flame resistant forces, seize the gate!" She shouted, referring to those whose armor and equipment specialized in fire resistance. It wouldn't make them immune to burns from just ordinary heat, such as from boiled water...but fire itself would be well protected against.

"All others, ladders, seize the walls!" She shouted, and with a fervent cry she rushed herself forward ahead of the ladders that were hot on her heels. They went up, and she quickly jumped to the front of the line and began to climb. A part of her mused that...were Neia here, she wasn't sure of whether or not the woman would be right with her...or seizing the other side herself. Funny the little things that managed to make you smile when you might be about to die.

She reached the top of the wall and pulled herself over, some ladders were facing soldiers that tried to push it back. However they were equipped with a unique feature that threw off the defenders who were unfamiliar with it. At the head of each ladder was a rotating pair of arms tipped with horizontal adamantite claws, these arms were in turn connected to a pull system at the base when, when drawn, rapidly rotated the arms over the side, and the horizontal claws would then be secured against the stone, then at the base the pull would be secured by a peg into the ladder so that the arm could not simply be rotated back.

It was an ingeniously simple device, and...yes it could be countered, however as it was a novel design, unseen before, none of those on the walls were familiar with it, and as a result they neither knew nor had time to understand why simply pushing the ladders off wasn't working. Their frantic temperament worked against them and their fear made them unreasonable. A few had some luck, the ladder's claws had not found purchase or it had been pushed off before it could be secured into place. But where it worked, it worked well, and Skana soon found herself faced with a few bully boys in armor they did not know how to use. One tried to rush her with his spear, only for her to step aside and give him a swift kick, sending him reeling and falling off the wall and down into the city, never to move again. Behind her others were quickly coming up and outnumbering those who were supposed to defend those positions. She had a savage bloodthirsty look on her face, her one eye fearless and her tight smile revealing her teeth, as if she were about to bite into them. She licked her lips as if they were food being served up to her, and she rushed with a valkyrian warcry at the nearest unfortunate soul, who quite lost his head over the furious assault, and his companions withdrew in disorder as Skana's followers moved behind her, their one handed sword techinque that combined monk abilities and counter strikes proved very effective against those who had weaker training and equipment...and much reduced numbers. The wall fell within minutes of the ladder's being raised, and the city's military forces began to withdraw to what they believed were more defensible positions along the roads.

"Call the mounts! Cavalry charge!" She shouted, and dozens of soldiers went back through the fallen gate, where a handful of men had died, called or the undead horses, the tireless and fearless mounts were perfect for this task, and the soliders rushed back to the front, swords out and leaning in, the undead mounts were from hell's own stables, and the impromptu spear formation the Astrakian forces had intended to use to stave off a charge...and which would have worked against living beasts that would have feared to be impaled...turned into a speed bump of blood and misfortune. Hot behind those horses came the infantry under Skana, and they pursued the remaining military forces deep into the small city until they reached the military headquarters, some fifteen hundred or so of the enemy forces had survived to that point in the fighting, and they had chosen to make a stand. Skana's ranks began to form up, arrayed in disciplined ranks against the city's militia, a burly looking man with a thick beard and a heavy looking hammer was at the center of those, and beside him an older looking man in a priestly robe.

Skana stepped forward, the two sides stared one another down across the open stone way, no more than fifty feet apart, the city's forces mostly armed with wooden spears tipped with iron or steel, or short swords and shields, standard fare, the larger looking fellow appeared to have some enchanted equipment on him...but she was sure it was nothing compared to what she possessed.

"Surrender your forces and lay down your arms." Skana said as she stepped to the fore, "If you do I will spare you all." Blood dripped from her face, surrounding her one good eye and giving her already fearsome face an even more terrifying quality...but blood also dripped from her sword, blood staned her armor, and her steps forward left bloody bootprints behind her.

Simply put...were it not for the reputation she had established through limited destruction before...she would not have presented a very credible face just then.

"I will never follow the undead! I served under Remedios Custodio, I fought for this country! You and your kind are selling us all out! Abandoning the gods, our ways, our traditions! I will be dead before I submit to the likes of you!" He snapped and spat on the stone that separated the distance between them.

"Come back to the gods my child..." The old man said softly..."Please...they are merciful, you must not follow this evil path..." His eyes were warm, he held his hands out invitingly, as if calling a grandchild over to him.

Skana looked at him in disbelief. "Merciful? I saw what the gods did when their alters were turned into dinner tables on which to devour the children of this country. If that is mercy I will have none of it. I follow the true god, the god of deeds and of justice who brought an end to the horror. Do not tell me of the god's mercy priest!" She said fiercly. She turned her gaze to the large warrior. "I ALSO fought for this country, our ways nearly destroyed us, we were unprepared, we were weak, and we were nearly undone, not because we strayed from our ways, but because we kept to them when they no longer worked! You tear this country apart to return us to failure?!" She pointed her sword at him, "I do not want to kill you, any of you! But I will not see us overthrown and destroyed again by our failure to change! Please! Surrender and let me carry out the mercy of my god! The true mercy! Your continued lives!" She said passionately.

The hulking figure hefted the hammer into his free hand and shook his head. "No. I will have the world I know, restored to itself, or I will die, that was my vow when I saw Jaldabaoth's destruction of our country, and I will keep to it, I am sorry warrior woman, but I must kill you." He said softly, but firmly.

"And I am sorry that you must die." She said with equal softness and firmness, "But let it be only us at least, enough have died today, let it be only one more, and if you win, my soldiers will withdraw, if you lose, your soldiers will at least have the choice of keeping their lives."

He grunted and looked back at his soldiers, many of them were young, some only newly come to the age where they were permitted to fight at all, his gaze swept over one shoulder, then to the other, and he looked to the priest, they shared a silent moment of acceptance, and nodded to one another. "You heard her old man, bless me in the name of the gods."

As he knelt to take his blessing, Skana looked over her shoulder. "If I should fall, honor my will and withdraw, retrieve any dead we have, but take no vengeance! Swear by the Sorcerer King!" She commanded, and the uniform echo of "By the Sorcerer King!" came out in three loud shouts.

She waited patiently as the priest finished uttering his final words to the great big bear of a man, he towered over Skana, easily six and one half feet tall and broad as a barn door, compared to Skana, who was not much taller than Neia and about as broad as an outhouse door.

"What is your name?" She asked him as she took her first step forward, "You're a brave one, and have your honor even if you're on the wrong side, I'd hate for your name to be lost after all this is over."

"They call me Braunin, Braunin Takos." He said, "And since we're being polite about this...what is yours? He asked as they closed the distance between one another ever more inexorably.

"Most know me as Skana the Bold...but you know...if you kill me, put on my tombstone, "Skana Baraja." She said with a smile on her lips and his eyes went wide as he learned just who he was fighting.

It was to his credit that the knowledge of his famous opponent did nothing to his willingness to fight, and his hammer swung to the side in a blow that would have easily crushed a skull, but Skana ducked and tried to dart in for a strike at his lower body, only for him to follow the spin of his hammer backwards with the momentum, taking him out of reach, and then forwards as he raised it up, and try to bring it down on her head. She rolled out of the way then sprang to her feet and jumped on to the top of the hammer as it smashed into the stone and before it could be lifted, and from this position she made a perfect thrust with her sword, straight through his eye, her other arm thrust back behind her to provide both forward momentum and perfect balance. He stared for a moment out of his one remaining eye, as if he could not believe it had happened, his mouth fell open and he tried to speak, but no words came out, he lost his grip on the hammer, and slowly toppled to the ground at her feet as she withdrew the blade.

Though neither of them knew it at the time, among the ranks of the defeated, a young man stood who had a...talent for art, and he would in the days ahead, draw Braunin's final moments over and over as a man obsessed, surviving to the end of the war, he would eventually paint 'The Death of Braunin' sized to living proportions, and it would tour the new world as a testament to the war fought in his youth.

Skana looked down at the dead Braunin in the moment of his passing and stepped off of his hammer. He must have been a master of the weapon, a great warrior...and a great loss for the kingdom. She felt little relief that she was still alive, and no joy at her victory, she swung her sword to one side to clean the blood off and approached the forces of the defeated Braunin, when she was twenty paces away she shouted, "Is there anybody ELSE?!"

The sound of metal striking stone as weapons were dropped, echoed like rain on a tin roof for a full minute, before the defeated ranks fell to their knees in surrender. The old priest as on his knees as well, but not with them, when Braunin fell he went over to the corpse, as fast as his old body could carry him, and went down to it, as if he could not believe what he saw, he shook the body gently. "Come on Braunin...get up...get up...this isn't a game, you need to GET UP! GET UP! PLEASE GET UP!" He shook the fallen soldier over and over, tears fell from his cheeks as he tried to get Braunin to rise, but bodies tend not to do that without magical involvement, and so nothing happened.

Skana turned to her soldiers, "Secure the prisoners, we're holding this city!"

Her forces cheered, but Skana turned and approached the old priest. "He's very...very dead." She said to him. "He took a sword through the eye, how many people do you see surviving that?" She asked. The old man turned his gaze over his shoulder up at her and said, "Don't talk like you know my son! He's strong! He'll get back up and win! He always gets back up! He always gets back up! He always gets back up..."

Skana's eye snapped wide open, "Your son?" She asked.

"Braunin Takos, military commander of Kasaga...son of Amran Takos...priest of the god of life." The priest said softly, looking down at the corpse of his son.

"God of life...please...return him to me...please...have I not served you...have I not given my life to you and asked nothing in return...grant this old man one wish...return my boy to me..." The priest knelt in prayer over the body as behind him the soldiers of Braunin were bound with ropes and had their armor and weapons removed from them.

Skana had the good grace to let him pray in peace. For a few minutes silence reigned and she said, "I'm sorry about your son. He was very strong, very skilled, not many last that long against me, even a minute is an eternity in a fight, and he nearly killed me three times before I could strike twice. I will remember his name, Amran, father of Braunin." She said solemnly.

"You won't have to...he'll get back up, the god of life will answer my prayer." He said in a voice as small as a child's, it cracked as the words came out.

She shook her head. "No, he won't, whatever those gods were, they're not answering prayers for anyone, if they did, I'd be on your side instead of that of the Sorcerer King. I know of only one god who does anything for anybody, all others...are just names." She sighed, "I'll let a few of his men free to come help with his body, on the condition that they return after taking Braunin's body to where you can prepare him for a proper burial."

"You're not going to desecrate him?" The priest asked with surprise. "You're going to let me bury him under the customs of the gods you resist?!"

"Why would I do that?" Skana asked quizically.

"You follow the undead!" The priest said, "You reject the gods, the gods give us all knowledge of how to behave, if you reject them, you fall to villainy and evil!"

"You'd prefer I be that way?" She asked him in seeming surprise.

"Of course not!" He said, affronted.

"Me neither." Skana said, she cleaned off her sword and sheathed it, "My god commands us to reflection and contemplation on our actions, worship for us is reason and the pursuit of higher virtue, obedience to his will means emulation and reflection of the qualities in which he excels, and the furtherance of our pursuit of justice and improvement in who we are. If I were to degrade a noble warrior's body such as this man here," she gestured to his corpse, "I not only degrade myself, I set a standard of conduct for how I too wish to be treated in return. I needn't follow your gods to come to good reasons to be a better person, because those reasons to be a better person, don't require any gods at all to be valid. To me, my god is the example I follow. I don't know what true divinity is as a thing, I only know it as it is revealed by noble choice. So yes, bury your son, give him the honors he requires, I will release on conditional probation, every member of his command if they wish to bid him farewell, I will do that because that is what it means to be Skana the Bold, and a member of Black Justice."

She turned to walk back to the now bound formation to call for volunteers to help with his body, leaving the stunned old priest behind her, and then looked over at him one more time, "And again...I am...truly sorry about your son, no parent should have to bury their child, but that is war...parents bury their children, and those old ones with a past, make decisions that deprive the young of their future. If it means anything...I fucking hate this."

And then she walked away, shouting for volunteers among the defeated and dispensing orders for the seizure of military provisions and the dispatching of orders for replacement of her forces so she could move on to the next target.

That afternoon the banner of Astraka came down, and the banner of Queen Calca went up. And though many cheered, Skana was not among them, she might later, but for now she felt no real satisfaction in what she had accomplished. She simply went to the governor's office that she'd had 'vacated' for her use and waited for him to be brought from his home to brief her. She had a lot to do to be ready to hand this city over to her replacement, whoever that might be.

 _...Prart..._

Neia went over the list for the third time, there were thirty thousand arrows made and enough swords to replace every one of them at least once if one should break, most of the weapons available were Rune Craft and they hand twenty five thousand soldiers under arms with more coming in all the time.

She looked over to Skana's letter. To the untrained eye it seemed clinical, but Neia knew her lover like she knew no other in life, and it was the little word choices that showed she was hurting over her actions, that the reality of war and the losses endured were painful, and that though those of power may speak of the necessity of sacrifice in dire times to win a greater future...they would do well to think long and hard on whether any such time, was then and there. She took the time to write in return, promising that she was being thought of daily and was dearly missed, and what is more, promising that they would raise a cup together in Hoburns one day very soon.

When that was dispatched she turned to another document, she rubbed her forehead and let out a sigh, and she said softly, "The bards never sing about this part of war..." and in an inspired moment she sang softly to herself, "And the tired little Neia wrote one more note...she tried and she tried but the paper piled high, till it seemed it might fall and she'd die...the ink ran black and it cut her no slack...as she tried to read one more thing...but when it was all done she couldn't have fun...because papercuts stung like fuck..."

She chuckled a little bit and shook her head, deciding to enjoy the bit of humor that was often lacking these days, and read the report on the captured spies, two were caught entering the city, and one was caught assisting them. Ironically they'd been caught because they had tried dressing like Black Justice priests...when all the priests were at the temple, and the one assisting them had been caught because he was dressed like a Black Justice soldier, but did not have rune crafted gear.

On reading this, she decided that the best way to prepare against such things was coordinated positioning. She drew out a map of the city and laid out grid squares over it in thin pencil, she then labeled each grid, and determined how many soldiers would be assigned to each area, and that group would only perform duties in that zone, further, each group would be identified by a tag identifying their grid coordinate plus a number and a shift identification. In this way the large numbers could be identified more easily and an 'out of place' party would be easily identifiable. Further she crafted new rules dictating that a soldier thought to be suspicious by any two or more could be ordered to be escorted to their purported position to be identified by his comrades prior to resuming their walk to wherever they were going. It was burdensome, but false soldiers were far to dangerous to overlook.

She imagined one opening the gate to an army of a hundred thousand fanatics following Remedios...it was terrible to contemplate. She shuddered and handed it to her aid, and then she went to the next note.

 _...Hoburns..._

Astraka's mood was a mixed bag really, on the one hand, a dozen villages with Black Justice banners up had been siezed, on the other hand he'd taken almost no prisoners and most of them had not suffered much in the way of losses. Their use of undead inflicted casualties on his own men while the humans withdrew, the few captives had no information...and why would they, as peasants they weren't exactly well placed to know anything. He gritted his teeth in anger and hated that thought, one peasant had been, but she'd died before he could get anything from her. That frustrating defeat taunted him still.

Still, his soldiers DID occupy those places for now. Reports filtered in that adventurers from the Sorcerous Kingdom had been seen providing scouting support, but as yet none had been captured. It was as if they were all 'avoiding' a real fight and just 'giving' him territory and making him pay a small price along the way for expanding his zone of control. Still, it made the other nobles happy.

What really had him angry though were the reports of the raids on his own villages and towns, Black Justice fighters had captured numerous supplies and then simply abandoned the area, it didn't make any sense? How did they plan to win? It did hurt his supply lines, he found himself having to take a disturbing amount from the supplies in Hoburns to keep his armies marching, but they were pinpricks.

That was what he was thinking when the messenger burst in "Sire! the city of Kasaga has fallen and an army of Cascan Loyalists are now occupying the city!" The man had wild eyes and a shocked expression on his face. Astraka's head snapped up from what he was writing.

"What?!" He shouted, "How?!"

"Sire, the army that was raiding supplies, they...well we don't have the full details yet, but it seems they used the undead to break down the iron portcullis, and then mounted the walls with some kind of...I don't know, magic ladders that couldn't be pushed off, they swarmed over it, defeated the garrison and...sir, Braunin is dead, killed by the commander of Black Justice in a duel." The messenger's hand shook, he was sweating, breathing hard, he'd obviously come a long way to bear the news.

"Braunin was an exceptional warrior, a master of heavy weapons, especially that hammer of his, who killed him, who was their commander?" He asked. "Was it Neia Baraja?" Astraka asked, the terrifying woman's face filling his memory.

"No sire, it was her right hand, Skana." The messenger said.

"Well then there is only one question isn't there...how many men will it take to take Kasaga back, and cut off the right hand of Neia Baraja?" Astraka asked with a sadistic look on his face.

 _...Gustav's line of march..._

He now had fifteen thousand soldiers and ten thousand skeletons, nowhere near enough to face off against the might of the South, but his regular communications with Neia Baraja and from Kedyn and now Kasaga informed him more and more of his strategy to be, he sent his soldiers to sieze military supplies from hostile towns, and after the twelfth one to be taken without killing any citizens and accepting all surrenders, it was no routine for a highly undermanned garrison to simply yield and allow the military stores to be taken without any fighting. Peasant levies didn't much care for who ruled, and they didn't much care if one glory hungry fool wanted to die for a king who didn't even know his name.

Without risk to themselves, they were now increasingly well supplied, and he was sure that as King Astraka got more and more information about what was happening, the picture would form in his mind and he'd supply his forces with greater care and heavier guard. For now Gustav avoided pitched battle, he cut down scouts readily enough, but he kept his soldiers well away from any battle they couldn't easily win, and kept his eyes on the line of march that Remedios Custodio and her allies would use through the border.

It was no surprise then...when he saw them. Well, it should not have been a surprise, and perhaps it wasn't, but it was awe inspiring, he saw a line of soldiers stretched out for miles, that had to be Remedios...the Southern Nobles...and the Slane Theocracy all marching together, the invasion of the North had begun.

 _...Border of the Slane Theocracy..._

General Enri felt as nervous as the night she'd given up her innocence with her husband, that fumbling gentle learning experience she'd shared with him had been a beautiful one, she'd been terrified of doing something wrong, of screwing anything up, and in retrospect as she looked back on it, he must have felt the same, when the candle light alone had shown their nakedness to one another, it had been nerve racking but beautiful. Practice had indeed made perfect though, and his potion work had yielded some...wonderful results in that arena.

Now as then, she felt naked, but this was not beautiful, and she was fully clothed, she wore simple cloth armor, rich looking clothing, the sort of thing an empress might adorn herself with, but she was no empress and this was no ordinary clothing. She kept a hard look in her eyes to hide her nervousness at leading an army, this was a whole other kind of innocence that she was going to lose, and mistakes would not be awkward, they would be lethal.

Her clothing was heavily enchanted against an array of magical attacks and physical ones alike, her liege had given her the finest equipment anyone could possibly ask for to protect her, and when he'd spoken to her he said, "Stay safe."

It was a warm feeling, like a father sending his daughter off to school, and she treasured the words of her sovereign lord.

"Dear Sun," she said to the goblin strategest, "I haven't seen any of our scouts return for awhile, should I be concerned yet?" She asked.

He laughed the laugh of a creaky old man and stroked his long white beard and said, "No, not yet, for now we fortify our position, we must ready this place to hold our supplies, we will need them all for the invasion. But don't expect them to simply let us, we must defeat their first host here, for now it is enough that our scouts find them, and then we will know how to manipulate them, plus the Sorcerer King has instructed us to wait here until he calls, I understand he wants to speak with all the commanders before we take the offensive."

"I understand." She said, and held a determined look on her face and she tightened her grip on the reigns.

"Hard to believe I was ever a peasant." She said with a heavy sigh.

"Lord Ainz makes fools of kings and kings of peasants, nothing is what it seems, and everything is better once he has touched it, don't concern yourself with what you were, worry about what you can be, my dear general, and be the best you can be at it, and we'll be fine. You have one of the best armies the world has ever seen at your back, and I would not want to be in its way when the time comes." He said and finished with a hearty chuckle.

"I suppose you're right." She said, "I must trust that my lord knows what he is doing, after all, Lord Ainz is never wrong." She said firmly.

 _...Near E-Rantel..._

General Nimble and Emperor Jircniv were only a few miles from the city, they'd passed through a dozen villages on the way, all of them bore considerable protection in the form of fine stone walls, most of the walls had soldiers on them, and not all of those soldiers were human, there were odd men who looked like goats, there were dwarves, there were minotaurs and even Zern, the standard undead were not lacking either, where...by standard, he meant legendary death knights, and skeleton labor was everywhere.

"We're almost to the city sire, we should be there tomorrow morning, but can I ask, now that we are almost there, what did you think of what you've seen?" Nimble asked.

"I think I've seen the future." Jircniv said simply. "We're looking at the world to come, and I am more than a little impressed. Children guarded by unbeatable undead guards, humans and demihumans working cooperatively, undead labor freeing up the peasants from backbreaking labor and short lives..." He sighed, "General Nimble, you've known me for a long time now...am I a good emperor?"

"The second best I've ever seen." He said truthfully.

Jircniv chuckled, "I like to think I measure up that highly. I value my people, I work hard for them, but I didn't realize how limited my view really was, slavery to me was just a means to an end, unpleasant but necessary, only to learn instead that I had facilitated horror without reason and it was holding my people back instead and depriving them all, slave and free alike, of the exploitation of their own talents, and how they could benefit each other. Yet seeing what was done by the Sorcerer King, its impossible not to feel like a second rate figure forgotten by history right after the funeral. All we can do is imitate him, and perhaps that is wisdom enough. What is your opinion General Nimble?"

Nimble looked away from the emperor, straight ahead down the long road, mail carriers rode past on undead horses pulling carts of boxes and letters, villages which had once been their own self contained little worlds, were now all tied together, and in turn tied to the capitol. A group of adventurers rode past, five of them, two women and three men, they wore iron plates but had equipment on that would have once upon a time required at least mythril rank to purchase. By the side of the road there was a dwarf supervising a group of undead who were building a rest area, unsurprisingly, there was a group of humans taking advantage of that by building inns and other supply stations to take advantage of travelers needs.

"I agree with sire. You remember, I was there on the Katze Plains, I saw what he did, he killed all those people...but...he actually said he wanted to exercise caution by not killing us, he thought about how that would impact you, he doesn't seem to feel guilt or remorse, but at the same time he also doesn't seem to desire to hurt anyone either, I can't help but think that if he hadn't been asked to use that spell, he would have used a less lethal one...not that I fault you sire...nobody knew...nobody could know just what he was capable of at the time. But when I look around at what he does when he does not have to strike down opposition...I wonder why anybody would ever get in his way? It would be like a starving man pleading for food, beating away the invitation for a banquet because of some pointless aversion to the host. At the end of the day...I think we're going to make the world better than we found it by following him, and if I live my life doing that, well its been a life worth living."

Jircniv slapped him on the back, a rare familiar gesture. "Well said General Nimble, I'm going to miss you when you retire."

 _...Mountains of the Dwarves..._

General Zaryusu missed his lake, but he had to admit that the view was breathtaking. He stood watch as they gathered their forces and secured the entrances around more of the mountain passes, but more than that he had his quagoa forces and his dwarven forces both within his army and from within the city, digging steadily, with their abilities that was childs' play, and as they hauled out stone he increased his fortifications, the frost giants he had at his command were able to haul enormous amounts of rubble away from the work site, and the underground tunnels were steadily progressing. Soon not only would the best paths become impassable, but on the order of his master, he could invade Re-Estize at will anywhere along the East.

 _...Re-Estize Kingdom..._

Philip felt great, the treasure seized from all those stupid Argland merchants had been more valuable than his entire estate, and it served them right for not giving deals to HIM that they were going to give to the Sorcerer King. What's more, he was able to initiatie skirmishes everywhere thanks to the overreach of King Zanac, it had angered all the nobles, and when Philip had begun to rebel with his outright refusal and then escalated to violent resistance, others flocked to him, skirmishes became battles, and everywhere he went, victory followed, the royal faction wasn't even trying to fight.

For fools, that was mighty smart, after all he was King Philip, no woman did not want him, no noble did not envy him, and no crown could be denied him, he was a military genius, and he was destined to carve his name into the rock of history forever. He grinned at the thought of all his greatness, and called for his favorite courtesan, the one Hilma provided was very good about providing him with the release he needed, he needed her only for a minute, plus, she hung on his every word all night long, and she always left when he told her to, what more could he ask for out of a woman?

 _...Draconic Kingdom..._

Queen Draudillon did not waste any time in any of her tasks, and nor did Vermillion, a list of candidates was drawn up and their character was thoroughly investigated, most of them were scratched off, but there were a few worthwhile, with those few they were sure of, they began to write letters of summons and to write out letters of appointment to hand to them and award them titles of nobility for their replacements.

Similarly, the day after the Sorcerer King's departure...and that fury he'd allowed to tear apart Lancoptra, she'd responded by sending out entire companies of soldiers to seize the grounds and properties of nobles, those who resisted were immediately arrested, a few were killed during the process, but most fell without a fight, the great purging of the nobility was underway.

There had been a few guards hesitant to obey the command to target the nobility, and to make her point she walked them to the courtyard, the meaty chunks of the deceased had remained, as did the body of Lancoptra.

As they gawked at the gory sight, she turned to them and explained the new reality.

She pointed to Lancoptra's corpse. "That was Lancoptra, you know of him by reputation I assume?" A round of nods, all of them unpleasant, greeted her question.

"Yesterday the Sorcerer King visited, he brought with him a fury, a demon of revenge, she picked Lancoptra up, took him into the air, and ripped him apart, and dropped him where he is now. She had quite a beautiful laugh...but left here covered in blood. Those other 'stains' that you see in the depressions in the stone...are other nobles, those were killed by the Sorcerer King, he killed them with the pressure of his power alone, now they're just meaty mush. The reason all of these are dead is because they played a personal hand in stealing from one of his servants, robbing her of a reward for service she rendered to him while acting on our behalf against the beastmen. He's promised to revisit this kingdom again if the corruption remains."

"I do not want him to come back for that purpose. Unless you wish to go and oppose his will, you will obey my order, we purge the nobles, and we build an entirely new system on the ashes of the old. Understood?" She asked.

There were no questions, and they went out to do what...in the corner of their minds, most of them wanted to do anyway.

 **AN: Reviews feed my hunger, do not let me starve. :) Also... Per a fan request, I've created a Discord server: : / / . g g / y**


	58. The Gathering of the Storm

_...Argland Council..._

"Civil war? So that's the game." The Platinum Dragon Lord said in a low voice.

"Yes, it seems that someone named Philip has raised up most of the nobles behind him in rebellion, he may seem like an idiot, but he has someone backing him and he's eating up Royalist territory like you do cattle." The Worm Dragon Lord replied.

"So we're essentially being 'plundered' is that right?" The Platinum Dragon Lord asked.

"That is about the size of it, those first few weeks were...well just the 'excuse', it seems to me that the nobles following Philip started doing these things on their own estates just to get the crown involved, then when the crown tried to stop them, Philip used the interference with their independence as a justification for civil war, now none of our merchants can get through to the Sorcerer King, making our friendly offer essentially moot." The Obsidian Dragon Lord replied.

"Well, then lets mass our armies along the border with Re-Estize, and see how this 'Philip' responds to that, also, lets send a letter to the Sorcerer King advising him of our actions and our reasons, we don't want to send the wrong impression while trying to send the right one, and we definitely don't want it thought that we're denying him resources for his war as a punitive measure either." The Platinum Dragon Lord suggested with a shudder of discomfort at the latter thought, a shudder the Obsidian Dragon Lord shared, and that the two visitors to his country shared the same reaction at the thought of angering the Sorcerer King, was not lost on the remainder.

 _...Kasaga..._

Braunin's funeral was treated as a sort of 'affair of state' with his entire unit granted special parole to attend his being laid to rest, allowed free on the condition of their return to 'secure holding' afterwards. It was fair to say that her generous behavior towards the defeated warriors did much for Skana's reputation, tempering her public image as more than simply a fierce warrior, but one of considerable compassion for worthy foes, and building up further her reputation for mercy to the defeated. Braunin as she found out, was a popular figure in the city, and many of its citizens were in attendance, the priests of the old gods blessed his body as it was laid to rest for the final time, and one by one those who knew him best, spoke of him in good terms.

Skana, for her part, chose to take position before the crowd as well, this drew a...mixed reaction, but the most overwhelming emotion was curiosity, it was not every day that a man's killer spoke at his funeral. "I am Skana, I took the life of the noble Braunin Takos." Silence greeted her statement. "I knew him only long enough to kill him, but even in that brief time, that was enough to show me the character of a man who the world was better off for having. He had honor, he had courage, and he put his life on the line for those who followed him, and he fought for what he believed. What he believed and what I believed forced us to be enemies, but in another life, another world, another place where things had been different, I would have been proud to call him friend, and to call him brother, and I envy those who got the chance to do so. May he rest in peace, now I ask that all who stand here, bow their heads in a moment of silence, for ALL the honored dead, no matter their faith, and then please feel free to stay to give condolences to his surviving family, his father, Amran Takos."

When the funeral ended, Skana left, the soldiers of the defeated force seemed intent on keeping their pledge of parole, and that freed her up to tend to the matter of Kasaga's administration, it wasn't the sort of thing she would have imagined for herself ten or fifteen years earlier when she was a child but...so it goes. The city's official governor proved to be a nervous but amiable fellow who seemed to care more that the city was well managed, than who managed the city, and for all his handwringing initially, the continued enforcement of prohibitions against plunder and the requirement that even Black Justice soldiers pay for their beer, seemed to make life manageable for everyone.

Still as she sat in the 'occupied' office with the former governor in the 'guest seat' she found every reason to be hopeful, the governor on the other hand, was wringing his hands again.

"Ahhh...governor Skana...general Skana...when your replacements arrive...will your policies about plunder and purchasing and so on remain in place? Or...should I be concerned?" He asked.

Skana folded her arms on the desk and said, "Governor Nanka...for the third time, we will adhere to the standards laid out in the Draconic Accords, no matter who is in charge, and if anyone who is put in command should violate them, you have only to complain to Neia Baraja, or you can just write to me, and you can wager your life that retribution against such a violation will be swift, permanent, and public."

"Yes but...what if the other nations violate those accords, does that not void them?" he asked, still wringing his hands, his somewhat nasal voice was annoying, but...she considered her annoyance a defect of her own, after all his office was modest, his home was what you'd expect of a public servant of high office, nice but not extravagant, and the people were well fed and generally content, so her opinion of him personally was good...he just annoyed the ever loving crap out of her.

She pinched the bridge of her nose and exhaled tiredly, "Governor Nanka...even IF they do that, our faith remains unchanged, those rules of war are there because other rulers are NOT like us, need I remind you that WE are the side who proposed these measures? I assure you, we are not going to turn this into a city of the dead or anything else."

"But Wenmark..." He began to say and Skana looked at him with anger, "I was at Wenmark, you did not see what I saw, the horror, the torture, the abuse...THAT was a city of evil like no other I can imagine in this world..." her tone calmed somewhat and she sighed again, "this place is not. You have been fair to your people and even your prisoners do not starve, we took this city because of war, not malice, and Wenmark was destroyed because it had to be, there was no saving such evil from the consequences of their choices. Now...do you have anything else, when the new unit arrives I want to be ready to receive them."

"Ahhh...no...that will be all." He said, then stood, bowed, and exited, making a mental note that she seemed to think that she'd be getting relieved soon, and he rushed home to pass that information on to those who would make use of it.

 _...Prart..._

Neia was bored. She supposed that was a good thing, excitement without Skana could only mean danger, no fun at all. Her aptitude for war had grown considerably, but just as practice makes perfect, familiarity breeds contempt, and her fondness for war had not grown in the least. The stupidity, the waste, the tragedy, she hated it all. Sometimes wounded would filter in, those who survived a fight with skirmishers from Hoburns, sometimes villagers whose lands had been siezed by Astrakian Loyalists, the good thing was...the undead kept showing up too. Farmers who had warning about what was coming didn't have to sacrifice their undead labor, instead they brought it with them, and in addition to their twenty five thousand living soldiers, they had an increasing number of undead soldiers, already in the thousands, and these did not require living space, they could be stored until needed, and there were now warehouses full of them, while others were put to use around the city aiding with the preparation for the inevitable siege.

Services at the temple were kept available around the clock and priests tended everything from counseling others on their fear to treating the injured who were hurt on a construction project. They now had mangonels ready to use and the walls were constantly fully manned and scouts were always patrolling on undead horses.

That evening when she was finished, she leaned back in her chair and let her arms fall at her side in exhaustion.

"So much work..." She said... "But Prart will not fall again."

Just as she was dozing off...CZ entered the room and said, "Its time to go. Lord Ainz requires your presence." Neia was on her feet almost before the gate opened.

 _...Hoburns..._

Astraka was not a man to waste time, and he was not a coward. When word came of Kasaga's fall, he had the next two divisions that he had intended to send east, and instead sent them south, twenty thousand soldiers, and he went with them. His banner flapping in the wind, his soldiers armor gleaming, their spears reflecting the light of the dawn, and he knew he cut a dashing figure on his warhorse, waving to his not very loyal subjects in the capitol.

He felt good riding out. And that good feeling lasted for all of one hour after exiting the gate. It stopped feeling good because a hundred skeletons came over a small hill and charged at his entire formation. It seemed...utterly absurd that this should be the case, a hundred skeletons might slaughter a village, but against twenty thousand well trained soldiers, that was a flea bite. The formation halted, crushed the attack, scouts were dispatched to chase after whoever was responsible, but other than hoof prints leading into the woods, nothing could be found.

Twenty minutes later it happened again.

Twenty minutes later it happened again.

A half an hour later it happened again.

Forty five minutes later it happened again.

Every single time it happened, the entire formation had to stop and deal with it, and it became tiring, few people were hurt, though it did happen, he had priests on hand to deal with the injuries. His formation had to slow to a crawl.

Stopping a formation took long enough, starting it up again was tice as bad, and every time it happened, well a little mana had to be expended on the wounded. It took six hours to move the distance that should have taken one hour.

It was the seventh hour when he realized that was the point, but it couldn't be helped, it continued until the twelfth hour when he ordered camp established. That night...one thousand skeletons attacked the camp and woke up all of those who slept and forced them into combat. Defeating such a small force was easy enough, but when two hours later another hundred attacked, it seemed to be just to make noise...and in that it was successful, few were dead and few were injured, even when there were a thousand such skeletons...but exhaustion creeped in to their bones, and little sleep was had.

The next morning, they found a dozen sentries dead at their posts, killed by arrows through the throat or the eyes, or with their throats slit and their weapons and any supplies on them taken.

While they were preparing to leave, another hundred skeletons attacked the camp.

It was then that King Astraka realized that the walk to Kasaga was going to be a walk through a living hell.

 _...Gustav's line of march..._

He kept a careful count. The number abreast, the number of ranks per banner, the types of soldiers, what they wore, how they were armed, per the instructions he'd been given, he gathered every detail he could about them and wrote it all down...it took the better part of the day before the invasion force had passed him by, and when it had, he made copies of his report and sent it South to Kedyn, their direction was North along the coast, that put Prart on their line of march...Neia was in Prart...and Neia did not have enough soldiers.

"Shit." he said, as his reports went out to everyone who needed them.

No sooner however, had he dispatched the last of the reports on undead mounts, than a gate opened and something wholly unexpected happened, a pretty maid with long blonde hair emerged from it and said, "The Sorcerer King, Ainz Ooal Gown, with Queen Calca, has called you to a meeting. Please, come with me."

It was with a heavy swallowing motion that he handed temporary command to his second, and stepped through the gate.

 _...Border of the Slane Theocracy..._

Building the encampment took two days, General Enri had wasted absolutely no effort on it, their undead laborers built supply stores of wooden walls with a cheap metal interior to make them appear vulnerable to fire when they were not, she had latrine pits dug at precise intervals to ensure no disease would spread into any water supplies, she had double rows of walls established, with the larger one before the interior to create a deceptive appearance in the event of an attack, and she dug deep pits laid with spikes on either side to make for a brutal killing ground. It was shocking to her how quickly and easily she came up with and implemented things to end lives.

"What if we laid spikes down within these pits, we can smear them with excrement and make for a really lethal surprise?" She'd said, and her hard eyed stare had caught her friends as much by surprise as the suggestion itself. She wondered if it was a good thing that she could do that...or not? Beyond those were arrow positions where shielded soldiers could strike at anyone who took the wall, laid at an angle so that they would the right side of a soldier, since most carried their shields in their left hand, it was brutal down to the last detail.

Between the ogres, the undead, and her many other military resources, they now had what appeared to be a nearly unassailable encampment as a link in their supply chain.

It was a well timed completion, because on the third day, the Sorcerer King called her to a meeting, and a gate opened in front of her.

 _...E-Rantel..._

General Nimble and Emperor Jircniv rode in to E-Rantel with great fanfare, and General Rockbruise was waiting for them on...an undead horse. The streets had been cleared to allow the soldiers to pass, though the peasants and citizens of all classes lined the streets, this was no mere parade. Leinas rendered a prompt and genuine salute, and cracked a smile at them both from her clear face.

"Emperor Jircniv, General Nimble, please follow me, I will escort your forces to the staging grounds and they can get some rest, then we should adjourn to the governor's manor." Leinas said politely.

The march was quick, and the soldiers acted in unison as they moved, it was a well oiled machine that snaked its way along the broad roads of E-Rantel, the former military staging point for Re-Estize, now staging point for the Sorcerous Kingdom.

When they arrived, General Nimble called forth his commanders and filtered down their orders, pay first, then two days recreation before next assembly, no departing the city beyond the range of a bow shot.

Afterwards, the three of them rode in amiable silence to the manor, dismounted at the gate, leaving their horses in the care of a stable hand, and walked in to a simple office, and General Rockbruise took a seat behind her desk, while General Nimble & Emperor Jircniv took equally comfortable seats opposite her.

"First...its good to see both of you again." General Rockbruise said with a genuine smile.

"It is, I'm truly glad you've been doing well in my lord's service." Jircniv replied.

"I admit, I've missed your company." Nimble added.

"OK, pleasantries accomplished, now down to business," she said, "You probably noticed that there weren't many other soldiers in the city, right?" He asked.

"Yes..." Jircniv replied.

Leinas sighed, "Do you know why?"

Nimble & Jircniv looked at one another, "No." They said together.

"One of the Sorcerer King's servants, a personal attendant during his expedition to the Beastman Kingdom...went missing while in the care of Queen Draudillon." She said brusquely.

The two men's eyes went wider. "So...when is her funeral?" Jircniv asked.

"Oh she's very much alive, but the Sorcerer King was infuriated, he had everyone move out in advance, General Enri is probably already on the border of the Slane Theocracy, we've shipped mountains of weapons to Prart, and I'm only here until after a meeting with the Sorcerer King, then I'm going to the Abellion Hills. I was there briefly already meeting with their chiefs and seeing to the gathering, I came back only to welcome you, attend a joint command meeting, and then I'm being sent back there again." She said, a serious expression clouding her face.

"So...what happened to the servant?" Jircniv asked.

"I wasn't given all the details, but when I followed up, I was told she was tortured and abused until she killed herself to end the pain and to keep from betraying our shared master...or just to end the pain, nobody knows for sure yet." Leinas said gravely.

"He...could not have been pleased about that." General Nimble said, displaying his unrivaled ability to engage in understatement.

"They're probably only alive because she was found in a river, and could have floated there from anywhere, and she doesn't remember anything from after the time with Queen Draudillon except for being in extreme pain." Leinas said.

"So...why are you telling us this?" Jircniv asked.

"Because nothing stays hidden from his majesty for long, and when it is discovered who it is, if it is one of the rival nations in this conflict, this war is going to become the stuff of the nightmares of demons. His majesty is very protective of his servants, you know that, so we have to be aware that this ordered process of conflict may turn on a dime and become far...far worse very, very quickly." She said softly.

It was at that moment that a gate opened, and a pretty girl in a formal dress stepped out and said, "Lord Ainz wishes to see you all now. Please follow me." She said with a very sweet smile that revealed very sharp vampire fangs.

They were only a half step behind her when she entered the gate.

 _...Mountains of the Dwarves..._

The tunnels were finished, the walls were impregnable, they could now surprise, outflank, surround, and destroy any force they encountered as it tried to enter the passes, but that was not enough. Zaryusu knew all to well how easy complacacy could destroy even the finest armies, and underestimating even an idiot could result in yourself playing the fool.

So he began to dispatch scouts, a few lizardmen, toadmen, and others who were tasked with watching afar, and given a means to give long range signals that would warn them of any advance.

How is master knew Re-Estize was a threat was impossible to guess, but a threat he saw so as far as General Zaryusu was concerned, a threat it was. What he observed though, was that Re-Estize seemed to be chiefly a threat to Re-Estize, scouts reported Argland council trade caravans being surrounded and captured, and then reported humans fighting humans, and small skirmishes erupted into full fledged rebellion, human armies had started to move...against other humans, and one side was clearly outdoing the other, which seemed to flee without even a struggle worth mentioning.

It was such a difficult thing to grasp that Zaryusu descended from his position and shadowed an army, there at the head of it was a human that defined the term 'unimpressive', though the same was not necessarily true of his army. He stayed to watch as the idiotic looking fellow pulled out a horn and blew it, a very off key, very sour note emerged that was definitely not the impressive sound he was going for, and the fellow shouted, "For King Philip! Charge!" and he they rode against an estate that was already all but abandoned.

General Zaryusu might have remained longer, but it was then that a dark haired maid emerged from a gate and said, "Lord Ainz requires your presence, please follow me."

Zaryusu did not hesitate to walk through the gate.

 _...Re-Estize Kingdom..._

Philip couldn't stop laughing, the Count that had tormented his family was fleeing, his servants were gone, the army had melted away, Philip's brilliant strategy of attacking straight on to break their morale had worked like a charm, they hadn't even tried to fight, Philip sent his heavy cavalry chasing after their mounted archers, but those idiots hadn't caught anyone, stupid, the heavy ones should be better at this, they must have been weak, everybody was so weak and stupid next to himself. He gave a heavy sigh, and his favorite courtesan slipped up behind him, she wrapped her slender arms around what he thought of as his massive muscled chest, and leaned in, whispering into his ear.

"Oh...my fierce dragon of Re-Estize, how brave you were, how wise of you to stay in the rear to control your army, and how cunning it was of you to say nothing while they maneuvered, you are such a man...such a king...you are greater than a god..." Her tongue teased at his ear as her fingers found their way into his shirt.

"But what can top such genius now...how can you outdo what you've done today...I can't bear to wait to find out..." She squirmed and pressed her body against his..."I...I can't contain my excitement till tomorrow..." She looked at him with hunger in her eyes and Philip gave a heady grin.

"Tomorrow we make for the capitol, we're going to finish of the royal family, with any luck we'll catch these ones away from their stronghold too, I think we can attack best straight from the road, the gate can't be that strong, so we should have no problem once we get there with finishing off whatever feeble resistance they can muster." He grinned, "Now, come to bed, I'm going to please you all night tonight."

She grinned wickedly as they went to the bed he had brought along for his use, and they fell in it together.

A minute and a half later she was praising his performance and encouraging him to rest for tomorrow. When she was sure he was sleeping, she crept out of bed, scrawled what she could recall of what he said onto a note, and slid it into a music box her mistress had given her. How it worked...she had no idea, but whatever she inserted, her mistress would receive. She rolled her eyes, the only redeeming quality that this idiot Philip had was that she only had to pretend to enjoy him for a minute or two per day. But...eyes on the prize...the reward for success here was wealth beyond her wildest dreams, and a minute or two of annoyance with an incompetent was a small price to pay for that.

 _...Draconic Kingdom..._

Raising soldiers was fairly easy, having plundered the estates of the corrupt nobles, she had ample reserves of wealth, and to that end she began recruiting soldiers in great numbers, within two weeks she had the twenty thousand spears the Sorcerer King demanded, within another week they were well into their training, they would not be great soldiers anytime soon, but she was sure she had at least some time before the new front had to be opened.

The remaining noble estates were divided up among a more merit based crowd, and she included new rules with them. No more than twenty armed men per house, no more private armies. She imposed legal restrictions on the means by which they could profit, and much of the stolen wealth was distributed back to those it had been essentially stolen from...that would take time...but it had begun at the least. The estates were then reduced accordingly, and trials were underway for those nobles who had been charged with administering the Draconic Kingdom's affairs, and several had already been found guilty of severe corruption...and they were being sent to the Sorcerous Kingdom, for some kind of farm work. Demoting them to peasant status seemed...fairly light, but she was in no position to argue.

Still, things were looking up, even with that oddly light punishment, that was what she thought when she was alone in her room...and a gate opened, and through it stepped a familiar face, the fury. "Vanysa?" Queen Draudillon asked nervously, "Ahhhh, you're not being sent to punish me...are you? I am trying to get things in order, truly."

Vanysa shook her head, "Nah, ah come ta getcha, thers this meetin is majesty wants ta have, an yer part of it, m'kay?" She smiled her sweet smile that somehow looked insane and dangerous.

"OK...ahhh...lets go?" She said softly, uncertainly, and Vanysa stepped through the gate, with Queen Draudillon following close behind.

 **AN: Well another double release day, if a little later than I'd planned, but here you go, enjoy it...you slave drivers. :)**

 **The ' d' server is up if you want to join it.**

 **Tomorrow is the last release day (I think...I have to check, might be one more day) but if you want to work me like a sled dog some more, well donations to bdgiving dot org will do it. 'lol'**

 **Till tomorrow, enjoy and leave reviews! :)**


	59. General Assembly

_...Argland Council..._

The letter to the Sorcerer King was delivered by one of the council members personally the Wyrm Dragon Lord, and when he returned, he was the third dragon lord to tremble at what he saw within the realm of the Sorcerer King, unlike the others, he saw Nazarick itself, and when the council was gathered once again, he did what none of them ever had.

He knelt. Their jaws dropped in shock at what he was doing. No Dragon had ever bent a knee, most had preferred to die and keep their pride, or at least flee and plot revenge when it came to facing the monstrous ones of old.

Dragons...did not...kneel. Not until now.

"Are you...what are you doing?" The Platinum Dragon Lord asked.

"I am showing you all what we should do, if we want our people to survive, if we want ourselves to survive." The wyrm Dragon Lord replied.

That drew stares.

"You all heard what he said about there being 'eleven tiers of magic' ten tiers, and one super version of the highest one...but I...I SAW IT!"

"What did you see?!" The Diamond Dragon Lord asked, or more...demanded to know.

"Brothers of the council, I went to E-Rantel, but he was not there, there was a meeting, I was told, so...I was invited to visit, a few moments later, the gate to his realm opened, there the Sorcerer King was telling a story, a story of a battle over his home, and he called up some devide, and he showed a replay of a great siege of his home...I saw a battle of the GODS! True gods! Not merely powerful monsters, the world itself shifted, reality was their play thing, the laws of nature were broken down into bits and swallowed hole, I saw stars fall and strike enemies who did not die, I saw the ground open up and swallow monsters the size of mountains that we reside in, I saw verdent fields become deserts and armies simply disappear as if they were not there, swallowed by a void that seemed to exist only to serve the will of those who called upon it! And those gods...there must have been over a thousand of them...they DIED! I saw it all! I saw the past itself! And the Sorcerer King...he was laughing! I saw him there, drawing on magic that made life itself his plaything, dragons submitted or were torn apart, he and the other forty...and some of the servants we have seen with him or heard about. The way he spoke...he and his friends HUNTED GODS FOR FUN!"

The Wyrm Dragon Lord was still shaking has he spoke, there was a panic and a terror in his voice that they had not heard before, but no one called him a coward, they knew he was not that.

The rest of them had a hard time processing this. "Could it have been a trick, an illusion?" The Diamond Dragon Lord asked.

The Wyrm Dragon Lord looked pensive for a moment, "I cannot entirely eliminate that possibility, but the way he spoke, the wistfulness in his voice, the longing, the sadness, the people beside him in that battle, he loved them very much I think, if he was lying, if that was all illusion, it was good enough to deceive me, and if that were the case, then he's so skilled a deceiver that we're already undone. He could not have known of my coming, so it was pure chance that he was telling that story on my arrival, and that I arrived when I did...so I do not believe it to be illusory."

The Platinum Dragon Lord spoke slowly and deliberately, "After what I saw in E-Rantel...I am disinclined to doubt what you saw in his sanctuary." He looked over to the Obsidian Dragon Lord. "What about you?"

The Obsidian Dragon Lord shook his head. "No, I'm not inclined to doubt it either. But given all that, the more important question is...what was his response to our letter?"

The other four great dragon lords turned back to the wyrm Dragon Lord with intense gazes, the question had just become that much more important than it had been before.

"Favorable." He said, and there were sighs of relief.

"He has promised that the trade routes will be opened up again soon and everything lost will be restored to us, he has further said that he will remember our friendly status when the war is over, and he has asked that we hold our army at the border until he has 'made his move'." The wyrm Dragon Lord replied.

They looked around at each other as the wyrm Dragon Lord stood. "He has a game at play in Re-Estize, he must, and he does not want to risk a random element such as our punitive invasion." The Platinum Dragon Lord said. "I vote we abide by his wishes, no sense in wasting the good will we've bought ourselves. Objections?" He asked.

There were none.

 _Previously...in Nazarick..._

Skana received her summons late in the evening, and barely had time to dress herself before the insect looking maid walked through the gate and lead her in to Nazarick. She found herself in an enormous room, there were forty one chairs set around a round table. She, being the last to arrive, took stock of what there was...

The table was smooth and ornate, simple however, though it seemed to be shaped from a single block of stone, its light coloration matched the walls, and the whole room seemed opened up wide, the chairs had a golden tint and were lined with a soft luxurious looking fabric, she bowed deeply to the Sorcerer King, and looked around at the other attendees.

Ainz it appeared, was just telling a story, and at the center of the table she saw the story he was telling, play out, it was an attack on his home, and though his eyes were always those terrifying red orbs, this time they seemed to dance, his mood was happy, he was recalling something joyful. Skana paled as she saw that what he was recounting was a battle at the gates of Nazarick itself, and she saw the powers of gods unleashed...and be crushed by Ainz and...forty others, plus several denizens of Nazarick she recognized, most especially CZ. A gate opened behind her, and she looked over her shoulder to see the Wyrm Dragon Lord. Ainz nodded in acknowledgement, but did not stop the story, nor did he stop the replay of the past battle, and Skana began to understand what Neia truly meant.

Skana had seen the Sorcerer King's power before and it was tremendous...but this...this was on a whole other level, he bent nature itself to his will, or broke it when it would not bend, stars followed his commands and came to the world to burn his enemies. If he was not a god...then there were no gods. Her heart beat swiftly in her chest as she imagined the madness of standing against such a being, at the end of the story he told about how much he enjoyed hunting such beings...beings that had the powers of gods themselves.

"...You're a god hunter...a god of gods..." Skana said softly. Her voice carried to every ear in the room. "God hunter...Ainz Ooal Gown." A demonic looking female said in a perky voice from along the wall. "Is got'a nice ring to it it does...an if it ain't tha truth, ah don't know what is." She said with a toothy...very sharp looking smile.

Ainz laughed and shut off the viewer and he gestured to a seat, it was next to Neia Baraja, and Skana smiled gratefully, Neia stood briefly to embrace her, and they sat next to one another. The Wyrm Dragon Lord was similarly offered a seat.

"I'm sure I know why you've come," Ainz said, "And though you are not party to the war officially, I offer my trust to your nation that you have no ill intentions towards my own, and to prevent any confusion, I invite you to remain to know my mind."

The Dragon Lord took a seat in quiet courtesy.

Neia looked around...

There was Princess Renner, she looked radiant and had a sweet smile on her face.

Beside her was King Zanac, who...though he looked less than happy, was attentive and polite.

There was Skana, victorious over Kasaga, and the love of her life...she was building quite a reputation.

There was the Wyrm Dragon Lord...who looked very nervous, something she didn't know dragons could feel, but could not fault him for now.

There was General Enri, the former village girl turned military and civil leader over the fastest growing city in the world, she had a hard and determined look to her eyes. Neia felt herself mentally nodding in approval.

There was General Zaryusu, a lizardman of some reputation in E-Rantel and a former enemy of her god. The very notion of anyone being his enemy had her a bit sour on him, but...if her god approved and forgave...it was not for her to distrust him

There were Emperor Jircniv and General Nimble, the first to yield to her god and the first to reap the benefits of doing so. They appeared very relaxed, the long association with the Sorcerer King that the Emperor held gave them a closer working relationship than most of the others, who saw him only intermittently.

Next to them was Gustav Montagne, the man looked determined, but a sadness haunted his eys, as if he were a man who already considered himself not long for the world.

Beside him sat Queen Draudillon, Neia knew little of the woman, but she had a stubborn look on her face, like someone who had run into trouble but was not about to quit just yet.

Beside her sat General Rockbruise, a woman Neia knew had been blessed by Lord Ainz himself, he had seen fit to have her cured and in exchange, she was his loyal servant, she had a fanatical zeal in her eyes, and there was only one will to which that could be turned. It was...admirable.

Two seats were taken up by Lakyus and Evileye of Blue Rose, odd to have adventurers present...but that might be explicable by who sat next to Evileye.

Next to Evileye sat the adventurer Momon, a towering presence of considerable reputation, Neia assumed he was there to speak for the other adventurers.

There was Queen Calca, she sat next to where the Sorcerer King stood.

Along the wall stood an array of curious looking maids, when Neia had entered with CZ, rather than remain with her, she had quietly taken her place along the wall as if she knew what was expected of her. There was a familiar looking demon woman rocking back and forth on her heels and looking for all the world like she was out at a park and not at an assembly of the powerful.

Centered by the door stood the ones she knew of as Albedo & Demiurge, cunning beings that they were, they were not to be underestimated, too, they had accepted her...after a painful test where she had to try to end her life, as they would have had their lord commanded it. She'd passed their test and they'd been kind to her since.

Directly behind Ainz Ooal Gown though, stood a figure Neia did not know. A woman who was waring a long red dres sand a flowing wide sleeved garment over her torso, she exuded power, and had a lovely pale face with eyes the color of cherry blossoms.

As Neia looked around the table she marveled at what she saw.

In awe and reverence she thought... 'All the greatest powers of the world stand here, legendary warriors, great emperors and rulers, generals of extraordinary reputation for sagacity...yet for all of that...were any stranger to appear, from anywhere in the world...nobody would need to ask who commands here..." She stared in admiration at the Sorcerer King, god hunter, ruler of death, giver of life, shaper of the fate of the world, the only one she had ever seen that was worth dying in service to.

Ainz stood before them all with wide open arms. "Thank you for coming." He said, "We've got a lot to go over." He clapped his hands, "Maids, attend my guests, provide them with our second best wine."

That drew curious looks for its odd specification.

Ainz chuckled, "The best wine should be reserved for the end of the war, so please, look forward to it."

That drew some enthusiastic laughs in return, and the maids began distributing ornate goblets to the guests, and one after another their cups were filled. Neia felt a little awkward having CZ serve her, but there was a tiny twinge on the maid demon's lips that told Neia that she did not mind in the least.

As this action was completed, Ainz raised up his cup and said, "A toast to peace, may it come swift and last forever."

"To peace." They raised their cups and drank deeply. The awe of the quality of wine was ever present, but to Jircniv that was never not the case, he was well used to being outperformed by now.

"Now, to business." Ainz said, and a map slowly faded into view in front of each chair. "As you depict your actions, simply slide your fingers over the area you refer to and reference the appropriate numbers, this will be duplicated on the maps of all others here, in this way you can easily follow along without misunderstanding."

The Wyrm Dragon Lord gasped in surprise at that, such a powerful system made for incredible command and control. He envied the Sorcerer King's military equipment.

"General Rockbruise, what is your current status in the Abelion Hills?" Ainz asked.

She stood and said, "Sire at last count I had ten thousand demihuman warriors, with an estimated five thousand more en route before I returned to E-Rantel, I estimate that will be insufficient to prevent myself from being out manuevered by the combined forces of the Elf Kingdom, the Slane Theocracy, and the Holy Kingdom, simply put, I can fight a delaying action, but I cannot hold the hills for long." She moved her fingers over the map, showing the known lines of march and the position of her forces.

"I can help with that." Neia said. "We have soldiers not far from Commonton, we can move Black Justice forces in the thousands into the west of the Abelion Hills and keep King Astraka off of you. I had planned on moving thoe soldiers further west to Prart, but if we can fend off those of his armies traveling east, with your support we can then move west again and threaten Hoburns, that would delay his attempt to besiege Prart."

"Agreeable." Ainz said, "Leinas after you have successfully defended your position, I want General Baraja to take control of both forces, and I'll need you to return to E-Rantel to administer it, that city is a crucial link in the supply chain, and General Nimble will badly need your ability behind him."

"To secure the Abelion Hills though, we must take offensive action, delay and distract, and to that end...I want to introduce you all to someone...special." Ainz said.

"This is Aureole Omega," he said, and she stepped out from behind him. "One of our created beings, she has within her all of the strategic knowledge of myself and my friends, and she specializes in command magic and skills, she will assist in the defense of the Abelion Hill region."

The woman bowed politely and spoke in a soft but authoritative voice, "Hello everyone, I look forward to working with you."

The Wyrm Dragon Lord was quietly praying to the gods he didn't have... "Please don't let him turn on us, please don't let him turn on us, please don't let him turn on us..." His every instinct screamed that there was great danger here, he felt like an ant caught on a leaf in a storm and clinging on for dear life in hopes that the storm would either not notice he was there...or spare him on a whim.

"Pleased to meet you." Leinas said, "I assume you already have something in mind?" She asked.

"Yes. We invade the Slane Theocracy." Her soft smile turned hard as steel as she laid out her intentions for the second demihuman invasion of a foreign land...

"Now, what of the Roble Holy Kingdom?" Ainz asked.

Neia spoke, "Sire we are concentrating on Prart as the linchpin of our position, it will draw the greatest danger from both the South and from Hoburns, particularly since I am stationed there. I know how eager King Astraka is to have my head, not to mention the Slane Theocracy...and of course most of all...Remedios Custodio. Since everybody knows I am there, they will come to kill me, if for no other reason than their personal hatred...and because they seem to think you have some small fondness for your servant." Neia said in a self depricating fashion and a wry smile.

Ainz chuckled, "Well they're right about that, but they'll require more than they have if they want to kill you, tell me Neia, how well do you ride?"

She looked puzzled. "Sire? I have ridden almost since I could walk."

"No General Baraja...how well do you think you can ride a dragon?" He asked, and silence surrounded the table.

"I...ah...well...I've never ridden one, but it will be as your majesty wills it." Neia said, stunned. The Wyrm Dragon Lord sat in surprise, proud as they were, dragons rarely ever acted as mounts for anyone under any conditions.

"There are several dragons under my command, they will be fighting also in this conflict, and I expect they'll make for a most unpleasant shock for our enemies." He said, a deep and noble laugh coming forth at the image that put into his mind. "We will go over the details later individually, simply be prepared for it when the time comes." He said. "Also, CZ will be returning with you when this is done."

"Now, Skana..." He said, looking over to her.

"Yes sire!" She said and stood up immediately to attention.

"You have one a fine victory in Kasaga, and you've done excellent work on the villages, continue with your ongoing strategy when you move out, and when will that be exactly?" Ainz asked.

"Ah, yes sire, thank you, at last report the commander and his four thousand soldiers will arrive at the city tomorrow."

"Very good." Ainz said, "Narbarel Gamma, you will go with Skana, assist her in all that she needs, and...wreak havoc, but exercise no magic beyond the fifth tier to do any harm to anyone."

"As you say my lord." She said, and moved away from the wall and stood behind Skana.

"General Enri, I've read the reports about your fortifications, you've done an excellent job establishing a secure position from which to maneuver and from which to strike, as far as supplies go, how much in the way of military supplies can you currently store there?"

She stood quickly as Skana reseated herself. "Sire we can hold enough food in that one location for thirty days as of right now, while we are prepared to expand our storage capacity at need, I don't want to stretch our lines to thin and expand the area we need to protect. We will forage on the Slane Theocracy when we cross over, and when we seize control of the nearest city, we'll seize whatever military supplies they have as well."

"Very wise General Enri, I see your time in Nazarick was not wasted, now tell me, what do you know of its defenses?" Ainz asked.

She shuffled through a set of papers, "Ikari city has a population of two hundred thousand, the city is defended by thirty thousand foot soldiers, five thousand cavalry, and an unknown number of magic casters, in addition, they can levy a part of the population as militia to further boost their strength, this by itself would be formidable, but our scouts report that an army has moved north with seventy thousand men under arms, if they combined forces, they would have an army that outnumbers ours by roughly thirty percent or as high as fifty percent depending on the size of the citizen levy."

"Will that be a problem General Enri?" Ainz asked, a minor hint of concern in his voice.

"No sire, between our ogres, volunteer prospective adventurers, human Black Justice converts and volunteers, our goblin army, dwarves, heteromorphs, other demihumans, and undead, our force of seventy five thousand will be sufficient. While I would not say no to a heavyweight to bring down the walls, and act as the tip of the spear, we are prepared to take the city with conventional warfare." She said in her customarily kind voice, one could be forgiven for forgetting that she was talking about the deaths of thousands.

"Aureole Omega, what would you suggest?" Ainz asked.

"Sire it is a truism of war that the worst thing to do is to attack walled cities, however this rule does not hold while we have people capable of tearing down walls with minimal effort, it is also true that it is typically a poor idea to fight against superior numbers...but the soldiers of General Enri tend to be superior in training, equipment, and ability, therefore on a fundamental level without any other measures, this fight is either equal...or considerably in her favor. Still I would choose to draw the enemy away from the city and fight the two halves apart from one another. To that end...this is what I would do..." She said and laid out a means of deception that was appallingly simple and cunning to the ears of the Wyrm Dragon Lord.

"Very good, General Enri." Ainz said.

"Thank you sire." She said and bowed, "I will begin to repay your kindness tomorrow." She then gracefully seated herself.

"Just to be sure, I know you have had Lupusregina Beta watching over your younger sister and the girl I brought, Kuuderika, however I will have her temporarily reassigned to join you in taking down the city when the time comes." Ainz said, and he gestured to where Enri sat.

Lupusregina stepped away from the wall and stood behind General Enri.

"You can find another to tend to the children for now, yes?" Ainz asked Lupusregina.

"Course sire. Within an hour." She said with a smile.

"Do it." He said.

"Yes sire." She replied.

"Now, General Zaryusu, what can you tell me?" Ainz asked.

The lizardman general went to his feet. "Sire we have secured the mountain passes, and have hidden the majority of our army within the dwarf ruled mountains, the Empire's western front is completely secure, in addition, we have had spies and scouts monitoring the situation in Re-Estize, if they sneeze in our direction, we know about it."

"Very good, but just to be sure you are beyond unbeatable...Shalltear, you will go with General Zaryusu, lend him your household to increase his knowledge of the land there, and as always, be prepared for anything." Ainz said.

"Of course Lord Ainz, if anyone should come within a hundred yards of our fortifications, I will kill them beautifully and without mercy." She said with a titter of malicious laughter. She in turn went to stand behind Zaryusu.

When he took his seat, Ainz looked over to General Nimble and the emperor.

"General Nimble, are you prepared to defend E-Rantel?" Ainz asked.

"Yes sire, though I believe our defenses can be improved by projecting additional fortifications outwards to slow down any advance, such positions are only meant to slow the enemy down. Tell me sire, do you believe an attack likely?" He asked the Sorcerer King.

"I consider it inevitable." Ainz replied.

"May I inquire why?" He asked politely.

"Because arrogance breeds overreach, when a person easily achieves a goal, has a record of success, they sometimes think themselves invincible, they do not stop even when achieving their original goal, instead they grow bold, greedy, they reach for what isn't theirs and become sloppy, unprepared for things that truly could challenge or overthrow them, they lose the ability to stop themselves, and run wild...then...they die. Few who live, live long enough to master their own impulses and discipline themselves to remaining within their goals. Many a great nation has fallen, by not knowing when to quit." Ainz said, a hint of mournfulness in his voice.

As the Wyrm Dragon Lord sat there, though the Sorcerer King was clearly answering Nimble...he felt the subtle gaze of the mighty undead and felt that the message was in reality...for him.

"I see sire, well my emperor has come to stake his life on the security of your capitol, so rest assured, if we fail, we have died, nothing else will stop us." General Nimble replied.

"Brave words, from many others I would doubt them, from you, I know them to be truth, thank you." Ainz said, and General Nimble bowed and seated himself, Emperor Jircniv nodded at his man in approval.

"King Zanac, Princess Renner, I know your nation's civil war is not faring well, so I must ask...how much longer can you last?" Ainz said 'sympathetically'.

King Zanac stood and said, "Sire if nothing changes, the royal family will control no more land in the Kingdom within one month. Are you prepared to lend us your strength?"

"As you know, I am currently embroiled in a war of my own, I would prefer not to open up another front against a neutral state, nor would I care to be seen as the invader of a friendly nation or make unnecessary enemies, however I can allow you all to flee over my border, I dislike massacre, and you will be safe from harm, it should be enough for the victor that they have the throne they sought." Ainz said kindly, "Your family will be safe from harm, unless this 'Philip' is an incredible fool." The various looks said they all knew he was, thanks to what had been told to them by the Sorcerer King, King Zanac, and Princess Renner.

Zanac though...wasn't surprised, his answer had been 'scripted' though he felt he came out a bit stilted and to willing to accept it, given the weight of the matter at hand, most had not thought overly critically about it, though he was fairly sure that some would recognize in retrospect, the role he and his sister had played in the Sorcerer King's goals.

Zanac bowed politely and seated himself.

"Now, Lakyus, I offered you a chance to come into my service, and I believe you wanted to speak further on that subject?" Ainz asked.

Lakyus stood and said, "I did sire, but before that..." she looked to Evileye, "sister, did you want to do it still?" Evileye nodded, stood, and removed her mask, and opened her blood red eyes.

It was a mute moment as people recognized the vampire in their midst.

While there were surprised looks from many figures familiar with the famous Evileye, for most...it just meant that information that had been disconnected...simply snapped into place. Moreover, given her reputation, it confirmed in their minds that there was something to the Sorcerer King's position on the variability of some undead and the ability to engage in interspecies cooperation. The real surprise however, came from Lakyus's answer.

"You gave my sister a future sire, a future that doesn't involve having to hide herself away and live life behind a mask of shame and fear of being abandoned, you gave her...truly...her sisters, because of what we saw, she felt ready to reveal herself, and we felt ready to accept her." As Lakyus spoke, she touched Evileye's shoulder, and then stepped back from the table and began to walk around it, passing delegate after delegate until she stood before the Sorcerer king. When she was within arms reach, she bent her knee and lowered her eyes. "For that alone, I bow to you as I never have to any monarch, and I am truly, forever grateful. But so long as I remain an adventurer of the Kingdom, I must follow the rules of our guild, and I cannot accept your offer, so I must also ask your forgiveness for my refusal. I will continue to act in accordance with the contract I have made with you, but I pray you do not ask me to break my oath to my guild."

The Wyrm Dragon Lord half expected her to die right then. No is not a word often used with powerful rulers, indeed there was not a person at the table or in the room now who had ever refused the will of the Sorcerer King, so every eye was on the pair, and part of Lakyus's being wondered, despite all that she had seen, was it possible that when his wishes were refused, that he was able to be as brutal a monarch as any other? Was this the moment she would perish?

Ainz let the silence hang for a moment, and then he touched her shoulder. "You may rise Lakyus, I accept your answer and your gratitude. You are free to do as you wish, and I will honor it, for so long as you remain a member of the adventurer's guild of Re-Estize, must keep to the oaths you made to it, I wouldn't have it any other way, after all, what would anyone make of the word of Blue Rose, if sacred oaths were tossed aside so lightly? Keep your oath, keep your position, and keep your contract. In the meantime, what can you tell me about the region around Kedyn?"

"Sire your faithful are now very numerous, but this has made them very vulnerable as well," Lakyus said as she rose and returned to her seat, "the South is moving quickly, and loyalists to the old gods are more numerous near the border, that will give them an advantage when it comes down to it, quite frankly without support, Kedyn will not survive a second siege if it comes to that, an army fifteen thousand strong could conquer it in a day if they were determined and had some magical support." Lakyus said.

"I see, well I don't wish to lose that city, but are they likely to see a siege soon?" He looked to Gustav, "Gustav Montagne, what say you?"

"I don't believe it will be threatened sire, I have witnessed the border crossing, everything from the South is moving towards Prart with Neia there, and it being the linchpin of all Black Justice defenses in the country, they are determined to take it." Gustav said, standing to his feet as Lakyus reclaimed her own.

Neia noticed that Lakyus seemed to be breathing a sigh of relief, and Evileye touched her hand reassuringly, it had been a tense moment for most, but Neia had been sure of the justice of her god, and so had felt completely at ease for the fate of Lakyus...that and she was still rather enamored with the notion of riding a dragon.

"Then Gustav, you have an important task, you must ensure that they suffer horrible supply problems." Aureole Omega said, "An army marches on its stomach, though they fight rarely, they must eat daily, as they move North, they will move farther and farther from their lines of resupply, and as the bulk of their army is now in the North, you may move more freely within the South, you must invade, sack their supply lanes, slow the lines of march for new supplies, and ensure that their granaries don't send even a handful of grain to the front lines, if you do this, they will be hard pressed to besiege Prart effectively, and may have to withdraw entirely." She said, and began to explain in detail what she expected him to do.

After she was done, Gustav bowed and said, "I understand, and will carry out your will sire, anything to restore Queen Calca to the throne...but if I may ask one thing, when this is all over today...may we speak alone?"

"We may." Ainz said.

"Thank you sire." He said and reclaimed his seat.

"Queen Draudillon, have you the soldiers I told you that you needed to raise?" He asked.

The Queen stood. "I do sire, there are twenty thousand spears ready to march over the border at your command."

"Are they competent?" Ainz asked.

"Not yet sire, but their skill grows daily and they are enthusiastic about repaying the debt they all feel that they owe you, that WE all feel we owe you." She said confidently.

"Very good, I will send Cocytus with you to assist in their training." Ainz said, and he gestured to the Queen, prompting Cocytus to leave his station and stand behind the now much relieved Queen.

She seated herself after a bow, and Ainz turned to 'Momon'.

"How are the spirits of the residents of E-Rantel Momon?" Ainz asked.

"Very good sire, the people have been happy under your rule, and confidence that you would not simply send them to be slaughtered, combined with incentives for post military service, has seen a high number of volunteers for various military duties, all in all, the city is prepared for anything." He said.

"Grand, it seems all is going in accordance with our needs. Now...a few other things..." Ainz said.

The remainder of the meeting was spent on the fine points of their strategies in the days ahead, the complex logistics of feeding and sustaining an army on the march, and by the end most of them were quite thoroughly exhausted, at least mentally. And at last the meeting came to a close and Ainz stood up.

"Now there is just one more thing to do." He said and stood up, "Demiurge." He said.

"Yes my lord?" He asked, taking one step away from the wall.

"Blind the Slane Theocracy...everywhere." He said.

Looks of confusion met him.

"Yes my lord, the gray project has been merely waiting for your approval, it will be done immediately." He replied.

"How long will it take?" Ainz asked.

"We have been ready for some time, so...a few days at most." He answered.

"See to it then." Ainz replied.

There were confused looks from around the table, so Ainz explained.

"Some months ago a group called the Gray Scripture attacked Neia Baraja on her mission with the merchant Tinamoc, it deprived Skana of one of her eyes." He said, and Skana touched her eyepatch slowly, biting her lip at the painful memory, Neia clasped her hand and held it tight.

"They failed in their attack, and several were captured, as an act of mercy, one was released a few others had fled to avoid capture, all of them were shadowed by agents of my own, these scriptures contacted their agents to help facilitate their escape from the Holy Kingdom, this allowed my shadow agents to identify who those agents were, and we tracked them, from one agent to the next, from one city to the next, until we had mapped out their entire intelligence network over the course of months of work, we know their drop boxes, their safe houses, their chain of command, we know everything worth knowing about all of them, and much of their communication was intercepted. Now however, with the outbreak of war, we're going to use this knowledge to destroy their confidence. Every single one of their agents is going to be either killed or captured over the next few days, and they will be completely blind in the field." Ainz answered.

It was a shocking revelation and generated ample talk around the table, before the Sorcerer King waved his skeletal hand in front of them and said, "You are being to noisy, quiet down."

The talking tapered off. "With that done, our armies should all have easy movement for quite some time, and I doubt very much they will recover from this blow, either practically or in terms of their fighting spirits." He took his gaze from one to the next.

"Does anybody still wonder why I say he is a god?" Neia asked. There were no replies.

"Now...Follow your strategies, and you will be successful, I have confidence in all of you." Ainz said firmly, "If any of you had anything else for me, have one of my servants escort you to my office in a few minutes, for the rest, gates will return you to your stations. Till next time, good luck, not that you'll need it, we've made more than enough."

They stood and bowed, and one by one departed.

 _...Outside Hoburns...Holy Kingdom_

King Astraka felt like shit. That tended to happen when you didn't sleep much. Every time they marched for any length of time, another raid struck somewhere along their line, and the whole assembly had to stop, it drained the mana of the priests, and he had to forbid healing for anything less than serious injuries, and forbid all forms of offensive and defensive magic, and forbid the use of mass flights of arrows, just to keep mana up and enough arrows for the siege they were going to lay. On that second day it again kept happening at irregular intervals, and again he sent out his cavalry to chase down those responsible, but there was little enough luck with that, so he kept them beyond the formation's edges to provide an early warning system...only for the cavalry themselves to be targeted in turn, twenty men had been killed, and in turn, so had twenty horses, which was far worse than losing the men. He responded to that by keeping parties out there to defend themselves...and that only resulted in additional injuries and deaths until he had to keep several hundred men out there just to be able to survive the process of observing for threats.

Then the first group was attacked by a cavalry raid. A hundred men on undead horses using enchanted equipment rode out and struck by surprise, hitting the formation meant to protect the main host, felling dozens with several rapid flights of arrows from horseback. Pursuit was laid, but ended in another ambush that killed thirty more cavalrymen and their mounts.

That evening, it happened all over again, after dozens of attacks during the day as they marched along the road, they were attacked at night, a flight of flaming arrows targeted their supply train, burning days worth of food as well as supplies of arrows and other vital war materials. And in the morning they found another dozen or so sentries with their throats slit and their weapons and other materials missing.

 _...Kami Miyako...Slane Theocracy..._

"How soon till we make contact at the border of the Sorcerous Kingdom?" Raymond asked.

"Last dispatch said a week, that was a few days ago, they were en route to Ikari, and they intended to engage shortly after that, only pausing to raise a peasant levy, that takes a few extra days, they should be near the city now. After that they'll use their superior numbers to surround General Enri, and they'll use the scriptures to hit from the side and the rear and fold them like a house of cards." Dominic said with wicked satisfaction.

"What about the army with the Elf King?" Raymond asked.

"Well according to those closest to where he keeps himself, he keeps a harem of female elves on hand for his amusement, and he's not bothered any of our people...so no problems yet, who knows what he'll do with demihuman females, he might not care what species he does it with, any more than he cares about whether or not they're willing." Berenize said in disgust.

"I see, well fortunately we have extensive intelligence networks in the Holy Kingdom, tomorrow order the names of all known Black Justice members turned over to King Astraka, he can start sweeping them up in all the villages where they reside, and we can start crossing them off the list like groceries." Dominic said with a grin.

"And the Draconic Accords?" Ginedine asked.

"Well if they're enemy combatants, it doesn't matter anyway, but either way...well the dead report nothing, so...kill who needs to be killed." Maximillion said with resignation.

 _...Re-Estize Kingdom..._

Philip felt fantastic, he'd enjoyed his favorite courtesan that morning, which meant he skipped the strategy meeting, he didn't need it anyway, what did geniuses need those idiots for? He'd almost gone, but she'd giggled and dropped her robe and given him the praise he was due, and that was that. There was no need to go anyway, the Royal faction was in full retreat everywhere, the only place left to seize after just a few weeks was the capitol, it would take the better part of a month to secure the villages that sustained it, but after that...well it would be a very short siege...after all...they'd clearly never met a man like him before.

 **AN: So the server link didn't work, so I'll post it in my bio and see if THAT does it. I'm also going to put it vertically below one letter per line and see if I can bypass the filter that way. Thanks to all those who have donated, I'll have a few more days of double releases. If you want to keep those going, just make a reasonable donation to bdgiving dot org. :)**

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	60. More Blind than Bats

_...Argland Council..._

As the Dragon Lords had decided not to invade Re-Estize in accordance with the wishes of the Sorcerer King, they instead maintained a steady presence along the border, sending out scouts and spies and reporting on the movements there, when a lucky scout reported seeing a toadman observing human movements and reported it back, that information filtered back to the council.

"If we have seen one, there are likely thousands, we should have figured, he's got his fighters in the mountains, it makes sense, he has the dwarves and the quagoa, they can easily house entire armies under the mountain and come out whenever they wish, and if they got those, then that means they also got the frost dragon clan that lived there, and probably the frost giants as well, he's poised to invade Re-Estize." The Platinum Dragon Lord said abruptly.

"No wonder he asked for us to do nothing." The Diamond Dragon Lord said. "But why is he waiting?"

"I would say he's expecting one side to win soon, and that the side to win, will do something profoundly stupid." The Obsidian Dragon Lord said. "All he has to do is wait, they'll weaken, they'll over extend, the ego of their leadership will inflate beyond all reason, they will go to far, and then..." He clenched his talons tight into the center of his palm as if crushing something within it.

There as a long silence as they contemplated the degree of forethought that must have gone in to all of this...could he be manipulating the rebels to their own destruction?

"What are the royals doing about the rebellion?" The Platinum Dragon Lord asked.

"Running mostly." The Blue Sky Dragon Lord said bluntly. "It seems they are 'overwhelmed' but from what the spies have reported, they've hardly put up any fight at all, their armies are entirely intact and they're neither starving nor wanting for other resources, they began to withdraw their forces from the capitol and they're rushing to the border with the Sorcerer Kingdom, it appears they intend to hide in the great forest of Tob."

"Are they cowards?" The Obsidian Dragon Lord asked, mystified.

"No, there is no panic, everything is orderly and in good condition, they are following a plan, but so far the rebels seem not to have noticed, they're caught up in the thrill of an easy victory." The Blue Sky Dragon Lord replied.

"Whose plan?" The Platinum Dragon Lord asked.

"I think we can all guess the answer to that question." The Obsidian Dragon Lord answered confidently.

"We may be neighbors to the Sorcerer King far sooner than we anticipated." The Wyrm Dragon Lord said softly...and that left them all a great deal to think about.

 _...Nazarick...after the meeting..._

A few minutes later, Gustav found himself following the demonic looking being with the odd speech pattern.

"So...yah wanna see tha Sorc'er King do yah?" She asked from over her shoulder as she flapped down the hall, upright and a pace in front of him.

"Whatcha need?" She asked, "If'n yah don't mind my askin."

Gustav was beyond shame at this point, and did not attempt to hide it. "It is about my punishment." He said softly, looking down at the stone. That stopped the girl in mid flap and she dropped to her feet on the floor.

"What was that?" She asked? Her accent gone, she turned around, and she looked at him with wide piercing eyes. "Punishment...what for?"

"For the greatest sin in a hundred years I think." He said softly, "Were it not for my folly and foolishness, so many things might be different, so many more might be alive..." Gustav said, "And I do not intend to hide from the consequences of my choices."

The demon woman looked at him, she reached out, and gently cupped his face, her sharp pointed talons framed his skin as she leaned in close. "Do you know what I am?" She asked softly.

"No." He said, "I have never seen anything like you...if you'll permit me to say it, I will say that you are beautiful...but I do not recognize your species."

She smiled, revealing sharp fangs. "That's very sweet of you. I am what you might call a Tisiphone Fury, a punisher of misdeeds. But I was not this before. I had to be tortured to the point of suicide first, then the Sorcerer King...gave me this body, if he judges your sins harshly, it may be that you are given to me, are you still sure you wish to confess to him?" She asked.

Gustav looked at the demonic beauty hesitantly and said..."Nobody wishes to confess these things, but they must be owned up to, if I'm to suffer for it, then it could never be as severe as the suffering I caused. I won't ask you to be merciful to me when that time comes, I don't deserve any."

She released her gentle...dangerous hold on his face. "I wonder sometimes if I asked for mercy before I killed myself." She said.

Gustav shook his head..."I expect I will, I like to think of myself as brave, most people do, but pain is pain and everybody has a limit...I suppose you never found out who your killer was?" He asked, changing the subject as she turned around and continued to walk.

"Nah, see they done found me ina river, long river, an causa that ah coulda been dumped anywhere...theysa hopin I'd member on mah own, the king, he don't wanna use memry magic cause my head ain't great, so...ah just gots ta member on mah own." She said with a shrug.

"No luck?" He asked.

"Ah gots some, see first all ah could member was pain, lotsa it, then startin bout a week ago ah could member more..." She said and her voice went softer.

"I remember a beard, and clear speech, not the broken sort, and wine, and chains...and being naked in front of hungry eyes that were very angry at me, and yesterday, I saw a large fist coming towards my face...I can't remember the face yet...but I will. And when I do..." She said, and her palm snapped open, baring her razor sharp edges beyond her fingers.

"For what its worth, I'm sorry that happened to you." He said.

"Salright, I seem to recall thinkin I done deserved it at some point...so...ah wonder if'n maybe ah did somethin, well, don't matter, nae till ah remember more, an while ah thankee fer bein nice an all..." She stopped as she came to a door and turned to face Gustav again, her wings flapped and she rose aloft, her palm caressed his face, her sharp claws touching ever so gently, "If the Sorcerer King gives you to me to be punished...well I take my duty to him very seriously. Here we are, enter if you wish, I have other matters to attend to." She said and flapped away, waving with a friendly and deadly smile as she departed.

Gustav touched his face where she had, and shuddered, then he gathered his courage and knocked on the door.

"Enter." The Sorcerer King's voice said.

He opened the door and stepped into a spacious area with a desk, book shelves, writing materials, and a small seating area, it was to his surprise however, that he saw Queen Calca was with him and seated on a nearby couch.

"My Queen...why are you...?" He began, and she raised her hand to stop him.

"She is here," the Sorcerer King said, "because as the rightful Queen you are one of her subjects, so if it pertains to you it pertains to her."

Gustav lowered his head. "Well, it isn't as if my shame could be worse." He said.

The Sorcerer King gestured for him to sit.

"Speak your mind, Gustav Montagne." He said.

"Freely?" He asked.

"Completely." The Sorcerer King replied.

"Then I will be blunt your highness. How much do you know about Remedios's escape from custody?" He asked.

"Other than that you were behind it...not a great deal." Ainz replied, and Gustav looked at him in shock.

"That is what you came here to confess isn't it?" He asked rhetorically.

"How did..." He began, and Ainz held up his hand to stop him.

"It wasn't hard to figure out, it is what I would have done for a precious comrade in arms with whom I had shared life, death, and blood soaked battles at the edge of existence." Ainz replied.

And Gustav slumped where he sat. "So that's it then." He said. He looked over to Calca, "I'm sorry your majesty, I truly didn't know what she was going to become, how low she was sinking, how insane she was becoming, everything built up so much in her head, she lost all sense, I thought she'd flee, maybe become a lone defender of justice...but then...then she started burning peasants as heretics and destroying villages. There isn't a single swing of her sword that has not stained me with blood since that day."

"I'm not going to ask for forgiveness, because that can't be forgiven." He added, looking to the Sorcerer King, "All I ask is that you let me finish out this war first, let me spend this time making right the wrongs I am responsible for, and then after the war...punish me as you see fit, I will not run, I give you my oath." He said softly.

Ainz mentally sighed with relief, and chose not to reveal his knowledge of Gustav's late night conversation with a skeleton so long ago, instead he chose to make himself the wiser figure who concluded the one responsible independently of any other information source. It left a powerful impression on both Gustav and Calca.

The Sorcerer King folded his fingertips together and looked to Calca, "You are not 'officially' one of my subjects, and will not be till the end of the war. Gustav's sentence then will fall to you. I think it reasonable to say he never intended for all this to occur, but how much that matters I leave to you. If however you have not decreed some reasonable form of penalty by the time vassalization is done, I will consider his sentence to be a loose end, and I will tie it off myself. I trust I am clear on that matter?" He asked.

"You are, your majesty." Calca said, and she turned to Gustav. "Wanting to save a comrade is RIGHT...but you should never save them from the consequences of their own actions, I heard about what got her imprisoned...you should have known better at that point, whatever your former bonds had been, she was already beyond saving, and she was no longer the Remedios Custodio that you knew. Your sentence will be severe...but you will remain free to win this fight first, and if you perform exceptionally well, I will try to find some manner of punishment befitting what you've done that still lets you keep your dignity and your life." She said in a voice of iron.

"I will accept whatever punishment I must." He sighed softly, "I owe that to the victims who shouldn't have been."

"Alright, then if there is nothing else...go, and return to your station." Ainz said, and Gustav rose, bowed, and departed. When they were alone Ainz turned to Calca and said, "You'll have a good servant in that one, if he lives through all this."

"And if he survives the aftermath of all this." She added, to which Ainz could only nod in agreement.

 _...Miles from Hoburns..._

"Gods be damned they're making us weaker and themselves stronger at our expense!" King Astraka said with absolute fury, it was the third day of his march and they were only one fourth of the way to Kasaga, sentry duty had come to be considered a death sentence, and more men had to be put on it for security, that ended the throats being slit, but arrows out of the darkness were still a problem, the cavalry tried to route out the trouble, but on undead horses the Black Justice forces could simply melt away, and then come back in no time. Even those sentries who did not die in the dark, ended up being useless because of the need to sleep during the day, it was taking a terrible toll on their forces, a man asleep was one not fighting, and now he sat in his command tent with his other officers and he was asking for ideas and they...were lacking.

"I need a way to stop this!" He snapped. "And if even one of you says to ask the gods for help one more time, I'll be sending you to them as an envoy!"

Silence greeted him.

"What if we dug pits to topple them from their mounts?" One man suggested.

"To time consuming, even if we used magic, that would just expend valuable magic power before we might really need it." Astraka said and crossed his arms in frustration.

"What if we staged counter ambushes, we know they're going to attack, so why don't we prepare others to hit them as they withdraw?" Another asked.

"We tried that yesterday, they ambushed that group and killed them all. Our soldiers are mostly drawn from the city, these Black Justice members obviously have considerable experience in the wilds." He replied.

"What if we held their villages hostage? We know that many of these people have to be from the villages around here, if we start occupying the villages, it will send a clear threat that they'd be putting their families at risk by fighting against us." Another suggested.

"I'd be violating the Draconic accords." Astraka replied.

"So?" Another asked.

"I'll rephrase...I would be OPENLY violating the Draconic Accords." He said again.

"Oh...ahhh...well if the threat is only 'implied' is that a problem?" He asked.

"Plus by siezing the villages, we can hunt down the undead, at least we could minimize the number of skeletons being used to attack our lines, I know the soldiers would rather face living forces than undead ones. Even if the skeletons are easier to kill, they're harder on morale." One of the officers suggested.

Astraka nodded in approval. "That we can do, start to dispatch teams, it shouldn't take more than a few hundred men to occupy any one village, and who knows, perhaps they'd prefer to fight for their homes instead, and leave the more important armies alone."

"Ahhh...sire, what should we brief them about what behavior is expected out of them? Do we tell them to abide by the accords or...do what they want?" The last officer asked.

Astraka stroked his beard for a moment and thought it over...through his mind flashed the memory of the stubborn bitch that had killed herself and got dumped in the river with the garbage for her trouble, it still infuriated him.

"That will be left to the command on site, but I won't be risking the crown to keep a negligent idiot out of trouble, I don't care if some soldier can't keep it in his armor, but if his commander wants to hang him over it to keep order, that is up to him." Astraka said bluntly.

The next morning another attack burned six days worth of food, and the entire formation slowed down to the pace of the slowest oxcart to protect piece of meat and loaf of bread as if they were golden coins.

Astraka sent his soldiers out in force, five thousand soldiers began to break apart and go to occupy various villages, and he felt smugly satisfied about how effective that move was going to be...until he realized that he'd effectively deprived himself of five thousand armed soldiers in attacking Kasaga, as surely as if they'd been killed off...and they'd lost ten more sentries over the course of the evening. He did not enjoy his breakfast, and nobody enjoyed their lunch, because there was yet another raide, this one targeting the animals that pulled their supply carts...forcing them to use soldiers as replacement oxen and depriving their ranks of even more men.

 _...Holy Kingdom...in many different offices and safe houses..._

...The agent used the 'continual light' item and walked into his safe house, there were documents needed for tomorrow, and he had to get them compiled and ready to go. He never knew that he wasn't going to get that chance, because from behind the door a masked agent stepped forward, pulled back his head, and slit his throat. A moment later the building was up in flames...

...The Theocracy Priest finished his services early that day, he rarely did that, he had a cover to maintain, but today he had a dozen agents coming in to see him, there was a special task that he needed them for, and he needed time to prepare them. But when he arrived at his office, contrary to his expectation, it was dark, his secretary should have been there, but she wasn't. He shrugged it off, anyone could be late every now and then. That was his last thought before he was knocked out cold by a blow to the back of the head. He tried to move, but there was a great deal piled on top of him, he tried to shout, and a voice called back to him. "Hey, you might want to settle down back there, bad for your health if you get my meaning. I've got good news and bad news. The good news is, you get to live, while all your other agents are dead, the bad news is, you get to live because you can answer questions they couldn't, and we've got lots of em for you. You're probably wondering where you are, and the answer to that is...you're tied up in a big sack under a bunch of bodies, on a cart being pulled by undead horses and driven by an agent of the Sorcerer King, so...you're not going anywhere, no matter how you struggle. So just relax and enjoy the ride." He did not relax, nor did he enjoy the ride.

...They were in the middle of work when the raid happened, a figures crashed through doors and windows and covered every exit, the few who resisted were cut down before they could properly appreciate the the futility of resistance, within a minute or two, the office was secured, the documents seized or burned, and the agents either captured or killed...

All over the Holy Kingdom, those events replayed themselves over the next few days...and then it began to happen within the Slane Theocracy itself.

 _...Slane Theocracy Cardinal chambers..._

"We're BLIND!" Dominic shouted. "Our agents all over the Holy Kingdom are being killed off, captured, or even turned, we can't properly wage this war without information!"

"We KNOW that you imbecile!" Raymond snapped, having had quite enough of Dominic's outbursts as reports filtered in. "But what would you have us DO about it? We cannot pull information out of the very air! So instead of shouting things we already know, propose some way to save what's left of our intelligence operatives!"

Dominic sat sullenly and silent, a blessed reprieve for which Raymond thanked the gods.

"We pull them back, back to Kami Miyako." Yvon said.

"Then we might as well not have them." Dominic muttered.

"We won't, unless we get whatever is left back to the safety of the capitol. We pull back, we reorganize, we send more out afterwards and hope we can keep enough alive to act as our eyes and ears." Yvon replied.

The vote was unanimous...unhappy...but even Dominic could not argue the point.

 _...Re-Estize Kingdom...two weeks after the general assembly in Nazarick..._

Philip was overjoyed, over half the villages supplying the capitol had fallen, he and his faction had plundered a great deal, even the poor it seemed...held out from their betters. He felt incredibly smug, he wanted to advance fast enough to catch them all before they fled again...he wondered if princess Renner was there. He smiled, he hoped so, after all, he thought, when she saw him full of glory and victory, she'd surely see his worth and propose marriage so that he could hold the throne without objection, uniting him to the crown...and of course...the wedding night...he sighed, then he couldn't have Albedo could he? Or could he? Who told an emperor what to do or not to do? He smiled, after he ruled the world, he could have as many as he wanted, and he deserved nothing less, after all, he was Philip the Great, world conqueror. The walls of the capitol might not be in front of him just yet, but...it wouldn't be long.

 **AN: Hope you enjoyed it, and I hope you all hate Philip. I picture him as the kind of jackass who hits the incel, neckbeard, nice guy, entitled asshole notes in a symphony of douchebaggery. If you're wondering what happens when Vanysa gets her memory back in full...well...its beautiful music. ;) Honestly by the way, I wanted to expand this chapter more...but the timespan between the last chapter and this one was pretty small, next chapter will be longer.**


	61. Bad Ideas, Good Ideas

_...Re-Estize..._

'Supreme King' Philip was on top of his courtesan, she lay under him as, stretched out as a languorous beauty, she was smiling winsomely up at him. He smirked, she was under him...where she belonged...where the whole world belonged. "Go ahead...supreme king Philip, have your prize of victory." She said in her seductive voice as she reached out and cupped his face in her hands. "Do it...take me...longing eats at me!" She said passionately as he fumbled over her, pawing at her, excitement thrilling through him.

Privately she thought...'How could anyone be so...stupid? I'm barely acting at all and he hasn't even noticed...not that he's noticed anything else either...well it won't be long before I can retire, and at least he won't be dragging some peasant girl to him and pretending he was doing her a favor.' She couldn't help herself, she snorted in contempt, but quickly covered the slip with a phony moan, he was already finished.

"Oh Supreme King Philip...you are like no other man I've ever been with..." She said...truthfully, and she wrapped her arms around him, and whispered duskily into his ear, "Tell me how you're going to take that stupid little castle, you know how excited I get when you show me your brilliance and bravery...conquest...its just so...exciting! Isn't it, my conquering Supreme King?" She stroked over his scrawny frame as if he were the most powerful of figures.

Philip lay back and enjoyed the attention he was due, after all, why shouldn't he? He smirked again, he loved the title 'Supreme King' that his courtesan had called him once, and he loved it so well that as they ate up ground, he had all his followers call him that.

"Of course my dear, of course..." He said, "I'm going to attack over the western wall after sunrise..."

"Oh are you going to lead the charge, my supreme king?" she asked as she caressed him.

"HA!" he laughed, "Of course not, a king shouldn't put himself in a position like that, that is what peasants and other subordinates are for, I'll give the orders, they'll do the work!"

"Of course oh supreme king, truly nobody commands an army quite like you...but why during the time after sunrise my lord?" She asked, "Forgive me...I do not understand..." She said, giving her voice an almost little girl lilt and an air of innocence.

Philip patted her head softly, "Of course you don't, what would a woman like you know of war...that is what men do...you have another place..." He whispered in what he thought was a deep masculine voice, but came out as more of a nasal whine as he moved over her again, "But if you must know...I want to eat breakfast while I watch the fighting, and I don't want to wake up early, being a Supreme King requires a good night's rest." He said, and lowered his face to her ample bosom.

She sighed, more with annoyance than anything else, and wrapped her arms around him, barely keeping the contempt from her voice as she said, "Yes my supreme king..." while she committed everything she'd learned to memory, if the pattern held, they'd be withdrawing their soldiers from the western wall and pulling everyone out via the south gate, leaving only a few 'abandoned defenses' as obstacles to slow them down.

When the time came, she resolved that she was going to offer to give up a quarter of her reward for the chance to kill this worthless little fuck.

 _...Re-Estize Palace..._

Renner was in her room with her brother and Brain Unglaus, they were alone, that much she was sure of.

"Our contact has given us more information than we ever could have dreamed, brother when the time comes, please see that she gets a bonus. We know where they're going to attack, we know when, right down to the hour, we should start pulling people away from the area by nightfall." Renner said sweetly. She set down her tea and looked at King Zanac.

"You have something on your mind, don't you dear brother?" She asked him.

"I do...several things actually." He said with some annoyance.

"What would that be?" She asked.

"Well the first annoyance is that this plan is making me look like the most incompetent buffoon ever to rule the Kingdom, these rebels are so inept in every conceivable way that we could have defeated them entirely with our own efforts in a fortnight." Zanac said as he poured himself a cup of wine.

Brain sat with his arms crossed and one hand on the hilt of his sword. "I've wondered that myself Princess, I came back because you asked me to on Climb's behalf, if you'd given me a handful of good soldiers I could have ensured the insurrection was stomped into the ground in no time...so...whats the real deal?" He asked.

"Such lovely tea." She said sweetly and poured another for herself, "Its simple, the real power behind the insurrection is the Slane Theocracy, if the rebels began to have serious trouble, then the Theocracy would commit a scripture or more to supporting them just to gain access to our vast population and open up another front against the Sorcerer King. That would require the Sorcerer King to intervene in the middle of the whole thing, and our whole country would become a battlefield."

"OK, I see that, but why does he care about that?" Brain asked.

"He thinks ahead, far ahead, much farther than I could even dream." Renner said, awe tinting her voice, "Perhaps it is his immortal nature, he doesn't think in terms of ten months or ten years...why one of his subordinates told me that he has a ten THOUSAND year plan for his rule. Can you even imagine thinking one hundred years ahead?" She asked the two men near her, both shook their heads slowly in disbelief.

"This way the Theocracy will commit their scriptures elsewhere, since the local rebels can 'handle us' on their own with minimal effort but funding. Meanwhile we preserve our nation's wealth and all our houses and troops, and all the kidnapped heirs remain perfectly safe. The Sorcerer King...right after the invasion of his country begins, will have our royal faction's kidnapped relatives all rescued, and he will back our counter invasion with an additional sixty thousand soldiers from the Empire stationed in E-Rantel, and his army in the Mountains will attack from the east into the North and West, since the rebels have stationed only other incompetents in charge of various cities and kept the bulk of their army in one place, we'll wipe them out in one go, have all the cities back in our possession in less than a month, have destroyed all of our enemies in one go, and then we will uphold OUR end of the bargain and send soldiers to invade the Slane Theocracy after we publicize accounts of their backing of our civil war. We all become heroes, you brother, regain the crown, and our nation can be restored to prosperity and unity." She said simply, counting off the various points on her hands.

Brain sat there, stunned. "The Sorcerer King told you all this...?" He asked.

"Not all, no, bits and pieces, the rest I had to figure out, and his prime minister Albedo, helped me work out a few parts, most of it fell into place when Lord Demiurge informed me of his ten thousand year plan's existence." Renner said, "I really wish they'd just discuss and reveal these things, but the Sorcerer King seems to expect his closest agents to understand his will, well enough to execute it without his personally wasting time explaining himself." She sighed, "I'll admit it is frustrating...his plans are so layered and nuanced, and everything he does seems to have three, five, or ten meanings, some of which I don't even see until months or years later." Renner shook her head.

"And...what did you want from me?" Brain asked.

"Its simple, you're the best surviving swordsman in the kingdom, and the Slane Theocracy is going to try to have me killed, probably my brother too, but definitely me, shortly after we withdraw from the capitol. I'd like it very much if you could keep us both alive, can you do that?" She asked with a sweet smile on her face.

Brain looked surprised, as did King Zanac.

"How do you know this?" King Zanac asked with surprise, "Have you been talking to one of their agents as well?!" He asked in agitation.

She shook her head, "No brother, its just a logical conclusion, once the rebels have 'won' there is no gain to controlling us anymore, so they'll kill the hostages, send assassins to kill any noble house that might be a threat, and then the rest of our army will either melt away or go join the other side. Neat little cleanup from their perspective, and they'll essentially have turned our country into a puppet and can throw our people at E-Rantel with the same contempt that we do the dust under our feet."

"I...see...yes..." Zanac stroked his chin thoughtfully, regretting his unwarrior like form at the present.

"Well, I'll take control of your safety majesties." Brain said, "I owe that much to Gazef & Climb, just make sure you follow my instructions when it comes to matters of security, and I can handle anything the Theocracy throws at us."

"I know you can." Renner said with a smile, and dropped a sugar cube into her tea, she drew it to her lips and drank, and concealed the mad smile behind her cup.

 _...Kasaga..._

Skana was happy to see the five thousand members of Black Justice enter the city walls, she had them escorted to the military grounds where Braunin died, and she'd called together the influential members of the city to join her for their arrival. She gave them comfortable seats on either side of where she stood, rigid and watchful for anything less than a disciplined entry.

They filed in, moving smoothly according to how they had drilled, and within half an hour there stood rank upon rank of soldiers armed and armored and presenting a very intimidating sight to the city's rulers. Best...Skana thought, that their first emotional response to the idea of rebellion...but fear.

The commander stepped forward and approached Skana at the center, he rendered a prompt salute, fist over heart, and gave a half a bow to her. She returned the gesture, and then they dropped the posture.

"Commander Hazamoth, I hand the city over to you, expect heavy opposition to come your way from without...but from within..." she gestured to the former governor and other important citizens, "these men and women have kept to the peace, I trust you will uphold discipline among our own men, and entrust them to continue to enforce the law without needless interference. Hold to the Draconic Accords, I have of course granted permission for them to write to myself or Neia Baraja should any harsh disputes occur or should mistreatment be tolerated. Do you require anything of me?" She asked.

"No, I have what I need, with me now." He said, and gestured behind him to the thousands of soldiers. "I'll leave the rest of the fight to you, good luck out there!" He said, and stuck out his hand. Skana shook it firmly and they parted ways. Skana had already had her soldiers ready to exit the city as soon as the last of Hazamoth's men entered, and when the last one entered, the first of hers exited. She went and joined them promptly.

They were waiting for her, and she stood up in the stirrups of her undead mount, "Soldiers, you have won much for the god of justice, and now...its time to go win some more!"

Cheers were the answer she received, and it was the only answer she needed. They swiftly set out, intelligence reports showed a large number of soldiers from Hoburns marching to seize villages. Skana had a predatory smile on her face...those poor...poor fools, they had no idea with whom they were tangling.

 _...Nazarick..._

When the meeting ended, Neia was about to return when Zaryusu approached her. He touched her shoulder and she turned to meet his gaze. "Hello Neia." He said politely.

She smiled in return and put her hand out, and shook his when it came to meet her. "Hello Zaryusu." She said, "Good to see you again."

"It is...but...may I speak plainly to you?" He asked.

"Of course." Neia replied.

"Thank you, I...don't always read humans well, but I could not help but feel like you had some hostility directed at me before. It did not seem likely, but if ever I have offended you, I think it best to deal with it up front, lest it become a problem later." He said formally.

Neia looked down and shook her head. "No its...how do I say this?" She thought for a moment..."We trained together for a year, we studied side by side, we learned things alongside one another, and I DO count you a valued comrade...but it is difficult to forget that you were once acting in opposition to the Sorcerer King. I realize that is in the past, that you are truly loyal, so it shames me that I feel as I do...its simply that my devotion to my god is...well it sometimes seems hard for me to think of anyone who was his enemy, as ceasing to be his enemy. I know this is no fault of your own, and I strive to remember that I have no right to judge the path of your past...but feelings are difficult to fend off, even when I know better." She gave him a crooked smile and covered their handshake with her other hand in a friendly gesture.

"Please forgive me for any offense my uncontrolled emotional reaction might have given." Neia said, and bowed her head in apology.

"No need for that." Zaryusu said, "We are comrades, and we can resolve our misunderstandings by trusted discourse. After all, if you had to hide your thoughts, your feelings, your fears from me...well how little must we trust one another to be each other's shield." He bowed his own head in return, and they parted ways at ease.

Neia quietly cursed herself, since Wenmark she'd seen more enemies and insults than actually existed. She touched her head, glad that she had not created a rift with Zaryusu, and imagined a traitor into being where none existed. She shook her head again and stood erect, then walked to the gate prepared for her and passed through it to return to her duties in Prart, with CZ following quickly behind her.

When she'd returned, after a brief conversation with her tight lipped sticker loving companion, she ventured to a leather worker's shop and said, "I need to commission a saddle for myself, and...it needs to have about these dimensions." She said, and held out a slip of paper. The burly worker set his materials aside and looked them over and laughed. "My dear Pope, I think there must be some mistake here...why if you had a saddle with these dimensions, you'd never fit it on anything smaller than a full grown dragon."

Neia did not laugh. She nodded. "Exactly. How soon can I have it?"

He stopped laughing, she took off her visor and met his gaze, he realized she was not joking.

"Pope Neia...I will not ask the reason...I think I want to see it...promise me I can stand at the fore when the time comes to see what has never been seen before...and I will pay my competitors to assist me, I will work without rest, and I will have it ready in three days time." He said with awe in his eyes and barely retaining breath after the hushed whispering of his disbelieving words.

"The promise is made." Neia said, "You will stand at the front." She answered.

The leather worker immediately rushed and she saw him dash into another shop, she heard shouting and disbelieving words, even crashing, but as she walked away she saw in a shining reflection, two leather workers visit another shop and the whole process began all over again. It would be a marvelous saddle.

 _...Gustav's army..._

Gustav rode like a man fleeing a demon, he had taken the role of 'bait' to a Slane Theocracy formation, and they had given chase when he lead a small skirmish against a portion of their line and withdrew. They pursued, in an orderly fashion, but that was fine as far as he was concerned. No sooner than he'd passed around a tree line than he saw the signal flag rise up, and drop down, they were ready. He rode fifty more feet beyond it, then circled round by another dozen or so yards to a where a small white rock had been placed, and he turned around to face them, along with his handful of skirmishing survivors..

The formation of pursuers out numbered him six to one, he only wished it had been eight or ten to one.

"Come and get me you god humping shitstains!" He shouted, provoking them even further by holding up a cloth banner of theirs, and casting it into the mud, and moving his horse back and forth over it several times, trampling it into the much. This was to much, they charged, promising they'd stain it with his blood. He lifted his sword as if to signal a charge...and then watched as the ground fell out from under them and they fell into the pit. Then the fire arrow launched, and landed in the pit, now one arrow would not have been a problem...but when there is an abundance of oil and pitch down there...well at least it could be said that they burned quick enough that they did not scream for long. He then darted into the forest where much of the remainder of his army was hidden.

Over the next few days he launched raids on supplies, damaged roads by dragging fallen trees in front of them, digging pit traps, and whenever they found a wagon, well it supplied his army, not the Slane Theocracy.

 _...Astraka's army..._

Astraka was miserable, he was miserable and unhappy and more miserable and more unhappy. The constant raids, the shrieking, the undead...gods...with the thrice damned runic bows and undead horses, their archers were able to shoot at his army several times before the first arrow even hit, then turn and run farther and faster than their pursuers could, and that was if they hadn't prepared a counter ambush instead and killed the pursuers. The plan for seizing back Kasaga in a week had slowed to a crawl, his soldiers were tired, few got much sleep...ever. And the mages had started to use their mana to in earnest to keep people healed and to put out fires that Black Justice tried to start.

He'd lost two thousand men...not counting the five thousand he'd already dispatched to secure villages...and he hadn't even fought a battle yet!

He reached for a bottle of wine, that was the only way he was going to get any sleep at all.

 _...Slane Theocracy Prison..._

Zesshi had come to see him a lot lately, probably because she was expecting to leave him soon, he'd come to think she actually rather liked him, kind of like how 'Blue Rose' did, like he was a kid brother or something, well but considered utterly hopeless and occasionally maddening. Their weeks had become a pleasant routine, she'd come in, teach him something, kick his ass, heal him, they would talk, they would drink, she would give him something else to learn, and then it would happen again.

Their time together was actually...enjoyable, though it helped knowing he was keeping his princess safe, and though he had come to trust Zesshi, he was not willing to reveal that he had an easy way out or was still seeing the princess...or all the other things he'd learned.

This evening was like most others, and when she'd helped him to his feet and to get seated in a chair, she'd slid him the healing potion and in a few moments he was good as new. He broke out the wine and poured her a full cup and himself a half of one.

"Can I ask you something?" Climb asked.

"Please." She said, waving her cup in front of her invitingly.

"Why do you do it?" He asked her.

"Do what?" She asked in turn.

"Why do you want to be 'humanity's defender' and all that?" He asked.

"Why do you defend the princess?" She asked him.

"She's the world to me, she saved my life, nursed me back to health, she's given me everything. Of course I will offer everything in return." He answered incredulously.

"What makes you think it's not the same for me?" She asked. "Father is an elf king, he made me by an act of rape, kidnapping and abusing my mother, the Theocracy rescued her, she bore me, birthed me, raised me, and they trained me and gave ME everything." She said. "You know all these things already...so why are you asking now?" She asked curiously.

"Seems to me that they're just using you." He said. He looked away a moment and said, "I've got a window up here, I can see down there, I've seen how when you walk by, people don't look at you, or if they do, its only to avoid you, how they stop and talk when you have moved on, nobody seems to ask you anything about yourself, I've seen camaraderie, I've had camaraderie...its just...who are your comrades?" He asked in confusion.

Zesshi was shocked into silence and thought about it for a time.

"If you have to think about it..." he began.

"Who are yours!" She snapped at him.

"First there was Gazef Stronoff, but there is also Brain Unglaus and all of Blue Rose." He said unhesitatingly.

"Oh...well...Raymond and I are very close." She said.

"Does he ever propose a change to the religion, you know, one that says elves are people too, so you're not considered halfway inferior?" Climb asked.

"Well no...but he is a cardinal." She said.

"Comrades...true comrades...wouldn't hate half of who their friends are, you can't have half a person, you get all of who they are...or none of them. Didn't you say something like that to me once? I can understand why you'd say it, but you were talking bout your...sort of your...whole country. So...why don't you go ask Raymond about that, ask him directly how he sees you and your elven heritage? Wouldn't you want to know if he really is a comrade or not?" He asked.

Zesshi didn't answer, she looked down at her cup and quietly topped it off.

"You said once that you didn't know if you were truly brave or not, since you always won every fight you were going into and you knew before it happened that it was inevitable that you would win. So...here's a different kind of fight, test your courage there." Climb said simply.

"Alright..." She said softly, and left without another word.

 _...Border with the Slane Theocracy..._

General Enri walked through her camp, for the last few days since the meeting her army had been steadily making straw figures, then painting a metal shaded paint over the surface of them to give them the appearance of wearing armor, it had been a considerable effort, but with almost seventy five thousand people, it didn't take that long to have forty thousand made. Then the affixed wooden poles and painted the tops of them to appear like spears, and secured them into the straw hands. After that, she purchased thousands of horses, and each straw man was secured to it as if riding. It wouldn't fool anyone up close...but a distant scout, oh absolutely, and since these were soldiers of straw, it was easy for the horses to carry. After that, it only took a little effort to camoflauge poles in such a way that they would not be seen from a distance, and afix each one to a horses breast similar to a plow's design, only each pulled the horse along from the front. It only took a handful of volunteers to lead such a false army.

And it was this army that set out, and marched around the city over the border, giving the appearance that it was circumnavigating the city to instead strike at Kami Miyako itself.

Her own camp had similarly been protected against in depth observation, but she let it be seen that her numbers were few and that they who remained were simply guarding supplie and that the true army had departed.

All in all, that day ended with Enri feeling...very good.

 **AN: Well another double release down...you slave drivers. :) Anyway, hope you enjoy it all so far, neither chapter is longer than the longest one yesterday...but all total the overall length is...I think a bit greater. There will be another double release tomorrow, so enjoy that of course, and please feel free to leave reviews. :) Also, I know I have two things to correct in yesterday's release, just to tired today, will do it tomorrow. Long day today, good day, but long day.**

 **And of course...if you want to join my server, well here is its discord id: hJrfday**


	62. What Goes in a Dragon's Lunchbox

_...Re-Estize..._

Philip woke up late, which was no surprise to anyone, least of all himself, after all, a supreme king can sleep whenever he wants and wake when he wants. He had breakfast served at him at a table behind the lines, set up on a stage raised higher than the heads of his soldiers so he could watch them storm the walls. Who wouldn't be inspired by knowing that the supreme king of Re-Estize, future king over all the world, was watching them?

The charge was ordered, and the soldiers ran ahead...only to find that their ladders were to short. So they had to improvise by climbing up, then throwing ropes up the rest of the way and climbing up that way, praying that nobody on the wall had anything sharp enough to cut rope.

To their surprise, the wall they chose to strike was almost empty, and the few that were up there ran away immediately screaming, "Ahhhh! Its King Philip! The Supreme King is coming to kill us all! Ahhh! Run away!" They shouted so loudly that it reached Philip's ears as he finished eating, and he laughed at the cowardly fools even as he praised their wisdom to flee his might.

The other walls had guards as well, but with the collapse of that one's defenses, they too abandoned their posts.

Philip wanted very much to go find his courtesan again...but an aid approached. "Supreme King Philip, all reports indicate that they're running away and abandoning their defenses, I suggest we go to the palace, King Zanac has not fled, you can personally capture him and accept his surrender."

"Yes of course, and if he surrenders I won't have him tortured first, it'll be a quick death at a headsman's axe." He said in what he thought of as a noble voice.

He went with his army through the gate his soldiers opened for him and began to move through the streets, the commoners were indoors, no doubt terrified of 'Philip Allconqueror' as he was beginning to style himself in his own mind. There were a great many defensive structures established though, roughly one every fifty feet or so, blocking the entire road, it annoyed him, though at least nobody defended those structures, and it only slowed him down by a few hours making his way through to the palace. Then he was there, he hoped Princess Renner was still present, he was sure she'd be on her knees for him immediately when he sat down in the throne formerly held by her father and her brother.

That made him think...could he keep his courtesan after taking a queen? He paused, and laughed in the street at the silly notion, of course he would, he was an all conqueror, he could have as many such women as he wanted, and his queen would simply have to be ok with it, he'd treat her well after all, he did intend to be nice to her, as long as she didn't provoke him by challenging his position.

Such thoughts occupied his mind as his soldiers tore down the last barrier, and he descended from his horse and went up the stairs. Nobody was there to stop him, the inside of the palace seemed likewise empty, and so it was all the way to the throne room, and there it was...the seat of power...empty...and all his. He smiled happily and rushed and flung himself into it.

"Its mine...its finally mine!" He shouted, "Behold Supreme King Philip!" He shouted with joy.

His followers knelt the way they should, but there was something else he wanted first..."Search the palace for anyone in hiding, and send me my courtesan."

A few minutes later he was alone in the throne room except for her, he called her forth imperiously, and she approached with small steps, he pointed to his feet, and she knelt.

"You know what to do...please the Supreme King." He said.

"As your majesty commands...but forgive me for saying, as I think on it...how can you be a 'supreme king' if you have yet to reclaim all of your kingdom? After all, E-Rantel is still in the hands of the Sorcerer King."

That got to him. "Stupid woman!" He snapped and his hand darted out and slapped her across her face, she fell partially to one side and touched where he'd hit her. He almost did it again, he raised his hand, then thought better of it...she had a point, not that he'd grant her that much. "Get out!" he snapped.

She started to stand, and he grabbed her hair, "NO! You don't get to stand unless the supreme one says so! Get out, but get out the way you should for challenging your betters, don't rise above all fours, or stand until you're out of my site!"

She obeyed him, she did that much right in his mind, and it was a satisfying sight, but now the throne didn't feel good, the fact that the city was out of his hands...it was a blight...and the royal family was still alive...that was a blight, the only one that needed to be alive was the princess so he could make her marry him and secure his throne. It was a pleasant thought, and imagine her gratitude when she didn't have to live in the forest anymore...surely...she'd do anything for him...anything. He was going to enjoy giving the order to cross the border...more even than he enjoyed sitting in that chair.

 _...Beyond the border of Re-Estize..._

The royal factions members and soldiers and loyal civilian service members were both comfortable and well fed, thanks to the close communication between Renner, Raeven, Zanac, and the Sorcerer Kingdom, ample carriages and carts were available to draw everyone easily to safety, and with soul eaters pulling the modes of transportation, they could not have been safer...ironically enough.

Brain sat in the carriage with the Princess, Marquis Raeven, and King Zanac. "I have to admit all this is a surprise. You know...I never did have a terrible opinion of the Sorcerer King, but this is...impressive."

"No? Weren't you disturbed by his having killed your best friend?" Raevan asked with surprise.

Brain folded his arms, closed his eyes, and gave a slow shake of his head. "No, warriors like Gazef and I live our lives by the sword, a violent death isn't a surprise for men like us, its basically our retirement package most of the time. I do miss him, he was a great warrior and an even better friend. But the Sorcerer King did try to spare him, and he honored all of Gazef's wishes, right down to letting us retain equipment that could have potentially hurt him, he didn't even let Gazef fall to the ground like a lump, he laid him out gently, and he let us go unharmed, taking the body with us to be treated properly. He even stopped the massacre and allowed the city to surrender peacefully, he didn't hurt a single person. All that...well its the behavior of good king."

Zanac looked at him in understanding and nodded. "Agreed, he didn't have my father killed, he reached his goal easily and took nothing else, he could have done much worse than he did, and even the best king has to sometimes do bad things, I try to live up to father's standards, but I admit I now understand his weariness. Though my own frustration at having to abandon everything for this plan is...well I admit it grates on me still.

Renner giggled, "Its alright brother, it won't be long now, we'll be home in a month or two and stronger than ever, just trust me, and trust the Sorcerer King." She said with absolute confidence.

They rode in silence after that, drawing closer and closer to their host in E-Rantel.

Brain wondered if he should feel nervous about this, something told him that it was strange that he didn't...but as he looked out the window of the carriage in which he rode and saw a dwarf directing skeletons in cutting down trees, while an elf and a human stood nearby going over documents...he realized that he was entering probably the safest place in all the world, and he chose to relax and enjoy the simple passage of time.

 _...Kybar Village..._

Kebel had been chief of Kybar village for more of his life than he hadn't been, in all that time, it hadn't changed much, the only thing to change much had been their faith, after the demon emperor Jaldabaoth had been overthrown, it was impossible not to see the wisdom of following the divine ruler who destroyed him. Kebel had never had much use for do nothing gods...but this one...this one did things, they got undead labor, good contracts on goods, the priests healed them for free and their red paladins escorted people to and fro without hesitation and with complete security, allowing the village to prosper without suffering any deaths or injuries from monsters or overwork in years.

Still, it was a small place, so when the Astrakian Loyalists entered, two hundred of them, and simply declared that they were now in charge, there was little that Chief Kebel could do. He hobbled over to the commander and asked, "Well what does that mean...you are in charge?"

"This, for starters." He said, and he ordered the destruction of all skeleton labor in the fields, then had his men retrieve the tools and hand them back to the peasants who lived there. "Now, first we're going to tell you how it is going to be...then you're going to go out there to your fields and get to work. Also, no more Black Justice healers will be tolerated here, if you want healing, we do have priests, but you must pay for it."

"But...that is an outrage, this is a poor village, there are few of us, before the undead labor we couldn't farm enough land to both feed ourselves and have enough to sell! And we could barely afford to pay for the cost of healing magic! What do you expect us to do if we're injured, and injuries happen all the time on a farm!" he asked.

The commander shrugged and shook his head, "Not my problem old man, you pay the fee or you stay hurt, you've got to earn the money yourself, or its you're on fault you can't pay for it, you have to be self sufficient and stand on your own to feet, nobody else is responsible for paying to take care of you if you're sick or injured...you don't have any right to not get hurt after all, its just the risk you chose to take by working." He looked smugly around the village.

"You can't DO this to us!" Kebel said.

"Sounds like rebellion." The commander answered, "And of course, since enemy combatants are legitimate opponents under the Draconic Accords..." He drew out his sword and ran Kebel through.

The other villagers held their farm implements tightly, and looked on in fury as Kebel lay dying on the ground.

They were near riot, but they were badly outnumbered, had neither armor nor weapons at hand. From the ground where he lay, Kebel frantically waved his arm and shook his head, telling them not to act yet.

"I guess I could heal him, we do have potions for that purpose with us...but it'll cost you?" He asked.

"How much?" an older woman asked softly.

"Five hundred gold..." He said flatly.

"We can't afford that...please...just give it to him...he's dying!" She said, rushing up to kneel at his feet and reaching up to the potion just beyond her means.

"Then you can't have it." He said.

After several more minutes of pleading, the plea became pointless, because Kebel breathed his last, and the woman fell over him weeping.

The Black Justice banner was taken down after that, and burned in the center of the village in front of all one hundred and fifty of them, and Astraka's banner was raised in its place. The peasants were forced back out into the fields to farm for the rest of the day, and well into the evening, under the watchful eyes of Astraka's soldiers.

The villagers of Kybar were asleep, as were most of the soldiers, when Skana first reached the place. Her scouts reported twenty men on sentry duty. But they were, in a few words...not very good. Rather than keeping torches at a distance from their position that they could see into, they carried those torches with them to see out from. Which meant they could see ten feet into the darkness and no further, while by contrast, Black Justice soldiers clad in night's cloak, could see each of them from a hundred yards away. With their Runic weapons having increased range, power, and accuracy...it was over quickly. Forty men picked their targets, two per sentry. One man crept close, while the other drew and fired and dropped the target. Then the nearer figure would close in and secure the body and draw it away from the site.

Then they would wait. It was early in the darkness, there would be other shifts, and to that end they brought up their best in sentry removal skills, it was easy after that, the relief would exit, and then the Black Justice member would step from the shadows, pull back their head by covering their mouth, and slit their throat to make for a silent kill. The commander's schedule simply fed his men to Skana in nice little bite sized pieces.

By the time the dawn broke, there were eighty dead men out of the two hundred occupiers, and Skana had the bodies stacked in the center of the village like bundles of sticks. She then ordered her soldiers to surround the place, and hundreds of archers lay in wait.

Chaos ensued when the cock crowed and those allowed their sleep emerged to find the bodies of their comrades laid out the way they were, shouting, calls to arms, and soldiers ran from their positions still buckling sword belts...and then Skana lifted her bow and fired a flaming shot into the air, that was their signal.

Hundreds of black suits of armor stepped out from concealment, and fired runic weapons into suits of armor that were not prepared to stop runic weapons at anything like close range. Bodies toppled or flew backwards, some men were lucky enough to die quickly, others fell clutching at arrows in the eye or throat, and had long enough to live to understand that they were going back to sleep, and that they would not wake up again.

A few who were slower than their comrades to respond to the disaster, and when they observed through a window or from an open door just what happened, they were quick to respond...sensibly.

"I surrender!" A voice called out, and several more with it. Among them...a burly looking man that Skana recognized must be the commander.

The villagers emerged only after the chaos had died down and Skana raised the banner of Black Justice above the village once again.

"Can I call for the village elder or chief to come forth?" Skana shouted as her soldiers took up the bodies of the dead Astrakian loyalists, and secured the bonds of the prisoners.

An old woman emerged, she was red faced and barely walking, she seemed to be cloaked in sorrow. "Ah...I am sorry ma'am...but...you can't...he...my husband...was murdered yesterday..." It was then that she saw the commander, on his knees being bound securely, "By him! He killed my husband! He killed my husband!" She shrieked and hobbled over to him as fast as her frail body could carry her. She began slapping him, hitting him, screaming and demanding to know why, but the commander just sat and took it, looking at the mask of rage and pain she wore on her wrinkled visage, and smirked.

She was a very old woman, and as such she had little stamina left to her, Skana approached, and gently pulled her back, the woman's arms were raised to her sides and her hands clenched into fists, tears ran down her face, "You monster! Monster!" She shrieked.

"I killed a rebel, nothing more." He said in a remorseless voice.

Skana's lips curled into a snarl, "Sure you did." She looked at him with her one good eye and placed her sword level on his shoulder, and looked at him with her one good eye, and in that eye he beheld the gaze of death's own avatar. Her arm was tense...but with a deep breath she drew it back.

"Under the Draconic Accords, I am not permitted to end the lives of prisoners...but know that I am sorely tempted. You will be sent to Prart and imprisoned until a trial can be arranged. Be grateful to the magnanimous will of the Sorcerer King."

His smug look went up to her, the arrogance, the remorselessness, it ate at Skana...and she vented her fury by spitting down in his face.

"Have this one bound and laid on his back, return to him every hour and spit on his face again." She said, "I don't want to see him 'dry eyed' until he's handed over to the guards in Prart and formally charged with a crime."

That got him. He started shouting and snarling and snapping his teeth like an angry dog, and when he was bound and pushed to his back, he tried his best to rise, but could not, not with his wrists and feet secured as they were.

"Going to crawl like a worm in the dirt?" Skana asked with contempt, and put one foot on his back between his shoulder blades, and she pushed down. He shouted and blustered his threats, but Skana only leaned forward, resting her arms one over the other atop the bent knee, rolling her sword by its pommel in her hand.

"Oh, finding this unpleasant?" She said, "Just wait till you find yourself being confronted by the Sorcerer King. I have felt his power, I would not be surprised if his presence alone could turn your body to paste."

She removed her foot and walked away, get them all to cart and escort them back to Prart.

The old woman approached Skana again.

"T-thank you. But...now what do we do? Kebel was our chief for thirty years...I...we..." She began to say, but paused when Skana put away her sword and took the old woman's hand. "You go on. Its all any of us can do. When someone whe value is taken before their time...we remember them...we build on their names and make our little corner of the world a little bit better. Your village will have a new chief, and you will remember the old one, you will remember your husband, you will tell his story, you will give his passing meaning by the way you live in his memory." Skana said softly, as she thought about the vacant places made in her life...and she gave the woman's hand a gentle squeeze that belied the furious warrior strength she possessed with the muscle and sinew of youth and the power of a veteran's experience.

The old woman nodded, and drew her close, and gave her the tightest hug the aged could manage, and stepped back and held her shoulders softly. "You're a good girl...thank you...remind me of my granddaughter you do, up and went adventuring when she was about your age...she never came back. So you take care out there. The world is a dangerous place, stick by your family, and go home to those'at matter to you. Don't go makin more holes in hearts, OK young miss?" She said with a crooked little smile and dancing eyes that Skana thought...must have been radiant when she was young.

"I'll do my best, but you be careful too, danger as you can see...can seek us out all on its own, we'll be in the area for a bit, but I recommend you establish a watch and be ready to flee the village next time Astraka's soldiers come near." Skana said as she stepped away and turned around.

"Black Justice, that was ONE...before this week is out, I want TEN MORE VILLAGES!"

Swords and bows were lifted. "Justice! Justice! Justice!" The weapons of war rose and fell with their call, echoed by the faithful village.

"We will leave you the bodies of the dead to dispose of, you may keep their weapons and armor for yourself, but bury the dead in accordance with their faith." Skana instructed the villagers, who mutely nodded.

"I will send word to Prart of your labor shortage, and I will request that you be sent a small detachment for your security. Our mission does not allow us to remain, otherwise we would." Skana said regretfully.

The old woman bowed her head. "I don't know how much worse things would have gotten...you've done more than we could ask." She said softly. "Go, with an old woman's gratitude."

Skana smiled at the old woman, her own men had already taken the initiative and purchased a cart from the village to load the prisoners onto, and had largely finished with the task. As Skana began to walk away she looked the prisoners over, they were a nervous looking lot, not much backbone, none of them met her gaze as she walked past. Two soldiers were quickly found to take the prisoners back to Prart, and four more volunteered to serve as scouts for the prisoner wagon as well, that was as secure as could be under the circumstances, not ideal, but there was other work to do.

Skana moved in front of the cart as they took positions in, driving, and alongside it. "Good luck soldiers, link up with us soon, and don't go getting drunk at the tavern when you get back unless you make the first toast to US!" She grinned and wagged a finger at the soldiers, who laughed and offered mock sacred oaths to follow her command, and then as Skana stepped aside, the cart began to move and the riders with it. The rest of her formation was already gathered, so she went to the front of it, and called out "FORWARD!" and they began to ride, kicking their undead mounts into a low trot, while the first two ranks galloped ahead to act as scouts for the remainder.

As they rode past, she saw the fearless determination on some of their faces, and she was certain of one thing...however the war ended...today Black Justic would NOT know defeat.

 _...Prart..._

Neia was satisfied, days after the general counsel and all was proceeding apace. CZ was serving as an instructor on ranged combat, and the city had turned into one great big armed camp. Thousands of soldiers were still pouring in, and thanks to the...departure, of some corrupt members of Prart's old society, ample space existed to put them all up, while production of equipment continued to pour in, scouts were steadily reporting information on enemy movements from Hoburns to Kedyn. With the sudden elimination of so many Theocracy agents, their own now had a virtual free hand, and Neia daily received reports of their sabotage efforts in Hoburns and elsewhere. Of greatest interest however were the raid reports. Skana's efforts at undoing the attempts at occupying Black Justice villages was racking up hundreds of casualties, and the constant raids on Astraka's line of march towards Kasaga had turned a three to five day stroll in good conditions, into a two week nightmare, the army was tired, worn out, severely short of supplies compared to what they began with, and had nothing to show for it. Kasaga was asking for help now though...and Neia intended to render it. She checked her calendar, if her request had been approved, Olasird'arc would arrive tomorrow. The saddle she'd had commissioned was ready but...concealed from all others save the men needed to move it.

She...couldn't...wait.

 _...Slane Theocracy southern military command..._

"Gustav Montagne is a problem, he's raiding our supplies and he's hindering our resupply efforts, we need to divert some of our forces to deal with him." The slane theocracy supply officer said.

"What happens if we don't?" His superior asked.

"Then even with foraging here, we run out of supplies in three months, barring a substantial boost by seizing a large city supply." The supply officer said.

"We'll send fifteen thousand to chase him down then, if we can drive him off, we can defeat him later." The commander said.

 _...Astraka's army..._

Finally something good had happened, word filtered back that several Black Justice villages had been occupied, a few rebels had been executed, but losses were low and raids had begun to slow down, he was only a day away from Kasaga now, and his men were angry, very angry, and he was going to let them vent that anger on the defenders. They'd need to unleash their wrath somehow. That night, rest came to them in a small measure, a few raids occurred, but someone had the sense to put torches out at a distance and keep sentries hidden, so when the raid happened this time...casualties were few, and an enchanted arrow even killed an undead horse and lead to the capture of a member of Black Justice. He had to be beaten into unconsciousness to take him into custody...but in the morning he'd get to see the walls of the city they'd captured, fall to him.

Tomorrow was going to be a very good day.

 _...Office of Raymond...Slane Theocracy..._

Zesshi was just about to knock on the door to Raymond's office when the voices gave her pause.

"You really want to let the elf king rape human women as the price for his help?" Raymond's muffled voice said.

"You can't have qualms about it NOW, we already made the agreement." Dominic's voice answered, "And if we get another one like Zesshi out of it, well its for the greater good! Why can't you see that?!" Dominic shouted.

"Because we're talking about an act the god's themselves abhorred, something so sickeningly wrong that even the undead expressly moved to prohibit it! And what do we say to them? How do we tell Zesshi that we can't let her kill her father until he's at least raped his way across the Holy Kingdom for us first, or that we might not even let her try at all if it turns out we can easily take away any women he impregnates. How do we tell her mother, one of our own scripture seats, that we're endorsing what was done to her?!" Raymond snapped.

"Your fondness for the half elf is tainting your thinking!" Dominic snapped.

"No! My value of my COMRADE is keeping my thinking clear! She'd never forgive us for this, and I wouldn't blame her, I blame myself for letting us get dragged this far into this monstrous agreement. What good is an army if we trade away our humanity! This won't end well for us! You mark me!" Raymond snapped.

"Blasphemer! Anything done for the faith cannot be sinful! Anything to ensure that our gods reign supreme and their worship and their servants are not threatened, must be acceptable or we are all done for!" Dominic shouted. "Why did you even ask me here?!" He snapped.

"I hoped in private you'd be able to keep your temper and see sense...but you didn't, now get out of my office!" Raymond snapped. Dominic walked away and reached fort he handle, "You mark me Raymond, if we do things your way, there will be nothing left of us, we're battling monsters, so we must fight as they fight or we will be no more. "We'll kill the boy in the tower, and the princess for good measure, we'll use the soldiers of a mismanaged Re-Estize to reclaim E-Rantel, and in thirty years when we're retired you'll swallow your pride and say I was right all along." Dominic said rapidly and angrily, until the end when he laughed.

"Everything will be fine, don't worry, the gods will it." Dominic said, and he exited the room. Zesshi however, was not seen, she had concealed herself to eavesdrop, and was displeased with much of what she'd heard.

She considered entering to speak with Raymond...but instead...decided she had somewhere else to be, and began the walk back to the tower where Climb was no doubt swinging his practice sword.

 _...Ikari City..._

When Ikarian command teams got the report that forty thousand soldiers were bypassing their city and heading on a circuitious route to Kami Miyako, there were mixed feelings. First...they weren't being attacked...but arguably worse was...the city behind them, their capital, was being attacked. They immediately notified the hundred thousand plus army that had been moving North, and warned them to diver to Kami Miyako instead. Presented with the possible loss of their capitol, this they did, and for good measure, the expeditionary force asked for the city to provide seventeen thousand soldiers to outflank the force or aid in surrounding it when it was intercepted.

There were many...many volunteers hungry for the glory of defeating General Enri, the guardian of the southern pass, and the only one between them and marching North on E-Rantel itself.

 _...Enri's camp..._

When the dragons were en route, she'd expressly requested that they land far behind her camp and walk in along the ground, they had made no objection to this, but Enry had to explain to the frost dragons the utility of secrecy as a means to power, and several found it intruiging as a concept, but what was more interesting were the boxes.

Enri stood in front of several very large boxes. "These are how we will take Ikari City." She said.

"Each of these can hold fifty soldiers, what I want you to do when I am at the city, is sweep over the defenders and use your ice breath, then sweep low and snatch these boxes up by the handle on top, and then sweep low into the city and deposit them near the gate, our soldiers exit, seize the gate, and you fly up again and render range support while we storm the entrance."

Enri grinned. "Do you have any questions" She asked.

"Whats the box called?" One of the dragons asked.

Enri put her finger to the corner of her lip and looked up thoughtfully for a moment. "I call it the 'dragon's lunchbox'. She grinned and began to laugh, and so caught off guard were the rest of them, that they began laughing as well, and nobody stopped, not for quite some time.

 **AN: Well here is another double release, not quite as long as I originally intended it, but I'm not unhappy, I still have to go back and fix two details from a previous chapter, just to tired to do that now, long day, good day, but long, I'll fix those details later. In the meantime, if you've enjoyed my work thus far, please consider donating to my charity organization: bdgiving dot org.**

 **Also, per a reader request... I've started a (not sure if I can say this without it being censored) a 'discordserver' and if you'd like to join it: hJrfday**


	63. The Fall of Philip

_...Re-Estize..._

'Supreme King Philip All-conqueror the great and mighty' as he now styled himself, rode out at the head of his army a mere two weeks after his coronation. They were some two hundred thousand strong, and they were marching east to reclaim E-Rantel. Philip grumbled his discontent under his breath. the Theocracy envoy had been so stupid to doubt his ability, it was time to prove them wrong.

He thought back on the conversation...

"King Philip, I..." The man had begun, but Philip raised his hand to stop him.

"Use my full title, or use the door and get out." Philip said imperiously.

"Ah yes, forgive me your grace. Supreme King Philip Allconqueror the Great," Philip nodded in approval, and he continued, "I am Yorin Oublert, envoy of the Slane Theocracy, as you know, we have supported you since the beginning of your righteous expulsion of the inept rulers of your kingdom, and it is with great joy that I bow to you on your throne." He paused and lowered himself briefly at the waist.

"Of course the support of the Theocracy are always welcome." Philip said.

The envoy nodded, and continued. "Yet we note that your conquest is still incomplete, and we fear you cannot take E-Rantel without assistance, so we ask that you refrain from your attack until we can support you properly." Yorin said politely.

Philip was outraged, "I am the Supreme King, the warmaster, the greatest general in the history of the world, of course I can take E-Rantel, I have decreed it, and now I will have it! Get out of my sight!"

The Theocracy envoy bowed and exited, and Philip fumed, he'd planned on reclaiming E-Rantel anyway after what that stupid whore had said before about his kingdom not being all his yet, or whatever stupid thing she'd uttered. It got under his skin, he resolved that when he returned, he'd overturn those stupid anti-slavery laws and she'd be the FIRST one on the auction block.

...Now here he was, only minutes from the border, and one of his companions...another idiot, leaned over and spoke to him.

"My lord, we're almost to the border." He said.

Philip groaned, the man had foul breath and spat when he talked, but he was on his side so...not intolerable. "So?" He asked.

"So perhaps now would be the time to say something to everyone, inspire them before we cross the border and make history." He said.

Philip thought that over for a moment, it was actually not a bad idea. "Alright, when we are at the bottom of that hill we should be over the border, I'll say something when we get to the top of it." He said with a grin.

A few minutes later, he halted his army and clumsily guided his horse to the top of the hill and looked down over his soldiers.

"People of Re-Estize! Today you do something great! You take back whats ours! You punish the traitors that served the Sorcerer King who killed two hundred thousand of our soldiers, you punish the sorcerer king who summoned monsters from their corpses, you will win back my kingdom, you will win for the Supreme King Philip Allconqueror the Great! Be proud of what you give your lives for, be proud of your chance to serve the greatest monarch in all the world's history, and do not fear his magic, for even if you die, my name will endure, and you may die knowing you served me well!"

Philip shouted, and beamed with pride as he returned to his position and ordered the march resumed. His speech had not had any applause to speak of. He smirked, he was so great that they were simply stunned into submissive awe at his speaking ability.

It had been a masterful decision of his to invade without any official declaration of war, this way the defeated royal faction couldn't run, he could catch the Sorcerer King off guard, he could capture E-Rantel, and maybe the Sorcerer King would even kneel to him and beg for his...life...unlife? He thought briefly of how impressed Albedo would be...surely she'd do anything for him after that. He clucked his tongue and returned to a favorite fantasy of her and princess Renner at the same time. All he had to do was capture the beauty...or better yet...capture them both...at the same time...

His eyes glazed over as the thoughts he was having took him far from the present, so much so that the soldier beside him had to shake him to bring him out of his daze.

There was a glint on the horizon, and as they drew closer, Philip recognized it for what it was, it was a fortification of stone, not very large, but large enough to block the entire area, given the relatively unstable ground on either side of the road it controlled.

Philip frowned. "Attack it! It blocks the way to our goal!" He said, and he ordered his men to charge. A noble beside him was saying something stupid, like how you can't expect an army to charge for a solid half mile going up even a hill as mild as this...but clearly the man was wrong.

As he and Philip drew closer they heard the humans manning the place shout, "Ahhh, its King Philip the Allconqueror, runaway!" He smirked and when his army drew up to the small fort, the door in was left open and the door out was closed and the position had been abandoned.

He advanced further, and looked around at the interior of the little fort when he came to it. It wasn't bad. Large stone blocks made up the bulk of it, a somewhat rectangular shape that cut across the road in both directions until the area where the ground became rough, the walls were about twelve feet high, and the towers roughly eighteen feet high and those were spaced out at roughly ten foot intervals, and the gates had been solid thick wood, probably harvested from the forest on either side that the road cut through.

He briefly pondered whether he should name this great battle after himself using his first name...or his last name.

He was still thinking that an hour later when he saw that there was another fort blocking the road to E-Rantel, and Philip smirked at it, fools, stupid, stupid fools.

That was when it happened. The gates began to creak, so loud and so slowly that was as if they were heavy as houses. And from beyond those doors came soldiers. Rank after rank after rank after rank, thousands upon thousands of them, forming up in perfect unity. Their halberds glinted in the bright noonday Sun, and for the first time in his life, Philip felt the icy chill of death.

The banner of King Zanac and the Baharuth Empire were arrayed opposite his ranks, but still that was not all. The gates remained open, and the Banner of the Sorcerer King emerged, being carried by an army of skeletons in enchanted armor, thousands were on foot, but there were also others on the backs of undead horses that had begun to range out to the wings to support the infantry..

Philip swallowed and looked around nervously. Then he heard the noise. A drum resounded over the field, it sounded like the rumble of a storm, and it might as well have been for what it heralded. The soldiers arrayed against him began to advance, the drum shattered Philip's spirit and frightened his untrained mount, which began to kick at the ground and tried to fight against his orders, shaking him left and right.

"Advance! Attack!" Philip shouted at his tired troops, they'd marched for hours, only a short while before they'd had to run in full armor, they were thirsty, they were hungry, and now they were frightened. Philip was still fighting with his stupid horse.

Still, they obeyed, if haphazardly.

Among General Nimble & King Zanac's forces the orders were clear. "Accept all surrenders! But CRUSH all resistance!"

Arrows flew from both armies, but Philip's men had been given cheap bows that were easily mass produced, while Zanac's forces had gear from the Sorcerer King and the Empire had a strong industrial armament tradition at its back, and the undead hoards had bows of magic that wrought a terrible toll on the unprepared and lightly armored soldiers of 'King Philip'.

When the armies were sixty feet from one another and the drums continued their awful beating from the side of the Sorcerer King, a horrible death scream echoed over everything, and death knights began charging one by one through the gate of the fort, they ran in long loping strides, their massive tower shields and swords twice the length of a man were fearsome to behold, and they carried with them an aura of death and suffering like nothing the Re-Estize soldiers had ever seen.

Philip's horse panicked beyond all measure and threw him off its back and ran away in desperate terror. Philip landed flat on his back and groaned in pain, that had hurt, his crown flew off his head, and when he rolled himself over onto his stomach and got up to all fours, he scrambled across the ground to pick it up and put it back on his head, it had never fit right, it sank way down on his head. When the scream came closer, that was when it had really hit him and he whirled around on his feet to watch his perfect army, the army of Supreme King Philip Allconqueror the Great...melt like butter on hot bread. His eyes went wide in terror, the undead holding the center swung massive hammers and swords and cut men down or bashed their heads in with the ease of farmers harvesting wheat or workers hammering nails. The disciplined forces of the Empire and of King Zanac were taking a terrible toll on the wings of his forces, and as they spread out wide around his army, the death knights charged into the gaps between the two and began cutting a horrific swath.

Philip shrieked and turned around and began to run the opposite direction. He began to scream aloud... "Stupid soldiers! stupid nobles! stupid peasants! You're all so stupid and incompetent! Stupid! Stupid! Stupid, stupid stupid!" He shrieked and he ran as fast as he could...for about twenty yards until he began to breathe to hard and had to slow down, he tried to get out of his armor so he could run faster, he cast aside his sword, his shield, and he scrambled like mad through the dust and the dirt.

"Someone save me! He shrieked as he heard his army's complete collapse. Horses ran past him, some with riders who ignored his commands to stop and give him the horse, some with no riders that were to stupid to know they should have stopped for him. The drums...gods the drums were maddening, he felt a wetness form at his crotch and the telltale smell of ammonia. He started to cry as he ran more.

"Someone save me! I am the supreme king! You have to save me! I'm ORDERING someone to save me!" He shouted as his lungs burned and his muscles refused to obey him just like the idiots who were running past him.

He looked around, desperate, the sound of fighting had almost completely stopped, but the drums, the damnable drums that beat themselves into his soul...the sound of undead shrieking, the smell of piss and shit as people voided themselves either in death or due to their fear of death, more soldiers were fleeing, all of them were running past him like he wasn't there, his arms thrust out in front of him as if he were going to grab for a lifeline that wasn't there, he looked over his shoulder, he heard the sound of hooves from what even he could recognize as a cavalry formation.

The fort! He had to get to the fort they'd passed, he could close the gate and the stupid soldiers who'd run away past him could sacrifice on the walls there to let him get away, he was covered with dirt and muck, he fell and scrambled up, cutting himself on his head and arms as he tried to draw just one inch closer to what he thought was the safety of the fort, he had tears in his eyes and screamed his frustration, but it was drowned out by the scream of a death knight that was far to close. He looked over his shoulder.

The banner's of the Sorcerer King, King Zanac, & Emperor Jicrniv, appeared over the horizon, carried by cavalry forces.

He cried out and ran harder, tripping over his feet and falling to the ground, scrambling up, all he could think about was the fort, just get to the fort!

He could see it...finally, it was so close! So close! and then he screamed and fell to his knees. He saw the stupid soldiers who had run past him, all on their knees in front of the gate, it had been closed against them, three banners were atop the wall...it was lined with archers who had their bows drawn.

"How! How! How did this happen?!" Philip screamed. "How could you all be so stupid! You've ruined everything! I'm the Supreme King!" He shrieked in a hoarse voice, howling with rage as the horsemen moved to surround him.

"Do you surrender?" King Zanac said, as he lowered his sword and bringing the blade down the length of Philips terrified face, and lifting his chin up, he pressed the tip close to his throat in a very clear threat.

Philip's mouth opened and closed several times, but ultimately he answered by shitting himself and grabbing the backside of his pants. The laughter at him caused him to begin to cry.

The words were almost pointless, he bit his quivering lip and stared up the length of the sword to its mounted wielder. "uh huh..." He sniffled and wiped his nose, nodding and sinking down to his belly.

The drums had stopped, the cheers had not. King Zanac raised his sword, followed by General Nimble, and across the battlefield the armies of the victors shouted their satisfaction to the skies, while undead soldiers became undead guards and followed direction to securely bind the many captives, while the healing servants of the Sorcerer King went out to bind wounds or heal them with magic according to their skills, while still other undead dragged the deceased away for disposal.

Zanac and Nimble rode about the battlefield, a look at the placement of the bodies from atop the rise told the story of the battle. As Philip's forces had advanced, the archers had hit the wings of them, driving the undisciplined soldiers in the center to try to take cover in the shadows of the men next to them, which resulted in the line contracting inwards. Then when the two sides had clashed, the superior strength, armor, and weapons of the undead had stopped the line cold and begun to push in, while the Zanac Loyalists and the heavy knights of Baharuth and begun to circle around and caved the formation in on the sides, the path of the death knights carving their way through the gaps had left a swath of bodies, and that was when Philip's army had completely routed.

The dead, though numerous, were not nearly what they could have been, it was clear that the route had started early and that more had likely died from being trampled than had died from the fighting itself. Nimble breathed a heavy sigh, it was like a reverse of the Katze Plains where the Empire had suffered several hundred dead and injured in sheer panic at the magic and the monsters of the Sorcerer King.

He shook his head in pity, stupid, so very stupid.

Most of the remainder of the day was spent on the mundane, Philip was stripped of all his royal decorations, including his crown, and dressed in a peasant's loin cloth and nothing more, a rope was put around his wrists and he was half dragged away from the field where he had destroyed himself and his ambitions. His tender feet were soon bruised, blistered, and bleeding as he was made to stumble his sorry way, whimpering like a child, all the way back to E-Rantel, while his soldiers were secured behind him.

He drew jeers when he was lead through the city, humans and demihumans had lined the streets to point and laugh at him, they threw rubbish, mud, and offal at his body. When his loincloth fell away and he was naked before them, the laughter increased and he tugged at his bonds to retrieve it and at least conceal his nakedness, only to be tugged mercilessly forward. His head was lowered and all he could do was keep moving so that he would not be dragged along the ground.

He was stinking of sweat and piss and the lingering odor of his voided bowels on his flesh, but worst of all was the stink of fear, terror, raw and primal, was exuded from his body and he looked around in wild eyed horror at the monster demihumans, only to lower his head again in utter shame, especially when his royal rod became a point of mockery.

It was a long road to the governor's manor, and every step was a nightmare of shame and degradation. His day in the Sun had turned out to be a time of illumination for his poverty of character. The Sun beat down like the hammers of the battlefield skeletons, it hurt his fair skin so much that he was almost grateful for the muck that covered at least a little of his scrawny frame.

The laughter stung the most though, he was PHILIP! PHILIP! He should have been cheered, not jeered!

It was a great relief when he finally reached the manor, he could go indoors, get out of the sun and away from the mocking eyes of those stupid peasants.

He froze, a hole in the air opened up in front of the gate to the manor. King Zanac and General Nimble got down from their horses and dragged him along behind them as they walked towards that whirling black gap in existence. Philip shrieked and tried to pull away, he fought more fiercely than...well he had never fought anyone himself, but this he tried to fight, and it did no good. In the end he simply fainted from the fear.

He woke up later, bound hand and foot and laying naked on the floor at the base of a set of stairs, Emperor Jircniv, Princess Renner, & King Zanac were kneeling there with heads bowed low on either side of the helpless naked kinglet when he finally began to come to and heard a voice of unsurpassed nobility. He could feel the presence of others behind him, but bound as he was, he could not see.

"You played your roles to the hilt, I am truly proud of all of you." Ainz said with a wave of his awe inspiring staff. "With this, your throne is practically reclaimed, King Zanac. Almost all his army was there, and they are no more, almost all his nobles were there, and they are either dead or captured, what little remains in the form of city garrisons will be reclaimed by yourselves and General Zaryusu within a month or less, and then you may begin to rebuild your kingdom into its ideal form!" Ainz laughed with satisfaction.

"Tell me, what is it that you truly wish, how may I reward you?" Ainz asked. Before anything else could be said, he raised a finger and added, "Know that I will be displeased if you ask for nothing. You are people of your own, and should have your own desires other than simply to serve me in achieving mine. So with that said...General Nimble, name your desire."

General Nimble spoke, "I am a simple man sire, I have lived my life in service, and I have seen...so much unugliness, things your majesty's reign is finally bringing an end to. If I may ask but one thing for myself...a small country estate by a lake, with a small stipend to live off of and retire to, so that I can finally start a family and live in peace."

Ainz lowered his face slightly and touched his finger to it..."That I cannot do in whole, I can provide you an estate of the sort you request, but I would take it as an affront if your stipend was so small that you were left living in veritable poverty, therefore you will be granted a considerable stipend for the remainder of your mortal life, when all hostilities have ceased, will that be sufficient?" Ainz asked in a voice that was somewhat humorous.

"I...ah...yes sire!" Nimble said in surprise.

"Very well, please withdraw, one of my maids will escort you to the Nazarick spa to rest and restore yourself, and you will have quarters here overnight, tomorrow you will resume your campaign and aid King Zanac in recapturing his kingdom."

General Nimble bowed deeply as he stood, and backed away, and a stunningly beautiful maid stepped away from the wall, he fell in behind her as he moved to relax in a paradise for a day.

"Emperor Jircniv, without your loyalty, all would be weaker, where would the world be?" Ainz asked.

"Your majesty, no doubt it would still be in your hands." He said, prompting a chuckle from atop the throne.

"Agreed, however I would be struggling to find minds equal to the task of carrying out my will, so...what reward can I offer you?" He asked.

Jircniv thought it over. "My lord you have granted my empire unprecedented prosperity, with more yet in the offing..."

Ainz raised his hand, "That is the duty of a liege, this reward first and foremost is for you, please indulge yourself this once, and be just a little bit selfish."

Jircniv was taken aback at the...very personable way he had just been spoken to, as if something had been proven to the Sorcerer King, he thought it over, biting his lip as he contemplated that almost anything he wanted could be his.

"Sire, I do not know if this reward will please you, but I have rumor that years ago, you blessed a woman's unborn child, I would ask the same for my own when the time comes." He said.

"It will be done, and proudly." Ainz replied, "Now you may withdraw to the Nazarick spa for rest and relaxation, I expect you will return to the empire to rule, and leave the remaining labor to the generals we have assembled." Ainz said.

"It is as you say, majesty." Jircniv said as he stood, bowed, and withdrew, following behind another maid.

"King Zanac, I realize this has all been very hard on you, but know that your faith in me has not been mislaid, you needn't fear for your crown, your life, or your station, your people will prosper and you will live well as a good king should. What reward may I offer to you?" Ainz asked.

King Zanac did not even have to think about it. "When the time comes, I want the lives of those who slew my father for myself." He said.

"Granted. Any who survive, are yours to do with as you wish." Ainz said, "Now you too, may go enjoy a hard earned rest for the day, tomorrow, you go to reclaim what is yours."

King Zanac stood and bowed, and left to follow behind another maid of shocking beauty.

"Hilma, your development of the courtesan corps has provided invaluable intelligence, you have proven yourself a good servant, and you deserve a reward that lives up to your service. Name your desire." Ainz said.

"Majesty...I want...I want to forget my pain and retire in peace when all is over." She said softly.

"Not unreasonable, however you must train a replacement of comparable skill to yourself first." He said, "You may begin while the war is on, and when they are declared competent, I will grant you a sum of money sufficient to allow you to live where you wish in comfort, and the memory of your baptism will be locked away forever." He said.

"Thank you sire..." She said through tears of happiness.

"Now go, retire to the spa for the day and enjoy the fruits of good service." He said.

She rose and bowed like the others, and withdrew behind a maid.

Philip was to shocked to speak. He could only think...'Hilma! Hilma! His Hilma?! He knew her voice all to well, and she was spying on him?!' He twisted and writhed, wanting to rise and punish her. It drew some laughter his way, and unable to bear the humiliation that would come of rolling on his back, he stopped.

"Kantessa, you served as the handler of this little fool. From you came knowledge of every single strike he was going to make, you kept others safe from his advances despite how unpleasant that must have been." Ainz said.

She gave a wicked smile, "I hardly noticed him, your majesty." She then snickered, and Philip tried to howl with rage as his manhood was insulted, but his mouth was gagged with a ball with a leather strap running through its center, and he could barely do more than drool in disgrace.

Her comment drew considerable laughter, and when it stilled, Ainz asked, "Be that as it may, you deserve reward, what would you ask?"

"The right to hurt him." She said, and pointed to the naked Philip. "He hit me, he humiliated me, and I bore it...it was my job as a spy to do so...but I still hate him for it...please sire...when it is time to make him suffer...let me help?" She asked softly.

Ainz looked over to Albedo, "Albedo, did we ever get a copy of the Draconic accords signed by Philip's government after his coronation?"

Philip began to tremble.

"Sire, it came back to us torn in two with a rude comment about how stupid it was to put rules to war." She said, and glared down at the kinglet that had dismissed her master's kindness.

"I see, so therefore he is not granted their protections." Ainz said.

Philip was struggling to speak, "You wish to speak?" Ainz asked. "To defend yourself?"

Philip nodded. "Remove his gag." Ainz said, and a maid approached and unlatched it from behind his head.

"I am Supreme King Philip Allconqueror the Great! I cannot be subject to any laws! I demand you let me go, its all those worthless peasants and other stupid nobles fault I'm here! I am the KI-" He was cut off from his tirade as the ballgag went back into his mouth and the sudden pressure of Ainz's power came down on him and caused him to shrink away in fear.

"You DARE! You DARE to call yourself 'supreme!' Albedo shrieked with utter madness, she screamed at him in frothing rage, and a half step behind her, Shalltear erupted.

"There is only one being in this world that has the right to use that word for themselves! You lowly maggot! You worm! I will feast on your entrails! Turn you into mush!" The two women's voices echoed as they began to scream insults at the now terrified Philip.

"You're being to noisy, quiet down." Ainz said and waved his hand, and the two immediately calmed themselves.

"Of course, I'm sorry my love." Albedo said and returned to her formal pose.

"Yes, so sorry my lord." Shalltear said, coughing into her hand with some discretion before returning to her ladylike pose.

Ainz leaned forward, resting his arms on his throne and letting his staff float beside him. His voice became low, sonorous, ominous, and filled with abject and total contempt as his words slowly marched from his mouth. "No, you fool, you are here because of you, everything that happened, was all you, I gave you opportunities that only a bad king would take. I gave you access to support that only a bad king would use for selfish purposes. I gave you the chance at peace that a good king would take and a bad king would reject, everything about your life since after the Katze Plains saw your elevation, was by my design through my agents, at any moment you could have shown the virtue of a good king and given deference to experience, justice to the weak, and loyalty to your leaders, instead you did every wrong thing you could, both practically and in terms of justice. Right down to protecting the lives of those you were meant to lead by accepting limitations on the brutality of war. You are a worm, the lowest of worms not only by your pettiness, undeserved ego, and casual cruelty, but also by your abject stupidity, and now you are here, by your own decisions, naked, filthy, stinking, and you will never leave."

Philip began to cry as the words hit home.

Ainz looked to Kantessa, "You ask for the chance to make him suffer, the chance is yours right now, but you will also be granted a one hundred fifty platinum coin bonus in addition to your reward and your promised pay."

The woman looked utterly stunned, "Majesty...I..." She struggled to think of what to say and she prostrated herself. "You are truly a generous god to your servants..." She said in a hushed voice.

"You degraded yourself by plying your body upon a worm that was beneath your contempt, and you did it to serve me well, serve your nation, and you saved many lives. You should be rewarded accordingly." Ainz said.

"Vanysa, come and take this thing to Neuronist's room. Kantessa will be joining you, and you can make music to your heart's content." Ainz said.

From the wall came a lovely girl, who squatted next to Philip, she tilted his face up towards her by the chin to meet his gaze. He could not take his eyes away. She was obviously small, only slightly taller than Philip himself, with long silky blonde hair done in a single braid that fell beside her fawn like legs, and greenish gray eyes, she had ample breasts with three small freckles on her left breast, and her skin was the color of wheat stalks reflecting the summer sun. She held his gaze, her expression was curious, as if she were exploring something new, and then her expression changed, her small mouth went into a frown. "Guilt...so much guilt..." She said softly, and she shifted from beauty to beautiful nightmare, teeth turned to ominous fangs, wings sprang from her back, her hair turned dark as night, horns grew from her head, and the finger became a talon that drew blood from under his chin, and her eyes turned to those of a happy sadist. She stood, and as she did she grabbed him by the hair twisting it tight and drawing a scream through his gag.

All that transpired in mere moments, and she giggled as he screamed in his gag, "I'm always appy to serve yah sire." She said, and her wings flapped and she dragged him along behind her, with his waist and below scraping across the stone floor, as she floated a little off the ground. Kantessa stood and bowed very deeply once more, and folded her hands in front of her as she fell into step behind the pair.

"Hope yah like music." Vanysa said over her shoulder.

And Philip wondered what this mad thing was talking about as he struggled to escape a grip his soft lazy hands could never hope to contest against.

It was six hours of hell before Kantessa was satisfied with Philips begging for forgiveness. It was sixty years before Vanysa was satisfied enough with his begging for death that she sought permission to end his life. The day he died, his innards fed a family of roaches, his skin made a handful of scrolls, and his bones were reanimated and set to working in the field forever as a servant of Kantessa's granddaughter.

 **AN: Well here we end another chapter. You're probably wondering about the fall of Re-Estize back into the hands of King Zanac, but that is for a future chapter, for now I trust you're satisfied with the long awaited demise of that fuckwit Philip, I think we all agree...he was a douchebag. Though I admit it was satisfying to build him up just to destroy him utterly. In case you're wondering, the reclaimation of the throne will only be a part of a larger chapter leading into the next part of the arc.**

 **P.S. Beta reader's did a find and replace that took 'Philip' and replaced it with 'dick' 'lol'**

 **ALSO...can you figure out the anagram? If you work it out, let us know on the discord: /hJrfday**


	64. Dragon Rider Neia

_...Nazarick..._

Olasird'arc was quiet when Hejinmal approached.

"Father, I'm told you wanted to see me?" Hejinmal asked.

"I did." Olasird'arc said in a low, troubled voice. "You've gotten bigger. Stronger looking."

Hejinmal preened just a little bit. "Thank you father, Lady Aura has seen to it that I get plenty of exercise, I trade it for books, so I grow stronger in body and mind. But...you didn't call me here to compliment me, did you father?" Hejinmal asked softly.

"No, I did not." Olasird'arc said.

"I called you here to tell you that you were right, and I was wrong. I know what happened after...after I died. You gained an elevated position, wealth, power, access to what you wanted, all without risk or danger, while I ended up a corpse first, and a sheep to be sheared second. What you traded in ease, was taken from me in pain, lots of pain, lots of times, and in between those times of pain, I had time for contemplation. Tell me my son, did you ever think me stupid?" Olasird'arc asked.

Hejinmal shook his head. "No...you were strong, but you understood how we were stronger together, few enough of our kind understood that, you promoted change where others wouldn't, I simply did not fit with what you understood as strength, that doesn't mean I thought you to be foolish, I simply didn't want the same thing you did, and it took us the ways it took us."

Olasird'arc sighed, "It would have been easier to apologize if you'd resented me more, I think. Simply put, I have been...humbled, and had I not been foolish to reject the strength that came to you through your learning, I might have avoided it all, I have learned that those who yielded by choice have prospered, while I...did not. But they have offered me my chance at redemption, I go to serve in their war, and through service, gain my freedom from pain and I will be allotted a better life in serving by choice, and will oversee our people again as a much wiser being than I was before."

"I'm glad father, whatever resentment I felt...I did not relish you being tormented for your mistake in challenging the Sorcerer King." Hejinmal said.

"It is a mistake I will not repeat." He said.

"What are you going to go do for the war?" Hejinmal asked.

"I'm going to carry a human named Neia Baraja, do you know of her?" He asked.

"I do! I met her once...father...if you look her in the eyes, you will know why you are carrying her." Hejinmal said softly, "Please believe me when I say this, you will not consider her to be unworthy to be upon your back."

Once upon a time, the mighty Frost Dragon King Olasird'arc would have laughed at this, but as he looked at his son now and remembered his past mistakes and contemplated that the human served the king who broke him...he found himself nodding. "Perhaps you are right, I know now better than to simply dismiss your counsel."

"I wish you good luck father, and when you come back, would you like to borrow some of my books?" Hejinmal asked.

"I would." His father replied.

 _...Prart..._

Time moved like a thief in the night, and the leather worker team had done their damnedest to be ready in time, they were...successful, but it had taken four different shops and most of their supplies to create what had been requested, for good measure, they had even borrowed the assistance of a master smith, a dwarf of all things, who had settled in the city years ago and stayed on ever since through thick and then. To their knowledge, he was the only dwarf in the city, he was also the best there was when it came to working with rare metals like adamantium, and it was much to their good fortune that he had just finished a job. Now he was free to work with them, and when he understood the project, he waived his fee and the cost of the materials, and turned the burn scarred rough hands of a master to the complementary workings of a saddle the likes of which the world had never seen before. For this he created a whole new stirrup system, one custom measured to the height of Neia Baraja, and which would not just hold rider by the feet, but would fold over with a latch system to wrap around the legs and via a pair of straps, secure the rider at the waist. The leather used was of the finest available, and was so large and heavy that it took all four men to lift it when it was assembled and stored away.

When it was done, they explained their system to Neia.

"Aye this thing'll hold you fast in a hurricane wind." The dwarven smith said, "This system'll latch your legs to the side, n'from there you've got these two simple straps that link together like the ends of a belt right at the seat, this way you'll be braced at the body, while your legs are not only protected from comin' out, but also protected from any ranged attack." He said, stroking his beard proudly.

"Remarkable." Neia said, "What metal is that, is it really...adamantite?"

"It is, second best metal I've ever had the privilege of workin with, but...the first best...well I still haven't managed it yet, so this'll have to do." He said.

The leather workers presented their work next, "As you're an archer and will need additional arrows, we've turned the saddle itself into a quiver, you have these carriers, "he touched his hand to the long rounded cylinders that were secured on both sides of the saddle, two to the front on both sides, and two corresponding on the rear, "These will each hold twenty five arrows, give or take, now, may I see one of your arrows?" He asked.

She looked at him quizzically, but drew one from her quiver and handed it to him, he stuck it down into the cylinder and twisted it. "Try to draw it out." He said.

She reached over casually and gave it a slight tug, it didn't move. She tugged again, it held fast. "Ahhh...please explain why my arrow is stuck." She said in polite confusion.

He grinned, "It isn't. Its secured. Watch." He said, and gave it a twist in the opposite direction. "Now pull it out." He said and gestured back to it. She reached over and pulled it out with ease. "

They were grinning like the cats who'd eaten the canaries. Since dragons can loop around upside down, we realized that this would cause the arrows you're carrying to spill out and drop to the battlefield below, so we made it so that they twist into place at the bottom, and don't come out unless they're twisted back the same way, they twist clockwise on both sides for a smooth draw. The workers were clearly very proud of themselves, they were preening like roosters, and they, from her perspective, had every right to be doing so. "Also, while your design specified a second seat, we found that based on expected dimensions, we couldn't easily create a saddle to wrap around in quite the same way, so instead we created a joint saddle, this connects to the other via these straps at the back and is held secure under the legs, we interwove the leather with adamantite strands to make sure it couldn't be just 'cut' by a wayward shot, even if the leather frays or is struck, it will hold fast, though the one you're riding might chafe a bit for the rest of the day." One of them said with a clever grin.

Neia bowed to the group of five. "Gentlemen you have outdone yourself, I couldn't be prouder to have you on my side, you have earned your place tomorrow.

They clapped each other on the shoulders and were right glad of her praise when they left.

The next day Neia received the note she'd been expecting, the siege of Kasaga had begun in earnest, prisoners from Skana's expedition had been coming in daily, some had been specially identified as war criminals to be held for trial, while others were marked for common accord and due to be released without further inquiry barring crimes while imprisoned, once the war was over. She finished the last stamp on the last document and handed it to Tinamoc.

"You look happy today." Tinamoc said. "Not quite what I expected given the news of the siege of Kasaga." He said. He cocked his head to one side and looked at her curiously. "Why might this be?"

"Well, you know the details yes?" She asked.

"Well I've sat in on the briefings with you, kind of have to, what with me handling trade matters with the Calcan loyalists and logistics for the city and all...but I don't really get the military matters much. The only metal I know much about comes in the form of coin." He said.

Neia set aside her stamp and folded her hands together in front of her on the desk. "As you know, a few days ago King Astraka attacked the city, and he outnumbers them three to one. However you also know our soldiers are just plain better, or should know that, I hope." She said with an arched brow, and he nodded along.

"Nobody could doubt that, he wouldn't have used three to one odds if he thought you were worth less than half of one of his men." Tinamoc said.

CZ snorted from where she stood, at Neia's right hand. "Black Justice is strong."

"Good, so you also know that he's got, thanks to the efforts of our partisans and other insurrectionists, a very bad supply problem, right?" She asked.

"Well I don't know how much damage has been done relative to what he has or needs, but I know you're not going far without food or water for an army." Tinamoc said.

"Well, the siege is ending today, and he doesn't have enough supplies to get his army back to Hoburns intact." Neia said with a very self satisfied grin on her face.

Tinamoc looked at her in surprise. "Exactly how is that?" He asked.

Neia held her grin, "You know about the general city assembly today of course." She said matter of factly.

"Of course," he said, "everyone does."

"You'll find out then." She said with a sweet and secretive smile.

She was not disappointed by the turnout. That afternoon most of the city had been emptied and stood outside its walls while Neia stood up top between the two gate towers and looked on the wide open ground before the famous city of Prart, as she looked over the crowd she was proud of what she saw. The black armor of her forces, with their telltale red chain designs framing the torsos of thousands of people, filled the area, those who were not her soldiers, or her priests, or her paladins, wearing their customary garb, were her people, well fed, strong, bright eyes and bright faces, people who believed they had a future to build and were confident that they could build it. Few among those were not wearing a pin representing the shield of black justice, she reflected briefly that whoever thought to start selling those little pins was probably a very rich person by now. She smirked, that was fine, if people wanted it known with what faith they were affiliated, sobeit. A sea of little black shields with a red chain circling it, was sported over countless hearts in the form of those little pins.

She looked off into the distance, the people were facing her, but she could see just what she expected, off in the distance, a flying figure heading in her direction.

"People of Prart, our family in Kasaga is at risk! They are besieged by a foul usurper King, a figure of Southern oppression, a figure who did not come to our aid, but abandoned us all to die, now looks to RULE US!" Dark mutterings and grumblings greeted her words, the South was not popular in the North, the wounds of war ran deep, the exploitative behavior of their Southern neighbor was the driving force behind the trade mission, to kick-start economic activity in the North and allow them to compete and rebuild, the Southern nobles had bought up land or sent unscrupulous relatives north to enrich themselves from a distance without contributing to the rebuilding in any meaningful way. The priests had, far to often, been disgustingly complicit with this, and everybody knew it, ESPECIALLY in Prart where it had been the most evident and the most corrupt.

"Will we let an abandoner king rule us?! Will we stand for it?! Will we leave our family in Kasaga to fight by themselves?!" She shouted, choruses of no were peppered throughout the crowd.

"No we will NOT!" She shouted, "We will see Calca, the Queen who DIED FOR US! Seated on the throne again where she belongs. She who died for us, lives again for us, and she stands beside the monarch who saved us! The monarch who crushed the demon emperor Jaldabaoth is coming to our aid! But we! WE must act as well, what is justice if not action! What are brotherhood and sisterhood if NOT the willingness to lend our strength in support of one another?! Even as our enemies come north to besiege us, The abandoner King Astraka kills his own people to take a throne that is not rightly his! Therefore I must leave you for now, but I will not be long, no, not long at all!" She saw out of the corner of her eye down below the men hefting the large crate holding her dragon saddle, already with its quivers filled with arrows, moving out of the gate and down the road that split the crowd. They drew curious looks, but as she held their attention she saw that was almost time.

"I will not be going alone however! I go with a powerful ally, one who will ensure victory over our enemies, no matter HOW MANY they may be!" She shouted, and drew out her bow and pointed behind the crowd, not that she needed to do so, the beast was coming down, silver as the snow and ice, deadly and dangerous to behold, his icy coloration was marked by only one distinction, on his wings top and bottom, was painted the banner of the Sorcerer King. Olasird'arc Haylilyal landed behind the crowd and let out a roar to shake the mountains, the people saw the mighty dragon land behind them, its wings folded in facing them, showing the banner of their hero and their god to all with eyes to see it.

The four man team was quick in unpacking the saddle, and to the everlasting awe the crowd saw the once mighty king over creation, the dragon, bow its head and allow, of all things, a saddle to be mounted at the base of its neck by humans that did not even reach a quarter way up to his knee even if they stood on his feet. When it was done, Neia drew out her bow and fired an arrow secured to a rope, this arrow flew straight and true along the center of the road, where CZ moved and caught it, she pulled the rope taut and Neia secured the rope on her end with a hook to the loop that held up the city's flag, and she grabbed a strip of rope and looped it over, then she lept off the battlements and slide down the rope all the way to the center where CZ dropped the rope, allowing Neia to hit the ground, roll forward, and spring up behind the crowd that had whirled watched with shock at a legend in the making.

"If you will defend one another here, I will defend all of us there!" She shouted, her arms wide open, her evangelist voice thrumming through their blood, "Who protects Prart!" She shouted?

"I protect Prart!" Thousands of voices answered.

"Who defends the walls?!" She shouted again.

"I defend the walls!" Was shouted back, with a thousand voices turning in to one that surpassed the roar of a dragon.

"Then I leave the city in your hands! Do not fail me! Do not fail the Sorcerer King! Do not fail Queen Calca! And above all, do not fail those beside you, or behind you!" She shouted, and swords and fists and bows and spears were raised up in thunderous cheers, and she ran from where she stood, and jumped into the saddle, she quickly secured her legs into the modified stirrups and strapped herself in, with CZ falling in behind her. She drew her sword and held it to the air. "FLY!" She called out, and with an answering call, the former king of the frost dragons roared and flapped his wings and lifted himself into the air, his tail curled out behind him, the trees bent at the beating of his wings, and more than one unlucky peasant lost their hats forever that day as they were blown from atop their heads to parts unknown.

Many a great poet and bard have remarked on the power and the ferocity of dragons, but in all the tales ever told, what is often lost is the gracefulness, the beauty of the creature in flight, it was born to the skies as surely as it was to its mystic breath, and it flew through the air with the grace and the ease that a fish swam threw the water or a horse galloped the open plains, its body a testament to its nature as it was held aloft, gliding on majestic wings that put the finest attire of all the kings of the earth save one, to shame as if those kings were clad in the rags of filthy beggars on the street. Its scales glinted in the sun like flower petals, their thickness as invincible as armor forged by a legendary smith, this was the mount of the warrior pope, servant of the last remaining god, and the vision was etched forever on the memories of thousands of staring people

However among these massive crowds who took the scene as a memory, to make of it a story to tell the children and grand children that they did not yet have, there stood a few gifted artists, one of whom became especially renowned when in the post war years, when he made the famous painting, 'Saint Neia and the Dragon' which depicted her with a joyful expression on her face, glorious in her youth, deadly intent in her eyes, dignified in her legendary armor, magnificent bow, that gift of the Sorcerer King himself secured upon her back, and holding aloft a commanding sword as she straddled a dragon and turned it into a loyal mount, while behind her the one eyed CZ held her mysterious weapon in a ready position.

Neia in her later years would remark that the moment was one of the five most remarkable in her life.

But in this moment, as she was heady from the rush of her evangelic ability and heady from the rush of rising into the sky like a bird, and Olasird'arc Haylilyal took her through the sky, ever closer to the city of Kasaga.

Traveling directly by air was relatively quick, and within a few hours they had reached their goal, arriving far behind the lines, from the air the people below were like ants, but they were ants fighting a war. She saw the siege towers at the walls, she saw the ram battering at the gates, bodies lay as unmoving dots scattered around the outside, it was clear that the walls had not fallen, Black Justice was taking a deadly, deadly toll. Yet King Astraka was, whatever his faults, an able and dangerous commander, he was judicious in the use of his soldiers and had clearly kept fire control and superiority as a priority, he was not spending the lives of his men like pennies, arrows covered their advance and they used their numbers to force the black armored servants of the Sorcerer King to spread themselves thin, and every soldier of Neia's order that died, was a greater decrease in combat effectiveness than it was for King Astraka to lose one of his own.

"Are you ready CZ?" Neia shoutd behind her, the wind was chilly and high, but it did not seem to bother the tight lipped servant of Ainz Ooal Gown.

She hefted her weapon into the firing position in response.

"I'll take the first shot, then you follow! Olasird'arc, head straight for them, strike terror into the hearts of all false kings that will echo for a thousand years in myth and legend!" Neia shouted, "And when I fire, I want you to roar, chill their blood before we break their souls!" She called out.

There was no answer, there was none needed. Neia hefted her bow, she drew it back as she nocked an arrow. She took a deep breath, and put power of her own into a weapon that was already powerful without her, and when she exhaled, she let the arrow drop from her fingers as the string thrummed forward, and changed the world forever. The shining arrow imbued with power struck a siege tower moving towards thew alls and it burst into flame. While that arrow was in flight, another was already behind it, and she struck a tower that was already at the walls. Her arrows flew like made from her position, and when the sixth arrow was in flight Olasird'arc Haylilyal showed King Astraka the power of a dragon's roar, it echoed from his gaping terrible maw, to the walls of the city and back, and Neia guided him with her legs as she would a horse, sending him in a curve that gave CZ easy shooting opportunities, and showed the city the banner of the Sorcerer King painted on top of the dragon's wings as it's turn tipped it almost vertically. CZ's weapon took a deadly toll and the targets were plentiful, but the dragon's frost breathe was a flow of death. The cheering atop the walls as foes who were on them turned to retreat were exultant and fierce, and King Astraka found himself caught between a dragon and a city wall...which in turn in the many years ahead would become a popular expression, and to say, "I'm caught between a dragon and a wall" was used to say one was in an impossible situation.

The shining arrows came from her one after another dropping soldiers like flies as frost breath came out and cleared any remaining enemies off the city walls, the massive frame of the former Dragon King was a terror on its own, even without the nightmare scream that was his bellowing roar. Reclaiming positions all along the walls, Black Justice soldiers used their bows and targeted any weakened position that was not struck by dragon's frost, there wasn't a ladder that had not been pushed to the ground, nor was there a siege tower that was not burning, the ram at the gates had been entirely abandoned and a team of quick thinking Black Justice soldiers began to push it away to open up the gate's for exit. Soldiers abandoned the walls en masse and rushed out after the first group took the initiative, Astrakian loyalists were fleeing in terror in every direction, the inevitable victory and steady control of the competent king had turned into a chaotic specter of death and chaos, the high morale of the Black Justice fighters and their light powerful armor turned against disorganized enemies who were desperately doing a dozen different things, was like a hammer swung against an egg sitting on an anvil.

Smashed, that was the only word to describe it, some hardy archers had tried to fire at the frost dragon when it flew low on the battle field and swiped at men with its tail or took entire an entire horse and rider into his maw to crush and drop, but their steel arrows were not tough enough to penetrate the thick natural armor of the powerful Olasird'arc.

The sun shine bright over the battle turned massacre, and the glinting steel armor of the Abandoner King had turned them into easy targets, while the armor was also equally useless against the magic bow of the warrior pope, her deadly eyes decided who would live and who would die, the arbiter of death on the back of a dragon, and the graceful fluid motion of quiver to bow moved with machine precision brought about by long practice.

Bursts of flame and sheets of ice swept around the field, and Olasird'arc had sense enough to take care to avoid areas where the black clad fighters had clumped en masse to bring down a formation of stubborn resistance on their own.

Neia hunted for the banner of the Abandoner King, and as the numbers fled in terror, she spotted it, tipped over on the ground, she clenched her legs against the sides of her mount. "Land!" She shouted, and the former king under the mountain obeyed, coming down gently to the ground in slow, steady circles. When his feet gracefully touched the ground, she patted him on the neck as she unstrapped herself and dismounted, she approached the front where his head was, and held her hands up, he lowered his massive visage close to her, and she reached out and touched him on the nose. It was then that he saw her eyes. In them he saw an endless spiral of death and torture, demons screaming and thrashing, a darkness and a well of power that made the fierce quagoa king look like a mewling infant, and he understood the words of his son, in the eyes of the Pope, the frost dragon felt frozen, until she spoke with unexpected kindness. "Thank you." She said, "You've done a great service today, and neither I nor this city will forget it." The dragon nodded somewhat reluctantly, glad not to be her enemy, and Neia approached the fallen banner as CZ dismounted and joined her.

Members of the defending Black Justice unit approached just as she was picking it up, she held it aloft and waved it as a prize of victory. "The Abandoner King has abandoned the siege! Victory! Victory! Victory!" she shouted and cast the banner down to the ground again for all to see. Enthusiastic shouts rang out from the survivors.

The cleanup was quick after that, with Black Justice soldiers tending to the wounded of both sides, securing the surrenders of those who could not flee and did not have the will to fight any longer, the battlefield was a mess, siege engines still burned and some desperate wounded still tried to flee the battle turned massacre, only to find that the only place they could go was into captivity or death.

Around the field desperate injured still screamed in pain and called plaintively for their mothers to come and help them, in spite of the thrill of victory, the dark side of war, the pitiable, filthy, horrible side of loss and pain and wailing wounded who would never know a moment's peace for the rest of their days, if they even lived another day, surrounded them all. The commander of the city defense approached and bent the knee before his pope. "Stand up man I'm not our god." She said with a laugh and clapped him on the shoulder.

"Thank you, Pope Neia." He said, "You've saved us today, if you hadn't shown up, I would have guessed we'd be back to the city center in a few hours at most."

Neia nodded, "Your men did well to hold out as you did, but we still have more to do, I assume you've already dispatched riders to see to the pursuit of any survivors?" She asked.

He nodded. "As soon as I saw the route, I signaled a pursuit, every man and woman with an undead horse is chasing down survivors."

"You work fast." She said.

"My justice lies in action." He said simply, and stuck out his hand. Neia took it and shook it firmly, it was a good grip.

"Your mount...how did you...where did you...?" He began as the realization really began to set in for him as to what had just happened.

"His name is Olasird'arc, and he is a servant of the Sorcerer King." Neia said, stepping aside and gesturing to her mount. Olasird'arc inclined his head politely.

"You saved us today." The commander said. "I'm Commander Hazamoth, and if ever I can return the favor to you, noble dragon, then return it I will."

"I would like one small thing." He said.

"Name it." The commander replied.

"Do you have any books I could take with me when I leave?" Olasird'arc asked politely.

 _...Somewhere on the road away from Kasaga..._

Astraka ran like a rabbit. A dragon! They brought a thrice damned gods cursed DRAGON to Kasaga! His army was in tatters, thousands of men spent, all for naught, he'd cast aside his banner and anything that could identify him as the king and fled like a peasant, he had managed to confiscate a horse and he'd managed to get ahead of most of his men, but there was no help for this, it was a true and thorough defeat for the martial king, someone was riding the damn thing, he'd seen the arrows flying from it, and those strange flashes from the other person behind the person controlling the beast, it wasn't hard to figure out, his intelligence reports had told him of the strange weapon wielded by the demon maid of Ainz Ooal Gown and the way heads exploded when she wished them to, she was always close to one person...Neia Baraja. Astraka cursed and swore up and down like a sailor denied shore leave during discount day at the brothels. His face was twisted in fury and his body coated with sweat from raw fear.

He'd been so close...so CLOSE, and to have it all snatched away within hours of victory, not burned to ash so much as frozen to death in a winter frost, he didn't have anything that could defeat that thing, not at Kasaga anyway.

"Hoburns...I have to get back to Hoburns..." He said to himself as he rode as if pursued by demons, and from the intelligence reports on the terrifying gaze of the Black Justice warrior Pope, they might as well have been...

 _...Nazarick...Neuronist's Music Room..._

"No more! No more! Oh please no moooooore!" Philip wept and cried and screamed as Vanysa played out a symphony on Philip's flesh, quietly she hummed along as his screams were 'tuned' by the implements of pain to recreate a facsimile of 'Beethoven's 9th Symphony' that Demiurge had introduced her to. She now knew just which way to slide her talon over which part of his body to create just the right kind of scream. Kantessa had been satisfied hours ago, but Vanysa was not. Finally Philip's vocal chords gave out, right at the crescendo.

His sobs were pathetic, but in the sadistic eyes of the fury there was no pity. It was only when she returned to her human form as his ability to scream was broken, that she let him rest as he hung naked from the wall. She sat in a chair a few feet away, a beautiful peasant girl as she had been before she herself had been transformed, and she simply watched him and waited, sooner or later, he'd speak again, she was sure of that, even if he couldn't scream properly for awhile.

First he had tried insulting her, calling her a stupid woman, calling her weak, calling her a whore. Then he had tried threatening her, saying he would gut her, he would sell her as a slave to a brothel, he would do terrible things to her, and she had simply sat and listened, her peasant, former human status in place, he seemed to be to stupid to realize just what he was dealing with, perhaps because he'd fainted during the last session of torture, when he awoke and saw the 'peasant girl' he thought of her previous transformation to have been a dream. An incompetent idiot of the highest degree, she reckoned.

Now as she sat there, she wondered what he'd say next.

"I...can offer you anything you want!" He said desperately, "I...I'm a king you know, a nobleman, we could make a deal, I could marry you, let you become a queen if you get me out of here, or I could make you rich, do you have any idea how much a king's ransom is? I'm so important to Re-Estize, they'd pay a mountain of gold to get me back!" He said in his cracked and desperate voice.

Bribery it was then. Vanysa snorted, pathetic.

"C'mon, there has got to be something! I'm sure I've got a deal to offer! Not many peasants are given the opportunity to make deals with kings you know." He said ingratiatingly.

Her eyes snapped from disinterested amusement to wide and attentive. "Say that again." She said softly.

"Say what again?" He asked in confusion.

"What you just said." She repeated, "The very last thing."

"Not many peasants are given the opportunities to make deals with kings you know." He said, confusion momentarily replacing his dread as she had him repeat himself to her.

There it was...she heard the voice...the fist rising in the dark, the moonlight through the carriage window illuminating the face, the bearded handsome and furious face, the feel of its impact, the memory of falling into blackness, the words, the deeds...the whip...the pain...her shredded flesh, tatters on her back dangling like strips of cut leather, carving into her own breast a final message for her lord, biting off her own tongue, laying back, the feel of her own blood choking her to death as she slipped away, her final words of faithful victory over her the noble who had humiliated, tortured, and abused her with his constant questions that she would not answer no matter what he tried to bribe her with or how he'd hurt her.

The wings sprang out from her body and her fury shape erupted as she closed the gap between herself an Philip, her fangs came down upon his lips as if she were to kiss him, but this was not a kiss, at least not that any lover would ever desire, for her fangs pierced his upper and lower lips as her talons ripped deep into his flesh in a grip a petty spoiled noble could never hope to break, and in the bite upon his flesh, he found the power to scream, but not the ability to loose it as his lips had been forced shut by the power of her bite, and then she yanked her face back, tearing his lips away from his body and spitting them as little lumps down to the floor, as if to punish him for using the words of her tormentor and abuser, and she let loose with a scream of her own, a mad and terrifying series of cries that flooded the dungeon like a deluge as all her memories came flooding back.

When he lost consciousness again, she restored herself to her simple human form, silence overtook her as her eyes went clear and cruel, and she went to tell her king what she now knew. With any other ruler, she would have wondered how much it would matter, but for this one, she had absolute certainty, beyond any shadow of a doubt...there would be pain for pain and blood for blood, and that thought made her smile as she skipped her way down the hall, all the way to the throne room, humming Beethoven's 9th Symphony as she went.

 **AN: Well there we have the closing of a loop, the requests for a look at the torture of Philip are now fulfilled, don't ask for more, you only got this much because he served as a useful foil for this particular scene, its time for him to disappear, if he's seen again its as a cameo when he gets a 'singing partner'. Vanysa's memory is restored and we now have Neia Baraja, Dragon Rider. The war is heating up and my new format is making this much, much easier than it was. Today was my last planned triple release, God Rising will get semi daily releases as it takes more work than the others, but you can expect 'a' story to get a chapter roughly every day.**

 **Of course if you want to say anything about this story, please leave a review, or come join my discord server: /ArqYV5Q where I do my early releases, beta reading, live reading, and so on.**

 **Also, if you want to show your appreciation for this work, you can donate a small amount of money to my charitable organization bdgiving dot org.**

 **Thanks for reading, I hope it was worth your time. :)**


	65. The Siege of Ikari City

**AN: Clarification…God Rising WILL continue to be updated here. Simply not at the same pace as previously done as it will undergo EARLY release on the discord server for community members, charity donors, and beta readers. Chapter 66 will be on the Discord this evening, it'll be here on FFN when its been edited.** **(Note: You do not have to be a donor to join the discord)**

...General Enri's Army...

General Enri could scarcely believe her own title as she rode on a horse that...a few years ago, would have had her arrested, thought a member of Zuranon, or would have been thought to be completely impossible as the magic involved was beyond most mortals understanding, an undead warhorse, personally provided by the Sorcerer King...it was an impossible thing, like her being where she was. Yet it was here under her...and also...here she was in turn, riding at the head of an army of many races, from the human to the inhuman, wearing clothing unlike anything she had ever imagined.

She laughed a little bit at her own discomfort.

"Something funny General Enri?" The Strategist Sun asked politely. The little goblin stroked his beard as he looked at her with curiosity twinkling in his eyes.

"No, nothing old Sun." She said with a warm smile, "I was just thinking about how different everything was now, it seems not that long ago my greatest hope was to marry, own a farm, have children, and not die violently in my village that, thanks to the Kingdom's ineptitude, existed always on the verge of destruction...and if all my dreams came true then I would have died an old woman having never traveled more than fifty miles from home and never having spoken with more than ten people in my life that I had not grown up with. Now...I am married, but I also rule one of the fastest growing cities in the world, lead an army, I have seen the Emperor and had him seated at my table, I have been to the impossible realm of Nazarick, I am going to conquer the Slane Theocracy...and if all my dreams come true, then when I have children...they will be nobles who know all the world."

"The paths life takes us down may be very different than what we expect." He said with a sage nod, "It can be comedic in its way, but don't spend to much time looking backwards at who you were and where you were going, spend more time on who you are and where you are going." He said patiently.

"Of course old Sun, now...you saw the reports, correct?" She asked.

"Yes the Slane Theocracy has taken the bait, we have five hundred real soldiers controlling over forty thousand 'dummy' soldiers on horseback, and the Slane Theocracy Army that had intended to confront us, has instead moved to protect the capitol of Kami Miyako from an imaginary force, this means that the city of Ikari has nothing but its own forces to defend against us." He said with an approving nod.

She gave him a hard eyed grin, and thought back to the time the troll attacked her village, the desperation as she and her husband had quickly distracted it, deceived it, and delayed it from the fight until help could arrive. She was doing more or less the same thing again, only visually, with a fake army, rather than with a spell that created the illusion of absent ogres. Her eyes had been hard and determined then, and they were hard and determined now. The five hundred she'd dispatched were almost certain to die, but they would have removed an army of seventy thousand from the defense of Ikari, and would be remembered for their success.

"This does not mean we can take our time however," the goblin strategist pointed out, "they will quickly realize the deception once battle is joined, and we must have the city by then or we will find ourselves surrounded and vastly outnumbered."

"True, but outnumbered is not outfought, we have them outmatched in almost everything." She said.

"I won't disagree with that, but quantity can have a quality all its own, and I would prefer to deny them that." He replied.

"I won't disagree with that either, no, we will not delay the assault even an hour beyond the necessary time for victory. Have the elven messengers been left at two mile intervals?" She asked.

"Yes, when you are ready, the signal will be raised and our support will be on the way." He said with a canny grin.

"Then we've done everything we can." She said, "All we can do now, is hope to fight well and that we leave as few mourners in our wake." She let out the sigh of a person burdened with a heavy responsibility.

Her short blonde hair swayed behind her, "When should we arrive?" She asked.

"Late afternoon, about two hours before sunset." The Goblin Strategist said.

"Perfect." She replied, and a fierce expression, one foreign to her childhood, bloomed on her face.

While her eyes had turned hard, they would never contain the raw terror that Neia could inspire...but they were hard ones, determined ones, the goblin strategist approved, indecisiveness was the destroyer of opportunity, the thief that stole victory, the reaper of the needless dead, and he saw none of that weakness in his general, in his pupil, in his summoner.

The march was steady, but far from quiet. There was the constant tramping of feet, and that was loud as thunder, but there were no shouts, no cries, no faltered steps. Men, goblins, ogres, elves, walked in common accord under the guiding flag of the Sorcerer King. Drums kept the soldiers constantly marching in step, every left foot fell in unison with every other left foot, flags in the front sent signals, while scouts on tireless undead horses roamed beyond the wings to ensure that nothing could take them by surprise. They did not even stop to eat or drink, instead they ate and drank as they marched, each soldier carrying a satchel with fruit, cheese, and bread that could be eaten with a single hand, and carrying a water skin with them to quench their thirst along the way.

This sped their arrival time up by more than an hour, and when late afternoon arrived, they were within sight of the city walls, even from a distance the activity was obvious as people scurried along the parapets and moved back and forth preparing to defend themselves.

From a distance, they looked like little ants, she felt nothing for them in that moment. It was a curious sensation, she wondered...'Would I feel anything, if any of those dots on the wall over there...stopped moving?' As she contemplated the raw brutality of the fact that not only would she not, but even when they ceased to be dots and she could see the terror on their faces, the fading of life from eyes and the pleas for aid to stop the nightmare she was going to unleash on the hapless city of the Slane Theocracy...she would order the continuation of that violence until no resistance remained.

As she thought of this, she remembered the faceless knights that nearly killed her, had killed her parents, and would have killed her sister. She wondered if within that hapless city, there were mothers and fathers hiding their children, fearing what she and her army would do to them. She frowned a little at that, resolving that she would be kinder than the knights had been...but also resolving that she would not stop until the city had her king's banner raised over it.

...Inside Ikari City...

The 'Iron Governor' Tenva was shouting at his military command. "What do you mean 'You have enough soldiers'?!" he asked furiously. "You do know who is marching on us, don't you?!" He snapped.

His orichalcum clad commander looked troubled. "I do, I've heard it is General Enri, she defeated a troll in combat bare handed, she tamed an army of goblins who follow her loyally, and in her first battle, she defeated Prince Barbro, killing him and bringing down his entire army in the name of Ainz Ooal Gown...all while still an untrained peasant. Reports even indicate that she was personally trained in the realm of the Sorcerer King in the ways of war, and who can guess how much that ageless ancient being knows?" He said.

He paused and thought it over. "...Maybe I should call up the militia." He said.

"Yes," Governor Tenva said, "Perhaps call them all up, call up every single registered person who can draw a bow, and call for volunteers among the unregistered." He said flatly.

"I'll do it immediately governor." He said and saluted. "I will return to see you in victory, or not at all."

"I hope to drink with you when all is done, Commander Gorag." Governor Tenva said solemnly as the salute was dropped and he turned around and walked out of the manor to go call up the militia.

...Enri's army...

She took a deep breath as they came close enough for violence, and she raised the white flag of truce. The city raised its own, and a small door in the large gate opened up, and a single man in orichalcum armor came out, he bore no weapon, so General Enri took her sword of command from off her waist and handed it to the goblin strategist, she then rode her horse half way between her army and the city and awaited his arrival.

She did not wait long, and she did not dismount. She looked at him from her position on her undead warhorse, and the man shuddered as he looked into his blood red eyes.

She spoke first as he appraised her, "I am General Enri Bareare, servant of the Sorcerer King, I come to take possession of this city in his name, that is not negotiable. The choice before you is simply this, will I take possession of it peacefully...or will I take possession of it by FORCE?"

The man swallowed hard as he saw the determined look in her eyes. He could see she meant what she said, and behind her he saw the impossible, elves next to humans next to ogres next to goblins, and beyond them were other beings that should have been enemies to humanity, but served under command of a human girl who rode an undead horse, words failed him as his mouth opened and closed several times. General Enri filled the silence with her command voice.

"I am not a cruel woman, if you surrender your city, none of your citizens will be slain, though their arms will be confiscated. No buildings destroyed, no soldiers slaughtered, I will not allow anyone to so much as plunder a vegetable garden. The laws will be left intact save for those which bar the followers of Black Justice from their religious rights, and slavery will be overturned, but no harm will come to you. I swear it on the justice of the Sorcerer King."

The man's faced turned purple...purposeful...and contorted with rage, she cut him off by continuing.

"If you do not surrender, my armies will shatter your walls, slay your soldiers, and capture your city, many will die that would not have but for your stubbornness. We outnumber you, you have no reinforcements coming, and you will fall before the sun rises tomorrow." She said bluntly.

"Bah!" He snapped, "You have numbers, we have walls and mages aplenty, we have supplies enough that besieging us could take six years before we ran short, we will have help long before then!"

"Your walls will fall within six hours, you do not have six years." She said bluntly.

He was taken aback by her words, but remained stubborn. The gods will aid us in your destruction!" He snapped.

"How many armies do your gods command?" She asked, leaning forward and speaking sarcastically, "I have not seen them, are they so well concealed?" She asked.

That did it, he exploded with rage and screamed at her, "You will die on our walls! I will see to it!"

"Then I will break your walls so that such an event becomes impossible." She threw in the quick witty retort, and he whirled and turned his back on her.

"Come and die then, the gods will see us through." He said, and returned into the gate.

Enri returned to her lines and took her place next to the goblin strategist. He held out her sword of command gingerly with both hands, and she took it gratefully. She looked at him next to her, "Send the signal for the elf messengers." She said, a moment later a single arrow sailed up over her army, burning off green smoke. Two miles away, another went up immediately afterwards. Two miles after that, another went up, and another, and another, all the way back to her camp, and dragons carrying the dragon's lunch boxes took to the skies. But before the city's walls, Enri began to shout. "Elven slaves! General Enri Bareare of the Sorcerous Kingdom has come to set you free! Rise up! Rise up and fight if you would be free! We stand with Black Justice! We stand with Neia Baraja, the breaker of masters and the destroyer of dark cities! Rise! Rise! RISE UP!" She shouted, and the elves nearby, one and all former slaves, echoed her call, for five full minutes they shouted for the slaves to rise, and then fell silent, within the city, they could hear distant shouting.

Ikari city's defenders understood quite well the meaning of her resounding call for elven liberation, and faces turned white with horror as they realized an ancient truth...if you wished to know the number of your enemies, you must begin by counting your slaves. So great was the horror as the archers on the wall as they looked behind them to see and hear the violence of the slaves they thought they had broken, that they entirely missed the green burning arrow that Enri had ordered launched, even if they had, they would not have known what it meant. Not so for the army of General Enri, for them it held a double meaning, and archers began their attack on the horrified defenders, sending flights of arrows towards the walls of the great city, many of them now carried runic equipment that enhanced range or penetrating power. Those on the walls could compensate for this, their forces having greater height from which to fire gave them a greater range, and the archery duel began in earnest. Enri had not been foolish about it, an archer with no cover was an archer with a shorter lifespan, and her archers carried specially designed shields on their backs. These curved shields covered the archer from their feet to their stomach, but they were not meant to be held. Instead on the inside of each shield there were two small leather sheaths, these sheaths held two spikes that snapped into place at the lower corners of the shield, and the other held a small hammer. When ready for use, the archer would remove the shield from his back, remove the metal spikes from the leather sheath, snap them securely into place at the left and right bottom corners, and then with the small hammer, they would pound the shield into the ground, creating instant cover for half their body. Not quite perfect, but it was a previously unheard of innovation that was understood too late by the defenders. Between their moment of confusion and their moment of understanding, whole companies of archers had gone from vulnerable, to fortified.

Shouts of frustration at their slowness to respond echoed from the walls, and the duel raged in earnest. As this was happening, Enri called up her ogres, and behind them came carts bearing huge stones, and the ogres began to throw them at the walls. Enri was watching all of this with a calm and stoic expression when Lupusregina Beta approached her from behind, holding her massive weapon on her shoulder.

"They're putting up quite a fight there aren't they -su?" Lupusregina asked.

"I had to provoke them a bit." Enri said.

"That isn't like you. -su" Lupusregina replied, almost but not quite questioningly.

"It is now." Enri said softly, "It has to be. I need them committed to that position no matter what, and making them angry does that." She said.

"I'm not criticizing." Lupusregina said, "You have to deliver Lord Ainz a victory after all -su."

"I will." Enri said with determination.

"Are you ready for me to do my part?" Lupusregina asked.

Enri looked over at the smiling red haired maid of the Sorcerer King.

"Can you be damaged by dragon breath?" Enri asked curiously.

To the uninitiated, it would have seemed an impossibly bizarre question, the buxom but not overly strong looking Lupusregina seemed an unusually beautiful but otherwise not overly impressive girl, yet Enri remembered how easily it had stopped a blow from a troll, there was no question whatsoever that she was far more powerful than she appeared, but dragon's breath was another matter.

Lupusregina touched her cheek and thought about it, "I'm sure I'd survive it, but it might be enough to damage me -su." She said thoughtfully.

"Then no. I would die of shame if I sent you over there and had to send you back to the Sorcerer King injured." Enri said softly.

"Well I could easily slaughter everything before the dragons get here -su." Lupusregina said with a sadistic smile.

"I know, but then they wouldn't win a victory." Enri said and gestured to the army behind her. "See that?" she said, pointing to the archers.

"What of it?" Lupusregina asked.

"There are humans, goblins, elves, a vampire, a few nagas, all working together over there, all trusting each other, all fighting together. All bleeding together, behind them are ogres throwing rocks at the same enemy, all around us are all these many races of people, coming together as never before in all the history of the world, as they bleed together, they become one people of one common blood, no matter what they look like. That is the true victory our King desires." Enri said firmly, "To truly unite the world, and bleeding together, suffering together, trusting one another, defending one another, this is the way, the only way to truly do that. By morning elves and nagas will call humans brothers and sisters, ogres will be welcomed at the campfire beside dragons, dragons will call goblins family, and out of many, there will come one nation."

Enri nodded with absolute confidence, as she finished her speech, "You may win the war by yourself, but the Sorcerer King is striving not just to win the war, but to win the peace and through it, win the world he wants after it. That is what he told me."

Lupusregina Beta pouted slightly, "Lord Ainz is always right but...I really wanted to have some fun -su."

General Enri rolled her eyes, "You're impossible, you know that Lupu?" She said with a warm smile at the girl she'd known for years, the terrifying, beautiful, wonderful, sadistic little guardian of her village and savior of her life.

"I am as my creators made me -su." Lupusregina said with a big wide grin.

Enri looked to the sun, it was coming down, the defenders were expecting the night to give them rest. They were going to be sorely disappointed.

Stones smashed and screams echoed from the walls, the runic bows exacted a terrible toll, and the ogres wearing strength enhancing gloves had begun to take apart the towers. Enri had ensured that she kept her entire army at this single gate and that was forcing them to do the same. The commander of the city would no doubt think her quite mad for not having used her numerical advantage to surround his city and force him to stretch his lines thin...but Enri knew...its easiest to wipe out a rat's nest when all the rats are trapped in one place.

The sun was just drifting down over the horizon when she looked behind her army and saw the dots in the distance, the dragons would be there very soon, the defenders had clearly put every effort into this, most likely they'd done a citywide call up of every available militia member, the flow of arrows over the walls had not slackened significantly despite what had to be some nasty losses, and that meant relief was constantly replacing the dead.

The more she thought on it, the more obvious it was that he was desperately counting on the night to give him a reprieve. She shook her head. That was a grave mistake, quite possibly literally if he was one of those 'fights are always to the death' types.

Which of the defenders first saw the dragons would remain forever a mystery, but it didn't matter, because it was already far too late. The dragons swept over the city from on high, swooped low, smashed homes on the far side of the city, and the soldiers within the "Dragons' Lunchboxes" opened their latches and rushed out, flashing runic blades and bearing runic armor. The dragons took to the skies and let loose their terrible roars and made a pass over the wall that was heavily defended. Then they sent their breath into the backs of the unprepared forces. The unconventional transport caught those not at the conflict point completely off guard, they were outnumbered, out armed, and outfought, and one tower after another saw the Sorcerer King's banner rise. Including the gate on the far side of the city. Enri looked to the goblin strategist and gave the order, "Signal the cavalry to ride for the rear of the city the gate there is ours. They can now support our infantry."

A few moments later, goblin wolfriders, human horsemen atop undead mounts, and centaurs calling for blood…were charging along the wall and racing to be the first into the southern gate. As the dragons made their pass, they took a perch along the east and western walls, striking out at any of the Slane Theocracy's men seen running through the street, turning long orderly streets into winter death zones.

Enri turned her eyes to Lupusregina.

"Now you can go do your part, Lupu." She said affectionately.

"You got it 'General Enri' -su." Lupusregina said, and she walked towards the main gate like she was taking a stroll through the park, she paid no mind to the arrows or stones flying around her, and the screams of the wounded and dying were making her more excited than anything else, her sadistic grin peaked when she unslung her weapon from her shoulder, and swung it like a bat, smashing in the wooden gate and turning it in to splinters. There was only the portcullis now, she grinned, and then she drew her weapon back again, and swung it with her implacable sadistic smile held firmly on her beautiful face, and the portcullis flew into the city interior smashing a building across the street, turning it into rubble and ruin. She then walked back out the gate, went over to part of the wall, and smashed a gap into it, sending stones hurtling inwards along with bodies. The dead, and the soon to be dead, were sent tumbling all the way to the merciless stone below as the part of the wall she struck became more a cloud of dust that none would ever guess had once been part of a wall, while those stones that survived were scattered in all directions. She smashed in two more great gaps before the survivors realized what was causing the destruction and tried to stop her.

A brave fool charged out the gate to intercept her stroll as she went to the other wall, he ran at her, screaming a warcry and holding up an axe to split her skull, she did not even look his way as she walked, she simply grabbed him by the front of his face, squeezed, and his head popped into red mush as if she'd just popped a grape. She smashed three more holes along the wall, and then returned to Enri's side.

"S'all done there, general -su." She said with a contented happy smile, "Go ahead, do your thing." She grinned, and Enri lifted her sword above her head, and lowered it towards the city of Ikari, and sounded the charge. The multiracial army of the Sorcerer King flowed through the gaps in the wall like a river through a burst dam, and they washed over the defenses as if they were not there. Hasty attempts at creating a force to blunt the charge were made pointless, ogres simply ran through them and trampled everything in their path, dwarves used their powerful lightning based weapons to electrocute their enemies, elves took precision aim with their bows, and the vampire drank his fill and unleashed his fury upon his king's enemies. The wall was all but swept clean within minutes of this, and though the forces of the Slane Theocracy tried to find purchase elsewhere, some place they could defend themselves, too much had been put into one position, one single wall, and now it was gone and all for nothing, the soldiers who had surprised the southern side of the city had begun to take control of every point of access, while the four dragons had seized control of the east and west, making the city effectively quartered by the forces on all sides, without the ability to reinforce any position, every Slane Theocracy position was made weak, and block by block and house by house, the army of General Enri fought those who would fight, and captured those who would surrender.

Her love of the Sorcerer King and her reverence for his justice was made clear in her strict instructions to her army to abide by the Draconic Accords, and this they did, spilling as little blood as they had to as they gained control of the great city of Ikari. The sun was now completely down and night had set in, yet this was more a liability for humans than for any other, and her army had many species for which this was not only not a problem, it was ideal, and she took full advantage of that to secure all remaining positions.

While fighting was still heard in a few corners for a little while, even this gradually died down, and in the fifth hour of the fight...General Enri's words were proven true. The city designed to endure for six years, had not endured for even six hours. General Enri Bareare rode through the city on her undead warhorse, along the streets were bodies, some were her people, most however...were not, the careful strategic planning had kept the city off its best possible performance and its forces had been destroyed in detail, isolated, rooted out, and ruined. Blood soaked corpses were draped mostly on their bellies, stabbed in the back as they'd tried to fall back to a new position, some still clutched their swords, occasionally she saw a clump of corpses, these were ones who had managed to fall back to their comrades' defensive positions, many of them had broken legs or arms, they had been trampled either by undead cavalry or centaurs or ogres, before their heads were smashed or hearts pierced by sword, spear, or arrow, not a few had been decapitated by heavy axes wielded by the handful of minotaurs she had within her forces.

The continual light spell of one of the goblin mages ensured she saw everything, and missed nothing, the shadows of the dead danced in the light, a stark contrast to the unmoving existence of those who cast them, who would never move again. Fireballs from her magic assault team of goblins lit the night, but sans the sound of battle she realized they were celebrating the victory, cheers would be heard from many quarters as the last resistance was utterly crushed. Enri however, kept her cool and kept her comfort with victory at bay.

She rode to the city center, there was only one place she had to be, beside her walked Lupusregina, who rested her weapon over the back of her neck, and kept her arms curved lazily over the weapon and above her head. The manor Enri saw was ornate but not opulent, it was the manor of the city government. If the Slane Theocracy had any surviving military or civilian leaders, they would be here. In front of the great double door stood a handful of militia, Lupusregina made as if to attack them, dropping down with legs bent at the knee, leaning slightly forward, and her hands out and open at her side, her smile was as savage as she was beautiful, but before she could attack, Enri said softly..."Wait."

Enri looked at the defenders, they were mere boys barely old enough to bear arms, seven of them and they were shaking, wearing militia grade armor and carrying iron tipped wooden spears, they hadn't a chance and they knew it, but their fear of the shame of running was greater than their fear of death. Enri sheathed her sword, dismounted her undead warhorse, and stepped forward. Illuminated by the light behind her, she appeared as if she were an angel. She held out her hands invitingly, "Boys, men, soldiers of Ikari...the fight is over, you have lost, you did your best, but you have lost." She said in a soft and gentle voice, she wanted to spare these boys if she could.

"I am here to accept the surrender of your leaders, so that nobody else must die, the entire city has fallen, there is no point in further violence. Lay down your weapons, and you can go home to your families, you will see your mothers, fathers, and your younger siblings again. You can grow old and tell your grandchildren that you were the last men standing at the battle of Ikari, and you can be proud you did your duty... live with that pride, don't force me to live with your deaths, I beg you, too many have died today..." Enri said, her soft voice reached them, and some of them began to wane.

"Just one more then!" A boy who could not have been more than seventeen shrieked and charged recklessly at Enri with his spear lowered, the decision to die made evident in his wild eyed expression. He had not made it to the base of the stairs before Lupusregina had moved in and severed his head from his body with one hand and caught the forward charging momentum of the rest of his body in the other by grabbing the back of his shirt collar. She yanked the body past her, back the way the boy had come, and casting it hard on its back while the head rolled away, even as it was dying, clearly the head of the boy wondered what had just happened to him. He never got an answer even as the horror dawned on his face and he saw his own body on its back a few feet away.

Lupus looked up at the remaining six would be heroic militia defenders. "Was he right, was it only one more...or is it seven more -su?" She asked with a predatory smile...and first one, then another, then another, and finally the rest, all threw down their arms, sending them clattering to the stone and falling to their knees, sobbing in fear, shame, and the shameful joy of being a survivor among the dead of their city.

Enri touched Lupusregina on the shoulder as she walked forward. "Thank you, Lupu, I appreciate it." She said.

"No problem, it's what I'm here for -su." Lupusregina said with a pearly white grin.

"Well, let's go get the surrender." Enri said, and Lupusregina smashed the door in as they passed the defeated band of six, behind them others of their army came and bound the boys and accepted their surrenders, but Enri had other obligations. She walked down the hall, the carpet was red and gold, nice but not fantastic, the walls were of some sort of golden wood that that reflected a golden hue from the light cast off from the equally spaced candle holders secured against the smooth wooden surface. It did not take long to find where they needed to go, they went to the central room near the back, and Lupusregina smashed that door in just as easily as she had taken down entire sections of stone wall, and that was how Enri found herself face to face with the governor of Ikari, a slender man with a thin mustache and hair that was just starting to turn gray.

"You would be the 'Iron Governor', Tenva I presume." Enri said politely.

The man sat stoically behind his desk, as if expecting her arrival.

"You know why I am here." She answered.

"I do." He said.

"Do you surrender?" She asked.

"I do not." He answered.

"Excuse me." She asked.

"I said, I do not." He replied. "You will just have to kill us all."

"I don't want to do that." She said. "In fact I am prohibited by my king from doing that." She added.

"Then I guess you'll just have to leave the city, General Enri." He replied.

"I can't do that either, and I won't do that." She said in response.

Governor Tenva stood up from his desk and went to a drawer, he opened it slowly, ensuring he showed no sign of intended violence, and he drew out a bottle.

"I was saving this for my retirement." He said with a glib smile on his face, it was the face of a man with nothing left to lose. It was the smile of a man who did not care about consequences anymore.

"Now is as good a time as any to drink it, I suppose...and this is kind of a retirement...if not quite the one I wanted." He said, and he put out two glasses and poured them both.

"I was going to drink this with my wife when that day happened." He said. "But...she went to the wall, I haven't seen anybody come back from there, so I suppose she's dead now." His voice was soft.

"So...I guess I'll drink with her killer instead." He added in the voice of a man who was all but broken.

"To fallen loved ones, wherever they wait for us?" He raised his glass in toast, and Enri picked up the glass and raised it in turn.

"To fallen loved ones." She echoed, but just as she was about to drink it, Lupusregina grabbed her wrist.

Enri looked at her in surprise, and Lupusregina's usually mirthful face was serious, "I should check it first -su." She said to Enri, and understanding dawned.

Tenva laughed, "It's not poisoned, I promise you, I like my job, but not enough to kill myself when it came time for me to retire, and do you really think I just keep a bottle of poisoned wine sitting in a drawer in my office, sealed and ready just in case I need to poison somebody where I'm working?" He through back his head for an even deeper laugh at that.

"That sounds more like the plot of a really bad story than anything that could actually happen." He snorted dismissively. "Now are you going to drink that or not, it's bad enough manners as it is to even make the accusation." He said flatly.

At a nod from Enri, Lupusregina released her grip.

"To fallen loved ones." Enri said, repeating herself and raising her glass again. The two drank, it was a rich cherry like wine, nowhere near what the Sorcerer King could offer in terms of quality, but good for a governor.

"I'm sorry your retirement had to be this way, and I'm sorry about your wife, and the rest of your people." Enri said sincerely.

Tenva looked at her for a long minute, searching for some sign of mockery or arrogance and finding none, "I think you actually mean that. I guess you're not as evil as reports have said." He said with a voice full of introspective thoughtfulness.

"I try not to be bad, I know what it is to lose loved ones. The Slane Theocracy killed my mother and father while I watched, I took my little sister and fled while my father tried to hold the knights back even as they stabbed him to death, I fled to the forest, knights chased me, I couldn't hold my sister and escape, and I couldn't let go either, I fell, they caught up, one swung a sword and slashed my back...I held my sister under me as she screamed, the knights of your country were going to kill us both despite the fact that I begged for the life of my sister, not even my own life, just spare my little Nemu, that was all I wanted." Enri's voice rolled out over her tongue as the memory was recalled as clearly as if it had happened only minutes before, even though years had passed, it still pained her to think of how narrow a thing it had been, and an inkling of that pain seeped out of her voice as she drank and told the story.

"They weren't even going to give me that, they were going to stab her right through my body, then the Sorcerer King appeared, he killed the knights, protected me with his magic, gave me an impossibly valuable item to protect me even further, and then he saved what was left of my village, killed your knights, destroyed the scripture you sent to my home to kill us all...and you know the rest." Her voice was hard.

"I hate war, anyone decent, even if they're good at it, hates it, I didn't want to kill your wife, I didn't want one of those boys out there to die, but your country started this war, and I will see it ended so that it does not ever have to be fought again. Now will...you...surrender?" She asked.

Governor Tenva shook his head slowly. "I am sorry about what my knights did to you, I have heard stories about operations like that, but whether you come for revenge or duty, no matter how many of my people you've killed...I am sorry, but I have a duty too, and I will not surrender." He said.

"I see." General Enri said.

"You know," She began as she set down her glass and he poured for them both again, she nodded her head in polite gratitude and took the glass back, she sipped it slowly, "Some time after my village was rescued, we were attacked again, a troll came over the walls we'd built, if it had not been stopped, it would have caught my people at the gate who were killing a very odd looking ogre, trapped between both, they'd have all been killed, so I had to stop the troll that had come over the wall. So I and the man who became my husband...we deceived it, all warfare is based on deception, and that was war, just like this was war, smaller yes, but no different regardless. We crippled its ability to smell and then disguised our scent, we took the blankets of ogres and laid them out in a barn so it would think there were ogres there to fight. This bought us time, then we taunted it, my husband and I each wore a cloak like the other and hid our faces, it didn't know for a while which of us it was chasing." Enri giggled at the memory, "It was terrifying, but looking back now...it was a proud moment, and in the end help arrived in the form of the the woman next to me, who killed the beast and saved us all." Enri smiled softly at Lupusregina, and the red headed maid cocked her head, gave the V for victory sign with her fingers, and grinned happily.

"Yes, what is your point?" He asked curiously.

"Enri finished her glass and set it down. Thank you for the wine Governor Tenva." Enri said and stood up, "Again, I am truly sorry about your loss."

"Thank you", he said and stood up in turn, noticing the bottle was nearly empty, "but may I know the point of your story before you kill me?" He asked.

"Why would I kill you?" Enri asked curiously.

"Because I won't surrender." He said flatly.

Enri smiled sweetly at him. "But...you did surrender Governor Tenva, and I wanted to thank you for that also."

He looked at her, utterly dumbfounded.

"Or that is what I'll tell everyone anyway." She said with a smile, "You won't be in a position to tell anyone differently, because you'll be securely held away elsewhere until the end of the war. Don't worry, you won't be harmed, we'll adhere to the Draconic Accords on the treatment of prisoners." She said sincerely as she picked up the governor's seal on his desk and pressed it to a blank sheet of paper. She handed it to Lupusregina and said, "When you take him out of here, please have one of the goblin army's spies forge his official surrender declaration on here, they should be able to do that fairly easily."

"My people will never believe that!" He snapped out in shock as he saw his seal on the blank sheet.

Enri turned back to him smiled in return at his shock and dismay, "I think most of them will, and most of the rest will at least pretend to believe it as an excuse to not die fighting a battle they can't win. You can set the record straight after the war," Enri promised, "I'll even back up the truth and admit I tricked your city into capitulating when you weren't willing to give in. You see…if you hold out, I think they would too, and a lot of people who do not need to die, would die. The Sorcerer King's sacred text tells us that life must be temporary, death and unlife may go on forever, therefore we should treasure the brevity of the moment in the sun we have, and that all living things have, and treat it with respect. Therefore do not throw it away meaninglessly, nor take it from others without reason, necessity, or just cause. I don't like lying, but just like tricking that troll, if by one lie I can save almost two hundred thousand lives...or however many are still alive in this city...I can live with paying that price." Enri said softly and inclined her head politely.

"Lupu, would you please render him unconscious as gently as you can and take him into custody." Enri said kindly, "We don't want him shouting orders to resist, better they think he went meekly in captivity, or at least have an excuse to believe it."

A moment later, the stunned expression on Governor Tenva's face was wiped away by a firm blow to the back of the head, and his limp form was hidden away for transport elsewhere, along with his 'official surrender that wasn't', and a sample of his handwriting taken from within his desk for the goblin spymaster to work with. Within hours the forgery was carried from hold out position to hold out position and carried by word of mouth to every horrified...and many a relieved...ear. General Gorag was defeated and the Iron Governor had surrendered unconditionally.

When morning came the next day, those who had gone to bed as Slane Theocracy citizens, woke up to find themselves to be citizens of the Sorcerous Kingdom... sort of. General Enri had the word shouted from every street corner, more copies of the surrender document were made and routed around and posted on every corner for public 'scrutiny', and dragons kept watch on all four quadrants of the city, while her soldiers patrolled the streets in great numbers, and they put to use their labor force of undead skeletons, formerly used to carry military supplies in the baggage train, now used to clean the rubble and to begin to rebuild the walls.

Her own army was thoroughly united, nagas drank with humans, a vampire bought blood from a soldier he'd fought beside and took it from his veins in the street, the selling soldier took a few coins and the vampire healed the wound closed on the spot, the two then raised their cups and drank on the street corner, the human was heedless of the fact that the vampire was drinking his blood, and happily drank his own beer. Goblin patrols kept order in the streets and told jokes with elves who told those jokes to humans who told those jokes to centaurs, and they laughed at the same things. Ogres worked alongside their smaller counterparts to rebuild what was broken, and the deeply religious city was equal parts horrified and fascinated and beyond disbelieving at the impossible things they were seeing in their own streets...but people are resilient as a group, and life went on, bread had to be baked, iron smelted, leather boiled, food harvested, and drinks poured, the living needed their needs met, no matter who was in charge or what had transpired the night before.

Casualties for Enri's army had been roughly three thousand, with the total dead being some twelve hundred, chiefly among the archers who had kept the wall busy, the casualties among the thirty thousand man army of the Slane Theocracy was estimated to be roughly twenty eight thousand killed, wounded, and captured, most of whom were in fact 'killed' while a few escaped either during the chaos of the night or they removed all evidence of military service from their bodies and blended back in to the population. Casualties among the city militia were thirty three thousand, mostly wounded, but with eight thousand confirmed killed, and the remaining twenty seven thousand having surrendered their hold out positions outright when word was carried to them of the Iron Governor's submission to 'The Stone Eyed General' Enri Bareare, who became famous among the population for her hard stares but otherwise kind and considerate dispensation of rulings and edicts.

The next two days had General Enri becoming governor Enri as she oversaw matters pertaining to the city, the first order of business was disposition of the dead, and Slane Theocracy citizens came begging for the corpses of their loved ones, pleading with Enri not to turn their dead into skeleton slaves, something Enri assured them would not happen, those with deceased loved ones were allowed to pass by the bodies to find the one or more they sought, and then allotted an escort and a volunteer burial detail, who allowed them to be laid to rest in accordance with their traditions. This openness was a welcome shock to those who expected that the bodies would either be abused, or turned into the undead, or held hostage out of greed.

Far more transformative however was the response to slavery. The elf slaves had risen within the walls and though some had perished, most survived, and it took most of a whole day to cut the chains from every single one of them, the brothels were emptied of elven women, and when they were walked past General Enri, who came on her undead warhorse to personally see to their liberation, such was the monstrously horribly treatment of the slaves that the next priority for her became the trials. Every slave master's property was confiscated, they were not even permitted the clothes on their backs, they were given large sacks with a yellow X painted over it to denote their shame, and they were given heavy chains to wear.

After that came the common slaves, day laborers who performed menial work around the city, they required jobs, and the tasks still needed to be done, so Neia raided the city's coffers to pay them for their labor...and included several years back pay made possible by the confiscation of property from the wealthy who oversaw the slave trade.

Next were the house servants, the elves who tended to individual families, many wealthy, but others not so much, and in this there were...complications, because some of the elves had come to these houses as children, or had been well treated, there had formed among some, amiable bonds, such that the elves who occupied several homes, risked themselves to protect the family that owned them, from the wrath of other slaves.

A further complication emerged as slaves sometimes turned on one another, as a guileful or cruel elf slave managed to gain position by betraying his fellow slaves to their masters, in some cases behaving worse than the masters themselves, with one house having the only casualty be the elf head butler.

The wild variation in treatment and behavior resulted in the need to set up war crimes trial, since many of the behaviors were a direct violation of the Draconic Accords, as they were carried out against prisoners of war...even if they were prisoners from a former enemy. This required General Enri to dispatch the information to the Sorcerer King, who in turn sought out the Argland Council State as a neutral party.

Until the answer was forthcoming, the dungeons and prisons were filled with the accused, and every task pertaining to these former slaves, created two more to go with it, leaving General Enri Bareare VERY busy, and a top priority became capturing the countryside farms that fed so much of the Slane Theocracy, and freeing the slaves held prisoner there.

And as to the disposition of Tenva in the eyes of his people...

Though many doubted that the 'Iron Governor' Tenva had in fact surrendered, few would openly give voice to those private thoughts because that could be considered a call to rebellion, and nobody wanted to fight the army of nightmares that had overthrown their city in mere hours. Criminal laws were enforced as they had been, and more regular Slane Theocracy citizens were hired to do the work formerly done by slaves. Some of those formerly in bondage chose to remain in the city, while others went north to the Sorcerous Kingdom, or sought to join with Enri's army and swelling her ranks with thousands more willing, eager, fearless, and fanatical soldiers. It was not for nothing that within a short time of the increase of her army, a congratulatory letter came from the Sorcerer King, stating his appreciation for General Enri's masterful accomplishment. It would remain among her proudest and most treasured possessions until the end of her days.

A separate letter informed her that a relief force would be dispatched to allow her to move her army at her earliest convenience, but that she was entrusted with the power to act on her own initiative if the opportunity presented itself, and it promised her a grand reward for her service when she returned.

Enri sighed, the end of war was the reward she really wanted, and she'd gotten them all, both sides, much, much closer to that reward today...but even with this victory, she knew it was still a long...long time coming...or at least...it would feel that way.

 **AN: So concludes the siege of Ikari and General Enri's debut battle, I trust you found it entertaining and worth the wait. Of course reviews are welcome, but I also remind you I have a discord server where these stories are shown first if you want an early look, and I encourage you to join many of my other readers there, where a great supportive and positive community has taken shape. Till next time! Long Live Ainz Ooal Gown! ;)**

 **If you appreciate the work that went into telling this story, you can donate a dollar or so to the author's charity organization: bdgiving dot org.**

 **P.S. Don't be a choosing beggar. I enjoy all the stories that I write, and I update them each as it seems fit for me to do. Stop spamming side and concurrent stories with reviews that just ask for more of this one. If you want to be 'entitled' to pick which one I write on which day, well the only ones who I allow to make that choice, are the larger charity donors, as a reward for their generosity. If you're not willing to do that, just wait and I promise you'll see the one you want come up soon enough, maybe a few days, but it'll get done, I'm NOT abandoning any of these stories.**


	66. Flood Rising

**AN: Here you go, and I'll thank you to not complain about the release schedule, discord members get first access, in no small part because a number of them help to edit and improve the final product, others show fan art…including fan art of characters I created, make suggestions, donate to charity, or otherwise just make it a great supportive and creative community. You do not have to do any of that, but if you want to simply sit back and passively wait to receive the product, you're going to have to wait a little longer…and you're still not having to wait for a month as you do with most authors. Also…if you ask a question in a review as a guest, or have you messaging turned off…how do you expect me to answer you? OK, on to the story…**

 _...Ikari City..._

Enri was telling herself how not tired she was, all while certain nobody had ever lied to themselves about that to themselves as often or as vigorously as she had in the last two days. But at least it was a productive self-deception.

Ikari city fell with relative ease thanks to her fifth column of elf slaves who were happy to betray their masters when the chance at being set free came...as well as the raw power of Lupu's strikes at the stone and at the gate...and the dragons...and her deception...it was just...everything. Everything worked so well that she could hardly believe her luck.

But while winning the battle was almost 'easy'...winning the peace, that was hard. The city had to be administered, and that meant military officials had to be put into place above the citizens of the city. Justice had to be done.

Two of her soldiers had gotten drunk and been caught in the act of rape against a city citizen, and had been publicly hanged for the crime. Ironically this had done more to keep the citizens compliant than any other measure. It worked that way for two reasons...first...because if General Enri 'Hard Eyes' Barear would hang her own soldiers...what would she do to those who rebelled among the conquered? Second…it was made abundantly clear that justice would be given to the citizens, there was no reason to rebel if those over you were ensuring that your lives neither ended nor became nightmare.

Though there was a great deal of grumbling about the liberation of slaves, Enri settled the matter by asking all those who objected to come to her that very evening for dinner. She sat at the head of a long table, laid out with many different plates of different colored glass. Over the course of the dinner she listened to their complaint.

"I have none to tend my house, it will fall to ruin and be a blight on the city!" A rather obese figure complained.

"And my farms need laborers or the city will starve." A thin elder gentleman remarked.

"And who will do the work of the city, if not our slaves? The trash must be taken up, the roads swept and maintained." A smallish bureaucratic looking man with deep set, beady looking eyes remarked pragmatically.

So it went, and Enri listened to them all, smiling outwardly as she fumed and swept her hard eyes from one to the next.

When at last silence fell, Enri stood and said patiently, "Gentlemen, I acknowledge the validity of...most of the complaints laid out here, however I do not have the authority to reenslave the elves. They are prisoners of war, and by way of the Draconic Accords, and our sacred laws, no living person may own another as property."

They looked disgruntled, but she carried on. "However, you are not of my country, are you?" She asked.

They shook their heads, anticipation building as her tone suggested compromise was coming.

"Therefore I can present you with two options. The first is to accept the reforms brought upon you by the Sorcerer King and his victory, hire labor for pay in accordance with the minimum wages set by calculating the cost of living versus current currency value and appraised annually, while you also comply with the workers' rights laws of the Sorcerous Kingdom..."

Her gaze swept over them all.

"OR..." she continued, "I have had placed beneath each of your plates, one of two letters. 'M' for Master. 'S' for Slave. If you reject these reforms and insist upon the old system of bondage, then simply remove your plates and see which letter lies beneath your plates. If it is an 's'" she said as she leand towards them menacingly and snapped her fingers. From beyond the door came heavily armed soldiers… "then you and your families will be stripped and chained and handed over to those whose plates have an 'M' under it, and you can spend your lives serving those you now sit beside, while your property will be confiscated by the city and sold to pay into the city treasury for public use."

Faces paled. They were all looking down at their plates as if the little round shapes had turned into coiled deadly serpents.

"Of course, if you prefer to accept the reforms of the Sorcerer King, you need only rise from the table and walk out, and you needn't fear what lies underneath that plate." She said, smiling ever so sweetly and looking at them with steel in her gaze.

It was a long, long moment of silence, then one by one, they pushed themselves away from the table, declining to touch the dreaded things further. "As you would not be slaves, do not seek to be masters." She said coolly. "Hire your workers, pay them fairly, treat them well, and do not ask me about this again." She said, and unable to bear it any longer, they got up and walked out without a word.

When the last was gone and Enri reseated herself to have another glass of wine, one of the soldiers approached her. "Dangerous move." He said.

"How do you mean?" She asked.

"How did you know none of them would look underneath the plates? You know the Sorcerer King's thoughts on forced labor." He said.

She smiled and nodded, "Look under the plate." She said.

"Which?" He asked.

"Any." She replied.

He walked down the length of the table and randomly stopped at one near the middle, and he lifted it up, he looked at her in surprise.

"Right." She said, "There were never any letters. But they didn't know that, and they didn't need to, those who love to be masters, would never risk becoming slaves themselves, especially not to others at the table, they know each other far to well to take that chance." She replied as she finished her cup and set it down.

"I'm going to bed, that was unpleasant, you should do the same, tomorrow in the early morning we ride to the Latifundiums and clear those out." She said, and the soldiers bowed and filed out of the room back to their stations or quarters.

 _...Draconic Kingdom the day General Enri advanced on Ikari city..._

Queen Draudillon was satisfied in the extreme, she had successfully raised...not the twenty thousand soldiers the Sorcerer King had asked of her, but thirty five thousand, having found after her report that she had more volunteers than she needed, and enough coin from completing the purging of the nobles to fund the training and arming of the entire lot. She fumed at the dead, it was only now...sober and after having taken a full accounting of what they held for themselves...that she realized how thoroughly they had been screwing their country.

One noble had an entire room coated in gold, right down to the furniture, another had his silverware carved out of precious gems instead of metal. Another had a room of priceless artwork, while another turned out to have held eight different estates in eight different locations, each of them overwhelmingly valuable. All of them were very dead now. She'd been scraping by on the scraps of what they'd collected, barely able to keep her people alive, unable to do so for half of them...and this..this was what they had been hoarding for themselves. It made her physically ill.

The night before, Vermillion sat across from her in her private office while she held her face in her hands and sobbed. With the wealth of those nobles, they could have raised a half a dozen armies, hired every adventurer team in the known world, and even paid for the armies of their neighbors to march with them and taken the fight directly to the beastman kingdom. So many dead...because a handful of nobles hoarded coin intended for national defense. "Why...why...why?" She'd asked over, and over again to a silent Vermillion. Or perhaps it wasn't to him, perhaps it was asked of the dead? Or asked of herself? Even she wasn't sure. Realizing how badly she'd been screwing her own country through her system of relying on the nobles to collect and forward wealth to the treasury for the general defense had spun her into a depression that had lasted all night long.

But to her credit...she had not touched a drop.

Though the night was spent in tears of regret, and the steadfast company of a silent and faithful Vermillion, when the Sun arose she had tea, at a light breakfast, and she found herself quite hopeful. With the army she'd raised she was poised to prove herself as something OTHER than a drunken and bumbling...but well-meaning...incompetent.

That afternoon she had a meeting with her generals, and for the first time in a long time, a meeting like that did not involve her drinking heavily and listening to hopeless casualty reports.

"The Sorcerer King has ordered us to march. I have informed him of our success in raising the soldiers we require, and that our troops are 'adequate' for combat." She said to her leaders, she looked over each of them, asking with her eyes for any dispute. There was none. "He has informed me of his intentions, and we needn't fear pointless losses, we are to declare war on the Slane Theocracy, advance our soldiers into the interior, and focus on seizing farms, villages, towns, mining complexes, and so on. We are to deprive them of the means to feed and maintain an army, but...we are NOT under any circumstances to 'mistreat his people' as he put it." She said flatly.

"Ahhh...sire..." One of the generals asked.

"Yes?" She said with an arched brow.

"What does he mean 'his people'?" The general asked curiously.

Queen Draudillon smiled, "He's calling the people of the Slane Theocracy 'his people' in short, he considers this war to be already won, we're just 'informing' them of that. Quite frankly, I'm inclined to agree, is there any way you can imagine that those fanatical morons could defeat the Sorcerer King?" She asked.

She let them stew on that for a bit.

"No." He said. "We will win, we cannot lose." He said, his voice began to choke up with emotion as a long held at bay realization finally struck home and burst from within his breast…his people were safe, his people would live, his people had a future as something other than food.

Out in the streets among the common people, the mood was no different. The deaths of those nobles who had for so long exploited so many had been a celebrated affair as soon as the purges were complete; and nowhere in the country was this more true than among the soldiers and their families who had suffered so much because of their greed.

The day of the purges, some weeks before, Queen Draudillon had ordered the estates opened. The soldiers who had fought with inadequate weapons and armor had been taken on tours of the homes of the elite. The rage, the tears, the WRATH of the common class had been so great that those who had survived arrest had been given a...special punishment, and today, on the day of the order to declare war, was the day it was to be carried out, but business first.

"With the destruction of almost all our noble class...save the gentlemen at this table, an opportunity arises that has not been present in centuries." She said, "An opportunity for best and the brightest, the bravest and the wisest, to rise within our country and to become a new type of leader." She said, her voice remained calm, but an undercurrent of excitement was evident.

"What is that?" One of her men asked.

"The Sorcerer King talked to me of it, he called it 'meritocracy' where those able to perform, rise into positions of leadership, rather than merely inheriting it forever." She said.

"Curious." He replied.

"Maybe, but the opportunity this presents for the ambitious cannot be underestimated, I want you to be sure that soldiers and administrators who perform well are at all times recorded as such and are given ever higher stations. Send their names to me and Vermillion and I will go over those who we think suitable for higher station when they return home. Wealth, nobility, and so on. If they know that they are not trapped where they are born, who knows what might be accomplished?" She said rhetorically.

"Why does it feel like we're bearing witness to the birth of a golden era?" One of them wondered aloud. "Boundless power behind us, the corrupt purged from our ranks, an enemy that cannot win, our Beastmen neighbors have started exporting food and have not attacked us in years…it feels like we've been blessed by the gods…" He said in a hushed voice.

"Perhaps we're blessed by one." Queen Draudillon said quietly, "But if this is the birth of a golden age, then we must remember that such ages have labor pains, and many people will not live to see it come to this world." She added.

"We will do our best majesty, to ensure that as many survive, as can be allowed to survive, to see that we build something great in this new world." One of the generals said with an almost fanatical look in his eyes.

"See that you do." She said, "You will live off the food of the places you take, but you are not permitted under the Draconic Accords to starve, or abuse, or steal from the peasant class, you will pay them for their food, if you run out of coin, use promissory notes and we will dispatch adequate coin to the region to cover the cost. You are simply to ensure that the Slane Theocracy's cities do not receive shipments, and that the Slane Theocracy's armies do not have adequate supplies. Even with all thirty-five thousand, we don't have enough to face off against the better equipped and more experienced and larger numbers of the Slane Theocracy, if defeated, we would open ourselves up to counter-invasion, and I don't need to tell you how that would go." She said bluntly.

They looked at her with blank faces.

"I don't…right? I don't have to tell you that such a defeat might well make the Sorcerer King decide that I'm not an effective Queen and I'd need to retire…to put it bluntly I'm lucky, very lucky, after what happened with Vanysa." She gulped hard as she imagined how close she'd come to a most unpleasant fate.

"And worse than that, a military response on our own ground would meet almost no resistance, we simply don't have the soldiers needed to defend the border…speaking of which?" She looked around the table.

"My Queen, we have raised five thousand more soldiers for border defense and are currently building a system of forts and walls along our border with the Slane Theocracy, they seem to be unaware of our actions…" He began, and the Queen interrupted him.

"Because the Sorcerer King exterminated the entire Slane Theocracy intelligence network. What wasn't killed, was mostly captured, what wasn't captured, had to be withdrawn entirely. In short, the Slane Theocracy is fighting blind and will be for months, they simply don't have the intelligence network anymore to observe anything, puts them at a huge disadvantage I should think." Her voice was deadpan, as if she was mentioning a cloud overhead, hardly suitable as a tone of voice explaining such an operation…but such improbably damaging operations were the province of the Sorcerer King.

"Yes…yes it is." He said with surprise, "That gives us almost total free reign, they probably won't even know we've invaded until we reach the gates of Kami Miyako." He said with a laugh.

She shook her head. "My lord was very clear about this. We MUST issue an official declaration of war."

They looked dubious. "Do you want to explain to the Sorcerer King why his orders were disobeyed?" She asked.

The dubious looks vanished. "Think nothing of it, they'll have their hands full soon enough, and this should force them to divert some of their armies away from the Abelion Hills to ensure we don't strike at Kami Miyako. Our goal is to lead them on a merry chase and deny them any and all resources that would sustain their forces. March in, occupy farms, purchase the food that would be shipped to Kami Miyako or the other Theocracy armies and cities, and move on, ship what you can back here, burn the rest…after you've bought it, and leave enough for those living there to actually eat for themselves."

"This is an…unusual strategy, your majesty." He said.

"This is an unusual war." She said with a shake of her head, "This a war to bring down an entire old world and build something new in its place, our new lord has said that our actions lay the foundations for the new on the ashes of the old, if we merely repeat the wrongs of the past, they will become cracks in our foundation that will haunt the generations to come, we set the standard for the new world in all ways, and therefore we must conduct ourselves in such a way that all future generations remark on our virtue in the face of horror, that we treat life as if it has value, even if it stands in opposition to us, and have a care for those who are enemies only by the misfortune of being born on the wrong side of a border, rather than by some intrinsic wrongness in who they are or what they seek for themselves."

"That is…amazing. But can a war be won on such idealistic terms?" He asked.

"Have you seen him lose yet?" She asked him.

The table fell quiet.

"Exactly." She said. "Now you have your orders, ensure you convey the promise of a better life for better performance to your soldiers, I am sending out the official declaration of war after the ceremony punishing these nobles, it should arrive in Kami Miyako in a few days. Now if there is nothing else, I'm going to be meeting a guest who will be carrying out the punishment, you're all free to go." She said.

They stood and bowed to her before filing out. Queen Draudillon stood and walked quietly to her throne room, it was late afternoon, and most of the capitol was gathering in the great square to see the last of the purged nobles perish. Vermillion, true to his nature, remained in the throne room standing next to her empty seat with his arms folded behind his back.

"Your majesty." He said, inclining his head.

"Vermillion, you didn't have to wait for me you know." She said.

"I know, your majesty." He said. "However it was my pleasure to do so." He said.

"Well thank you anyway, but our executioner will be here shortly, and I'd prefer to be alone with her for a little while, for her, this is a bit more…personal." Queen Draudillon answered softly, "And also for me." She said with a sigh.

"Oh…I understand your majesty." He said, "Shall I at least leave a guard?" He asked.

She shook her head, "No need, I doubt she'll let anything happen to me, if she'd wanted me to suffer, I'm sure she'd have asked for that already and probably gotten it." She shuddered at the thought.

"Point taken." Vermillion said, and he gestured for the few guards along the walls to follow him out, a moment later as the last had exited, he turned and closed the door behind him, rendering a reverential bow to his Queen before he did so.

At last she was alone, seated on her throne, it would be the throne of a vassal soon enough, like most of the world she knew, but somehow she found herself at peace with that. She felt fear towards the Sorcerer King when he'd been sorely displeased with some failure of hers, but his reactions had been rational, shockingly so, and though he could be very brutal, he seemed to acknowledge the difference between accidental and intentional failure and regarded those two things profoundly differently in a moral sense.

It was in the midst of this that a portal opened near the door and a beautiful and buxom peasant girl with long blonde hair in a braid stepped out, she had a toothy smile on her face and her grayish-green eyes bounced like the golden locks that moved as she walked, she had her hands low behind her back and held together, she was the picture of whimsy and almost childish happiness. Her clothing was considerably improved, the fabric looked phenomenally expensive…yet it was still cut in the fashion of a peasant, it was mind-boggling to contemplate why someone would take such a fabric and do…that with it. It was akin to shoveling horse dung from a barn with a shovel made of gold.

The reasoning behind it became more evident as the girl drew closer to the throne and she could see deeper into the girl's eyes, a dichotomy was evident there, a kind of frenzied madness held just below the surface by the focus of her attention, which was the task given to her by the lord they had…or would officially have…in common.

"Hiya majesty!" She said, waving cheerfully as she approached.

"Hello Vanysa." Queen Draudillon said with a smile that was still somewhat…sad, or perhaps ashamed of her role in what had happened to the poor girl.

Oddly enough, she didn't stop when she came close, instead, she simply slowed down, her eyes locked with those of the Queen. "Shame…" She said in a hushed voice, "Guilt…" She said again, her eyes went narrow as if she were going to grow angry, Queen Draudillon froze…this was different, her heartbeat quickened in her breast.

Vanysa, the beautiful buxom bouncy girl of a burned-out village and a burned-out life, approached the queen, and fearlessly reached out to touch the ruler under her chin, she drew close, and held her gaze, close enough that with but the slightest motion, she would have kissed the woman…but it was not warmth she saw in Vanysa's eyes…instead, Queen Draudillon saw the rise of a hungry sadistic glee as Vanysa searched the eyes of the monarch for things only she could see, and then the seemingly normal(ish) girl stepped back and allowed her touch to fall away. "No." She said, and the look of sadism and hunger that had been there was gone as if it had never been, and a clear-eyed look of cunning and intelligence took its place.

"You feel guilt, but are not guilty. Not of what you feel guilty for." She said softly, as if pronouncing sentence, and Draudillon's heartbeat began to resume its normal pace. "You should stop feeling bad about me. I'm…better." She smiled her toothy smile, "Your mistake was small, the true guilt lies with someone else…and my master now knows his name."

"Can you tell me?" Queen Draudillon asked softly.

"King Astraka." She said. "He was waiting for me outside when everyone else was gone, I remember everything now, and master says I can have him."

She grinned and her eyes went a little wild, "We gonna have soooo much fun, ahl betcha he's gonna be soooo happy ahm alive." She grinned and clapped her hands together with glee.

"Ahhh…yes…" Queen Draudillon said hesitantly, putting false confidence in her tone of voice as she watched the sadistic gleam grow in Vanysa's eyes again.

She coughed into her hand briefly and then said to Vanysa, "Well, ahhh…the crowds are gathering. What do you intend to do exactly, to punish the guilty?"

Vanysa smiled, "Well…yah know what ah am now, yah?"

"A Tisiphone Fury…" The Queen said softly as she recalled the name.

"D'yah know whas special bout that?" She asked softly of the Queen.

Queen Draudillon shook her head.

"Ah don't just ENJOY punishin the guilty…no, no, no…ah gets stronger from it, thas why his majesty lemme come here, it ain't just cause I was born here an it be right fer one a them peasants they done wrong to ta punish em…its cause I gets better fer doin it."

Her eyes went clear and shone like stars, "And the more I hurt them, the more I may improve, and the better I may serve my master until I reach the limits of this new body, whatever they may be. So to answer your question your majesty, of what I intend to do, is to make them wail for the sweet release of death…and it will be…a wonderful show. After all, it has to be, doesn't it?" She asked rhetorically.

The Queen nodded in agreement, "Yes it must, everybody knows what these men and women have done now, the hate for them as 'bad nobles' is overwhelming. Everybody who ever held a sword or spear for the country knows that they lacked armor so a noble could buy a solid gold chair, or that their food at the front was short so that a woman on a grand estate could feast herself to fatness by selling more food abroad." She shook her head, "I've said before I made a grave mistake in trusting them to contribute all they could to our kingdom's survival…and now there must be blood for blood to avenge the ones who died or hungered because of their failure to meet their obligations as they pursued their lusts and their greed." Queen Draudillon's gaze turned hard with hate.

Vanysa reached out and touched her cheek and said sweetly, "There will be, your majesty." She said in a very sweet voice.

Curiously, looking into the eyes of the sadistic fury, Queen Draudillon felt perfectly safe.

"Will you be introducing yourself?" Queen Draudillon asked? "After all, though you look the part of an ordinary peasant girl, we know there is more to you than that now.""

Vanysa stepped back and looked to the ceiling as she thought it over, her hands went to her hips as if annoyed with herself. "I hadn't considered that your majesty. What do you recommend?" She asked.

"Well, to see one of their own be given the task of slaying their oppressors would certainly embolden them and show that they have my support. On the other hand, if you're going to be very publicly connected to the Sorcerer King, showing them your altered state will be…illustrative, of what happens to those who do wrong in his eyes." Queen Draudillon said.

"So the question is…what should people fear, and what should people respect," Vanysa stated very matter of factly. Her arms folded behind her back and she grabbed one wrist in the other and she began to pace as she spoke her thoughts aloud. "I think the reason those who inflict fear, choose to do so, is because they desire to enforce compliance with instruction. Tell a man you'll burn him if he does not submit, he's likely to submit, even if you have no fire and no way to make one. You want the next crop to be obedient to your will, such public and bloody punishment should be seen as being inflicted by one of your own. You want the peasants on your side, so it is best that I am seen as a peasant Your justice will reign, and of course, it must align with that of the Sorcerer King who sent me back to you in the first place…so…peasant it is." Vanysa said, pouting slightly.

"Something wrong?" Queen Draudillon asked.

"Nah…s'just that ah really like flyin." She perked up and smiled her toothy grin, "Don't matter, I'll get plenty ah that later. Fer now, ahm right hungry an ah think ther all a'waitin on us ther now. Yah gonna speak first your majesty?" Vanysa asked happily.

"I will." Queen Draudillon said. "I must, after all our soldiers will be marching soon, they have to know I am backing them all the way, up to and including destroying the ones whose entitled, spoiled greed, nearly undid everything we have worked for." Her voice was filled with wrath, and Vanysa gave a rare solemn nod.

"Then after you, majesty, I will make my appearance when you have said your peace." Vanysa said as her eyes cleared up again.

A few minutes later Queen Draudillon stood on a dais overlooking the great square. The guards below beat shields with mailed fists to alert and still the crowd, and eyes gradually turned to meet her.

Queen Draudillon stood with back straight, bearing the regal form of a good royal, then took a very deep breath as she addressed the crowd. "People of the Draconic Kingdom…I come to you today, as a Queen…and as a failure." The population stayed quiet…this admission was unexpected.

"I have not been the finest of rulers, and the finest ruler is what you truly deserve. I failed you in that I trusted that these men and women," she gestured to the series of noblemen and noblewomen who stood bound to individual stakes posted evenly around the raised wooden platform, in full view of the crowd, "sought your interests, sought your security, they had their obligations you and to me, and they failed in them. They were not happy with what they were given, they chose to demand more, and more, and more, far more than what they deserved, far more than what they had earned, they demanded what they did nothing to gain for themselves, and still they were unsatisfied. Within their rotten souls lay greed so great that they would prefer your cities be consumed than that they have a single coin left in their undeserving fingers!" Queen Draudillon was shouting fiercely now, and the crowd was with her.

"I confess, I fell into despair, because I worked so hard to do my duty to you, and I failed…I failed and I must beg your forgiveness, and making amends for my poorly placed faith, is the beginnings of that! No more will I fall into despair, to drink, to desperation, no more will I trust those who should not be trusted, and ever harder will I labor for your prosperity! The wealth that they held back has been confiscated, and with it an army raised to prove the worth and FUTURE of our kingdom is NOT to be FORGOTTEN by history, the future of our kingdom is to MAKE HISTORY!" She shouted and raised her fist to punch the air.

"Draudillon! Draudillon! Draudillon!" The crowd chanted back, and the condemned began to shake. She raised her hands to call for silence.

"Now it comes time for justice to be done, to end these reprobates, We begin…with a blood debt!" A hush fell over the crowd as the mood turned and eyes centered on the platform. "Will you let them hurt you?! Will you let them get away with stealing from you?! How many of you lost loved ones at the front who were not armed as they should have been?! How many have been hungry while fighting for our nation, while they sat at home, safe and fat and happy as you bled and starved?! They were the beastmen behind our lines! They ate up your wealth and your work and took everything from you, before serving you up like cattle to a foe you could not defeat! NOW! WHAT DO THEY DESERVE?!l What sentence do you give to them?!" Queen Draudillon's voice echoed over the square, and the crowd ate it up.

"Death! Death! Death!" The crowd shouted, and the smell of shit began to waft away as the bound-up nobles began to lose what little dignity they had left before the mob. It was then that Queen Draudillon gestured towards a long street that led to the square. "I thought it best that their demise comes from one of your own, one whose life was destroyed by the avarice of the nobility that should have protected her future, she stands now, RESTORED! As I have returned to her the future that was stolen from her, so too I will return your stolen futures to ALL of you!"

When Vanysa made her appearance, she did so, skipping happily down the street in her playful, bouncy form, for all the world an ordinary if very pretty looking girl, it was something of an oddity then, when she didn't stop where the crowd did, packed as they were around the square, save for the roped off area that allowed her easy passage to the 'stage' where her performance was to be.

The crowd was booing the helpless nobles by then, throwing rotten garbage, offal, and more, but as Vanysa mounted the stairs, the throwing eased and finally stopped.

She began to skip her way around the platform until she came to someone on the far side.

The noble looked at her curiously as she took his face in her hands and met his eyes with hers. "Guilt…" She whispered and moved to the next. She repeated the motion. "Guilt…" she whispered and moved on to the next. One by one she sought the truth of their guilt, under the terms of Ainz Ooal Gown, the innocent were not to be punished, and she…seeing as only a Tisiphone Fury could, that there were those who needed to be avenged upon those into whose eyes she looked. Her soft and feminine hands were almost a caress, but they did not feel desire for her, quite the opposite, their lust stilled or never sparked as soon as they met her eyes, the lust for pain was clear within her gaze, and there they saw chains tightening to bind them to terrible fates. A few broke down weeping, a few more wet themselves.

"You're permitted final words." She whispered softly, and going from one to another, she visited the position of each of the noblemen and women, several of them simply begged for their lives, a few cursed their own fates or called for the gods to come and save them. Then she came to the last. He looked sullenly, "Do you wish to die silent?" She asked him.

That did it. He began to shout. "Damn you all to fucking hell you limp dick peasants!" He started to shake and tremble with rage. I am Tesug Ryvr! I am a noble damnit! I was OWED your work and entitled to your goods! So what if some of you had to pay the price?! You filth should count yourselves lucky I even acknowledge anything you do when I tell you to bring me MORE!"

Tesug's rant of impotent rage frothed over so much that he foamed at the very mouth, and his tangent was only cut short when Vanysa drew a knife and began to cut. She stood behind him, so that he would not be hidden from the crowd.

Then with small slices at first, the beautiful and sweet sadist gradually began to skin him as she had practiced with the pandaman whose skin now served as her favorite coat. She put on a fine showing before the crowd, turning the demanding noble into a weeping pathetic mess of blood and sinew.

Calling on her time with the Sorcerer King, she turned to her skills in showmanship, and flicked the blood to the crowd from off her knife shouting, "He owes you his blood doesn't he! Take it! Take what is yours from his veins!" She pranced, not walked, from one to the next, to the next, to the next commanding both stage and crowd by her bouncy, lithe leaps and prances from one to another, as if she were making them to sing, killing each by inches to thrill a different part of the crowd. Her bouncy ways as she played with her blade along the stage, twirling with it overhead as if she were dancing, before darting down to slice off a strip of flesh, such as an ear, a nose, to pop an eyeball from a glaring stubborn face…for the crowd it was exciting…thrilling, and added to the heady feeling of finally taking some measure of final revenge on those who had in their minds, betrayed their nation for wealth.

It took over two hours for them all to die. And when they did, Vanysa went to each part of the stage, after putting the bloody knife between her teeth, and curtseyed to the crowd, removing the blade to say to them, "Did yer Vanysa do a good job fer yah?!" As loud as she could. "YES!" The crowd chanted back.

"Well good, cause she's gonna do good fer yah too! Everthin is gonna work out now!" She shouted, pointing up to where Queen Draudillon stood, watching the whole thing play out.

When she was done, she bounded off the stage like a fawn, and pranced her way back the way she'd come, holding her knife in both hands behind her back, with her long braided blond hair bouncing behind her.

 **AN: Well there we go, we're up to Sixty Six chapters, the Draconic Kingdom is about to enter the war, special thanks to all the readers in my discord who helped me fix and tweak the small things along the way. Any mistakes there were…or still are, fall into MY lap, please do not hold them at fault for missing any, they helped out of love for the story…and a little bit of greed in wanting to get another chapter sooner…which is fine by me. If you appreciate this story you can show that appreciation by donating to the author's charity organization: bdgiving dot org.**

 **Also…had a formatting issue when updating last night, and was absolutely DONE with FFN's bullshit for the evening, so I went to bed deciding to do it now.**


	67. Mission Possible

**…Nazarick…days before the Fall of Philip…**

Ainz was sitting in his private office with Albedo going over several documents pertaining to the war effort when the message from Climb's bodyguard came in. "Why would Zesshi Zetsumei wish to speak to me, I'm busy." He said, "And later you can explain why she knows you're there." He said with mild annoyance.

"Now Albedo, since Philip is marching forward with his army of incompetents, we need to make sure that there is enough food on hand for all the prisoners we will take, he'll be lucky if his army lasts a lunchbreak against the combined armies of myself, King Zanac, & General Nimble. It amazes me he could be so easily manipulated by so many people…just a moment Albedo, another message."

"A world item?!" Ainz said loudly. "I will be right there." Ainz stood up while Albedo beamed at him with absolute pride and adoration. "Zesshi Zetsumei, the Slane Theocracy trump card, has discarded her allegiance to them and is offering me their world class item along with her surrender. I will return shortly." Ainz said enthusiastically.

 **(AN: For details on what happened with Zesshi Zetsumei, read the side story 'Enemy Mine')**

 _…Nazarick…Before the Throne of Kings…days after the Fall of Philip..._

Vanysa skipped all the way to the base of the throne's steps and prostrated herself before her god. "Your majesty, I remember now, I remember everything." She kept her head lowered and her face a mere inch or so from the floor, this posture had a dual purpose to her. The first was always to show her abject submission to her divine ruler.

The second was to hide her shame, her capture, her failure to kill her captor, the way she was bodily degraded, ogled at, manhandled, and tortured with threats of violation never carried out…but always close at hand, and the fact that she'd lost the coins her majesty had given to her as a reward, he'd given her a gift and she'd had it taken away from her. She relayed the entire story. Her choked sobs interrupted her periodically as she came to things harder to describe, but he was her god, it was his right to know everything. He had his servants handy, and to relay her failure before them seemed…a fitting punishment. She felt the stares of Albedo and Shalltear the hardest.

She said the right things to them, things they would agree with…but they clearly did not like her. She felt their hostility whenever she was near to the Sorcerer King. Aura seemed to, but that was mainly a childish amusement. Demiurge…he seemed to find her pleasant to work with, but where she stood with him was harder to say.

Finally she got her story out in full, and she said softly, her face an inch above the puddle her tears had formed, "That is how I failed you my god, I am sorry I took so long to remember…I…I guess I blocked it out, I didn't want to remember that I wasn't strong enough, I didn't want to remember how I'd lost your gift…and…I didn't want to remember all that pain." She wrapped her arms around her waist from her prostrate posture and hugged herself as she remembered seeing a strip of flesh fall to the floor as it was peeled away from her arm, right down to the bone.

"First things first." Ainz said bluntly, "You killed yourself to protect what tiny knowledge you had, that is no easy thing to do. And I have not forgotten that you carved 'Faithful Servant' into your own breasts so that we would know, when your body was found, that you had given up nothing. While what happened was terrible, you should not feel as if you failed, you deprived them of the knowledge they sought, and that is a victory, not a defeat." Ainz said pointedly.

"Second, your coin is just…stored temporarily elsewhere. You will get it back." He said with absolute certainty. "Now, you have told us what happened, but I require the name, who did it?" Ainz asked in a voice that said answering this question was not optional.

Vanysa required several minutes to regain control of herself as memories tortured her. She felt herself reliving them all over again, every stroke of the whip, like an evil lover's caress, stripping away the flesh that hid her soul from view. She held her head in her hands as she stared at the floor and screamed as if the pain were newly made, her fragile and unstable mind not just remembering...not just 'rewatching' it all over again…but there, telling her it was new. Until the time of her torture as over, and other than her choked sobs and cries and falling tears, not a sound was made in the throne room. Albedo looked as if she were about to snap something out at her, but Ainz held up his hand to stop the rebuke before it began, and she returned to her quiet and purposeful posture.

"Astraka…" She said very, very softly.

"Again." Ainz said.

"Astraka." She said, slightly louder.

"Again!" Ainz said, his voice growing louder.

"Astraka! Astraka! ASTRAKA!" She said, her voice growing in power until it was a scream and she had snapped up to both knees and bowed her back and screamed the name to the ceiling, "King Astraka did it to me…he did everything…everythin' an ah couldn'a do nothin'. Ah promise ah trahd, ah trahd so hard, ah fought'im an ee hit me an all ah could do was jus wish ta die and beg yer fergibness till ah…till ah was alone an ah could cut mah g'bye sayin he didn win and bite mah tongue an choke on mah blood.. It hurt me so bad ahm so sorrah she wailed and wailed and wailed on her knees at the base of the throne as her speech faltered and the sparkling dancing eyes that Ainz had enjoyed whenever she teased him when he'd tamed the beastmen…turned clouded over like a corpse, as if something had died within her under his torture, as if she was not with them now in Nazarick, but was back in the dungeon feeling her flesh being peeled from her bones. "Ah gave im nuthin' ah swear, ah swear it, majesty."

"I know." The Sorcerer King said, and a dark pressure began to build from around his body that shook the throne of kings around him as, however briefly, his control over his power slipped.

"He can hurt you no more." Ainz said, "You are safe." His voice turned angry, "King Astraka…however…is not safe…King Astraka…is going to beg for death. Tell me Vanysa, do you think he can make good music?" Ainz asked.

That snapped her eyes back to clear and joyful, ripping her away from the mental state she had been bound up in, and now, the stormy gray green eyes flashed with a shine that rivaled the lightning of gray clouds, they were bright as fanatical stars, and she said, "If he does not…I will happily spend his lifetime teaching him. Can I your majesty, can I have him?" She asked softly.

"You can." Ainz said, "But first, I want to take everything away from him that he values. Only when he believes he has reached the depths of despair; will he know where despair truly begins. He will die ten thousand deaths before he has died even once!" Ainz shouted, his voice taking on a truly sadistic tone that made Demiurge and Vanysa both smile with joy as it echoed around the hall.

"First however, Vanysa, you have a task to tend to in the Draconic Kingdom, some of the nobles there need to die, painfully, and you are going to grant them their deaths, to legitimize and establish that Queen Draudillon is truly on the side of the population, and to begin the atonement for her past failures." Ainz said firmly, "Are you prepared for the task?" He asked.

Vanysa flexed the muscles of her back, and her wings emerged, and her horns grew, and her teeth became terrible fangs. She remained prostrate before her god, but the meaning was clear. "I am prostrate before his majesty ready to serve." She said.

A few moments later, the servant was gone.

"Sire," Demiurge began, "is it wise to put her to work so soon, she was clearly having trouble with her mental state…I'd swear she was reliving it all before our eyes."

"Growing fond of her?" Albedo teased him.

Demiurge harrumphed and pushed his glasses up towards his eyes, "She's a servant of Nazarick, of course we should consider these things, if she's put to work before she's ready she might fail, and that would not look good." He said.

Ainz considered his words briefly and then replied, "Think nothing of it, she is a Tisiphone Fury now, this will do her a world of good, odd as it may seem, I will have her visit with Pestonya of course, to help her cope with the return of her memories, but the nature of her mind is a single focus state, if she has a task, her mind won't return to that emotive place again, at least for a while."

"Now," Ainz began, did the rescues all go well? Any problems?" He asked.

"None, sire. The…safe houses…were safe for the captives, not for the captors." Demiurge said with a smile.

"Prisoners?" Ainz asked.

"None. The eight edge assassins eliminated the captors as a precaution first, and the last of the hostages were returned to their families today, per your instructions, after being given two nights of luxury in Nazarick as…compensation…for their ordeal." Demiurge replied.

"Good." Ainz said, "I wonder how long it will be before the Slane Theocracy realizes that their ploy was a failure?" He asked rhetorically.

"With their intelligence network crippled, they may not know for weeks, by that time my lord, most of Re-Estize will be back in the hands of King Zanac." Demiurge added.

"Has Zaryusu launched his support campaign?" Ainz asked.

"He has, and a number of villages are already raising the flag of the old royal house again, and he's due to arrive at the first large city today, he has had no need of attacking the northern cities of Re-Ulovale or Re-Bluemallashull, they immediately declared for King Zanac. Apparently, the nobles sent by the 'sort of' late King Philip were equal parts greedy and incompetent, and they were killed when people learned that King Zanac had invaded to reclaim the throne. One such noble was killed in a mutiny, another in a riot when he ordered that his guards kill peasants who were rioting over food…and instead the guards tossed the nobleman to the rioters and declared for King Zanac on the spot." Demiurge smirked as he recited all that very matter of factly.

"E-Libera has done nothing yet, but I doubt they will hold out. King Zanac will arrive at E-Pespel today, along with the Baharuth Empire's army and the undead force we dispatched with them." He continued.

"What of the captives of Philip's army?" Ainz asked.

"We have over one hundred and eighty-five thousand prisoners out of his nearly two hundred-thousand-man army. Five thousand were killed in the fighting, and this includes those who trampled their fellows to death or died of accidental injuries when they fled. The remaining ten thousand scattered to the winds and were allowed to retreat." Demiurge said with glee, while Shalltear and Albedo had broad smiles on their faces.

"Allow those prisoners not charged with any war crimes to have day passes, and further, allow them to perform tasks for us in exchange for pay…which they can pick up from Black Justice facilities. Also, inform all well behaved prisoners that there is land available to be purchased if they choose to remain. As the armies of General Nimble and King Zanac reclaim and restore order to the kingdom, allow these captives to travel back to their homes. And as one final measure, allow those who wish to continue military service, to undergo training outside of E-Rantel and prepare them as a supporting military to the Abelion Hills region, an additional five or ten thousand soldiers should be of some help." Ainz said.

"As you wish, my lord. In addition, General Enri has reported that Ikari city has fallen and she is currently rooting out slavers and other war criminals, and General Neia reports that the siege of Kasaga was a complete failure and King Astraka is fleeing for his life somewhere on the way back towards Hoburns, his location is currently unknown, but his destination is not hard to guess." Demiurge said with a clever smile.

"What of the elf king and the Slane Theocracy armies?" Ainz asked.

"They've reached the border of the Abelion Hills, and General Leinas is preparing a counter invasion to draw them away, in the meantime, Black Justice militia, per General Neia's orders, have gathered in force near Commonton, they number some fifteen thousand strong and growing, but that is straining their supplies, they need to be put to use. What orders shall we give, your majesty?" Demiurge asked.

Ainz looked over a map and pretended to think it over… "Send them in to the Abelion Hills, the demihumans there are few in number, and therefore a long term strategy for this must include the nature of the peace. By having them fight together, they will unite as one. But we need to do more. Summon Zesshi Zetsumei." Ainz said.

A few minutes later, Zesshi Zetsumei, former Black Scripture, former guardian of the treasury, knelt before the Sorcerer King. She had a peaceful smile on her face, like that moment when one realizes a wound that had long been troublesome, was finally gone and pained her no more.

"Your majesty has summoned me, and I obey." She said with glee from one bended knee.

"Today I begin to fulfill another of your conditions." Ainz said from the Throne of Kings.

"Your majesty?" She asked.

"You wished to slay your father, to take his life, for destroying the lives of your mother and yourself." He said.

Zesshi did not even hesitate to prostrate herself, it was instinctive, the desire of over a hundred years, long promised by her former rulers, now granted in a smattering of days by her new one.

"Raise your head, Zesshi Zetsumei. It may be a bit before that chance comes, but it comes fast. First, you are to take things from him." Ainz said.

Zesshi gave a cruel smile, "Everything, I will be overjoyed to take everything." She said.

"Good, you can begin by taking his kingdom. I will provide you with arms and support, and you will raise rebellion among his people, I am going to call for elf volunteers from E-Rantel to the resettlement lands bordering the Draconic Kingdom, I am going to offer them rune crafted equipment and supplies, and I will send them with you. You will then instigate a rebellion against his rule, promising the full support of the Sorcerous Kingdom." Ainz said, folding his fingertips together as he spoke, tapping the bones together in an almost 'clicking' rhythm.

"I expect due to his…behavior, you will have little difficulty in finding dissenters to assist you and given your own personal power, enhanced by items of your choice and augmented by runic gear, you should find taking Crescent Lake easy, I doubt very much he will have an interest in the Abelion Hills if his capital falls. The only question is…do you have enough power to face him?" Ainz asked, "Or do I need to send some assistance, such as Mare?"

Zesshi paused to think about that for a moment. "He did defeat my mother, he was more powerful than she was, but I also am more powerful than my mother was, I simply do not know if I can defeat him alone…he's said to be a battle demon who strikes with the force of a mountain. I was taught to fight in the style of the Black Scripture. We fight with fast and precise strikes at weak points, and I have…until Mare, never faced anything that required even close to my full strength."

She looked the Sorcerer King in the eyes then, and with a hard look she said, "However, chance or not, that is how I wish to face him, I owe a debt for the lives he's destroyed, and it has to come from me. If you will permit me, your majesty, I will fight him alone."

The throne room was silent as Ainz considered the matter. "Very well, however you will be given scrolls with buffs to use on yourself before the time comes."

"Thank you, your majesty, but may I ask for one more thing, as well as your forgiveness for this selfish desire?" She asked softly.

The guardians were silent, unsure if they were about to be pleased or angry.

"May I ask of you…a uniform of your kingdom…my new kingdom? When it comes time to face him, I do not wish to do so wearing the uniform of the people who ripped my heart open and spat in the wound?" She said with an ache in her voice.

"How much do you know of Black Justice?" Ainz asked.

"They liberated many elves, they overthrew the government of Prart, put down a demihuman raiding band, fought off a force sent by Remedios Custodio, rebuilt the capitol…they really…really hate slavery, and several other things." She said with a measure of admiration.

"Yes, to name a handful of their accomplishments. Are you aware that the Theocracy supported Remedios Custodio and was instrumental in her massacre of a city wide escape by elf slaves?" Ainz asked.

"I…no…I mean, I heard about the destruction of Wenmark, but not the slave massacre." She said softly.

"Wenmark made Kami Miyako look like a second Crescent Lake for elves." Ainz said bluntly, even Blue Rose endorsed its total destruction."

Zesshi sighed, "One more thing I owe the Theocracy for." She said, as if to keep count.

"Those elves who survived, did so because of Black Justice under Neia Baraja's leadership. Would you like to wear their uniform?" Ainz asked.

"Yes, my lord!" She shouted so loudly that the words echoed off the walls of the throne room.

"Then let it be done. First you will go to E-Rantel, you will be allowed to requisition whatever armor you require for yourself, you will then order the rune smiths there to provide you with ten thousand sets, there are many already made which have not yet been sent anywhere, therefore it should not be a difficult order. You are permitted to make use of the governor's manor as your headquarters, and the call up for the Elf Liberation Army will be sent out immediately. While you may hate your father, and rightly so, know that your elf heritage includes many people of good courage and will, and you will no doubt find many volunteers. I will have you provided with ample undead horses, you will rush as fast as you can to Border Lake, and you will be given wind scrolls and money for ships to ferry you along the coast, with strong winds you should be able to reach your destination in a few days, then you will disembark, and you will invade the elf kingdom from the east, on undead mounts with sufficient carts, you should be able to reach deep into the interior of the elf Kingdom in under two weeks. Three if you spend time raising ample rebellion. Demonstrate sufficient power, enough to show that you may defeat their king, and the elf king will have to return to restore order. He may or may not bring the Theocracy with him, but he will definitely abandon the Abelion Hills invasion." Ainz said with absolute confidence.

Zesshi could only listen in awe as he predicted his enemies' behavior and preempted them with his own to force them to dance to his tune. She remembered a brief conversation with someone in Nazarick the other day which mentioned that he had planned his rule out for ten thousand years, she hadn't believed it then…she did now. But what he said meant more to her than the world, and she gave him a rare thing from her, a very broad smile. "You called them people, sire." She said gratefully.

"What?" He asked in confusion.

"Elves, you called them 'people'. The ones who raised me…considered her to be livestock, you called her a person…thank you…for accepting 'all' of what I am." She said in a powerful and resolute voice.

"Sire, may I offer one other thing to you to express the depth of my gratitude?" She asked with respect pouring throughout the tone of her voice.

"You may." He said curiously.

"When I have won this in your name, and raised your banner over Crescent Lake and stuck the head of the Elf King on a pike…may I then go and bring to you the head of Cardinal Dominic Ihre Partouche?"

AN: Well I know some of you have been VERY impatient for this, still I hope the side story was entertaining for the last few days, I know this chapter is a little shorter than you were hoping for...but I like the ending point so...tough patooties. Going to take a break from world building beyond God Rising for a bit, I'd like to get a few chapters hammered out for this one. If you liked it, leave reviews, if you thought something could be improved, please feel free to say so, I like constructive criticism. If you would like to get an early look at new chapters, join the discord server (invite is to the right of the picture on the author page showing all the stories I've written).

NOW to the serious thing: Some time back, my secular community lost one of our own, a woman named Lucy Morgan, in her honor, we raised money to donate to a school oversees. This year, we're doing the same thing, we're trying to raise $300. This will pay for a class of secondary students books, materials, tuition, and food, at the Kasese school in Uganda. If you'd like to support this endeavor, you can donate at bdgiving dot org. Every time we reach 1/3 of the goal, I'll do a double chapter release day.

Thanks for reading!


	68. First Bait, Then Bash

_…Southern Holy Kingdom…_

Gustav Montagne was…happy. He'd captured two small keeps, plundered the wealth of the nobility and then bought the crops of the farmers that were supposed to be shipped north. His soldiers were eating a large amount of it because he simply had no way to ship it out, and the rest was given away to the peasants themselves in the form of feasts. They were more than happy to do that, war or no war, selling all your crops at inflated prices and then getting to eat what you've sold…is a very big win.

Still it wasn't all sunshine and rainbows, both keeps had fallen to a force several times his size only a few days after being taken, costing him dozens of men each time, however with his smaller, lighter force, he was able to stay well out in front of the pursuers most of the time. A few ambushes against scouts had taught the enemy commander some harsh lessons.

Still, numbers aside, he wasn't without his advantages, his army had horses in abundance, undead mainly, and these powerful beasts could pull much greater weight and never tired, so pulling carts filled with soldiers meant he could outpace any army they sent to pursue him, and he led them on a merry chase. As he sent out his own scouts in turn to various villages, he found that some nobles who had remained behind and sent their army north, had sent messengers recalling them to the South to protect their estates against what had now come to be called 'Gustav's Raiders'.

It gave him a grin that let him forget the inevitable suffering he would have to endure when the war was over. He thought of his future torturer, the pretty demon girl, she'd called herself a Fury, when he lay awake at night, he wondered what she'd do with her fangs, her talons...he'd sensed so much…lust for pain from her…he was glad of the breaking of the dawn, and such was his fervor to forget the nights that he easily did two or three times the damage he was expected to, as if the fear was motivating him to ever more creative thought.

This morning he'd sent his men to several different villages and bought all the horses that he could and replaced the limitless undead mounts with the living counterparts, specifically he had attached them to the baggage train holding supplies, wounded men, and so on. Then he slowed his formation down.

The dust of his mounts on the unpaved road created a large cloud, obscuring his formation's size, but making it obvious that his baggage train was falling ever farther and farther behind.

Gustav gave his lieutenant a predatory smile. "How many are watching us Lieutenant Inta?"

They were still on their undead horses, but they were no longer rushing as he waited for his reports.

Lieutenant Inta returned that predatory smile, he flashed his vampire fangs. "My sister and my brothers counted two thousand three hundred."

"Not bad, we pull this off and they'll have to draw more from the northern campaign to deal with us here." Gustav said, unconsciously touching his sword.

"We've already pulled at least fifteen thousand." Inta replied, "If we kill another twenty-three hundred of them in one shot, well…Remedios will probably overreact."

"She's always been prone to that, so we'll play off of it right down to the moment we do get caught and wiped out." Gustav snorted, "Suicide mission, but a glorious one."

"Fair enough." Inta said, "The Sorcerer King promised my family and I a pardon if we ended our days of hiding and hunting in the Draconic Kingdom and answered his call to service when it came, he never promised the fight would be easily survivable." The vampire laughed beside Gustav, flashing naked fangs without even attempting to hide what he was, this was one of the many changes effected by the Sorcerer King, those beings which had been enemies of humanity, if they would live in accordance with his laws, would cease to be at odds with the world around them.

Gustav had ridden with Inta for weeks now, and he had proven himself a skilled fighter with a real sense for the flow of battle and when to give a command to maximize its effectiveness. More than that, he found Inta to be an amiable man around the campfire, he drank from several donors among the Black Justice converts who gave small quantities freely, and as strange as it seemed, Gustav found himself liking the man a great deal, quick with a joke and slow to anger, Inta's cool head under pressure made him a good man to have around, his black hair and red eyes were regular features as he checked with his subordinates as to how they fared and what they required, if anything. A good leader. It was not lost on Gustav that he was a better leader than Remedios Custodio, who was quick to deflect blame from herself and even quicker to claim credit for somebody else's work.

"How far should we let the baggage fall behind today? Another quarter mile?" Gustav asked.

"No, to much and they'll smell a trap, and the place we're looking for is two days away, call it an eighth of a mile, let them see it as something very gradual, plus we've already sent enough of our people ahead to make preparations. We don't want to risk ruining this." Lieutenant Inta said thoughtfully.

"Well as long as we're not riding hard enough to tire the undead," Gustav gave Inta a grin, and the vampire's red eyes rolled at the joke, "might as well fill the time, right?"

"I suppose." Inta said in his smooth bardic voice. "What did the vampire call the horseman?"

Gustav thought for a moment. "I don't know, what?"

"Fast food." Inta said with a smug grin and a chuckle that brought a groan from Gustav Montagne.

"What should you never ask a vampire at a restaurant?" Gustav asked.

"I don't know, what?" Inta replied, a thin smile already forming on his face.

"Wouldn't you like a steak?" Gustav laughed, and it was Inta's turn to groan.

"They say vampires are evil…but I say they've never encountered puns before." Inta laughed a bit at his own retort. "You know, a few years ago I never would have imagined humans as companions, but I have to admit, I like the change."

Gutav looked at him with a cockeyed expression, "Believe me, it is no less strange on my end, I wouldn't have imagined it at all until the things that happened at Kedyn. It was all…surreal, like something out of a myth, yet here we are, both of us."

"I probably wouldn't be, I'm fairly sure the Sorcerer King would have killed myself and my family except for our habit of targeting criminal elements, he seems to take his 'social contract' idea very seriously, and anyone who puts themselves outside of it is…almost fair game." Inta said, answering a lingering question Gustav had long wondered at.

"You know I admit I wondered how you'd managed to gain a pardon; the Sorcerer King is typically not kind to those who violate his…standards." Gustav said as their horses clopped along the road.

"As far as I know, we're the only ones that did, there were two other vampire clans that I knew of in the Draconic Kingdom and…well they're not around anymore. They were more than just hunters, they were predators targeting sheep. They'd take peasants, children, the elderly, anyone and everyone. I know some humans had tried to take them down, only to fail." Inta shrugged, "I don't want to say I was wiser than they, but to me it always seemed foolishly antagonistic, we had to live with humans, targeting those they're likely to protect seemed just…stupid, sooner or later they'd hire competent people to hunt you down, then what? Run? Hide? Move to a new kingdom and hope for better? I admit…I…liked the hunt, and I'm sorry if that bothers you, but we did a public service in taking those we did."

Gustav shook his head, "No, it doesn't bother me, remember I hunted vampires, undead, all manner of beings that were 'enemies of humanity' and didn't know any other way, its part of why I followed Remedios, because she was such a zealous defender of human life. I just couldn't imagine some way we could coexist, meeting Ulthis who had a human wife, finding out that there were defenders of humanity who were themselves not human, I had to change my mind."

"Well, that's the thing isn't it?" Inta asked rhetorically, drawing a look of curiosity from Gustav.

"We're not 'defenders of humanity' we are 'defenders of our communities'. Humans are part of it, orcs are part of it, snake men, vampires, werewolves, lizard men, elves, dwarves, quagoa, frog men, zern, frost giants and dragons, and numerous others…we've had our community expanded by the Sorcerer King to include those who are physically different in ways that defy imagination, and come together in common interest for the common good. The community of common interest binds us all together, each one depending on each other's strengths, compensating for one another's weaknesses. This war, when it is finally at its end, will have a kind of community that has never existed in the world before, and you and I Gustav, you and I and those like us, get to lay the foundations for it, and see a long future for it. I should say, I feel profoundly privileged." Lieutenant Inta said proudly.

Gustav gave a grim smile, "First we have to survive, then we get to change the world, but even if we survive, you'll get to see it, probably not me. Not after what I've done."

The vampire he had come to call friend looked at him with some concern. "Why are you so certain of that? We've won so far, there is no reason to think we can't keep winning while the north is settled, and the Theocracy occupied."

Gustav gave a shake of his head and a mournful sigh in answer, "Because I'm on borrowed time, I was the one who got Remedios Custodio out of prison before her execution, had I let her die, she wouldn't have an army, she wouldn't have lived to go completely off the deep end and kill everybody that she has, she may swing the blade, but the blood splashes on to me. I confessed my crime to Queen Calca and to the Sorcerer King, and my punishment was deferred to the end of the war, but after that, they'll probably hand me over for trial as an accessory to war crimes under the Draconic Accords, and then I'll be handed over to the Tisiphone Fury for punishment." He shuddered.

"What the hell is that?" Inta asked.

"A kind of demon, it can see guilt and lusts to punish those who are guilty of grave misdeeds, I met the one they'll probably give me to, I saw no mercy in her eyes, if I am given to her, I will not see the world again." Gustav said.

"They let you go anyway?" Inta asked.

"I am allowed to live to atone for what I've done by bringing her down, but after the war, well the check always comes at the end of the meal." Gustav said, "So mine is going to come due."

"Have they said what will happen to you?" Inta asked.

"No, I see it in my nightmares though." He said softly.

"Don't think about it then, you can make a big difference between now and then, and if you do well enough, maybe they'll mitigate your sentence some." He said hopefully.

"Well, I won't ask for it, we've seen enough of what she's done, so I'll accept whatever happens to me as a consequence, but until that day…" Gustav grabbed the pommel of his sword, "We've got a new world to make."

"That's the spirit!" Inta said enthusiastically.

As planned, the baggage and supplies for their military force lagged farther behind, and as a result, the less than cautious commander committed to its pursuit, with a few flying squadrons of cavalry daring to make a raid on the wagon farthest in the rear to try to stop it or at least slow the whole thing further. Gustav was happy to oblige, having his archers fend off the raiders while stretching his line thin, no doubt they would report their success back to their masters.

The next day they reached their destination, to the right was a hill with a commanding view of the terrain, to the left was a forest that was utterly impossible for cavalry to pass through, the trees were thick and close set, very old growth, it would take a dedicated team in great numbers to clear a way through there.

The baggage train was now stretched out over two miles.

"OK Lieutenant Inta, take the first group out." Gustav said.

"Alright, I'll see you after." The vampire officer said with the toothy grin that only a vampire can manage, and he stuck out his hand, Gustav met the grip and they tightened the handshake firmly. He called out a command and rushed his forces ahead, one thousand horsemen strong. Gustav watched them go with a disbelieving shake of his head. As hard as it was for him to believe all this was real, as he looked backwards into the distance, he knew just beyond the reach of his eyes there were orders being relayed up a chain of command, an eager commander who was hungry to impress his superiors by sending news not only of his victory over the Southern Expedition, but also by sending along all the supplies Gustav had gained through his actions, food that would have fed the joint forces of Remedios & the Slane Theocracy and allowed their continued operation for some time.

Every meal that was deprived to every soldier weakened them further, forced them to scavenge harder on the land, and most of the northern holy kingdom was against them, they needed a victory, and depriving them of food made victory that much harder to achieve.

The prize was tempting, and as Gustav Montagne's thirty five-hundred-man force went around the hill, he enacted the next step. Soldiers dismounted from their horses and briefly cut long and leafy branches for themselves, then rushed back to their mounts and began riding them around in a frenzy, turning up great clouds of dust to disguise their numbers and hide their movements…and giving the illusion that they were still moving away in a mass. Twenty-five hundred went around the hill, while the remaining one thousand slowly dragged branches behind them to keep the dust up. Gustav circled the hill and went to the peak of it. He lay on his stomach and looked back, the wagons loaded with food and other vital supplies would be hitting the hill soon, and by now his enemies would have mustered up every horse they could put a man on and rushed after those vital goods.

A smile traced its way over Gustav's face, the infantry of the opposition would be slow in coming, but the cavalry would be there soon. He kept his eyes open, and soon he saw them in the distance, they were angry, they were eager, they were hungry for glory and revenge, and probably hungry to get a bite out of his supplies before they could go north to support their allies. He wondered what they ate for breakfast that morning, whatever it was, he intended to ensure it was their last meal. The wagon train leadership did their part, they moved a quarter mile beyond the hill, then stopped as if unable to go farther. The opposing cavalry were one mile away.

A half mile away.

A quarter mile away.

There! Right at the center between the hill and the woods, he blew his signal, and his cavalry rode around from the rear, circling from the hidden side of the hill to the back of the cavalry, on fearless undead mounts. He blew the horn again, and scrambled out of the way to make room, Lieutenant Inta's undead cavalry went over the top of the hill and charged down the hill from above, striking the cavalry in the flank as it wheeled around, Inta had formed his unit into a triangle, turning them into a spear made of many men, and striking the opposing unit broadside. Gustav blew the horn again, and those who had been playing the role of the 'front' wheeled around and charged back the way they came, striking the opposing cavalry in the back, struck from three sides, they were doomed from the start. Gustav leaped to his feet and rushed to his horse, he flung himself over the saddle and charged down to join the fight.

A spear was thrown at him, he made an excellent target, being a lone figure charging belatedly down the hill, but the accuracy was poor, he avoided the throw and drew his sword, he sounded his battle cry and charged into the fray, he found one among the enemy, before that one could find him, and his sword thrust through the man's neck and drew out. For one brief moment, Gustav saw the look of surprise and confusion on the man's face, as if he were saying, "What just happened? Where did you come from?" but he did not live to gain an answer. He fell backwards and his terrified mount bucked and kicked his corpse once before fleeing into the dust.

The dust, damned be the dust, it choked his throat and clouded his eyes and clogged his nose, however not all were equal in their consternation, the vampire family was having a field day, he caught a glimpse of Inta opening a throat, while his sister gouged out both eyes from another figure who went down from their horse, screaming and clutching at her own face before a horse knocked the now blinded female warrior on her back, and she was trampled to death as two others came to blows just where her blind screaming body was laying, when Gustav's man died, the blind woman had stopped screaming, and the victor among the southern forces sought a new target, and found it in Gustav himself. They clashed fiercely, the man was well taught, he used all the classic movements of a well taught noble, but Gustav was not that, he fought dirty. Fair fights are for suckers, he used his greater size and his martial arts to render advantage, increasing his speed, his strength, and still the nobleman kept up, yet Gustav would do what others would not, and when he saw he could not gain an advantage, he struck the man's mount, cutting the horse and the neck and spilling the nobleman to the ground. Gustav used that moment to jump from his own as the noble was rolling over. For just a moment he thought he heard the noble say, "Hey! That wasn't F-" …before Gustav's fist struck his face, sending him onto his back again, and before he could rise, Gustav's sword thrust into the gap where thigh and midsection joined, opening his artery. The young man had a moment of pain and panic, he stared disbelievingly at the wound and at Gustav, before the former paladin kicked him in the face and sent him completely to his back again, he did not get back up after that.

He got another glance at the young noble's dying and weakening face as he moved on in search of another opponent, there was no fear in his eyes, even as his body drained of both blood and color, he held no fear, only regret, unspoken regret that this was where it was ending for him. The young man was not even into his mid-twenties, yet the unknown warrior had skill well beyond his years and courage to match. A well of regret rose up in Gustav, that someone like that should be lost at the turning of the world, that his life was forfeit in the birthing pains of tomorrow's world. Gustav had many regrets in his life, this was one more of them, he could live with it…but it would never be gone.

He killed two more before the sounds of fighting began to die down, the sound of clashing steel and cries of pain, victory, and challenge, were slowly replaced by the sound of thousands of soldiers breathing hard…and the unending cries of the wounded. The dust had begun to settle with the violence, as the battle between earth and air came to an end once more and Gustav could see around him for more than a foot or two in every direction. His soldiers had won, and at first glance, the victory was overwhelming. He raised his sword in a cry of victory. "Victory! Victory! Victory!" This call was echoed by his soldiers.

"Now, treat the wounded of both sides! We take no prisoners, instead bind those who will live and leave them here, we travel light! Then mount your horses and resume the march, we have other villages to get to today that have…lots of crops to sell!" He laughed at the joke, and his soldiers echoed the humor.

He was getting death stares from many of the captives, they did not all see the significance of having been permitted to keep their lives. Others however, seemed to be very much relieved, Gustav ignored both as Lieutenant Inta approached and slapped out his hand to clasp it with Gustav's and then clapped him on the shoulder with his other hand and with a warm vampiric smile and dancing blood red eyes he said, "I told you I'd see you after! Well executed, there must be several thousand of them dead on that road now, they'll have to send to either the Slane Theocracy or to Remedios for backup. We didn't just kill four or five thousand, we may have taken another ten thousand or more out of the fight at Prart. And that is if the nobles don't outright pull their forces and come back to protect their estates!" He laughed heartily.

"Well executed, my friend." The vampire said with great satisfaction evident in his voice.

"Thank you, though I still find it in myself to regret the losses, victories like these will decrease the suffering that would otherwise happen later. "Gustav turned a thought to the promising young life he'd ended just minutes ago and shook his head. "I am glad we've won, but I can't dance on their graves, most of these people aren't bad, they aren't evil, they haven't done nearly what I have…they're just on the wrong side."

Lieutenant Inta nodded along at what Gustav was saying, "You may be right, but they chose to make a fight out of it, not us, you can ease your conscience with the knowledge that, right or wrong, they die doing what they thought was right, and there are worse ways to go than that." His voice carried the weight of his words, and he slapped Gustav's shoulder one more time, "I'll get to the count of the lost, you form up the army again, and lets race the hell out of here with this loss of cavalry, they won't be able to chase us worth a damn, and we should be able to take down many noble estates before they can get more."

"Alright, I'm on it." Gustav replied and they walked away from each other, ignoring the sullen looks they got.

"Remedios will kill you!" One of the defeated ones said as he was hog tied. "She'll kill you!" He shouted again, practically frothing at the mouth with rage, "She won't let you betray the gods and get away with it you vile undead worshipper! Hey! Do you hear me, traitor?! Do you hear me?!" He shouted on and struggled in his bonds enough to rock him back and forth.

Gustav had planned on ignoring the hog-tied soldier, but he thought better of it and turned around to look at him. He laid the eyes of a man filled with blood rage and regret, deadly precision and unflagging discipline on the defeated prisoner who had fallen into a rage at his own defeat and turned his anger on the victor. Silence hung between them like the dust of the air before it to settled and Gustav drew his sword and put the tip beneath the man's chin and forced his head to arch up to meet eye to eye. Then he said to that most unhappy fellow, "If she does, it will be after I've already killed twenty thousand of hers first, and that my boy, would make the score twenty thousand to one in my favor, who is the real winner there?" Then he sheathed his blade and walked back to his horse.

 **AN: Well, there we have the next chapter in 'God Rising'. I thought it was time for a look south to see how Gustav and company were doing, and to reintroduce the vampire clan that was living in the Draconic Kingdom that hasn't been seen in forever. This was a fun one to write, but took longer than it should have, odd hours lately have thrown off my usual sleep patterns, and that has made it harder to write than it usually is. But, here you go and I trust you're happy with it.**

 _ **Note: Minor bug fix, referred to the forest as being on the 'right' when it should have read 'left'**_

 **If you want to support the author in some way you can do so by subscribing to my patrion (replace the letter i with the letter e, I must work around the filter) at patrion dot com slash godrising. The money from this goes to the cost of turning this into an audiobook and into an illustrated ebook when it is finished.**

 **OR you can support the author's charitable organization bdgiving dot org.**

 **Or you can just leave a review. (cheapskate. ? I kid, I kid, I'm just glad you like the story, anything else is gravy).**

 **And of course, discord members get early access.**


	69. Forward March

_…Abelion Hills…_

General Leinas Rockbruise wondered if anybody had ever experienced anything as strange as the events of the last few weeks. She now had fifteen thousand demihumans of various tribes and another fifteen thousand humans of Black Justice. The two sides had sparred with one another in safe contests, and while the demihumans had, frequently, ample strength, the strange rapid variations of human combat methods played to the humans' strengths and let them set the tone for the fighting, allowing a surprising number of human victories. In this context, Leinas herself performed exceptionally well, which was paramount if they were to have the confidence of the demihumans, who valued strength over all.

However, none of that held a candle to Aureole Omega, she took the strongest demihumans all at once and they could not lay a hand or paw or tentacle or claw or any other appendage on her. Then she told them to stop her, and she broke their defenses and sent them onto their backs.

While Leinas had been confident from the outset that the demihumans of the Abelion Hills were going to be loyal…the unity imposed by the Sorcerer King had been of boundless benefit after all…it was still a fact of their way of life that strength was to be admired and followed.

Then came the drills, the constant drills, humans and demihumans fought together and apart, they stood as brothers and as rivals and back again with blunted weapons, one tribe was pitted against another, then those two faced off against two more, then the four faced against four others, then eight against eight others, and by this rivalry turned unity, one force was forged out of many.

Bruises and broken bones were plentiful, but both of those were easily healed, and the powerful buff spells of Aureole Omega gave them new strength, and over the course of time as the Elves and the Slane Theocracy forces advanced on her, brotherhood and sisterhood of arms was made complete.

Leinas Rockbruise was not one to waste time or waste effort, and as soon as Aureole Omega declared them to be ready, they began the march to the border. Aureole Omega was truly in her element as she rode beside Leinas Rockbruise, and as a result the red and white dressed miko was in high spirits. She wore a cheerful smile and chatted quite a bit as they moved.

"Did you enjoy my dance?" She asked Leinas.

"Very much so, is that one of the arts of Nazarick?" Leinas asked curiously.

"No…well…sort of. It comes from a realm from the first world." Aureole said with a smile.

"What is that?" Leinas asked curiously.

"It's the realm before the nine realms, the one that the Sorcerer King comes from, all our arts came from there." She said.

"Are you allowed to tell me things like this?" Leinas asked, concerned, "I mean I'm not going to just wake up somewhere else with my memory erased, or with an enchanted dagger in my heart or anything?" Her voice said she was trying to be light hearted but was actually quite serious.

Aureole Omega covered her mouth with the tops of her fingers and laughed. "No. I think not, what would anyone do with this knowledge anyway? And everybody knows that a god does not come from the world, it comes, or rather, he comes, from elsewhere. There were nine other worlds our master traveled through with his forty companions, including my creator, and before that, they came from a place we've dubbed 'first world' to which they would return when they finished their business in the nine worlds. When they came to the nine and created us, they brought with them the arts of the first world, I am dressed as a miko, and through my ceremonial dance I may bestow power onto friends and work terrible harm to our foes. It is not unlimited, I have but a fraction of the power of my creator…but between that and the knowledge of war that I was created with, you simply cannot be defeated." She said with a very kind, small, and reassuring smile on her face.

"Amazing…" Leinas Rockbruise said softly. "I recall at the assembly that you had said you wanted to invade the Slane Theocracy." She continued, shifting the subject away from arcane matters that unsettled her to her bones.

"I do, we can, we will." She said, and then her eyes went blank as if she was no longer seeing the terrain in front of her, her pupils moved around in her eyes as if she were focusing on different places. "Yes, we will…" She drifted off a moment and Leinas went quiet.

Aureole Omega's face was expressionless, she had for the moment, drifted away from Leinas and the line of march. Before her she saw the world laid out, then more narrowly, she saw the nation and the line of march before them, then more narrowly than that, she saw the pace of progression and where they would cross the border. Aureole Omega, battlefield commander class, had the nature of the great generals of the first world built in to who she was, and she had their vision. She could see the formations in their maneuvers, she could feel the heat of the day, the flights of arrows passed before her eyes as if real, the sound of man, elf, and demihuman alike calling for support, the path to victory like a road of golden bricks reflecting the light of the shining sun…it was all so clear…it was beautiful and terrible, and it was her duty to see it done.

Finally she came back to herself, her eyes became clear and focused. "Are you back with us now?" Leinas asked cautiously.

"Yes, I'm sorry, it's just something I do." Aureole Omega said cryptically.

"Can I maybe…ask just what that is?" Leinas asked.

Aureole Omega shrugged, "Why not?" She asked rhetorically, "In the first world, there are traditions of war that went back many thousands upon thousands upon thousands of years, and this gave rise to divine gods of war, or so I see them, with such a gift for victory that they could make one living being out of an army of thousands, and bring down or build up empires just by existing, their power could destroy cities in seconds or erode powerful nations as slowly as water eroded rock. My creator gave their wisdom to me, and a consequence of this I have…visions, as I plan and think of the way to win, my plans take shape before my eyes, I see the maps as clearly as we see the terrain right in front of us." She said, gesturing to the open ground before them, letting her boisterous voice become soft and melodic.

"I can hear the whistling arrows and see the sweat on the brows of the infantry, I can hear the calls of people desperate for aid, and I see a shining light guiding me to where our blow must fall to break our enemies, its not 'real' it's just the vision of how strategy will play out. Does that make sense, General?" She asked, looking at Leinas curiously.

"Ah…sort of." Leinas said, "When I was an adventurer, sometimes I felt like I could see the way to victory in a fight, like I knew what they were going to do and what I had to do to defeat them. It's like that, right?"

"Yes, exactly." The terrifyingly beautiful miko said as she clapped her hands together. "Where you could do that for yourself, I can do that for an army in the field."

"You're right." Leinas said in a voice of absolute confidence.

"About what?" Aureole Omega asked.

"About this." She said looking back at their army and then at the road in front of them. "There is no way we can lose."

"Nope." Aureole Omega said with a contented grin.

"So, what is this plan of yours?" Leinas asked.

"There is a fortress, called Fortress Alaf…one that has expanded in its size to be like a city on its own." Her radiant smile turned predatory, "It's found north of Kami Miyako and west of Fortress Cross, it is responsible for all of the supplies for their expeditionary force going over the border. I intend to take it. They cannot sustain an invasion of the Abelion Hills unless that fortification remains in their hands. Once we have it, we need only hold it, and the Abelion Hills will be safe from invasion and we can bleed them dry as they bash themselves bloody against the walls." Aureole Omega said grimly.

"OK, but…if the fortress is so hard to take, how do you plan to achieve it so easily?" Leinas asked uncertainly.

"It has a weakness we can exploit, which they think of as a strength. For now, we need only see the combined armies of the Slane Theocracy and the Elf King slowed down, those remaining behind in the Abelion Hills have been instructed to practice a scorched earth policy. There will be nothing for them to forage on, they're crude about war, even primitive, they're looking for battles to win, while I'm looking for victories without battles." Aureole Omega said quietly as Leinas listened in rapt attention.

"They'll be looking for armies to engage and cities to take, its understandable why they would, after all that is the norm for here, but the Abelion Hills has no large cities, and thanks to previous conflicts and large scale resettlement in the Sorcerous Kingdom, it has a much smaller population than it used to, the population can abandon areas with just what they have, and leave nothing behind. How long can they march with just the food they have on them? Yet we can seize their chief staging area for supplies and use that to hold out for weeks, even months. I want them to invade the Abelion Hills, because that is where many of them will die. The population will withdraw and wage guerilla warfare, striking at patrols, foraging parties, sentries, anyone vulnerable. Then we cut them off with no food and force them to make the long march home. Still they'll be subjected to raids along the way, as they're 'escorted' back to the border. By then, the Supreme One will have entered the next stage of his master plan, and all I need to do is hold firm." Her face showed unflagging confidence, and for a moment Leinas felt like she could see what Aureole Omega did, sentries dying in the night, hungry soldiers on quarter rations sitting around a camp that had little to no fire because there was nothing for them to burn, scouts venturing out and not returning, taking a town only to find it is completely empty, littered with traps and with nothing for them to eat.

Leinas shuddered. "You'll destroy most of their army without ever fighting a real battle." She said.

"That's the idea." Aureole Omega said happily, clapping her hands together in a boisterous upbeat fashion that seemed to be her character.

"I would not want to fight you." Leinas said seriously.

"No, I wouldn't want to fight me either." She said teasingly and stuck her tongue out just a little.

"So, I take it you've already sent a small raiding party ahead?" Leinas asked.

"Yesterday." Aureole Omega replied, "On undead horses with a handful of rings of sustenance. There is a chance they'll die, and their raids will fail, but I don't want those armies to reach the border of the Abelion Hills before we reach the mountains."

"How much does the Sorcerer King know about all this, I remember you covering some of it in the general assembly, but not to this level of detail." Leinas asked curiously.

"Probably everything, I expect that if he does know everything, he'll open up more fronts against the Slane Theocracy soon, my one regret is that there is no way to invade the Elf Kingdom, because that would force the entire Elven Army to return home." She shook her head, "I'll be content with a single additional front though, even a weak one. It doesn't have to win, just be threatening enough that they have to deplete themselves to fend it off." The Area Guardian said casually.

"I have served his majesty for only a very short time compared to you and those others of Nazarick," Leinas said confidently, "yet in that short time I have learned one thing of the Sorcerer King, and I will not forget it."

"What might that be?" Aureole Omega asked.

"That nothing for him is impossible, he will always find a way, and whatever you expect out of him, both in reward and penalty alike, you will get far more out of him than you can ever begin to expect." Leinas said with an affirming nod.

Aureole Omega grinned widely at her companion. "We're going to get along very well, General Leinas Rockbruise, very well indeed, it's going to be a real pleasure winning this war with you." She stuck out her hand, and Leinas shook it firmly.

"I think that might be exactly as his majesty intended." They said in unison, then realizing what they'd done, they started to laugh.

 _…Elf King's Army…_

He'd barely left his carriage except to throw another one of the females out of it when he was done with her and to call for another. The army with him had many of his children in it, and some of these females were their mothers, it was humiliating, it was degrading, they hated him one and all. Yet with his overwhelming power the only thing that would happen if they dared disobey or turn on him, was the stuff of nightmares, told to children as they came of age so that they would know they must never disobey or resist his commands. No matter the humiliation, there was a worse fate ahead for those who couldn't or wouldn't bear it any further. So, the elven army's morale was rock bottom, however they were nonetheless, a skilled people and sharpened their skill with the bow on a daily basis.

The Slane Theocracy trained with heavier weapons, halberds were a favorite, they were versatile and could stop a charge cold, but in addition to the halberd they trained with shield, sword, and horse. Combined, the two armies were a versatile force to be reckoned with. Morale among the Slane Theocracy's army was very high, a stark contrast to the anger and depression of the elven forces, and almost as if to escape the gloom of their own camp, the elves began to wander among the humans.

It was an irony not lost on many that the elf soldiers preferred the company of their erstwhile enemies to being nearer to their own king. At first this tendency among the elves was treated with hostility, then with curiosity, then with comprehension, then with a gradual begrudging acceptance. The elves it seemed, could do more with field rations than the average human soldier, so after the first few elves started showing the human soldiers how to improve their food…well not for nothing do they say that the way to a man's heart is through his stomach.

Good eating turned to conversation, conversation turned to camaraderie, and small group leaders began to organize joint exercises, nominally for military purposes, but more and more often because they had friends among the elves and they were doing favors for friends by getting them away from their monster of a king.

In turn this led to trading stories as much as trading arts, and as the human armies improved with the bow, the elves found benefit to the increased use of heavy armor. The long march soon found itself approaching high mountains, these ran far to the north, stopping between one and several days from the border of the Abelion Hills region, and this presented them with a choice. March on the east side…they would come to Fortress Alaf. March on the west side, they would be without resupply until they were beyond the mountain range, but that would also ensure the elf King remained well away from any human women he might turn his eye towards.

For almost half a day they remained encamped discussing the matter, only for the question to be settled by a raid. One hundred humans…or so the estimate said, attacked a patrol from the east side of the mountain range, and that settled the matter. They would march along the east, passing between Fortress Alaf and Fortress Cross. Somewhere within, anxiety rose.

 _…E-Rantel…_

Zesshi walked to the supply office of E-Rantel with great happiness. It was a simple, functional building, large overhanging roof, part office, part warehouse, thousands of pieces of gear, weapons, gloves, boots, cloaks, field kits, shields, all filtered through the place. The solid stone walls were respectably well built, if not ornate, it was fairly obvious that this was a Pre-Ainz structure from the Kingdom era rule. But it sufficed well enough that nobody saw fit to replace it.

She walked through the plain simple wooden door and approached the counter, a grizzled looking older dwarf stood behind the counter marking things down, while behind him there were boxes and boxes of goods being sorted through by large numbers of peasants who were calling out numbers as they counted them.

"Huh, I thought there would be mostly undead working here." She said as she came close.

The dwarf looked up, he had the hard eyes of a veteran, once upon a time, he might have been a fierce fighter, now he was a little on the heavy side as age had taken its toll. He sighed and put his clip board down on the counter. "Ever-body says that, but no. Skeletons don't count too good, and people like me need work, so his majesty hired on a bunch of veterans who're to old ta fight any longer, but still wanna have work and support our country. Sides, still some stuff people're just better for, we can think more creatively to problem solve when issues come up, and it still makes a lot of the newbies more comfortable to see us around. Now what can ah do for yah miss?" He said with a gruff professionalism as he leaned forward on the counter.

"I'm Zesshi Zetsumei, I was sent here to get some Black Justice armor for myself." She said politely.

"What kindja need?" He asked.

"There are different kinds?" she asked with surprise.

"Well yeah, common soldiers don't need the same enchantments as commanders, so…what're yah going to be?" He asked as if the answer should be obvious.

"I'll be leading an army." She said.

"Gotcher letter of issuance then?" He asked gruffly, looking rather doubtful.

"Right here." She said as she drew it from her breast pocket and handed it to him.

He took it in his gnarled fingers and opened it and read it aloud. "Zesshi Zetsumei, appointed to command of the Elven Liberation Forces, blah blah blah, authorized armor, boots, gloves etc. suited for command, plus an additional set of duelists gear…" He looked up at her curiously, "unusual addition that one…" he said and then looked back down at the paper, "…issue priority one for immediate departure."

He looked at her with surprise. "Oh, well general. Ah…well…ma'am, I'm afraid we're out of duelist gear, the last of it went to Prart this morning and it'll take the craftsmen here several days to make it. Do you want to wait, or do you want to go to Prart?" he asked.

"Wait…you can send me to Prart?" She looked at him with disbelief.

"Well…not me…but see, the Sorcerer King has given key positions a handful of scrolls, I can issue you two of them, one to get you to Prart and one to bring you back, you can go to the central issue facility there, draw your armor, and return here. I normally wouldn't do this, but as you're going to command an army…seems reason enough." He said with a resigned shrug.

"Alright, I'll take them." She said.

And that was how she found herself walking through the streets of Prart. It was a city bustling like no other, not even Kami Miyako was this active on the streets, but with what she knew of the ongoing war, she assumed it pertained to an expected action. She approached a guard and tapped him on the shoulder. "Excuse me." She said, and he turned to look at her. Her hair was still done in a pony tail behind her head, displaying her half elven heritage quite obviously, even aggressively. When she saw that the guard was a human, she expected the Kami Miyako treatment and prepared herself for hate and contempt to pass over his face.

Instead he said politely, "Yes, how may I help you miss?" She blinked, she looked at him, wondering why he wasn't talking down to her, she'd braced a fist…but there was nothing. She was apparently quiet for a bit, because he touched his face, "Do I…have something on me?" He asked and started to wipe his cheek.

She chuckled, "No, it's just…I wasn't expecting good manners. You caught me off guard."

"Oh…ah…um…OK, it's part of my job to be polite, if you've run into issues with our other guards, you should report it, General Neia Baraja would be very unhappy and correct it immediately." He said with some concern.

She shook her head, "No, no issues here, I'm not from here, I'm looking for the 'Central Issue Facility' for this city, I need to have some duelist gear drawn for myself, I've just come from E-Rantel via a gate."

The soldier looked shocked, "May I see your letter of issuance?" He asked, holding out his hand and prompting Zesshi to marvel at the degree of professional consistency between such distant operations. She took out her letter and handed it to him, he unfolded and read it over.

"Wait…you can read?" Zesshi asked as the sudden oddity of finding a literate city guardsman.

"Of course." The guard said, "I'm part of Black Justice, literacy is required for service and everyone who joins gets at least a minimum of education, with strong encouragement to pursue more."

"Oh…different than what I'm used to." She said.

"Well, lots of things are different with us." He said with a smile, drawing one in return from her as she reflected on how right he was.

"OK," he said as he read over it, "I see, well General Zetsumei…if you'll permit me, why don't I take you to meet General Baraja, and then you can enjoy her hospitality, and I'll send one of my people over to the Central Issue Facility to draw your equipment for you, that way you're not stuck in line all day." He offered politely.

"Are you sure?" She asked.

"Very." He said confidently, "I'm sure General Baraja would love to say hello, and maybe escape paperwork for a few minutes," he chuckled slightly at that, "and it won't take any more time than if you went to the facility yourself."

"Alright, lead the way." Zesshi said and gestured the way forward.

"So Prart is busy." She said as they walked together.

"Yes ma'am, we're preparing for battle, perhaps the biggest one of the war, perhaps the biggest in the history of the world." He said.

"You don't seem anxious." She said with some curiosity.

"Well, I'm not eager to see arrows flying at me," he admitted with a wry grin, "but I have absolute confidence in our ability to win this battle we simply cannot lose. Our god and our general are unbeatable." His voice was full of confidence as he spoke, and Zesshi looked around as they walked, the streets were very busy every step of the way, but the people were enthusiastic, well fed, they carried themselves with the confidence of winners, and despite the fact that compared to her they were surely weak, they were all clearly fit and probably more than a match for anyone they might face.

"Confidence is good, but a dagger through the eye will kill anything." She said with caution.

He laughed, "It didn't kill commander Skana."

The name sounded vaguely familiar, Zesshi wondered if she'd seen it mentioned in one of the reports she usually ignored at least or skimmed at most.

"Commander Skana, General Baraja's second in command, she took a Gray Scripture dagger in the eye and stayed alive." He said matter of factly.

"Oh, well she got lucky." Zesshi said.

"Well then I'll just have to be just as lucky or better." He said with a boyish grin as they moved along a sidewalk going uphill a fair way.

"Do that." She said with a laugh, and they walked the rest of the way in amiable silence until they reached the governor's manor. He greeted the two guards at the entrance.

"This is General Zesshi Zetsumei, she's here to see General Neia Baraja, please see her in, I will be having her gear sent here for delivery from the central issue facility shortly." He said, and he held out the letter Zesshi had given him. They checked it over doubtfully until they saw the Sorcerer King's seal at the bottom, and then they promptly saluted with fists over their hearts, and the soldier on the right opened the gate.

"Please follow me." He said, and after handing the letter back to Zesshi's escort, who himself quickly departed on the errand, he walked to the main entrance and opened the door. Zesshi followed him through and looked over the walls, there were many outlines on the wall, suggesting something 'had' hung in those spots, but did no longer. It was odd, but only odd, not a point of concern, so she brushed off the observation as unimportant.

When they got to the office where General Neia Baraja worked, it was immediately identifiable by a simple brass name plate beside the door. The guard knocked hard three times and a moment later a woman's voice said, "Enter" and he walked in, he rendered a salute to her, which she returned after setting down the paperwork she'd been reviewing.

"Ma'am, Sergeant Hamton reporting, I am providing escort to General Zesshi Zetsumei, here in Prart for the issuance of military equipment." He said with military crispness.

"Very well Sergeant, thank you, you're dismissed…but when you go," she thought for a moment, "before you return to your duties, go and seek out Tinamoc and have him join us." She said politely, and the two exchanged salutes once more.

"Immediately, ma'am." He said and wheeled about on his heel and departed.

General Neia stood up and looked at Zesshi Zetsumi for the first time, they appraised each other briefly. Zesshi was somewhat taller than Neia, but the aura of violence hung over them both, and when Neia removed her visor, Zesshi saw what those briefs she'd bothered looking at all reported. Within the eyes of Neia Baraja there was nothing but burning, as if the demon emperor had laid his fire in her eyes as he died, she could swear she saw the torture of monsters within, and for the former black scripture, to say that there was a towering nightmare close by was a…very strange thing.

The smile that Neia gave to her however, was genuine. Neia, for her part, assessed Zesshi no less quickly, the woman carried with her the aura of power, as if she were the embodiment of the words 'battle maniac' and it was no small thing for Neia to admit, if she had to fight this woman, she would almost certainly die, and die quickly at that. Oddly enough, that warmed Neia up to her immediately.

She stuck out her hand and Zesshi took it, they shook firmly, each considering the other's grip to be a good one. "Please, sit." Neia said, keeping her smile warm as she gestured to the chair opposite her desk.

Zesshi sat, and when she did, Neia returned to her own seat.

"So…forgive me if I'm blunt," Neia began.

"I prefer blunt, no sense in wasting time." Zesshi interjected.

"…Good," Neia said, "I haven't heard of you before…are you…someone from Nazarick?"

"No." Zesshi said. "I'm a defector from the Slane Theocracy."

That gave Neia pause, and immediately rage began to build up in her, Zesshi did not flinch from her gaze, but it was as if the suffering demons in her eyes had their agony dialed up to eleven.

"You're not fond of them I take it." Zesshi said bluntly.

"No." Neia answered shortly.

"Me neither." Zesshi replied.

"May I ask why?" Neia asked, doubt creeping into her voice.

"Mind if I give you the short version?" Zesshi asked.

"If you prefer." Neia said.

"They abused my little sister, and lots of other relatives of mine unbeknownst to me, I found…well one of them, my little sister that is, was so broken inside from all that they'd done to her that she was starved half to death and licking food off a stone floor just to stay alive and avoid a punishment of some kind. The people who…more or less raised me, were only using me because I'd been born with power, every one of my relatives with none, was reduced to the level of an object, and when I sought to change this, they flatly rejected me and everything I am, so…I rejected them too. I killed many of their breakers and overseers, burned down brothels, slaughtered many of the worst, and helped a great many slaves escape Kami Miyako, then I sought out the Sorcerer King, I gave him all their most powerful equipment, and joined his side. Now he's tasked me with liberating the elf kingdom and he's backing an army behind me to make it possible. Good enough summary?" Zesshi asked abruptly.

Neia listened to the whole thing, and as she did, her growing hostility faded away to nothing and was replaced by a rising sense of understanding, empathy, and rage. Zesshi was not immune to understanding others, she was just usually indifferent, yet as she felt the hostility of Neia rise, she also felt it fall away and gradually be replaced by the same rage Zesshi felt and it rose in her as well as the telling came to its conclusion.

"So you understand then." Zesshi said.

"I do." Neia said. "I've seen how elves are treated, I sought the destruction of Wenmark because of it, I don't imagine Kami Miyako was much better."

"I take it you have no question then about why I want to wear your armor. You are the people who sought to free those like my little sister, the only people to do that other than the Sorcerer King himself. It is entirely right and proper that such armor set foot in the elf kingdom." Zesshi said calmly.

"Agreed. But can you defeat the elf King?" Neia asked.

"That I don't know, but I think I can, and I plan to, even if it kills me." Zesshi said firmly.

"Probably not the ideal trade off, but…probably worth it." Neia said darkly.

"Agreed. I realize it must be…strange, for me to be here. I was a high placed member of the Slane Theocracy until not too long ago, now…here I am, with one of their number one targets for assassination in arms reach and we're going to be war sisters instead of rivals." Zesshi laughed, and Neia shook her head.

"I know, here we are. Ten years ago I thought I'd live as close to the life of my mother as I could, serving as a squire in the Holy Kingdom army and eventually die alone after years of service. A few years after that, Jaldabaoth came along and I thought I'd die fighting him, a year later…give or take, and he's dead and I'm a general, a pope, a governor, a god damned dragon rider…and I've met the love of my life and we're fighting a war to change the entire world, a war we can't possibly lose. If somebody ever writes this down, in a thousand years it would all be mythology but for the memory of our master." She said with a laugh of her own.

A knock came at the door. "Enter." Neia said, looking away from Zesshi momentarily.

Tinamoc entered and closed the door behind him. "Tinamoc, have a seat." Neia said and stood up, and Zesshi stood right after.

"This is General Zesshi Zetsumei, I thought you should meet her, I think you'll have a lot to discuss." Neia said.

Tinamoc approached and held out his hand, he winced at the firm grip of the half elf, but grinned. "Quite a grip there, afraid a soft old merchant like me can't match it." He said warmly. Zesshi looked him over for a minute, her mind a whirlwind of doubt, but when he sat, both she and Neia did as well.

"Tinamoc was instrumental in helping me get as many elves out of Wenmark as possible." Neia said.

Zesshi's eyes snapped to him again, her opinion of the soft looking merchant shooting through the roof compared to her first assessment.

Tinamoc's face was serious as he folded his hands in his lap, "It was what had to be done. I'm not much for fighting, but I'm no coward."

"Thank you." Zesshi said sincerely. "Were there any…any children of the elf king among them?" She asked softly.

Tinamoc nodded, "Out of the hundreds, there were twenty or so. Ranging in ages from ten to one hundred years old. Why do you ask?"

Zesshi's eyes welled up. "Those are…little brothers and sisters of mine…you saved so many?" She said with a gasp of surprise.

"Well, not alone, I had the entire team of Black Justice elites helping me out, they were spending their pay left and right buying up slaves and hiding them in my warehouses, if any of them had a coin left over after all that, well I never saw it." He said proudly.

"You did…what?" She asked as she looked from Neia to Tinamoc.

"Yes, to get more out, we smuggled them out of the city as 'cargo' Tinamoc depleted most of his goods in the city to buy as many as he could, and per my orders, they were smuggled out before the large escape." Neia said simply.

"I never…how did I not hear about this, why wasn't this in any of the Slane Theocracy reports?" Zesshi asked.

"Probably because it was secret." Neia said, "Nobody knew, that is why it worked, we'd have gotten even more of them out except for Remedios Custodio showing up with cavalry and killing many of those we'd helped over the walls." Neia said bitterly.

Zesshi stood and bowed first to Tinamoc, then to Neia. "I am truly grateful for what you both have done, and I'm proud to be on your side, and I won't forget it when this is over. Tell me…are there any other children of the Elf King here in the city?" She asked.

"Probably a few dozen." Neia said, "Most of them are now members of Black Justice and are planning on avenging their fellows on the Slane Theocracy and on Remedios Custodio in particular.

Zesshi sighed with relief and slumped forward, "Then I have to win, they should have a kingdom to come home to that isn't ruled by a nightmare. You know, for years I've dreamed of killing my father, but it was always just to avenge both my mother and myself for ruining our lives…but…I have to do this for so much more…so much more…" She said as she trailed off, the silence that followed was interrupted by a knock at the door.

"Enter!" Neia said firmly.

"Ma'am, the equipment for Zesshi Zetsumei has arrived." A guard said, poking his head briefly through the door.

"Thank you, she'll be out shortly." Neia said.

"Well I think our time is up then." Neia said, "But before you go, let's drink once together, and promise to do it again when the war is over." She reached into her desk drawer and took out a bottle and placed it on the table.

She took out three glasses and laid them out in front of each, she popped the cork and poured one glass after the other, the liquid sloshed gently, red like blood, with a sweet cherry scent, it was a good vintage.

They each took a glass and stood up together. "To so much more…and next time." Neia said and held out her glass.

"To next time, and so much more." Tinamoc and Zesshi remarked, and clinked their glasses to Neia's at the center, and they drank together and slapped their glasses back down on the desk.

"General Baraja, it's been a pleasure and an honor." Zesshi said and rendered a genuine salute in the style she'd seen from the other Black Justice soldiers.

Neia returned it, "And it will be next time as well." She said, and rendered one in return.

"Tinamoc, thank you, I'll see you again someday, and repay what you have done for us." Zesshi said, and reached out and shook his hand, more gently this time.

"Give me a good bottle of wine and a good dinner and we'll call it even." He said warmly, and Zesshi walked out and found a set of armor sitting outside the office, she took it up, activated the gate scroll, and returned to E-Rantel with much on her mind. She retrieved the command armor from E-Rantel's issue facility, signing a document from the dwarf at the desk, and departing with his well wishes.

 _…Two weeks later…Zesshi's Army…_

The march was good, Zesshi was not much for excessive words of praise, yet 'good' seemed sufficient even if she had been. The elves who flocked to her banner on the endorsement of the Sorcerer King were every bit as weak as she expected them to be, yet they were eager, they were angry, and above all they were confident and hopeful.

The instructors Ainz had gated to her from Black Justice proved a constant driving force, they carried themselves with dignity and confidence, and even though…as most were to Zesshi, they were profoundly weak, she had not seen their confidence flag even once.

Their combat style involving the use of the bow had been embraced with the fervor of a religious convert…which many of the elves now were. The Black Justice instructors doubled as priests, giving sermons on a daily basis which Zesshi did not bother to attend herself.

The Sorcerer King was freeing her siblings, he was overturning her manipulators and the ones who had tormented Aorli, he was giving her the chance she'd been promised but never given, to finally kill the man who had ruined her life and given her reason to hate even seeing herself in a mirror for her entire life. That was enough for her, she didn't' really care if he was a god or not, it was enough that he was worth following.

The strength of the elven army was augmented by a handful of beastman kingdom mercenaries who, had heard the call for volunteers from among the residents of the elf city of Forton, and they proved so very effective in using their brute strength that they were stationed on the wings of her army to prevent easy flanking of her forces. As a battle maniac she had little experience commanding soldiers, but with the firm support of her advisors she found herself able to function well enough that she could learn on the job. Some of the elves had been veterans of the war with the Slane Theocracy, and these functioned as an effective corps of squad leaders and platoon and company liaisons that the Sorcerer King called 'Noncommissioned Officers' who oversaw the health, safety, progress, and general issues of the common soldiers, while officers handled command interactions and oversight. It proved an effective system that spread responsibilities out and improved discipline among the ranks.

By the time they reached the abandoned fort on the Katze Plains, as she thought about the days ahead, she looked in the direction of the elf kingdom. "Soon father. I'll be seeing you very soon, and that day, will be your last day." She said softly to herself, her confidence continuing to rise.

 **AN: Well here is Chapter 69, this one took longer than expected because I didn't have anything to draw on for Aureole Omega and had to dig in to her a little bit through speculative videos and what little was on the wiki, I 'think' I got a pretty solid handle on her character, and if I didn't, well I guess we'll find out when the original author shows me how wrong I am. :)**

 **If you've enjoyed this fiction and you want to show your appreciation for the author, you can donate to my charity organization: bdgiving dot org.**

 **And if you didn't...why the hell did you read THIS far?! Of course you can always join my discord server, invite is in my author page.**


	70. Reclaiming Re-Estize

_...Re-Estize Kingdom..._

Zaryusu looked at the little girl next to him, she was elegantly dressed in the finest field gear and she smiled sweetly over to him as she giggled at his expression. She touched her hand to her cheek, "I know I am beautiful to behold, even to the eyes of lizardmen, but really, wouldn't it be easier to just draw me?"

Zaryusu shook himself out of his reverie, "I'm sorry Lady Shalltear, it's just…I've never seen anything like that." He said, he looked around, there were fifty men, armed and armored…well…pieces of them still were. The rest were shredded, hands, limbs, heads, feet, whole bodies reduced to variable chunks of meat and scattered around them in all directions.

She picked up the hunk of a leg and lifted it up high, then tilted her head back and let the oozing blood fall past her lips. She did not spill a drop. "Wonderful." She said. She tossed the 'used up' leg away when the dripping ended.

Then she looked back over to the lizardman. "Of course you haven't, I'm of Nazarick, and I am a floor guardian, created by the Supreme Beings to be the strongest of the strong, even if there had been five hundred, or five thousand, or five hundred thousand, it would have made no difference to me, even without my gear on." She gave a sweet 'little girl like' shrug that stood utterly at odds with the havoc he had just seen her wreak on those who had the misfortune to cross their path.

She reached out and touched his cheek, caressing it slightly, tenderly, her red eyes glowed as she stared at him, "Be at ease, Lord Ainz is the wisest, he is the strongest, he even defeated me easily with both brains and brawn, and you are a servant of his now. You are forever safe as long as your loyalty endures."

Zaryusu swallowed uncomfortably, his eyes could not turn away from hers, the power swelling within them seemed fathomless. "I see why you call him a 'Supreme Being'." Zaryusu said slowly.

She stepped back from him with a wry little grin, "No you don't, silly, but you do 'begin' to see, when you see him stand atop the world, and all belongs to him as it should, and when you look back behind you at all that has transpired and see all the best laid plans of his enemies turned to ash, and his own million machinations are now revealed to you as clearly as the text on a page when you open a book, then will you truly understand."

He felt a chill wind blow over him as he pondered how many plans the Sorcerer King had laid before him in the pursuit of his goals. It was an uncomfortable thought, such fearsome intelligence seemed beyond the realm of possibility, yet…here he was…hours from Re-Boulorel leading an invasion to restore King Zanac…of all the strange paths his life had taken, this was not just the newest, it was the strangest.

"Odd that those mere fifty should attempt a raid on any of our positions though, isn't it?" Zaryusu said with some dismay, eager for the shift in subject as he walked next to Shalltear Bloodfallen.

"Is it?" She asked.

"I think so, we're only hours away from the city, why bother with a raid at this point? They're not going to slow us down much, and riding straight at the head of the column? I could almost understand raiding the baggage at the rear, but nothing about this makes sense at all." Zaryusu said somewhat dubiously.

"Maybe they just don't know what they're doing?" She said. "Does it really matter? I'll breakdown the walls, you do the rest." She said with a somewhat bored expression on her face.

"Well, they have been described repeatedly as incompetents, maybe you're right, after all the idiot in command might have just heard of raids as a way to slow down advances, and had no idea how to conduct a proper one, so he just borrowed from all those stupid stories where some mighty hero stops an army by attacking it's strongest point." Zaryusu said contemplatively.

A few hours later they were in front of the city walls.

Zaryusu raised a white flag and approached the silent walls. "Open your gates and surrender!" He shouted. He looked at the walls, they were good ones, strong by conventional standards, impossible for the lizardmen to have taken back when they were more…primitive, but with his current knowledge and the army behind him, no walls could hope to even slow him down, not least because of the delicate looking little pale faced girl who was waiting behind him.

No sound came from the top of the wall.

"I said," he shouted, "Open your gates and surrender! I will only ask once more, and then we will bring down your walls and capture the city by force!" Still nobody answered, but he heard shouting from beyond the walls, he looked over his shoulder at Shalltear Bloodfallen. "Can you tell what they're saying my lady?" He asked uncertainly.

"Yes." She said sweetly, "Someone is ordering that you be shot, he wants the archers to kill you, the idiot seems to think that if he takes your life that your army will scatter and he will retain control of the place. Poor fool, even if your army ran away, I'm more than enough to kill them all." She smiled sweetly and the bored expression returned to her face.

"And…are they going to?" He asked, "Should I be concerned?"

"Probably not," she said, "the other person is yelling at the idiot giving the order, saying you have a white flag up and it violates the rules, and someone else is telling the idiot that if they do that and it doesn't work, we'll kill everyone when we take the place to punish them for violating those rules."

"I see." Zaryusu said, "So one is an argument for honor, and the other is an argument to avoid revenge, pragmatic, I wonder who will win out on this one." He thought out loud. He shook his head, it didn't matter anyway.

"Last chance! Open your gates and surrender, or we will bring them down!" Zaryusu shouted up to them.

A spear fell down, it didn't land anywhere close to him, whatever incompetent had thrown it, he or she had no idea what the hell they were doing. "OK, your choice!" He said and walked over and picked up the spear, plucking the head from the ground, there was yelling on the other side as he returned to his lines, he remounted the undead horse and lifted the spear up as if the weapon had always been his, the steel head of it gleamed in the sunlight.

Shalltear looked over at him next to her, "Oh, this is interesting." She said.

"What is that?" He asked curiously.

"Wait just a moment." She said, the yelling intensified, the clattering of armor was audible from the top of the wall, Zaryusu could make out what appeared to be several men struggling with one well dressed foppish looking fellow.

"You can't do this! You can't! You can't! You just can't!" He was shouting as he flailed his arms around, Zaryusu could hear his words clearly now from where he was, and a moment later the foppish looking idiot found out that they could do that, they would do that, and they were doing that. While Zaryusu found out just what 'this' and 'that' meant…when the ones struggling with the fop heaved him up and tossed him over the wall. He screamed all the way down and landed face first in the dirt.

There was a moment of utter silence. Zaryusu lowered the spear straight back down instead of forward, putting a halt to the order of destruction. From atop the city wall, there was more shouting, and one voice clearly seemed to take command over all others.

"Wait there! We're going to open the gate for you!" The voice said with great urgency.

"We'll wait." Zaryusu said firmly, "But not for long!"

They appeared to have taken his words to heart, because he did not wait long, a few minutes later the gate began to open, and the portcullis began to rise.

"Forward…march!" Zaryusu shouted, and he threw the spear away. It clattered into the dirt and dust rose around it and began to settle, only for it to be kicked up again as the soldiers of his army began to march behind him. Shalltear rode on an undead horse beside him with a minor pout on her face.

"Something wrong?" Zaryusu asked the little guardian.

"Well…" She said with a little frustration evident in her voice, "It's just that I wanted to be useful to Lord Ainz, and today I didn't get to do anything for him, unless you count that bunch of raiders, and that was nothing." She sighed somewhat dejectedly.

Zaryusu thought for a moment and said, "Forgive me, lady Shalltear, but you're mistaken."

"Ehhhh?" She said to him, giving him an expression that was somewhere between anger, disbelief, and confusion.

They rode into the city and looked around, and as he was looking the place over…which seemed to have had better times, depressed if not ruined at least, he answered her, "You came here, that is what the Sorcerer King commanded of you, isn't it? Obeying his orders is always useful, all serve, including those who stand and wait. True you did not use your strength today, but you were prepared to do so, and we took a city for him without a fight, he will be pleased by that, and I'm sure he will praise your readiness to work on his behalf." Zaryusu said, and Shalltear's face lit up.

"Thank you." She said, "I hadn't considered that."

"Anytime." Zaryusu replied.

As the army moved in, one man stood and blocked the way, he was not there to challenge them, he was on his knees with his head bowed. "I am commander Nimorav, I officially surrender my city to you."

"Then the fop who was tossed over the wall was…?" Zaryusu asked.

"The idiot was the one 'King Philip' had left in charge here, a complete incompetent more hellbent on drinking and whoring and shouting than he ever had been about ruling, I ordered him thrown over the wall because he was obviously more concerned about having his good time ruined than he was over the lives that he was going to be casting aside to try to keep that 'party' going for himself. He was worse than garbage, he was hot burning garbage in a latrine pit."

"That's a vivid image." Zaryusu said succinctly.

Shalltear crinkled her nose. "Ew." She said just as briefly.

"It is an accurate one." Commander Nimorav said. Zaryusu looked him over, he was marked with scars and his hair was cut short in a style he'd come to recognize among humans as one of military utility, his armor was burnished and clean, but with no evidence of enchantment of any kind. In his own mind the lizardman general considered that…if this man who acted as commander had no enchanted gear himself, it was highly unlikely that anyone did, and against his own armies, they had no chance at all if it came to a fight.

"You did the wise thing by surrendering, Commander Nimorav." Zaryusu said, "You saved the lives of your soldiers and any unnecessary casualties among noncombatants, and you saved your own life as well."

"I thought that might be the case." The kneeling commander said grimly, "And all it cost us was the life of one incompetent moron, I'd call that quite a bargain."

"That is one thing to call it." Zaryusu said, "Now, escort us to the manor he was using, and we'll go over what we need to for now. Also, you'll need to take that thing down," he pointed to the banner of King Philip, "and put up the one for King Zanac."

"Wait, you're not here to seize our city for the Sorcerous Kingdom?" Commander Nimorav said with surprise.

"But…the idiot told us…" He began to say and then trailed off.

"The idiot was also a liar. He was obviously thinking you'd be more willing to fight if you thought you were protecting your city from a foreign invasion than if it were the returning forces of King Zanac." Zaryusu said thoughtfully.

Commander Nimorav shook his head, "I should have figured…I guess he was just smart enough to tell a lie."

"So…why did you surrender?" Shalltear asked. "If you thought we were here to take it for the Sorcerer King, shouldn't you have at least tried to resist?" She sounded more curious than anything, though from her tone he got the feeling she didn't think anybody was mad enough to seriously oppose her master, not anyone within a hundred miles of where she was anyway.

Commander Nimorav touched his forehead and shook it slowly, "For one it was reported to me that there were banners of King Zanac among your ranks, I thought it a deception at first, till now anyway, but the real reason I gave in was that one of the men on the wall got a look at you, my lady." He said and gestured to Shalltear.

"At me?" She said, pointing at herself and asking curiously.

"Yes, he has an appraisal talent, he can tell the odds of defeating any enemy, he saw you, and sent word to me and to me alone that you could not be defeated, that if we tried, we would simply all die." He said with a shudder.

Shalltear grinned with her eyes closed and touched her chest, "Well yes, only one can actually defeat me, only my love." She sighed happily, "Now I feel much better, I was more useful to my lord than I thought I was."

"Please follow me, General…?" Commander Nimarov began.

"Zaryusu Sasha, and this is Lady Shalltear." He added, gesturing to the little vampire girl.

"General Zaryusu, Lady Shalltear, I'll show you to the manor." He said politely.

The army resumed its march and Zaryusu looked around him, most citizens had decided to hide in their homes when the gate opened, but he could see them peeking out at the mishmash of various species marching through the streets, and they were clearly on edge. Zaryusu had no intention of leaving them on edge for longer than he had to.

When they reached the manor, the city's commander called for one of his subordinates.

"See that all of them are given suitable quarters for as long as they're needed."

"One day." General Zaryusu said.

That brought his head snapping over in surprise. "What? I'm sorry, I don't think I heard you right."

"Just one day, my soldiers will get one day's rest, and then tomorrow we will all leave, I will leave you in command of the city until King Zanac can send someone he appoints to take your place." Zaryusu explained.

"You won't leave a garrison?" He asked.

"Are you going to lose control of the city? Is there anyone in the city that wants 'King Philip' or some other idiotic member of his faction to regain control?" Zaryusu asked, his voice showing a pretense of concern even though he was already quite confident about the answer.

"Absolutely not." The commander said with iron certainty in his voice.

"Then I see no reason to linger and no reason to leave anyone behind. Tomorrow morning we'll leave for E-Asenaru and you'll be back in control again, all I ask is that your shops and taverns remain open to us and that my forces be adequately fed and housed overnight." General Zaryusu said in his most reasonable tone of voice.

"That is…I…I don't understand." Commander Nimarov said. "No plunder, no treasure, no demands or hostages, just stay overnight, eat overnight, and you'll leave tomorrow?"

"What don't you understand?" Zaryusu asked.

"Why?" He Commander Nimarov said in surprise.

"Because we came here to restore what was stolen, not steal what is rightfully held." Zaryusu said, opening his arms as if to say how obvious it was. "If you are back on the right side, there is no need for any of that which might weaken you, I'll even go one better, our soldiers pay will be dispensed on dismissal and they can spend freely overnight and we'll leave after breakfast in the morning. It seems to me your city could do to have some money flow into it." He said.

"Ah…yes, well, thank you, you are truly gracious." Commander Nimarov said, and he gave a deep and respectful bow to the lizardman general and the lady vampire beside him.

"Those are the words of my master, the Sorcerer King." Shalltear said proudly, "He is the wisest ruler in all the world, restoring King Zanac to the throne was his plan all along." She sighed like a lovestruck girl and but for the earlier ferocity she'd shown, Zaryusu could never have thought her to be anything but a young human girl.

"Yes, it seems that 'King Philip' was a tool of the Slane Theocracy, they were giving him money and weapons and who knows what else, in order to allow him to seize the throne, they wanted him to open up another front against the Sorcerer King and seize control of E-Rantel and bring the war to a conclusion in their favor." Zaryusu said with a roll of his eyes. "Idiots."

Commander Nimarov's eyes went wide, "Is that true…the Slane Theocracy was…using my nation, turned us to civil war and forced my people to fight and kill each other over one idiotic man's foul and undeserved ambitions for himself…all so they could throw my nation into the fire all over again to fight a king who saved us from famine after overwhelmingly defeating us at the Katze Plains?!" His voice became outraged.

Zaryusu and Shalltear simply nodded in sync with one another and Commander Nimarov's body began to shake with anger.

"I was AT the battle of Katze Plains, I saw what the Sorcerer King was capable of in terms of violence, and I was only able to eat for months after that because he also showed us he was capable of great mercy…had I…had we…been left to starve after the battle, I could have understood this desire to reclaim E-Rantel…I could have understood and forgiven some kind of war of revenge, however doomed and futile it might have been. But he gave us food to eat, he let our wounded live and go free and home to their families, he returned the body of our greatest hero, undesecrated with all his treasures, so that he could be properly honored and buried…and our neighbor threw us back into the fight all over again, manipulated our entire country just so THEY could have an advantage?! How DARE they!" He snarled, fumed, and his face turned red with rising anger…then purple with fury.

He forced himself to calm down and he bowed to them both again. "Forgive my display of emotion, that is…much to take in. I will go and see to the lowering and destruction of that idiotic banner and replace it with one for King Zanac immediately."

Zaryusu and Shalltear looked at each other with great satisfaction as the furious commander showed them his back and went off to carry out his stated task.

 **AN: Not the most exciting chapter, but it was nice to get Shalltear in there for once, I really don't get a lot of room for the guardians in in this epic, largely because they're nuclear weapons in a world of muskets, there's no effort involved, no chance for development or growth for the other characters...I know you all have your favorites...I do too, I'm especially fond of ones like Demiurge and Albedo...but to bring them in is to just stop the conflict in its tracks for the most part. I have had the occasional use for an OP Nazarick figure, such as when Sebas saved Neia from Remedios, or Cocytus as an instructor, but there's just no conflict to bring them to battle. I mean I 'could' have just had Shalltear show up and massacre Wenmark on day one. But then all that character development for Neia would never have happened, the heart rending passing of Illyana, who freed herself in dying and got one last strike at her oppressors...gone. Overuse of Nazarick characters in a story is a lot like drawing a picture of a terrible dragon, and then just crossing it out. I really do want to unleash Shalltear on at least one more location, but it just didn't 'work' for the story here.**

 **Anyway, if you enjoy this story so far, join my discord server, some story fans have started creating some pretty awesome fan art, you'll find my invite on the author page here.**


	71. The Fall of E-Pespel

_...Re-Estize..._

King Zanac stood in front of the walls of the city of E-Pespel next to General Nimble. This city had chosen to make a fight of it, not quite the result he'd expected but…nobody ever said that the one in charge was always the one who should be there. He looked over to the left of himself, to meet the gaze of the imperial general. "Are they ready?" He asked.

General Nimble actually smirked. "Your majesty, we have thousands of undead ready to charge ahead of the living, we're about to use Death Knights against walls that haven't seen a siege in two hundred years, with the utmost respect to your august person…it is not the readiness of our side that is in question."

King Zanac let out a deep and hearty laugh at the exaggerated way in which General Nimble spoke. Over the course of riding together he'd noticed that General Nimble had an understated sort of humor about himself, perhaps a bit withdrawn at first, he had shown a tendency to play at humor by turning words back upon the speaker and understating them in most amusing ways. He could tell a man to go to hell in such a way as to make him think it was his own idea to go there…and to look forward to the trip. It made for good company, and the last few nights they'd enjoyed more than a few cups of wine.

"Then give the signal General." King Zanac said politely as they approached the first city.

"Your majesty, may I suggest that you do this?" General Nimble said politely, "Let the histories show that when it came time to reclaim his country, the king, not a foreigner, gave the order."

King Zanac nodded somberly and clapped him on the shoulder, "I'll pour the first cup tonight, and we'll call it even." The King replied.

He raised his sword and lowered it towards the walls. From behind him waves of skeletons began to approach in methodical steps. They moved past the two humans, while the human armies of both Kingdom and Empire stood patiently waiting for their turn. The sound of death knights could be heard from well behind them as they began to approach to stand beside the two men.

It was, in a word, bizarre. General Nimble was the consummate knight. More than that though, he looked the part, young and serious in appearance, strong in body and keen of eye, if you had not seen him in armor, you would nonetheless figure it was not far from him.

By contrast, King Zanac was short, rather squat, a little overweight, and had somewhat beady eyes that would have looked better on a cutpurse than on a king. Yet it was precisely because he did not fit the part he was born to play, that he was more impressive than he otherwise might have been. General Nimble had read the reports of the demonic disturbance. During the course of it, both the former king and the…then, prince Zanac had abandoned the palace, the former despite his advanced age, the latter despite being the least warrior like person Nimble had ever personally seen. While not exactly great warriors, they did what his more impressive looking older brother did not do, and now here he was just barely out of arrow's reach and reclaiming his kingdom. Conversation had revealed that…while he did not have the evident genius of the Sorcerer King, or the considerable brilliance of his own emperor, King Zanac was not the idiot that 'King' Philip had been. More importantly, he showed an acute self-awareness of how unkingly he looked, and he made up for it by redoubling his efforts when it came time for action.

Nimble mentally shook the thought off and watched the scene unfold in front of him. The skeletons in enchanted armor and bearing enchanted weapons were going up ladders quite easily, though the men on the walls pushed the ladders away, it did little good. A ladder would fall backwards, the skeletons that were on it would pick the ladder back up, then they would walk back to the wall and climb up once more as if the previous fall had never happened in the first place.

"Death Knights, take the gates." King Zanac said, keeping his voice as calm as he could as he commanded the forces handed to him by the Sorcerer King. "Kill only those who resist." He said, drawing a nod of approval from General Nimble.

"Good of you." General Nimble said.

"I did not come home to rule a country of corpses, what was it the Sorcerer King said at the party before we left? 'There is plenty of time for death, but never enough time for life', Something like that anyway." King Zanac replied.

"Makes me wonder what he was before he was undead." General Nimble remarked as the death knights reached the gate and began to punch through. The wood was thick solid oak, and based on the way they bounced back, they'd been reinforced, but it was clear that it would not take long for them to break, the death knight's swords were already puncturing holes with every strike.

"I try not to think of that, personally. Its confusing enough without imagining what kind of terrifyingly powerful magus or whatever he might have been before turning himself…or being turned…into that." King Zanac replied.

"I can understand that, but no king has ever been well served by ignorance." Nimble replied and looked over his shoulder, "Imperial Archers approach, target beyond wall, center gate!" Human archers marched forward within range, and arrows began to arc in waves over the top of the wall, landing to the unknowable other side, cries of pain, panic, and fear could be heard, informing them that some band of soldiers was on the other side.

"Kingdom Archers forward, center gate beyond the wall, fire when ready!" King Zanac said, and they approached in turn. After the next flight of imperial arrows, while they were reloading, the Kingdom's archers had already loosed, in a constant back and forth their arrows fell like rapid punches of a boxer, one, two, one, two…over and over, each volley bringing forth a few cries of pain.

General Nimble stole a glance out of the corner of his eye at King Zanac, he wondered if the young king would look away from the fruits of his orders, if he had the mettle of spirit to see things through to their conclusion. To his pleasure, King Zanac looked neither bored nor…perversely overjoyed, at what was happening, instead he was studying the situation carefully as the death knights blows got through. Dirt began to spill from the gaps in the gate.

"Ahhh, so that is why…" He said thoughtfully.

"Yes, it appears whoever was in charge was not entirely ignorant of siege craft, they stacked up bags of earth against the gate to keep the doors from bursting open. A reasonable but futile measure, though it did slow the death knights down in terms of progress, at least for a few blows." Nimble remarked in a professional tone of voice.

Now however, many of the bags were punctured and leaking dirt, or forced off the area they'd been stacked up on, and the gates were nearly shredded, the death knights began to tear away the wood, before finally simply bashing each door inwards with all their strength and sending wood chunks and bags cascading into the city, most of it stopped at the portcullis, however fragments of the broken entry and clumps of earth flew thirty feet further in before bouncing to stops over the cobblestone streets.

As the death knights moved in, the portcullis was next, simple wrought iron, they simply cut the metal to strips, then bashed their way through, the hulking behemoths had made their way into E-Pespel. Zanac looked up at the wall, there were fewer defenders now, the skeletons were up.

"Shall we now?" King Zanac asked.

General Nimble waved his hand towards the ground a few times, "No, not yet, lets wait, when the undead are farther into the city, we can simply move in and start occupying areas behind them. The Sorcerer King said he didn't care how many of these we lost…which in and of itself is terrifying when you consider that its an army of legends all by itself. But since he doesn't mind, we can make this much easier on ourselves and our soldiers."

"I'll follow your advice General Nimble." King Zanac said, "As you say, there is no reason for us to rush things."

"Hold arrows!" General Nimble shouted, and a moment later, King Zanac emulated the orders.

The fighting began to sound farther and farther away.

"Now?" King Zanac asked.

"You're learning well, King Zanac." General Nimble said with the utmost sincerity, drawing a smile from the face of the unkingly looking king.

Their armies marched in, the two commanders were the first to make their way through, a fact immortalized by bards in generations to come, and made famous in a painting made years later entitled 'Kingdom Come' that ended up in the largest museum in Re-Estize.

The two passed through the ruined portcullis and opened out into the light, there were numbers of dead soldiers scattered about, including a fair number directly in front of the gate who had been felled by arrow fire, many others were scattered farther away, smashed against walls by the charge of the two death knights. As their soldiers began to follow behind them, the two commanders began to bark out orders to occupy various positions, the walls were reclaimed and the banner of King Zanac put in place while the banner of King Philip was torn down and thrown into the grass and the dirt. The steel of both human armies was clean of blood, which from General Nimble's perspective, made it the best battle he'd ever fought.

Soldiers were dispatched down streets and undead skeletal armies in enchanted armor moved ahead of them and did the dirty work, surrenders became more and more common, which the undead readily accepted, and the prisoners were given to the command of other humans, who quickly bound and secured them.

Foot by foot the city fell back into the hands of the old ruling family, and foot by foot the prisoners increased just as the dead and wounded decreased. There were peasants aplenty in the city, merchants, even a handful of very junior nobles most likely, but none were on the streets. Still it seemed that by and large one of the oldest rules of war, that there was always fire, had been broken. Zanac had not wanted to destroy what was his, and the silent opponent had apparently not wanted to destroy what he already had either, therefore neither had made use of fire as a weapon, it was a rare sort of thing, but one Zanac was rather grateful for.

Within an hour a third of the city had fallen, and within two hours, half of it had, by the fourth hour the only thing slowing them down were the many twists and turns of the streets that lead them to the seat of government within E-Pespel, but opposition had ceased to be an issue.

Those still choosing to resist had chosen to make a final stand at the gate. There were perhaps fifty armored figures at the steps, they had chosen to make a kind of hedgehog formation, they had gritty looks on their faces and the resolve to die was as clear in their eyes as their fear of doing so was in their shaking, trembling bodies.

Zanac approached the gate from atop his horse, he knew quite well he did not look like much, so remaining mounted gave him a slight edge in projecting the desired image. Elsewhere in the distance, the death knights uttered their customary scream, driving a shudder through the defenders.

He looked between the flimsy bars, those wouldn't stop a riot of drunkards, let alone a death knight.

"You men have no wish to die, but you believe that as traitors to the crown, it is the headsman's ax or the noose for you anyway, so why not die fighting?" He said as loudly as he could.

They said nothing, but he could tell from their faces he had read their motivation properly.

"I am King Zanac, and I tell you that I will spare your lives, surrender, and you may go free. None of you will be imprisoned, none of you will be executed, none of you will face trial unless you have committed a wrong against the people of the city. Surrender, and you can die of old age instead of turning into a death squire when the death knights make their way back into this direction." He said loudly, firmly, and as confidently as he could.

"We surrender, we live and go free, right?" One largish looking fellow with a thick brown beard said in a deep baritone voice.

"That's the deal. You go home, right now, just leave your weapons, so the death knights don't mistake you for combatants." Zanac said with a sincere nod.

"Deal." He said and threw down his spear. "I don't mind dying…either some day or for good reason but defending a noble's right to sit in a damn chair isn't reason enough for me."

One by one and then in twos and threes, spears clattered to the ground until the hedgehog was stripped of spines and nobody was left to bar the way, the surrendering soldiers approached the gate and opened it with caution, holding hands up so that it was clear that they were unarmed. They passed beside the soldiers of the two armies and quietly slunk away, the chance for immortal fame or ignominious end slipping from grasp, while King Zanac and General nimble rode to the base of the steps, dismounted, and trod over fallen spears. A scream from death knights echoed in the distance, closer than they had been before. King Zanac took one more look around before he walked in, skeletons were now positioned at regular intervals along the walls, he couldn't see a single one of Philips banners, it was a satisfying moment. He and Nimble opened the door together and walked in, followed by a few dozen soldiers as escorts, and one by one the rooms were cleared and found to be empty.

It was when they came to the main office of the building that they found their quarry seated in a chair in the center of the room facing the entrance, with a lovely woman beside him. As soon as they saw the couple, Zanac and Nimble dismissed the guards and closed the doors behind them, each closing half the double door and leaving the four of them alone. There was no need for guards, he didn't have long and neither did the woman sitting beside him.

The nobleman was slender, young, perhaps in his late teens or early twenties, he wasn't a bad looking young man, the armor he wore was clearly relatively new, the finest quality available, and it had obviously never been used in battle. He had soft brown hair and sad looking eyes blurred by welling tears.

He was also bleeding to death from his wrists. Next to him was a young blonde woman, around his age, with brown eyes of her own and a fresh, beautiful face, she was dressed as if she were going to a royal ball, but women did not typically attend balls when they were bleeding to death from their wrists, as she very clearly was. Each one held the other's hands, fingers interlocked.

"You've won the day…King Zanac." The nobleman said, "I thought you might…but I…I had to try. We…we had to try." He said and looked to the woman next to him.

"Just…parting request," she said as her voice grew weaker, "Don't desecrate our bodies…or at least…don't desecrate his…I wanted this…I pushed him to join Philip, I thought it was our chance…" She managed to stammer out, Nimble and Zanac gave one another a glance and let them speak their peace.

"I wanted it too…so tired of bowing, scraping, doing what father said, I just wanted our own h-house to be great too, and we thought that idiot was our chance…I didn't join…we didn't join, because of hatred for your rule…King Zanac…and we didn't resist because we hate you now…we just…we couldn't go back…" He staggered out his words, blood from the pair soaked their fingers and hand, their grips were growing weaker.

"We just couldn't let go…I won't ask forgiveness or pardon, but our families weren't part of this, but as a kindness to the dying…please bury us together…please don't desecrate our remains, let us face the gods…whole." She said, shaking her head softly as tears ran down cheeks. Cheeks that must have been beautiful and rosy only hours before, now they were pale, it was clear the couple didn't have long.

"Well your majesty, what is your judgement as king over Re-Estize? What fate do you decree for these traitors? Shall I give them a quick end? Shall I mutilate them while they live and can still see and feel, this is your campaign, the judgement falls to you and you alone?" General Nimble asked.

The couple looked panicked, their hands were losing their grip, they'd lost control over their nerves, they desperately tried to close the grip again, and King Zanac looked down at them and was moved to pity.

"This. This is enough, and at least they died in their station, and with courage. No enmity will fall on their house's survivors because of them, leave their bodies intact, let them be buried in one grave…and," he turned to face from Nimble to the dying pair, "let me give you one parting gift." King Zanac said, and he went and cut a strip of blood soaked cloth from the bottom of her dress, the dying eyes looked at him as their bodies shook, they hadn't long, so Zanac moved quickly. He took the strip of cloth and slid it under the joined hands of the couple, he then pulled each end up, outside their grip and wrapped it over top of where the noblewoman's hand rested, and he tied a small knot and pulled it tight, so that their hold on one another would not fall away.

"There, now you can at least die together the way you wanted. I forgive you." King Zanac said softly, looking at them with some pity and sorrow on his face, he had no idea who they were, but they were not as bad as Philip had been, whoever they might have been.

"Thank you…" They managed to whisper out, and King Zanac and General Nimble stood in front of them and watched them slip away.

The light faded from their eyes, their heads slumped forward, and they passed within moments of one another, when they were well and truly dead, General Nimble said, "That was kind of you."

"Was it?" He asked. Neither was looking at the other, they were looking at the bodies of the noble couple that had ruled E-Pespel, whose blood was seeping permanently into the rich carpet and no doubt staining the wood below forever.

"I think so." General Nimble replied, "You could have hurt them much worse, their deaths took several minutes, you could have filled those minutes with pain."

King Zanac shrugged, "For Philip…yes, for this pair…" He gestured to the corpses, "there was no point, there is no reason to torture the dying, and it is easy to forgive those who are already dead, it cost me nothing and…I think my father would have approved."

"For whatever it is worth your majesty, I approve as well. I'm not fond of pointless butchery. You've won today, that is enough, E-Pespel is yours, next stop, the capital." General Nimble said.

"Agreed. I wish I could stay longer to establish things here, but the longer I wait, the harder it will get to reclaim the rest. I hope things are going just as well for General Zaryusu." King Zanac said soberly.

"I expect so." General Nimble said.

"I do too, but for now…we've got our own work to do, and only a little time to do it, go recall the Death Knights General, I'll see to the soldiers and call the citizens together, I have a lot to say to them, and tomorrow won't wait on our convenience."

"Yes, your majesty." General Nimble replied, leaving King Zanac alone with the bodies for just a few minutes more…

 **AN: Well I hope you enjoyed that, I certainly did, honestly Re-Estize isn't my favorite area to write for, and it won't have particularly long chapters because it is not going to be especially hard to bring back under the control of King Zanac. I'm much more eager to get to other areas of the war…BUT…**

 **All that is going to be on a slight hold because I'm researching material for my next side story, a fun little diversion dealing with a serial killer at work in the Draconic Kingdom, hunted by Neia Baraja and Vanysa. To prepare for this story I'll be doing some research into medieval and ancient criminal investigation methods, early forensics, that kind of thing, to bring the best possible representation of this stuff to the fore. The outline is almost done, and I'll have a draft up on my discord in a few days. Why? Because writing is fun, and I want to try something new. God Rising won't be delayed by much…and I may get another chapter in during the course of this new story. Of course I can ALSO be bribed by way of charitable donations to bdgiving dot org to focus on the main story for a little longer, but…well otherwise, I'd like to do something different for a bit. ? Enjoy.**


	72. Out of Ikari

Enri rode out with her soldiers with unutterable rage in her heart and the shine of her youth in her eyes the vigor and sparkle that her Enfi had fallen in love with, that had been illuminated by the moon or a candle in the darkness on the many nights they'd lain together, happy in their love making. She sighed, she missed her husband very much, she wanted children, but she withheld herself from that joy at the request of her king, who foretold a time of terror and war in which she would be called upon to commit to building a future, before creating children to inhabit it. So, she'd always finished her husband off in ways that made them both happy, even if she wanted…just a little something extra for herself.

Now that time was on her, the time the Sorcerer King had prepared her for through countless hours of studying in the library under the tutelage of war masters like Aureole Omega and the Goblin strategist, now she…who a handful of years ago could not even read her own name, had consumed a hundred tracts of war from men who stood as gods of an ancient past, she could calculate the required tonnage of supplies for an army of any reasoned size to march over any known distance with and without forced marching required. Now she was a woman who her own mother would scarcely recognize, no longer the frightened child who had darted for the woods to flee a single knight, now she called on dragons and had the backing of a god.

Now her eyes were hard, perhaps not cruel, but hard and scary enough that ogres looked away from her anger. That anger was now turned outwards as word had come of the Latifundiums, the great farming estates. Only the wealthy in Ikari had slaves at all, and those reacted in diverse ways when slavery was ended. A cruel, smug snicker came over her as she thought about the last trick she'd played on those asking for some semblance of it to be retained, it got them right out of their enthusiasm for the institution.

Others had been passive and calm, some had wept for the loss, some elves had turned with a vengeance on their owners, while others had sought to protect them. Trials were underway and hangings were already taking place for those found guilty of rape or torture.

The mutilated slaves who the more sadistic had hidden away were shown to the population, and many of those citizens had expressed at least a modicum, if not more, of disgust at the sadism displayed. That had left Enri somewhat hopeful that a sense of shame might prompt reform.

The temples had remained untouched, but the priests were called to her office for her return today, it was going to be an unpleasant meeting, but one she was prepared for. Hard eyed General Enri for now had another task…the gates closed behind her as her forces fanned out, there were a dozen or so Latifundiums and she'd dispatched forces to each of them that had failed to surrender their slaves.

It took over an hour to get to the first estate, within only half that time she was marching her army down a narrow road flanked by acre after acre of wheat, the fertility of the area was incredible. Elf slaves worked naked except for their chains , and they stopped work to stare in awe, confusion, and fear. Enri was quick to act, sending soldiers from among her elf ranks to inform their brothers and sisters, many of whom bore terrible scars on their bodies, of their liberation. Many fell to their knees in shock, others wept, some fainted, the word was shouted out and many of the slaves began to throw aside their tools and run to watch the army of Hard Eyed Enri march past, an army of wonders, with elves, ogres, men, and numerous other species, not to mention the undead. Were it not for the sight of elves riding near to the beautiful hard eyed general they might have fled in terror, it did not hurt that a few recognized the garb of the long rumored Black Justice among the ranks of their liberators. Enri did not pause to look at them, she had a duty to perform, it became immediately obvious what that duty was.

She was advancing towards the massive estate, overseers began to approach down the center of the road in response to hearing the calls of freedom from the elf slaves, when they saw just what was approaching them, they dropped their whips and ran.

"Seize them!" Enri ordered and pointed in the direction of the fleeing overseers.

Several dozen elves in black armor mounted on undead horses were happy to oblige, their rapid mounts rapidly caught up to the fleeing people and…mindful of her instructions to capture them, they used their mounts to knock the men down, or the blunted ends of their swords, history could probably forgive them if the blows to the slave drivers were a mite bit harder than was strictly necessary, Enri however, definitely did. They were quickly corralled and were horrified to see the type of elves they'd never seen before. Elves with pride, elves with powerful bodies and full armor and deadly weapons and dangerous eyes, all these weak overseers had ever had to be strong compared to were groups of elves who had already been broken in to service. Not these, never these. When these elves said to kneel, the overseers obeyed as if they were the slaves.

"Bind them and have them thrown in a cart in the back, we'll take them back for trial when we're done." Enri ordered firmly, and though the overseers protested, nobody listened. They were dragged by ropes on their wrists or the hair on their head, all the way to the back of General Enri's column and thrown into the back and secured under guard.

There they found themselves facing a vampire with blood red eyes who did not even try to hide who and what he was.

"Please, try to escape, I will be happy to weaken you so that you can't, I haven't fed since yesterday." He said and licked his lips, baring his fangs and prompting the weaker overseers to lose control over their bowels. They chose not to test the laughing vampire , they did not have the will to meet his gaze.

When Enri finally reached the estate itself, she did not bother with niceties. She dismounted from her horse, as did Lupusregina Beta, and the hard eyed general with her dear friend, the smiling sadist, approached the door. Though thousands stood behind them, the silence was so profound that as they mounted the white wooden steps, they could hear every creak of the wood under their feet. Enri stepped aside.

"Lupu dear, would you be so kind?" She said with a smile.

Lupusregina Beta grinned sadistically and kicked the door open so hard that it flew clean off its hinges, inside the house, people were screaming. Enri held up her hand and waved it forward, calling some of her soldiers inside, they responded quickly enough, rushing up the stairs and stepping in behind the two women. "Gather everyone in the foyer of the house, I have words for them." She said abruptly.

Elf and human soldiers marched from room to room, they dragged people from under beds and out from closets, they checked the attic and the cellar, they gathered elf slaves and humans alike, and brought them together into a single large room. Enri looked around, the wealth of the house was obvious not only by way of the luxurious objects found within, but also through the many slaves that had been found within and brought to the same place from around the house.

Lupusregina held her weapon over her shoulder smiling nicely from behind General Enri, and looked the picture of paradox, a lovely face, a pretty smile, and eyes that said, 'please give me a reason to hurt you'. The human children that had been found, clutched to the legs of their parents, the slaves took up the back of the opulent room. Unusually, the slaves within the house, while they wore manacles, they were also well clothed and well groomed and well fed, they did not have the filth and nakedness of the slaves in the field. Enri wasn't sure if she should feel less incensed or more over this distinction.

"Do you know who I am?" Enri asked.

"No." The humans looked around at one another, they were a family of seven. To aged grandparents, two parents, and three children who clung to the legs of their parents, shaking in fear as they picked up on the anxiety of the adults, there were none of the three could have been older than ten and the youngest of which was only around three to four years of age herself. It was a pitiable site to behold.

"I am General Enri Emmot-Barear of the Sorcerous Kingdom serving under the authority of his majesty, Ainz Ooal Gown. I am the one who captured the city of Ikari a few days ago, and I am the one who sent out the edict to all the Latifundiums in the area that all slaves were to be immediately freed. Do you know who that makes you?" She asked, leaning forward slightly with her hands on her hips and staring hard at them one by one.

"Ahhh…" The younger man began and trailed off.

"That makes you the ones who decided to defy the woman with an army outside your house and armed soldiers a few feet away. Do you think it was wise to be the ones who are in that position?" She asked.

The younger children started to cry and Enri's heart broke at their fear, remembering the feeling of it herself, she however, was not going to be as cruel as when the Slane Theocracy came to her home.

The father and mother clung to their children as if to protect them, it would have been more moving to her had she not seen the slaves in chains and nakedness and filth in the fields laboring to further enrich the already wealthy.

"Please…don't." The children's mother said in desperate plea.

"Don't what?" She asked them.

"Don't kill us…don't hurt the children…they're innocent." Their father said with somewhat more voice.

Enri raised an eyebrow. "So…even filth can love." She said and straightened up.

"Filth?!" The grandparents snapped out.

"Yes." Enri said, staring at them till they blinked and looked away.

"I saw the state of the elves outside, you kept them in muck and mire, misery and filth, naked like animals and many had terrible scars from abuse and violence. You had your chance at some form of amnesty for what you've done, perhaps not total, but some. But now you've thrown away that chance by defying my orders." Enri said, fairly daring someone to try violence.

"You are all under arrest. I am not empowered by the laws of war under my lord through the Draconic Accords to execute you, but you will be arrested and imprisoned for violating the accords and for violating military orders of the acting governorship of our military command." She said as if from a script.

The children clung tighter to their parents, and their parents to the children. The elves behind them had a mixed set of emotions from fearful…among the older who knew no other life, to elation among the younger and more recently ensnared.

"What of our children?!" Their mother asked with fear in her voice.

"Your children do not share your guilt and will not be punished, they will be fostered out into the Sorcerous Kingdom to be raised by volunteers who will be held accountable for the education, care, and general treatment that they receive. The Sorcerer King is offended by the mistreatment of children, so you can be assured that their lives will be decent ones. Assuming you are found innocent…" She paused, she looked at the chained slaves and then walked away from them and looked out the window to where many naked slaves in chains had begun to gather, then back to the four adults with an expression that said that was NOT going to happen, "they will be returned to you immediately. If you are found guilty, you will go for punishment for your crimes, after that, they 'may' be returned to you depending upon your ability to properly care for them or rear them to not do as you have done. This home you have here will be sold, as will all the land around it, and everything within it, and it will be used to compensate the slaves for the labor that they have performed under your lash. Do you have any other questions?" She asked.

"What might our punishment entail?" The grandmother of the group asked.

"That depends on just what you're guilty of." Enri said gravely. "It may be years of imprisonment, it may be hard labor, it may be death by hanging…" She looked at the various human adults of the family, "So…just how harsh were you, when you were masters?" There were some uncomfortable expressions turned her way, but none could hold her gaze and nobody answered her.

"Get them out of here, separate the children, but do not be cruel to them, then have several go around and begin to take name and witness statements from the slaves, inform them that they are free to live, but it is recommended that they stay so that we can question them further and provide for them on site. Tell them also that if they wish to go elsewhere, we have land for them far away from here." Enri gave the instructions to one of her soldiers, and both he and several others went to carry them out. The former elf slaves hugged one another, and several more soldiers approached and began to pull the children away from their mother and father and pull mother and father away from the children.

The grandparents protested urgently and the adults at last began to struggle, it was futile: the elders and the children were too weak, and the parents couldn't compete with the battle-hardened soldiers. Enri wanted to turn away, to not see what she was ordering so she could pretend it wasn't there. But the edict of the Sorcerer King's faith was clear, if you can bear to order, you can bear to see it done, never turn away from the consequences of your actions, for good or ill, necessary or not. So she watched, and her heart all but broke for the children, but this was the harvest evil had planted in the fields around this house. It did not take long, for all their wailing and protests, the parents and grandparents were bound firmly and escorted out, leaving Enri alone.

"Who is best fit to run this house?" Enri asked the elves who remained. They looked at each other, and then turned to the one in a very nice butler's uniform.

"You?" She asked politely.

He nodded, "Tese at your service general Enri, I have been here since those grandparents were children. I know the ins and outs of this place, I can make it work." He said.

"Very well, Tese…I leave this place in your command, for starters however, have the chains removed from every person in it, then, find them clothing. After that, work out what you need to sell in order to pay these slaves for their labor and ensure they receive it. I will have some of my soldiers stay behind to support you and serve as guards just in case any Theocracy scouts should come along and try to cause trouble, I don't expect it, but I don't take chances." Enri added.

"It will be done, and gladly…and also…thank you general, from the bottom of my heart." He said sincerely.

Enri bowed politely, then she held her hand up over her head and circled her finger three times, at her signal, her soldiers whirled around and walked to the doorway, Enri did the same and headed towards the broken entryway. As she was about to walk out she looked back at the elves who still had not moved. "Welcome back to the land of the living." She said with a gentle smile that chased away the hardness from her eyes, and as reality hit home, some of the elves could only sit in stunned silence as, out the window, their struggling masters were taken away. And forced into a cart, the master had gone quiet, but the mistress was still calling for her children, unsurprisingly the slaves felt marginal sympathy at the sight as the military forces of General Enri began to withdraw from the area.

She rode out from the manor with mixed feelings, she felt far too much like the villain separating children like that, but what can you do when the parents are being arrested? If only they'd just followed the orders sent out about freeing slaves…well they hadn't and now they were paying the price, it was a deep regret however, that the children had a part in that price, despite having done nothing wrong themselves.

She tried to shake off the thought, a lot of slaves were set free today, and that was cause for considerable satisfaction about a job well done. She shook the negative thoughts off, the children's names would be recorded as well as the estate from which they came, they would be fostered out, probably to a village family somewhere and at least they'd be taken care of. In her private thoughts Enri very much doubted that any of those four adults would see those children again until the youngest already had children of her own, if ever. She turned her mind away from the unpleasant thought. It was only when she'd finally done so that she realized she'd zoned out for the entire ride back to the city.

"Back with us -su?" Lupusregina asked with her trademark smile.

"Yes, sorry Lupus, it's just the kids…I felt like a real villain back there, I didn't like it. I guess it had me preoccupied."

"Well, look, you want some advice?" Lupusregina Beta asked politely.

"Uh…yes?" Enri replied uncertainly, prompting Lupusregina to stick a tongue out at her briefly before she laughed.

"Alright look…you're feeling guilty about the kids…but why should you? Maybe those parents did love their kids, but all they were going to do was make more masters out of them, and eventually turn them into the kind of monsters that draw the ire of Lord Ainz, they were getting their children killed, even if they didn't realize it, so you saved their lives. They just didn't know it, you should no more feel bad about that than if you'd removed them from the care of a serial killer. -su" Lupus said as she closed her eyes, smiled, and shrugged. "Or that is how I see it anyway."

"Thanks Lupus. I appreciate it. That actually does make me feel better." She said as they approached the city, it opened just as it was supposed to and the units, she had with her gradually broke off to perform their assigned tasks. Enri however, rode ahead with a handful of the remainder of her cadre until she reached the manor of the former iron governor. She went inside, found her office and took a seat as Lupusregina Beta went to lean against the wall behind her.

She'd be seeing the reports from the other units to inspect the Latifundiums soon enough, and she was not disappointed. A stack of reports was brought to her desk by an elf woman, who Enri thanked politely before she began reading through them. She sighed and called after the woman, asking for some tea, and after a quick acknowledgment she went back to reading. A few minutes later a cup of piping hot tea and a saucer was placed on the table for her, and she flashed a grateful smile to the girl, who smiled back in turn, bowed, and exited.

The tea made the reading more tolerable, some of the reports were very plain and straightforward, the estate had followed instructions, or it had not. Some had amusing commentary, such as the place being abandoned by the owners and the slaves having gotten into the wine cellar and getting plastered until there was nothing left. Others had owners negotiate deals with their former slaves, getting them to stay for pay, another hadn't even told the slaves of the edict, leaving them shocked because they'd been kept in such isolation that they didn't even know there was a war on. Enri rolled her eyes, could the owner have really been so ignorant as to think nobody would ever come by their estate?

When she was halfway through her cup, a knock came at the door to her office. "Hello?" She asked.

"The priests, General Enri." Her aide's voice said.

"Send them in." She replied and set her documents aside.

Three priests and three priestesses entered the office slowly, they were older all of them, dressed severely and wearing even more severe and disapproving expressions, it wasn't hard to know what she was dealing with now, and she knew exactly what to do.

"Please, sit." She said kindly.

The six approached her desk but did not sit. Lupus began to move from her position with her large and terrifying weapon. Enri quietly gestured for her to wait, so she went back to leaning where she'd been, again disinterested and probably bored.

Enri then, just stared at them, her eyes hard and her body stone and her expression blank. They did not seem inclined to move, but it was quickly evident, that she was having none of it from them. Eventually their discomfort with her silent stare forced them to begrudgingly sit.

"Better." She said sweetly as a warm smile graced her face. "Now, down to business, you all want to know if your temples will remain open." She asked.

Their expressions said that they did.

"The answer is that they will be," relief flooded their stern visages, "however that is conditional upon three things." She said and raised three fingers up in front of them all.

"And…those are?" An elderly male priest asked cautiously.

"First, you will not attempt to incite rebellion, per the Draconic Accords we will not destroy your city or your people, however if a rebellion begins the fighting will claim many lives, so if you want to continue to hold services, you will not attempt to start a fight that…trust me, you cannot win." She lowered one finger. "I trust that one comes as no surprise?" She asked sardonically.

It did not, they nodded slowly and continued to listen. "The next condition, you will not preach in support of slavery or genocide. The reasons for this should be obvious, you have seen my army, such preaching is sure to cause an incident to occur, and I want to avoid that." She said flatly, "Do you?" She asked, and there were some uncomfortable looks and then nods of silent assent as she lowered another finger.

"Lastly, you will not preach the doctrine of human superiority, at all, not even slightly, if any one of your temples breaks this rule, all of your temples will be shut down." She said bluntly. A cacophony of noise and complaints erupted, and that was when Lupusregina Beta acted, she popped off from the wall with a gentle push of her elbows, drew out her massive weapon, and swung it down on the desk between the two sides with such force that she split it in half with a powerful slamming sound. That stilled the servants of the old gods, and Enri almost lost her cold mask for a moment. The desk lay in two halves in front of the six priests, who looked down at the now angled halves on the floor and up at her with expressions that had changed to one of noticeable fear.

Enri spoke up, and she kept her eyes hard and her voice cold as ice. "I will be plain with you, I am not asking you, I am telling you, informing you, ordering you to withhold from those three things in order to keep your temples open and serving the public. If any one of those are broken, all of your temples will be closed and yourselves imprisoned for inciting rebellion. Test me if you want, but you cannot complain that you were not warned. Now get out of my office…I need a new desk before my replacement arrives." She said nonchalantly, and the priests and priestesses got up unhappily, and not a little fearfully, from where they sat and headed to the way out.

Enri looked over her shoulder at Lupusregina Beta. "Lupus…was it really necessary to destroy my desk?" She asked with a smirk.

"No, fun though. -su" she said with a smile as Enri rolled her eyes.

The following morning she called her forces together, ten thousand were set to remain behind her, and had commanders appointed to rule the city until relieved to come and join her, the remainder of her army was moving out, and now was her chance to speak to them all. "Today we begin the next phase of winning peace in our time, we are yet a long way from our final objective, yet with our parting ways with this city, as with our arrival in it, we take ourselves one step closer, not just towards another city, but a whole other world, a world where all will have space for themselves, and all will have a future, I am proud of all you've done, and proud of all you do, those who remain to secure our backs, and those who move out with me, well done, well done one and all!" She said to loud cheers, she took a deep breath and stepped back.

"You did alright." Lupusregina said with a grin, you're no Lord Ainz, but not bad. -su" She added with a wry grin.

"Uh huh, thanks Lupus." She said as the formation broke apart and formed up for the march. When they were finally on their way out the gate, she looked over her shoulder at the city she was leaving behind, this was farther than she'd ever been in her entire life, and now she was prepared to see more of it, and remake all she saw, it was an intoxicating feeling, as if she were breathing the air of a better world already. As the city faded behind her, she inhaled the clean air happily, and found that as far as tomorrow went, she could hardly bring herself to wait.

 **AN: Well that was fun. But of course a little Q &A time.**  
 **Q. You've started writing the Synod...when is that taking place?**  
 **A. Post war period.**

 **Q. What happened to Astraka?**

 **A. You'll find out in about 20 chapters.**

 **Q. How do you judge Ainz's actions?**

 **A. I think of him as a kind of bronze age near eastern monarch. Not entirely evil, not entirely good. Utterly ruthless in pursuit of his goals but not motivated by malice itself. Is he a good guy? Not really. Is he evil? Also no. The actions of someone who leads a nation are not always going to be good or saintly, even leaders we remember well, did or believed horrible things. George Washington owned slaves, Alexander the Great, who wanted to forge one people out of both east and west, a laudable goal, slaughtered entire populations and invaded his neighbors. FDR ordered Japanese American citizens imprisoned in internment camps because of their race, and so on. Ainz is no saint, far from it. However if he holds to his 'goal' of project Utopia, his 'sins' such as they are, needn't be for nothing, and his desire to not see the New World become his world, and the memory of his better friends, may help him grow up a bit, and that is how I've written him, a little older, a little wiser, a little more confident, and driven by a single aim.**

 **Also...feel free to join my discord server, invite code is on the author page. :)**


	73. Slowing the Wheel

**AN: Please review the author note at the end.**

 _…Prart…_

Neia and Olasird'arc departed Kasaga in 'relative' triumph, though she was troubled by the failure to capture Astraka. She'd searched for hours but found neither hide nor hair of the man from above, though a fair number of common soldiers were captured thanks to Olasird'arc's assistance from the air. Initially when she'd begun the pursuit, she'd drawn her bow on first sight of these enemies of her god fleeing for their lives. High above them, they were mere dots, less than ants, yet even at this distance from on high she knew that her arrow would be guided to pierce hearts and throats. She nocked her first arrow and breathed deep as she put power into the shot, pointing it at a man and deciding he would die. Then from behind her, CZ's touch fell on her shoulder. It wasn't anything much, just a single simple touch of her friend's hand folded over the space where armor joined from shoulder to the base of her neck. Neia looked back over her shoulder with questions in her eyes. CZ shook her head. Neia looked back down at the fleeing dot and pulled the string of her bow again as she checked her target. The hand squeezed again.

"No." CZ said and shook her head again as Neia looked back at her a second time. Though the wind howled around them in the sky, Neia heard her perfectly. She held the draw for a long moment…then relaxed her grip and put her arrow back in its quiver.

"Thank you, CZ." Neia said softly with a shake of her head. 'War. Swim too deeply into it and you drown yourself in the blood you shed.' Neia thought to herself sadly. These were broken men who had lost their will to fight, to strike them down would not be battle, but murder. Instead she oversaw another capture. Olasird'arc descended at her instruction and landed in front of the fleeing soldiers, between the dragon, drawn bow, and leveled spell gun, there was no will to fight, so another group of five surrendered to her. She quickly bound and secured them for her own soldiers to find, after searching them for any intelligence they may have had concealed on their person, and then took off again leaving them for their inevitable discovery. That was the routine for hours after the battle of Kasaga had ended, and it went on until the evening, after which she returned to the outside of the city.

The remnants of the siege were still fresh, but many of the bodies were already buried and the dead stripped of any useful armor or weapons. When they landed, Neia dismounted Olasird'arc and approached the front to meet his eyes again. "Thank you again, you've been very helpful, but also, thank you for fulfilling a dream of humanity." He looked at her curiously.

Neia smiled, "Every human ever born has wished at some point in their lives to fly like a bird or a dragon, myself included."

"You're…welcome." Olasird'arc said, trying out the words for the first time, it was strange to think of a human as some kind of peer, yet she ranked highly in the Sorcerer King's organization, and a look into her eyes told him why, and when she touched his nose as he lowered himself to look at her, he felt the chill of death caress him, it was a moment he had only felt once before, and that had not been a pleasant memory.

"I realize it must be strange, and rare, for a dragon to carry a human, so the very least I can do is express gratitude, the city might have fallen without you. Can you stay with me through the siege of Prart? With your help I have no doubt that we could win." Neia said to him enthusiastically.

Olasird'arc shook his head, "No, I'm being sent to the Abelion Hills invasion of the Slane Theocracy along with the rest of my family, they have a task of some sort for us. I can take you and some cargo back to Prart, but the city's defense will fall to you." He said.

Neia smiled at him, this smile was not nearly as friendly as the last one, "More's the pity for Remedios then. A dragon's maw would have been a quick and legendary death." She laughed a little and then added, "You put a lot of effort into this for us all, and you must be hungry, surely some horses have been taken that we can offer you to eat?" She asked.

Olasird'arc had indeed been hungry, he hadn't eaten in quite some time and that had been a great deal of flying and fighting. He'd 'snacked' on a few during the battle, but a meal that was not. "I won't say no to a good meal." He said.

"We'll see to it then, I have to go into the city and check on a few things, but we'll have some roasted meat brought out to you as soon as possible." She said, and he nodded politely in return before Neia and CZ departed.

Not a few had paused in their work when the dragon and his riders landed, but work must be done, and to their credit their stares did not last long before they resumed the business of field stripping the dead of vital supplies and tearing apart the siege equipment for useful materials.

Neia however, had her own task to see to, and she set about it with great vigor and enthusiasm. She sought out the priests of the old gods, Amran Takos, the one she'd read about. Finding him wasn't hard, he'd been holding services during the battle, and it was still going on, such was the distress the many followers of the old gods had felt over what was happening at their walls.

She came to the double doors with CZ beside her and they walked through together. The priest was at the far end of the temple and was the first to see the pair, he froze. Neia and CZ had become renowned enough to be recognized on sight and finding her walking into his temple was a shock. When the priest froze, the worshipers turned to look over their shoulders to see what had disturbed him so much that he'd stopped.

Neia chose not to allow the silence to become awkward and immediately spoke. "I am sorry to interrupt your service, I would have been content to wait, however since you have paused, I suppose I should tell you something." She said, the silence held as they waited to see what she would say.

"We won. King Astraka is defeated and his army has been completely routed, driven from the walls, and fleeing home." Neia said bluntly. "In no small part because I came here on dragon back to help out, turns out dragon breath is very effective at routing unworthy kings." She added.

The reactions from the city's citizens and the priest ranged from sad to horrified to fascinated, but Neia brushed all that aside to continue. "However, as you might guess, there are a great many dead and they must be properly buried and given their last rites, as the priest here is well respected for his piety, and I expect all those who oppose me are followers of the old gods, I wanted to request the immediate assistance of himself and some members of his flock to tend to the dead so that they may be properly put to ground."

"I am Amran Takos… and yes, I will do what you ask." The old man said solemnly. "So you would be Neia Baraja." He said softly.

"I am. And this is CZ Delta." Neia said, gesturing to the maid demon beside her.

"Thought you'd be taller." He said reflexively.

Neia rolled her eyes. "Everybody does." She said, "Nevertheless I am she. I realize I'm not welcome within this temple and I have no intention to further impose, were it not for the needs of the dead for their final service from the living, I would not trouble you."

Hostility and fear were in the air when her identity, and that of the maid demon next to her, was confirmed, but Neia was well used to that and brushed it off.

"Go to the front gate with any volunteers, the dragon outside will not harm you, I give you my word, he knows the battle is over." She said with some degree of tenderness in her voice.

Nobody moved. Finally, Amran spoke, "I'll go first to ensure the safety of the outside, then I'll return to you all." He said to the temple goers. They visibly relaxed.

"Will you escort me?" Amran asked politely, "Not that I don't believe you but…well I do not believe the wife of the woman who killed my son." He said frostily as he walked past them.

Neia followed, surprise registering at his words, as they got outside, Neia chose to address the odd statement.

"Wife of the one who killed your son? Forgive me priest, but I do not know what you're talking about." Neia said as CZ took up a position of security behind Amran.

"Your wife, Skana." He said with hostility and bitterness in his voice, "She killed my son in single combat."

"Oh, Skana is not my wife. She's my lover, yes, but…now that you mention it…" Neia trailed off and slapped her palm to her face. Softly she said, "Skana… what the hell?" She looked over at the priest whose expression had gone to one of curiosity.

"She asked that if she were killed, her tombstone be inscribed with the name 'Skana Baraja'." He clarified, "I just assumed…" he trailed off as Neia shook her head and laughed.

He looked at her with a stony expression on his face. Neia's laughter paused, "I'm not laughing at you, priest. My Skana has a rather… how do I put this?" She paused and thought her words over, "Well, she's not named 'Skana the Bold' for nothing, as she's more likely to act than most, obviously the warrior she faced was formidable and she wasn't quite sure she was going to win, so she chose to take my last name for herself before properly proposing to me. That woman is not exactly known for her sense of propriety."

"I… see." Amran said as they walked.

"For what it is worth, I don't doubt that she thought very well of your son, if she chose to use my name as she did, and I'm sure he died a clean death, doing what he thought was right." Neia said.

"Still dead though." He said bitterly.

There was nothing more to be said in response to that, but Neia took him on a brief detour on the way towards the gate, drawing a briefly suspicious look from him.

"Just talking to the quartermaster, I have a hungry dragon out there that needs to be fed you know." She reminded him.

"Oh." Was all he answered, the detour was brief and the quartermaster was quick to start arranging for a great deal of meat to be prepared. They reached the damaged gate and found many soldiers of Black Justice still tending the wounded and clearing out debris, the fighting had obviously been very fierce and few could be said to look anything but either relieved or exhausted, not a few were working in spite of wounds of some sort.

Neia led him out the gate and he looked around as her people worked, casualties had not been terrible, that much was clear. But nor had it been a bloodless victory, a priest of Black Justice stood watch over the dead of his own as one by one the bodies were brought over to him, each one he identified by name and then checked it against a list.

"What are they doing?" Amran asked, pointing to the priest handling the documents next to the dead.

"Checking to see what their final wishes were for the disposition of their remains." Neia answered.

"I don't understand." Amran said. "Don't you bury your dead?" He asked.

"Some." Neia said, "Others are consigned to the flames, some of our bravest martyrs have had that done for them, we honor them publicly and burn their bodies, letting their flame light the night and the smoke carry their spirits to the beyond. Others choose to be buried where the land is to be worked, so that they may make fields fertile for another year, perpetuating the cycle of life, being food for the crops that they lived off of when they were like us. Others however, they choose to become undead so that they may continue their service after passing away."

Amran looked at her with horror.

"We don't see the undead as you do." Neia said, "True a wild undead is a dangerous thing, but so is a wild beast, yet we don't rail against the evils of cattle or dogs. Just as you domesticate those, we domesticate the undead by creating them in a controlled fashion, in this way they can continue to work for the living for as long as they chose. For some it is for a fixed period, others choose perpetuity, and they deed their undead skeletons to whom they wish." She added.

Amran still looked uncomfortable as they approached the gate and four of her guards began to open it up for her. "What will you do, when you die?" Amran asked her.

Neia did not pause to answer. "I am offering my body to the Sorcerer King. He can do what he wants with my corpse when I pass."

"Your…Skana, she takes no issue with this?" He asked curiously.

Neia chuckled lightly, "I would not love her as I do, if she could not understand or accept my sense of duty to my god."

Perhaps Amran would have asked more, but his jaw could not close to form a word as he saw a real live dragon for the first time in his life. Olasird'arc was a very impressive looking dragon, so Neia did not fault the priest for his silence. She didn't slow her steps however, and he had to move quickly to catch up to her. As she approached, he lowered his head in front of her again.

"Hope I didn't keep you waiting, Olasird'arc," Neia said politely, "Business to tend to and all that. However, I spoke with the quartermaster and they're preparing a meal for you, we'll go after you've eaten."

"As you like, Pope Neia." He said deferentially, causing Amran to swallow hard as the dragon spoke in a subordinate tone.

Olasird'arc looked over at the priest, as if wondering why he was with Neia and CZ.

"Pay no mind to him." Neia said, gesturing to Amran, "He's a priest of the old gods, come to tend the dead of his faith, he came first to see that it was safe, now that he knows you're not going to turn on him or anyone else, he'll return and bring his people out to get to work." She said patiently.

"I see." Olasird'arc said. "She's right, so long as you do not attack, you are not going to be attacked in turn." The dragon said, and all Amran could do was nod. "A word of advice, priest of the old gods." He said with a tremor of his massive body, "Do not fight the turning wheel, their god is rising, he could slay me in an instant, you all live because he has chosen not to kill you. Be at his back or at his side, do not bar his way."

The voice of the dragon advising him to surrender entirely gave the priest a chill to his bone that had nothing to do with the cold breath that came from the giant beast, but he could say nothing in response, so he turned to Neia. "I am satisfied, I will go and bring my worshippers to work."

"Good." Neia said, "I will leave you to it then." She said.

Leave it to him she did, she kept company with Olasird'arc outside the city and chatted idly between he and CZ while she patiently observed the behavior of her own forces and those citizens who had come to assist in some way by tending to the dead or cleaning up the debris. She was under no illusions about their loyalties, Braunin and Amran were two leading figures of the old faith and because of both their character and force of personality, Kasaga had been one of the few cities in the north to not be have the Sorcerer King's new religion make deep inroads quickly. She disabused herself of the notion of outright hostility… but they were not her followers either, properly treated, it would yield to Queen Calca when the war was over.

Eventually, as promised, several carts of well cooked meat were brought out and slowly wheeled over to a very hungry dragon. Those drawing the carts were humans, she laughed when she saw them try to use horses, and the beasts locked up and would not move a foot closer to the dragon. So the humans unhooked it, drafted a few additional people, and pushed the carts over by hand.

"What is that wonderful smell?" Olasird'arc asked as they drew closer and the breeze carried the scent over to them.

Neia took a whiff of the air, "That would be the meat, Olasird'arc." Neia looked at him quizzically, "Have you never had it cooked before?"

Olasird'arc looked down at her with surprise, "Never. This is what cooking does?!" He exclaimed; he was salivating enough that Neia stepped aside by a solid foot to avoid droplets from his maw.

Neia laughed, "You think it smells good, wait till you taste it."

Olasird'arc did not have to wait long, a few strong backs made quick work of bringing the line of carts up to him.

"Thank you." Neia said politely, but the humans from the city who performed the task did not linger to accept her gratitude. Being in close proximity to a hungry dragon was not typically the way to ensure you died of old age.

The hungry beast curled his mouth over one cart after another and ate in large, satisfying bites.

"That was the finest thing I've eaten in my entire life." Olasird'arc said with shock. "Ordinary humans eat like this, while I, a king over dragons, was eating… what was I eating for my entire life?!" He shook his head in dismay.

"That was just ordinary fare," Neia elaborated, "They rushed it because I told them you were quite hungry, so it might lack for the customary seasoning, slow cooked meat can take many hours, involves meticulously crafted sauces and many spices that draw out every ounce of flavor, what you just had was the rushed food of a camp with limited supplies."

Olasird'arc looked at her in disbelief.

"Don't take my word for it, when you go to the Abelion Hills, ask for a slow cooked meal when time allows, you will not be disappointed." Neia said confidently. "For now though, they seem to have everything well in hand, I was going to have us take armor and swords from the defeated back with us… but Kasaga may end up needing it again, since we didn't capture Astraka, so now that you've eaten, we should be going."

Olasird'arc lowered his head and looked longingly at the now empty carts as Neia and CZ reclaimed their positions in the saddle. "No speech?" CZ asked.

"Not this time. Actions done today were worth ten thousand words." Neia answered, and the great wings of the frost dragon king turned mount of the warrior pope spread wide apart as if to engulf the world. He beat them up and down and gradually rose into the air, slowly gaining lift until the city appeared small below them, then he took off and headed back in the direction of Prart.

From so high up, Neia began to understand the arrogance of dragons, riding high in the air, all the world looked like tiny dots, great cities were like anthills and the bustling people were like insects, and dragons could look down on them from above as if they were gods. She shook her head, what a terrible mistake that would be if one were to look down at the Sorcerer King that way.

When they landed in Prart, they received a hero's welcome, cheers from the ramparts began to echo throughout the city before Olasird'arc could even land. It felt strange to the dragon for him to be 'cheered' but it was not an unwelcome thing, after all, who does not like praise? He struck a regal pose as he landed and lowered himself to allow Neia and CZ to easily dismount, again she went in front of him and placed her hand on his face, and that chill aura, cold enough that the frost dragon felt it, swept over him again, her voice was warm and her eyes seemed to be a kind of sleeping darkness that he did not wish to awaken. "Thank you again, I wish you could stay, this may be the toughest battle of the war, and a dragon would be a welcome addition."

"You're dragon enough." He said with a sincerity that surprised them both, and he lifted off the ground again and flew away without another word.

The gates could not open fast enough for her eager supporters satisfaction. Neia and CZ walked back towards the gate, and found Tinamoc waiting at the entrance on foot. When she approached, he opened his arms and embraced her, "Welcome back!" he said with a warm smile and sparkling eyes, looking every inch like a jolly uncle. She returned the friendly embrace before it broke and she grinned at him confidently.

"Good to be back." She said, though thanks to the deafening cheers she had barely heard the words he'd spoken even though she stood so close to him. Her return caused an impromptu holiday, and a number of her soldiers approached and formed an equally impromptu escort on either side of the trio as she walked back to the governor's manor and waved to the people as she walked.

"Rule suits you." CZ said, but Neia brushed it off wordlessly.

"There is a guest here to see you by the way, well, perhaps 'guest' is not the right word." Tinamoc said, correcting himself as they walked.

"Who is it?" Neia asked as they made their way deeper into the city.

"Queen Calca." He said, and Neia looked at him in surprise.

"The Queen is here?" She did not even try to disguise her shock. "Doesn't she know we're facing a siege?" She asked.

"That is why she's here, she wants to confront Remedios herself, apparently she had a meeting with the Sorcerer King and… well why don't you just let her tell it?" He said and ran his hand through his hair, it now had more gray in it than it used to, stress had aged him a bit, that much was clear.

The streets were lined with supporters, and to her great comfort, most of them were heavily armed, many had the deep tans of peasants, leading her to conclude that many villages had been abandoned in anticipation of Remedios Custodio's coming, which no doubt meant that they now had ample undead forces to help fight the battle ahead.

"Do we have any further information on how soon?" Neia asked when they began to mount the steps of the manor.

He didn't need her to clarify, there could be only one thing coming that would merit that question. "Remedios and the Slane Theocracy's combined armies will be here in perhaps a week, we thought they'd be arriving much sooner, but she's been taking the time to burn villages, hunt heretics, and quite frankly we suspect worse. More than that though, they've been subjected to constant attack by peasants and red paladins and others on our side working in the field to slow her down, they also paused for a day to dispatch several thousand of their own men back to the south, most likely to deal with Gustav Montagne, he's been making a wonderful mess of things down there for them according to the reports that came in just after you left."

That drew a sadistic smile to Neia's face that was like a chill wind over him, but as the door to the building opened, it was gone, and he tried to brush it off as his own nerves at work.

They walked in amicable silence down the hall to where Queen Calca was waiting for them, and he found that he was having a harder time than expected brushing off the chill he felt. "Something wrong?" Neia asked as she felt the tension in her friend and colleague.

Tinamoc didn't look at her for the space of several steps and then he stopped dead, she continued for only a step before she realized what he'd done, then she stopped as well.

"You're different." He said softly.

"I know." She replied as she crossed her arms in front of him. "You would be too, if you'd had to do as I have."

Tinamoc reached out and touched her arm gently, Neia looked at it, and then looked him in the eyes, he met her gaze, "Neia… I'm with you, I'm saying this because I care, you're driving yourself to do and be what nobody can, and you're neglecting your own soul along the way. Don't lose yourself to your beliefs, and don't lose yourself to old battles, you're my friend, my comrade. I just want you to be OK."

Neia's face had been hard when he touched her, but it softened a bit as he spoke, and her voice was as soft as his own when she said, "I don't think I'll ever really be OK. Some things… you just don't come back from." She gave him a bitter smile, "When I think about who I was, happy, naive, and altogether younger and more foolish, I wonder how I got here. You don't know how close I've come to going over the edge, like she did…" Neia said as words poured out of her in a torrent of pain, she didn't have to say who 'she' was, the dread paladin coming for them all was never far from their minds.

"I'm already lost and I know only one direction to go, forward." She said softly.

"What's at the end of that?" He asked, stepping closer to her, his proximity might have been uncomfortable, had there not been long association and shared hardship between the two, but there was, so she remained at ease.

"I don't know. I think, a better world. It gets my god the place he deserves, if I'm lucky… maybe I'll get a place with Skana and settle down, little dreams, but who can say, we might not live through this at all. You know, to prepare for my time with you I trained in Nazarick." She said, and he nodded slightly.

"I recall." He said.

"While I was there, I had some 'recreational reading' time and I picked up a book, in it there was a story about a man and a woman, they lived in a garden, naked, innocent, ignorant, cared for by a god. A snake came along and offered the woman a fruit that gave her knowledge of good and evil, she ate, gave some to her companion, and they had to leave the garden and go out to struggle in the world. Some of the other writings treated her, and him, as wrongdoers. But as I read that, what I was thinking of was growing up, growing older. I know, I'm young compared to you, but look at the things I'm having to face. In that story, I saw it as a lesson that you can never really go back to who you were. I've lost some things, I've changed, but I'm trying not to lose what I want to be along the way. I have a job to do, and I'm the only one who can do it right now, if there were someone else, I'm sure the Sorcerer King would have replaced me already after Wenmark." Her body trembled involuntarily at the mention of the dead city.

CZ reached out and took her hand silently, it was a simple gesture, but the little squeeze she gave, helped Neia regain her composure.

"I'm sorry." Tinamoc said, "I don't mean to bring up the unpleasant, I'm just worried about you. I know you hate Remedios, but sadism is just… it's not the Neia I know, respect, and care about. Don't lose yourself to your hatred." He said and smiled as warmly as he could.

"My hatred will die with her, and as long as I have you all to help me… I'll always be able to pull back from the edge." She said, then shook her head vigorously, "Come on, I have a Queen to meet." She said as her voice regained composure.

They resumed walking down the hall, and a few minutes later they arrived at the large office of the city governor. Neia grimaced at her memory of the place when she'd first arrived, the man who had occupied it was burned into her memory. Bringing him down had been gratifying, bringing Remedios down would be bliss.

The doors opened and Neia found Queen Calca standing there waiting for her. Neither Tinamoc nor CZ followed her in, "We'll leave you two to speak privately for now." Tinamoc said, sensing the Queen's wish, and he closed the doors and remained out in the hallway with the maid demon.

Neia didn't blink at that, she simply walked the rest of the way in and stopped a few feet in front of the Queen.

"Neia Baraja, it's good to see you again." Calca said kindly.

Neia did not bend her knee to the Queen, Calca knew better than to expect it, there was only one she would kneel to now.

"Your majesty," Neia replied, "I'm glad you're well, but we're in a bit of a situation here, or rather, we're about to be."

Queen Calca nodded, "I know, that is exactly why I'm here. I want to talk Remedios down if I can, she was always loyal to me and to my ideals, maybe she'll listen to me, maybe she'll realize she's gone too far, maybe I can stop this."

"Or she'll kill you because she's gone completely mad." Neia said with some regret in her voice, "Your majesty, she's become a killer, her sense of justice has had her perverted beyond all reason. One reason she's slowed down her march is because she 'somehow' got a copy of the schedules for the Red Paladins and Chained Priests and has started hunting them, from what I hear, she's literally burning people alive as heretics at night. Her right hand is a woman named Yuri who has developed a reputation for abetting her cruelty, and the paladins she still has with her are beyond fanatical."

Calca's face paled, she felt her knees grow weak, she stepped slowly to a chair and sat down, easing herself in by holding on to the arm rests. "How did I not see this coming? How could I have failed in so many ways in the guidance of my country?"

"Your majesty, you failed because a lot of people failed. I didn't see it coming either, I admired her once… Gustav Montagne risked everything for her, and nobody could have known just how the influence of the Theocracy had permeated the south. Everything may be clear in hindsight, but nobody could have known anything of what was to come at the time. In retrospect, the signs were there, we just didn't know how to read them."

"Well, it won't happen again." Queen Calca said fiercely. "When this is all over… I want you to be the first to know, I'm going to offer my country to the Sorcerer King. I'll remain a governor… if he'll have me after all this, and we'll be a province of his country. I've seen him in his nobility, the care he exerts over his people, taking steps for them I never even imagined, he deserves the throne he has." Calca said, carefully leaving off admitting what she'd been made a witness to between the Sorcerer King and Neia Baraja in what had been intended to be a private moment.

"A province… not a vassal state?" Neia asked with surprise.

"Yes. The greatest benefits to the people will come from that, and furthermore, I trust him to rule well." She said in a confident, but still small voice.

"Will you convert to our faith then, accept him as god?" Neia asked seriously, speaking with the evangelical power of her profession.

Calca nodded, "I have read his book, it merits acceptance. I will accept your religion as mine. Your god will be my god, my people will be his people, my nation, his nation."

Neia's facial expression was equal parts proud and approving. "You are a wiser Queen than you give yourself credit for, your majesty. I will be honored to set you on the throne again. Does the Sorcerer King know your intent from your own lips yet?" She asked.

The Queen shook her head, "He does not. I will inform him after victory is clear, I want to tell him at the same time I tell 'King' Astraka." She said, giving a somewhat vindictive smile to Neia as she said it.

"I can think of no better time." Neia said with a satisfied expression on her face.

"Enough of that for now, what are you going to do next?" She asked Neia with the uncertain voice of someone who has never commanded soldiers before.

"Would your majesty care to see?" Neia asked.

"I would." She said with a warm smile.

Neia went and opened the door and turned to one of the guards stationed outside, "Soldier, go to the barracks set aside for the Vines and the Blood Miners, and instruct them to gather on the field in front of the city in two hours, armed and ready to depart." He left quickly to follow her instructions, and she touched Tinamoc and CZ on their shoulders, "Thank you both for everything, I've got some things I have to do, but you've earned some time to yourselves."

Tinamoc's face suddenly looked very tired, and he gave her a weak smile, "Thank you, I'll take you up on that." He said and stood up, he shook her hand vigorously and walked away.

CZ, however, shook her head. "I guard you."

Neia was about to object, and then let out a heavy sigh, it would do no good. She snorted instead, "I can always count on you."

"Always." CZ said in a neutral voice that, with long exposure, Neia could detect the affection that lay beneath the surface.

Calca felt the iron resolve of the maid demon and followed quietly behind. Neia lead them all the way back to the city entrance, the impromptu holiday had become a festival of victory, on some level Neia felt like they should be preparing for the siege, but as she considered the matter, raising morale before a fight was also important, so she let it go and eventually she reached her destination, she mounted the stairs of the tower to the left of the gate and went upstairs. The sound of celebration echoed off the walls as she went up the circular stairway, but as she rose higher her own footfalls became more and more pronounced until she reached the top of the wall, she went to the center over the gate and waited. Elves and humans began to filter out underneath and formed ranks outside.

"Not that long ago," Neia said as Calca and CZ took up positions on either side of her, "all those you see," she pointed to the gathering ranks, "were Wenmark slaves, humans and recalcitrant elves were worked to death in the mines, the rest of the elves, male and female, were slaves in the city. Those on the left, the ones who are all elves, they were 'The Vines', an underground communication network of elves within the city who passed information, with some help, they formed a resistance core that I helped to escape the hell that was Wenmark… and I fucked up and got a lot of them killed. Still, they follow me, perhaps more because they want a chance at revenge than anything else." Neia said with a voice of pride that gradually became bitter and pain filled as she mentioned her failure.

"Those on the other side, who are both humans and elves alike, they're the Blood Miners, they were the hard labor force, one of my successful rescues, in no small part because Remedios is a moron who spent days in the dead city rather than chasing me. They were all in terrible shape, mentally and physically, but food and some treatment, and a chance to fight back, has left them sharpened to a razor's edge." Neia said with more enthusiasm as she explained it all to Queen Calca.

"Amazing." Calca said, not clarifying what exactly she was surprised by.

Gradually the ranks were filled out and formed up, and eventually Neia estimated that they had all gathered.

"Soldiers! Atten-TION!" She shouted, and as one their feet came together and their backs became ramrod straight.

"Prart stands on the verge of great danger, and many stand in its defense! You however, have a special task ahead of you!" Neia called out, putting power into her voice that reverberated to their souls.

"You will fight those who have enslaved you, those who have abused you, and those who would do so again if you give them the chance! Will you give them that chance?!" She asked loudly.

"Never!" A uniform chorus called back to her.

"I do not want you to fight pitched battles, I want you to fight like bandits! Raid them, slow them, erode them! Exhaust them! Make them hate every step forward, make them pay with their blood for every scuff mark on your boots! Fight in small bands, keep them from their dreams at night and make their days into waking nightmares! Know that every hour you delay them, gives us an hour more to make swords and arrows, an hour more to train others more for the fight we face, and an hour more for help to find us! Your goal is NOT to die gloriously for our cause! Your goal is to force them to die for THEIR cause!

Cheers rang out. "Neia! Neia! Neia! Neia!"

As she heard her name called out, an abiding shame at her having failed them before welled up, but she concealed it in her voice as she said, "Go, requisition five days supplies per sword, then move out in squads, and go turn the road red!"

Calca had watched as Neia spoke, and the aura of shadows and a heavy weight seemed to exude from the pope next to her. It was disconcerting, but she seemed to inspire those she commanded, and the formation several thousand broke apart into squad sized elements and sent representatives back into the city to draw what they needed from various quartermasters, while the rest waited outside.

Neia did not leave her position, nor even indicate that she might, she simply stood and watched.

"Are you going to stay here?" Calca asked curiously. "Aren't you done?" She asked further.

Neia didn't look her direction when she answered firmly, "I will stand and watch, many of those who leave today will not be coming back here, this might not be a suicide mission, but it is a death sentence for many. If I can give the order, I have to at least pay them the respect of staying to watch them go to their deaths. I owe them that much." Her voice was strained, as if holding up a heavy weight, and Calca went silent, no reply was needed, instead her response was in the form of action, she remained where she stood, standing beside Neia as men and elves came back outside drawing cartloads of equipment to hand out to their fellows, and squads parted ways with handshakes and well wishes. Not a few rendered an additional salute with hand over heart to Neia at the walls before turning their backs and walking away together.

 _…Road to Hoburns…_

The days and nights were bad ones for King Astraka, he ran, he hid, he stole horses to replace the one he'd ridden almost to the point of death, he managed to kill a few pursuers along the way, but it had been a narrow thing, their strange fighting style meant it was only the advantage of a lifetime of training, raw desperation, and the occasional ambush that saw him through the encounters. Finally, he made it back to the capital, and entered without fanfare. When he reached the palace, the guards who served him almost didn't even recognize his face, it was worn, bedraggled, dejected, and frankly not a small amount of fear was left on him.

They'd escorted him inside, had a bath drawn, had his council gathered, and within a few hours he was explaining what had gone wrong, it was then that he learned that though they were still drawing up casualty lists, somewhere around twenty percent of his army had survived and escaped, they'd been trickling back in, and were still coming. Other old god loyalists had been gathering since his departure, but most of the fighting was in the form of small group actions between peasant bands from different villages, or towns versus towns. His support, however, was clearly not as strong in the north as he had hoped for, mercenaries, however, were plentiful, though adventurers under the Sorcerer King who patrolled against threats to civilians made short work of those they encountered for the most part.

"We need to turn this around." King Astraka said angrily.

"And what does his majesty suggest?" one of his advisers asked.

"A victory, a big victory, one that breaks the spirit of resistance in the north." He said, "Or at least, one which does so much damage that they no longer feel invincible." He said and slammed his mailed fist down on the table.

"Majesty, stories about the dragon at Kasaga and the," he swallowed, "Dragon Riders, who took your army in the rear by surprise are everywhere, what do you propose to do to turn that around?" He asked.

"We had too few magic casters to deal with that threat, and we didn't know it existed at the time." He said, "However there is one place where that won't be the case, one victory that will wipe out the greatest threat to my rule and potentially undermine this new religion." He said with a growing smile.

"Majesty?" They said curiously.

"Where I should have gone in the first place." He said.

"When my soldiers are gathered again, I'm going to march on Prart and join with Remedios and the Slane Theocracy."

There were enthusiastic expressions around the table, that told him that they agreed that this was a very, very good idea.

 **AN: Well I trust you're happy to see Chapter 73 up, this particular chapter came out to 27 pages on Verdana at font size twelve at a spacing of 1.5. It took about 4 hours to write, and it isn't the only chapter I've done today, the other chapter for 'Synod' is currently being beta read and will be up today in all probability. So, here's the deal:  
1\. I have an increased work schedule for the summer thanks to high mobilization rates, that leaves me less time for writing, so expect the chapter release rate to slow down a little...but still be several times faster than average.**

 **2\. I am currently fixing defects in older chapters, hopefully I can finish 2-3 per week.**

 **3\. While I love writing this, my chief recreational activity impact wise is charitable efforts, ideally, I'd like to be able to combine these two efforts, so going forward, here's my effort at making that combination work. I set a very low goal of $15 per week donated to bdgiving dot org.**

 **Every time I hit that goal, I'll release a chapter that week, any 'overage' from that week will be applied to reaching the same goal the next week. Remember, I don't take anything from that, its just a hobby I'm passionate about, much like this one. If a goal isn't reached, well no big deal, I'll just delay a bit until it is. Nobody 'has' to contribute anything. However I'd much like to be able to make this work. If you can't afford it, you can donate blood (get yourself vampired) or food to a nondiscriminatory food shelter, and that will be counted as the equivalent of a $5 donation (or the estimated value of what you've donated, just submit a photo proving that you made it.**

 **Thanks for reading, please leave reviews, those are fuel, and see you next week. :) (Also, don't forget you can always join my discord server for early chapter access and other unique features like live chapter readings)**


	74. The Burning Times

_…Argland Council…_

"So they have prisoners for trial, do they?" The Obsidian Dragon Lord said as he finished reading the letter out loud.

"We can't be too surprised, you didn't really expect that all of them would be abiding by the Draconic Accords, did you?" The Platinum Dragon Lord asked.

"I don't think any of us did." The Diamond Dragon Lord said, prompting nods from the rest of the council.

"Well we are technically a neutral nation, so… I suppose we're the only viable option in the region." The Blue Sky Dragon Lord added.

"We'll accept the request then; I suppose we'll owe them one anyway. After all, as the royal family has reclaimed Re-Estize lands, they've been turning loose any of our imprisoned merchants and restoring their goods and wealth to them, with some 'compensation' for good measure. I suggest we agree to hold trial bound prisoners for the duration, and we also offer to fund the cost of their upkeep, a gesture of good will over the problems that have come about." The Obsidian Dragon Lord presented his suggestion, and it was met with a general round of approval.

"Relay the message then, and when the royal family finishes the reoccupation, offer to send an escort to the border they share with the Sorcerous Kingdom and spare them the expense as well, a gesture of good will to them as a renewed trading partner." The Blue Sky Dragon Lord made the additional proposal, and another round of nods saw its acceptance as well. With a little work, they were of one mind that they could position themselves very well diplomatically for the post war era they already saw ahead of themselves.

 _…Kami Miyako…_

Raymond grimaced. He hadn't left his house for weeks it seemed. He let out a tired sigh, he'd been sending his votes to the meetings, but the departure of Zesshi hurt. "No, worse than the departure… worse than her turning on us, what hurt was seeing how badly we hurt her first." He thought to himself and shook his head. The look she had given to him in the council when they had voted on elven slavery, elven violence, and elven personhood, would haunt him until his dying day. A bitter and corrosive bile had settled in his stomach that he didn't think would ever go away.

This was his first time out of his own room in some time. As he swung his legs over the side, a knock came at the door. "Enter." He said. "I'm still alive." He said somewhat sardonically, though he had always looked younger than his age, that had begun to change as a result of ever-increasing stress. The door opened, a young elf boy and half elf girl stood there and had concerned looks on their faces.

"Master, you've been in bed for too long, you mustn't push yourself." They said in unison. Despite being unrelated, the two looked very much alike, save for the few human features on the half elf girl, their personalities however, were all but identical and they spoke like twins. They came into his room and set the trays aside that they had been carrying and approached and offered out their arms to either side to help him up.

He shook the good will gesture off, but gave a kind smile to the pair. "I'm a former Black Scripture, I can still get out of bed on my own, you know." They lowered their arms and stepped back from him, folding their hands in front of themselves.

"As you wish, master." They said together.

"And what did I tell you about that?" He asked with exasperation in his deep, commanding voice.

"Not to call you that." They said in the high pitched voices of children.

"Then why do you insist on disobeying that instruction?" He asked as he stood and stretched out.

"When my parents are free." The elf boy said in the serious voice of a determined child.

"When my mother is." The half elf girl said in a soft, demure voice.

Raymond sighed, "Well, when I find them, I'll free them. I swear, you two are the most stubborn of all the rescues." He said as he approached a tray and took a bite out of a biscuit.

They smiled sweetly at him. "Eos, do you have any news for me this afternoon?"

The half elf girl grinned. "I do, master. A messenger came today from the council, there is to be a meeting on the new vote on the anti-cruelty statutes Berenice proposed."

Raymond nodded, "Good. Boreas, send my vote in support of Berenice along with a note expressing my favorable… recovery, and informing them all that I'll be attending the meeting tonight."

"At once, master." The elf boy grinned.

Their happiness in his house disgusted him. Not because he wanted them miserable, unhappy, or fearful, but because it represented something else, the horror of their previous condition. His butler had been sent out for the first round of 'elf acquisition' and he had been given but two instructions. First, to not skimp. Second, to buy those who were most pitiable.

The story he heard when the two were brought to his home told him all too well that the butler had followed his instructions precisely.

He thought back to their arrival, shortly after he'd taken to bed after Zesshi left… They'd been brought to his house, and all the way to his bedchamber, still dressed in old sacks and still chained from the auction.

They stood there, dirty, terrified, looking at what to them must have seemed a lecherous old man, and could not hide their shaking, the wealth of his house, despite being modest, seemed to them in their impoverished condition to be the wealth of a king.

"Welcome to my home." He said kindly, a tone of voice that was greeted with surprise and suspicion, the half elf girl stepped forward, slightly moving in front of the somewhat younger boy, as if to protect him from uncertainty.

They didn't say anything just then, so he continued.

Raymond snapped his fingers, and the butler held out the keys that came with their purchase, Raymond took one and held it up. "Step forward, and let me get you out of those." He said. Uncertain, the girl stepped forward first, and a moment later the chains fell to the ground. He got a better look at her then, her hair was the color of straw, and matted like it, her face was tan, like she'd spent a lot of time outside, and she was scrawny, very clearly underfed. When the chains landed, she grabbed one wrist and began to rub it with her other hand, the marks were red and raw, they hadn't fit her properly.

He took up the other key being offered to him and handed the last one back. The boy, now seeing it was safe, stepped forward and was unchained as well. That boy was young, hard to say with full blooded elves, but obviously young, and also equally obviously underfed. His ears had been mutilated to be half their former length at a rough estimate, and his face was equally tan, neither of the two had been clean in quite some time.

"Throw their chains and the keys away into the garbage, they won't be needing them anymore." He said, and they looked at him in surprise as the butler quietly obeyed, gathered up chains with an echoing 'clink' and carried them away, leaving the three alone.

"I am Raymond." He said, "What are your names?" He asked.

"Eos, master." She said and snapped her mouth shut.

"Boreas, master." The boy said and shut his mouth just as quickly.

After speaking their names, they sank to their knees. Obviously, they'd been taught their 'station' at some point.

"No need for that." He said with a gentle voice of correction, "I didn't buy you to own you, I bought you to free you." He said softly, only to be met with disbelieving expressions from both of them. "I don't blame you for doubting me. But it is true." He shook his head, "I'm… making up for something, something I did that was very wrong, to someone very dear to me. By helping you, and as many other elves as I can, I can 'begin' to make it up to her."

The deeply wounded, agonized expression on his face gave him some credibility in their eyes. "So, we can go?" Boreas asked.

"Not safely." He said. "I have nowhere I can send you, and you'll never make it to the Elf Kingdom as it is."

"Then we're not free." Eos said.

Raymond lowered his head in shame. "If I had some way to get you out of here, I'd do that. For now, let it be enough that I'll be giving you 'advice' to stay here where it is safe, I will feed you, house you, you may eat your fill, bathe, and I will not give you orders that any free person would not have to follow."

"So, we don't have to work?" Boreas asked in surprise.

"No. You can lay about all day and do nothing if that is what you want, and I won't turn you out. For now, tell one of the maids to draw you a bath and give you suitable clothing, have them show you around the house, and make a space for yourselves to sleep, not too much mind you, I'll need room for the others." He said.

"Others?" Eos asked.

"Yes, I intend to save as many elves and half elves as possible, you two were the first, but I will save as many of your people as I can." He said. No disbelieving expressions met him this time, he was too obviously sincere.

For the next two weeks after that, they did nothing, just as he suggested, but as more and more slaves were brought in and fed, clothed, and sheltered, and Raymond's obvious earnestness about saving elf lives became undeniable.

The pair then insisted that they be allowed to assist in some small way around the manor, taking on small jobs such as bringing him tea and small meals as he sat morosely in his room. Gradually they opened up as questions went back and forth, allowing him to learn something of their histories.

Boreas had been taken from among a group of refugees fleeing Theocracy scriptures and his mother sold on the march back, while Eos had been born in Kami Miyako, her mother had been a captive soldier sold to a Theocracy officer. The officer had used her as a domestic servant and also for his personal recreation. Eos was the eventual result. Within a few years of that, her mother had been sold for trying to escape, while Eos remained as a servant to the man who was also her father, until she too was sold to the same lot as Boreas, where they met and became close friends.

Never had Raymond hated his own country so much as in the moment those stories had concluded.

Now here they were, weeks later, the house was bustling, Berenice and Ginedine had joined his efforts little by little, while Yvon, Maximillian, and Dominic had begun stirring the population into a frenzy of elf hatred to distract the population from the difficulties in the war effort, temples around the unoccupied country were zealously snatching up volunteers for fresh reinforcements and new armies to field, the magic schools had been stripped of every student capable of using effective magic, even if their studies were incomplete, only a skeleton crew of teachers remained to prepare new students who also had no hope of completing their studies before being drawn into the war machine.

That night Raymond dressed, assisted by two adult male elves who, like the young pair that were his first liberated charges, insisted on doing some work around the house. He left with a wave and ample well wishes at his back, and when he arrived at the first meeting around the table the mood seemed dark and combative. No warm welcome greeted him, the air was frosty as he sat, but all that changed in an instant when a messenger arrived from the Draconic Kingdom.

He was admitted quickly enough, and Dominic bade him speak. He took out his missive and began to read formally.

"Queen Draudillon, in her capacity as ruler of the Draconic Kingdom, issues a declaration of war, effective immediately upon the receipt of this message. Your soldiers have disrupted our trade, your allies have captured and tortured a citizen of our very nation, you have used our people's lives as a shield for your own, and you have turned your swords against our nation's savior. For these and other crimes, we bring you war, and in that spirit, we will fight it to its conclusion."

"Have you gone MAD?!" Dominic shot to his feet, pointed at the messenger, and shouted in absolute outrage.

"No, my lord. I am simply relaying the words of my Queen, what answer will you have for her?" He asked, maintaining his sense of calm decorum.

Dominic's answer was what you would expect of an angry scripture member, he took out the weapon he always carried with him, leaped over the table, and ran the man through, his sword piercing the letter clean through the center, then passing through his chest and out the other. The messenger was a young man, no more advanced in age than his early twenties, and the thrust had been so flawless that he hadn't even lost his grip on the letter, he simply looked down at the sword that was now inside his body, with wide eyes that obviously were not grasping just what had happened to him. As pain began to break like the dawning of a morning sun, bright and clear as the day, understanding swept his face. Just as that comprehension began, shouts arose from the other cardinals over Dominic's reaction to the declaration of war. As if their shouts were powerful enough to topple him, the young smartly dressed royal messenger began to lose his ability to stand and he coughed up blood. Some of it spattered on the letter, some on the floor, most of it dripped out of his mouth as he sank to his knees. Dominic lowered the sword with him, allowing the weight of the messenger's body to carry it down, then slide off the edge of the blade and fall backwards onto the floor.

"That is our answer." He said to the dying man, "We'll send your head back, that ought to ensure she gets the point."

If the messenger heard or understood those words, who knew? But Dominic was certain that the rest of the world surely would.

"Dominic, you mad idiot! What have you done?!" Raymond shouted at him.

"Done what you lacked the will to do, defended humanity from those who betray it!" He snarled out.

Berenice and Ginedine were not far beyond Raymond in their own criticisms, "You've turned on an official messenger! A human being who was just delivering the words of his government to us!" Ginedine snapped out.

"Nobody executes a messenger! That is such a long-standing tradition that we don't even need a rule about it!" Berenice added emphatically.

"Exactly, there is no rule. He asked for us to give an answer for his Queen, and now she'll have one." Maximillion said with cold anger in his voice.

Raymond went to the door of the council and called for the guards, two of them arrived in short order. "Place Cardinal Dominic under arrest. He's just killed a messenger of the Draconic Kingdom."

They looked at him in shock.

"A messenger who was sending a declaration of war to us, she is a hostile power, and they are coming to kill you all, I killed him first." Dominic said, and the guards froze, unsure of what to do, shouting took place at the table as the messenger's blood spread out and soaked the stone floor. The guards looked terribly uncertain. "Are you going to obey an elf sympathizer who wants the brothels emptied and the slaves freed and even the faith of our divine gods altered for his whims?!" Dominic asked, his voice afire with zeal as he looked at the pair, and their frozen state melted, and they backed out the door, their disobedience to Raymond an act of obedience to Dominic, and Yvon, seeing this shift, took advantage of the moment.

"Agreed, and frankly I've had enough of the utter impasse and indecisiveness that has resulted from this council in the last few weeks, it hurt the war effort, and I intend to fix that problem right now!" Yvon said, as if the murder Dominic was obviously getting away with was all it took to drive him to take the initiative. "I'm going to call for a special referendum among the temples to grant emergency powers to Cardinal Dominic for the duration of the war."

Raymond, Ginedine, and Berenice went quiet and pale, all at the same moment.

 _…South of Prart…_

The Vines and the Blood Miners did not boast the best equipment, nor did they boast of their elite status. What they did boast of was the greatest possible degree of hatred that anyone could ever have for the forces they were facing, a hatred so great that they were willing to die just to ensure those they were fighting would stub their toes.

After their departure in squad elements they rushed to meet the advancing forces of Remedios Custodio and her Theocracy allies, the march had already been slowed considerably by local small groups of resistance in the north, but this escalated tenfold with the mass arrival of the two organizations.

Some squads became outright suicidal, making reckless charges against lines just to force them to stop. Other squads sniped with arrows to slow units down, or targeted horses to make people pull wagons, some dug pits or dragged trees into the road. During one afternoon so many trees had been laid in the way that the entire army had to stop forty-two times to clear the way.

Vali was one of the Blood Miners who had chosen to be more effective than suicidal. He had been a miner for seven years by the time he was set free, and since his first act of revenge involved a pickaxe, he decided to stick with what worked. As soon as he'd arrived in Prart he commissioned one for himself that would serve as a weapon, at first glance it looked like a broken double headed ax, but at closer inspection, one end had a sharp spike, the other ended in a club like ball of iron that acted like a crushing mace, and at half the length of a regular pick, he wrapped it in steel and created a custom grip to protect his hand, and now he had a very unusual and very effective weapon.

The first encounter was against a group of southern foragers, they were careless, city dwellers at a guess, not familiar with the country, not familiar with the woods, but even with over seven years away from the forest, the deep woods called to the blood of the bulky elf warrior, and he moved as stealthily as an unobstructed breeze, had his squad surround them, then he popped out from hiding and swung his custom pick into the head of an unwary man, sending blood and brain matter into the trees. He didn't pause to watch him fall, but immediately swung it in the opposite direction, embedding the spike into the wide shocked eye of another man and sending him down twitching in his death throes. The rest of the dead men's comrades responded, only for Vali's comrades in hiding to spring out and take down the rest in short order. He then dragged them off and secured the bodies in a cart, rode it several miles away, and hanged the corpses upside down from tree limbs beside the road where the marching forces of Remedios and the Theocracy would see them. These ugly deaths were put on full display, and began to unsettle the constantly frustrated advancing armies.

 _…Remedios's position…_

After the fourth time finding the 'Southern Fruit Trees' as the corpse displays came to be known, Remedios was furious beyond all reason. "Yuri!" She said sharply.

"Yes, Commander?" She asked cautiously.

"You know how these insurgent forces are trying to scare us?" She asked, her eyes were deep set, dark, and a whirlwind of fury as she spoke.

"Yes." She said, "They're doing a good job of it too. Between the disappearances and the constant suicidal raids by humans, elves, and even the occasional undead, people are spooked."

"I think it's time we show them what terror really is." She said.

"Ma'am?" Yuri asked curiously, doing her best to hold back her sadistic lusts.

"Tonight, I want a burning, we've occasionally captured a wounded insurgent, right?" She asked.

"Yes, though they know nothing, even after the harshest questioning." She answered.

"They know how to scream though." Remedios replied. "Set high stakes, douse them with alcohol, and set them on fire, I want these stakes high enough that they can be seen from anywhere, let those out there watching us, know what awaits them. Burn the evil out of this country, if they want terror, we'll give them terror." Remedios said, "That ought to perk up spirits among our own as well."

Yuri could barely hold back her bliss at the order. "Yes… yes… oh yes, Commander." She said with hard and joyful eyes.

That evening they took three prisoners, stripped them of what little they still wore, and dragged them, bloody and limping, to stakes that were twenty feet long. The prisoners were confused and fearful as they were marched along lines of shouting, angry soldiers of both armies, whatever was wanted of them, wasn't good, and they were all quite sure they weren't going to be released. Grimly they assumed their own immediate execution and mentally prepared themselves for ax or sword to end their lives. So it was with even greater confusion that they froze when they saw the three long stakes laying on the ground. Hands of a dozen or more surrounded and grabbed them, twisting their arms around and binding them together, then securing them to stakes with a hammer and chains to hold them by the wrists. Confusion didn't lessen when alcohol was poured over them. It wasn't until the three men saw the torches being brought over that they really understood just what was about to happen, and they began to flail and scream.

"You fucking bitches! You vile scum! You evil incarnate! Neia is going to kill you! You're walking to your deaths, and I will smile at your agony from the afterlife!" They shouted and shrieked various threats and insults as the stakes were elevated vertically so that they hung there by the wrists, in agony from their own body weight pulling them down.

"Well, light the way!" Remedios said with a cackle of half mad laughter, and Yuri tossed first one torch, then another, then another, up to the elves they'd captured. The threats faded, the screams didn't.

"Now we march at night, they'll light the way." Remedios said with a savage cruel smile that was illuminated by the elven torches. The screams went on and on, as the army marched, each time one of the bodies burned enough to fall away, a new prisoner was brought forth to replace the fallen, making the torchlight march to Prart one of the most horrific in the course of the war.

 _…East of Hoburns…_

Skana was a busy woman. It didn't take long to learn that King Astraka had made it to Hoburns, and that was something she found very interesting. The forest beyond the capital was not as large as some places in the Roble Holy Kingdom, but it was nothing to sneeze at either, many nobles maintained hunting preserves there, and as a result there was ample room to hide her small band and send them out on raids. The few minor excursions that had come into the forest, did not leave in one piece, or did not leave at all, but it was equally evident to officials within the city that her organization was very small, and so not a threat, thus delaying action against her. Given time it would come, but Skana wanted to ensure it was way too late by the time it happened.

That was why she now found herself in a village full of sympathizers to her cause which had been just recently liberated, and convincing them all to abandon their newly liberated homes and joining her in the forest. "We've freed you now, but they'll come back, and when they come back, it won't be just to restore order, best case scenario they'll burn down your village out of sheer spite for making them take the effort, then they press you into their army or imprison you as suspected sympathizers for Queen Calca. Worst case scenario, they kill you on the spot and burn down what is left of your village afterwards."

The last village she'd gone to, this hadn't been taken seriously, but when she returned to the spot two days later, the village was obliterated and the handful of survivors she now had with her, testified that her liberation had become the equivalent of a death sentence to any village.

The village headman sighed heavily, "I share your faith in the Sorcerer King, but… I'm an old man, I'm not fit for fighting anymore."

"Are you able to look after children?" Skana asked. "Are you able to die?" She probed further.

"I did the first thing for a lotta years." He said stroking his wizened beard as he leaned on his cane, "But the second thing, well mah daddy always said I was too damn dense to do a proper job of it, but I reckon I'll get mighty good at it one day." His eyes twinkled with laughter despite his worry, leaving Skana to laugh openly at the black humor of the man.

"Old man, I think you've been hiding a silver tongue in that head of yours. Back when that bald head had hair on it, I'll bet you were quite the charmer." Skana said and clapped him on the shoulder.

"You betcha." He said with a wink as he wobbled without complaining at the force of her slap of good humor to his body.

"Why do you ask a question like that anyway?" He asked.

"If you'll give your consent, while you live, you can help tend the children of the young who come with you, then when you die, we'll raise you as a skeleton… we have some wands left for that, and your corpse can fight one more time for your people. Every man and woman, living and dead, can make a difference in ensuring that the war ends, and the future is made the brighter for it. Now, will you and all your people come with us?" She asked, and as she spoke, she looked around, the village was nothing much, less than a hundred huts and less than three hundred people, but she understood, to them it was not just home, it was the whole damn world, everything they knew and worked for, the bodies of their loved ones were buried a stone's throw from where Skana and the headman now stood at the center of the place. He looked shaken at the very notion of leaving, the younger might, but that would just condemn the older to die alone.

One of Skana's escorts stepped forward. "D'you remember me, sir?" The young woman asked softly. "Do I look familiar to you?" She asked.

He looked at the woman long and hard, she had shoulder length straight red hair and green eyes, she had a few scars showing in places that her Black Justice armor didn't cover, and his eyes didn't work like they used to, but after a minute of concentration, the headman answered. "Mela? You're Mela's daughter, aren'cha?" He asked, curiously.

She smiled, "Yes, Mela was my mother, and I took her name. She married a Drorin from the village only thirty miles from here."

The headman grinned broadly, "Aye, they met at the festival almost twenty-two years ago, heh. I accidentally tripped over'em when I got drunk and they were busy doin naughty stuff under a pile of hay thinkin they were oh so clever about where they snuck off to." He laughed and added salaciously, "To this day I think I kicked him in the bum just as he was trying to pull out, guess you're the result."

Mela blushed furiously and Skana did her damnedest not to snort in the difficult situation in which she found herself, but Mela pushed on.

"Well, she's dead now and so is my dad. That entire village was burned down after Skana liberated it, we thought, initially, worst case scenario, they'd try to recapture the place, but a few days after, we spotted fire and went to check it out, we got there just in time to see a small squad of Astrakan loyalists killing survivors. We finished them off of course, but they've changed the rules, things are getting worse, a lot worse, I'd have been among the dead too if I hadn't left to join the fight for Queen Calca earlier. If they'll do that to my home, they'll do it to yours, and there is no getting around the fact that the soldiers they stationed here are dead, they will come for you even if you don't resist." Mela said with emphatic seriousness, and the headman went very quiet.

"So, there is no choice." His head sagged, "I'll inform the village, we need to pack up everything we can, and if I die in those woods, I want two promises from you." He said to Skana.

"Name them." "First, you can use my body after death to make a skeletal warrior or whatever it is you want to fight the ones who killed Mela. But when you do, I want my bones marked so they can be identified if I'm smashed, bring whatever you can back here and bury them at my home, and second, if I'm not smashed, if my undead form survives, send it back to this village to look after it forever."

"Agreed." Skana said and stuck out her hand, and the headman took it and they shook firmly. With that, the band with her began to move around the village to gather what supplies they could. Moving this many people who weren't used to moving more than a hundred yards from their birthplace more than a handful of times in their entire lives wasn't going to be easy, especially with the elderly and the infants and so on in tow, but it could be done, it would be done, and Skana silently vowed that atrocity would not visit these people.

 **AN: I know, it has been a week. Business of living and all that. Might have been even more delayed, but a reader made getting a chapter their birthday wish, and how can I say no to that? Anyway, lots more to go, about 49 chapters, give or take. I can guarantee another chapter by Friday if EITHER:**  
 **A. The donation goal of $15 to bdgiving dot org is reached by then (Note that this is a charity organization, I don't take a penny)**

 **OR...**

 **B. If I add one person to my P atreon dot com slash GodRising (This goes to pay for the cost of stuff to turn this story into a good quality audio version of itself. I ALSO don't make any money off this, any overage will ALSO be donated to charity)**


	75. The Forlorn Fortress

**AN: Thank you to the four patrons who have supported me on P atreon dot com slash godrising. Your support will make it possible to turn this entire story into an audio book (to be freely distributed, I don't care about money, I just want to make awesome stuff). Thanks also to those of you who are boosting our discord server (invite is on the author page. If you're not in it, you should be. :) Please leave reviews with your thoughts. Alright, on with the show!**

 _…Draconic Kingdom Palace…_

"My Queen, you CANNOT go." Vermillion said with an almost desperate emphasis in his voice.

She held up her cup of wine as if to toast, then straightened her arm out forward and extended it out to one side, and rotated her wrist, the wine poured out of the cup like blood, and the splash echoed in the silent hall of the Queen.

"I am. I have to," she said. "After everything, I have to."

The messenger stood by, still holding the severed head of his counterpart who had been dispatched to the Slane Theocracy. In the past, such a distressing sight would have been cause to drink, but now? Her eyes were clear and focused in a way Vermillion had not seen in a long time.

"My Queen, what will you do? We don't have a large enough army to fight the Slane Theocracy on even terms, and our soldiers are dedicated, but they are not ready to face off against forces like that. If they catch you, you will die." He said, holding out his hands, pleading to her from a bended knee.

"Then so be it." She said. "I have spent years fighting a hopeless fight and failing. Jircniv went to war, the Sorcerer King has gone to war, half the Slane Theocracy's leaders seem to be made up of former scripture members, will we have it said for generations that the Queen of the Draconic Kingdom never left the safety of her hall? I must establish myself by actions." She said, and dropped the cup, letting it clatter and roll away on the floor.

"Majesty, you are not a general, you are not a warrior, please listen to reason!" He pled, but she wasn't looking at him, but at the severed head of the man who had followed her commands and died for it.

"The reason is my duty, I swore I'd be the kind of Queen that this kingdom deserves, that I'd start making things right with our people for my failures in the past with the nobles, that I'd make amends for what happened with Vanysa and all the other people who died because of my ineptitude. Making amends began with the purges, but that was only the beginning. This is the next step. I heard the Sorcerer King once declared that he wanted to be known for the peace of his rule, I respect that. However, so many have been the mistakes I have made, that I must be known for the duty of mine. So I will not send our young men and women out to danger I'm not willing to face." Queen Draudillon's voice had been fierce, even angry.

Now though, it became softer, "I will go out and set an example to follow. It's the only option left, meaning it is not an option." She said, giving Vermillion a gentle smile. "You've followed me for many years now Vermillion, now it's time I was someone worth following."

"Fine then, at least let me come with you." He said in a matching tone.

"No, not this time, I need you to rule here in my stead, I trust you like I do no other living man, keep my throne warm for me, keep my kingdom prospering, and I promise I will come back.

He let out a heavy sigh. "You'd better. I'll never forgive you if I have to bury you."

"Oh, one more thing, Vermillion." She said.

"Your Majesty?" He asked.

"When I ride out, give every servant in the palace one bottle of wine from my storehouse, as well as any remaining nobles, then any bottles that remain, have them taken out and poured for the people of this city, let them drink to our victory. I don't need the stuff anymore." She said confidently.

"A-as Your Majesty commands." He said in shock.

Servants then came and brought to her the finest armor the nation could offer. Enchanted and ornate, it was adamantite scale mail from shoulders down to toes, and heavily enchanted, colored black and purple, had such a perfect shine to it that it reflected the light, turning her into a beacon that nobody could miss It was an awe inspiring sight, one Vermillion had never imagined that he would see in his lifetime. She stood from her throne and stepped down slowly, where she allowed the servants to begin to put it on her body. She had a determined gaze on her face that he did not know she could express and every clink of armor connecting, every slipping sound of leather straps being pulled tight, echoed in the silent hall. She was always a fairly pretty woman in her adult form, even beautiful, but never had she been an inspiring sight, not until now.

"Majesty, what of the deceased?" A nobleman asked.

"He's coming with us, we'll march with his head at the front of our column, know that even death will not stop the Draconic Kingdom from taking its place in the battle line. He will look on Kami Miyako again, this time to see it fall." She said with steel in her voice, grim nods met her words, and around the hall, something different happened. A guard raised his halberd and slammed the butt of it down on the stone, creating an echo that rang from wall to wall. He did it again, then again. It was taken up by the rest, in ones and twos, their arms gave testament to their approval. Not a single word rang out, none were needed.

Hours later, she was on horseback at the front of her finest honor guard, behind her there were already people cheering and drinking, her words in the hall spread like wildfire among the population, and the wine flowed freely. Along the streets that had been cleared for her, the golden rays of the sun began to fade, and she thought for a moment she would be riding the rest of the way out of her city in shadow. Then, as the light gave way to darkness, as if inspired by some common thought, silence fell, a new spirit overtook the population, and those who lined the streets held up candles, torches, lamplights, whatever they could, and somewhere along the line, someone lit a flame, and that flame was passed from one to another, neighbor to neighbor, it quickly caught up to the column of the queen, and with every step forward of her horse, each neighbor in the crowd silently shared his light with a brother or sister, stranger or lover who stood next to them, casting light before her path so that she did not step one foot in darkness. She rode in silence, maintaining a regal bearing, back ramrod straight and legs tightly clenching her mount, her mailed fists shook with the force of emotion as she was, for the first real time in her reign, her people chose to honor her, casting aside the darkness for their lady.

Behind her, mounted knights and marching men at arms were equally moved, their heavy armored footfalls were the only sound to be heard, other than the occasional cry of a young child. This persisted until the great column came to the gates of the city and the Queen drew her sword and held it aloft, the standard bearer of her nation lifted their flag in turn, and on the other side, the pole to which the messenger's head had been affixed was raised as well, the portcullis went up with a terrible slow creaking, and when it did, a shout echoed from somewhere among the crowd, a shout that was taken up so thunderously that she thought she would go deaf.

"Draudillon! Draudillon! Draudillon!" They called out in answer to the salute of the column's head, and out they went, to whatever fate would have in store for them. In the palace, Vermillion stood outside and watched it all unfold and when the shout echoed, he added the force of his voice to the mass, leaning so far over the rail that he thought he might topple over for a moment.

Marching to the border was easy after that, and already there were soldiers waiting for her there, with what was nothing more than a bowshot from their former ally, their ranks aligned, and they formed up to march behind the Queen and her general staff.

She conversed with her command, then turned her horse around to face them. She took a deep breath as she felt their eyes fall on her, in a dark moment all her many failures in the past haunted her mind, but rather than bring her down, they lit the fire in her eyes and she chose to use that as fuel, she spoke to them all. "Great wrongs have been done to our nation! Today we go forward to right them! We do not go for land! We do not go for gold! We do not go even for the sake of power or for the sake of our own allies! Instead we go forth to show one thing!" She said and held one finger high above her head. "We go now to show that we cannot be abused without consequence! We cannot be used and cast aside! We go to show that we are a nation that looks after its own! We go to show that EVERY member of this country is worth fighting for! We did not 'ask' for this fight! But by torturing even one of us, killing even one of us, they show that they see us as prey, no different than the beastmen before them! But we are not prey! And we will never be beaten again! Will you follow me?! Who will teach the Slane Theocracy this harsh lesson?! Step forward!

In one body, the entire army took one step forward, and beneath the force of their common step, the ground shook.

Swords were drawn and slammed against shields, spear butts slammed into the ground, the noise of a very enthusiastic army seemed so loud that it might well have reached Kami Miyako itself. Queen Draudillon nodded in approval, and whirled around, "Forward! March!" She said, and stepped forward towards the Slane Theocracy, moving to cross a border that no army of her nation had ever crossed before.

Within hours they reached their first objective. The Forlorn Fortress. "Impressive, isn't it?" Queen Draudillon asked General Musan.

He didn't look her way; he just stroked his white beard with his armored hand and nodded. "Yes, not impregnable, but why do they call it the Forlorn Fortress?" He asked in his rough and gravel like voice.

"It's where they send the condemned." She said simply. "Criminals can serve out sentences as guards there, the place is meant to bear the brunt of a beastman assault in case our country ever fell, they used us for years as meat shields, but weren't satisfied with that, they sent their least valuable people there to serve the same purpose. The fortress is under a single death sentence, any surrender is punished by death, any retreat is punished by death, there is no option for the men and women who work there, except to stand and die. So… it is the Forlorn Fortress."

That drew a few concerned looks. "So, they'll make a fight of it then." General Musan said, the decades of experience were already having him perform calculations in his head.

"They have some fifteen thousand fighters there, that is half the size of our entire army right now." General Oma said, rapping her fingers on her leg as she thought the matter over. Her olive complexion spoke over her ancestral connection to the south of the Draconic kingdom, but the very tiny point to her ears hinted at elven ancestry generations before, creating a curiosity of a person to look at. Her eyes were hazel and sharp as an eagle, staring out over the bridge of a narrow nose, and auburn hair hung halfway down her back.

"Not for long." Queen Draudillon said.

"Majesty?" General Musan asked.

"We're going to have reinforcements in the thousands. I sent word to another commander who was marching south to come and help us." She said.

"General Enri?" General Oma asked in her silk smooth voice.

"Too far away." Queen Draudillon said with a shake of her head.

"No, a newer commander, General Zetsumei, a defector from the Slane Theocracy, she's marching south with thousands of warriors, she won't be with us for long, but this is only a day or two detour before she reaches the sea, and her reply was an affirmative, her letter said it would be a good exercise to see what her people have learned on the march. We will begin the siege, then with their reinforcement after we cut it off, we will destroy it together." Queen Draudillon said with a grin. "Now are all the necessary trees cut?" She asked General Oma.

"Yes, Majesty, we have all we need for the siege." She said confidently.

"Then let's move." She said, and the army renewed its advance.

 _…Zesshi's command…_

Marching over the Katze Plains had been a brilliant idea, the ample weak undead that spawned there seemingly perpetually provided her soldiers with endless practice and built up their will, confidence, and courage, it did slow her down somewhat, however as they struck down monster after monster, they began to feel more and more invincible, and with the constant training of the instructors she'd been provided, it became ever more true. She did her own part for this as well, regularly taking on dozens of the best in displays of strength and speed that gave her army absolute confidence that she could defeat her father. The elves of the Elf Kingdom could be freed of the monster that had ruled them for generations.

Zesshi had never styled herself a leader, just a battle maniac, but as she took to the role and to the cause she had embraced, she found that she was more capable than she at first expected. Care for the soldiers, encourage them, drive them beyond their limits so that they find that their limits were not limits at all, and more importantly, constant practice, all built an ever more well oiled military machine. So when the request for help from Queen Draudillon had arrived, she'd been quick to take up the offer, a victory over the hated Slane Theocracy would be an ideal boost to their confidence before reaching the coast, and on a personal level for her, it was going to be a massive "Fuck you!" to Dominic and the others. Her nights had kept her burning with fury at the betrayals she'd felt inflicted on her by her country, so a chance to strike back, to really strike back, was not something she was going to miss out on.

So it came as a great surprise to her when, only a day from reinforcing Queen Draudillon's intended position of attack at the Forlorn Fortress, that a single rider in plain clothing was captured by her scouts. At first, he had been nearly executed as a spy, however he insisted he was not, and that he carried with him something for General Zetsumei alone. He was brought to her command tent, and he withdrew an envelope from his breast.

"What is that?" She asked him curiously.

"A letter." He said, "From Cardinal Raymond." He added softly, holding it out to her, she snatched it out of his hand faster than he could see her move, she tore open the seal and read the contents, she stared at the words. Her fingers tightened on the letter and she looked up at the young man.

"Get out. Don't go far, but stand outside, I need to be alone for the moment." She said firmly.

The messenger bowed and stepped backwards out of the tent. Zesshi looked at the words on the paper, but it wasn't them she was really seeing, her mind flew back to Raymond himself, she could picture everything he'd said he was up to. The risk he was undertaking in helping elves was not a small one, not for a man in his position, still she couldn't see him lying about it, the emotion in the letter was raw, and good as he was in some areas, she didn't think he could fake this.

She read the letter again and again. Especially the part about him 'buying' her little brother. Fury swirled within, so many people to kill, so very many… starting with her father, but he wouldn't be the last, no, not by a long shot.

She called the messenger back in, and when he presented himself, she was blunt in her speech. "First off… Thank you for bringing this, I'm sure it was not without its risks."

"The Sorcerer King's agents assisted me in this." The messenger replied.

"You turned yourself over? No, you were captured, were you not?" Zesshi asked.

He looked at her with some chagrin. "Well, yes I was. I had to evade my way through the Slane Theocracy, only to be caught south of Ikari, I pleaded with General Enri that I was not a spy, the letter was confiscated, read, handed over to the Sorcerer King, I was interrogated, and when it was concluded that I was only delivering that letter and it lacked any code or intelligence, that it was just… how did he say it… One old friend reaching out to another across the world, he instructed I be put on the path to you for swift delivery." The messenger shuddered at parts of his short recitation, and Zesshi privately wondered if there was not much more to this story than he let on, though she chose not to pursue the matter.

"Still, you've done a service, both for Raymond and for me. Come find me when this is all over, and I will work out some way to reward you." She said.

He bowed. "As you wish, General Zetsumei, but for now, if you have no objections, I'd much prefer to be out of here as soon as possible."

Zesshi nodded, "Very well, go if you wish." She said.

He made a swift exit, leaving Zesshi alone with the letter. She made a mental note to approach the Sorcerer King about the fate of the elves he was rescuing, but for now she had another task to tend to.

They were less than one day away from the fortress and she was eager to make it there early, so while camp was being broken, she called a meeting of her command team. "I want to get to the fortress sooner, can we conduct a forced march or not?" She asked, skipping any semblance of formality as she rested her hands on the table.

"Depends, do you want to fight the battle when you get there, or the next day?" Commander Thirg Dahn asked gruffly.

Zesshi looked over at him, his cropped elf ears, the mark of a former slave, were juxtaposed by the blood red eyes of a vampire, he wore a very large set of Black Justice armor and was perhaps the largest elf she'd ever seen in terms of sheer mass. On his back he didn't carry the standard bow, instead he preferred a very large maul which he used with a single hand. She'd seen him in practice, the oversized head didn't throw him off, it helped him 'dance' and fling himself around his opponents with a unique set of enchantments that let him randomly anchor it to the ground, allowing for a free form, three dimensional movement. He served as both a commander and as an instructor, and he did very well at both. Over the course of the march, Zesshi had come to rely on him a great deal. "That depends as well," she answered. "I want to fight on arrival, but if you're telling me that the army can't handle that, then I will accept your word on it."

"It's fine. You tell them to fight, they'll fight. But if you want them to fight at their best, we can do a forced march part of the way, rest for a few hours, then arrive while the humans are still fighting. Probably best to catch that Theocracy trash off guard." He said.

Commander Tefl Dahn spoke up, drawing Zesshi's attention, her ears bore identical mutilation to her brother, and she had identical vampire eyes, but her build was just the opposite, she was no taller than Neia Baraja and no more muscled than average. Unique to her however was that her armor bore countless pouches containing her throwing weapons. Zesshi still didn't know how many she carried on her person, only that in training recruits, she never seemed to run out. Her voice was soft as a gentle wind, but it was chill as one blown in winter. "I agree with my brother for the most part, but that doesn't mean nobody can handle it, why don't we create a flying column, we can send our strongest out ahead, and the rest can follow behind. With our very best there, we can bring down the outer wall with ease and minimize everybody's casualties."

Zesshi looked back over to Commander Thirg. "Can it be done?" She asked.

"If mounted on undead horses, absolutely, but we will have no siege equipment with us." He said, adding the caveat.

"Yes, we will. I'll be there." Zesshi replied wolfishly, "I'm humanity's trump card, or was, you don't get that title if stone is a barrier."

The siblings shared a look, then smiled back.

It didn't take long to make the announcement and call for recommendations. The clear chain of command from the high command all the way to the lower echelon leadership meant it took less than an hour for each company to provide a handful of their very best, and since it was a flying column, they needed no more than one or two days' worth of food for themselves. In less than two hours, they were riding out at breakneck speed on undead horses. Behind them the main body of soldiers was absorbed in various tasks and preparing themselves to catch up to their general and their elites. A thousand might not seem like much, but a thousand elites that included people equipped in runic armor and weapons, led by humanity's trump card… that was another matter altogether.

They rode through the night, pausing only to relieve themselves twice, but eating and drinking on horseback. When they arrived, they saw that the Draconic Kingdom was already heavily engaged. They'd established siege lines, their catapults and other equipment rained rocks down on the walls of the Forlorn Fortress, while scorpion equipment fired enormous arrows back in return. The sound of shouting and dying, of bows being loosed and the clink of armor, it all filled the field. Also present was the smell of death and the stench of ammonia and sweat. Companies of men and women in armor were moving about in formation well beyond the reach of the fortress, and clearly progress in the first battle was very slow.

Zesshi's flying column aligned behind her, while Thirgh and Tefl drew up to flank her. They scanned the field. "I'm not surprised." Zesshi said softly.

"No?" Thirg said with surprise. "Why is that?" He asked. Tefl looked no less surprised than her brother at her statement, so Zesshi chose to explain.

"The Forlorn Fortress is heavily defended, the Slane Theocracy had always figured it was possible that the beastman kingdom might overrun the Draconic Kingdom at some point, and this fortress was specifically built to stop any incursions into our…" She paused, hating that last word, then corrected herself and continued, "their, lands. The soldiers staffed there are the best of the best when it comes to siege warfare, they have countless arrows stored, not to mention over sized arrows for siege equipment. Between that and their perpetual unwillingness to yield or retreat, they're a formidable force to most groups.

"Will they be a problem?" Tefl asked in her melodic voice.

Zesshi privately wondered if that voice had ever lured anyone to their doom in the past, but she set aside the question and answered. "For the Draconic Kingdom? Absolutely, they're veterans, but they're up against a fortified position prepared for no other purpose but this exact situation, but from a more dangerous enemy. A problem for me? Absolutely not." She answered confidently and let a smirk slip out. "Send a rider, tell Queen Draudillon that General Zesshi Zetsumei has arrived with a thousand of her best."

After a short while a man broke ranks, Zesshi watched him race over the field and disappear into the lines of the Draconic Kingdom ranks. It wasn't long before she saw him rushing back, leading behind him a handful of mounts following one white clad armored woman upon a snow colored mount of incalculable worth. It was a very brief thing to bring them to where Zesshi sat, and as they neared, she and her two commanders turned their mounts and rode to a space not far away to meet their allies.

"General Zetsumei." Queen Draudillon said formally, giving a nod of her head.

"Queen Draudillon." Zesshi said, inclining her head the same way. "You seem to be in a spot here."

She nodded. "They're very strong, but they won't last."

"Agreed, but would you like to cut your casualties down?" Zesshi asked.

"I would, but what did you have in mind?" She asked, the two women eyed one another, their looks were mutually frosty, allies or not, each felt the other to be… off, in some way, and their mutual discomfort changed their tones of voice.

"I will bring down the wall. Then we kill everybody inside." Zesshi said.

"That's your plan?" Queen Draudillon arched an eyebrow.

Zesshi shrugged. "I'm a simple woman. I can't kill them very well from outside the walls, so I'll break the walls and go inside to do it."

"Ahhh, how will you bring the walls down exactly?" Queen Draudillon asked.

"Personally." Zesshi said flatly, with a blank expression on her face.

"I see." Queen Draudillon said a little coldly, disbelief evident in her voice.

"You doubt me." Zesshi said.

"Do you blame me?" The Queen asked.

"Not really, but this will be the only time you do." Zesshi replied.

"I hope so." Queen Draudillon said sincerely.

"I know so." Zesshi said with absolute confidence.

"What do you know of the fortress interior?" Queen Draudillon asked.

"Everything. It has been a long time since I've been there, but as you may have noticed, the Slane Theocracy is not much of a fan of change, so I'd bet my last coin that they haven't changed a damn thing about the place since I was last there. It's a city unto itself, and everybody inside is a combatant, even the ones in 'noncombatant roles' don light armor for fighting when it comes down to it. To bring it down we'll have to clear it block by block and building by building. It won't go down overnight; this may take two or three days at least." She said and started to list off some of the interior defenses, the outer wall, the inner wall, the secondary inner wall, and finally the last stand position.

"Will the rest of your army arrive to help with this?" Queen Draudillon asked hopefully.

"They will." She said, "We're the advance party. I'll break down the outermost wall in a few places, then you can start clearing the exterior, by the time most of that is done, the main body will be here and after a few hours rest, they'll take over, we'll leapfrog areas and start securing every position there is."

"Thank you for the help." Queen Draudillon said sincerely.

"Don't worry about it, I owe the Slane Theocracy a lot of pain, and I intend to give it to them, with interest." She said with ferocity in her voice.

They spoke for a while longer, hammering out fine details, until at last the time came for them to part ways, when they did, Zesshi and her commanders went back to the front of their lines.

Zesshi was not a great speaker, but she knew that this was the time to get their spirits up, so she chose to do her best. "Brothers and sisters! Today we make the first strike! Today we draw first blood! Those who have destroyed your lives cannot escape you! There is little time for glorious words, but to the brave, few words are as good as many! So, carry with you only these, "On the lands before you, your children, wives, husbands, and parents toil in bondage, in your hands you have swords with which to strike their chains! Will you strike?! Have you the courage to strike?! Or will you run for safety that you'll never have as long as you can be owned like livestock?!" Her voice carried powerfully over the crowd, and as one, swords came out, Thirg drew his maul from behind his back and Tefl took out two very sharp knives. Weapons were held aloft, and their cries of rage split the air. Above them Zesshi saw a cloud break apart into two halves, she wondered if their voices had carried far enough to have done that, then she dismissed the notion, even if true, it didn't matter.

"First, I go forward, I will make the hole, and you will pour into it, these soldiers will not run away, they will fight to the death, they will accept no quarter, so spare them none in turn!" Zesshi shouted out her instructions, then she looked to her commanders, "Thirg, Tefl, wait for the stone to fall, then sound the charge."

They saluted silently and watched as Zesshi whirled her undead mount around and charged towards the wall.

The soldiers on the walls took no notice of one unknown lone soldier charging to the stone, after all what could one single person do? The question was soon answered, Zesshi drew closer, she pulled out her scythe, fury burned in her eyes as she remembered Climb telling her about Aorli licking food off the stone floor. Hatred welled up as she remembered Dominic tearing up the accords they'd signed, bitterness whorled around in the pit of her stomach as half of what she was, was declared to be worthless.

Her heterochromatic hair and half elven ears drew attention from the wall as she closed the distance faster and faster, and some cautious soldier directed a dozen archers to bring her down. She sneered, behind her she could feel eyes following her every step. The arrows could not touch her. "So slow." She said with a laugh and she knocked them out of the air as if they were stuck there, swinging her scythe and reaping a harvest of feathers and wood, the undead horse was struck several times with blows that would have brought down an ordinary living mount with ease, but that was insignificant to her.

She reached the wall and leaped from her horse, she screamed a furious war cry, as if her voice carried with it the rage of countless slaves, her scythe came back, and then slammed forward as she activated several martial arts to enhance her strength and power. It struck home, and stone shattered like glass struck by a flying rock. She struck again, widening the hole, then twice more to the left and to the right, ensuring more men could make it through with ease.

She stepped back but did not stop to admire her handiwork. She rushed twenty yards away, and did it again, and again, and again, creating gaps through which both armies could pass, realizing the danger, Slane Theocracy archers and warriors tried to stop her, but the men on foot died immediately, and the archers could not shoot fast enough to threaten her.

This focus on stopping her rampage paused only when the sound of thousands of feet moving in almost perfect sync with one another, both forces were moving, and moving fast. They redirected their fire from the walls, but it was immediately obvious, both armies were going to get inside. The Forlorn Fortress was about to be breached.


	76. North, South, & Nightmare

**AN: I realize most readers don't leave reviews, however please note that reader feedback means a lot to authors, so if you like what you read, leaving your comments may be the difference between a project being continued, or abandoned. I don't plan to go anywhere, but your feedback fuels me. Don't let me run on empty. ;)**

 _...Southern Holy Kingdom..._

Gustav Montagne rode with lieutenant Inta at the head of the column. They'd engaged in dozens of small skirmishes throughout the Southern Holy Kingdom for weeks now, countless estates had been plundered and thousands of soldiers had been diverted to stop him. He'd had success after success, but after so much, the losses had begun to pile up. They were being eroded, and support for him in the South had not been great, some favor had come to him by redistributing the food that was taken and having the peasants of the South feast on what would have been taken, an unpopular noble or two had been brought down, captured coin was handed out to the Southern peasants. However all that had bought very limited good will, chiefly because he was still seen, accurately, as the servant of the undead, and the Six were still strongly followed in the South.

"This was always something of a suicide mission I suppose." Gustav said with a grim resolve in his voice.

Lieutenant Inta shrugged, "Did anyone not realize that?" He asked. "It's why I asked her," he pointed to his sister, "to go north instead."

She looked over at him from the left side of Gustav and stuck her tongue out at her brother. "If you thought I'd let my older brother come out here without me, well, you're dumb enough that you couldn't last a day without me." She said in exasperation.

"You always were a stubborn one, Hilda." Inta said with resignation.

"Regardless, I'd rather not lose more than I have to, there will come a point where we cannot continue here and we have to make a choice." Gustav said, returning focus to his point.

"A choice?" Inta asked.

"Yes. Stay and fight to the last sword. Hide and focus on small ambushes to make what little difference we still could. Or attempt to return north and avoid further conflict until we are reinforced." Gustav said practically. "When the Sorcerer King offered me this task, he gave me a free hand in how it was handled, which implies that withdrawal is acceptable if victory is impossible and defeat inevitable."

Inta shared a look with Hilda. "I'm guessing you've already decided for yourself." Hilda asked, her soft twanging voice sounded so odd coming from a vampire's lips, it still threw him off.

"Yes." Gustav said seriously. "As I see it, my atonement for Remedios has only one end, the only question is whether it comes at the talons of a fury in a punishment chamber or the tip of a sword on the battlefield. I have spent my life fighting, I know which choice I prefer."

"Are you so sure torture is how it is going to end for you?" Hilda asked, her red eyes looked doubtful. "You were only being loyal to your comrade."

Gustav sighed, "I can imagine no other fate. My only regret in coming south for this, is that I don't get a chance to face Remedios myself. But perhaps this is for the best, most of the volunteers for this mission are like me in that way, volunteering for some kind of atonement, wanting only an end that gives their last days meaning. Which actually leads me to ask, and I've meant to ask for a while, why is your… family here? You were all given amnesty by the Sorcerer King on the condition that you live openly and abide by his laws."

"It's simple." He said, "There are vampires scattered throughout the Sorcerer King's armies, not great in number, but a few at least in each, from General Emmot-Barear to General Rockbruise, but you had none, and we didn't want it said that there was any campaign where vampires feared to tread. This war will be one of legends, many heroes will perish, new ones will be made, and the stories told in ages to come will shape how we all come together. We would not have it said that there was a field where our blood was not shed." Inta's voice was usually eloquent but informal, but in this case he was different, he was solemn, as if speaking before a grave about to be filled. He was not really looking at Gustav as he answered, he was looking ahead of himself, but not down the road on which his mount trod, rather he was seeing the years to come.

"We have no plans to die, we will fight to win, even when winning here is impossible." Hilda added, "So if you're planning on a suicidal last stand when they finally bring enough to bear to crush us as a military force, well, how about we not do that, eh?" Hilda said, her voice began serious, and ended with a suggestive, fang bearing grin that lifted Gustav's flagging spirit.

"I see, well perhaps I can split the difference there." He said thoughtfully, "I don't know how many battles we have left in us, but the more we draw from the north, the more successful we become, the more quickly we are undone. However, that doesn't mean we have to all die at once when the time comes, I'd like to wreak as much havoc as I can, for as long as I can." Gustav's voice was full of vigor as he spoke, and unconsciously those who were near enough to hear him, touched their hands to their swords, how long there was for them all, none of them knew, but there was a sense growing among the small force that their time was coming to an end.

"For now, we focus on the next task. We need the greatest deception we can muster, pull it off, and we may very well force the advance on Prart to halt as they make their choice on what to do about us. Ironically, in this victory will be many of our deaths, but in their victory, they will bring death onto themselves." Gustav said softly. There was a grin on his face as he spoke, neither Hilda nor Inta doubted that he was comforted by what he saw as a proper end for himself, but each saw in the other's face a sense of pending regret.

"You have something in mind." Inta said.

"I do." Gustav said, "The scouts last report of the town ahead and their sketch of its unique surrounding terrain gave me just what we need. This will be the greatest illusion the world has ever seen."

"Ahhh, we don't have any illusionists with us." Hilda reminded him.

"That is why this is going to work." Gustav said. "They may have the magic they need to pierce through low level illusions, or even high level, but what we're going to do is going to be so overwhelming that they won't even consider that magic is responsible."

There were confused and uncertain looks shared, but Gustav could not keep the smile from his face.

"Just trust me." He said. "The town is lightly defended, but it is loyal to Astraka and Remedios, and they will trust the report when they hear it, and that is all we need."

That afternoon the attack hit hard, Gustav's raiders slammed into undermanned positions and the town, though large, was still just a town, the stone walls were low enough that ladders were sufficient, and vampires leaping from horseback were able to get to the top of the wall and guard the few feet of space needed for ladders to fall, and soldiers scaled up behind to reinforce them.

Inta gave a small smile as he took down a militia man, humans were fighting at his back, against humans in front of him, humans he called friends, comrades, it was an extraordinary world being born out of the bloodshed of the day, and it made every death worthwhile. He fought beside his sister, whose cackle of bloodlust sent people fleeing in terror when she tore into those in front of her, not far away, his father, mother, and two brothers were securing a tower corner, but over the loud shouting and clang of armor and weapons, he could not hear them at all. He didn't need to, something told him that today was not his day to die, and thus far he had been proved right, the wall began to fall, and the gate was opened. The remainder of the soldiers under Gustav charged through the door, most of them on horseback and began to chase the routed soldiers back into the interior of the town. The defenders fought bravely and died foolishly, unwilling to yield even when so clearly outmatched.

What made this town unique was the forest that buttressed it on one side, and the sloping valley on the other, and as Gustav brought order to the advance party that had secured the place, Inta began to see what he had in mind. With his soldiers securing positions around the interior, he rushed out beyond the wall to where the rest of his men had stationed themselves. With the walls held, no eye was there to watch his instruction or to discern his true intent, but Inta, knowing Gustav intended some deception, began to realize what it was when he saw that the soldiers marching through the gate came in marching two by two. This gave their army the appearance of much greater numbers by expanding the column dramatically. But this was only the start.

He rushed to the wall, leaped up, then clambered up to a tower to see what his commander had truly meant to do. The column marched the length of the town, around a block, all the way back the other side, out the gate, and then back to the rear to march through again.

Inta began to laugh uproariously as he seated himself atop the crenelations, his legs dangling over the side. He slapped his knee as he came to recognize just how far Gustav had thought this through. With no one outside on either of the unobservable areas, and himself in full control of the walls, he could be sure of success. The army appeared to be nearly endless, and his band of a few thousand, being surely counted by numerous agents of the south as the soldiers came through, now had the appearance of being tens and tens of thousands strong, and when he finally stopped the march, the overawed citizens gave up whatever he commanded, lest he turn his army on them. Weapons were ruined, military supplies seized, and all food intended for the army north was consumed by his own troops and the citizens themselves, on the promise that when nothing was left to send north, his army would depart.

When nightfall came, his army marched out of the town but well before that, word was already being spirited to Remedios and Astraka about the massive army under Gustav Montagne, nobody realizing that they'd seen the same soldiers a dozen times or so.

On their way out that evening, Gustav grinned at his companions, "Deception can make the impossible possible, and a good deception is magic all on its own."

"Of course if they fell for it the way I want them to, the South will throw all its reserves at us, and we can't actually handle that. The North might even send reinforcements, and we can't handle that either, but as long as neither of them know that, we'll draw a lot of people fighting us here, which will mean a lot fewer going to Prart, and that might be enough to give Neia and the rest of them the edge they need." Gustav's voice was fatalistic but hopeful as he spoke, there was no part of him that betrayed fear in his choices.

"Now, all that said, I want some of us to survive. Let it be said that we were never fully crushed, so that Remedios will rue the losses all the more for having gained so little from them." He chuckled, "I wonder how long they'll go around hunting for the rest of my 'massive army'?"

That brought similarly confident laughs from his companions, and it felt very good to let their laughter pierce the night. Not many remained, so let every one be a good one, that was how Gustav saw it anyway.

 _…Northern Holy Kingdom…_

Marching for a day had been the plan. Marching for an hour was what they got.

It was infuriating, which is why… Remedios was infuriated. The banner of the Vines had become the most hated sight in the world to her soldiers. That picture of a stone wall, shattered by vines sprouting from its center, it said all it needed to. The elves who ran in, heedless of their lives as long as they killed someone, targeting supply lines and forcing them to move at a crawl for maximum security, and compelling them to stop for every engagement, had taken a mental toll.

The banner of the Blood Miners, with their pickax lodged in a corpse, was only slightly less resented, though in some quarters of the army it was greater, since their numbers included humans. Scouts frequently did not come back alive, and even when they did, horses, oxen, mules, anything that could pull a cart or carry a rider became a target. This was especially true of the Vines, who seemed to bear a particular grudge against cavalry. The Blood Miners on the other hand, liked to obstruct the way and ambush efforts at clearing it up.

Yuri sat next to Remedios the way she usually did, it was easier to let her do the thinking. "You seem stressed. Why don't we light a torch?" She said so sweetly one could forget that she was talking about setting people on fire.

"Not now. We've taken fewer captives since we started doing that, so I'd like to save them for the night hour when I can get some sleep. How many times did we have to clear the road today?" She asked.

"Seventeen." Yuri answered reflexively. "Look we can just send advance parties ahead to clear out obstructions."

"They'll just ambush those too." Remedios said in frustration.

In her head, Yuri raged, following this idiot had let her actually burn people again, but she was just… so stupid. "Do you have a suggestion?" She asked with some measure of reproach.

Remedios shook her head, "I don't." She said.

"I suppose we could ask for one of the Theocracy's units to help, they've been hit too, they might even lend us the use of a scripture for this." Yuri said hopefully.

She froze.

"What?" Yuri asked, and Remedios raised a hand to stop her.

"We're stopped for the evening now, right?" Remedios asked.

"Yes…" Yuri said hesitantly.

"Call up the Theocracy commander, what was his name again?" Remedios asked.

"Suchala." She said distastefully.

"You don't like him." Remedios said, stating the obvious.

"He's hot tempered, he's aggressive, and he likes terror against heretics as a means of advancing his goals, of course I like him. He's just ugly as sin and hard to look at." Yuri closed her eyes and laughed, waving her previous distaste away.

"Well the man has to be sixty years old, what were you expecting the Theocracy to send?" Remedios asked.

Yuri shrugged, her hair bounced behind her as she exaggerated the gesture with both arms. "I don't know, but Prart is ugly enough, it would be nice to at least have something pleasant to look at around here."

Remedios rolled her eyes, "Yuri, just enjoy the burnings and be satisfied when we bring down that city of evil. We'll do to them what they did to Wenmark." She said, clenching the reins of her horse tight enough to turn her knuckles white, and grinding her teeth together in a rage.

"I know, I know, but hey, you got the report, right?" Yuri asked with some concern in her voice.

"What report?" Remedios replied dumbly.

Yuri sighed. "Calca is there, you know? It's been confirmed by multiple witnesses, it's really her, and every report we have says she's legitimately on the side of the undead."

"NO!" Remedios said with fury in her voice and she looked at Yuri as if she were going to gut the woman. "That is NOT my Calca, that is NOT my Queen. My queen would never abandon the gods, she'd never let these… these things happen."

"OK, OK." Yuri said calmly, trying to placate Remedios. "But you're going to see her, I'm sure of that, there is no reason to see her there except for her to try to deal with you, what will you do… if it is her?" Yuri said with some concern.

"Then she's trapped there, she's under the undead's sway somehow, and we have to rescue her. Neia Baraja has her as a hostage to threaten me, that mad eyed bitch would do anything for her monstrous master, killing her own Queen wouldn't be beyond her. She's part of this country in name only now." Remedios said.

"OK, say all that works, say you kill Neia, Skana, Tinamoc, and whoever else is on her side and recapture the Queen, right now we're with the Slane Theocracy and they're backing Astraka as the new king, what then?" Yuri asked, probing uncertainly.

Remedios froze. "I have only one ruler. If I can free her, I'll fight for her again, I'll fight the Theocracy, I'll fight Astraka, I'll fight the whole damn world if that is what it takes, but she will sit on that throne again in my lifetime."

"I see." Yuri said softly, while privately contemplating how best to extricate herself from this before the end. If it was one thing she was sure of, it was that even if everything else went flawlessly, there was no way that Astraka or the Theocracy were going to allow Calca to be queen again. "Well that answers that, I'll go get Suchala, if his scripture support has linked up with us, we should have a reasonable chance at clearing away some of the opposition, I hear they have entire units dedicated to this kind of warfare."

As the camp established itself, Yuri rode away, leaving Remedios alone at the front of the long column. She returned with Suchala, and even Remedios could see that she was giving him a side glance of general distaste. For that Remedios didn't really blame the woman. Suchala wasn't much to look at, he was thin, though his muscles were still solid looking, his face was well wrinkled and he had a thin beard that dropped about a hand span below his chin. His face was wrinkled and crisscrossed with various scars. Given the nature of healing spells, Remedios concluded one of two things was likely… he refused healing out of pride, or they were from injuries that healing spells couldn't entirely repair. They stood out all the more because his skin was leathery and tan to the point of redness, as if he'd spent a great deal of time in the sun, enough to get quite permanently baked by it. It was rather like someone had taken red brick and carved a figure out of it. His eyes were clear as a spring day though, and their hazel shade reflected Remedios's face back at her. To herself she thought, "Yes, he could think for me." The thought came with some relief, as she didn't do it very well herself.

"Suchala, good to see you." She said and held out her hand. His grip was firm as he answered in his elderly voice, "Good to see you too, I've been getting tired of the old windbag's sermons back there." He said with a laugh at the expense of his priests. Remedios forced a laugh at the impious joke.

"So, you're aware of the problem now, I take it." Remedios said, "You've been properly informed?"

"Course." He said, "At this pace I'll be killed by old age before I ever face the swords of heretics." He chuckled in grim humor at the very real problem.

"Do you have a possible solution?" She asked, attempting to tease the answer out of the man of few words.

"Course." He said.

"Would you mind… telling me?" Remedios asked, her patience wearing her voice thin.

"Sure. I've got the better part of the Black Scripture and the Holocaust Scripture with me. The Holocaust Scripture specializes in countering this kind of fighting. Course I don't have all of em." He answered with a caveat.

"Uh, where are the rest?" Remedios asked cautiously.

"Headin to the Abelion Hills last I heard, and a few of em are probably up in the north of the Theocracy too, along with the Windflower and Clearwater Scriptures. Don't know where the members of the rebuilt Sunlight Scripture are though."

"Well damn, that complicates things." Remedios said. "Listen, a little while ago, about when we halted, I got a message that Gustav Montagne has somehow been reinforced by eighty thousand men, there was no illusion magic at use, this is a head count from people in the streets of the last town he took."

Yuri and Suchala shared a doubtful look. "A message spell?" Yuri asked.

"You trust it?" Suchala looked at her with surprise.

"I'm not a complete idiot. I know the one who sent it, and he used an authentication keyword so I'd know it was him." Remedios said with annoyance, while both Suchala and Yuri shared a look that said, 'Yes, you are a complete idiot.'

"I admit misgivings, where could this many have come from?" Yuri asked.

"It doesn't really matter, does it?" Remedios asked, "What matters is that he has them. The good news is though, these are not the best of the best, some may be fairly good, but if the nobles still in the south combine their forces they can crush him at one go, however I don't think they'll do that without an elite command team at the center. Can you spare some of your best to go south?" She asked.

"Sure, but I thought you'd want the captain of the black scripture at the siege, along with the first few seats." He said uncertainly.

Remedios thought that over for a long moment. "Yuri, what do you think?" She asked.

Yuri turned the question over in her head for awhile. "Well, if we can terrify them enough, they might capitulate without a fight, but we can't leave eighty thousand soldiers to march up our backside now either. If the South won't mobilize without an elite force at the core, then we've already lost it and they'll start knuckling under just to save their own estates. Without the South, we have no resupply, without any resupply, we'll run out of food before we break through the walls. I suppose we have to send some."

"Alright, do that. General Suchala, if you can send the first few elites of both units to the south to deal with Gustav, the rest can help us get to Prart." She said with a confidence she didn't really feel.

"Uh huh, can do, but ahhh… what about Yanana?" He asked.

"What about it?" Remedios inquired.

"Neia Baraja was there, whatever she did made quite an impact, the priests have been declining ever since, some converted, some left, some were actually murdered over the healing spell charges. It's bad there from what I hear and they're also behind us." Suchala said with a concerned voice. Remedios was silent as she thought it over.

"No, don't worry about it, if the official authorities are still in charge, things should be fine. After we finish off Prart's resistance I'll parade Neia's burned torso to the city gate, that should still any further opposition." Remedios said with a casual shrug.

"I see." Suchala said thoughtfully, "Well then for now, it's alright. I'll send the first few seats of both scriptures to the south to fight Gustav, with him put down they can reinforce us, and the rest I'll put to helping solve the problem on our line of march to Prart, and I'll contribute some additional soldiers to support your scouts as well. They may not know the land, but it can't hurt us worse than this current issue with the Vines and the Blood Miners already has."

 _…Nazarick…_

Ainz sat on his throne, he spent a lot of time there when he wasn't at the Mirror of Remote Viewing keeping an eye on his pope to ensure she stayed… functional. Her promise to get help at the end of the war weighed on him, he had his doubts about her ability to keep herself together, but more importantly he had noticed the change in her abilities, and on this particular occasion, it was just himself, Albedo, Demiurge, and Vanysa in the throne room, and he brought the matter up.

"Demiurge, have you noticed the way our human follower has changed in the course of all this?" He asked with a hint of curiosity.

He pushed his glasses close to his eyes and smiled. "Of course, Lord Ainz, since the beginning her power as an evangelist has grown, I knew there was no way this could have escaped your notice." Albedo beamed proudly beside the Sorcerer King, in awe of his ability to cultivate talent.

Vanysa raised her hand and bowed her head.

"What do you want?" Albedo asked sharply. Despite being, for all intents and purposes, a creation of her master, she was not abundantly fond of the girl who was far too familiar with the lord who was well beyond her station, to be more accurate it could be said that she disliked the fury.

Ainz raised his palm up a little and touched Albedo's arm. "It's fine, let her ask."

"As you say, Lord Ainz, you're so generous!" She said with a warm smile.

"What is it, Vanysa?" He asked.

Her wings shook with delight when she was granted permission to speak. "My lord, forgive this girl her ignorance, but I know very little about what you're speaking of, I know this one is very important, that she is establishing your proper place in the world to all those foolish enough or ignorant enough to deny it, but I don't know what abilities you refer to. Please enlighten this ignorant one." She asked with her head still lowered and her hands clasped low in front of her.

"Of course, as an evangelist, she has the ability to persuade, or to intimidate, she has a mastery over her voice, not quite the same, but very similar to a bard. It makes people listen to her, moreover, the power held within her is manifested in her gaze, to inspire or to terrify." He said. He was about to go on when he froze and realized that Demiurge and Albedo were looking at him expectantly, and he'd already reached the limit of his knowledge.

"Damnit… ahhh…" he thought to himself, grasping for an answer, and then he gestured to Demiurge who stood at the base of the throne's steps next to Vanysa and said, "Demiurge, I permit you to explain the rest."

"As expected of my lord, to ever test our knowledge so that you know we recognize your true intent." He bowed politely with one arm bending to the front of his waist, then he straightened and said, "Some time ago she reached the fourth level, while at Wenmark she gained the Hellwalker trait, she can't be affected by killing intent unless it is greater than that which gave her the trait itself, and given that this was a combination of the complete destruction of a city and the slaughter of those she sought to save… and the overwhelming power of our lord, I think it safe to say that nobody's killing intent will ever touch her. What is more, because she is a fourth level evangelist, she can buff and debuff allies and enemies, the more who die in service to her cause, either on the wrong side, or our side, the more she grows. As it is, she can use it even in combat to weaken those who hear her, or strengthen her own. She can't compel, but she can influence, and she is beginning to draw on the divine aura of our lord, if I'm to judge by the change in her eyes." Demiurge said with a grin.

"I see." Vanysa said, her brilliant eyes shone and Ainz could see the wheels turning in her mind, this was the intelligence that he saw when she scoured the city, it was an analytical mind buried under a mountain of uneducated ignorance, fostered by his basic education and the steady guidance of Demiurge, she was, in a word, growing. Her head snapped up and she slapped her forehead. "AH! I understand the plan now, Your Majesty, how stupid of me, forgive this ignorant peasant her foolishness!"

"Of course" Ainz said in his lordly manner as he privately thought, "Ahhh… what's this plan?"

"But Your Majesty, may this humble one ask another question?" She asked, and Albedo looked ready to snap again, but withheld as she looked at her lord.

"Please don't." He sighed internally. However aloud he said, "Go on."

"I've looked at all the numbers, and Prart is very undermanned. I saw the reports that Lord Demiurge and Lady Albedo wrote, and it seems to me that since Kedyn and other places are now secure, couldn't we put the hired adventurers there to boost their numbers and their combat power considerably? I know Blue Rose in particular would be a fine addition, am I missing something?" She said.

"You looked at my reports?! Who told you to do that?!" Albedo snapped.

Vanysa looked down at the floor. "I was tryin' to help." She began to say, when Demiurge spoke up.

"Actually, I had her do that, I hope you don't mind Albedo, but she's sort of become an… assistant, to me in my work, when she's not in the Draconic Kingdom or helping Neuronist. I have been seeing to her education in higher matters to make her a greater asset to Nazarick."

Before Albedo could speak up, Ainz leaped at the opportunity. "Just as I intended!" he said improvising a lordly laugh and leaning back on his throne.

"Well done Demiurge, well done Vanysa!" He said.

"My lord I had no idea you had this intent, why did you keep this from me, have I failed you in some way?" Albedo said in a panic, drawing close to him and grasping at his arm as she crouched beside him.

"Crap." He thought, "I overshot with that one." However he recovered quickly and said, "No, of course not Albedo, but sometimes it is best for me to test my own subordinates myself, to ensure that they continue to grow and take initiative on their own. As it is, Vanysa accurately guessed my intentions to reinforce Prart with more of my followers and further drive Neia's growth in turn."

Demiurge and Vanysa wore Cheshire grins on their faces and bowed deeply at the praise, "Thank you my Lord, I live only to serve you." They said in unison.

While Albedo clutched at her own breast and said, "My lord never fails to amaze me with his insight, as expected of the one I love." She sighed like a lovesick schoolgirl and Ainz cleared his nonexistent throat to resume course.

"I'll be sending you to Kedyn, Vanysa, call it a… 'diplomatic assignment', you'll be there to convince Blue Rose, and Cersei, to lend their aid to the defense of Prart, and since they're already capable fighters, I will be providing transport." Ainz said in passing.

Vanysa blushed, her blush lightened her dark, almost purple skin and she bowed her head. "I am humbled master, at your trust in your servant. I will do my best to serve your will, but may this insignificant one ask, why myself, what have I that might persuade them?" She asked.

"Shit, perhaps I should have picked Albedo, or contacted Neia, or… crap she's looking at me, how do I answer?" He thought to himself, then he grasped at the first thing that came to him. "You are yourself, and you have your history, and also, we must test your growth. Who you are may drive them to listen more than they otherwise would to someone of higher station or greater power." He said.

"I see, then I will do all I can to succeed for you, my Lord." Vanysa said and went down to one knee, lowering her head deeply. "If I do fail however, please take my life, that I may atone for the unpardonable sin."

At that, Albedo nodded approvingly.

"Now, on to the other matter, I believe you and Demiurge were compiling reports from Neia and others about how well the Draconic Accords have been held to by the other nations?" Ainz asked.

"Yes my lord, over the last few months we've compiled quite a bit, for your convenience we have left all 'individual acts', which are clearly not national directives, off this list, a rogue soldier is not the same as national policy after all, and those persons are to be shipped off to the Argland Council State for trial, this list only accounts for those actions either known, ordered, or endorsed by senior leaders of the belligerent states." Demiurge said formally.

"Very well, a suitable list then, is it short?" Ainz asked.

"I cannot judge Your Majesty's infinite wisdom in terms of ascribing length, however…" He trailed off and gestured to Vanysa, who rose to her feet at a gesture from Ainz and removed a thick sheaf of papers from the bag she wore at her side.

As Vanysa read aloud the many violations of King Astraka, the Elf King, and the Slane Theocracy; from her own torture, to the Theocracy's destruction of the accords and their express vote to dismiss them, Ainz sat and listened in silence, allowing the reading to go on as things that were clearly a matter of policy. Zesshi Zetsumei's testimony, the inadvertent testimony of Raymond as a consequence of his letter to Zesshi about the treatment of elf captives and the intended treatment of captives by the Elf King reminded the man within the undead of the horrors of his own world. It reminded him of the suffering of his friends that was now being recreated by the hostile powers. However, worst of all were the reports of ever worsening treatment of slaves in the Slane Theocracy, reminding him far, far too much of the mistreatment his own mother had endured, but still he sat silent until the report was concluded.

When at last she fell silent, Ainz did not move a single fragment of bone.

It seemed to all others that he was indifferent.

As he sat on his throne, he calmly reached out and took the staff of his guild and looked straight ahead, unmoving as a statue. Then it hit. Like a mountain falling down on the pair of guardians and Vanysa, crushing them all to their knees by sheer overwhelming force, Vanysa shrieked in pain and Demiurge held onto her under the weight to keep her from complete collapse, the throne shook, the walls shook, the very foundation of Nazarick threatened to crack, and then as if from a bomb on his home world, the force of his undampened rage spread out, radiating through earth, rock and air, causing stone buildings to threaten to collapse in Hoburns and Kami Miyako.

"THEY DARE!" He shouted, his skeletal fists balled in rage, his limiter was working overtime to calm him down, but he did not want to be calm as he thought of his friends being worked to death, his mother barely able to keep them both alive under the corruption and cruelty of her employment, and now others in this world, those whom he had bargained honestly with, were recreating that world as best they could. The pressure was enormous, and it wasn't until he caught the sound of Vanysa's crying out in pain under Demiurge that his limiter caught up and quashed the maelstrom of wrath that had burst out from his place on the throne.

Vanysa was shaking like a leaf in the wind, unable to look up, the guardians who were present were not in a tremendously better shape. He bowed his head, "Forgive my loss of temper, I hope I did not trouble you too greatly, Vanysa, can you move?" He asked.

She nodded weakly, "Ahm alright master, was kinda scary though, so thas what appens when yah piss off a god." She said softly. Her eyes were alight with madness and her wings wrapped tight around her, when Ainz gestured for them to rise to their feet, Demiurge had to assist her in doing so, in order that she could obey.

"I wonder how far that spread." Ainz asked aloud.

 _…Re-Estize Kingdom…City of E-Libera…_

This one was stubborn, King Zanac was trying to be fair, but the delegation that exited the city under a white flag was being very petty. "You betray me, my family, our country, and want to remain in power?" He asked incredulously.

The fat noble in front of him waved his hand dismissively, "Well, you want a city intact that does not mar your triumph, I'm sure 'if' you attack that you'll win, but we'll burn the city first so that your triumph is hollow and forever marred by the deaths of many of your citizens, you know how people gossip, your rule will never be truly stable after that, you'll be the king who killed his own for the crown."

King Zanac and General Nimble were getting increasingly angry, but before they could retort, the rage of the Sorcerer King hammered them all, sending them to the ground, the delegation of the rulers of E-Libera froze with horror. "What was that…" The fat nobleman said when he could speak again without his teeth chattering in terror, though he could not stop the shaking of his body.

King Zanac and General Nimble slowly rose to their feet. "That, was the Sorcerer King, the one backing this army, and unless I miss my guess, he's very, very angry." King Zanac said softly, "Shall I present your terms to the source of 'that'?" He asked archly as the pair reclaimed their seat.

"Give us a pardon, our lives, and enough to go live on, and the city is yours right now." The noble said, terror still haunting his eyes, a terror that King Zanac was not immune to when he considered what he'd just felt, however he did two things. First he said, "It is a bargain then." The second thing was to think, "Ruling my kingdom is about to get much, much easier."

 _…Slane Theocracy…_

Within Kami Miyako, a chill wind like the deepest winter swept over the capitol building, as the foundations of the center of the faith shook and threatened to fall, Dominic had to hold on to the window sill to keep his feet, and when the quake ended and the wind hit, all he could do was freeze and shake, and wonder what awful thing had happened to bring what he was sure was the threat of divine wrath down upon himself and his people.

In his home, Raymond fell to the floor when the shaking began, and did not rise until it ceased. When it did, he turned an eye to the sky as if the ceiling did not bar the way and whispered, "Gods preserve us, what have we done?"

 _…Draconic Kingdom border region of the Forlorn Fortress…_

Zesshi Zetsumei was looking smugly at the ruined wall, much of the outer part of the fort was in the hands of her forces, and the Draconic Queen was doing her part as well, with her forces filling other gaps and moving in the opposite direction within the city. That was when the wave hit, pressing down on them all, Zesshi had never knelt before the moment she'd met the Sorcerer King and pledged her fealty in trade for her greatest desires, and having been close to him, she knew exactly what that was, someone had made her new king very, very angry. The Draconic Queen had even more difficulty breathing than Zesshi did, and more difficulty getting back to her feet, but she'd been in the presence of that force, the rage as it battered down and crushed the living into paste on the stone in front of her. Many times she'd felt uncertain of her decisions, and in retrospect many of those doubts about herself had been justified, however as she felt that pressure radiate outward, she knew one national policy was absolutely the right choice: Do not piss off the Sorcerer King.

 _…Hoburns…_

As Astraka's new assembly, including whatever magic casters he could find, marched out of the gate, a wave of shaking, trembling, dread, and a terrible weight crashed against him, so hard that he and most of those on horseback were knocked to the ground. His heart raced in his chest as he looked up, the weight was gone, the dread remained, and the unbowed king felt a wave of pity sweep over him, for whosoever that rage was directed against. He swallowed hard, and wondered if it might be himself.

 _…Prart…_

Neia stood on the battlements and spoke to her people, she reassured them that they had not been forsaken, that they would be victorious, and as she shouted out, "The Justice of our god shall strike them DOWN!"

And as she said those words, she felt it, the wave of power swept the city like a storm, and the great assembly before her, and herself, all fell to their knees.

Neia grimaced under the weight of it, yet to her it was not painful, it was the tightness of a loving embrace, the reassurance of her god that he was full of wrath, and she felt it leave her and sweep towards the advancing army. She grinned, that was going to be unpleasant for them.

 **AN: Well thanks everybody for reading so far, I hope you've enjoyed the story so far, if you've read all the way up to Chapter 76, well you're awesome. :) If you're supporting my audio project (creating an audio version of God Rising) on P atreon, you're even more awesome. If you're not and you'd like to, that goes to paying for the equipment I need to do a decent job of it. (i.e. a decent microphone, ministudio setup, sound engineer costs, things like that. Any overage will be donated to charity, I will not personally profit from any of this, I just want to produce something awesome. You can throw your support behind that at P atreon dot com slash godrising.**

 **Also, special thanks to those of you who have donated to my nonprofit organization, so far we've helped with sustainable farming, medicine, third world education, and more. You can see some of our accomplishments at bdgiving dot org.**

 **And of course for those of you who just wish to hang you in a very chill, creative, positive community, join my discord server for exclusive content (stories that haven't yet appeared or don't appear anywhere else) the invite code is on my author page, or just message me directly.**


	77. The Grand Matriarch

**AN: OK so here we are at Chapter 77, frankly I have to change my outline somewhat to account for additional material, since I'm having to increase this by about twenty chapters or so to properly and fully explore the events of the war. I should say however, that the writing and the research to do the 'Synod' story took a lot out of me, and the last two days in the real world I've had to play the role of escort and security for two traumatized PTSD suffering soldiers, suffice it to say I am worn the fuck out. I want to say thank you to those of you who have written in to tell me I've been spot on when it came to depicting Neia's mental state, and the state of the suicidal... but it takes a toll to deal with that stuff the way it should be done. So, I'm taking a few days off of writing. I might do a chapter of 'Desires of a Demon' just to do something a little off the wall and fun (plus I still owe a donor another chapter for that one). Till then, if your desire for my work is vital to your happiness, I'll be uploading some exclusive content to the Discord and the P atreon dot com slash godrising. That content will include one shots and stories edited out of other chapters for length reasons. The discord link is on the author page, and the p atreon support goes to turning this story into an audio book (I need to have the equipment for that).**

 **Also, if you want to keep me writing more, (after I come back in a few days) donating to bdgiving dot org's charity, means I don't have to stop writing to go do work elsewhere to support my charitable aims, that means faster release dates and changed lives. And no, I don't make a penny.**

 **Alright, that sums everything up for now... except one more small thing:**

 **Thank you to everyone who leaves reviews, let me tell you, it means a lot to authors to get your feed back, even a simple 'good job' provides motivation to write more, it tells us our work was appreciated and enjoyed, so even if you don't do it for every chapter, if a story is worth reading, its worth giving feedback for.**

 **Allllriiiight...NOW that is all, on with the show! :)**

 _...South of Ikari, North of Crossroad City..._

Enri Emmot-Barear was now famous among friend and foe alike. The easy destruction of the false army had been touted by Slane Theocracy speakers and political leaders as a grand victory over the forces of the undead and his heretics.

Nobody wanted it put about that they'd lost Ikari City because they were busy knocking over straw figures and that they'd only managed to kill or capture around five hundred men and women, so 'the great victory' drew mass recruits to join the Theocracy forces from the bottom, while at the upper echelons of command, the cleverness of General Enri made her a figure of considerable concern.

The commander who had made the foolish mistake, and his staff officers, were now eager to defeat the famous general who had captured their northernmost city. While those who had their absurd false victory, who kept silent out of private shame for having been so thoroughly duped, were moving north again intending to punish the southern marching peasant general before she could reach the city of Crossroads. If that fell, the Slane Theocracy's breadbasket of Wheaton was at risk, they couldn't allow that to happen.

And that was how, twenty miles from Crossroad City, General Enri Emmot-Barear found herself standing atop a low rising hill looking out at the arrayed armies of the Slane Theocracy. The white flag had gone up and from the center there was a small trio of horses riding over the field.

"Looks like they want to talk." Enri said thoughtfully.

"Looks like." Lupusregina said. "What do you want to do?" She asked.

"Why not? We may be at war, but there is no reason we shouldn't be polite." Enri replied, and she ordered the white flag raised from her side in turn. "Lupu, Sun, you're with me." She said to her friend and to the goblin strategist who had taken for his name, the identity of 'Sun Tzu' a god of strategy from the first world of the Supreme Beings.

The trio trotted over to the space equidistant between the two armies. Enri looked her opposite numbers over. Humans, that wasn't surprising. At the center was their commander, a burly looking man with a square jaw and dark hair framing brown eyes. His armor was adamantite and probably enchanted. Flanking him on his left was a woman no less burly than he was, she had what looked like a heavy two-handed maul on her back, her large breasts were protected by adamantite plate, and black hair cascaded down behind her. Flanking him to his right was an older man with salt and pepper hair and a crooked nose with sky blue eyes, who also wore adamantite plate.

"So, you're General Enri," the commander at the center said in a deep baritone voice.

"I am," she said, fixing him with her stony gaze. "And you are?"

"General Boabdil. These are my vice commanders. Vice Commander Ira," the woman inclined her head, "and Vice Commander Heikeran," the older gentleman bowed politely from atop his horse.

"This is Lupusregina, maid of the Sorcerer King and my personal bodyguard, and this is my adviser, Sun." Lupusregina smiled politely, holding her massive weapon over the back of her neck and draping an arm over it casually, and the goblin strategist politely inclined his head as he stroked his beard.

"Are you… human?" General Boabdil asked Enri curiously.

"Yes, of course," she answered in surprise.

"And you're really keeping company with… well, she's not human. I can say that for sure, and goblins, and… well all those other beings over there?" General Boabdil's voice said he could not for the life of him understand what he was seeing.

"Of course, you think that strange? My army is made up of werewolves, vampires, elves, dwarves, humans, demihumans, beastmen, dragons, frost giants, ogres, and even undead, though those are tightly controlled." She replied in a very simple tone of voice that suggested his question was absurd.

"First, let me say, I admired your strategy, you knocked eighty thousand soldiers out of the fight for Ikari by sacrificing a paltry five hundred. An incredibly astute move, one I didn't see coming, and neither did anyone else." General Boabdil said with some reluctant admiration in his voice.

"Thank you." Enri replied. "Did any of my five hundred survive?" She asked with concern evident in her voice.

The question and its tone was greeted with approval evident in the expressions on the faces of her opposite numbers.

"Yes… a handful were captured alive, though severely wounded, they are now prisoners of the Slane Theocracy." General Boabdil answered.

Enri's eyes narrowed. "How are they being treated?" She asked.

"They're not being tortured if that is what you're wondering, my nation signed the Draconic Accords, and I have held to them." He answered.

"Many of your people do not." General Enri replied harshly, "I found many elf slaves still held in bondage despite my orders, some of them are now in my army and eager for payback."

"See." General Boabdil said, looking at his companions, "I told you slaves are vipers clutched to breast." He said, evidently making a point about some past argument with his companions. To Enri he said, "I can answer only for myself and my orders, if you withdraw from my country, you won't have to find out that I speak the truth about abiding by that agreement."

Enri's face and her voice softened immediately, "That isn't going to happen. I have come to take Crossroad in the name of the Sorcerer King and take it I will. But I will remember your words when the time comes. I pray they are true ones." She replied.

"You side with the enemies of humanity…" He began, only for her to cut him off with a vicious anger that called up the moment of her youth when she clutched little Nemu ready to die on a knight's sword to give her seconds more to run away.

"The enemies of humanity are in front of me, the saviors of humanity are behind or beside me." She snapped out. "I haven't forgotten the first time I encountered the representatives of the Slane Theocracy. You sent your people to my village, you killed my parents in front of me, you would have killed my baby sister and myself, skewering a child barely out of her toddler years, through my own body. Your people destroyed numerous villages like ours, all to draw out one man. The true savior of humanity is the one who fights for our future, a future free of the kind of strife your country brought to people who had never done you any harm, people you claim you are supposed to defend!" Her voice was loaded with venom as she spoke, and her lips were pursed tight when she stopped, as if to bite back insults that she longed to hurl.

It had the Slane Theocracy representatives frozen in surprise.

"Everything we do," General Boabdil said slowly, as he recovered from the sudden outpouring from General Enri, "is for the future of humanity."

"No, you do these things for human supremacy, I want a future where supremacy is not an issue at all, where those who live according to the social contract, who live as good neighbors, honest merchants, true laborers, and gentle rulers, are judged by the virtues shown by their actions, not determined to be evil by accident of birth. I regret that we must be enemies, but there is no turning us from this path, and your nation has chosen to make that cause for a fight, therefore we'll fight it out and settle things the bloody way." She said confidently.

"Fine, but we outnumber you, and your dragons are not invincible, scriptures and magic casters can hurt them, and our soldiers are brave and eager to prove themselves." General Boabdil said confidently.

General Enri sighed, "If you are wounded or captured, call for my judgment on the battlefield, I will see to it that you're treated as well as you say you've treated those prisoners of ours you have taken. Lupu, Sun, let's go." She said and began wheeling her horse around, a gesture imitated by both her companions and her Slane Theocracy counterparts.

When they got back to their lines, Enri got down from her horse and stretched herself out, limbering herself for the fight ahead, and then she addressed Lupusregina. "What do you think, Lupu?" She asked her friend, companion, bodyguard, and the personal attendant of the Sorcerer King.

The beautiful red headed maid grinned with the sadism that Enri had long since learned underlay her nature, and which she had long ago learned to accept.

"Tell me, do you know what I am -su?" Lupusregina asked, her hands were on her hips as she spoke, she wasn't looking over at Enri, but nonetheless the peasant general felt 'observed'.

"A servant of the Sorcerer King." She answered reflexively.

"Yup. But I'll give yah a hint. The first part of my name means 'wolf' and the second part means 'queen' in a language of First World, the place the Supreme Beings came from. In short, I am named 'Wolf Queen' can you guess now?" She asked, her teeth bared in her smile, seemed suddenly quite sharp.

"You're... a werewolf?" Enri said with some surprise in her voice.

"Not just any common, ordinary kind, I'm a werewolf of Nazarick, created by one of the supreme beings, and my master has given me permission to use any strength I want or need to win this battle." She said in a predatory way.

"So, you think we're at a disadvantage?" Enri asked.

"Do you see those?" Lupusregina said, pointing at a series of flags.

"Yes." Enri replied hesitantly.

"You remember what they are, right?" Lupusregina probed further.

"Yes, those are Slane Theocracy Scriptures, they style themselves as the heroes of humanity." Enri said, her voice growing bitter and her eyes growing hard, "One of those 'heroes of humanity' killed my parents and was going to wipe out my village."

"I see you're resolved then." Lupusregina began. "That is good, you need that hard edge, these are some of the best of their very best, come here to stop you, come here to kill you, if they succeed, you'll never see Carne again. You'll never see Nemu again, you'll never see Kuuderika or Nfirea again. They've come here to stop you because your victory over the iron governor and his command, and your deception of their massive army, gave you a reputation. Do I think we're at a disadvantage?" Lupusregina's voice had been for a moment, serious as it had ever been, but as she asked the question, she laughed and her hands came up in front of her, her fingers parted and she started to shake from excitement, her eyes went wide, and had Enri not known her for so long, it might have been profoundly disturbing.

"No, we have dragons to reinforce us, you have me to protect you, we have vampires, magic casters, werewolves, lizardmen, dwarves, and countless others. We have the volunteers of your home and from E-Rantel, Black Justice elites, frost giants, ogres, and we have the undead servants of his majesty, to name just a handful. Yes, we are outnumbered, but they are a thousand stalks of straw, and we're a steel bar!"

"I can't wait, it's so exciting..." She said in a voice that carried her fanatical devotion. "I'm so honored to be here...Lord Ainz will be properly honored by an ocean made of the blood of fools."

Enri had always been a gentle woman but beginning with the death of her parents and the constant threats from beyond her home's safety, life had hardened her considerably, a fierceness built up in her that kept her calm in the face of calamity. She looked over her shoulder, her armies were arrayed in vast numbers, all looking to her, all listening to her. It was unreal, so far from her dreams in her childhood.

She got on top of her undead horse and turned to face the massed ranks.

"It seems they don't want to surrender!" She shouted out, and that drew a mass of laughter.

The sound of the Slane Theocracy's army beginning to move echoed across the stretch of land between the two. "I will make this quick! I've brought you to the party, now dance if you can!" She drew her sword up and turned her horse around again to face the oncoming horde.

They'd just taken their first step when the wave hit. A powerful, terrifying, glorious, wave of unutterable rage, an aura that was unlike anything else in the world but one, one that Enri knew quite well, one that knocked the entire army to its knees, including the powerful Lupusregina Beta. A moment later, it passed them by, and Lupusregina Beta began to laugh. "Did you feel that?!" She shouted.

"Did you?! Of course, you did! Wasn't that amazing?! That was the wrath of the Sorcerer King! That was the wrath of our god, see what he's done!" Lupusregina Beta shouted out with joy as she got back to her feet and pointed across the low field, the ranks of the Theocracy had fallen to their knees as if in prayer were shaking, terror, raw and unbridled, was washing over them and pressing them to the earth itself. Here and there, soldiers who got to their feet first began to drop their weapons and shields and run.

Enri looked to her left, the Goblin Strategist read the question on her face, and nodded with a grin.

"Cavalry charge! Goblin wolf riders! Horsemen! Centaurs! Ranged battalions, hammer their lines! Infantry hold formation. Forward march!" Enri called out her orders, and the cavalry stationed at the rear and on the flanks broke from their positions and charged screaming towards the enemy, their morale boosted, a few among the Slane Theocracy's forces were men and women of true courage, and they sent fireballs and lightning at those they could as soon as they were able, but it was like shooting an arrow at an avalanche.

Lupusregina stayed beside Enri as they moved forward, holes were already appearing in the Slane Theocracy's ranks as the wave of the Sorcerer King's furious aura swept over them, and people chose to abandon their place in the line and run away.

The clash of the cavalry was like the clap of thunder and with the severely weakened armies of the Theocracy now in fixed positions, Enri shouted her next order. "Send out the lunch boxes!" A signal flag was raised, and the roars of dragons were heard in the distance, carrying armored ogres, minotaurs, and a handful of elites from various races, the dragons flew over the army and landed the boxes at the back, the doors opened and they charged into the rear of the formation. An ogre wasn't very smart, but armored and carrying a mace it was a terribly hard foe to bring down, a minotaur could be as smart as a human, and it had a great well of strength and could and did dual wield axes meant to be two handed.

Already it was clear how the battle was going. Enri watched calmly as she slowly advanced with her infantry at her back. "Heavy hitters, charge!" She shouted, and another signal flag went up, and the ones classed as heavy hitters, the ones twice or three times the size of humans peeled off from their position and charged for the gaps, the spirits of the enemy army were already broken, this was just putting down bodies.

The scriptures were working terrible havoc, held in place by things like 'lion's heart' to give them courage where they had none. They could and did still fight and mages continued to inflict casualties on her forces here and there, but they were quickly forced to stop to engage in magic duels against the ranks of the goblin mages, among others, and against such overwhelming numbers of magic users, they began to falter.

Explosions rang out here and there, fire scorched the sky and lightning tore through the air, but General Enri kept her eyes forward, only when they'd come to easy sprinting range did she give the order. "Infantry charge!" A signal flag went up, and the shouts of goblins, vampires, werewolves, humans, dwarves, elves, and others mingled into one voice as they flowed into every gap. The dragons, having done their part in delivering their cargo now fell to their secondary role, sweeping the remaining archers who had been strengthened by paladins or mages, ice swept the grass and brought the spring of their lives to winter, ending many where they stood.

That was when Enri and Lupusregina began to rush in. While Enri was not a swordswoman of great skill, she was excellently guarded, and being seen in the thick of it all was good for morale. This was also the first time she'd ever seen Lupusregina as she really was, her flaming red hair was flaming red fur, and she let loose a howl that chilled the blood of her enemies, other werewolf howls responded, they were one pack and these in front of her were simply their prey. She ran on all fours for only the briefest of moments because she could just eat up ground that fast, her claws tore out throats and when her bite clamped down, a simple swinging of her head back and forth tore the arm away and sent the wounded screaming into the mass ranks of his friends.

Halberds were thrust at her, but they were mere offerings, and if she did not grab them and pull the soldiers wielding them into the final embrace of the maid, then one of her comrades nearby would lop it off and wade in, surrounded on all sides, ranks breaking apart, mages falling, dragons raking the field with their breath weapons, the beautiful green field had become a blood soaked nightmare. Hell had come to Crossroad City's fields, the grass was watered with blood, sweat, and tears from the dying, the cries of man and beast pierced the air like the arrows that flew overhead.

Black Justice soldiers lived up to their reputation and fought in battle pulses that wore down their heavier armed enemies and took advantage of their unique versatility to poke holes in the Theocracy lines through close range archery use before moving in with swords to further disrupt the lines.

Eighty thousand strong, the Slane Theocracy had come to the fight, but thanks to the wave of the Sorcerer King, those numbers had been reduced before the clash had even begun, thousands had been broken and run away, and thanks to the combined arms of Enri's flexible army, the remaining number were being rapidly eroded, and still more had begun to abandon their positions.

Enri swung her sword from the back of her undead horse, holding her banner aloft so it could be seen by all, she was certain that despite her best, and all the equipment she'd been given, she would have been killed were it not for the werewolf that she called one of her best friends, a woman like an aunt or a godmother to Nemu, and she was a monster.

There was no time to think, her banner had made her a target, and the Slane Theocracy's cavalry were struggling to reach her, an arrow came out of nowhere and hit her in the chest, for a moment she believed herself to be good as dead, only to realize it had bounced away, deflected by the superior armor she'd been given. Lupusregina seemed even more enraged by the danger she'd just endured, and redoubled her killing pace, swinging her arms out wildly and tearing through steel like a knife through butter, the Slane Theocracy's army was buckling badly, and a horn pierced the air, it blew three times, and the Theocracy began to break off the engagement, their mages focused their efforts on the dragons, trying to drive back the aerial threat while archers who still fought struggled to force the ranks of General Enri to give them space. Those of her enemy's forces who were fighting in the rear were relatively few, and certain soldiers, seemingly deemed suicide units, began to form up and make 'last stands' holding back superior numbers and fighting a delaying action.

It took a short time before Enri realized what was happening, the Slane Theocracy was trying to save what they still had and fall back to the city. She waved her flag furiously above her; she didn't want to let that army flee into the city, she didn't want another Ikarian style siege.

"GO! GO! GO!" She shouted, she reached down in a spare moment and grabbed her signal horn, she blew it twice, sounding the general charge. Ranks no longer mattered, formation no longer mattered, 'pursue and kill' was the order of the day and shouts from the army of the Sorcerer King echoed their happiness at the order. Recognizing the futility of their effort and that an orderly retreat was impossible, the Slane Theocracy's armies simply routed, a few at first, followed by vast numbers as the trickle became a flood and they ran for their lives. The pursuit began, the battle was over.

This had now become a massacre. Enri sheathed her sword, she didn't need it now, there were others better suited to this task than herself. She looked around as soldiers streamed past, Lupusregina walked up to her on two legs, still in the form of a werewolf queen, she was the epitome of terror, blood, and noble beauty, her bloody gaping maw was open as she looked up at General Enri, a stray intestine dangled from between her teeth, her eyes met those of the peasant, who looked back in return. There was a question there, unspoken.

Enri got off her undead horse and approached the werewolf queen, from down on the ground, the maid towered over her. She reached up, took the intestine in her hands and pulled it out, and she threw it away with a roll of her eyes. Lupus looked at the ropey piece of intestine thrown to the side as if she wanted to run after it and play 'fetch'.

"Lupu, you shouldn't play with your food." Enri said simply.

Gradually the form of Lupusregina Beta began to shift, until she was back to her customary look, that of a beautiful red-haired maid. She grinned toothily and gave a 'V' for victory sign with one hand, while the other was planted firmly on her hips.

"We win. -su," she said.

There were still screams around the field, in the distance there were still clashes where a few hold outs had decided to make a final stand, but there was no question of what the outcome of this clash was.

There were cries for mothers coming from the lips of many races, cries for the mercy of an end to pain from no fewer of either, the Slane Theocracy had fought as hard as anyone could expect under the circumstances, and they had not died without shedding the blood of Enri's soldiers.

As she looked around the grim hellscape of red grass and screams, Enri looked over at Lupusregina Beta. "Go, heal the wounded you can, the least I can do is go and comfort the ones our healers don't get to in time". While the bulk of her army undertook the pursuit, Enri sought the injured. She knelt beside the wounded, held the hands of the dying, blood and sweat stained her clothes, but she didn't care.

She took names, wrote them down, took final thoughts and put them to paper. A young man lay with head in her lap as healing magic casters and Black Justice priests went around the field saving whoever they could, it was clear they weren't going to reach him in time. A halberd had opened up his guts, a massive gash on his head was streaming blood, and an arrow pierced his thigh and clipped a vein, he was bleeding out while she held him, the soldier was delusional at this stage. "Mother… mother… don't let me go… please don't let me go…" He whispered out as his voice grew ever weaker.

"It's alright, it's alright, you're just going to sleep, don't be scared of the dark, I'll stay with you till you sleep…" Enri said, using the motherly voice she'd taken to applying with Nemu and Kuuderika before coming South.

"Thank you… thank you… it won't be scary, not as long as you're here…" he said as he drifted into his eternal rest.

When he slipped away, she went from one to the next, talking the dying into their rest while her medical corps saved those they could. It was a credit to their discipline that they did not leave the wounded of their enemies to suffer needlessly, but what she did not notice, was how widely her actions were being noticed by those who followed her, and those who did not. Whether Slane Theocracy or Sorcerous Kingdom, human or nonhuman the dying she could reach were held as gently as if in the arms of their own mothers.

The battle itself had ended in under two hours, the cleanup after the battle took five more, even without organizing prisoners and accounting for the dead. By the time all was said and done, her exhausted force simply could not march further, and camp had to be made on the field itself. Before nightfall, before the first round of sentries had been relieved, she learned that she'd earned a new nickname.

"The Grand Matriarch?" Enri said incredulously while Lupusregina Beta laughed so hard she had to clutch her belly to keep from doubling over more than she already was, even Sun had a crooked smile on his face.

"Ayup, that's what they're callin' you out there now. Seems they saw how you were all motherly to the dying, and some poetic sap whose name we'll never know decided the name fit you, it spread from there. Looks like you're as much a mother to the army as you are a general to it." Lupusregina said, wiping away tears of laughter as she straightened up and put her hands on her hips.

"This is good, General Enri." The goblin strategist said. "The god of war in the first world said that if your soldiers love you as a father, or in your case, mother, and you love them in the same way, they will follow you to the death."

Enri sighed, it might be good for morale and all that, but lofty titles were still not something she thought she was ever going to get used to. She rubbed her forehead wearily. "I need to rest." She said.

"Perhaps you should visit the prisoners first." Sun suggested, "And you still need the casualty reports before you sleep if you want to know what orders to give first thing in the morning." He reminded her.

"Alright fine, another hour or so without sleep won't kill me." She said tiredly, "Lupu, you coming with me?"

"Course." She said with a grin.

Fires were lit all over the place already as people gathered around to cook food, ogre sat with vampire, vampire with human, dwarf sat with elf and elf with human. The integration of the various races of her army had gone seamlessly, her admiration for her master had only ever gone up, but this sent it beyond the stars. As she walked through the camp, she began to truly see a vision of the world he sought to create, she'd said it often enough, but now, even more than when she saw the beginnings of it after Ikari, now it was right before her eyes. Like some imagined thing in the distance floating on the sea, carried slowly to where she stood on shore, and gradually coming into view until she could truly tell what it was as the tides of time brought it close to her feet. She reached out in the fading light of the field to a small group of companions trading stories. She cupped her hand low, and looking down the length of her arm, it was as if they sat within that hand. It was like a jewel sat there, shining and bright, and all she had to do was protect it, and it would be hers.

She sighed heavily; she was exhausted. She lowered her hand from her whimsical moment and walked on to where the prisoners were kept. Lupu was behind her so she felt completely safe approaching the improvised security zone. The prisoners were all secured together so that they couldn't move individually. To make that work, each chain had one single dangling circular loop from the center, and through that loop a long metal pole passed, this pole ran through the dangling center loop of every chain, and this pole itself had two metal loops secured to it, which were then locked to chains attached to stakes hammered hard into the ground. These stakes were unreachable, since the pole ran through an improvised wooden barrier. There were numbers of these enclosure stations for prisoners scattered about the camp so that the prisoners could not work together from one enclosure to another, a sensible precaution by any measure, but it did require additional guards, a fair enough trade off for increased security.

General Enri, the Grand Matriarch, approached one of those enclosures where the prisoners were eating, they'd had their armor and weapons taken, and some still bore minor wounds that hadn't been healed due to mana limitations and the greater needs of others, but those who were present looked healthy enough as it was. When they saw who was approaching, they froze.

"Good evening soldiers… or I suppose I should say, prisoners." Enri said politely, holding her hands folded behind her back and standing with her feet slightly apart, it was a commanding stance and it got their attention. "You're looking rather well I suppose, that is good. Does anyone speak for you? Who is the ranking member of your numbers?" She asked, and eyes turned to a sandy haired man with a golden beard.

"I do." He said, 'Company Commander Ignatius Elgin." He said crisply.

"Alright commander, first I suppose I should pay your soldiers a compliment, you fought as well today as anyone could be expected to. You're a credit to the courage of the Slane Theocracy." She said.

The compliment was the right move to make, their expressions all seemed to soften.

"The second thing I should ask is if you're being well treated, according to the Draconic Accords prisoners are to be provided food, water, and medical care. Moreover, abusing you is absolutely forbidden, have any of my soldiers harmed anyone among you?" She asked with equal crispness, a hard edge coming to her eyes that was impossible to miss.

"No… no one…" He said slowly, hesitantly.

Enri leaned forward a bit and put her hands to her hips, "You sound reluctant to answer, are you telling me the truth, or just what you think I want to hear?" She asked.

"It is the truth…" He said slowly.

"Then why are you hesitant to speak it?" She asked.

"I'm hesitant to admit it. It wasn't what I was led to expect from an army of…" He trailed off.

"Of?" She demanded.

"Undead worshipers and monsters." He finished with an uncomfortable swallow.

Enri nodded understandingly and straightened up. "I see, well I suppose I shouldn't be surprised you'd think that way, all things considered." She folded one arm over her belly and rested her other arm's elbow on the upturned hand, then raised one finger. "For starters you've been told what to expect by people who wanted you to die rather than surrender." She raised another finger, "For another you've been told how we are by people who have no idea what we believe and don't care if they're getting the information correct." She raised another finger, "And last but not least, you decided what we were before knowing what the truth was. Did you forget that it was our master, not yours, who proposed the Draconic Accords in the first place? Did you forget that it was he who had slaves set free and who has chosen to treat all with fairness? What injustice have we perpetrated in your eyes except that we have not put any one race over any other? Was it not our master who did what you could not and would not do, and saved the Draconic Kingdom from literally being consumed? No, whatever you thought or think of us, clearly it was wrong, and your leaders either did not know this, or did not care and chose to lie to you. Thank them for your chains, thank my master for your lives." Enri said confidently.

It was a sobering moment and it had a number of prisoners looking down uncomfortably. "What happens now?" Commander Ignatius asked softly.

"Well, those of you who are captives will be transported to the Sorcerous Kingdom for the duration of the war as prisoners, you will be put to work in a nonmilitary capacity and paid for your labor, those who refuse to work will be held more or less the way you're all held right now, but nobody will be tortured or otherwise mistreated." Enri replied.

"And after the war?" He asked with great trepidation in his voice.

"You'll be released I assume, so long as none of you are guilty of war crimes, and none of you commit crimes while imprisoned." She replied flatly, allowing her arms to fall at her side in a relaxed fashion before her hands folded behind her back again.

"I… I see. This is unexpected." He looked at her with some suspicion.

"You don't have to believe me, I understand, but it is the truth, and you'll see it for yourself." She said, putting as much sincerity into her voice as she could.

"For now though, I have questions that will need answers, I'll be having some people drop by to ask them, I just wanted to stop by and check with a few of you first, get a close up look at my enemies without sword swinging being involved." She said.

"Could I ask a question, ma'am?" Ignatius asked.

"Go ahead." She replied.

"How many of us did you take?" His voice was almost awed as he asked it, and Enri thought the question over silently for a moment.

"I haven't seen the final report yet, so don't hold me to this, but a rough estimate is about fifteen percent of your army was taken prisoner. It might be as high as twenty percent, it might be as low as twelve percent, either way, there are a lot of you." She answered, but she raised a finger in caution, "However, do not think for a moment that means you'll have a chance at escape, the undead guards that will be assigned to you are unbeatable by anything less than a legendary warrior, and if you had any of those, well I doubt they'd be in one of these confinement zones, would they?" She asked the question pointedly.

A great many uncomfortable looks found the ground to be very interesting all of a sudden, and then Enri bade them a good night and moved on to another confinement cell. She visited five of them before returning to the command tent, ensuring that her captives saw her and knew who had defeated them. They seemed to find her to be quite impressive, but all she really felt herself to be was very tired.

By morning she'd know if the leaders of the Theocracy army had been captured or killed, and by morning she'd be rested and ready to march on Crossroad. Today was a great day for the Sorcerous Kingdom, and tomorrow would be a better one, the last great northern Theocracy Army had been defeated in the field. However, many had escaped, well even if it constituted a military force still, it didn't have its former power, and that was a very comforting thought to have as she laid down to rest for the night.


	78. Birth of the Black Paladin

_…Twenty Miles from Crossroads…_

Enri lay like a dead body on her bedding. Having won the battle, defeated General Boabdil and seen to the disposition of supplies and prisoners, she now had a chance to rest. So she returned to her tent and collapsed. What distinguished her from the dead was her pounding heart, her shaking body, and the tears in her eyes as the faces of the dying she'd held passed before her vision. So many young men and women had died, people in the flower of youth who would never grow old now, never see tomorrow, never have children, never present grandchildren to their own parents…some of them no doubt had never even known the wonder and joy of intimate exploration of a deeply loved mate discovering one another's soft flesh and great desire. They would never know the happiness of clutching a new life to their breast, nor the bliss of watching them at play in front of their homes in a peaceful hour on a spring morning.

So much was lost when the young died.

And it ate at her. She'd held herself together through Ikari, but that battle had been relatively brief by comparison, and she had seen only a few bodies. The battle before Crossroads had been laid out as bare as a tapestry hung before her eyes, a hellscape of screaming and desperation. She was reminded that she was no warrior. She was not a woman who could walk through hell and walk away unscathed like Neia seemed to. She felt every death, even the poor ones of her ruler's enemies.

She was so lost in her reflection that she didn't notice Lupusregina's presence until the maid literally pounced on top of her with a huge grin on her face. Enri's face went to one of surprise in the candle light as she found the beautiful red haired woman straddling her and felt her powerful hands on her shoulders. All Enri could do as Lupu lowered her face to a few inches over Enri's own was stammer out, "Lupu… w-what are you doing?!" in utter surprise.

"Distracting you." She said in something akin to a dusky voice that sounded as predatory as it was seductive.

Enri was stunned into momentary silence. "Ah, uh, what?" She asked, acutely aware and starting to blush a deep red as she realized just what this looked and…felt like.

"Lots of your soldiers are doing this now, seems to be a thing humans do when their lives are almost lost, and since you're all alone… -su" She said teasingly.

"Oh, uh, no, I mean, thank you Lupu, but…but you know I'm married and… well we're both girls and…" She tried to explain as Lupu started to laugh on top of her, and then the maid bodyguard straightened up and got off of her, allowing her to sit up.

Lupu was all smiles as she scratched her head and looked sheepish…but also smugly self satisfied as Enri stared with her mouth agape.

"Just kidding. -su" Lupu said to her. "Though being both girls isn't a problem, Neia does it with Skana all the time. Too bad for you, it coulda been fun, yah know. -su." Lupusregina replied to her, enjoying Enri's blush and embarrassment.

She stood up from the bed she'd been laying on and put her hands on her hips and looked sternly at her bodyguard, "Really Lupu? Is this really the time for that kind of thing?" She asked rhetorically.

Lupusregina shrugged. "Seems a good part of your army thinks it is. -su" she said and Enri's fading blush reignited.

"But still." Enri said and crossed her arms, Lupu's flesh had been soft, and she had felt that warmth of desire in them both. "I'm married and…"

She watched Lupu's smile go from playful to warm. "Oh I know yah aren't gonna do it, salright, thought it'd be funny to do that, and make yah feel good for a moment. -su"

"Uh…ahhh…thank you? I think?" Enri said awkwardly.

"Any time, General Enri." Lupusregina said with a teasing smile and a mock salute, and then her face and voice turned serious. "Listen, I may not be human, but I've been with you for years now, we're friends, so I know what you're feeling even if I don't feel the same way. -su".

"What do you mean?" Enri said cautiously.

"I'm a sadist, I enjoyed killing out there. making an offering of blood to Lord Ainz in his service to give him the world is the highest honor I can think of, well…maybe second highest…" she added as she spoke, as she briefly imagined bearing an heir to his glory. She shook off the thought briefly and continued, "But you're a human, born a peasant and raised to something new. You were thrown into the fire here and told to survive. He's graciously given you the means to pass through, but you pay a price I don't. -su" Lupusregina said and walked up to Enri, so that there were bare inches between breast and breast.

"You pay it here." She said, and touched Enri's head with one finger, "And you pay it here, and laid her palm over Enri's breast where her heart lay, her voice was uncharacteristically understanding, the teasing and joking had passed away as she spoke, "I will never feel the things you do, the way you do. I was created by the supreme ones to feel at home in what you call a living hell, but I can tell you this, and I hope you take it to heart: All this that you do isn't for nothing, so even if you feel all those losses, focus on what you're buying for tomorrow, for Lord Ainz and for all of you who serve him. -su." She said, and Enri's body, though it still shook, relaxed a little.

"Thanks Lupu, I guess… I just got caught up with everything…" She said.

"You hate slavery right?" Lupu asked. Enri nodded and her face went dark.

"There are about ten thousand slaves in Crossroads. Wanna free em?" She asked, already knowing Enri's answer.

"Yes." Enri replied with conviction.

"Don't lose sight of that then. -su" Lupusregina said and let her hand fall away, "Those are really nice by the way, Nferia is lucky. -su" she said, cocking her head to one side, giggling, and sticking her tongue out slightly as her mischievous expression returned.

Enri blushed again, then laughed. "You'll never change, will you Lupu?" She asked as she turned to go back to bed.

"Nope." She said and gave a wave to her charge, as she walked back out of the tent.

 _…Argland Council State…_

They were in session when the wave of wrath struck them. They did not fall to their knees, but the entire council's heads bowed as one, and bowed low as if it were demanded by a living god, and it felt, in that instant, as if a skeletal hand had laid an intimate caress over their hearts and was pondering whether or not to squeeze. Instinctive terror - that was the only way to describe it - raw and primal, and not felt lightly by those powerful figures It brought them abject silence when it hit. That silence held for a solid hour as they lost themselves in their own reflective thoughts on the experience they had shared together.

"There can only be one source for that." The Worm Dragon Lord said.

There was nothing but looks of common agreement.

"Was it directed at us?" The Obsidian Dragon Lord asked gravely.

"I don't think so." The Diamond Dragon Lord replied, "We've been on more or less friendly terms, and he hasn't shown us anything but favorable neutrality, even to the point of discussing his intentions in front of us."

"Still, we should check. If he alone can project that kind of wave of raw terrifying rage all this way, we should find out how far it was felt, I'll send out feelers to the Slane Theocracy, Re-Estize, and so on, and see if they felt it too, we need to be sure this was generalized and not targeted to us." The Platinum Dragon Lord replied.

"And if it was not?" The Worm Dragon Lord asked.

"Then we do nothing to avoid appearing weak, and later when the time is right, we seek to build more friendly relations with…well lets be frank, he won't have a kingdom, he will have an empire when this is all over. Our national policy going forward must have two parts…the first, maintain our independence, the second, do not anger off the empire next door." The Blue Sky Dragon Lord said sagely.

"A productive and positive relationship is our best defense." The Diamond Dragon Lord proposed, and they began to hammer out the details of their proposals.

 _…Commonton: Just over the Abelion Hills border with the Holy Kingdom…_

 **AN: If you have forgotten them...as they haven't been central characters-  
Robel: Former captain of the guard in Hoburns, fired after he was blamed for the death of a prisoner that would have implicated the then 'Count' Handor. Converted to Neia's religion and served as a liaison and administrator after her departure.**

 **Gilcrest: Blacksmith who replaced Gascon after his assassination, serves as a kind of right hand man to Robel and has assisted with administration and correspondence ever since.**

 **Both went East along with most of Neia's followers before things went from bad to worse.**

Robel and Gilcrest were exhausted. The thirty thousand man army of King Astraka that had months ago marched east towards the Abelion Hills had been raided, slowed, hampered, ambushed, and more as it burned its way to the border. They had steadily pulled themselves farther and farther from Hoburns and as a consequence they had drawn themselves closer and closer to the demihuman lands ruled by the Sorcerer King.

Now they were operating out of Commonton just over the border and sending out small groups for individual actions, whittling down the significant force of trained professionals with their peasant volunteers, undead support, and now demihuman allies. Robel sighed, despite all their best efforts, before long they would have to fight a siege and they were outnumbered. The army was within sight, behind them beyond easy view, but nearly there if you squinted or had better vision than a human, Foundoton was a ruined and burned out husk. Its people had chosen to make a stand in some numbers and held off the force for three straight days before their walls were broken and their lives spilled out into the dust. Some of its former residents were now with him, most however, had chosen to die at home.

Gilcrest approached him and slapped his tired comrade on the shoulder. Robel looked over at him with his ice blue eyes and formerly neatly cut, now haggard dark hair hanging freely to the bottom of his neck, it bounced slightly as he moved. His always lean, sprinters body was ripcord muscle, but it did not alleviate his weariness.

"You look tired." Gilcrest said.

"Is anyone not?" He asked as the echo of demihumans preparing for a siege of their town reached their ears. They joined hands with the humans of Black Justice, and labored together for common survival, though some negative feelings still ran deep between the groups, the fanatical loyalty to their common lord, and the presence of a common enemy, had forced those feelings to be cast aside or at least pushed down temporarily.

"Granted." The young sandy haired, freckle faced boyish figure said and chuckled grimly. His powerful body was now crisscrossed with various scars from fighting, and his brown eyes looked out at the direction of the approaching army of Astraka. "How many do you think are out there?" He asked.

"As much damage as we've done, probably twenty thousand still." Robel said with resignation.

"How many do we have?" Gilcrest asked.

"Maybe half that, more if the entire town fights, the demihumans here are very strong, honestly the odds aren't that bad." Robel said encouragingly.

"Skeletons are great for some things, but we've lost a lot of them already, we'll use up the remainder in the first engagement." Gilcrest pointed out, "And we don't have but two or three people capable of using healing magic, while they have plenty. They can wear us down."

Robel's fist clenched and Gilcrest asked cautiously, "Can we get out of the town and lead them further into the interior?" He asked.

"Not unless we abandon the elderly and the children, human and demihuman alike, we don't have enough undead mounts, and even if we did, most of the food has traveled farther east and is with General Rockbruise, we'll run out of supplies long before we get help and we'll just die on the road." Robel replied.

"Shit." Gilcrest said pointedly.

"And if we do that, then there will be twenty thousand Astrakian loyalists marching to hit General Rockbruise from behind, between them and the army of the Slane Theocracy and the Elf Kingdom marching north, she'll be crushed." Robel added gravely.

"Aww hell." The boyish looking man said, "So we have to either stop them here and wipe them out, or hurt em so damn bad that they can't go one step farther than our corpses, that what you're telling me?" Gilcrest asked.

"That is exactly what I'm telling you." Robel said professionally.

"Any chance of reinforcements?" Gilcrest asked hopefully.

"None." He Robel replied with a fatalistic voice.

Gilcrest's face became resolute and he stuck out his hand towards Robel. In the distance they could hear the sound of drums and marching feet. "It has been an honor to fight beside you sir." Gilcrest said.

Robel heard in the young man's voice the resolve to die. "And I with you." He said and shook the young man's scarred up hand.

They went quiet and Robel looked behind him, the little town's population was like an anthill that had been kicked over as last minute preparations were made and warriors of each race took to the walls to prepare for a fight.

"When will it begin?" Gilcrest asked curiously.

"In a few hours if they had siege engines, but since we did manage to burn their battering rams, catapults, and the like, they'll have to stop to make ladders or a new battering ram. I don't think they'll want to wait that long, between the handful of red paladins we have, some of our better instructors, demihumans, and undead, we have an advantage at night, so they'll want to strike during the day." Robel said as his voice fell into that of a critical eyed professional soldier.

"So nights should be fairly peaceful at least. At least I won't die sleepy." He said with a wry smile.

Robel laughed and clapped him on the shoulder, "That's the spirit."

It was a while before they saw the cavalry of Astraka's army ranging just out of reach of anything in Commonton, their horses were obviously fit and battle ready. "Are they going to fight?" Gilcrest asked uncertainly.

Robel shook his head, "No, they're there to make sure we don't leave, and to make sure we don't lay any unpleasant surprises for them outside the town, wish we could have done that. More's the pity."

He proved correct about that, and when they found themselves facing an arrayed army of very angry humans, all he could do was look to the sky and sigh, if he was lucky, this was going to be a very long day.

Making ladders didn't take long, and whoever was in command over there apparently was in a hurry, because that was the only activity he spotted. The walls of Commonton were not large, but walls were walls even if they were only eighteen feet high and made mostly of wood. As a precaution Robel had ordered the demihumans to wet the wood to prevent fire from creating openings, and that cut down the risks somewhat at least.

The ranks of the archers were the first to move forward against the town.

"Archers!" Robel called out, and here at least he had some advantage, the archery skills of his people were prodigious.

They took a staggered formation along the walls and behind them, demihumans who were not archers but had some ranged capabilities arrayed themselves on the wall, determined to protect their homes at the front themselves.

"Loose!" He shouted, and thousands of bow strings released at once with a twang so loud he wondered if it could be heard by Astraka's army. Stone spitters send their own stone projectiles out against the opposing forces, and from them came a storm of arrows. Most struck nothing, embedding themselves in the wooden wall a building here and there, or falling uselessly to the ground. Some however, struck home and a soldier fell down with a cry of pain, or fell forever silent. A peasant improvised medical corps dragged the wounded to safety and began to apply what comfort and care they could.

The massed ranks of Astraka's archers took the worst of it, without the barrier of walls, and without being in a staggered state, projectiles hit home and men fell down screaming bloody murder, staining the ground red with their life's blood or fell silent into the grasp of death.

As they prepared the next volley the ladder bearing infantry began to rush forward, beside and around the ladder bearers there were men with shields to protect as many as they could, it left Robel a choice about who to target, either he could send arrows at the archers firing in support, or he could have the infantry targeted before they got to the wall, the former would inflict far more casualties, but archers did not take fortifications, so he made a quick decision.

"Archers on the ground, fire as before! Archers on the walls, target advancing ground troops!" He shouted from the top of the gate.

Stone spitting demihumans worked deadly well on the ladder bearing soldiers, though their stones could not penetrate shields, they could break the arms holding those shields by sheer force of the impact, and some archers along the walls found cracks in the defense, this forced those protecting the ladder bearers to become bearers themselves. Here and there a formation took to many casualties and a ladder fell abandoned as those bearing it lost their courage or their fighting power and either fled or rushed desperately to another ladder formation, those lone figures made easy targets, and they fell with a dozen arrows in their bodies or with their heads burst from the impact of a rock.

The advance continued however and the ladders rose where casualties had not been sufficient. "Receive the enemy!" Robel shouted and swords came out. The arrow duel continued from both sides as archers behind the wall targeted those they could not see as best they could, and Robel could see that they were still hitting some of the time, and doing a better job of it than the archers of Astraka. The soldiers at the wall were almost a blessing, in that at least the archers of his enemies, desiring not to hit their own, limited their fire to places where the ladders had not risen. He looked down over the wall, a ladder had come up to his position and soldiers were coming up, he took up a pole that was laying at his feet, it had a small, hand sized L shaped piece of metal secured to the end, he hooked it under the top rung of the ladder and pushed the ladder away. The menacing face of the young woman who was striving to come and claim his life, looked suddenly surprised as the ladder came away from where it had come to rest. Her expression was fearful for an instant, and she screamed as it fell backward. She landed in a heap with several others, she was alive, but probably hurt like hell. Other ladders were being pushed away in a similar fashion and it was making the Astrakan loyalists angry. That was when he saw the angels, a handful of magic users might not win a battle, but they could do some serious damage along the way, they swept in to defend another attempt at raising ladders, clashing from above with the soldiers on the wall.

Red Paladins proved very useful at pinning several angels down in a fight, but the reverse was equally true, Robel parried an angel's blow and kicked it in the back as it swept past, only for Gilcrest to impale it on his own blade and bring it down. Soldiers had begun to mount the walls in various places with some success, and bulges of fighting broke out, demihuman infantry came in swinging heavy weapons and punishing the human invaders for the temerity of attacking their town…but there were a lot of human invaders, and ever so gradually, the walls were lost.

"Secure choke points!" Robel shouted as their own began to fall back, and heavy infantry, shield using demihumans began to blockade roadways while human archers on the ground fell back behind those positions. Robel began to fight his way back down the steps, he gutted the woman who he'd previously knocked backwards, his sword went easily through her light armor and out the other and she fell with a weak scream and a sickening thud off the stairs and fell unmoving and then silent to the ground below. He lost sight of Gilcrest, but could hear his voice as clumps of people caught up together struggled to keep up with the demand to keep killing.

The bafolk with their long spears worked to keep the Astrakian army at bay, and where Black Justice fighters fell back, bows came out and close range archery struck knees, calves, kidneys, at every point they could outflank their foes.

But still they came on, still they came with drums of war calling down the wrath of the six gods on the heretics, they were winning, they could feel that they were winning, their army moved up, a banner of Astraka was planted over the gate as Robel watched helplessly, a small tower suffered the same fate, there were simply not enough of his people to take it back. Two Astrakan soldiers lifted up the bar holding it closed, only to die with arrows in their necks from some anonymous but deadly archer. The bar fell back into place, but four more went and took their places. Two more fell in the same way, but before the other two could be killed, they dropped the bar to the ground. They fell with arrows in their necks just as it hit the ground, two more rushed in and pushed the gate open and Robel could hear the horn sound beyond the wall for the general advance.

He took a spear by the haft as it was thrust at him and yanked it forward in his own direction, it threw the shocked man holding it off balance and as he stumbled forward, Robel shoved his sword into the man's face, he fell with a confused expression on his face, as if he could not understand how that had happened. Casualties were mounting and minutes later the way through the gate could no longer be seen as soldiers of Astraka began to fill the entrance.

Out of the corner of his eye he saw a small clump of his own men pressed hard against the wall of a building, surrounded, they were dropping fast, doing their best to take as many with them as they could. He lost sight of the doomed handful as he withdrew further along the street, but he made out the scream of Gilcrest from that direction. His heart broke and despair filled the cracks within it.

"Feel our divine wrath heretic!" A soldier screamed at Robel as he dropped his halberd with its tip towards Robel and began to advance.

That was when the wave hit, and taught that man and those with him, what divine wrath really was. He and all those with him fell to their knees in awe as the overwhelming feeling of divine rage swept over the entire town, and cold death's hate touched the hearts of Astraka's army. Fear, he saw hate and rage turn to unbridled fear, and the rage of his god filled him and those with him, "Unleash the undead! They are breaking!" Robel shouted and took out and blew his own horn, with rage and renewed vigor the demihumans and humans alike flung themselves full tilt into the battle, every man and woman of every species who was capable of fighting, flew to the desperate front with violent killing intent and numbers meant nothing.

The courage of the victors was shattered as if they were already defeated, and the untiring skeletal reinforcements poured out from where they had been 'stored' in anticipation of their use. The quailing hearts of the collapsed army of Astraka called for them to retreat, they had however, fallen to ground and the angry defenders began to kill them where they lay. Screams filled the air like water poured into a deep vessel.

Those who rose, had only one thought, flee! Flee the source of horror and terror and the wrath of whatever had done this to them. Soldier trampled over soldier, brothers and sisters at arms forgot the virtue of sacrificing themselves for their fellows, there was only the desire to run like rabbits, and they got in one another's way and created a press that made the gate into a trap. It was like stabbing fish in a barrel for several minutes, others climbed the wall and leaped down below, some fractured ankles or broke legs and crawled or hobbled away from the wall as fast as they could. No man stopped to help his brother, no woman stopped to carry her sister. Until within the wall there stood no living soldier of Astraka, and surrounding the gate was a red carpet of blood and bodies.

Robel mounted the stairs as he sheathed his sword, and when he had reached the top, he yanked up the banner from the gate, waving Astraka's colors in front of him so that all would know it was taken, and then he flung it contemptuously down to the ground in front of the gate.

The space in front of that had been churned to mud as a result of the soil being soaked to its limits with the blood of the dead and dying, and the proud banner looked a terrible wreck. However this was not contempt enough. He lifted up the flap of metal protecting his crotch, opened up the front of his pants, took a stance, and laughed as he urinated over the side and on to the banner of the king. If he could have shat upon it without risk of falling over, he might have. He was exhausted, skeletons rushed out under him a moment later, trampling the ruined banner to further disgrace as they chased down the living, killing as they went. Those who had injured legs or ankles did not reach safety, and the terrorized army routed in disgrace.

He turned behind him, barely able to remain on his feet through his exhaustion as he did his pants back up again and dropped the metal protective plate back into place. His face was bruised and covered in dirt, grime, sweat, and blood, and nor was he alone in this as he took stock of the scene of Commonton before him. He saw where clumps of his own men had died together, through they were ringed by numbers of dead foes, it was a point of merit to note that with them had died demihumans, none had abandoned the other.

From somewhere, cheers came up, swords, axes, bows, spears, and fists of a dozen races punched as if to strike the sky and their cries were so loud that even the thunderous noise of skeletons pursuing routed prey could not be heard.

Robel raised his hands and silence gradually fell. "Seek the wounded, secure prisoners, we've won! But we are not done!" Behind him the sun had started to go down, he wondered how long all that had been, it felt like minutes, but it might have been hours. "Unarmed citizens, carry water, provide food, and aid where warriors direct you, to the elderly, aid in the cleanup, clear the arrows, fallen weapons, and what bodies you can manage and set them in the town square for inspection for reuse!"

When his orders were obeyed, he began to stagger down the stairs, that was when he'd felt the pain in his side, he was bleeding from an ugly gash, it was painful, but it was only oozing, he would live, but he would need treatment. There was something he wanted to do first. He wanted to find Gilcrest, so he approached a corpse bearing Black Justice armor and turned it over onto its back, it was not him. He approached another…briefly wondering "How many more before I find him?" The carpet of bodies was extensive. It would probably be awhile.

 _…Prart...the day after the wrath hit…_

Neia and CZ sat across from Calca at the dinner table. It was a little strange for her to be dining with royalty still, but nonetheless there it was. They ate in silence for a little while. A servant poured wine for them, and Neia nodded in polite acknowledgment to the woman, a fresh faced looking teenage girl with long red hair and light freckles. She smiled nervously in return, but moved like someone with at least a decent amount of experience.

Finally Calca set her utensils down and folded her hands in front of her on the table, she looked Neia square in the eye and said, "You don't want me here, do you?"

Neia looked at her in surprise. "I'm sorry?"

" 'You...do not...want...me...here." She repeated slowly and deliberately.

Neia sighed and mimicked the posture of the Queen. "Put bluntly, no Your Majesty."

"Why not, did I do something to offend you?" She asked with a mix of anger and curiosity.

Neia shook her head, "No Your Majesty, but it is about your place in all this. You said yourself, you are the Sorcerer King's 'just cause'. If you die here, so does his cause and he goes from supporter of the rightful ruler to an invader. I'm not stupid. I know some of how this works among nobles." She answered gently.

Her answer calmed Calca somewhat. "I see. Well it is a risk I have to take. Remedios has all the authority that she does because she followed me in the first place, now she's become this warped, twisted thing I don't even recognize as the woman I once trusted with my life. I have to confront her, even if it is just once, and I'll have to trust you to protect me when I do it. Maybe I can talk her down, and if I can do that, then we can end all this that much sooner." Her voice was full of sadness and regret as she spoke, she could no longer meet Neia's gaze.

"I don't know if it'll work, but I understand your reasons and I won't fight it. I'll do my best to protect you, I swear it in the name of my god." Neia said respectfully. "What do you think of what we've done with Prart's defenses in the meantime?" She added, changing the subject artfully.

"I am impressed. I can hardly believe you were ever 'just a squire'." She said regretfully in answer. "I wonder how many others were denied the chance to shine the way you were."

Neia, at ease again, took a sip of wine and then a bite of her steak as she thought of how to reply. "No way to know. We just have to make it through all this, and do better next time." She said.

It was at that moment that a gate opened in the dining area and out of it stepped Shalltear Bloodfallen, dressed daintily and looking as beautiful as she ever did. "His Majesty wants to see you." She said abruptly. "Come with me."

"Who?" Calca asked , while Neia and CZ were already on their feet.

Shalltear pointed to Neia. "Her, but he didn't say you couldn't come. Knowing our Lord's infinite wisdom, he probably expects you to join her because you're with her at this moment." She sighed longingly as she thought of her master.

Neia could not move through the gate fast enough, and CZ was hot on her heels. The servant girl looked in shock as those she served, including the queen, rose to their feet and answered the summons. She remained stock still as the gate closed behind them. Unable to process just what she was seeing, her eyes fell to the bottle in her hand. "I think… nobody will mind if I have one glass of this to help cope with… that." She said in a soft, awed voice to herself and to the empty room as she moved to pour for herself.

The trio found themselves in Nazarick, before the Throne of Kings. When they arrived, she noticed that Demiurge was not present, while the rest of the guardians were arrayed along the wall along with several maids, only Albedo was an exception, taking her place at her lord's right hand, and none of them were looking especially happy. Whatever they had missed must have been truly terrifying. Neia felt a wave of nervousness. She could feel that something had recently transpired that must have angered their master enough that these calamitous beings would be on edge. Only he, only the god she served, could have been sufficient to do that to them. But courage was not something in which she was deficient, so she began to approach the throne, coming into the reach of the Sorcerer King's voice. She heard him apologize, speak to them for a minute or two more, and then dismiss them from where they stood.

When she'd come to a respectful distance and took to one knee, followed closely by Queen Calca and CZ, she looked up to him adoringly and spoke. "I come at your command Your Majesty." Neia said, choosing to ignore what she had witnessed.

The Sorcerer King's voice was now even and tempered as he spoke. "Yes, I am glad you've come today Neia, and also you, Queen Calca, it is proper that you should witness this."

The Queen looked interested, but remained silent.

"You have been my squire for quite some time, haven't you Neia Baraja?" He asked.

"Yes my lord." Neia replied proudly.

"I don't want you as my squire any longer." He said, and for a moment, Neia felt her world shatter into a million little pieces. Calca's face fell into a shock she couldn't hide, and even CZ's eyes widened slightly. Neia briefly wondered "What horrible thing have I done, have my failures been so terrible…yes probably, but why am I being punished only now?" She wanted to wail and her eyes were about to start bawling, but in that single instant he turned her misery on its head.

"I want you as my paladin." He continued, and her heart, shattered to those million pieces, reformed in its depths and soared to new heights of joy. She did begin to cry, but it was with a clear and obvious joy.

Those still present in the throne room looked on in silence. Few born outside of Nazarick, could ever say that they were truly welcomed as a comrade by those who were created within its walls. True, a visiting guest of the lord of the tomb could expect the finest treatment and service in the world. Granted their master's favor, such a guest would be treated with the respect of royalty. But in the hearts of those formed from the mud of creation by the supreme beings for their purposes, from the lowliest maid to the guardian overseer, an outsider was an outsider.

There was however, one exception to this, and that exception now knelt before their master. Neia had declared their master to be the god he was, and was giving her life to making sure the world knew it, she had offered her life unflinchingly in a test devised by Demiurge himself, and those watching through the mirror of remote viewing at the time, saw first hand how her heart broke as she failed to end her life on command, unwittingly passing his test.

She had become something unique in their eyes, and the only indication that the 'worthless bugs' outside the tomb had redemptive value.

"I accept your majesty's offer, I will take my oath now if it please you sire." She said as her voice cracked with happiness.

He nodded his head, and she lowered her gaze, took her sword, and rested it point down vertically in front of her, keeping her hands firmly on the hilt. She spoke with all the power her voice could muster. "I, Neia Baraja, dedicate myself to the service of the Sorcerer King. I bond my life to him and his cause, his people will be my people, his enemies are my enemies, his will is my will, his ways are my ways, for as long as he will have me; I will be his paladin, and he will be my lord."

The Sorcerer King stood from his throne, descended the steps, his every footfall echoed in the silent hall until he stopped before the kneeling squire. "You have made your oath." He said, and struck her lightly but firmly across her face, enough to sting, but with care not to injure her. "That is so you will remember it. You knelt as a squire, now rise as my Black Paladin." He said, and Neia could not stand fast enough, she sheathed her sword and smiled happily as joyful tears ran down her face.

"It is right that a paladin of mine should rise, to bring down a paladin who has fallen." He said to her and placed his hands on her shoulders. She nodded gravely.

Calca watched all this from bended knee and as Neia stood proud and happy, an impulse welled up within her that compelled her to speak. Normally she would speak with art and grace, but in this moment, she could not find either, so her words were rushed and emphatic.

"Your majesty, I offer you my kingdom as a province, not as a vassal, if you will have it." She said, looking up at him intensely.

Ainz froze, he and Neia both looked down to her, and he was glad his face could not show surprise.

"And what of yourself?" He asked.

"His voice…it's so noble…and it even sounds concerned for me…truly he is a king." Calca thought, and then answered, "If I survive this war, and it is your desire, I will serve to continue to rule the land, I would rather be governor of a great and prosperous province, than Queen over ruined ashes. As part of your kingdom, my people will have the brightest possible future, as fast as possible. It was always my dream to create a kingdom where all could live happily, from the small folk to the great, and I have been…shown several times that your ways are the highest and most noble, and therefore the most certain path to my goal is to present myself as your servant in the firmest possible way. My kingdom will be your province, and my crown your crown, your law will be my law, and my body and mind will be yours to command." She said hurriedly improvising an oath of submission.

"Then rise as the Governor Queen." He said, holding out his hand for her to take.

"I don't know that title." She said with uncertainty, "Does it mean you accept my oath?" She asked hopefully.

"I do, you have lived as a Queen, and I would not rob you of that title, you will be my governor, but you will keep the title of Queen for all your life. Doing the right thing for your people should not always require sacrifice." He said. His red orbs had terrified her the first time she'd seen them, when she'd lain naked on a table and found her shaking feet moving to the marching beat of his endless plans. Now she found them to be warm as winter flame in her own hearth. She took his offered hand, and stood.

"I will send you back now, as you have much work to do." He said, and with a nod to Shalltear who remained behind them, a gate opened. CZ then arose, and the three bowed together, deeply as they could, then backed away from him, and went back through their gate to finish a meal before the hard work of the last days of preparation was laid before them.

 **AN: Thank you all for reading this far, I hope you've found this story to be an enjoyable journey thus far and well worth your time. If you'd like to support and encourage my further efforts at making things awesome... you can support turning this into an audio and illustrated ebook (Which I will NEVER charge for) by supporting it on p a treon dot com slash godrising. Or you can help make the world a little more awesome by donating to my charity organization at bdgiving dot org. Or if you just want to hang out, get early access during the beta stages, get discord exclusives, or maybe get your own work looked at by a positive and supportive community, visit our discord server, the invite code is on my author page. Good news is... I'm off work today thanks to a flight conflict with my obligations tomorrow...so I have all day to write. Lucky us.**

 **OH! And one final thing, to those of you who said you're going to start writing...yay! Writers keep communities alive, we need all of you! To those of you who got something significant out of stories like 'The Synod' thank you, that means a LOT to me, everyone who creates, wants to know if they've had an impact on those who see their creation. That is why we like reviews so damn much. Also, FFN cut off my address, so I'll try it this way...in case you made some art and found you couldn't send it because it cut off my damned address. You can send me any fan art using my username at the email service provided by the world's most popular search engine. Censor THAT FFN! ;) OK, I'm out.**


	79. Broken and Building

Zesshi was not a loud woman, not by any means. She was a placid sea, but every drop was wrath, cold as the frozen winter or hot as the surface of the Sun itself. She could not remember the last time she'd raised her voice, save to address her soldiers just a moment ago. This was different, this was wrath given voice, pain spoken to the air, hatred boiling out of her lungs as she swung her scythe and reaped a harvest of stone.

Her voice carried over the shattering noise as she swung, and swung, and swung, so great was her ferocity that both armies for an instant, froze in utter disbelief that anyone, however strong, could do what she was doing now. She was a vendetta made flesh, and her heart and her flesh were harder than the stone she struck. And so it gave way beneath her, crumbling into pebbles and fragments and falling down like a spring rain, the dust hiding her briefly like a fog, and she the monster concealed within it.

Queen Draudillon watched this with abject disbelief, and an ever increasing hatred for the Slane Theocracy. They had that woman in their ranks… and had not sent her to aid the Draconic Kingdom? Such a warrior could have reaped a harvest of beastmen sufficient to end the war in a day, had she only been unleashed. She looked up at the head of the dead messenger that sat affixed to the pike. "We will avenge you, that much I can promise." She said softly.

Though she knew it was impossible, she felt like even the dead eyes of the murdered man were transfixed by the spectacle of destruction as the walls of the Forlorn Fortress, which had stood for centuries, snapped and broke like toothpicks.

Zesshi's command armor was designed expressly to make her stand out and make her more effective in her leadership position, that much Queen Draudillon knew without a doubt, but it seemed it also offered top notch protection as arrows that struck her body when the various armies came to their senses, simply 'pinged' off of her, bouncing off or breaking and falling straight down to the ground at her feet.

The elven commanders gave each other hungry looks as they watched their general personally demolish stone walls, the flying column of mounted soldiers was filled with hatred and bloodlust, and though initially put off by the enormous walls, that faded as the awe of their general's power was put on full display. In their heart of hearts, many still had their doubts about whether this was anything but a suicide mission, the elf King was widely considered to be invincible, yet here was one who seemed to be his equal, one who could bring him down. It did a world of good for their morale as the lingering doubts, some of which were buried so deep that they were not even recognized by their bearers, were blown away like dust in the wind.

The humans of the Slane Theocracy were brave, nobody would deny that, and here at the Forlorn Fortress, that was doubly true. Where the walls still stood, so too did human warriors, their arrows flew out against the massed ranks of the armies of Draudillon and Zesshi, here and there a foot fell for the final time and a cry of pain was cut off by an arrow in the throat or in the eye. Yet the tide did not stem.

Still it was a bitter fight as desperate and zealous soldiers of the six great gods came screaming into the fray, only for Zesshi to spread the blood of their bodies into the air like a red mist with a swing of her scythe. Squads began to advance down roads and kicked down the doors of buildings, from within the obscuring walls desperate scuffles could be heard and shouts for aid that would never come, pierced the air to find indifferent or helpless ears, or worse, to draw in another eager to spill blood.

The fighting was bitter and harsh, with quarter neither given nor asked, but house by house, street by street, the outer zone of the Forlorn Fortress began to fall into the hands of the besiegers. Queen Draudillon had begun to advance herself, only to be stopped by the outstretched hands of one of her honor guard, a slender, almost womanly looking young man of delicate features named Coeur. "Majesty… no." He said in a kind, even sympathetic voice.

"My people are out there dying… where else should I be?" She asked sharply and made to advance again, only for the young man to stop her again, tugging at the reigns of her massive white horse.

"Here." He said firmly, "You are not a warrior, you can't use tier magic, if you go, you may hearten your soldiers, but you will also present an irresistible target, and many more may die to protect you. Please… stay here." He said, daring to lock eyes with the descendant of a dragon.

Her eyes were not full of wrath as she met his gentle look, it seemed so out of place on what must have been a highly skilled warrior, the tone of his words touched her heart, and though it cut somewhat that she could do nothing more than she had, his message reached her and her tense body relaxed. "You're right," she said with a sigh, "I appreciate your counsel, Coeur."

His armor and that of the rest of her honor guard relaxed visibly, the metal rattling as they sat back in their saddles while they watched the fighting. From where they sat atop their massive horses, they could see their soldiers were reaching the tops of the walls. Close fighting was bitter, and sometimes they could see someone fall over the crenelations down to the ground many feet below. They could not hear the sickening 'thud' of a body being forever stilled, but there was not one who did not wince as they imagined the sound. Others fell within and could not be seen, but the deadly toll was telling the story of the end. Each soldier who could see what was happening, was so thrown off by the shock and horror of their outer defenses being so easily breached by humanity's trump card, a trump card they did not even know their nation had ever held, or how it had been turned against them that for minutes, precious, vital minutes, they could not find the ability to resist.

Even the bravest may be frightened of sudden terrors, and that was the case here. They could not see where Zesshi was as she moved within the fortress, but they could guess. She was an army unto herself, and they could see where she had casually demolished a building when the dust or stones were flung up beyond the height of what walls still stood. House to house fighting, for her, meant destroying the house with everybody still inside it, that much was obvious.

"She was right." Queen Draudillon said.

"About what, Your Majesty?" Coeur asked curiously.

"When I expressed doubt about her ability, she said that was the last time I would doubt her. She was absolutely right." The Queen's voice was awed, but it carried with it a bitter note as she marked down in her heart's ledger, another strike against the Slane Theocracy that had used her people as meat shields while they kept the weapons necessary to save her people, clutched tight to their breasts. This in turn also marked up in that same ledger, the gratitude and reverence she felt for the king to which she was going to submit.

That was when the wave hit. Like a black cloak that briefly hid the eyes, it consumed the world in an instant and only the fact that they were holding the reigns of their horses tightly in their tense state, kept them all from being bucked off the suddenly rearing mounts. There was Terror for an instant at the sudden pressure as if some giant was pressing its finger down on them hard enough to squash them like ants… then not, instead a rush of warmth and comfort as if they had been gathered to the bosom of a powerful and protective father, but nonetheless it left them sweating and staring in awe. The entirety of their armies had been gripped in that same moment, forced to their knees as if in deference to royalty. The effect on the Slane Theocracy however, was very different.

Terror, raw unbridled terror struck the bravest hearts as they felt a skeletal hand close around the beating life within their breasts, some fainted, a few suffered heart attacks, others dropped their weapons and fled as soon as they could get to their feet again, bitter fighting became a rout and the slow going on the outer wall went from a crawl to a walk to a sprint as their soldiers occupied positions held by the Theocracy. Many of the soldiers within the Forlorn Fortress trampled one another in their desperation to flee, a few fell into a madness that did not last as a vengeful elf or angry human cut down their madness with the swing of a sword or the thrust of a spear.

"There can be but one source for that…" Queen Draudillon said, trembling in an almost religious reverence.

"My Queen?" Coeur asked.

"I felt that once before." She said, "When the Sorcerer King came to avenge one of his servants upon those who had wronged her, he crushed them with the force of his aura alone, turned their bodies into jelly, something has angered him greatly, and I think I can guess what." She said by way of explanation.

"What?" He asked in his lilting voice.

"The Sorcerer King seems to take two things very personally, the first is the wellbeing of his people, as any decent royal should. The second would be his agreements, in the years he's ruled I have never once seen him break his word to anyone. For him to be this angry, I would lay odds that he has found out that his agreement with our common enemies have been completely breached or nearly so, and that this has resulted in many of his people suffering. I wonder how far his rage spread?" She asked rhetorically after she told the young knight what she knew.

He and his fellows gave a brief shudder at what she'd said. "You chose the right side, Your Majesty." He said emphatically.

"I know." She said with absolute conviction.

Within hours the entirety of the outer wall had fallen, but worse than that for the Forlorn Fortress was that there were so many soldiers on the exterior that they could not afford to simply cut them off, and so some noble soul held open the portcullis to allow them to flee within. This nameless, noble, loving, foolish soul kept it open to save his brothers and sisters, but hot upon their terror struck heels were the thundering hooves of undead mounts as cavalry began the process of butchering them from behind. In this desperation to save his fellows the gate was not closed until it was too late, a handful of elves and humans made their way through and rushed up the tower, quickly killed the lone defenders, and began to raise the gate back up. The chains groaned as they put muscle and bone to the task. Two sweat-soaked figures inched it back up while their comrades waited beyond, some firing arrows at the backs of those who fled, or into the faces of the few who found courage enough to rush to prevent the breach. Men with swords bright in the light, unstained by blood, fell back with arrows piercing youthful faces, their virgin blades never to be raised again.

Though a small number did reach the tower and attempted to mount the steps, that brave band of elves and humans that had first breached the secondary interior wall marked themselves as heroes, defending with their lives the valiant comrades who turned the wheel, inch by inch the portcullis was wound up, and each on the other side strove to be the first to join their brothers on the interior, rolling themselves or crawling under when only inches were given to them. They were heedless of the blood that slicked the way like oil when it soaked into the dirt and dust. This intensified the rout, but on the inner wall, time had allowed for men of courage to find their wills again and return to the defense, they manned the ballistas along the wall, and sent enormous arrows where they could, pinning down the mixed ranks at avenues and juncture points. They had resigned themselves to the loss of the exterior two walls, but they had not given up the fight. Driven by the mindless instincts brought on by constant preparations, they loaded and fired their weapons at every place that the two armies had to move through to gain ground.

The secondary interior wall fell easier than the outer wall, as did the entire area surrounding it, but such were the number of siege weapons and their massed ranks of archers, that had filtered back to their positions, that no further advance was possible without the breaching of the wall itself. By then, darkness had begun to set in. The orange light of the sun bathed the bodies of the living and the dead in its warm glow, and night's cloak was draped over defender and attacker in unison. This became the unspoken mutual agreement to a truce between the two armed camps, and those within could only watch as their buildings were torn down to make fires for cooking, or turned into shelters for their enemies.

When darkness had consumed the world entirely, Zesshi and her two commanders made their way to where Draudillon had established her tent. She approached with the vampire elves walking two paces behind her holding torches aloft, not for themselves to see, but rather that they may easily be seen and not mistaken for anyone else. Her command armor made her stand out as shadows danced on white in the firelight, and the duelist armor of the siblings at her back had an imposing, dangerous aura about it that caused even brave ones to shiver. They did not help comfort anyone by hiding their eyes, and so the blood red that was illuminated by the flames revealed easily just what they were. For those humans not yet familiar on a personal level with the inclusive policies of the Sorcerer King, this sent shudders of fear down the backs of those who saw them. More than one moved out of the way as fast as if they had charged into the breach points earlier in the day.

If it bothered the siblings, they gave no sign of it, they simply marched in even time behind their general, who stopped at the command center of the Draconic Queen. Two guards were stationed at the entrance to the building she had occupied as her headquarters, their stern faces like statues carved of stone, they did not flinch at either the scythe wielding Zesshi or at the vampire elves at her back. That drew a mental note of approval from the trio, courage was always to be revered. "A moment, General Zesshi, I'll go announce you."

"I can do it myself." She said bluntly, and the soldier paused, reflected a moment, and then nodded.

"I suppose you can." He replied, and she and her companions walked past and opened the heavy wooden door. When they entered, she looked about and found the room lit by 'continual light' enchanted objects hanging from the ceiling. Queen Draudillon was hunched over a map, staring intently, her hands pressed down on each corner, she looked up when the half elf walked in as brusquely as one might expect of a woman with her background. "You were right." She said firmly.

Her odd first words caught Zesshi off guard. "About?"

"I will not be doubting you again." She said, her voice tingedtinted with a note of apology.

Zesshi let out a slightly cocky smile, "No, I think you won't, but apology accepted."

The tension of their initial evident dislike of one another began to thaw a little, as Zesshi saw that the woman, however weak compared to her, was not without her strong points. That little glimpse of justified nobility set her more at ease, noting with satisfaction that she had been doing several things right along the way, not only in making a sincere apology, but now pouring over a map while other soldiers rested, ate, and drank. "Who works when others layabout, wins." She muttered under her breath as she remembered what Neia had said to her about their preparations.

Behind her stood several men in light armor, her staff, Zesshi presumed from their gear and their expressions. "Thank you for joining us, by the way." Queen Draudillon said politely, "These are my advisers, some of the few nobles to have survived my purges."

"Purges?" Zesshi asked.

She nodded, "I had entrusted the treasure that is my kingdom, to the guardianship of thieves. The power of the Sorcerer King, both in mind and in raw might, gave me the means to not only see them for what they were, but to remove them, publicly and permanently. The only ones who remain are with us because they demonstrated both character and ability. The rest are dead."

The voice of the queen was one of ice and contempt, while behind her the few she still had with her, looked proud and confident.

"They are, Count Cabron, Baron Leywin, Duke Asta, and the Marquis Neville." She said without looking behind her, and each one in turn raised their hand in greeting and politely inclined their heads.

"These are my vice commanders, Thirg and Tefl, and yes, they are both former slaves of the Slane Theocracy and yes, they are also both vampires." Zesshi said, and they gave smiles that showed off their fangs.

"The Sorcerer King's inclusive policies are indeed everything I have heard them to be." Count Cabron said in a neutral voice.

"They are, as long as they take only from the willing, or in battle against common enemies, and abide by his 'social contract' they are free to live openly. Nobody can harm them without cause, nor deprive them of the right to purchase goods or live where they wish or how they wish. Only breaching his peace will result in the loss of an equal place in his society under his laws." Zesshi said with a reverence that reminded Queen Draudillon of her own sense of awe.

When their eyes met again, a measure of understanding and the recognition of common ground, passed between the two, and that thaw of initial hostility over their obviously radical differences, intensified considerably.

"So, down to business, how do we take the rest of the fortress?" Queen Draudillon asked.

"I go smash the walls. Everybody goes through them, we swing our weapons until they stop moving." Zesshi said casually as if she were describing how to dig a latrine pit.

Thirg laughed, his massive torso heaving from the force of it, while beside him his lithe sister curled her lips in approval and nodded along. "Simple, but effective, idn' it?" She asked rhetorically.

"Yes… ah, yes it is." Queen Draudillon half stammered out, behind her, her staff looked at Zesshi in surprise.

"That isn't the question I came to ask or answer though." Zesshi said.

"Oh? What did you have in mind?" The queen replied.

"The real question is what do you do once you've taken the fortress?" She asked, "You can destroy it, but, I would actually suggest you leave some of your soldiers to hold it, a few thousand swords can hold out for a while, and it would serve very well to guard the way into your country, after all, and as a staging area for any reinforcements you have coming to you." She elaborated on her thoughts as she pulled the map of the Slane Theocracy over the top of the one detailing Zesshi's description of the fortress layout.

"I'm moving here." She said as she traced her path to the sea. "General Enri is moving here." She said and traced the path from Ikari to Crossroads. "That means you can move southwest, towards Wheaton to join with General Enri, however if you don't mind a suggestion…?" She looked up from the map at Queen Draudillon, who nodded for her to continue. "Why don't you move directly south instead, seize Yaksun and then turn east to capture Fortress Igan on the coast. My ships can catch them in a pincer action and seize the fortress from two sides. They won't expect an attack from the sea, then after that we'll seize what supplies we need, and take ship for the rest of the way south, leaving you free to capture townships all over the eastern area of the Slane Theocracy."

Queen Draudillon looked over her shoulder at her command staff, and Count Cabron approached. "That is a reasonable plan, but that still means two sieges in a row, that is a lot to put on anyone without your prodigious strength. Might I suggest this instead?" He traced his finger along the sea route. "Travel slowly, we leave no survivors here and then our army will march double time to Yaksun, we'll send a double agent to Igan to report our armies are moving towards the city, they'll nearly empty the fortress to rush to its defense, then when you arrive to find it undermanned, you simply capture it with minimal effort in a surprise attack. If they invest Yaksun, then instead of taking the city, we ignore it and begin to capture the surrounding townships. They'll have no choice but to come out and pursue us, then you depart the fortress, and take the now lightly guarded city from behind while we lead their forces around by the nose."

Predatory grins surrounded the table as he laid out the plan.

Zesshi however, wore a small frown. "How long will all that take? My target is the elf kingdom, and long delays will hamper the war in the west." She said hesitantly.

Count Cabron thought it over, "Including the time to march, maybe two weeks, and Fortress Igan has to be taken anyway, they practically control the sea, so if you try to pass them by, they'll send out warnings to every city, fortress, and town in the South that you're coming."

Zesshi's frown deepened. "I suppose we have no choice then. Alright, we'll do as you suggest. By the way, before I came to see you, the rest of my army arrived, so we'll make quick work of the rest of the Forlorn Fortress in the morning."

"A drink then?" Draudillon asked, and gestured to the bottle on a nearby table. Zesshi nodded, and the Marquis went and poured several cups and passed them around, each took a cup in turn and passed it around until no hand was empty.

"To victory, revenge, and tomorrow." Draudillon proposed and raised her cup, they brought their cups together, the vampire elves, the half elf, the blood descendant of a dragon, and her human nobles. They drank, save for Draudillon, who set her cup aside.

Zesshi raised an eyebrow. "You don't care for it?" She asked.

Queen Draudillon shook her head. "The opposite, but, I don't need it anymore."

 _…Kami Miyako…_

Dominic was happy. The wave of terror that had struck the city made everything so much easier for his propaganda about being personally responsible for tracking down the 'serial killer' that had been slaying breakers, burning down brothels, and so on. It was a master stroke, such a simple lie and he'd become as a god to the population, the man who personally slew a 'Black Justice infiltrator'. He snickered as he walked to the council chamber. How much power could come from lying to the ignorant and the fearful? The wave of terror that had passed over the city after that was icing on his cake.

Such was the terror over the nation that the emergency powers act which he promised would ease the way for him to give them victory passed without opposition from the temples and gave him almost absolute authority with no meaningful checks against him. Ginedine and Berenice had opposed the measure alongside Raymond, but sans the support of the temples and the now paranoid population who saw him as the only hope for victory and the great defender of humanity, there was nothing they could do. So it was that Dominic attained the title of 'Great Defender'.

He arrived at the council chamber just as the others were filtering in, and as per their sacred routine they all cleaned and dusted the room, it was the only time they all ever truly worked together anymore. The rest of the time… well part of him missed the collaborative way they were all on the same side, but it was a small part, a mote of dust in a sunbeam, there and then blown out of view by the winds of change. When they were done, they took their seats.

"First item," Dominic said, "from Raymond…?" He said as he looked at the document in surprise. "You're proposing a pay increase for all of us?" That brought some funny, even incredulous looks.

"Not really pay, more like… bonuses, our pay is fixed, but bonuses are certainly deserved and there is nothing that says we cannot have them, and as a rider to this I also propose we register the slave merchants, their stock, and their security and require that any who are deemed to have an insufficient number of guards per lot be levied severe fines for their lax security." Raymond said in a completely reasonable tone of voice.

Dominic, Yvon, Maximillian, Ginedine, and Berenice looked at him with shock. Dominic's face became a sneer as he put his elbows on the table, then drew his hands together, making a pyramid with his fingers and looking down his nose at his 'soft' rival. "Are you serious?" He asked.

"Absolutely." Raymond said.

"Why?" He asked with suspicion. "Surely a sympathizer like you hasn't… come to his senses?" He asked sarcastically.

Raymond mentally sighed, Dominic's soul seemed blacker every day. "It's simple, this is my country and I don't want it to fall to internal rebellion because some idiot skimped on security. Moreover, the increased revenue from fines and fees can cover our bonuses."

"That is a… sensible proposal." Maximillion said reluctantly, "We've raised considerable numbers of soldiers in the last few weeks and have even lightened the city guard, so we have to make sure the slavers do their part to maintain the security of their own property."

Dominic looked at Raymond with lingering suspicion, but he did not flinch, and it was with some reluctance that he agreed with a hesitant bow of his head. "I can see how useful that would be… Alright, vote."

The motion passed unanimously, but Berenice and Ginedine looked daggers at Raymond until the end of the meeting.

That evening when they parted ways, they made a long winding trek to Raymond's home and knocked on the door. An elf answered the door who was smartly dressed in a black outfit and fine shoes. His face, formerly looking stiff, fearful, and formal, lit up when he saw the pair and he swiftly moved aside to grant them entry. For a moment his 'fearful' expression set them at discomfort, however they quickly recognized it was an act when his face relaxed.

"Raymond." They said in unison.

"This way." He replied and lead them to his office.

Within his office was an unexpected sight. His walls were surrounded by a wealth of books, in the back center of the room was a cherry stained desk with a finely made chair on which their comrade sat, reading a document and writing notes with his free hand. What was surprising to them was that along one wall sat a number of small elf and half elf children who were reading in small chairs of their own, while just in front of them a young elf woman waited patiently holding up a sheet of paper.

"What…?" Berenice began with surprise and confusion evident on her face.

Raymond looked up, set down his quill and folded his hands in front of him on the desk. "Cherat, you and the children give us ten minutes, would you?" He asked politely. The elf woman smiled sweetly and called the children to her, shooing them along with a tender wave of her hand. They smiled and waved at Raymond as they filed out, and she closed the heavy wooden door behind her.

"What was that?" Ginedine asked.

"School." Raymond said simply. "What did it look like?" He asked innocently.

"A better question would be… what was that back at the council? Heavier security for the elves? You're going to make life harder on them? This doesn't make any sense?!" Berenice hissed out venomously.

Ginedine nodded sagely, rather calmer than his counterpart. "I thought we'd come to one mind on this, and while I see you harboring many here… that only makes what happened out there more insensible?!" His voice was low and calm, but most emphatic as the words poured out.

Raymond shook his head, "I'm disappointed in you both." He said with a smile that warned them he was only being somewhat sarcastic. "I'm honestly surprised, you didn't think I had a reason for my actions? It's quite simple," he said in the tone of a teacher to a student, "There was no way Dominic was going to increase the price of slaves if I had proposed it, however by imposing this burden on the slave traders and owners and disguising it as a security measure, I have reduced the demand due to the increased cost of ownership. Fewer people will buy slaves, and those who do will bear a higher cost that in turn gets passed into our hands, which means 'we' can secretly buy up more ourselves to see them secured. The paranoia over the possibility of a slave rebellion is unfounded and we all know it, the breakers were very good at their work, there is little to no chance of any mass escapes or anything else, so the increased security doesn't change that at all. Therefore, what it means to us is that they're less likely to buy, and less likely to abuse those they have due to the high cost of ownership. As long as we keep our own purchases secret the cost doesn't change much, plus the high bonuses mean we can purchase and support more of them more easily." He explained, and their angry and confused looks became satisfied expressions.

"Clever." Berenice admitted reluctantly.

"Agreed." Ginedine said happily.

"Yes, I know, I did think of it after all." Raymond said with a bit of mock arrogance in his voice.

"So then, what next?" They asked.

"We get them out." Raymond answered, "We just need a little bit of help from the one figure pissed off enough and powerful enough to help us do it."

 **AN: Well this was fun, hope you enjoyed it. If you did and you'd like to support the author's (free) projects such as turning this into an audiobook, you can do so at p atreon dot com slash godrising.**


	80. Fall of the Forlorn

_…Forlorn Fortress…Day Two_

The next morning things went as Zesshi intended, her warriors awoke, as did those of her allies, and they patiently awaited the actions of their living siege engine. She stretched out comfortably, her black and white hair falling down her back. She wanted them to see that it was a half elf who was bringing them down. Companies lined up secure behind the double walls of various buildings, and just around the corner from Zesshi, Thirg and Tefl stood side by side giving hungry looks at one another. A feast of blood was beyond those walls, and they were ravenous for their portion of it.

Zesshi waited until the signals were given that all were in place. Flags, rather than being raised up, were lowered horizontally out from the lined up units to give her the maximum element of surprise, as the large buildings obscured the view of the many scorpions and ballistas ready to fire at any juncture point on the defeated first inner wall's area of control. She raised a fist, and behind her one fist after another went up indicating comprehension, all the way back to the distant position of Queen Draudillon.

"This won't take long," the Queen said confidently as she took a swig of cold water. It was refreshing, but what she really wanted was a warm bath. It was lost on her what adventurers and soldiers liked so much about the muddy business of conflict.

Zesshi stepped out from her position, she stood in the center of a square that had a clear view from half a dozen siege weapons with rocks and massive arrows trained at her. For a moment those on the wall could scarcely believe what they were seeing, a single soldier? It made no sense. Then her killing intent was unleashed, a powerful, terrifying bloodlust that shook them to their cores, it made them panic, and they fired without thinking.

While they fired without thinking, she sprinted without fear, she passed under the projectiles almost too fast to track, other projectiles were targeted at her as she moved from block to block, but they could not strike her as she leaned into the run. Racial slurs were hurled at her by those who recognized her heritage and their hatred redoubled, and also hers. Thinking about how she had called this country her home sickened her, and she put that into the force of her actions.

Her scythe swung and a part of the wall was smashed, screams of the dying and the terrified rang out as those working the siege engine at that part of the wall fell with the rubble to their doom. She swung again, widening the hole. Aligned with the wall, she was too close for the engines to hit her, and the other side of the wall had their weapons pointed the wrong way. After the fourth siege engine toppled and the wall was wide enough for forty to pass abreast at a double arm interval, she took the horn that hung from her neck and blew it. The noise rang out like a trump of doom, and battle cries answered the call, followed quickly by the thunderous stampede of thousands upon thousands of soldiers. A handful of siege weapons were still able to target the mass, but the distance was great and they had been prepared to defend multiple points, not just one.

"Fools," she said contemptuously. "By trying to defend everywhere you made yourselves weak everywhere. Now, to punish you for that mistake."

Thunder clashed with thunder as the din of walls collapsing under the force of her monumental blows was contested against by the sound of stamping feet and the ringing of weapons and armor. Though some lucky shots ended unfortunate and unlucky lives, the single point of breach proved its wisdom as they clashed against the scattered and much diminished defenders from the Slane Theocracy. Estimates of the previous day's clash were that they had lost between half to two thirds of their total defending strength, that small number of surviving soldiers was then made smaller by scattering them around to defend the wall everywhere, and even though it was smaller, it was not so small as to be easily ignored. But their courage at least held, even if their numbers didn't, and the wall was abandoned as soldiers rushed to the breach point. However, they trickled in and were as fingers, where Zesshi's army and Queen Draudillon's army poured in, and they were as a fist that smashed down and broke those twitching fingers.

One third of the area had fallen in an hour, and the last of it fell in the second hour. This left only the inner defenses, with a smattering of siege weapons and a central keep to fight through. As before, no quarter was given and no mercy was shown as their sea of steel washed over the fortification and swept it clean as if it were a fortress of sand. Zesshi's scythe took a deadly toll on those who came too close. An entire line of five men fell headless, and as their heads rolled away from their bodies, all they could do was look on with confusion at their collapsed bodies and wonder what had just happened. Several lived long enough to realize what had taken place, and died with horror on their faces, a few seconds to a minute of their own personal hell, before their brains died and their lives were mercifully ended.

Zesshi however, was already moving on, she rushed to the last wall, the only barrier to victory within the inner keep, and she showed again why she had been humanity's trump card. The wall fell like all the others, as did the scant few hundred held within who secured precious minutes of life for themselves by being there as opposed to the killing field the inner wall had become.

Thirg and Tefl were not far behind Zesshi, the massive maul of Thirg swung in deadly arcs, occasionally hammering to the ground to serve with its force to swing him forward in its stead, his feet shattered jaws and his fist shattered heads. Blood washed over him like a torrential storm. His sister, by contrast, shrieked like a joyful banshee and flung deadly knives and was scarcely touched at all by a drop as her deadly aim struck neck and eyes with the speed of a hurricane wind. If Thirg was like some monstrous dancer, moving far more gracefully than one would expect of an elf who was already a study in contradiction as a result of his massive size, then his sister was a sprinter. Her powerful legs drove her forward and her arms grabbed knives as they pumped back and forth, occasionally too many rushed her for her knives to take them all, and she resorted to her vampiric claws, and moved with such swiftness that she slashed their throats and sent them falling forward before the blood could even splash her body or her armor.

When the last barrier to the keep fell, the inner wall was already all but collapsed, with only a handful fighting in some distant corner. They were surrounded, defeated, and quickly cut down as the first foot of Zesshi entered the ancient building. The last stand, that was what it was. The stone walls made the cries of the desperate and the dying live longer than the men and women themselves. There was no surrender for them, there was no tomorrow for them, they were the already dead. What was more, they knew it. They fought like heroes of their nation, these condemned men and women, more than one elf found his final vengeance unsatisfied with blade still bright and unstained by the blood he longed to see. Yet even in death they served a purpose that satisfied their hearts desire, as by their dying they exposed the face or flank of those they hated to the swords of brothers and sisters. Men fell screaming and writhing as their arms were severed at the elbow or as a leg was parted from its mate by a heavy ax. Foot by foot, a carpet of blood from the last defenders was laid down into the interior, until the last ember of life flickered and died among the Slane Theocracy's men, and all that could be heard were the cheers of the victors as the moans of the defeated were drowned out until those cries and rattled swords died with the last Theocracy hope.

Zesshi clapped her commanders on their shoulders and walked out of hell with a smile on her face and blood on her hands, and her companions drank their fill, it was a feast fit for a vampire, and feast they did. "Well done Thirg, Tefl, well done. They were weak, but they did as well as I could hope for." She said contentedly as she stowed her scythe and walked out into the light of day from the pit of death that the Forlorn Fortress had become.

She went straight to Queen Draudillon's position at the rear and found the Queen watching with her bodyguards. "At least she watched the orders being carried out." Zesshi thought with a small measure of approval. When she approached, soaked with blood and smiling brightly, she stuck out her hand to the Queen, who gingerly, if not enthusiastically, took it, disregarding the bloody mess that stood before her.

"You did amazingly." She said, her voice conveyed clearly how impressed she was, and she did her damnedest to hide how she felt about the smell of blood so close to her, she had seen death, she had seen the servant of the Sorcerer King slice and slash and cut and gut nobles on her own orders, those who deserved it most for having harmed their countrymen as badly as the beastmen themselves. Yet for all that, she had not been so hardened yet that the sight and the smell did not do a number on her stomach. She suppressed the urge to vomit and thought longingly of the bottle of wine she had vowed not to touch.

"Thanks," Zesshi said casually. "I'll give my soldiers a few hours to get cleaned up and a few hours to rest, but we're moving out by nightfall. We should have our casualty reports in by then, though I don't think I took too many. Nor did you, I think, they just weren't prepared for this, they were expecting a grinding siege where they could give ground gradually and hold out for reinforcements, not the nightmare they got. At last, my revenge has truly begun."

When the casualty rolls came out after the battle and the surviving soldiers' celebratory singing, dancing, laughing, drinking and screwing, there were five hundred dead from Zesshi's army and three hundred dead from Queen Draudillon's army. So after the final role was called, all of the dead from the two armies were cremated with honor. The armor of the Slane Theocracy soldiers was taken and divided between the two armies, Zesshi said she would need some to equip future rebels, and Queen Draudillon said she would need some to equip her reinforcements. It was an even split and neither took issue with the matter. Zesshi allowed her army six hours sleep, and when the camp was made to stir again, the dead fortress was still covered in darkness. She went to Queen Draudillon's tent while the last preparations were made and found the Queen awake, sitting at a table alone, staring at a bottle of wine.

"Queen Draudillon?" Zesshi said cautiously, unsure of just what she was seeing. It snapped the royal woman out of her trance and her eyes darted to the half elf.

"Oh, yes, General Zetsumei, I'm sorry I didn't see you there, I was thinking." She said hastily.

"About… that bottle?" Zesshi asked hesitantly.

The Queen sighed, "Yes. I want it."

"But?" Zesshi asked.

"If I drink it, well… let's just say I'm not much of a queen in those instances. I drank myself into a stupor for years while my people were eaten alive. I did my best but, well, let's just say sometimes it got to be too much, and then 'sometimes' became a lot of the time." She said softly, then shook her head. "Never mind, I shouldn't be talking about this kind of thing with you. We only just met, please forget I said anything." She blushed softly in embarrassment at the indignity of speaking such intimate thoughts to a near stranger.

Zesshi though, chose to address it, "I'm a battle maniac." She said as she walked to the opposite side of the table. "I don't pretend to 'get' a lot of things that everybody else just naturally seems to do. Maybe your reaction is one of them but let me offer one piece of advice if you don't mind, something I've come to realize as a result of the actions of a longtime friend." She said as she took out her scythe from where it was secured to her back.

The Queen looked up at her curiously and inclined her head, indicating that she should continue.

"I know two things, the first is that if you're ashamed of something you've done, the only good response is trying to fix it, however you can… and I'm just going to guess that bottle's contents aren't going to help you with that." Zesshi said casually.

The pale Queen shook her head but said nothing.

"The second thing I know, is that when you have an enemy, in your case that bottle, there is only one sure fire way to deal with it." She said with a wicked grin.

"And that is?" The Queen asked hesitantly.

"Crush that enemy completely." She said and swung her scythe and severed the bottle clean through, toppling the bottom over and sending the top half spiraling away onto the floor. The wine splashed everywhere, and the Queen flung herself back and crashed to the floor. Zesshi let out a laugh and put her scythe away. She went around the table and reached a hand down to the pale woman, still laughing as the woman looked incredulous about what had just happened. Finally, she found it in her to laugh in turn, and took the half elf's hand. "A while ago, god it can't have been but what, weeks ago… but it feels like a lifetime… anyway what 'feels' like a long time ago, I was looking after a boy who was stubborn about getting stronger, I stomped him into mush on a regular basis, but you know what, despite everything, no matter how often he was beaten down, no matter how often he lost, he never lost the will to get back up and do what he thought he had to do. He was born a peasant, you're a queen, if he can do that much, you should be able to as well." Zesshi then easily helped her up to her feet and touched her shoulder. "See, you're standing up already."

Queen Draudillon brushed off the dust from her clothing and smirked, "I suppose so, but… next time you want to make a dramatic gesture like that, please just pick it up and throw it against something to break it, alright, General Zetsumei?"

"As you wish, 'Queen of the Draconic Kingdom', as you wish." she replied as she stepped back and gave a salute that was equal parts mocking and sincere.

"I'm leaving now, and taking my army with me, we'll meet again before all this is over, perhaps outside Yaksun, after stomping the piss out of another legion or two of Theocracy soldiers, but if we don't, I'll see you again after the war ends when you're officially swearing allegiance to the Sorcerer King in a public ceremony."

"I look forward to it." The Queen said sincerely.

Zesshi frowned. "Damn."

"What is it?" The Queen asked with some concern on her face.

"I just realized…" She said with a tedious sigh.

"What?" The Queen asked with growing concern.

"I could have accomplished the same damn thing… just by taking that bottle and drinking it myself!" She shook her head, "I'll bet it was good too!" Her sigh was much exaggerated, though the Queen's laughter was not.

"Oh, get out of here!" She laughed and pointed to the door, prompting one more salute from the half elf general before she walked out the door.

The next few days were busy ones for both armies as they parted ways, but for Zesshi at least, they were relatively peaceful as she reached No Man's Sea within the week. She notified the Sorcerer King, informing him of her arrival, she took out the scroll she'd been given, and used it. The strange feeling scroll burnt up before her eyes as a mist arose from the sea, and from out of that mist came a fleet of ships, just as she was promised.

Or rather, one would struggle to call them a fleet. Instead one would call them a fleet of nightmares. The ships appeared broken, old, heavily damaged as if from combat, and the crews, the crews were a motley band of waterlogged drowned looking corpses. Their clothing perpetually dripping, and their flesh ragged as if gnawed upon by fish or other life, their skin pale blue and often bloated, with nearly fleshless faces framing milky white eyes, and a faint blue glow, like cave moss Zesshi had seen many years before. The faint hue seemed to expand and contract faintly from their bodies, giving off a gentle hum like wind over hollow broken river reeds. When the ships drew close and curved gracefully to one side, the undead sailors swiftly hauled out long gangplanks and gestured to the suddenly frozen army.

Their gestures were limp, less like they were moving their arms deliberately, and more like they were rocking their bodies to flop their arms up and down in a 'come on' sort of gesture. Zesshi swallowed, fear was alien to her, yet this otherworldly scene was a bit much. Still it was her duty, and so she took the fateful step onto the rotted looking path leading up to the ships. More than once she wondered if it was safe, yet the wood beneath gave no indication it would collapse, and that did not change as her soldiers filed on board soldier by soldier in the ranks of thousands. As one ship filled, it would move aside and another would take its place, the process was efficient, but also eerily silent save for the slow footfalls of the Elven Liberation Forces.

It still took the better part of the day for them all to load, but eventually it was done and the undead crew had seen to their quarters. Strangely enough, despite 'appearing' wet and damp and worse, the beds were not terrible and nobody fell through any rotted looking floors. Zesshi decided to seek out the captain, and the silent crew, though they did not speak from bloated, swollen tongues, got her to the captain who stood in a large wheelhouse that gave him a view of the sea before him. The large, deep bottom ships were impressive, not of a design Zesshi had ever seen before, and each held vast numbers of soldiers with relative ease.

She wondered at first as she walked the massive ship to the wheelhouse, if she would recognize the captain. She didn't have to wonder for long, it was obvious. In the wheelhouse there stood a waterlogged woman with long golden hair, which constantly blew beside her as if in a wind or… perhaps more accurately, as if pulled by a current. She sang sad songs as she guided the vessel and did not look at Zesshi as she entered.

The half elf cleared her throat.

"I know you're there; I just don't care." She said in a bitter, melodic voice.

"Do you know where we're going?" Zesshi asked forcefully.

"I do, I do, because I go too." She said melodically, still working the wheel and still not even looking behind her at Zesshi.

Zesshi was seldom flummoxed, but this… this was all very strange, the woman's body was not bloated, though it too glowed with the faint blue hue, were it not for the otherworldly nature of all this, she might have even though the woman shapely and perhaps beautiful, at least from the back.

"Who are you?" Zesshi asked quietly.

"This one is Dahut of Ys, if you please." She said indifferently. The ship rocked gently underneath them, barely troubled by the waves, Zesshi found she wanted to get a look at the face of this odd captain, so she strode to the window to look out over the sea, at least as a pretense, and then she turned around to speak to the woman again.

She immediately regretted the choice, the face was rotted away, but not in such a way as to leave a skeleton face that was as blank as the Sorcerer King's. This was the face of decay, but she kept her face calm and her voice neutral.

"What… are you all?" She asked.

"We are the fleet of lost Ys, bound to our master to serve on the seas." She said.

"Your master is the Sorcerer King?" She asked, expecting a yes.

She was not disappointed. "We serve the undead king of death, he is the one who grants our rest."

Slowly she rocked the wheel back and forth, swaying as if in a dance to music only she could hear.

"Did he kill you?" Zesshi asked. The captain only shook her head.

"How long will we be on these ships? And are they safe for my soldiers and I?" She asked.

"Here till you're done, then begins the fun. Safe as can be, for you and for me." She said in melodic response.

"What is Ys?" Zesshi asked.

"The city I killed, by water, it filled." She said, her voice mournful and thick with the feeling of loss.

Zesshi sighed, "How will we be fed on our voyage?" She asked, going from curious to eager to excuse herself.

"By the will of the undead, you will all be fed." The captain said, now more clearly annoyed, "Leave me be, I'm busy you see."

It might have been abrupt, but in a way, Zesshi was grateful, it was all a little too surreal and her attempt at making sense of it by talking to the captain had only made things worse. She didn't even render a nod, she simply walked back out the way she'd come and had an undead with a piece of rotted wood replacing his leg from the knee down, take her to her room. The ship rocked back and forth, and she began to find herself very… uncomfortable. She'd never been seasick in her life, and when she'd heard humans complain about it, she'd always laughed it off. Now, she wanted a bucket, and wanted it right that instant. Even if it lasted only days, it was going to be a long few days.

 **AN: Well there we go again, yes, you got two in one day. :) thank the donor who donated to bdgiving dot org, when you give to my causes, I give to your entertainment. Also, thank the beta readers. :)**


	81. The Mountain Will Move

God Rising

Chapter 81

 _…Kami Miyako…_

Raymond composed the letter while he sat at the desk with Ginedine and Berenice, but before he could get a full word to paper, Berenice interrupted him.

"Are you serious, you're actually going to write to the Sorcerer King?" Her voice was that of a concerned mother, and her eyes were wide as saucers as she asked a question she'd never fathomed asking before.

"I am." He said gravely.

"But we're at war with him." She said, as though he were an idiot who had forgotten that little detail, he looked back in turn, as if she were being an idiot for saying that.

"I'm well aware of that fact, but do you have another option?" He asked.

"Do you even have a plan?" She asked incredulously.

"He probably does." Ginedine said cryptically.

"Not really." Raymond answered with a tired voice.

"No, the Sorcerer King. He's unfathomably intelligent, he stole Zesshi, our best weapons, everything, he built an impossible alliance of nations against us, I wouldn't be surprised if this was all part of his master plan and we were just dancing in the palm of his hand all this time." Ginedine clarified and let his head fall forehead first into the curve of his hand between thumb and forefinger.

"Maybe, but if that is the case, well, we're going to be better off learning his tune quickly. If we want to do this, he's our best, perhaps our only chance." Raymond's voice took on a dejected note.

"Well, perhaps we can make it easier for him, Ikari is lost and Crossroads is threatened, what if we proposed expanding the farms near Wheaton and moving a large number of slaves there, if Crossroads falls, well, how much more can we raise to fight for Wheaton?" Berenice asked.

"A lot, really, but unlike Dominic I don't expect us to win this war anymore. You all felt that, the Sorcerer King has probably lost all patience with us, and the torture of that servant of his by that idiot Astraka has not only drawn the Draconic Kingdom into the war, it has no doubt served to void whatever show of respect we had left for the Draconic Accords. We'll be lucky if the Argland Council State doesn't join the war at this point just to take a shot at us and ingratiate themselves with the undead." Raymond's voice was calm, but his eyes were wounded and tired.

"What do you think will happen to us?" Ginedine asked.

Raymond frowned, "I try not to think about that. If we're lucky, Zesshi will just kill us and we'll have quick deaths. If we're not… if we're not…" His face turned pale.

"All we can do is accept what happens, is that what you're saying?" Berenice asked, a hint of fear coloring her voice.

"It is." He replied.

"Has Thousand Mile Astrologer told us anything new?" Berenice asked.

"No, she's going to give another look into Re-Estize though, and see if anything new happens, I don't know what could be worse than we've already seen, so perhaps the worst is over and we can do something to minimize the damage." Raymond answered, fearing he should not have said that.

 _…Nazarick…_

Ainz stood before the mountain in front of him. "Gargantua! Arise!" The mountainous golem stood from its sleeping posture, rose to its feet, and then knelt before the Sorcerer King. Ainz took out a map and had Sebas hold it up, and then pointed to the south of a city on the map with a bony finger. "Go to this place, and strike the stone down until you have a path to the other side as wide as your body!" The mountainous being did not speak. It could not speak on its own, only repeat exact phrases if it was told to. It wouldn't understand those phrases, only parrot them.

The lumbering steps shook the ground, and though it did not move with great rapidity, the steps were so long that the effect was the same. "Now… I should probably send word to my allies not to bother Gargantua as he works… I'd feel bad if I ended up crushing one of Zanack's armies by accident."

"My lord, how long will it take for him to reach the mountain where you wish your new pass to be?" Sebas asked as he rolled up the map and stood idly in attendance.

"A few days, and to crush the mountains down, well… perhaps a week, a lot of good building material will be had from that as a result. Sebas make a note to tell the Re-Estize Kingdom they're free to have first pick of the materials we're creating for them, I believe they'll need it." Ainz added as an afterthought.

"You are most generous, my lord." Sebas said with a respectful bow.

"Do you remember what is on the other side of those mountains?" Ainz asked.

"I believe there is an amalgam of different tribes called dark dwarves in a region to the north west closer to and part of the mountains. And then to the southeastern areas on the plains and hills were the dark elves." Sebas replied patiently.

"Hmm, we haven't made contact with either of those groups yet, but they're surely aware of us through the Slane Theocracy or through the Abelion Hills, and what is more, Gargantua is going to be pummeling through the mountain to create a passage, is there any chance it will destroy some cities under the mountain?" The Sorcerer King asked as he stroked his chin thoughtfully.

"Forgive me, my lord, but that I do not know." Sebas said, his perfect servant voice disguising his mortification at failing to know the answer to a question his master had asked of him. Down to his core Sebas, like all the other denizens of Nazarick, dreaded the possibility of the last supreme being departing them, and every possibility of failure, already hated and despised, became a cause for dread, for what if that one failure was enough to drive their lord away from them forever? Therefore every servant of Nazarick strove above all to know everything their master might ask of them, and more, even on the off chance, however unlikely, that it might come up, and now Sebas had failed.

Ainz seemed not to think much of it, for he shook the question off, "It doesn't matter, I'll have the eight edge assassins inspect the area, if there are cities in his path or which might be affected by Gargantua's activities, I will have to go and see to the problem myself, we can not have it said that the Sorcerous Kingdom slaughters neighbors just to get a chance at their enemies, can we?" He asked rhetorically.

"No, definitely not, my lord." Sebas replied, pleased by his lord's mercy.

Within the hour the eight edge assassins had been dispatched via gate, and they would find anything there was to find, and Ainz was more than pleased.

 _…Demiurge's office…_

Vanysa was casually licking the blood off of her talons as she approached the desk where he sat going over the results of his experiments. "I finished the last one, Lord Demiurge." Vanysa said.

"Anything else I can help you with?" She added casually.

He didn't bother to look up at her at first, "No, nothing really… no… wait, that was very quick, how did you do it?" He asked, suddenly realizing how fast she'd broken the Zuranon member that had been holding out. He set down his papers and looked up at her with his crystalline eyes.

"It was easy." She said, licking her lips. "He had… oh god, it felt so good, it tasted so good…" She shuddered in bliss for a moment, "So much guilt… he hated so many things he'd done… it took a while to pierce the veil of his mind, I knew the guilt was there, but the shame was like a thick mist, all that self hatred, I spent hours, days just staring at him, saying a few random words, just looking for things that might trigger a reaction, and gradually I pierced the shadow of his memories of shame and saw more than just the shapes…" She paused, her body growing heated and clearly excited, her heart was pounding in her golden chest and her wings shook like spider's webs in a breeze.

"When I saw them, I knew how to break him, I got His Majesty's permission, and used some illusion scrolls, I called up the images of those he felt guilty over, and I had them confront him, the mother he did nothing for as she drowned, the brother who died saving him from a monster, the comrade who fell in battle and cried for aid, but to save his own life, he simply ignored the man and continued the fight. He judged himself in his own heart, and was therefore guilty. These and other things like them I called up, and I turned his own mind against him until his self hatred and guilt drove him mad, and he begged me to start cutting him instead… and I promised I would, so long as he broke his own mental seal, he spilled his guts about what little he knew, and I wrote it all down before I finished him off." She grinned with much satisfaction. "God, you wouldn't believe some of the horrible other stuff they had those Zuranon members do. Better off without them, that is what the world is." She said matter of factly.

"Here is the report anyway." She said and placed it in front of him on his desk.

He picked it up and read it over quickly, flipping from one page to the next in rapid succession.

"You wrote this?" He asked with some disbelief.

She looked mildly offended. "I did."

"Forgive me, it's just…" He paused.

"Yah thought mah brains were in mah boobs?" She finished archly, leaning over his desk, closer to where he sat and giving her chest a shake.

"Well…" He took off his glasses and leaned his chair back, his elbow went to his thigh and he tried to explain. "It isn't that I thought you were stupid, but I didn't expect you to catch on to these things so quickly."

"Well, ah did." She said as her mad eyes shone as bright as the light in his crystal eyes. "An' more too." She said. Before he could even ask what she meant, she reached down and snatched up a paper off his desk. He was about to be profoundly offended, even angry, when she said, "I've seen what you're doing with those heads, but the problem, my lord, is that you're just cycling old blood, if you want to sustain them without magic, I would suggest you try to find a way to either renew the existing blood, or supply a steady source of fresh blood to keep the brain going."

"How did you come to that conclusion?" He asked, incredulity rich in his voice.

"Simple, you stab someone, they bleed to death, right?" She asked.

"Yes…" He said in a leading tone of voice.

"Well, when you stab somebody and they start to bleed to death, you patch them up, they'll eventually move again, right?"

"Also yes, what is your point?" He asked, his voice now intrigued as he realized she had a line of thought before her that she was taking him through.

Her eyes turned sharp and engaging as she gave him a seductive demonic grin that bared her fangs, words came from her lips, but lust came from her body, blood lust. "Well, it stands to reason that if the body loses blood and gets weak, then gets strong eventually on its own, it must be making new blood to replace what is lost, so it seems to me that the head, when separated, must have the same issue, only it seems that however the blood is made, it isn't in the severed head. So if you did find a way to either renew the old blood or replenish new blood for use and route it to the head, you could make sentinels that watch, listen, and smell, with their magic almost totally unnoticeable. Have you considered that?" She asked.

His face took on a serious look, he'd seen Vanysa many times, even helped her once, though more out of loyalty to Ainz who he was fairly sure did not want her crushed, but never had he seen 'into' the creation of his master, not this way. Yes, he'd found her to be… easy to look at, and he'd found he enjoyed her talented music making in the torture chamber. But her… insight, her unusual way of thinking in this instance, made her much more.

"I hadn't, but that is… brilliant. You say you were just an ignorant peasant?" He asked.

"I was, till master saved me, took me, taught me… and saved me again." She said, looking over her new body.

"He chose wisely." He said, it was high praise.

"Just because I'm pretty?" She asked wryly.

He laughed, "No, not just because you're pretty."

"So you do think I'm pretty." She said with a smug matter of fact tone of voice.

Demiurge snorted.

"I'm a girl, Demiurge, we were born to ferret out the secret thoughts of men." She said, her voice quite proud.

"I thought that was just succubi." He replied sardonically.

She smirked at the deflection, "Now, how about I assist you further with these experiments?" She asked, "I don't have much to do."

"I'd like that, come sit next to me." He said and he pointed at a nearby chair, she pulled it over and sat as close to him as possible, reached out, and took a paper up from the desk, in the end they ran far past the time they expected to be finished, but neither found themselves either tired or regretting it.

 _…Abelion Hills…_

Aureole Omega was all smiles when they reached the base of the mountains. "You want us to do what now?" Leinas asked.

"Scale the mountain." She said.

"Oh, I heard you… but… why exactly?" Leinas asked incredulously.

"Well, all those raiders we sent out have been doing a very fine job, but the entire point of that was to give us a chance to take Fortress Alaf." She said, "We're going to take it, and we're not going to lose many at all." She said in a cheerful voice.

"Won't we lose half our army trying to cross these mountains?" She asked.

"Nope, because you see, we've got the Sorcerer King on our side, which is to say, we've got the scrolls he provided us." She said in a sweet, patient voice.

"What do you plan to do?" She asked.

"Well, nothing yet, but when the Slane Theocracy violates the treaty and my king, our king, has a full report of it, we'll be free to use those higher tier materials, and with his genius, I'm sure he timed it so that it would be just when we needed it." She hopped up on one foot and clasped her hands together, "Ahhh, my Lord Ainz, such a genius."

"Well, I agree, but that is a lot to take into account, even for him." Leinas said.

"Maybe so, but then that just means we'd better start moving." She said, and so the long, slow mountain march began. There were goat paths here and there, and trails fit for one to pass with care, too, there were low places to climb, but more than once the incredible strength of Aureole Omega was brought to bear to pull soldiers up a great slope, and more than once her monstrous strength was called upon to dislodge a boulder or other obstacle. Still, slow as it was, dangerous as it was, they progressed with very light losses over the course of day after arduous day. Little sleep was had, and she had to dance her magic heart out to ensure the blessings of stamina held for one more mile, one more foot, one more inch of ground, until after what seemed like an eternity, they had traversed to the place that Aureole Omega sought to lead them to.

"Here." She said, it was a high, natural plateau with large amounts of snow, and far down below, was the fortress city of Alaf.

"Now what?" Leinas asked dubiously.

That was when the wave hit, even from on high, perhaps carried by the winds that froze them to the bone, they could hear the screams of the city as the raw unbridled terror of the Sorcerer King struck the heart of every Theocracy citizen and soldier, it shook the mountain, and below the plateau on the steep slopes, mass amounts of snow collapsed with the shaking of the stone, and it fell farther and faster, in greater amounts than Leinas had ever imagined possible, as if all the snowflakes in all the world throughout all of time, had come together to race to the fortress city down below. It hit with such force that the walls collapsed in several places, and Aureole Omega's grin redoubled.

"That, for starters." She said.

Leinas, and most of her army, paled. Beastman, elf, and human alike, even though they had felt new warmth bring life to their freezing forms, felt awe at the divine force that had passed over them all. His wrath had fallen below, but his blessing had come on high. "OK, but… what next?" She asked.

Aureole Omega went silent for a moment and she used several scrolls to disguise her message request to the Sorcerer King.

"He has given permission, the Slane Theocracy and the Astrakan Loyalists have both irrevocably violated the accords, and the Elf Kingdom has stated intent to do so as part of a deal with the Cardinals of the Theocracy. I may use whatever scrolls I need to ensure complete victory." She said with a smug 'I told you so' look to Leinas.

"I would never have dreamt he could plan so deeply." Leinas breathed out so softly it was only her inhuman nature that let Aureole Omega hear her.

"What will you use?" She asked the guardian.

"First, we will control the weather, we want the night to be cloudy and snow to fall on the city." She said as she held up one finger to tick off her intentions. "Next we will use [Slow Fall, Area] and drop down from here." She said, raising up another finger.

"Why, what's down there?" Leinas asked with uncertainty.

"Their aqueduct." Aureole Omega said. "We're going to walk into the fortress city from above it under cover of snow and night."

Leinas smacked her forehead, "Genius." She said with a smile to match the guardian.

When night fell, Aureole Omega took out the first scroll, used it, and pointed at the sky. A few moments later, clouds formed and covered the moon and snow began to blanket the city.

When this was completed, as she planned, she used the [Slow Fall, Area] scroll and stepped off the cliff with a confident wave, rather than plummeting down, she simply 'drifted' very comfortably, having time enough to wave several times as she slowly reached the lower divot in the land where the snow collected that provided fresh water for the fortress city and its surrounding farms in the spring time. She landed gently in the snow, making only a tiny soft crunching noise as she hit, she didn't have to look above her, she already knew what was there, the soldiers of the Abelion Hills, humans and beastmen alike, were dropping as slowly as snowflakes themselves, and in ones and twos, then in small groups, their own gentle crunching footfalls broke the snow beneath their feet. Aureole Omega pointed to the various collection points where long elevated stone trenches curved over and down into the city to various points. No more directions were needed, they began to walk, slowly, carefully and in single file over the stone.

Though they were still cold, the fire of desire for victory burned in every breast, and the unutterable cunning of their commanders made them more than confident. The beastmen had a more difficult time at this than most on average, save for the bafolk, for whom this was no more difficult than a stroll in a public park. The bitter chill kept most indoors, the darkness kept those not indoors blind, and their elevated position and the noise of nature kept them obscured, until they reached their destinations around the city, the distribution points of the aqueducts, and gently dropped down to ground level. Of course, no luck holds forever. A woman, just a peasant laborer who worked in the great citadel who stayed out too late, not even a guard, was who finally saw the danger.

She saw the uniform first, perhaps she wouldn't have, had there been only one, but when she saw a dozen men helping a dozen more sneak down to ground level gently, she immediately jumped to the one and only explanation, and she screamed. "Sorcerous Kingdom! Help! It's an attack!" She was quickly silenced by a knife to the neck, but the damage was done, they began to run to seize their objectives around the city, a group of squads hit a barracks where soldiers were drinking away the winter cold, and being unprepared to fight at all, even if they hadn't been drunk, they were easily dispatched. Another group seized a tower and raised their banner over it while casting the Theocracy banner down to the ground to be trampled.

The danger facing the fortress city was slowly recognized by those who lived and worked there. There was though, a critical weakness. Hubris. The fortress had stood for over four hundred years not that far from the Abelion Hills, but never once had it faced an attack of any kind that it could not fend off. Those who lived and worked there often said they were glad to be there because they'd never have to fight. After all, its walls were enormous, thick, and it was flanked by a mountain that gave them nearly endless water. Believing the danger was close at hand, a soldier, even a poor one, will start at a sudden shadow, look that much more closely at a bush to see if it has moved, and be more quickly to raise an alarm. Yet those who think themselves safe, cast themselves into danger by believing it so, and as such they do not believe risks even when they are recognized by others.

Such was the case now as Leinas burst into a guard house and took a head that lived long enough to form a confused and bewildered expression. The soldiers behind her included wolfmen and bafolk, but also humans and a handful of elves, and they made quick work of their position. A fair part of the fortress had fallen completely by the time the rest of the fortress recognized that yes, they were indeed in great danger.

"Far too late, far too late." Aureole Omega said as she moved ever deeper into the fortress. The winter chill and lax approach had cost the Slane Theocracy many lives, and they were scattered, leaderless, drunk, and uncertain of what was happening where or to whom. Fires began to light, some by accident, some by intent. A group of soldiers that had managed to arm themselves in time attempted to depart their billets, only to find the way out blocked, and the building set alight with themselves still inside of it. The lucky ones died first from the smoke.

Soldiers crunched the snow underfoot as they moved from house to house and bound captives or slew resisting soldiers, tower by tower the Slane Theocracy's banners were taken down and many to be promptly consigned to the flames while the shouts of the dead and dying carried only a little, not only by way of their weak drunkenness, but also being impeded by the high winds.

Leinas had one goal, the center. She entered the main inner citadel and began to kill her way through the hall as others of her people followed behind her, which eventually included the pretty looking guardian. The drunkenness that many responded to the terror with, proved that they deserved to lose, though some fought bravely, their desire to banish their fears and the cold and their confidence in their security had made them barely worth calling silver ranked adventurers. It was more a chore than a fight, not just for her, but for Aureole Omega who had finally come into step behind her.

"You're late." Leinas said.

"I can't be late if I'm where I want to be when I want to be there." She said winsomely and kicked a door so hard that it flew inwards and crushed the man attempting to hold it back, all the way against the opposite wall. It penetrated the stone, creating deep cracks before hanging their for just a moment, and then falling forward. The man behind it was a shattered mess, his arms and legs were bent the wrong way, his face was caved in as was his chest, every bone in his feet were broken. He hung there in the impression of the stone that he had 'helped' to make, and then in very slow motion, he fell forward with a limp 'thud' sound against the door like a puppet with its strings cut. More of their soldiers were in the keep, the entire fortress city knew it was under attack, but Alaf had never fallen, desperate men clad in half their armor due to the want of time to dress, clashed against soldiers in full armor, with predictable results in close quarters combat. For the unarmored to face the armored was not battle, but butchery. Even more so when it was beastmen of incredible strength and battle fury, or a guardian of Nazarick.

When dawn began to rise the next day, the weather had dissipated and the sun shone over the mighty citadel, and light illuminated for all to see and know, the Sorcerous Kingdom had won the day. The fighting had stopped, a few had fled through the broken parts of the wall, while most had surrendered outright if they were still alive by then. To those loyal citizens of the Slane Theocracy who looked out their windows and doors with their mouths fallen open and children clutched protectively in the loving arms of their parents, this was a trauma like no other. Swords and spears and axes rose and fell in battle cry of victory, and despite the clear bright morning, those who watched the spectacle of the army taking what was theirs felt as if night was falling on their nation.

 **AN: OK, yup, triple release, again, thank the beta team and those who have donated to bdgiving dot org. :) I hope you find the chapters entertaining, leave reviews of course, those feed me and keep me writing. :) Want to get early access, don't forget the discord server, the invite for which is on my author page.**

 **Till the next chapter, pleasant days! :)**


	82. Proving Grounds

Written by: AtheistBasementDragon

Edited by: The Usual Gang of Drunken Perverted Idiots **(AN: Who did an amazing job)**

 **AN: Thank you to all of you who have been reading so far, this has been an amazing project and experience and I'm glad you've all stayed with me so far. There are probably less than one hundred chapters to go now, and I'm going to miss this story when it is done. My release schedule WILL be slowed down a little bit while I get my website built to host all my work, but not very much, day or two per chapter tops, I'm going to build it in increments so I don't break my writing routine.**

 **In the meantime, if you'd like to see this story turned into an audiobook and an illustrated ebook, you can support that project through my p atreon dot com slash godrising. I will not keep a penny for myself and I will not hold the story hostage, nor will I 'sell' the final product, this is for the fandom, because the Overlord community is so far the best fandom I've yet seen, y'all goddamn deserve some awesome shit, and I want to create it. If that is worth a dollar and you can spare it, great. If you can't, don't stress, this is a gift, you don't have to do anything but be yourselves...unless you're going to tell me not to do side stories or create new characters...then be Vanysa or Peroroncino or something, because those are better options. ;)**

 **OK...on with the show!**

When the Sorcerer King had given his instruction to Vanysa, she had accepted his will, but not without question. Or rather, not without the 'right' question. "My lord, I have never been to Kedyn, I know nothing of the place or the people there, is there anything that I can learn of it which will help me to accomplish your aim?" She asked sagaciously.

"Demiurge," Ainz said, gesturing to the demon, who knelt immediately, "Prepare Vanysa for her mission. See to it that she knows everything she needs to know. She will have whatever time she needs to learn everything… within reason." He said, raising one finger in caution.

So it was that Vanysa found herself working alongside Demiurge. The Lord of Wrath provided a desk temporarily to sit opposite his own, and he casually opened a file drawer, took it out of the cabinet, and brought it to where she was seated.

"This is everything." He said with a mischievous grin.

"Which folder?" She asked with an uncertain tone in her voice.

"No, this whole drawer." He said and laughed.

"Alright, thank you, Lord Demiurge." She said and gestured to the spot on the table next to her. He set it down and went to his own desk to tend to his own work, however as he did so, he kept one blank crystal eye on the woman opposite him. She had, without complaint, simply pulled out the first document and started to read. Occasionally she would raise her head with a question, sometimes the naivety reflecting her isolated upbringing, and sometimes insightful, revealing an inquisitive mind. Her skill as a torturer was second to none, bringing tools to the table that his bodily inclinations had neglected. She seemed to know just what to say to rend the heart and soul of her prey and, in doing so, she often used her own body to great effect; playing first the role of ordinary human, drawing intimate flesh close enough to touch and entice unexpected desire, only to then shift her shape to that of the erinyes and turn that desire against itself.

Her recent insight on his experiments had yielded fruit as well, and as he watched her diligently read through document after document, he decided to reward her. "By the way, your insight into my project on keeping the heads of enemies alive was very helpful. We were able to go from keeping them alive for seconds, to almost an hour. With time, we'll be able to keep them alive even longer, perhaps indefinitely."

She blushed, "Thank you, Lord Demiurge. Also…" She looked down somewhat ashamed, "Thank you for… for before. For when the Sorcerer King's wrath was unleashed. It was very painful, I thought I was going to be crushed."

"Do you resent him for it?" Demiurge asked casually. If she'd said anything akin to a yes, she was a threat to be disposed of.

What she did was shake her head, "I am his. If he wants me to feel happy, I will feel happy, if it is fear, then I will fear; if he wants me to feel pain, I offer it freely. He made me this, after all." She said and, though she remained seated, her form had changed, and her wings spread out behind her. "He gave me my life back. Twice. He gave me an education. Anything he gives to me, is his to take away, and I will spend my life in his service. But… I am ashamed of how weak I was. I haven't the strength of a guardian." She said, her voice going from emphatic and drifting into one revealing her embarrassment.

"I suppose that is true, you're more or less a created being, but think nothing about your present physical shortcomings, you will get stronger as you work for it." He said, his mind set at ease by the response she'd given and the sincerity therein.

"Incidentally, what do you want the heads alive for?" She asked curiously.

"If I said it was to hurt them more?" He asked.

"I'd say you're lying to me, Lord Demiurge." She said archly and raised an eyebrow at him.

"Oh? Why?" He asked in an equally arch voice.

"For the same reason most people prefer a chest my size over one your size. More room to play with." She said and shook her gold hued torso a little and laughed at the consternation that appeared on his face after her response. "Jokes aside, the body can be hurt in many ways, some places are far more sensitive than others. If you didn't know that, I'd be happy to demonstrate it." She finished her statement in a dusky voice with fangs bared and a slow lick of her lips.

"Is she flirting with me or threatening me?" Demiurge wondered for a moment, for all his knowledge in matters of the flesh, his expertise was focused on something other than pleasure, and for all his knowledge of how to control and manipulate others, such interactions as she was flinging his way were outside of his knowledge base, it was almost discomforting to know she was more experienced in something than he was.

He'd been silently looking at her, and she leaned back and tittered. "It's alright, I'm just teasing." She said, "But your project, no. For that reason, I'd say you're not doing it for torture. If you can't tell me, I won't ask, but I'd like to be able to help more if I can, I like working with you." She said politely.

"It is… not unpleasant to work with you." He said hesitantly.

He didn't know that demons could pull pouty expressions quite like this one, she folded her arms in front of her and looked down to her left and bit her lip a bit. "Way to make a girl feel wanted." She muttered.

He went back to reviewing his documents, and a moment later she did the same as she read over everything there was on Ulthis, Cercei, and more recent documents on the task that Blue Rose was being paid to do.

"Lord Demiurge, how many adventurers have been paid to protect His Majesty's followers around the Holy Kingdom?" She asked.

"Several hundred. There were more, but some have died in the course of their work." He said.

"Forgive me for my stupid question, Lord Demiurge… but are you using the death counts to track Astrakian and Slane Theocracy support levels? It seems like that would help with allocation of force ratios and maybe help justify pulling some of the more powerful teams out of the quieter areas. And maybe help with matching teams to their abilities…" She asked curiously before elaborating on her thoughts. "I don't want to step out of my place, Lord, but I ask because I don't see anything indicating that in any of these reports..." She trailed off as she saw him staring at her.

Demiurge's crystal eyes shined brightly as she spoke, "Vanysa…" He said.

"Yes, Lord Demiurge?" She asked hesitantly, wondering if she'd just overstepped herself.

"Call me 'Demiurge'." He said and gave her a satisfied grin. Her wings gave away the tremble she suppressed in the rest of her body.

"As you wish, Demiurge." She said and went back to memorizing information.

That was how she had prepared but, despite all that, when she finally stepped through the gate, she felt a wave of uncertainty wash over her. Torturing people was easier. She breathed a heavy sigh as she looked around. The gate was like any other, she could have been anywhere in the world she knew, judging by that alone. She needed more.

Night had fallen over the city, so the gate was closed. From where she'd come out of the portal, nobody atop the wall could see her, but of course her quarry was 'inside'. She rolled her eyes; she shouldn't be surprised. Everything was a test. That was what Demiurge had warned her of… or perhaps promised her. Tests measured growth, tests pushed growth, and their master desired that they grow. "What am I? A house plant?" She thought with a wry little laugh escaping her lips.

She shook her head, well this part was easy enough to pass, she simply walked away from the city to a plot of woods she saw nearby, there she was obscured from view and she shifted into the state of an Erinyes. She stretched out, inhaling the cool night air deeply. The hot days were passing away, the air was cooler now at night, and she gloried in the moment. Her wings stretched out behind her and her taloned hands moved up as if to pluck the very moon from the heavens. Her eyes closed and her lips parted, baring fangs at the darkness that surrounded her. "How I love this body, this was almost worth what he did to me." A shudder passed over her at the memory's resurgence, but she shoved the thought aside and pushed off the ground below and took to the sky, the air raced past her as she moved up higher and higher into the night sky until she was looking over the entirety of the city of Kedyn.

Sneaking in from above was easy, all she had to do was fly high enough, find a place with no people, and land. In the darker hours of the night, when shadows cloaked alleyways, it was easy to find a safe spot. So, land she did, in a narrow passage between two buildings with roads on either side. She returned to her human state and exited out into the empty public street.

She looked around as she tried to get her bearings and took a deep breath, not for the air, but to set herself at ease. Also, she looked for the guilt. It was a natural thing for a fury to do, so much so that she didn't even think of it. Most of the time she didn't even notice that she'd done it. "One more change to who and what I am… enacted by the will of my lord." She said softly, once she noticed the habit emerge again. "His will be done, in all the world, as it is in Nazarick." She repeated her privately composed prayer that set her to a state of mental comfort. She relaxed almost visibly; sure he wouldn't have tasked her with this had he not trusted her to succeed.

Getting her bearings took only a few minutes of strolling down the darkened street of the now prosperous little city. Blue Rose, she knew, was staying at the best inn the city had to offer, therefore her first step was to go there.

So that was exactly what she did, and she did so happily, skipping down the street letting her hair bounce freely behind her. This, to her, was happiness akin to retribution. To carry out the will of the god she loved as a creator and as a savior; this was joy. She could not keep the bright toothy smile from her face and would not have wanted to. If one is happy, let it be seen when it can be. For all her complexities, she felt herself at heart to be a simple woman in some ways. Her shapely form would turn eyes no matter what, yet the bright and positive feel she exuded as she carried out her master's will shone like the sun even in the darkness. She was that kind of woman.

She entered the inn and found that there were few people still downstairs drinking, only a few tables were occupied, and an innkeeper was on duty. She raised an eyebrow as she looked around, it might have been the finest inn Kedyn had to offer, but compared to a few places she'd seen, it was barely acceptable as a mid-tier establishment. Though the furnishings were decent enough, the patrons were washed and didn't stink too much. They were reasonably well dressed, but she couldn't help but think the place fell short.

She brushed her thoughts aside and walked at a quick business paced clip to the innkeeper's desk. "Hiya." She said, putting on her friendliest air and warmest smile, and getting as close to the man as possible to befuddle him with a body she knew was desirable.

"Good evening." He said. He was thin, and well dressed in a simple red and gold cut cloth. By contrast, Vanysa was wearing the finest travel attire Nazarick could provide for her. She reeked of money and the keeper's voice and widened eyes as he looked her over, told her that he recognized that. "What can I do for you?"

"Three things." She said. "First, I need a room for two nights, second, I need to see the adventurer group 'Blue Rose' that is operating out of this inn, and third, I need to have a message sent to Viscountess Cercei that a representative from the Sorcerer King will be calling on her tomorrow at noon."

"I can give you the best room, and I can convey your message…" He said, scratching his cheek with one finger while he struggled to comprehend what just happened here. Her statement explained her appearance, her dress, and so on, but it added a whole other realm of mystery as to just why she was in his city. His thoughts were not comforting ones.

"But?" She asked, keeping her tone carefully neutral.

"I can't give out guest information." He spat out as fast as he could, his nerves beginning to get to him as he thought about whether it was wise to refuse anything to a representative of the Sorcerer King.

He relaxed at her warm smile when she reached out and touched his arm. "Of course, you're an honest man. You're… innocent." She said in an almost dusky voice, and her stormy eyes captured his, he felt as if she were piercing him to heart, and though in a sense he was relaxed, in a greater sense he was relieved, whatever that had been about, it had met her approval. "I don't want you to break any rules, but they do come downstairs like normal people, don't they?" She asked in a voice that was outright silly.

"Well, yes, of course." He stammered out.

"Then when they come down, just give them my room number and tell them a representative of His Majesty wishes to speak with them urgently." She said, "That's all. If they refuse, I have my answer just as if they had accepted." She shook her head as if it were the most obvious solution in the world.

"I see. Yes, I'll do that." He said happily. "As to the room, twenty silvers for a single and that will include meals and two drinks per night."

She took out a coin purse and counted out forty for two nights, then set down a gold piece beside it, his eyes widened.

"That is to help your memory and your sense of urgency in getting done what I've asked of you." She said sweetly.

"It will be done." He said gratefully, then reached behind him and took a key from the wall and handed it to her. "Up the stairs, second

door on the left."

She mounted the stairs and immediately took to her bed, as she was exhausted. She'd worked hard to prepare since His Majesty had given her this task, and while she felt gratitude for the opportunity, she felt an extra level of gratitude for getting to spend more time with Demiurge. He was a beautiful demon. She stripped herself of her travel attire and lovingly laid it aside, anything given to her by His Majesty could never be casually tossed to the floor.

She then tucked herself beneath the covers and reveled in the slow warming of the bed. She licked her lips as she stared at the ceiling, she'd succeed at this mission and prove her worth to her master, but also her flexibility towards the demon. She giggled and whispered to the darkness, "No need to tell him how I feel… first I'll let him know how he feels. Succubi indeed." It was a comforting thought to have as she drifted off to sleep and carried with it the salacious smile of a woman who knew what she wanted.

She awoke that morning and used one of the small number of minor scrolls provided to her for general use, this one effectively cleaned her body as if she were freshly bathed. A single touch to the scroll told her that it was made from human skin, she brushed that off as unimportant. As she dressed, she thought about that. There was, after all, a time when that would have terrified her. Now she might very well have been the one to get the skin, under Neuronist's tutelage. "The paths we take." She said to the air with a dismissive snort.

No sooner than she had finished dressing than a knock came at her door. "Come in." She said ever so sweetly, grateful that the enchanted clothing did not require cleaning.

The door opened, and she found herself face to face with a diminutive vampire. "Hiya." She said in the folksy disarming way she usually did to set others at their ease. Most of the time that 'ease' was right before robbing them of it in the dungeon, today that was not the case.

"Your door is unlocked." Evileye said, "Isn't that dangerous?" She asked.

Vanysa grinned her toothy grin, "Nah, not fer me, not no more. Ah got stronger." She said.

"I… see." Evileye said with a mix of caution and curiosity in her voice.

"Relax, ah ain't here fer nothin bad, whatcha lookin all edgy for?" She asked with her adorable face tilted to one side like a curious pet, her long blond hair tumbled freely down, unbound from its usual braid, she looked for all the world like the most harmless peasant there ever could be, only the clear quality of her traveling garb gave away that there was more than met the eye.

"The team is downstairs; we can talk there I assume?" Evileye asked, her voice all business, she started towards the stairs and Vanysa followed her. Her hands went up casually behind her head as she trailed the child sized vampire.

"Ain'tcha happy ta see me? Ain't seen yah since yah done come to Nazarick." Vanysa reminded her sweetly.

"You're here representing our client. Business first." She said, though clearly there was more to it than she said, Vanysa let that pass.

"As ya like." She said as they reached the base of the stairs. Vanysa waved sweetly to the night clerk who was clearly now quite tired. He waved back and yawned, then went back to his tedious vigil. Evileye led her to a small room just off the main dining and drinking area. It was outfitted with a table and a number of chairs, as well as a few minor amenities like a pitcher of water and glasses.

Along one side of the table sat the rest of the team, and Evileye went and sat beside them.

Vanysa barely kept her eyes from narrowing. This was not the friendly reception she'd been expecting. "Yer all lookin like yah found out there was a worm in yer apple by findin tha other half of it. Did ah do somethin?" She asked.

It took them a moment to riddle out what her 'colorful' expression meant, and Lakyus snickered against her will at the image. It seemed to relax them, but she regained her composure to address Vanysa as she took her seat opposite the team.

"No, you didn't do anything… to us. It's, well… Vanysa you know we're pretty well connected with other adventurers, and we've heard bits and pieces about a certain person… you, unless you have a twin, doing some very gruesome things. Hard to square that with what we saw of you the last time."

"Oh, that all yah mean?" Vanysa grinned, it was a fearsome look on a beautiful face.

"Vanysa, we know you don't have to speak that way. No more obfuscations please." Lakyus said with a sigh.

The playful peasant persona fell completely away like makeup washed from a costume, like a mask removed, her face was serious and her eyes hard and penetrating, like there was lightning in those storm gray eyes.

"Is this more like it? I was not trying to 'trick' you, only set you at ease and make you more comfortable." She said in a crisp and educated voice. Though her body had not shifted but by inches, it seemed a whole different person sat across from them.

"Actually yes, good to talk to the real you." Lakyus said, speaking for her team.

"In that case…" She said from across the table and allowed herself to shift into her erinyes state. The golden fury of vengeance. Her talons clicked and clacked against the table as she tapped them. "Is this better too?"

There was an exchange of looks among Blue Rose. "If we're going to bare ourselves, Evileye, Keeno, would you be so kind as to remove your mask while we're all alone?" Vanysa asked politely.

Evileye complied. This was an odd turn.

"If you want the truth, I am both." She held out her taloned hands in front of her, spread somewhat wider than her shoulders with deadly points pointed palm up. "I am fury, and I am human. I was born, but I am a creation of His Majesty. I am free, but I serve loyally. I am a torturer who revels in bloodshed, but I am also sweet and kind to those I call friend and comrade. I have, according to a certain brilliant pair, a keen and insightful mind, but I am also stark raving mad. I am a living duality. I was not hiding what I am from you, only showing you that which made you most comfortable." Her voice was calm and reasonable, and that didn't really help.

"And some of the… stories, about you cutting people up and torturing them to death?" Gagaran asked.

"What would you have done to Jaldabaoth for killing your sisters?" She asked of Evileye.

"Worse." She said softly.

"Precisely. I punished those who were guilty, as an erinyes, I saw their sins, they were proud of them, proud of the torture of peasants, proud of the wealth they knew was depriving our people of the means to protect themselves, they traded lives for an extra silver spoon they'd never use. They got my people literally eaten alive, the man I loved was eaten in front of me, the last expression I saw on his face, was when a ratman cut that face off and teased me by using it as a mask before he ate the skin like you would an apple peel. I won't apologize for what I've done, I would have done worse if I could have, but I could only draw it out so long." Her eyes were savage and her face stern with rebuke.

"You would do that and worse to any who harmed another one of you. Do not exclude my bonds to others as you proudly proclaim your own." She said in a sharp voice.

They hung their heads for a moment, somewhat shamed by imagining how far they would have gone for one another, while rebuking another for the same.

"We… didn't really know that part." Evileye said.

Vanysa's face took on a more relaxed expression, "It's alright, I get it, and you let me explain things, so no harm, no wrong."

"Wouldja like thisa waya talkin again then?" She grinned and the light air of the sweet peasant was back over a creature of blood vengeance.

Lakyus gave a small laugh and said, "No, this is business after all."

The tension was gone and though Vanysa's bouncy peasant air melted away, her tone remained friendly, if business like. "As you like. I'll be blunt, you've done your job here, things are safe, a meta-analysis of security and threat levels shows that this area no longer requires an adamantite team, so you're an unnecessary expense as you are."

"Wait, are we being fired?" Gagaran interjected in disbelief.

"No." Vanysa said, "It's just that you aren't needed on this area anymore, but I have something else…unless you want to quit." She looked them over silently for a moment, none made a motion to get up, so she continued. "The reality is we need to take things further than in the past." She sighed, "I know about what happened at the General Assembly, that you were offered a chance to be fully integrated into the Sorcerer King's ranks, and you ultimately chose not to do it, remaining within the Kingdom's guild system."

There was a round of nods. "Well, that won't work anymore." She said, "Because the Kingdom won't exist for long, and when that happens, the old guild system will go with it."

There were looks of consternation around the table. Vanysa raised their hand to stop their protests, then reached into the bag she wore at her side and took out a map. She unfurled it on the table. "The war is going to end, I don't know when, but it won't be long. The Slane Theocracy woke the giant, and it is now marching west, you'll hear about it soon enough in rumor, but I've seen it up close and rumor does not do it justice."

"The giant?" Tia asked.

"What giant?" Tina added.

"The Sorcerer King held in his possession, a golem the size of a small mountain, it is currently walking west to the southern end of Re-Estize, when it gets there, it will punch the mountain down to create a path armies can pass through." She pointed to a place on the map.

"That mountain is thirty miles wide!" Lakyus exclaimed.

"His Majesty says it will take him about a week, unassisted." Vanysa said flatly. They sat back, struck dumb.

"More than that," Vanysa continued, "Re-Estize is going to submit itself to the Sorcerer King as a vassal state at the least, and I won't be surprised if they pursue complete integration, and then where do you think the guild system will be?" She asked.

There were no replies.

She pointed to the Draconic Kingdom, "My country will probably cease to exist independently after the war, Queen Draudillon herself told me she intends to request integration as a province." She pointed to the Roble Holy Kingdom, "As for here, Queen Calca will only rule because the Sorcerer King put her back on the throne, and she's been with him almost constantly, she's incredibly attached to his way of thinking. To keep the peace and rebuild her shattered country, she's already made an offer to become a province as well." She pointed to the empire, "They've been a vassal for years, and whatever mild reticence the Emperor had, has utterly vanished, the fearful look in his eyes when he visits His Majesty is completely gone, he speaks to my god now as one would to a friend, his empire has enjoyed unparalleled benefits and a fair number of high priests have already converted, you know that last part already, don't you, Lakyus?" Vanysa asked.

Lakyus nodded slowly as her team stared at her. "I… do. I'm attending the Synod as the priestess of a goddess to which I'm already an apostate." Her heart beat rapidly in her chest even saying it. "I don't know what a god is anymore, but the gods I was loyal to hate my sister, I can't serve what hates those I love." She looked suddenly very haggard, as the pent up internal struggle slipped past her implacable veneer.

Her sisters unconsciously moved a little closer as if to protect or comfort her, and Keeno took her hand and squeezed it gratefully.

"The Empire will probably give up the last of its independence at the end of the war, I give it six months, maybe one year if the Synod is prolonged." She pointed to the Slane Theocracy, "We're eating up ground like a fire eats a field of dry grass, their defenses were the best in the world until now, and they're starting to crack. We both know you wouldn't go there even if they won the war, they don't have a place for an unaffiliated military organization. That leaves very few options for you if you want a future in any of the lands you know. Maybe you could go to Argland, but if you're going to go there, well, you might as well remain in the Sorcerous Empire." She said, and they did a double take.

"Empire?" Evileye asked.

"What would you call it? It is moving well past 'kingdom' now, I think, and when all is said and done, it will have every country you've ever been to as a provincial region ruled by royal governor kings and queens. It seems to me that you're going to run out of options really soon, and that means that the best thing for you to do is to join while you can bring the most to the table, you're already on his side as an employed group, which by itself has lent all the moral endorsement he needed. It makes sense that it is best for you to continue to help humanity, and all others, by going from half the way to all the way on the right side!" Vanysa hadn't shouted, but her voice had become impassioned and fervent, she leaned in and held every eye on hers, one by one.

"Is this a matter of personal belief for you, or do you care about the fate of kingdoms, or is there a difference at all to you?" Gagaran asked.

Vanysa shook her head, "There is only one kingdom I care about, and eventually it will be the only kingdom from one sea to the other." Her eyes went down and the stormy eyes clouded over with a shell of silver tears, "I've personally lived most of my life in a nightmare, I know how bad it is under bad nobles, I lost everything, my home… twice, my business, I lost the boy who would have been my husband… I had to hide my face from nobles and guards because they didn't care what I wanted when they saw what I looked like and… I didn't always hide well enough, my mother didn't have a better life than I did, even though we lived under a Queen that actually cared. Another, well you know what Astraka did to my body, how I… I died. His Majesty… I have no illusions, I know what he's done, but he's done more than just give me life, education, and a future, he doesn't just rule, he builds!" She said, reaching across the table as if to take their hands.

"If he were not undead, the truth is you wouldn't be hesitating anymore, but I have seen what he's done, he is the immortal king, he gives us all lives and a future, he is incorruptible from his goals and his ideals, and you said it yourself, Lakyus, the old ways condemn your sister, if you're not at his side, all the way, how can you be at your sister's side 'all the way'?" Vanysa asked.

The effect of her argument was electric. She'd painted them completely into a corner by pointing out that the system they were part of was about to cease to exist, as were the nations they could have chosen to go to as an alternative, then she'd struck at a vulnerable point, the old system held their sister as deserving of death, while the Sorcerer King did as promised by all that they'd seen, and built up a system of coexistence, granting peace between all honest peoples.

The tension was thick enough to cut with a knife, and Lakyus covered Vanysa's monster hand with her own.

"You realize you're asking us to abandon everything we know, we're happy to stay on as contracted adventurers…" She began.

Vanysa held her eyes, "I know, but this is bigger than that, bigger than the old world, maybe that system you were part of was the best thing in this world at the time, but now there is something better, sometimes change comes whether we want it or not, but no matter how painful, we're better off for it. I'm the proof of that." She said with a smile that was somehow warm despite the deadly looking fangs.

"What… exactly are you offering us?" Lakyus said, giving a glance to her sisters before meeting Vanysa's eyes again. The women sat back in their seats again.

Vanysa then reached into her satchel again and took out another document. "A regular salary commensurate with a senior military officer, vacation on request, custom enchanted gear, runecrafted or otherwise, a private residence in any country under his domain. Freedom to turn down requests you deem 'unethical' under your traditional guild rules."

Their eyes went wide, they didn't know just what a senior military officer made, but only an idiot underpaid the people who commanded armies.

"What does he want in exchange for all that?" Lakyus asked in disbelief.

"Three things, two I can answer, one only he can, and he won't, not to anyone who isn't with him all the way." She said.

"Go on." Lakyus said.

"The first is obvious, your willingness to conduct operations that continue to ensure the peace of the realm in the post war period, regardless of the race you would have to face." Vanysa said.

"Agreeable in principle." Lakyus said, "And the ethics clause allows us to maintain our moral center, that is acceptable."

"Second, you are to go to Prart immediately via gate and aid in its defense against Astraka, Remedios, and the Slane Theocracy. There you will be under the command of General Baraja." She said and waited.

"I trust her, and we know what Remedios has been up to, and what Astraka did to you… and… and what the Slane Theocracy has been doing. This is an absolute yes." Lakyus said, "But what can you tell me about this third thing?"

"Nothing. This is a leap of faith on your part, unless you're all in, by your names and your oaths, I can tell you nothing but that it is far more important than the war now happening, if you accept this integration, and his rewards, and you want to know the third task, you will have to take another oath forfeiting your lives if the secret comes out. That is the gravity of the situation." Vanysa's eyes were not confident now, in fact it would be fair that she was failing to suppress a shaking in her body.

"Does the moral clause apply to the third thing?" Lakyus asked cautiously.

"I can tell you that you won't need it to." Vanysa said softly.

"Can we have one minute?" She asked.

"Yes." Vanysa said, "I'll be outside."

Blue Rose shared looks. "Whatever it is, it scared her." Gagaran said.

"It's serious…" Tia began.

"Enough that the Sorcerer King will kill to keep it quiet." Tina finished.

"Scratching all that for a moment, she's right about everything else, we're at peak value right now and when the war ends the old system will die. I'm not ready to retire, and I'm not ready to be a relic either." Evileye said. "Whatever has the Sorcerer King setting terms like this, it is serious, and what we know is that where he's willing and able to destroy entire armies by himself, he uses force last and talks first. We also know he's built up everyone he's ruled, not ground them down. I know he's undead, but so am I. Would you call me evil, if I did as he does?" She asked.

Lakyus whispered out a gentle "No."

"I say we do it." Evileye said, "I don't give a damn what he is, he's the best chance I've seen this world have and I'm over two hundred years old, if this is some kind of a con, I don't see how. I love you, I will always love you, my precious sisters, but this is a hard yes for me, I see no other way. Even if we don't go together, I will go alone and wait for you to realize I'm right to make this call. His world is the world I can have a real future, without hiding away, and we've seen others like me, exactly like me, of vampiric nature and even of heteromorph and demihuman, to know that this world can exist if only we create it. Please… I'll go alone, but I don't want to."

"You had me at 'Do it'." Lakyus said with a smile. "All the inducements and bonuses and rewards, those are grand, but at the end of the day I want a better place to live for as many people as I can get it for, he's convinced me that 'people' is a broader term than I might have used in the past, and I have to make up for that mistake. If you go, it won't be alone." They looked over at Tia, Tina, and Gagaran.

"We go…" Tia began.

"Where you go, fiendish boss." Tina finished.

Gagaran looked frustrated, and then let out an exasperated sigh. "I don't like hidden clauses and I haven't really let go of what he did to the Kingdom but… I go with my sisters, to hell and back again if that is what it takes. If we're wrong, we're wrong together and we go down together."

"Thank you." Evileye said softly.

"Vanysa, come on back, we're ready. We've made our choice." Lakyus called out.

Vanysa returned and closed the door, then took her seat again. "Your decision?" She asked.

"Give us the contract, we're on your side, we will serve the Sorcerer King, we'll sign and go straight away to Prart." Lakyus said, and Vanysa's grin split her face from ear to ear, she took it out and thrust it across the table.

"You can take a public oath administered by Neia when you arrive, just give her your copy of the contract, but now, now you probably want to know about the third trial." She said as the last of them made their mark on both copies of the document.

The next few minutes saw the blood drain away from their faces, and the undaunted Blue Rose felt tendrils of fear sweep over their bodies.

When the gate opened, they still had not regained their ability to speak.

Vanysa promptly left and made straight for the Viscountess's residence. Carrying the Sorcerer King's seal and having sent word in advance of her coming made entry very easy, and within minutes she found herself kneeling before the vampire ruler and her adviser, the priest of Black Justice, Ulthis.

The formalities were quickly put aside, and they asked her to speak her purpose.

"My lady, I come today with a request, a request that your forces, as many as you can spare, be sent immediately to Prart." Vanysa said.

The lady of the city looked up from her throne at Ulthis, "Are you serious?" She asked.

"Very. The Slane Theocracy, the bulk of the southern noble armies, and Remedios Custodio's fanatics, are going there, every sword is vital to its defense." She said.

"Can't the Sorcerer King work one of his miracle spells and end it in an instant?" She asked.

"I have no doubt that he could, Your Highness, yet victory without unity only sows the seeds of further conflict, and he desires to see all join hands, and the bonds of common risk are the greatest of all, I am certain he will not allow this battle to be lost, yet if he wins it himself, he will set himself up as a tyrant who is served out of fear, we must show all the world, even that part of the world not yet born yet, that we fought not out of fear, but for a future under the greatest of kings, it is true that more may die than if he worked his miracles… but then what have we won? Is this not our world too, must we not work to make it better and to throw off the old ways that were destroying us year after endless year?" Vanysa shook her head, "You probably know about who I am by now, not many an erinyes comes calling on a court, for me to even be here, shows the world is changing, as does you on your throne and your adviser beside you, you are now adherents to Black Justice, what does your justice tell you? To abandon your neighbors for the sake of your comfort, or to be the keepers of your neighbors, so that all stand together as one, come what may?" She asked softly.

"Ulthis, how many can we spare and still keep order?" Cercei asked.

"Perhaps eight thousand soldiers and however many volunteer from the citizens." He said after a moment's thought.

"Have them mustered. The people of Kedyn are good at holding walls." She said with unabashed and shameless pride in her city, "We'll teach the people of Prart something about that."

Vanysa grinned happily. "Then this is also for you, my lady." She said and took two scrolls from her satchel. "The first is a gate scroll, when your soldiers are mustered, use it and transport them all. The second is a summon undead scroll, it will call up a death knight to defend your city until replacement adventurers of a lower tier come to replace Blue Rose and to augment your security forces here."

Ulthis descended the stairs and took the scroll from the talons of the kneeling erinyes.

"We will be quick about it." He promised and looked back at the Viscountess.

"You were thinking of the same thing, weren't you?" She asked from the throne.

He sighed. "Yes, my lady, I want to go too."

She rolled her blood red eyes. "We'll settle that later, for now, Lady Vanysa…"

"Just Vanysa." She said with a smile, "I'm just a peasant, no rank, just a servant of His Majesty."

Her eyes widened, "He hasn't given you a title?" She asked.

"He doesn't seem to think much about titles, I live happily and comfortably and for a good cause for a great king, I guess if I asked for one, he'd give it, but I need no other title than 'Servant of the Sorcerer King'." She said sincerely.

"He seems to do much to instill loyalty." The Viscountess said approvingly.

"He does." Vanysa said with perfect confidence.

"Alright, would you like to stay another night, join us for dinner?" She asked from her throne.

"I booked another night at the inn just to accept that courtesy, my lady." Vanysa said, with polite happiness while she pondered just how proud her master was going to be of her.

 _…South of Fortress Alaf…_

Killing his erection is what really pissed him off.

The raids, the traps and ambushes, the constant outriding on undead mounts, that meant nothing to the elf king, he didn't even toss the concubines off his body when those things happened. He didn't ask what happened and he did not care.

But when the wave hit, a black stark terror, a skeletal hand caressing his heart and threatening to end his life in the span of a child's breath, his lust died completely. Terror was unknown to him until then, fear was something he imposed, never felt. When the wave passed, he tossed the woman aside indifferently from his deflated member and threw on his clothes.

The concubines had fainted straight away when they were struck, so at least he wasn't going to be embarrassed by any rumors. Outside the carriage, things were not much better. Horses had run off, human and elven mounted men were flung away to the dirt, many were still on their knees in horror at what they'd felt, the wrath of a god turned on them all.

"Worthless! You're all so worthless!" The Elf King snarled out vindictively. How long was this going to delay everything now?

Just his luck, it seemed to have happened in the middle of another raid and the results were especially damaging.

 _…Re-Estize Kingdom, E-Asenaru…_

Shalltear and Zaryusu's collaborative leadership system had been devastatingly effective, the surly child like looking vampire killed artlessly but effectively when they ran into minor opposition, and with the Lizardman on the forefront beside her, and the Re-Estize Kingdom's banner behind them both, it threw more than one village for a complete loop until the issue was explained.

Confusion created uncertainty, and uncertainty led to a desire for clarity, that meant that people listened, and almost every village along the way fell without bloodshed or opposition. As it turned out, E-Asenaru was led by real scum, a noble with a predilection for little girls and boys had taken to using villages as a kind of 'hunting ground' for victims, so the prospect of getting rid of the man had been readily embraced, even if it did come from unexpected sources.

When they found themselves at the walls of the city that bordered the Argland Council state, they called for parlay.

"He won't take it." Shalltear said with her lilting confident voice.

"He won't? How do you know?" Zaryusu asked.

"He's scum, scum might run away, but they'll never give up their toys." She said casually.

"What do you think will happen then?" He asked.

"He'll order his people to fight, and most of them won't, maybe he'll be thrown to us like that other one was." She chuckled haughtily.

The city remained silent.

Zaryusu chose to try something different. "They're not answering, want to knock on the door?" He asked.

"Maybe see if anybody is home?" She asked with a giggle, their weeks of travel had gradually worn down his discomfort with the little vampire, and he'd recently become at ease enough to make the occasional joke. This one seemed to take.

"Want me to handle it myself, after all, he likes little things, he should even be grateful that he can die in the arms of his dream girl." She let out a sadistic laugh, one Zaryusu found he could share in, while such people were rare among the lizardmen, it wasn't unheard of and they were reviled and frequently killed when exposed.

In a mocking sort of way, he dismounted and facing her flank, he gestured with both arms towards the city gate with a little bow. "As you wish, Lady Shalltear." He said.

She gave a light harumph and dismounted as well, and walked with a ramrod straight back and a haughty air about her as if she were strolling into a parlor, the men at the wall were stunned to disbelieving silence, and then she 'knocked' on the gate, and it flew in like it had been blown by a hurricane.

She stepped forward to the portcullis and 'knocked' there as well, giving it a similar fate as the stone holding it in a fixed position flung off of its fixed position and damaged a nearby building. The portcullis itself spun wildly before coming down on the edge and rolling end over end for a dozen yards down the street before it finally came to a rest on its side.

"I'm just here for a noble that isn't a noble." She announced politely, "Don't get in the way, and I won't have to kill you. But if you want to get in the way, I'm hungry." She said as she looked over her shoulder and up at the stunned men on the walls. They looked at her in absolute horror and then back down at the army in front of them, unsure of what to do, Zaryusu looked back up at them and just shrugged as if to say, "What did you expect?" No arrows flew at him, nor did they flee, fearing that they'd be mistaken for someone attacking her.

She walked through the city, and those who had seen what she'd done ran away from her. It was reminiscent of a comb parting hair and she moved with little opposition all the way to the heart of the city as word was carried about the 'beautiful monster' coming for the city's lord.

The only sound around her in the immediate area was the sound of her dainty steps on the stone street, until at last she reached the castle, two guards remained on duty as she approached. "Are you here to die for him?" She said in her sweet and childish voice, before her killing intent struck them like a whirlwind, their swords dropped, and they ran as soon as they could move. They never picked up swords again as long as they lived.

She 'knocked' on that door as with the others, sending it flying within, and daintily walking forward, following the scent, eventually she found herself at a door to the audience chamber, there were no guards, the doors flew inward and broke against the stone walls, the throne was empty, but the hall wasn't, one old man stood by it, seemingly fearlessly.

"Are you here to stop me, old man?" She asked dubiously.

"No." He said, "To tell you where he went." He answered.

"Why?" She asked in surprise.

"He never should have been in charge of a herd of goats, let alone a city." He said mournfully.

"You're sure he's where you think he is?" She asked, remembering how the blue haired warrior 'Brain Unglaus' had escaped from her years before.

"I am, I made sure of it." He said with a grim smile.

"How?" She asked.

"I told him he should flee, but that he'd need lots of gold for his journey, so he should pack as much as he can, he's not just greedy for the flesh of children to defile, he's greedy for gold too. Fortunately, he is also very weak. He'll try to carry more than he can, and he's probably still in his room trying to pack as much as he can. The stupid fool thought telling us to fight and die for him would buy him time, if he had even a tiny brain in his head, he'd know he'd done nothing to merit our dying for." The old man shook his head in disgust and spat on the seat of the throne. "We're burning that chair when he's dead."

"I see, thank you. Will you lead the way for this sweet little monster?" She asked with a kind curtsy.

"With pleasure, I only ask that you let me watch him die." He said.

"Condition accepted." She said warmly.

So, two pairs of feet moved to a side entrance and up a long and winding set of steps until at last they came to a door. Shalltear's knock sent it flying into the room, and it broke open a section of wall from the tall tower. The stone crumbled and fell with a crash down to the ground far below. It reminded her of what Demiurge had described when he broke in on the war council in the Roble Holy Kingdom.

Not far from the hole there stood a scrawny looking man with a half unkempt beard down to his neck, and he was fumbling trying to cram one more sack of coins into a pack that any idiot could see was too heavy for him to carry. When the collision happened, and the wall exploded outward he whirled and looked on in shock at the impossible scene before him.

"What, who?" he asked stupidly.

"Oh, nothing. I understand you want to leave the city, and I'm here to help you." She said sweetly. The adviser looked befuddled for a moment, but the young noble embraced the absurd claim in desperation.

"Well, hurry up then, stupid! Help me with this!" He shouted at her.

"I would, but you see I don't think you've packed enough." She said as she looked around. She first took up the pack and turned him around, "First, put this on just like so." She secured the large pack to his back, "You're so big and strong, I'm sure you can handle it." She said falsely.

False or not, he struggled to hold it up to prove his 'manhood'.

"Now, come here," she said as she walked over to his bedside and began to take other objects from around it that must have been quite valuable, he followed her as if entranced, "you'll need this, and this, and this too, and also this…" she said and began to hand him various objects, quickly filling his hands and arms with all sorts of useless extravagance. His knees were shaking.

"Oh, I know it is heavy, but don't worry, the horses will do all the work." She said 'sympathetically' as her hand touched the pack he wore, and she gently guided him over to the great big hole in the wall.

"How do I get all this down there?" He asked incredulously, "I need servants."

"You get down there quickly of course, and you'll have all that you deserve, now you're all packed for your journey, you can get going." She said with a sweet little girl voice.

"Where will I go from here?" He asked with wonder at the beautiful thing before him, he imagined she'd come with him, and he thought of all the ways he'd enjoy her in the evenings on the way wherever they might go.

"Why to hell of course. Bye bye." She said, and her beautiful lips parted to bare fangs, and she gave him a gentle kick just as he began to scream, and he fell back. Realizing where he now stood, he tried to stop himself, but the stumble could not be broken, he dropped the precious objects he held in his arms and grasped with a futile effort to try to buy one more moment of precious life, but he could find not a moment's purchase and tumbled out, spinning head over heels and screaming all the way down, landing on his belly with a thud, smashing his face and his limbs, and then crushed by the momentous weight of all the gold he'd tried to carry with him.

"Problem solved," she said happily. "I hope Lord Ainz appreciates how I got rid of that one, without even touching his disgusting skin, yuck." She made a sour face. "Alright, go send word to General Zaryusu that it's done, the city is now under the rule of the royal family again."

"I will, and gladly, and send guards throughout the city to proclaim the death of that idiot. He was so vile and despicable we'll never be ruled by another who even bears his name." The old adviser said with disgust.

"You should name your toilets after him too, if he was that bad." She said with a bemused smile.

"Hmmm…" He thought, "I have to go to the john." He said as he tried out the phrase. "Sounds good. I'll advise the next one that this would be a suitable little bit of bonus revenge." The old man bowed and chuckled at the crude humor.


	83. Missions Accomplished & Begun

**AN:** **Just a few things...**

 **1\. Thank you beta readers for all your work, seriously, I think I've got the best damn beta team on FFN, I could copy and paste their cooperative discussions on what to fix and publish that as a book on how to edit. Don't believe me? Join the discord server I've left an invite code for on my author page.**

 **2\. I'm building a website for some of my projects, so...its going to slow me down a little bit to get some of the work done, but not a lot. I'll provide the website url when it is done.**

 **3\. Thank you to the p atreon supporters, from the one dollar to the ten dollar donors who are helping get this project ready to be made into an audio book, this incidentally, will also pay for artists to illustrate key scenes for a complete ebook. Yeah big projects, but I say go awesome or go home, and hey, this fandom deserves to have awesome delivered to it. If you want to promote that project, the p atreon page is slash godrising.**

 **4\. I've got a lot of writing to do over the next few weeks, but we're closing in on the end of the second act, thanks for being with me through all this, I know some of my early work was a little raw, and I'm going back to finish that with the support of the beta team, hey better late than never, right?**

 **5\. Just a quick question, answer via pm or via review...I've heard that this particular story has grown through word of mouth, which is very cool, but I was just curious... If you didn't find it directly through FFN, where did you hear about it?**

 **6\. Thank you to those of you who donated to my charity organization, bdgiving dot org. That not only does a lot of good, it also means I have more time to write since I'm not having to gain donations through other means. Win/Win/Win.**

 **p.s. (Chapter 184 will be published at the 2,000 review mark mwahahaha Go ahead you slave drives, make me work! ;) )**

 **OK...On with the show!**

 _…Kedyn…_

Vanysa enjoyed the company of the Viscountess and her court. The religion of the Sorcerer King had spread like wildfire in the aftermath of the battle and the disgrace of the priests, and that meant that virtually every person in attendance had become an adherent to his doctrines. It had become so widespread within the city that it was all but impossible for an outsider to the faith to truly prosper. Therefore, the conversion rates redoubled. Vanysa vaguely recalled how a religion of her master's home had targeted rulers, nobles, and chieftains for conversion, promising wealth and victory, believing… accurately as it turned out, that the people would join the religion of the ruler either in lip service motivated by avarice and desire for connections the old faith no longer offered, or out of loyalty. Either would do. It appeared, as she looked around the table, that it was in her world, just as it had been in the first world.

She however, as the personal emissary of the Sorcerer King, was a celebrity at the table. It was a rare chance to get an insider's view on what he was like.

She sat near the Viscountess, on her left side, while Ulthis sat on her right. It still felt strange to the peasant girl to sit near the head of a table, but after countless hours of training in manners, she was at least confident that she wouldn't shame her master by the unintended use of the rustic manners of her upbringing.

Curiously, though she chose to attend in the shape of an erinyes, nobody batted an eye, she looked next to her, silently asking the question of Cercei. "It is because you come from the Sorcerer King. Everybody in the city knows you're here by now, and everybody knows most of the servants of His Majesty are nonhumans. You'd probably get more funny looks if you came representing the Draconic Kingdom." She whispered softly.

Vanysa nodded with understanding. "Makes sense."

Questions peppered her which… well to be fair, she did her best to answer, promoting his good will and the prosperity that lay down the path he laid for them all. She spoke of his favorable view towards honest merchants and how the cycle of coin could be used to promote increased general wealth, recalling the lessons she'd had in economics during their time together when she was nothing but a camp attendant.

"Really, so you were just a peasant?" A gruff looking fellow with a salt and pepper beard said from just one chair over. He leaned over with interest. "Now you're doing all of this?"

She nodded emphatically, "My time with the Sorcerer King changed me greatly, I went from human to erinyes, but that is the smallest change." She held out her arm with talons up and touched the golden skin with her free hand, "This golden skin and hardened body, my wings, my horns, the razors that shred steel like a knife does paper; these seem like great changes, but I tell you they are minor. His greatest change was here." She said and pointed to her head.

"Your horns…? But I thought you said…" He began, and she stopped him with a laugh that was sweetly feminine, and extremely predatory.

"No, the greatest change was what He taught me and what I have learned in Nazarick since then. He opened my eyes to a greater world than I had known was even out there, I learned to think, to read, to reason and plan, I learned whatever I wanted. I've got a perfect body for my natural… tendencies and for my service, but educating me opened me up to ever more diverse abilities." She paused and drank some of her wine, then she set it aside and put her elbow on the table and rested her chin on the palm of her hand.

"Tell me, my lord, can the peasants on your estate read and write?" She asked.

He shook his head, "No, but they've really no need of the skill for their tasks, they know how to farm, hunt, fight a little, and perform simple tasks." He looked a little intrigued by the question.

"Could any of them speak for a god, guide the defenders of humanity to a desired end, command and lead entire armies in combat?" She asked.

"No…" He said honestly.

"How do you know? Did you know that General Enri was nothing but a peasant? Now I hear they're calling her the 'Grand Matriarch' and she's slated to rule one of the fastest growing cities in the world. She leads one of the largest and most diverse military divisions ever to march, and she didn't even know how to read until the Sorcerer King had her taught. By opening her mind, he unleashed her potential in countless subjects, and got for himself a great leader. By educating me, he saw that I could play a part in changing my nation. When Princess Renner had her bodyguard educated, she created from a starving peasant child the strongest warrior in her city after the royal head warrior and Brain Unglaus, and because of who he became, they won over to their side the greatest weapon of the Theocracy, General Zetsumei. It may be that on your estate there is a hidden genius buried under mountains of ignorance, and all you need to do to benefit from it is to see it nurtured so that it grows like the crops they now plant. Three times in a handful of years, talent was revealed by raising up others and giving them the chance to grow. Which makes me wonder, are you sure your peasants are not worth investing in?" She asked with a raised eyebrow.

He looked down at his plate, reflecting on what she'd said. "Perhaps it is worth a try, I have not made much effort to draw one of the teachers to my lands, but the expense is very small, I suppose I lose almost nothing if it doesn't work out. I'll make the request tomorrow." He said.

The rest of the evening was much like that, with Vanysa extolling the virtues she'd seen on full display in E-Rantel and within Carne. She told them the story of the boy 'Goan' whose mother had been blessed by the Sorcerer King, and of his kindness towards the children under his rule. Some of these stories were known, others were not, but it only raised more questions as the night wore on, until at last the final glass was emptied and the last plate was clean but for a single bite, a symbolic promise of the desire to return another day.

Vanysa honored this custom in turn, leaving one small bite of meat in the middle of her plate with the fork still piercing the delicious morsel. She looked at it longingly, but left it there.

Cercei noticed this, and her lips turned up in a pleasant smile, "You know our customs?"

Vanysa turned her glance away from the last bite to meet the Viscountess's eyes. "I do. His Majesty says that in all lands, custom is the high king, therefore wherever I go, I should learn the customs and emulate them to the highest degree possible so as to make myself a good guest, and show respect to my hosts. I admit though… the food was so good… I regret this one." She let her lips form a teasing smile, prompting a laugh from the Viscountess.

"Then go ahead, finish it, how can I be upset when you both enjoy our fare and honor our customs?" She chuckled and gestured politely to the last bite, which Vanysa promptly ate.

The other table guests had been trading approving looks, that the very god many of them now worshipped deigned to have his chosen representative show respect to their customs was very well received, and not likely to be forgotten, it was as if to say, "I will honor a worthy people".

"Now though, I should get some rest. Tomorrow morning I return to His Majesty. Though if it pleases you, Your Grace, I would like to return here after all is said and done and see this city as a tourist. I'm keen to experience what this growing city has to offer." She said in her most formal and royal voice. It was a nervous moment, she'd practiced that phrase a thousand times alone in her room, wishing every time she had the natural gift of nobility that the Sorcerer King possessed, to be so noble without practice? Ahh... what a dream.

It appeared however, that she had pulled it off well enough, and the erinyes stood as the Viscountess did, and Vanysa bowed in her direction.

"It would be my pleasure to host you again, but next time, stay with me as my guest, rather than at an inn." She replied.

"As you wish, Your Grace, you are most kind to this humble servant." Vanysa replied, keeping her gaze down as she spoke and finished the bow, she straightened up, and the guests as well as herself, filtered out. When she returned to her room, there was only one thing to do, and that was to report her success.

The message connected to a certain Archdevil immediately, "Demiurge! It is done." She said melodically.

"Successful?" He asked.

"I was, Blue Rose left this morning and the Viscountess and her adviser Ulthis will probably fight over who gets to move with their city guard and militia, but one or both, along with at least eight thousand fighting men and women will pass through the gate and arrive in Prart tomorrow. I have booked a room overnight in order to observe their departure tomorrow before my own." She said succinctly.

"At least eight thousand? Not exactly?" He said, his voice implying a measure of unhappiness with her uncertainty.

"That is the total guard force they're sending, it does not include volunteers, the number of which is unpredictable, if you want a guesstimate I would not be the least bit surprised if half the damn city volunteers. The Sorcerer King and the faith centered around him is incredibly popular here."

"I see." His voice had taken on a note of approval in those two simple words. "I am sure Lord Ainz will reward you for this." He added.

"Our Lord chose to create me as I am In gratitude alone, I am rewarded already by being allowed to continue to serve him." She retorted, her voice carried a tiny hint of rebuke that she was motivated by anything more.

"So are we all." He answered, his voice, never one to be apologetic, carried a hint of acknowledgment, but that was not what caused the little hairs on her body to stand on end when he spoke. His words replayed in her mind a dozen times in that moment, "So are we all." With that single word, it appeared he was offering his acceptance of her, something no other being of Nazarick, save His Majesty, had seemingly considered. Or if they had, they never showed it.

"Dinner and a song when I return?" She asked.

"We've been given two serial killers from the empire today, brothers no less." He said in answer.

"Their guilt?" She probed.

"Determined beyond doubt." He replied.

"Then I look forward to it." She said playfully.

"As do I." He said in a voice that was seemingly neutral, but her intuition flared up, and detected a note of anticipation beneath it.

 _…Re-Estize Kingdom…_

Renner sat in her room, but she was not alone. She had two companions with her. The first was the ever present Climb. He stood near at hand, ever the loyal bodyguard, but his eyes… she always felt them more on her, loving, dreaming, adoring, even worshipping. Her eyes however, only gazed at him in those moments when he looked away for brief moments, and in those moments her mind was a gale force wind. "He's mine, mine, mine, mine, mine!" She thought over and over again, only to glance back to her second companion.

Those little 'indiscretions' and the hungry, mad eyes of the golden princess would never be noticed by this companion, because this companion was an innocent little box. A puzzle box to be precise, one she'd been tinkering with for a very long time now, and which she had almost solved. Of the six locks, only one remained, the most fiendish of them all, yet it would not elude her mastery forever.

She obsessed over the box during her 'exile' while Climb was away. This had allowed her, oddly enough, to focus intensely on the box and its secrets in order to pass the time, but also to prove herself to her master. More than once she'd agonized over the possibility of failure and what it might mean for her or for Climb in his captivity if she failed to progress. Lady Albedo had told her it was a test, and a simple mind would have concluded that the test was simply the box itself.

She knew better, the test was more than the box, the test was her ability to work within the test while the strain of the outside world, and the absence of her puppy, pressed in on her mind. The fiendish and divine intelligence of the Sorcerer King was made starkly clear that day, when he'd idly asked about her progress while Climb was gone, and it was only by the sheerest luck that she had been able to say that she had solved one more lock just that morning. His answer was indifferent congratulations, and she felt the room close in on her for a moment, as if to say she needed to do better. The second had been unlocked the day of his return, mere hours before, and it was with great relief that she reported this on Albedo's arrival. Now… now she had only one, and she had a self imposed deadline based on her best guess of their expectations, that she would triumph over the little box by the time the kingdom was restored.

"Princess, you're working so hard. Please rest." Climb said as she let out a sigh and set the box down.

She shook her head, "Climb, I can't." She said simply.

"Why not? I'm glad you find such pleasure in this gift of the Sorcerer King, but you shouldn't strain yourself so much. Please forgive me, but I worry over your wellbeing, you've already been through so much…" He trailed off, his voice thick with emotion at all the tragedy she'd had to endure.

His concern touched her deeply, and over and over again the gale wind shouted within her mind, "He's mine, all mine, mine and no one else's… how I long to chain him down, oh, to worship me and me alone…" She closed her eyes to keep back the expression she felt rising within her.

"Very well, I will rest for a few minutes, I am a little tired, will you watch over me while I sleep again? Ever since father I…" She lowered her gaze and looked away, the lie flowed smoothly from her practiced lips as she pretended the death of her father had made her afraid of darkness and of being alone while she slept.

"Of course, my princess." He said dutifully, and he held his hand out to help her to her feet.

She walked to the bed and laid herself down, resting her golden hair gently on the pillow, and he took his place standing beside her perfect form. She closed her eyes and he held her hand. How he loved this beautiful girl, was what he thought… perfect, kind, the epitome of nobility. As a boy he'd dreamt the mad dream of marrying her, knowing it could never be. At the Katze Plains Brain had spoken for him, and the King had all but agreed. Yet by then, he knew even that was a mad hope, a princess was wed for the sake of the kingdom, never for the sake of her own heart, let alone for the sake of the heart of some fatherless, motherless orphan turned meat shield.

All he could do, all he could ever hope for, all that whirled within his mind, was that he must spend his life protecting her by any means necessary, and when his heart was to be broken into a thousand tiny pieces when she married a noble, that she might find some measure of happiness, and that he might find solace in protecting and teaching whatever children she might have. Any other future except his death, was impossible.

Yet now? "Can it really be? Could it really be possible that the Sorcerer King meant what he told her?" He shook off the thought, he wanted to think ill of the undead monarch still, and he clutched bitterly to the death of Gazef Stronoff. But even that had eroded as he won his self proclaimed 'big sister' Zesshi over to his side and began to make her wishes into reality. It was further eroded by the support he'd seen going to the restoration of his kingdom and how the masterful plan had minimized harm to the population. One brick at a time, his wall of bitterness was being taken apart and being replaced with something new. 'Respect.'

The breathing of his golden princess had become even and slow. She was asleep, when a rhythmic knock came at her door. It was a familiar sound and there could be only one origin for it. He went and opened it for the visitor, and there stood, as expected, Brain Unglaus.

"What brings you here this evening, Brain?" Climb asked curiously, keeping his voice low so as to not disturb the princess.

Brain gave Climb a clever, even roguish smile. "She's still not comfortable sleeping without you, eh?" His tone suggested something a trifle illicit, but his voice was equally low and considerate, telling Climb that he was only teasing. Still, it was enough to make the blond bodyguard blush cherry red.

Brain stifled his laugh, and then slowly his expression became more serious. "Tomorrow we're leaving to retake the capital, I was wondering if you and the princess were going to move out with us tomorrow, or stay here in E-Libera?"

Climb let out a breath filled with a sense of relief, his muscles visibly relaxed, "It's really happening, isn't it?"

"Yup, the renewal of the Kingdom, the restoration of the rightful monarch, and unless I miss my guess, you also mean the end of most of the old nobility. The only holdout city left after this is Re-Lobell. By now the Sorcerer King's army in the north will be reaching E-Asenaru, and between King Zanack and General Nimble, whatever is left in the capital doesn't have a prayer."

"Do you expect any resistance?" Climb asked cautiously.

Brain shook his head, "Not really. The Sorcerer King's intelligence agents were very thorough. Philip was a very poor monarch, he mistreated the merchants and their families. He wouldn't pay for goods and he was not only cheap with gold when it came to paying his servants, he was 'handsy' with the female ones working in the castle. The people he left in charge behind him were no better. I fully expect the gates will open without a fight."

For a moment, Brain's face drained of color, "But also, that wave… the one that broke this city's will to resist. E-Rantel is a long way from here, but it reached this far, where do you think it stopped? I swear, I've never felt fear like that before."

"You felt fear?" Climb asked curiously. "I mean, I was knocked down to my knees, but I've never felt as energetic as I did after that."

"No, I didn't, and that's my point. When the wave hit me, sure I went to my knees like everyone else, but I felt that same vigor, like I could take on the world and win. The ones ruling Re-Lobell were utterly terrified beyond all measure and they capitulated just to keep their lives. If he can impose terror, and power, at this distance, and who knows how far it went beyond that, then this is his world, and we're just living here while he informs us all of that fact. It's a pretty terrifying thing to know that power like that can exist." Brain said softly.

"But…" He added, perking up slightly, "It appears he's on our side, and anything with that kind of power doesn't have to lie to us, so I have no choice but to believe in him. So, I think tomorrow will go very, very easily."

"Good, that is a relief. The princess told me she wants to go with the army." Climb replied, his voice was still somewhat anxious, but clearly Brain's information put him at greater ease.

"I see, well I'll inform the king of her decision. You go and… get some 'sleep'." He said with a wink that brought the faded cherry blush roaring back full force to Climb's face as he turned and walked away.

 _…E-Asenaru…_

Shalltear was happy. Truth be told, she fairly bounced, so much so that she was reminding herself of the pet Lord Ainz had made for himself. It wasn't her favorite analogy… as she was not fond of the little erinyes. However, her mood was so positive that she couldn't help herself.

"You're happy today." Zaryusu said from a table in the great hall as she walked in and sat down. The hall was nice enough, still more luxurious than anything in the lizardman village, but nowhere near as fine as what he'd seen in Nazarick. Rough cut stone walls, a long well sanded table and chairs, a high chandelier with continual light magic over it, a wine rack along the wall and two serving carts with suitable eating and drinking materials such as cups, bowls, and so on, and a few fireplaces at strategic intervals in order to heat the room in the cold winter months. Shalltear had entered dressed in her customary red and black outfit and carrying the parasol she always had when planning to go out.

"I am, and why shouldn't I be? This all but finishes the task Lord Ainz set us to, there's only one city left after the capital and we don't have to worry about either of those, we just go South to meet up with Gargantua. Finishing a mission for the supreme one is the greatest… well… second greatest honor any female guardian could ever hope to achieve." She said with a longing sigh.

After weeks with Shalltear, he didn't need to know what she counted as the highest honor. He was well accustomed to her now and had an idea of who she really was beneath her sweet exterior, her casual slaughter of anyone in her way gave lie to the innocent and sweet exterior. But despite all that, he also saw that this exterior was not truly a facade, not for anyone she counted as a comrade at least. He had no illusions about himself in that regard, he wasn't one, Vanysa… the mere mention of her seemed to make the little vampire angry, but she seemed fond of the boy who visited sometimes, pampering him as if he were her own child in his few observations. She also seemed to favor the human girl "Neia", who was the first human to call her master a god, or at least, not consider her to be without value as she did most others.

He however, kept his own counsel on those matters and said, "True, I admit I hadn't imagined that it would go as smoothly as all this, we were told they were incompetents, but this much so? I can only attribute it to the brilliance of the Sorcerer King, he must surely have orchestrated all this so that we would have an easy time of it." His voice was filled with admiration and respect. While a part of him said that only to please Shalltear, who he wanted to keep happy, and praise to their master always accomplished that, the truth was that he wondered if it was not also highly accurate. The Sorcerer King had shown time and time again that he was capable of devastatingly subtle machinations, bringing down an empire in a few days, exposing and eliminating the Slane Theocracy's secret weapon and their ability to use it, and then taking their strongest warrior and that weapon for himself, along with countless other objects of incalculable value.

Could he have arranged for this as well? It was a chilling thought that… "He could. Yes… he really could."

He felt abiding relief that his people had surrendered rather than continued to struggle. It was true that in the quiet hours he sometimes entertained a moment of frustration at their losses, even bitterness, yet time was showing the wisdom of surrender and more lives were being saved than had been lost as a result of the reforms and the imported magic of the Sorcerer King, curing disease, lowering the losses of death in childbirth to zero, and ending the frogmen threat forever. Fifty lives for centuries of prosperity? Fair trade.

Shalltear sat smirking as all that passed through his mind in a moment, "Lord Ainz says that once we reach the new path, we're to march through the lands between Re-Estize and the Theocracy, and support General Rockbruise and Aureole Omega in invading the Theocracy, do you think we'll encounter any resistance?" She asked curiously.

"I can't say for sure, I traveled a long way, but I never dared set foot in the Slane Theocracy, they would have killed me." He said with a shaking of his head. "As a consequence, I don't know anything of the nonhuman settlements beyond their borders."

"I see." She pouted slightly, "I guess it can't be helped. How long before we can leave here?" She asked, her voice taking on a tone of mild annoyance.

"Days." He said, "I'm rushing the establishment of a temporary government until King Zanack can reestablish his authority, once we have a few people selected and approved, we'll pull out. There's one thing you can do to make sure it goes well though." He said.

"What's that?" She asked, a hint of eagerness in her voice as she thought about how else to serve her master's glory.

"When we have the people selected to run things temporarily, I will introduce you, then I want you to unleash your killing intent, terrify them beyond all measure that you will return unhappy if there is the slightest hint of corruption when the King's replacements arrive. We don't have time to ensure they are all entirely of honest nature, but we have enough time to terrify them of even considering behaving dishonestly." He said with his rote competence.

Shalltear thought over what he'd said for a moment, and then nodded slowly. "Yes, I can see that. What shall I do in the meantime?" She asked.

"Enjoy the city for two or three days, I'll handle all the administrative subjects, maybe find some nice souvenirs to give as gifts when you return to Nazarick." He suggested diplomatically.

Part of her wondered if she should pout or rage about that, doing nothing for a few days while he handled all the decisions almost seemed like an insult, but she found nothing insulting in his words, truth be told it sounded like he was keeping her from being bored.

"You took the city by yourself, Lady Shalltear, you put down the evil lord in the name of the Sorcerer King, you've done your part, let me do mine, and we'll be out of here in no time." He added, his voice calm and placating, and it mollified her as it was intended.

"Fine, but if anyone steps out of line, tell me immediately." She said firmly.

"Of course, Lady Shalltear." He said with a bow of his head.

The next few days went just as he said they would, she found a few worthless trinkets, a few toys that were unique and Aura and Mare might like, a few exotic pets she hadn't seen before, simple things, but it wasn't altogether unpleasant, and then came the day. Thirteen men in fine clothing sat around the long table in the dining hall of the castle, they ranged from fat to thin, tall to short, old to young, clean shaven or with thick beards. They had only two things in common, all of them had been from outside Philip's faction, and all of them were of the merchant class, though from a variety of fields with only dubious ties to the nobles, if any at all.

Zaryusu stood at the head of the table, and the chosen representatives all looked at him with expressions ranging from curiosity to doubt. "Good afternoon." He looked them over, and then spoke "You all know why you're here, and you all know who I am. I'm sure it seems strange to have a lizardman general leading a diverse army to restore a human king to the throne of a different country." He said, letting his voice drip with irony as he spoke.

Expressions of uniform agreement greeted him, as did their silence. "You know why you were chosen for this position, and you know of course that you are tasked with temporary oversight of the city's affairs until King Zanack has completely restored order and established his own government properly again. I'm leaving this afternoon, along with my colleague and my army, along with whatever volunteers have chosen to come with me. But before I do, I wanted to introduce you to the one who killed the previous lord." He said with the utmost courtesy.

"Lady Shalltear, will you please come out here" He said over his shoulder, and right on cue, the sweet little monster came strolling out looking very much like the kind of girl the previous lord would have preyed upon.

She stood at his side and, against his will, enjoyed their mystified looks. "My lady, will you please demonstrate why it is a bad idea to engage in any form of corruption, nepotism, exploitation, theft, or abuse of the population after we leave?" He asked, maintaining his voice as the very soul of politeness.

"Of course, Zaryusu dear." She said with faux sincerity, and unleashed the icy wave of her killing intent on all thirteen people at the table, while also revealing her monstrous appearance to those shocked and terrified figures who were too fearful in that moment to even flee. "Displease my master by those things, and I will return for you." She said, sweeping her arm out in front of her, pointing her finger at each one in turn, until her arm came back to her side, the killing intent vanished, and she returned to the appearance of the sweetest and most innocent little girl ever to live.

The smell of ammonia was in the air, and the shaking was plentiful enough that it was faintly audible.

"The point is made, and so we are leaving. Do not force her to return." General Zaryusu said in a clipped, forceful voice.

Then he simply walked towards the door with Shalltear, leaving trembling in their wake. The long march out of the city was the cause for much fanfare, the toppling of the lord was widely celebrated… as was all the spending that had been done by the army that had occupied the area around the city.

Now they were leaving peacefully, and marching South, to what end, only the future would tell.

 _…Throne Room of Nazarick…_

"What did you find?" Ainz asked of the eight edge assassins that were prostrate before his throne.

"Master, we explored the mountain range until we found the entrance of the Dark Dwarf Kingdom, it too, like the Dwarves of the mountains that border the Empire and Re-Estize, is an underground kingdom. They have a thriving civilization of great halls and massive cities, too, their population is very large, extending over much of the region. There are many more of them than there are of their cousins in the North." The speaker said in a soft, deferential voice.

"That makes sense, the north was almost exterminated by the Quagoa." Ainz said thoughtfully. "Will their cities be in the path of Gargantua's construction?" Ainz asked.

"My Lord, it appears that they will be, but this is true no matter where Gargantua strikes. We spent days scouring the inside in secret, they are vast, if Gargantua levels the mountain where presently intended, it will destroy or severely damage two cities." He replied, "However, there is also nothing they could do to stop you, my Lord. They have no metal better than adamantite, and they have nobody who can use magic beyond the fifth tier. We watched a bout between two of their finest warriors, and found them to be no more powerful than any of the humans Your Majesty has encountered or gathered information on. They can be safely crushed as if they were not even there." The assassin said confidently.

"I see, and what about the Dark Elves beyond the mountains?" Ainz asked.

"They are organized on tribal lines, some tribes are settled, some are nomadic, both groups trade together and with the Dark Dwarves under the mountains, they trade food, hides, and other goods found on the plains in exchange for metal equipment. Their magic does not exceed the fifth tier and they also lack anyone capable of working harm to you or your champions, my lord." The assassin said, again with confidence.

"Do you think they would simply let us pass through their lands?" He asked, "Or would they make a fight of it?"

"It is our view, my Lord, that since both value strength, the sight of your armies following Gargantua would compel their complete submission with little difficulty." The assassin answered proudly.

"I see, well perhaps some diplomacy first. Thank you, you have done well, you may resume your normal duties as soon as you've made a complete written report on everything you've learned." Ainz said, and gestured for the assassins to depart.

"We are unworthy of such praise, yet we thank you, oh Lord, for your kindness to your humble servants." Their spokesman said, then they bowed and stepped aside.

"Sebas," Ainz said, "Alert Gondo to my coming, then have Tuare and Yuri Alpha join me in my office. Oh have Aura and Mare come see me immediately. I have a task for them."

"At once, my Lord." Sebas said with a bow.


	84. Praise & Progress

**AN: Well so much for my notion that a review goal that high would net me about week away without people wondering if I'm dead or something. :D Y'all really piled on there. I guess that also puts to rest the idea that I was going to lose readers if I didn't update on my usual rapid pace, or that I needed to keep putting out chapters to get more reviews. :) Looks like a good chapter does generate reviews if that is the price that is asked for. I'm not even mad. :D Nice to know you're still enjoying the story so far, of course reviews feed me, but I AM taking a few days off from this story to work on another project. Not long, just a few days or so, discorders and beta readers already know, everybody else will just have to enjoy the suspense. I think you'll be pleased though. So just stand fast and let me work. The 'easier' stories like Bone Daddy's Daughters & Desires of a Demon, will get some short chapter updates. The former because it is just fun, the latter because it is a commissioned piece...and is also fun. Other than that, well if you want to help out with my charity goals to show your appreciation for my work, you can donate to bdgiving dot org, or to support the audio book project, to p atreo dot com slash godrising. OK, ON with the show! :)**

 _…Kedyn…_

Vanysa got up the next morning, cleaned, dressed, ate, and went outside. She did not disguise her nature, she walked the streets as an erinyes. She drew some unusual looks, but by now, word had spread that the Sorcerer King had sent a representative, and she was correctly assumed to be it. All day, criers and riders had gone hither and thither spreading word that those adherents to His Majesty's will were being called on to volunteer in the defense of Prart. This was the fruit of that effort. She stood atop the gate and looked out over the massed ranks. There stood thousands upon thousands of soldiers arrayed in simple square groups. They stood ten deep and ten wide, and there were ninety squares, making for a total of nine thousand, plus volunteers, and there were more coming in from surrounding villages even as the Viscountess and her adviser, Ulthis, climbed the steps to join her on the battlements.

"Good morning, Your Grace. Good morning, sir." She said, inclining her head to the Viscountess and the priest.

"And to you, Vanysa." They said almost simultaneously.

"They're impressive, aren't they?" Cercei said proudly.

"They are." Vanysa replied, "I didn't expect so many…" She trailed off as another square finished forming up.

"His Majesty paid out of his own treasury for adventurers to protect villages from raids by Astrakian loyalists and Slane Theocracy fanatics. I've spoken with some of the villagers in the last few months as part of my duties, a group of iron plates held off some of that fallen paladin's fanatics during an attack, saved a woman from being burned alive, and got the village out. Most of the iron plates died, but the villagers got away and fled to another one. That one was prepared for the attack as a result, and that village had a gold ranked team. Combined with both groups, when the attack came , they crushed the fanatics. Without the adventurers paid for by His Majesty, many would have died. Nobody has forgotten that yet." He said gravely.

Vanysa nodded. "I would imagine there were many such stories out there." Cercei added, "Kedyn is not a huge city, we were 'almost' undone, were it not for the efforts of His Majesty and providing us Blue Rose, and without a little timely help from his pope, things could have been much, much worse. This is a debt of honor that we repay, I can't swear everyone out there is party to his faith, but they are party to the debt to his name nonetheless. My people are proud, villager or city dweller, they won't sully their dignity by failing to repay the kindness and generosity shown to them. Anyone who isn't here in the next hour, is either too old or too young." The Viscountess' voice was the pinnacle of confidence and pride as she spoke.

They stood there, the three of them; two vampires and an erinyes in front of a small army of humans. Their hands were folded patiently behind their backs as ranks continued to form. Their feet were shoulder width apart and they projected an image of power and authority. Vanysa's wings quivered behind her with excitement. "Did the two of you settle who is going to Prart with them?" She asked curiously.

"Neither of us is willing to give in on that particular point." Cercei said with some measure of frustration. "Ulthis insists that it is my duty to rule and he will act in my name while in Prart. I say that as the Sorcerer King put himself into the fight, I can do no less. Not less than he, not less than my husband, not less than my people."

Ulthis rolled his eyes, "And I continue to point out that the Sorcerer King is a god, her husband ended up dying by his noble choice, and her duty to her people is to rule well and survive. I can fight at least as well as she can, probably better due to more practice, and we can't just replace her, while I can be replaced by writing to a temple and informing them of my demise."

"So you're at an impasse." Vanysa said succinctly.

"Yes. I am most especially disturbed that he continues to devalue himself so. I can get another priest, but that does not mean he can be so easily replaced. I cannot get another Ulthis." Cercei said, her voice was frustrated, but betrayed a measure of additional anxiety beyond the simply professional.

"Would the Sorcerer King have some wisdom on this matter that you could pass on to us, what do you suggest?" Ulthis asked, eager for some solution.

"Well, she's the viscountess, she can just tell yah to shut up, be a good boy, and stay here." Vanysa snickered, and Cercei laughed. Ulthis looked at her, deadpan.

"Or," she shrugged, "Just flip a damn coin and be done with it already."

The pair blinked at her in a stupor. "That's it? That is your suggestion?"

Vanysa looked at them both, "What do you want from me? I'm a peasant turned monster, I torture predators and extract information, I like to think I'm pretty smart, but you want divine wisdom, go talk to God, this one will answer you. You want a practical solution on the spot, that is what ah got for yah." She said and she reached down and took out a coin.

"No hard feelings, no arguments, one flip and the way it falls on the stone is what you do. You both want to go, only one of you can, and you both have equally good reasons for both sides of the argument. Since neither is better than the other, let chance decide." She replied.

Ulthis and Cercei shared a glance at one another, it was… unconventional, but there were worse ideas. "Fine." The two said in unison.

"I'll flip." Vanysa said and set the coin with the Sorcerer King's face on it looking down, she considered it proper that he always be looking down at the world rather than up from it. She flipped, the coin spun, end over end, and she stepped back. "Call it Cercei." Vanysa said as it reached the peak of its altitude.

"Heads." Cercei called.

It came down and struck the stone, wobbled, and landed flat. "Tails for the win." Vanysa said and picked it up. "Ulthis, looks like you're going to visit Prart with them."

He rendered his salute to Cercei, who lowered her head in disappointment, but then returned it, fist over heart, and said, "You'd better come back alive."

He laughed; his blood red vampire eyes met hers.

"I think I'm a little late for that." He said.

She rolled her own eyes in return, "You know what I mean you stubborn oaf, but next campaign, if there is one, goes to me with no arguments."

"Fair enough." He said, and stuck out his hand, she took it, and they shook firmly.

"Would you like to address the soldiers? It looks like most of them are here now. I'll let Ulthis go inform his wife of his departure, then use the scroll and send them through. That leaves time for you to say a few words." Cercei asked politely.

"Shouldn't they hear from you?" Vanysa asked hesitantly.

"I'm their viscountess, they've heard from me a hundred times, but how many times in a life does a representative of the Sorcerer King come calling?" She asked.

"Alright, if it'll help." Vanysa said.

Her wings popped out wide, and the low conversations beyond the wall stilled to nothing.

She flapped them slowly and allowed herself to rise above and then beyond the wall, she hovered before them as the specter of vengeance.

"Hiya!" She said with a wave, "Yah don know me, an ah ain't exactly a big speaker, so ah ain't gonna say much or for long. Yah probly know ah come from the Sorcerer King. His Majesty, he made me this, ah used ta be prey to whatever someone else done wanted to do to me, ah ain't had no power, ah ain't had no say, ah couldn't do nothin bout nothin. All ah could do was jus cry. He done made me different, he taught me somethin, lotsa thins, but most of all he done taught me ta have some god damned self-respect!" Her voice carried over the crowd, her folksy peasant speech targeted to the audience she faced. She had their attention.

"Now there's a lotta people, they don't want that fer no one but themselves, ah hear some of em came here an tried ta kill yah, an ah hear not a one of em got past yer walls but as a dead damn corpse or a prisoner, that right?" She asked with a sweet tilt of her head.

Cheers rang out, spear butts struck the ground, and she raised her hands to call for quiet.

"Well, think yah can teach Prart a thing er two about how ta hold walls? Seems ta me they've had some trouble learnin that over the years, yah gonna help em out?" She asked wryly.

A general round of laughter and affirmative calls of 'Hell, yes!' answered her.

"Well alright then, whatcha standin around listenin ta me for, yah gots a thing ta do an yah know what it is, do yer best, come back alive, come back proud, an show the whole damn world that ain't nobody can take a wall what been held by Kedyn folk!"

She rendered a salute to the crowd, and moved back to the wall. She looked over at the Viscountess, "They're all yours, Your Grace." She said.

"They'll die on those walls for that reputation, after that little display." Cercei said, visibly moved.

"Let's hope it doesn't come to that." Vanysa replied.

"It will." Cercei said softly.

"I know." Vanysa said in the same tone. "Good luck. I have to go back." She saluted the Viscountess and received one in return. Then, they shook hands, and Vanysa called for a gate, through which she passed with a farewell wave to the soldiers beyond the wall, and vanished.

 _…Nazarick…_

Vanysa knelt before the throne beside Demiurge.

"…And that is what happened, Your Majesty. Last count there was nearly ten thousand ready to move to support Pope Baraja and they'll be there today." She said as she described the events of her short visit.

"Demiurge, do you have anything to add, does this meet your expectations after preparing her for this?" Ainz asked from atop his throne.

"It does, Your Majesty, she performed exactly as you required of her." Demiurge said confidently.

"I disagree." Ainz said, and for a moment the demon was flustered and Vanysa looked about to cry.

"I say she surpassed expectations." Ainz finished, and they visibly relaxed.

"A few years ago, she was nothing but a peasant, the sort, Demiurge, that you would have thought nothing of stepping upon and scraping off your shoe. Then she was an educated girl with a zeal for knowledge, then she built a business empire, then an agent of vengeance, and an able research assistant to you, and now she's performed as a diplomat and brought ten thousand soldiers to defend our goals. All of that," he said, pointing to the beaming erinyes, "far surpasses what we would call 'normal expectations' Did you not say yourself that she had proved to be a great and insightful asset to your work on more than one occasion? Do you take my meaning, Demiurge?" Ainz asked gently.

"I think I do, my lord." The demon said thoughtfully.

Vanysa remained silent, but she was shining with pride, and her heart fluttered a bit. Demiurge had praised her to the Sorcerer King? It was the first she'd heard of it.

"Good, a small seed may look like nothing, but who knows what might grow from it when properly nurtured. Well done, both of you, why don't the two of you take the afternoon off and relax. Go, have some fun." Ainz suggested.

"As you wish, my Lord." Vanysa said happily.

"As you command, my Lord." Demiurge answered.

"Drinks, then books, then music?" She said, looking over at Demiurge.

"Drinks, then music, then books." He replied.

"As you like… Demiurge." She said as they walked away, and Ainz suppressed a sense of envy as they vanished from sight.

A day later, Ainz was in the throne room with Tuare, Yuri Alpha, Gondo, Aura and Mare kneeling at the base of the steps leading to where he sat. "Aura and Mare." Ainz said, looking to the twins.

"Yes, Lord Ainz?" Aura asked.

"Y-yes, my Lord?" Mare asked.

"Today you are being dispatched to visit the dark elves, you are to win them over to us. You may use any means necessary, whether it be by combat or diplomacy, I leave the means to you, but the end must be the same. They must not bar the way of our allies when they march." He said.

"Does that include exterminating them, my Lord?" Aura asked, her childlike voice giving a stark contrast to the brutal question.

He tapped his fingers patiently on the arm of his throne as he thought, and then said, "That would be the very last resort, and I do not think it will be necessary. The ideal end would be their willing submission to us as a vassal or a province. However, trade deals are acceptable, as is temporary submission after a show of force. What you need to do, you may do, but exercise no more brutality than absolutely necessary to achieve the desired end. Remember that the Lizardmen have proven their worth to us with their submission, as did the dwarves with their continued research progress. What gifts may come of friendly ties to the dark elves may not be known yet, but that does not mean there will be none."

"As you wish, my Lord." Aura said.

"I-It will be done, my Lord." Mare said softly.

"In the meantime, Tuare, Yuri Alpha and Gondo will be accompanying me to the mountain kingdom of the dark dwarves. This will not take long, so continue the march of victory in my absence." Ainz said to the rest of Nazarick. First one gate opened, and then another.

"C'mon Mare, c'mon." Aura said hurriedly and dragged her brother by the ear, straight through the gate.

Ainz descended the throne, and one by one his kneeling party stood and fell into step behind him as he walked past, and without a backward look, they went through the gate. As they did so, Sebas felt a swelling of pride within his chest. Tuare had not flinched, she had not hesitated, and she had not looked back at him when called on to do her duty and follow their lord. She had acted as a proper servant of Nazarick, an enormous step forward, and one he was sure had not been lost on those who lined the walls watching them go.

When the gate vanished, Albedo mounted the stairs and stood beside the throne. "Our master has set himself to the task, now we must do the same. Get to work."

The guardians, maids, and other attendees bowed politely and began to walk away.

 _…Dungeon of Crossroads…_

Moira rubbed her head as she came to.

"You're awake." A man said from a few feet away.

She looked around from her position on her back. There were stone walls, a stone floor, straw was underneath her body, not much, but a little at least. Her armor and weapons were gone, but she wasn't naked, she was wearing a bright orange tunic that was more like an oversized sack, as well as chains on her wrists that secured her to the wall.

"I was starting to wonder if you were ever going to open your eyes." He said, and she looked towards the source of the voice.

"Melkan?" She asked hesitantly.

"So you remember my name, that is something at least. Yes, it's me." He replied.

"Where are we?" She asked as she forced herself to sit up. Her head felt like it was being split open.

"In the dungeon of Crossroads City. Where did you think we'd be, other than maybe 'dead'?" He asked.

"I… I don't know, what happened?" She asked nervously.

"What is the last thing you remember?" He asked with concern, his chains rattled as he repositioned himself to sit up.

"We were leaving General Enri's army, all of us. We'd set up a phony force as a decoy to draw that bigger army away from Ikari, the last I remember is seeing them closing in… then there is nothing." Moira said softly.

"Well, we lost." He said with a dry sense of humor in his voice. "Yes, eighty thousand soldiers came crashing down on us, we cut the bonds of our little fake army and charged out to meet our deaths, and most of us did exactly that. But you, me, and a handful of others are the exceptions. I was stabbed through the gut, you took a blow to the head. I woke up the next day chained to a cart with a bandage on my wound and a cheap herbal potion being applied to heal it. You were unconscious on the other side of the cart and haven't moved since. A few more days and they might have just put you down so you didn't starve to death and go the slow way." Melkan replied.

"How long has it been?" She asked cautiously.

"Weeks, I think, but I can't really say. I haven't been out of here since, and time doesn't really mean anything. Most of us are isolated, we're only together because I was allowed to look after you while you either recovered or died." He added with some bitterness in his voice.

"Well… Thank you." Moira answered. "What have they been doing with us?" She asked.

"Well, the rest of us were interrogated as soon as we could move around, which means you'll probably be interrogated too pretty soon." He said with a sigh of resignation.

"Am I… am I the only woman?" She asked, drawing her knees up to her chest protectively.

"I think you can relax about that." Melkan replied, reading her thoughts. "The general in charge was fairly strict about the treatment of captives, nothing was done to you while you were… asleep, and they didn't use magic simply because they didn't have healers to use on us at the time. Seems like the entire city has been in a panic. I have heard a little bit here and there from a jailer or two. It seems General Enri captured Ikari shortly after we left, so… what we did wasn't for nothing. More recently, I've heard that Fortress Alaf has fallen in the west. We're winning the war so far." He said with a hint of satisfaction.

"So, what about us? What now?" She asked.

"We wait." He said. "What else?" He asked, shaking his chains for emphasis.

"We escape, we resist, we evade." She said, "I have a son to get home to, and every day I'm here is another I'm not doing my damned best to end the war sooner and get back to him." She said emphatically.

"So, what do you have in mind?" He asked, "Other than a head injury?" He joked. She stared daggers at him.

She looked around, "I don't know. There has to be something." She said thoughtfully.

He looked doubtful.

"There is always a way. Always." She said confidently, and she continued to look around her cell thoughtfully.


	85. Shaking Foundations

**_AN: Two readers took the 'dare to be awesome' option and are currently writing stories to be uploaded to FFN, so...I was GOING to do a double release day, but instead...how about fifteen chapters for various stories, including one for this one? Well, enjoy. I'll be publishing them all...now._**

 ** _On with the show:_**

 _...Prart..._

Neia was in her office looking over documents when the knock outside the door took her out of her thought process. She bit her lip to suppress her annoyance and looked up to her left where CZ stood waiting. CZ's clothing remained that of an unassuming maid, she even had a tray under one arm ready to fetch things at need, such as tea or snacks or a full meal. For all the world, she was playing the role of maid to the general. The exception to this disguise was her unique and dangerous spell gun. Maid and body guard, and she excelled at both.

"CZ, would you?" Neia asked, and the maid demon approached the door and opened it. She did not invite the knocker in, but instead she stepped out to speak with them. Neia resumed reading and making notes along the way on a spare sheet of paper that she attached to the main document. Those notes included suggestions for increased training, supply requisition support, even a few words of praise here and there, and then she moved on to the next one. She wondered if the Sorcerer King ever got tired of paperwork. 'Probably not.' She thought with a weary exhale.

She shook off the thought, it was pointless to compare herself to a god.

A moment later, CZ returned, "Neia, they're saying that some adventurers are here to see you."

"Adventurers? Did the Sorcerer King assign more to us? Fine, have them draw their equipment and so on, and I'll see them at the evening formation with everyone else." Neia's voice was tired, even annoyed, but CZ's shaking head told her not to return to her paperwork.

"You should see them now.. It's Blue Rose." She repeated in her customary monotone.

Neia shot up from the chair thinking she should have realized something was different when CZ said a sentence with more than four damn words in it.

The chair fell backwards and she came out from around the desk, CZ opened the door and found some familiar and very welcome faces on the other side of it.

"Lakyus, Gagaran, Tia, Tina...!" She paused and looked around. "Ah, where is Evileye?" Neia asked, confused.

"I'm back here behind this big ox!" Evileye's voice said, and Gagaran sheepishly moved out of the way, allowing the vampire girl to move to the front where she could be seen.

Neia laughed, it was the first laugh she'd had all day, and she was heartily glad of it. She stuck out her hand and shook those of their visitors firmly. "What brings you to Prart?" She asked as she stepped backwards and walked over to her desk, gesturing for them to pull up chairs as she righted her own and reclaimed her seat.

"What, we can't just come to see you?" Evileye said with a note of humor in her voice.

Neia looked at them quizzically. "Just because I wear green armor, doesn't mean I am green too, you know. Jokes aside, what brings you here? I'm truly overworked here, and glad to have you. I'll never forget what you did for me in Wenmark. But there is a siege pending soon that, I'll be frank, I might not survive, most of us might not. There is a lot to do to bump the odds more in our favor. So... whatever you're here for, I'll help if I can, but this is a bad time."

Lakyus adjusted herself in her chair, she sat centered on the pope, opposite her desk and said calmly, "Neia, can you take off your visor?"

Neia shrugged, "Sorry, force of habit, these make people uncomfortable." She answered, pointing to her eyes. She looked at them with an unbroken gaze, her fierce and penetrating stare had not diminished since last they met, if anything, as Lakyus looked into the eyes of General Baraja, she could see worse than flame and suffering demons. It was as if there was a monster dwelling within that would consume without mercy whatever raised its anger.

She did not however, flinch from her answer. "That is why we're here. To defend our country." Lakyus said.

Neia folded her hands together on her desk and looked over to CZ. "CZ, could you bring some tea for our guests." She asked politely.

"Yes." The demon maid responded and went to a corner of the room where a set lay ready for use.

"Now, what do you mean, defend your country?" Neia asked, "None of you are from the Roble Holy Kingdom."

"No, but we are going to be citizens of the Sorcerous Empire." Lakyus said, leaning forward on the desk.

Neia sat quietly for a moment and absorbed that statement. "Did I just hear..." She started to speak, only to be interrupted by Evileye.

"We had a visit not too long ago from Vanysa. She showed up in Kedyn, we were not... exactly fired. But..." Evileye shrugged, "It was pretty obvious we weren't useful there anymore, then she told us about the guild system's inevitable demise and well, she laid it all on the line for us."

"How do you mean?" Neia asked in an uncertain tone.

"She took out a map, showed us all the places that were going to throw their lot in with the Sorcerer King when the war ended, either as vassal states or as literal provinces under direct control of His Majesty. She then pointed out that this left nowhere for us to go but to places like Argland or even farther, pointed out the advantages of the system of the Sorcerer King, offered us an obscene amount of money and very generous conditions, and said we could make an official oath here. Oh... and she told us about... that... condition too." Evileye said, lowering her voice without even considering whether or not anyone could have overheard, let alone understood, what she was speaking of.

"He told you?" Neia asked.

"Yes. So we're in, this is our first assignment, we're going to defend Prart from any and all threats." Lakyus said.

"Even if it means more humans?" Neia asked, "Because you are talking about that without a shadow of a doubt." She said emphatically.

The entire team nodded. "Yes." Lakyus said with iron conviction in her voice.

"Alright, then I'm glad to have you. I have some former slaves harassing and slowing down these armies, and a coded message arrived from Gustav about one of his deceptions, they now believe there is a massive army behind them in the Southern Kingdom, and they're sending out their best to deal with it. In addition, Skana sent me an important message, I just got it this morning. It seems, well, read it yourself." Neia said and took out a document and slid it across the table.

Lakyus picked it up and her team looked over her shoulder at what was written there...

"Dearest Neia,

We are hotly pursued by greater numbers and deadly magic, so I do not know that I will make it back to Prart to join you for the siege. Though it hasn't even been a year since we came together, it bears the feeling of many lifetimes, and if I must pass from this world, I want to do it as more than simple lovers, I have had many of those, some for hours and others that I was happy to start the day with, but with none other than you have I wanted a lifetime of the same, if this letter reaches your hands, I hope that you will accept this crude offer on cheap paper, and if I make it back alive, be my wife before the end arrives.

Yours in war and peace,

Skana

Neia did not know why the members of Blue Rose were blushing furiously.

Lakyus lowered the paper to the desk, laid it carefully flat, and slid it across the desk, back over to the general without saying a word. Neia looked at them in confusion, then looked down at the document, and realized what she'd just given them. Never had she hoped for an ambush or an attack so much in her entire life. Her face turned strawberry red and she quietly took the document in hand, slid it into a drawer, took out another, and slid that across the table in its place. "Can we agree to never speak of this again?" Neia asked hopefully.

"Yes... at least until it's really funny." Gagaran said as she recovered from her surprise at what she'd seen.

Neia felt like she would die of embarrassment, but it gradually became one sided as the members of Blue Rose increasingly saw the humor in the mistake.

"I can never tell Skana, she'll never stop laughing at me." Neia said with a shy laugh.

"Now, if you look at that document... the correct one, you'll note that King Astraka is coming this way too, I crushed him at Kasaga, just like you defeated Remedios's soldiers at Kedyn. They need this win, a lot of people have died and they're not making gains from those deaths. Sure, they've burned up villages, they've burned up villagers too, from what I hear." Neia said sharply, anger coloring her face and hate filling her eyes.

"But even from their perspective, all that is meaningless. They have to crush my army here, they have to kill me, and they have to have one big win to energize their campaign. If they can do that and unite the Roble Holy Kingdom again, they'll go crawling up the backside of the Abelion Hills. Killing the small population of beastmen who live there would be a big credibility boost. From there..." She paused, seeing they were lost, and she reached into the desk to retrieve a map. She laid it out on the table and traced her finger over the areas she was talking about until they were caught up. "From there, they can move in on the Slane Theocracy, defeat General Rockbruise in a pincer, and wheel north. General Enri wouldn't fall easily, but she only has so many soldiers. Even with her dragons, the Black Scripture is no joke and combined with their comrades in the other scriptures, anything goes."

"Neia, we're adventurers, not generals." Evileye tactfully reminded her.

"Oh, right, well, the point is that while things going bad could just mean that the Sorcerer King uses his own personal power and crushes all the opposition, that victory would still be a diplomatic defeat. He'd look as bad as they're claiming he is. The vote over his divinity might go bad in the Synod, and his followers would never feel safe because... well, who follows a god who loses a war?" She asked, opening her hands questioningly to her sides.

"The fact of the matter is, even though the ones opposing my god can't hope to win a complete military victory, they don't have to do that in order to win the war. They can even lose the war and still win their objectives. By contrast, we require a complete and total victory on the battlefield, off the battlefield, and in the hearts and minds of all the people we rule over every step of the way." Neia said with some frustration.

"Sounds tough." Lakyus said as she accepted a cup from CZ. Her comrades accepted cups as well and their faces shared similar expressions of agreement.

"It is, but we still have lots of advantages, "We've won all the big battles. General Zetsumei is conducting her invasion and Queen Draudillon is very enthusiastic about proving her country's worth to his majesty. General Enri has defeated General Boabdill quite handily. All in all, we're doing everything we need to do, but this city right here..." She jabbed her forefinger down at the map, pointing to Prart, "Is the linchpin of the west. We win this, we can then take Hoburns, sweep the north, and crush the south. We win a big victory here, and I mean a total victory, without having to turn to his majesty, prove our strength, and everything changes. I say the north would fall overnight and the south would fall in a couple of weeks."

"After that..." Neia said, until Lakyus raised a hand, giving the general pause.

"I get it, you have to fight and win big or even if you win the war you may lose the objective." Lakyus said simply, her sisters looked relieved.

"Yeah, that is what I said." Neia replied.

"So what can we do to make sure this win is so over the top that the names of those enemy commanders go down in history for having the worst luck in the entire long record of war?" Lakyus asked with a warm, eager smile on her face.

"I'm glad you asked that." Neia said sharply as she took a sip of tea from the cup CZ laid on the desk for her. "It's simple, I want you to work with my soldiers, train them every day, publicly. Be seen, put on displays of strength, boast of your prowess and show off what impossible legendary fighters you really are. That will keep morale sky high." She said calmly, methodically, keeping her voice as calm as a flowing brook, the power of the evangelist filled it, and filled them.

The members of Blue Rose felt in that moment as if they could see the training, the cheers, the call to conflict, the enemy arrayed and their will to fight broken under their withering charge, leading tens of thousands to cleanse the taint of evil from it and renew the nation. It was a heady feeling, and Lakyus took care to shake it off.

"Did you do that on purpose?" Lakyus asked gently.

"Did I do what on purpose?" Neia asked innocently.

"I 'felt you' sort of, when you were speaking just now." Lakyus replied.

"Oh, that. It's just something that I do, I don't fully understand it myself." She looked into Lakyus's eyes as she spoke, and within those pupils Lakyus felt a well of power nearly at the breaking point of bursting through the founder of Black Justice.

"Well... we're here to do a job, we're your subordinates now, but if you are doing that intentionally, please know that it isn't necessary, we're on your side, because this is the side you come to if you're fighting for the future of people... all people, no matter what they look like or what they are." Lakyus said and instinctively clasped Evileye's hand.

The diminutive mage allowed the grip to form and squeezed back. "I understand." Neia said, "Again, please think nothing of what just happened, a lot of the time I don't even notice it, you're good people, I'm not going to have to manipulate you to get you to do the right thing, and I swear in the name of my god, Ainz Ooal Gown, that I won't do so." She said in a voice which brooked no argument.

"Good enough." Lakyus said. "Now, what else is there?" She asked.

"For now, go get quarters assigned to you," Neia said and opened up her desk, she took out a blank sheet and scribbled something on it, then handed it over to Lakyus. "Take this, it will authorize you keys to this building, there are still spare rooms here for VIPs, there aren't many in here, just myself, Queen Calca, CZ, and there was Skana but..." Neia trailed off, the absence of her lover was getting to her, she clenched her fists and they could see her force herself to focus.

"Anyway, you'll stay here with us. Beyond that, be encouraging, help people develop their skills, oh... and one more thing." Neia said, her expression turning dark, she stood, put her fists on the table and leaned forward. Lakyus regretted the lack of a visor on the general as she saw the pulsing, burning wrath in her eyes.

"Yes?" Lakyus asked uncertainly.

"When 'they' get here, you can kill everything in armor that shows up outside those walls except for one person. If you can avoid it, do not harm Remedios Custodio. That bitch belongs to me!" Neia said savagely, and as she spoke, a terrible timbre lay under her voice, and in the breasts of the members of Blue Rose, a great swelling of pity formed for those who were unknowingly marching towards the walls of Prart.

 _...East of Hoburns..._

Skana was tired. She'd done a lot in very little time. Her little band of a paltry five thousand was now... well, not that any longer. Now they were down to about four thousand five hundred, however no death had been in vain, villagers had been freed of oppressive collaborative rule between Astrakian Loyalists and Slane Theocracy priests, who were in reality little more than violent thugs out to 'punish the heretics'. Time and again she'd ambushed and driven off ambushes that were laid by people who... simply were not good at laying ambushes.

However, with the spread of information being inevitable, a large punitive force had been dispatched, and now she was on the run. Skana hoped her last letter had arrived at Prart, it was doubtful that she could send another. The distracting thought was depressing, so Skana pushed the idea aside and scanned the horizon with her piercing green eye. The day was cool, the year was on the wane and she'd never seen much of the world, but as she thought about it, it was probably snowing somewhere already. Birds were still out though, chirping in the trees. She dismounted from her undead steed and went over to a particularly tall tree. Her soldiers behind her looked uncertainly over to where she was going. The one-eyed commander shook her head quietly so they would know to keep their distance, and came closer to the tree herself.

She found the source of the chirping, there on the ground was a shivering baby bird, she looked up, several branches above her head, there was a small nest. She scanned the tree up and down and planned her actions. The bird was first deposited into the pouch at her side, then she grabbed the first branch and hauled her way up.

From one to another, and then when she was in reach, she carefully balanced herself, keeping three points of contact, and pulled the baby bird out of her pouch with her free hand, and she put it back into its nest. After that, she climbed farther and farther up the tree until there was a wide field of vision. She could see for miles around. Skana could see no soldiers, not behind them or in front, but in the distance she saw a low column of smoke start to rise. Her shining green eye went wide with alarm and she scrambled back down as fast as she could.

Branches slapped her face and scratched her wrists, but she ignored all that until she could safely make the final leap to the ground again, she rushed to her horse and took off at a hard gallop, her soldiers following behind her as fast as they could.

Miles on foot took time. Miles on a living horse took less time. Miles on an undead horse that never ate or drank or slept or tired... that was only a little time.

But it was enough time that by the time Skana and her party got there, the massacre was just ending. It wasn't a village, as she'd first thought, it was a small train of wagons, not many, just a half dozen, a few families at most, or that is what they'd been until minutes ago. She recognized the killers immediately by their armor, they wore the armor of the Slane Theocracy.

Even Roble Holy Kingdom nobles who were on their side, got frustrated over this, killing Holy Kingdom peasants meant nothing to the Theocracy, they never felt the loss, but even the most indifferent nobleman depended on peasants to 'produce things' to pay taxes, to work, so from that perspective, such killing was at best a waste and at worst an attack on their interests.

To Skana, on the other hand...

She shrieked a war cry and drew out her sword, by standard practice, Black Justice members typically began combat with a bow to force the opponent to be defensive and allow themselves, rather than the target, to control the flow and pace of battle. Her soldiers followed those standards, but she did not. Her horse ate up ground like a flood swallowed the land underneath it, her hair, long and unkempt, accentuated her fearsome one-eyed face, and too, it told the one she was approaching exactly who she was.

'Skana the Bold' had become a famous, or infamous name due to her bold tactics and relentless aggression. In some Theocracy circles she was a high value target on par with the pope, since it was generally agreed that one would have to assassinate both women in order to cripple the leadership of the Black Justice religious movement.

Skana had her sword out in one hand, pointed straight ahead, she didn't even look back to see if her people were following her. She didn't need to, the arrows caught up, several of the Theocracy's raiding party went down, the big one that Skana was charging however, was not one of those. He took out a bastard sword from the body of one of his victims, and held it over head, pommel just a little forward from his forehead.

As she drew closer, she could see something more of him, he had an ugly face, a pug like nose, and splotches on and scars on his face, he was also a muscular behemoth of a man, and his scowl had probably frightened many a person into submission.

For Skana it was just something that was going to egg her on, as she drew closer she veered her horse away just before the sword started to move, and she flung herself off the back of it, landing on her feet, she darted forward, he looked very confused as neither the horse nor she had been where they should have been.

She cleared up the confusion on his face when she came inside the area of the completed strike, stomped her boot down hard on the blade, pulling him down forward a little as the sword came out of his grip from the sudden weight of her body... and then shoving her own sword straight through his eye.

He went limp immediately, save for his final spasms. She drew the sword back as she stepped to one side, allowing his body to fall forward into the muck of chewed up earth.

She looked around as she swept the sword at the air to cast off stray blood. Several of the Theocracy soldiers were looking around them in shock, they still held their swords, but they were frozen in uncertainty.

Uncertainty was not a defect of Skana the Bold. She snapped out her bow, and though she wasn't the best shot, at this range she couldn't miss. She sent arrow after arrow into faces and throats before the remaining Theocracy raiders... or scouts, or whatever they had been, could decide whether or not to surrender. She put away her bow as her soldiers looked on in shock.

One of them, still on his horse, rode over to her. "Commander Skana." He said as she knelt over a dead peasant.

"Yeah, what?" She asked harshly.

"Ma'am..." He asked more calmly.

She exhaled slowly and looked up from the body she was checking, "Yes soldier, what do you need?" She adjusted her tone so as to not take it out on the young man, even at a glance, he was young, fresh faced, she wondered if he'd killed anyone yet. Not something she could ask, not her right, she let go of the thought.

"Ma'am, ah, Commander, those Theocracy soldiers might have surrendered." He said softly, suddenly losing a part of his will when confronted with the one-eyed woman's gaze.

"Did they surrender?" She asked.

"Well no, but..." He started to say before she interrupted him.

"Then there isn't a problem." She said, "I'm happy to accept any surrender that happens, but I don't have time to dawdle here, either they make up their mind to fight and die, fight and flee, or surrender, but we're under pressure here. Plus..." She said, standing up, she gave the half-burned body on the ground a nudge with her foot, "They had a better chance than this guy, or them..." She pointed to the wagons, blood stained much of the wood, it was obvious they'd died in these places. She let her eye tell her what happened. The wagons were driving somewhere, possibly to Prart... based on the direction the wagons were facing. They were peasants, based on what they wore. There was no evidence of arms. A theocracy group found them. She walked over and looked into the wagon, arrows riddled it, inside, they were good shots, none were outside the wagons. The one she'd been kneeling at a moment ago had tried to run, as had those other few found outside the wagons, and they'd been killed for their efforts, probably all with swords in the back like the one she'd seen a moment ago. When she herself had arrived, they'd just been getting the fire ready to burn the bodies.

She spat at the ground in disgust.

"Do you understand me soldier? Accept surrenders, but if they don't surrender right off, well there is no rule broken by putting them down, and these are theocracy fanatics, you give them too much time, all you'll get is a knife in the neck for your trouble." She said bluntly.

"Ah, well... yes, ma'am."

"Good, now let's get going." Skana said as she walked away and back over to her horse.

"Where?" The soldier asked.

"To go from hunted, to hunters again." She said. "With a little help from some of their 'kind' volunteers." She said as she looked at the bodies.

 _...Nazarick..._

Sebas' face was the definition of neutral, but he detected something in the way Ainz spoke about the Dark Dwarf Kingdom and the Dark Elf territory. "My lord... do you plan on going yourself?" He asked.

"Do you presume to confine me to my throne, Sebas?" Ainz asked in a humorous, rhetorical voice.

"No, of course not, my lord, you may go wherever you wish." Sebas said urgently.

"Did nobody program an NPC to grasp the concept of humor?" Ainz wondered with a mild amount of frustration.

"I know, and I intend to. I will send Aura and Mare to the Dark Elves, while I personally go attend to the Dark Dwarves." Ainz said patiently.

"Your guardians would be honored to act in your stead, my lord. We would dreadfully fear for your safety if you are unguarded among unknown beings." Sebas said, retaining his diplomatic tone.

"The eight edge assassins will always be near, never fear." Ainz said, his patience began to wear thin at even the most courteous and roundabout of objections.

Sebas, sensing the fight was lost, bowed deeply. "As you say, my lord, I only ask that you return to us safely when you are finished."

"I will." He said with a gentler tone of voice.

A few minutes later, he saw Mare and Aura approach, and it was times like this he wished he could smile, they were such adorable, if unusually deadly, children, reminding him much of their creator. For an instant, he almost decided to have them accompany him instead of going off on their own, however, as he considered it a bit more, he changed his mind. They could handle it, he had to trust them, and that was all there was to it.(and there for sure were no ways that this can go terribly out of hand...)

 _...E-Asenaru..._

Zaryusu was once a very proud male, he considered himself to be rather strong, and he knew that since those days he had become much stronger. Yet with his increased skill had come an increased humility. Despite knowing more than he ever imagined, still more than most of his people ever did before... he felt uncertain about things.

The uncertainty had increased, not decreased, with his skills and education. At first, he'd thought that he was doing something wrong. After all, shouldn't certainty increase with self-improvement and increased understanding of the world at large?

The more he'd come to understand though, the more correct the opposite view seemed to be, and with good reason. He soon understood that he was seeing not only more problems, but also more perspectives.

As he rode out at the head of the column with Lady Shalltear, he couldn't help but think that perfectly described his circumstances with her.

So far as humans went, he supposed she was incredibly beautiful. Many humans liked their women to be dainty and delicate looking. She had soft features and a very... regal bearing. Yet he knew also that she was the kind of disaster that could exterminate his people in an hour if she either chose to do so or was commanded. Her vampiric strength was in a whole other world even compared to other vampires.

That however, was less a problem than one might think, not least because she was on his side. Therein lay a strength he had obtained, but she had not, and that he played to his advantage in order to work with her.

He understood her perspective, as they'd ridden together, he recognized that she only saw the world in terms of things that either directly pleased Lord Ainz, and things that directly displeased Lord Ainz. The former was to be embraced, the latter to be avoided or crushed. She was fixated on him completely. The little vampire wasn't exactly brilliant, she was emotional, very much the 'child' she appeared to be, which made her power all the more terrifying when it was unleashed.

But that was what he learned; she couldn't be ordered about, not by him. She could though, be 'unleashed'. She needed guidance, and guidance he could give by appealing to her desires, and her desire to avoid the appearance of disappointing her master. Anything not obviously in the 'will please' or 'will displease' categories that wasn't a threat, would be ignored completely as irrelevant.

Now that he understood all that, riding with her was very pleasant, and along the way he did his best to keep her happy and focused on the task at hand.

"So, where do we go next?" She asked, looking rather bored after the first five hours had passed them by.

"Next we ride for the coast, we travel that way all the way to Re-Lobell, we should reach it in about a week if nothing goes wrong, and assuming that King Zanac needs no support from us in retaking the capital, if we're both successful after that, then this entire country is under the sway of His Majesty." Zaryusu said enthusiastically.

"As it should be." She said proudly.

"And I am sure he will praise you for your efforts." Zaryusu said kindly.

She preened at that, and her eyes started to flutter, she'd be mooning over the Sorcerer King for the better part of the next hour if he didn't interrupt her, and he had no intention of doing that.

She interrupted her own routine, much to his surprise, to look at him intensely.

"Is something wrong?" Zaryusu asked softly, at first thinking she might have detected something strange that he could not detect.

"No. But I should say that you've been very good to have on this journey." She said. "I will praise your work to the Sorcerer King. Perhaps he was right to listen to Cocytus and let your people live."

"I will thank you for that." He said in a favorable and... very diplomatic tone of voice.

"I think we can pick up the pace of the march just a bit." Zaryusu suggested, "The sooner we get there, the sooner we win." He added, preempting her question, and he gave the signal to a nearby drummer to increase the marching pace.

He wanted this week over fast.

 **AN: Well we're rapidly approaching the end of Act 2, if you're still reading at this point, I assume you like it. From here part of this story, featuring Ainz, branches off into 'Dark Plains' (not yet written) a short story detailing how Aura and Mare bring the Dark Elves into the fold, and into 'Under the Stone Sky' featuring how Ainz brings the Dark Dwarves into the fold. Under the Stone Sky exceeds 40,000 words and was written over a five day period, so. Is it my best work...well I have my own favorites of course, but I think it is pretty solid, plus...Gargantua tears things up. Plenty of Sasuga and general mayhem worked on the unprepared, one of the beta readers said it was a better version of the original author's dwarf arc, I leave it to you to decide if he's correct. You CAN skip the story and when God Rising moves on, just accept that 'something happened' that resulted in the shift in events, but if you want to KNOW...then you'll have to read Under the Stone Sky.**

 **That is all, enjoy, and expect Chapter 86 in a few days. :)**


	86. Terror Rising

Written by: AtheistBasementDragon

Edited by: The Usual Gang of Drunken Perverted Idiots

 **AN: Thanks for reading this far, the overall 'storyline' with 'world building' side stories is now well over 200 chapters, and it has gone over 920,000 words. This has been amazing, so thank you all for reading it. We're coming to the end of Act II pretty soon here and some huge changes to the story coming with it. If you've enjoyed this story so far, you can participate in the 'live writing' where you can watch the story unfold in real time (link pasted into the beta reading channel on discord) discord members seem to have found it to be entertaining to watch happen.**

 _...Arwintar..._

Emperor Jircniv was tired, one could even say he was feeling... old. He rarely felt like this, but he was living in trying times and sometimes, just sometimes, he felt every minute like it was an hour. This was one of those days.

The cause of this was a letter, a letter he had never thought he would see. He sat alone in his private office and poured himself a glass of deep red wine, it was a gift of the Sorcerer King. He didn't drink, he just held the glass between two fingers while reading the letter over and over again as if he could not believe the words written therein.

He looked from the glass to the letter and from the letter to the glass. The red of the wine reminded him of blood, and despite his title as 'The Bloody Emperor' the thought, the reminder... it got to him.

It might not have, but for the contents of the document. It was a letter from Raymond. Not someone he ever thought he'd hear from. When the letter had arrived he'd had the messenger immediately confined in isolation, closed the royal court, and went to his back office to read it alone.

Every word was heart rending. Not in the personal sense to himself as if a dear friend was suffering, but much more like he could recognize the hardship of a stranger. Raymond was not someone he knew well, he only knew the man by reputation save for the brief meeting in the Draconic Kingdom, however as more reports had filtered in, he'd come to a greater appreciation for the man himself as someone principled, but also agonized over the inevitable fate he foresaw for his people.

Those who rule nations are part of a very small family, they and they alone can understand the struggles of their neighbors, and know them so very well that even an enemy can become like a brother. In a very real sense, any war was 'brother against brother' and save where personal hatred or ambitious goals 'required' another to die, some manner of accommodation could usually be reached between the two combatants, a certain 'understanding' was possible.

That however, had not been the case throughout much of the war thus far. The Slane Theocracy, King Astraka of the Roble Holy Kingdom, the Elf King, & King Philip had thrown off that understanding between nations in their zealous hatred of the Sorcerer King and his religious followers. That made this letter especially unexpected.

He read over it again, still in disbelief, the language was carefully constructed as one would expect, after all, he was an educated man. However, his intentions were not diplomatic, they were moral, they were personal, it carried the spirit of a man who was heartbroken, like someone whose child had run off somewhere and for whom he was still reaching.

In a very real sense, Jircniv supposed that was the case. General Zetsumei's betrayal was well known to the Slane Theocracy leadership by now, and it came as no surprise to the Bloody Emperor in retrospect when the details came to light. Whatever the case, however, it wasn't the betrayal that seemed to pain the Cardinal, rather it seemed to be that the betrayal was amply deserved, and he was seeking Emperor Jircniv as an intermediary between himself and the Sorcerer King.

The very first words had caught his eyes, "Help me save them."

He imagined for a moment he was seeking some way to end the conflict without losing the entire population to military decimation, but as he'd read on, it became evident that Raymond was fearing a wholesale slaughter of the elven population as scapegoats in Cardinal Dominic's mad grab for power.

He set the letter down and drank the wine, then refilled the glass and drank that one too. He exhaled deeply and stood up from behind his desk and walked over to a map of the world he knew that was pinned up on the wall. A marker was held up by a string next to the map, today's report indicated that General Boabdil of the Slane Theocracy and his eighty thousand man army had been roundly defeated by General Enri and thousands upon thousands of soldiers had been taken prisoner. He reached for the marker and began to color in more of the map in front of him.

This had become a habit recently, every time he heard of a gain of some sort, he'd wait a little while, have a glass of wine, and then mark on the map what had changed.

He looked over the other reports on the desk that morning, there was no opposition in Re-Estize left except for the capital and one no account city in the southwest named 'Re-Lobell' and armies were already marching on both locations. That would knock one 'ally' permanently out of the Slane Theocracy's alliance, it was only a matter of time before those soldiers were used against their former allies.

Now the problem at hand... he looked down at the ground. He owed Raymond nothing, acting as an intermediary for an enemy nation in the middle of a war, in particular one of their leaders, probably wasn't the best idea in the world, not a way to endear oneself.

"I don't really have a choice though, do I?" He said to the empty room as he looked back over at the letter. Despite the fact that it was impossible, he felt like the letter was telling him 'No, you don't.'

"Damn it all to hell." Jircniv thought, and used one of the Message Scrolls that had been provided for his usage and sent a message to the Sorcerer King's butler requesting to see him.

"The Sorcerer King is not here at the moment." Sebas replied.

"Oh, can I come and wait for him, I think this is important." Jircniv replied.

"You will be waiting for a bit, he's gone to the Understone Empire, I don't know how long he will be, it may be as much as a week." Sebas replied.

That caught the emperor off guard. "The Understone Empire, why has he gone there if I might ask?"

"I'm sure he can inform you of that when he returns, in the meantime, if you require an immediate decision, Lady Albedo is available to assist if the matter is urgent." Sebas replied.

Jircniv shuddered, beautiful as she was, the bloody emperor had long felt there to be something deeply disturbing about the overseer. However, as he considered the matter in brief, he decided it would be better to present the letter and the subject and leave it in her hands to make the decision.

"That will be fine. If you'll open the gate, I will come immediately." The emperor said and snatched the letter off the desk. The gate opened and he stepped through.

 _...Nazarick..._

He still wasn't used to that, so it never ceased to impress. Once on the other side he looked around, the throne room was practically empty, only Sebas, Demiurge, and Albedo were present. Arguably that was better. The throne was vacant and the two guardians stood on either side while Sebas stood patiently to the left at the foot of the stairs. When he got his bearings, Jircniv approached the steps and knelt deferentially. While 'nominally' something resembling an equal as he was a head of state under the same ruler as themselves, Albedo stood at the top in the absence of his majesty, and the bloody emperor was under no illusions about how she saw their relative positions.

"What brings you here today?" Albedo asked perfunctorily after granting him permission to rise.

Jircniv reached within his pocket and took out the letter. "This does, Lady Albedo. It is a letter delivered to me from Cardinal Raymond of the Slane Theocracy." He walked up the stairs at a gesture of acceptance when she held out her hand, and he placed it there in her palm before descending the steps again to await her input. He stood with his hands folded behind his back and waited in silence as she read it. When she was through, she handed it to Demiurge and waited until he'd finished as well.

"So, he wants the Sorcerer King's help, does he?" She asked, "He goes to war with our master, denies his godhood, and sends his soldiers to war after all but desecrating the terms of agreement that he himself signed, and now he asks to meet with our lord and gain his HELP?!" Albedo's voice grew steadily more outraged as she spoke, and in that moment she looked every inch the demon she was, her wings shook with fury behind her.

"If I may, Lady Albedo..." Demiurge said in his most reasonable tone of voice.

"Yes, Demiurge?" She asked with mild irritation.

"I believe there are several things we should remember here, first that while Raymond signed the treaty, he opposed its breach, and even according to General Zetsumei, he stands apart from his colleagues. Given what we know of our generous lord, I believe he would be willing to offer support for the increasingly outcast Cardinal."

"Oh?" Albedo asked, no less disinterested than before.

"May I suggest something?" Jircniv asked from where he stood, they looked at him in surprise, as if they had forgotten he was there.

"Yes?" Albedo asked curtly.

Jircniv did not openly sigh, however, in a rare moment in which he was 'moved' by another's plight, he took the plunge and kept that sigh inside his own head where it belonged. "I believe Lord Demiurge is correct. However, while I do not presume to know the Sorcerer King so well as your esteemed selves, it seems to me that he would act in such a way that provided maximal aid to an internal supporter, maximal harm to an opponent, and maximal benefits to his own aims, am I wrong?" The emperor asked, spreading his hands out from behind him questioningly.

"You are not." Albedo said flatly.

"Then it seems to me that all of these things can be achieved in one blow. If he is successful in getting the slaves relocated from the farms, then depriving the Theocracy of the labor would ensure they have no harvest, and they will be entering the last harvest very soon. I have commanded my military for many years, and I can tell you that an army marches on its stomach. Deprive them of their last harvest and their soldiers will be gravely weakened by half rations or worse. They will no longer be able to field large armies, and to merely arrive at a city will be to herald its defeat. All this while furthering the just cause of the Sorcerer King and ensuring vast numbers recognize his godhood and that he is their savior, the one they should truly worship. After the war is over, when the Sorcerer King has harvested the crops of the lands he's occupied, he can then feed the surviving population with their own food and win their gratitude. Similar to what happened with Re-Estize, isn't it?" Jircniv asked practically.

"I admit I was thinking of something similar to that." Demiurge said, offering his reluctant endorsement to the human emperor.

"Are those enough benefits?" Albedo asked doubtfully.

"Maybe?" Demiurge said, "Without Lord Ainz, this is probably the best we can come up with, perhaps, nay, certainly he foresaw these events." The demon looked frustrated and his tail lashed behind him.

Jircniv bit his lip, "I admit I am curious as to why he's gone to the Understone Empire for so long while there is a war going on, should I be concerned?" He asked uncomfortably. He normally did not press questions of this sort, but such an absence rarely boded well.

Demiurge casually laughed and said, "Oh, he's gone to bring their country under his rule."

"Oh, is that... wait, what!?" The emperor said with his mouth left hanging open.

Albedo laughed, "I believe you heard correctly, they are in our path, and so an... understanding must be reached. He went to see to it himself, when he comes back in a few days, we'll have a new ally and a new vassal, and within a few days of that, part of the mountain will be gone. That will in turn give us an easy path of march for Re-Estize soldiers to move South. No doubt Aura and Mare are working hard to bring the Dark Elves into the fold as well, and that will provide all we need in support of General Leinas and Aureole Omega as they move in to the interior of the Slane Theocracy."

Emperor Jircniv swallowed hard. "I should not be surprised, but every time I think I have seen his zenith, he raises the bar again." He said in a slow, soft voice.

"So it is with all of us." Demiurge said with awe.

"So it is." Albedo said with ample desire filling her eyes. "My precious Lord Ainz..." She added in a soft voice that was only audible to the emperor because of the acoustics of the perfectly constructed throne room.

"What then will be done?" Jircniv asked.

"Send a communication informing him that he will have his wish granted. He should expect to be seeing our lord in seven days." Lady Albedo said patiently.

"It will be done." Emperor Jircniv said, "I will release the messenger and send him back with a letter of my own, will we send him back with a gate, or through the standard method?"

"We will [Gate] him to his own territory, after that the delivery is his responsibility." Lady Albedo said.

"It will be as you say." The emperor replied, "Is there anything further?" He asked.

"No, nothing." She said, and when the gate was opened again, he returned back to his office and sat down to write.

 _...Raymond's Home Office..._

"Well, what do you want me to do about it, Berenice?" Raymond asked.

"I don't know." She said as she looked down wringing her hands that still sat in her lap.

"What about you, Ginedine?" Raymond asked, his voice betraying his frustration with every word.

"I don't know either, but there has to be something." He replied.

"OK, so let's look at what we've managed and what we can't manage. The price of slaves has gone up thanks to our 'security proposals', so we've got that in our favor, and we've managed as a consequence to reduce the general abuse. However, there isn't a chance in hell that they'll support a tax on the brothels, and if Dominic doesn't back it, it doesn't happen. We've already lost the shutdown fight and there is no way we'll win the tax fight. Even the revenue promise won't do it, those places are too important and too influential." Raymond said, his voice soft, almost broken.

"I know but... shouldn't we at least try?" Ginedine said in disgust.

An elf girl entered the room bearing a tray with a cup of tea, there was no denying that she'd heard the subject under discussion, as she'd silently laid the cups down in front of each of them, the haunted glassy look in her eyes told them plenty.

"Yes and no." Raymond said sharply, "Yes we should, but trying isn't good enough, this has to work or we'll only undermine ourselves." He said in exasperation.

"So you'll just let it happen? Let those places stay open, what are you, a customer over there?" Berenice snapped hatefully, clenching her hands into fists and shooting to her feet.

"NO!" Raymond yelled loud enough to shake the walls and he smashed his fist down hard at his desk. "I want them burned! I want them dead!" The desk buckled under the weight of a former black scripture's blow and he looked down at the desk. The elf girl responded to the dispute by shrinking back against the wall, crouching down and covering her head in fear. She let out a terrified little cry, and it brought Raymond back to reality.

He looked down at the desk, tea had splashed everywhere and he forced himself to control his breathing.

He moved over to the elf girl, he wondered how old she was, she looked young enough to be his daughter, but she was probably much older than he. Unlike him, however, he was a former Black Scripture, she was... something of a rescue.

Raymond crouched next to her and touched her shoulder. "Nua... it's OK." He said softly, "It's alright, I'm not mad at you, not even a little, I'm sorry I spilled your tea, I'm sure it was marvelous, nobody is going to hurt you here, I promise you, OK?" He asked as he tried to comfort and calm the girl.

She got ahold of herself, giving small rapid nods and slowly rising to her feet, "I'll... I'll go get some more tea, sir." She said with a nervous, crooked little smile.

"That would be wonderful, thank you." Raymond said gently.

She scurried out and Raymond looked at the broken desk.

It was then that Ginedine spoke up. "There's the answer." He said, his voice was colder, more malicious and cruel than Raymond had ever heard from him.

"What?" Berenice asked uncertainly.

"I liked that desk." Raymond said in annoyance at himself. "But losing it will be worth it if its destruction gave you a good idea."

"It did, and if it didn't, I'll buy you a new damn desk." Ginedine said confidently.

This had Berenice's and Raymond's full attention. Nobody had ever called Ginedine 'generous with his money' before.

"The 'solution' happened once before, remember?" Ginedine asked in a savage tone of voice.

"What? Speak clearly, man." Raymond said, and then went silent. "You can't mean?"

Ginedine nodded.

"Someone want to tell me?" Berenice asked in annoyance.

"We need a new serial killer." Ginedine said, and Berenice went quiet.

"I'm not Zesshi." Raymond said with a shake of his head, "Even as a former Black Scripture, I can't be sure I won't run into people in those places I can't defeat, and I don't know the undercity the way she did, no way I can accomplish the same ends."

"So don't." Berenice added. "Target the owners, kill them in their homes, and do some damage to the 'facilities' so that they'll have to be repaired. Terror is a useful tool, and some of those places will close, then we can privately buy up the..." She paused and spat the last word out in disgust, 'stock' cheaply. It should be easy to create a company that operates beyond the city, dummy up some phony earnings, put the slaves to some kind of nominal work until we can find a way to get them out."

Raymond looked thoughtful. "Fine. I'll do it. One by one, I'll kill them all, you two handle the rest, I'll get started tonight, I already know my first target." And when Raymond stopped speaking, the expression on his face reminded them why he was one of the rare Black Scripture members to survive to his present age. Ferocity like that was rare, and it reminded them very much of the walking nightmare that had dared to sneer at the elf king's attempt at intimidation.

It was almost enough for them to pity the people he was going to start hunting.

Almost.

But not quite.

It was then that Nua returned, and Raymond was all smiles again as he took a saucer and a cup from the fragile looking girl. "Thank you, Nua, I'm sure it will be marvelous."

 _...Aboard ship..._

Zesshi wasn't happy. Not because she didn't like her mission, she was quite enthusiastic about that. Not because she was unhappy with her soldiers, she couldn't be prouder. Not because she did not wish to serve the Sorcerer King. In her short time in his service she'd grown increasingly confident that not only had she made the right choice, but that the only problem was that she hadn't joined him sooner.

No, what made her unhappy was being on a ship. She did not like sailing as it turned out. It made the food taste weird, it made her stomach feel weird, and there was neither any place to go or very much to do. The cursed captain was no help either, she only spoke in rhyme and it was always very snarky if Zesshi was feeling polite, downright rude if she wasn't.

It was for that reason that she was grateful when she saw the reports that Fortress Igan had been sighted in the distance. What she didn't like was this meant she had to go see the captain again.

Zesshi walked into the wheel house without knocking, that always pissed off the bitch, and that always made Zesshi feel a little bit better.

"Why do you come to disturb my work? I cannot quit, I cannot shirk." She said without looking behind her.

"The lightboat spotted the fortress, we're getting close." Zesshi said.

"Yes I know, and soon you'll go." She said.

"Not that soon. I want us to stop for the day." Zesshi said bluntly.

That got the captain to stop and turn around.

"It is my job to take you there, if you don't like it, I don't care." The pale, waterlogged, dead looking woman said in annoyance.

"It's my job to win this war, that is what you're really for." Zesshi said, sending a snarky rhyme mockingly back at the captain, whose eyes widened with surprise.

It threw her off, and Zesshi capitalized on that moment, "I want to attack at night, by surprise, so first I want a lightboat for myself, I will row in, climb the cliffs, and secure ropes for my soldiers to the cliffside walls. If Queen Draudillon has attacked Yaksun, the fortress should be nearly empty and on minimal manning, I can then take the place with ease..." The captain raised her dripping rotted hand to stop her.

"You can leave this ship, please use my slip." The woman answered, clearly disinterested in the rest of the details.

"Feed my soldiers well while I am gone, follow after me when the sunset's done." Zesshi replied.

She left without another word and went to the captain's private slip, there was a boat there that looked like it had no business floating. It had rotted planks and holes, like it was something dredged from the bottom of the sea. Yet after all this time, Zesshi had absolutely no doubt it would serve well, despite appearances. Nobody had fallen through a hole, indeed it seemed the holes themselves were not real, like it was an illusion or a painting over a real substance.

Why that was, she had only the most mild curiosity. What really mattered was that it worked. So she lowered herself with the boat and a number of very long ropes and began to row.

She'd never rowed a rowboat before, orienting herself backwards was very counter intuitive, yet as she did so, she found it to be very easy. She smirked, humanity's trump card could do this for weeks without tiring, that much she was sure of.

Whether that was true or not, who knew? What she did know was that she was able to do it with incredible speed, back and forth her back rocked and the oars cast off water and foot by foot the ship she'd been on shrank behind her, in her little craft there was very little chance of being noticed, she wished she could see the expression on Dominic's face when he learned he'd lost the fortress and the city.

She saw the anchor's splash down into the sea, the captain might not like her, but she'd obeyed, and that was all General Zesshi Zetsumei needed, so on she rowed.

 _...Queen Draudillon's Army..._

The Queen was less than pleased, but she was nonetheless confident. Behind her marched an army of thousands, a number of fresh recruits had marched double time to join her forces, word from Vermillion at home was that the reports of victory had sparked a celebration that had radiated out from the capital city and prompted mass enlistments into the armed services. Cavalry, infantry, archers, scouts, healers, and more, every corps had a waiting list now.

The Forlorn Fortress had been a much hated structure for many generations, not because of anything that anybody there had done, but because it reminded the entire Draconic Kingdom that as far as the Slane Theocracy was concerned, Draconic citizens were meat shields to be helped only so long as it was necessary, and ignored the rest of the time.

Its fall had not inspired mixed feelings in the resentful population, it had inspired an unwavering loyalty and an admiration for the royal house for the first time in a long time.

What had the Queen less than pleased was that she hadn't seen any indication that the Slane Theocracy knew she was coming, and that was profoundly suspicious.

"Could they want us to lay a siege?"

General Musan stroked his gray stubble thoughtfully. "Maybe, they're probably on the defensive after the Forlorn Fortress. Our scouts have been coming back though, so either the city isn't putting up resistance, or they don't know we're here, and I really doubt that last one." His voice was a deep bass that matched his barrel chest, thick calluses on his hands spoke of many years of time holding a sword and being in the field. It gave him credibility that helped him survive Queen Draudillon's purges.

General Oma spoke up, "I agree with General Musan, they're waiting for us, in all probability they've got Fortress Igan nearly empty of support to protect the city."

"Why do you say that?" Queen Draudillon asked.

"Fortress Igan by itself is meaningless, it exists for no other reason than to protect the city, therefore it stands to reason that if we're going to attack the city, call for help from the fortress." She explained, rotating one hand as she explained, while the other remained firmly gripped on the reins of her horse.

The Queen looked over the olive skin of the young general, she was beautiful, in a 'hardy' sort of way. She wondered if the little pointed tips on her ears had ever posed her problems, elven ancestry still had a lot of biases carried with it, even generations removed.

To her credit, Queen Draudillon didn't hold such views, as someone not fully human herself, this was to be expected, all she cared about was competence and integrity, and Oma had both, which was why 'she' had survived the purges.

Draudillon nodded along with them, "That makes sense." She said thoughtfully, reflecting that it was a lot easier to understand these things while sober. "I suppose it's General Zesshi's turn to get the easy job this time anyway. So what kind of resistance do you think we can expect?" She asked.

"The fortress probably had a total force of around ten thousand, but unlike the Forlorn Fortress, it likely wasn't all combatants, so three to five thousand soldiers and the rest specialists who carried out military roles and administration and so on." General Musan suggested.

"Maybe, but the Slane Theocracy requires military training for the sake of defending humanity, we can expect any noncombatants will still function at least as well as a militia." General Oma proposed.

"Will they completely abandon the fortress?" Queen Draudillon asked.

"Probably not, we can expect minimal manning though, just enough to defend it against minor incursions." General Musan said after a moment's thought.

"So maybe five hundred to one thousand less will go to Yaksun, which if my reports were accurate, had a standing army of five thousand soldiers, with around five thousand militia potentials." General Oma added.

"I see." Queen Draudillon answered, "So we can expect that we'll outnumber them somewhere between three to one and two to one?"

"Yes, your majesty." General Musan said.

"Unless General Zesshi comes to help, that will give us substantially more." General Oma pointed out.

"Perhaps, but this is our job, and it would be a national humiliation if we failed at the first task we had to do on our own. I won't throw my people's lives away over vanity, but anything that decreases the worth of our people in the eyes of the Sorcerer King should be considered to be very, very bad. So if we can do this ourselves, we should." The Queen added, drawing serious looks from her generals, they didn't comment further on that, they didn't need to, and they rode in silence until the walls came into view, with a row of soldiers already standing atop it, waiting and watching.

"I guess they're not going to surrender." Queen Draudillon said, "So let's get this started."

"Yes, your majesty!" The two generals said enthusiastically, and they started raising signal flags, giving orders that would further and forever alter the world they all knew.


	87. Fallen Hero

_...Fortress Alaf…_

General Leinas Rockbruise was a very happy general. She and Aureole Omega turned out to make an amazingly effective pair, not only had they taken the most important supply station in the west of the Slane Theocracy, but between the wave of terror that had struck the Theocracy and, according to scouts and raid teams, slowed down the Theocracy and Elf armies by quite some time as they tried to recapture the lost horses, (most of which her own scouts managed to capture or kill), but it had utterly demoralized potential resistance in the nigh impregnable fortress.

The cold mountain wind was nothing, every time it had an impact on the army, Aureole Omega either buffed everybody to be resistant to it, or she simply used one of the scrolls the Sorcerer King had provided.

"The gloves are off." She said to Leinas, who promptly asked what the hell that meant.

"It's a First World expression. From what I understand, the gods used to fight each other for fun, and they would wear mystical protective gloves so that they wouldn't destroy a world while fighting, but when 'the gloves came off' that meant they were fighting in earnest."

The awe Leinas felt for the supreme beings redoubled at the explanation.

Sometimes she'd use weather control to keep the fortress area warm while the outside was cold. It would feel like late Spring or early Summer, but then one would venture beyond the walls and it was the 'Winter chill' of a mountain in Autumn.

The end result was that the large Theocracy population that resided there had been utterly and completely cowed. The demihuman, human, and undead forces at her command proved an intimidating sight, but at the same time work still had to get done. She paid those who worked for their labor and paid nothing to those who did nothing.

For the first week to three weeks or so, people shouted and blustered about the Slane Theocracy's retribution, but like someone calling down the wrath of the gods, when no gods answered, they were quickly ignored. The few slaves that worked the fortress there had been immediately freed and most volunteered to join the occupiers, they proved especially useful in identifying people who would be a problem, and potential leaders of an internal resistance were quickly rounded up.

When one of them asked incredulously, "How did you know to look for me?"

Leinas held up a copy of the Book of Black Justice and said, "If you wish to know how many enemies you have, you must first count your slaves." His mouth had become quite 'fish like' opening and closing wordlessly until he slumped in his cell, clasped his hands to his head, looked down at the ground, and rocked back and forth a broken and defeated shell who realized he'd undone himself.

Still, she was under no illusions about her current ability to hold off the combined might of the elf king and the Slane Theocracy, and she'd called for Aureole Omega to join her in the command building for some wine and a planning session.

As soon as the pretty girl entered, Leinas set down a cup of the good stuff and poured one for herself. "Thanks for coming, Aureole Omega." She said warmly.

"Just Aureole is fine, we've known each other for months now, marched together, lived together, I'd like to think of us as friends at this point." She said with a winsome smile.

"Alright, on the condition that you'll just call me Leinas." The general replied with equal warmth.

"Deal." The shrine maiden general said happily as she took the cup. "To victory and tomorrow."

Leinas raised her own, "To tomorrow and victory." They drank and set their cups down in unison.

"So, I've got to be honest here." Leinas said with a heavy sigh, "The way I see it, we're screwed."

"How do you mean?" Aureole Omega said with some concern.

"I have looked at every map and every list of supplies in every way I can, and I can't think of a single way to defeat both the Elf Kingdom and the Slane Theocracy at once, and despite their huge slowdown before, they're back on track now and they'll be here soon."

"Oh, don't worry, you won't have that problem soon." Aureole Omega said sweetly.

"Say what now?" Leinas asked, incredulously.

"Remember how I said we needed another front?" She asked with a knowing grin.

"Yes…" Leinas said, a smile beginning to form on her face.

"Well, not only is there already one with the invasion of the Draconic Kingdom that just recently got started, but an entire army led by General Zesshi Zetsumei is about to invade the Elf Kingdom, once they disembark at Fortress Igan, they'll be heading straight for Crescent Lake, and what is more, she plans on making sure the Elf King knows that she's coming."

"Wait, won't that make things harder for her if he turns back to protect his capital city?" Leinas asked.

"Sure, but it cuts the army we have to face, down by about half, and we can harry him all the way with small numbers at least. So pretty soon it will just be the Slane Theocracy." She said.

"OK, that is great, but we'll still be outnumbered many times over." Leinas said, "We don't have much over ten thousand, even fortified, they can surround us and scale the walls and we're done. We can't defend everywhere." She said with a shake of her head.

"Not for long we won't be." Aureole Omega said with an even larger grin.

"Why? What else did the last communication say?" Leinas asked, a smile was now broad on her face.

"Well, His Majesty went to the Understone Empire, and he sent people to the Dark Elf plains, and both General Zaryusu and King Zanac have almost completed taking back Re-Estize, they'll be joining us soon." She said.

"Joining us 'soon' isn't there a mountain range in between them and us?" She asked, "and what about the Understone Empire and the Dark Elves?" She asked.

"Well, my master sent out Gargantua, and he's going to have part of the mountain 'removed', he's probably already started, I last heard from them the day Gargantua was dispatched, but soon we'll have thousands of Dark Dwarf, Dark Elf, and angry Re-Estize soldiers marching to join us, if they can't make it in time by conventional means, as our master says, 'the gloves are off' and he's incredibly angry, he'll just gate them to us. As it is, he wants them to march in, he wants them to know they spent all that time and effort to just walk here and die. The abject futility of it all will be rubbed in their faces to punish them for everything, before he takes all hope of victory away, and their lives with it." She said boldly and proudly.

"For all their best efforts, they will get nothing but despair." She concluded with a warm smile at General Leinas Rockbruise.

Leinas let her mouth fall open. "Truly he is great, terrible, noble, and wise. I am on the winning side, of that I have no doubt, and I can, for once at least, relax." She let out a heavy sigh.

"Feel like celebrating that with another cup of wine?" Aureole Omega asked.

"You bet I do, Aureole." Leinas said and reached for the bottle with a smile and a beaming face.

 _...Southern Holy Kingdom…_

Inta was running, so were his siblings, the deception Gustav Montagne had pulled off had done exactly what it was meant to, now he and a handful of his soldiers were in full retreat from the entire might of the remaining Southern nobles who had raised all their troops, and under the leadership of the most powerful Black Scripture and Holocaust Scripture members, they were having great success in their game of cat and mouse.

Gustav caught up with Inta as their part of the army broke into a dead run for the trees. They were outnumbered more than ten to one, but with small forces having broken off everywhere to deceive the Slane Theocracy and the Southern noble allies who were loyal to Astraka, it had created a desperate game of predator and prey. Some bands had already been annihilated, against this, nothing Gustav had could win in a stand up fight, and the experts in covert operations could outdo himself most of the time.

"Well, it's near the end for us, isn't it?" Inta said as Black Scripture elites drew ever closer.

Gustav looked over his shoulder, if things continued as they were, that was going to be the case. He looked over at Inta, the vampire and his family had become good friends over the course of all this, and there were others too, they'd done so much with so little on a mission where he was the only one who truly deserved to die.

He'd hoped to fight another day, he looked quietly at Inta. "No..." he said, his heart pounding in his chest. "Friends with a vampire, never saw that coming. Glad of it though." He grinned, "Keep a chair out for me where you go drinking, and think of me sometimes." He said and slapped his friend on the back.

Inta looked at him in confusion, then he realized that Gustav was slowing down, there was no need for him to do that, on his undead mount, it could go infinitely, if it weren't for the buffs of the Black Scripture that gave them greater speed at least temporarily, they wouldn't have any trouble.

"Goddamn it!" Inta shouted, "Goddamn it, no!" He shouted, "You can't be serious!" Gustav was already wheeling his horse around.

"For all my sins, and all her sins that are mine." Gustav said as he turned to face the black. Inta looked over his shoulder, every ounce of him said to turn around too, but to do that would be to throw away what Gustav was going to do, so he rode on.

Inta looked back to watch, he owed his friend that, Gustav pointed his sword at the advancing band, and then kicked into a terrifying gallop screaming a warcry that would terrify the dead. The vampire vision of Inta could even see the flecks of spit flying backwards in the wind as Gustav Montagne drew closer to the Black Scripture members, his sword flashed out and his terrible mount knocked two of their numbers flying with its undead strength, his sword rose and fell like a man possessed as the entire body was tangled up in one impossible knot of flesh and steel and splashing blood. Gustav was not on par with the black, but he was a paladin, arguably once the second strongest in the Paladin Order, and he wasn't that for nothing. He gave them hell, holding them back and slaying their mounts to deny them pursuit, his undead horse's hooves threw bodies back by yards. It was an eternity and it was an instant and it was a bright and shining moment of valor that neither Inta, nor Gustav's soldiers, nor even the Black Scripture would forget for as long as they lived.

Then it was over, and the mighty paladin fell from his mount, and a sword found its mark, and the darkness took him as the light fled from his eyes, and that was when Gustav Montagne finally died.

As he fell, the Black Scripture looked ahead of them, the rest of his men were out of reach, the buffs they had would expire before they would likely catch up, or… perhaps they could have, but as he fled, Inta saw that whoever led the band that had killed his friend, raised his sword, and saluted their retreating backs.

 _...Prart…_

Neia sat at dinner with the members of Blue Rose, Queen Calca, Ulthis, and Tinamoc. Dinner was a healthy serving of meat with a side of vegetables and buttered potatoes, with a few bottles of red wine to split between them.

Neia was the first to speak, "To the end of all this, and what begins after." She said.

The rest of the glasses came up with the toast, and they drank and began to eat, an elf servant made it her business to mind that everybody had wine, she was a volunteer, one of those that had made it safely to the city, there were a lot of volunteers to attend when Neia required assistance of any kind. She'd become a saint like heroine, and almost all of them were now members of her religion.

"CZ isn't joining us this evening?" Tinamoc asked.

"No," Neia said, "She's a ranged weapon specialist, so she's outside the walls marking ranges for siege weapons, bows, spells, and so on."

"What the hell does that mean?" Tinamoc asked, clearly lost.

"See certain weapons work reliably well at certain distances, you don't want to aim at a target you can't hit, so she goes out, marks the distance from a fixed point, and then we know what weapon to use when the enemy reaches certain markers as they advance." Neia explained.

"Oh, smart." He said.

"Yes, yes it is." Neia said agreeably and took a bite of her steak.

"So, what do you think of those reinforcements from Kedyn?" Queen Calca asked.

"They're very good, all things considered." Lakyus answered.

"They'll die before they let that wall go." Evileye added.

"Rather it not come to that though." Gagaran said uncomfortably.

"It will." Tina said.

"It definitely will." Tia added.

"We're proud of our will to hold walls." Ulthis added with a voice full of city pride.

"The goblin, ogre, and orc mercenaries that got here this afternoon are going to do very well too. Where'd they come from, I haven't gotten to talk to them?" Tinamoc asked.

"The Understone Empire." Neia said, "They call themselves 'The Sons of Iontariil' apparently he was a slave who rebelled, they ended up free and His Majesty got a new vassal state, or that is the short version anyway."

"Incredible." Queen Calca said with breathless admiration. "He seems to have the most incredible luck when it comes to finding allies in unexpected places."

"Better than mine." Neia said, and fought back rage as she remembered Sudaj, who she hoped was suffering a great deal right now.

Calca went quiet as she remembered observing that private moment between herself and the Sorcerer King. She could never say anything, but barely a day passed without her remembering the most noble moment she'd ever seen in all her life, too, it had… changed how she saw Neia Baraja. Most who opposed her looked at her and saw a terrifying monster, someone who wielded terror and violence without remorse. Those who followed her saw the avatar of justice, the first true servant of the only remaining god who was changing the world for the better. Skana, from what little Calca knew, saw her as a loved one, as a lover. But for herself, for Calca, she looked at the pope and saw a mass of desperate pain and a longing for things to improve, she saw a woman subjected to horror, who became a horror herself in order to survive and to win so that she could in turn end horror. In short, Queen Calca saw a human sacrifice, and it moved her to private tears that any of her citizens should ever have had to suffer so much for the sake of her kingdom.

That however, was her own secret, and she could live with it.

"Even with all that, your majesty, I really wish you would consider leaving the city. Forget confronting Remedios, she's gone, the woman you knew is dead and all that remains is a walking atrocity." Neia bit her lip, it still stung to say something like that about someone she once admired. It was easy to forget that the war was not yet a year old, it felt like a lifetime.

"I can't do that." Calca said resolutely. "I put her in the position she was in, I put her on her current path, there is no other way but forward for both of us, and this is forward for me."

"I get it." Lakyus said, "There is no going back, there is only making up for what is back there."

"Maybe, but this could get a sword in her throat, and I don't want that to happen." Neia said firmly.

Calca shook her head, "I'll just have to not let that happen." she said, "You'll help me, I assume?"

"I'll do my best." Neia said softly, her voice shook a little as she remembered that her 'best' did not always have the best outcome.

She looked over to Tinamoc. "You however, have no reason to be here." Neia said bluntly.

"Ouch." He said with a pretend grasping of his heart. "You wound me, oh terrible Black Paladin."

"Uh huh." Neia said sarcastically. "All the more reason to evacuate you then." She grinned teasingly.

"Jokes aside though, she's got a point." Evileye said as kindly as she could. Oddly, to her still, she was able to be at this dinner without her mask, the servant attending them was reliable, and everybody at the table either already knew beforehand, or wouldn't have given a damn when they found out. It felt good to be without it, it was a tiny glimpse at a wonderful tomorrow, like she might wake from a dream only to find that her dream was real.

"We should get everybody out of the city who is not able to fight or support the defense of the walls, we can hold out longer that way." Evileye added.

Tinamoc looked over at Neia, "Do you really feel that strongly about it?" He asked.

"Call it one of my last calls as your security officer." She said with a smirk as she reminded him that she'd come on to guard a trade caravan three kings ago.

"Seems weird to think it began with a simple trade mission." He said, "Everything is so different now. In a way it is desperate, but… it's also brighter, like that brightness when the Sun penetrates storm clouds."

"It is different." Tia said.

"But better different." Tina added.

"Look, I'm a musclehead, give me a hammer and something to swing at, and I'm set, I honestly don't know for sure if we're on the 'right' side, but I know the other side is the wrong one, all that matters to me is where my sisters are, if we're right, we're right together, if we're wrong, we're wrong together and if we go down, we go down together." Gagaran said confidently.

"I can drink to that." Neia said, and glasses were held up for refills, and when the servant had done her work Neia made another toast. "To what Gagaran just said." She grinned and her eyes, for once not terrifying, shone brightly as they all drank again.

"If you really think it best that I get out of the city, along with whoever else, I'll do it. But you'd better survive this, 'Pope' Neia Baraja, or I'll bankrupt my trading empire to pay for your resurrection, and I will charge you interest for paying me back for it." He said in mock seriousness.

"Always the merchant." Neia said with a grin.

"Damn right." He said.

"So is there any other way we can delay their arrival?" Lakyus asked seriously. "The surviving Blood Miners and Vines have started to trickle back to the city, if we don't do anything else, Remedios and her people will probably arrive tomorrow, and every hour we buy is another hour to make arrows and to prepare our people for combat."

"There is one thing." Calca said.

"Yeah?" Gagaran asked.

"We set a meeting, under a flag of truce, she'll stop for me at least, I had planned on confronting her but… well, instead of from the safety of the walls, let's set an open meeting, if we send a priest of the old gods, they should be safe, and they should at least listen to what we have to say." Queen Calca said reasonably. "It might not be much, but given how long it takes for everything, even if I delay her only by a few hours by talking into the evening, that will buy another night and part of the day before they can resume. It's something, isn't it?" She asked plaintively.

There were looks around the table, nobody was certain of anything. "It… it is dangerous." Ulthis said doubtfully.

"So was Jaldabaoth." Queen Calca said.

"Yeah... and he killed you." Tia said.

"Tia…" Tina said softly.

"Sorry…" Tia apologized and looked down at the table.

"Look, this is my kingdom, those are my people out there, and these are, well mostly, my people in here, and they're about to kill each other. It is my job to do everything I can to end this with as little loss of life as possible, my country has suffered enough for a hundred generations, don't get in my way in this, I will walk out those walls by myself if I have to." She looked around and her face was resolute as stone.

"If I perish, I perish, but I won't die without having done the right thing first. My failure to rule well led to so much suffering, even before Jaldabaoth, I see my sins every time I walk the streets, and see the severed ears of elves from Wenmark, I hear of my sins, every time I hear that someone saw Remedios burn another person. Making all that right is… it is impossible. I won't even pretend it can be done. But I can spend my life 'beginning' to make it right, 'beginning' to make up for it all, and that means I have to take a risk. Now, will you help me or will you not?" She asked.

"And they say I give stirring speeches." Neia said with exhaustion in her voice. "Fine, your majesty, this Black Paladin will back you up." She looked over to the servant who was watching everything with wide, intent eyes.

"Go to one of the temples of the old gods, tell the priest to ride out as fast as he can down the road under a flag of truce, ask them to set a meeting tomorrow when the sun is at its zenith, Queen Calca wants to speak to Remedios Custodio." Neia said with no small frustration in her voice.

The servant nodded numbly and scurried out.

"And as for you Tinamoc." Neia said, "As soon as we finish dinner, I want you to gather all of your merchants, pack what you need, and ride east, I want you well beyond the battlefield before this goes on, if you leave tonight under cover of darkness, you should have plenty of time to be out of harm's way."

"Alright, but like I said, you'd better survive." Tinamoc said, pointing at Neia with a friendly expression on his face.

"I… almost always do, it's the people around me that I worry about." Neia said seriously, suppressing a shudder and carefully controlling her tone of voice to keep it neutral. "Pass me that bottle will you?" She said to Tia, "I might as well finish it off."

"Sure thing." Tia said and handed it over.

 **AN: Well, 16 chapters uploaded after four days of writing for various stories, including 12 of them which begin and end the 'Dark Plains' Aura/Mare story, which takes place concurrently with Chapter 85 of 'God Rising' and and 'Under the Stone Sky' the Dark Dwarf arc, enjoy that you greedy, greedy readers. :) I'll be away for a few days working on a few chapters for a privately commissioned piece, but IF you've enjoyed my work so far, all donations go to charitable use, you can donate a dollar or so to: bdgiving dot org.**


	88. The Road to Re-Estize

_...The Great Western Road…_

It had not ceased to be a strange thing for Zaryusu, riding beside Shalltear Bloodfallen. Behind them marched rank after utterly impossible rank. Dwarves and humans marched at the front beside goblins and orcs, as some of the 'smaller' creatures, they set the pace to ensure the soldiers all moved as one. Farther back were ogres and giants bringing up the rear. Cavalry in the form of horsemen ranged out beyond them to provide security. In covered wagons rode quagoa, the dwarves' former enemies turned allies.

He'd seen a few of the quiet conversations among the night time camp fires. More than one quagoa was troubled by the fact that they were kept safe on their journey by dwarves, and more than one dwarf was troubled that their resting hours were kept safe by quagoa.

But all of that was as nothing next to riding next to that vampire girl. As human bodies went, he knew that she would have been considered an ethereal beauty, impossible to believe to be real unless one saw her in person. Yet he had seen her rages, he had seen her tear limbs off of the bodies of living men with the same smile one might have on their face after taking a bite of a good meal.

A darkness lay in her. A violent bloodlust the likes of which he had never seen and which he saw was barely contained. The hooves of the horses beneath them made their rhythmic 'clip, clop, clip, clop' noise along the way known as 'The Great Western Road' this was a unique place in the Re-Estize Kingdom. Most of it was actually made of stone, and it connected several cities together. Re-Esta, the nearest one on the southern way from E-Asenaru, and E-Mera, south of that by a number of miles. Both were relatively small cities, and both had caved on the arrival of his army. The latter had required that Shalltear 'knock on the door' which sent it flying inside the city as if blown off by a great and terrible wind. But both had submitted and now the royal family's banner flew again.

Two days had been spent in each city to rearm and resupply, as well as to provide for some recreation time for the soldiers in their charge. Each time, to placate Shalltear further Zaryusu would suggest, "Why don't you do some shopping, find some nice presents for your friends, the city has given way to you, let me do my part."

Each time she would acquiesce, but now having passed both such cities, he saw that her gaze would occasionally turn to him as they rode together further and further south. They had only one objective left, then… well who knew what happened then?

Zaryusu looked further west, away from her. The view was beautiful here, the Great Western Road was a stone's throw from the great sea. It ran within sight of cliff edges and avenues that sloped slowly down to the shore, he'd never seen anything like it. Endless water, the crashing waves, the sun was low in the sky still, clouds drifted off for miles in the distance. He engraved the image into his head as something he would remember and tell his children until his old age took him, if he was so fortunate to pass on that way.

"What are you looking at?" Shalltear asked curiously. He mentally sighed in relief, she was in a good mood today.

"This, Lady Shalltear." He said as he gestured to the ocean. "I have never seen anything like it, not in all my life, it is… beautiful."

"I suppose it is nice enough to look at." She said with slightly less indifference than she usually had, "Nothing compared to Nazarick though." She said in her customarily haughty voice.

"Nothing is, that is the realm of gods, not mortals." Zaryusu said. He wasn't trying to flatter her or her master in this. Having been there, with the matchless library of endless knowledge, the shifting landscapes, it was a realm of the impossible made possible only by the will of gods.

"However, I am of this world, born here, I will live here, and I will die here, and to my eyes, that too is a wonder I will not forget for as long as I live." He said, gesturing to the sea again.

"I'll take your word for it." She said.

"Didn't your master once compare this world to a box of jewels?" He asked her.

"Yes." She replied hesitantly.

"Then this is one of them, how you grade it might change from one person to another, but a jewel it is." Zaryusu said with breathless admiration for the view he could not turn away from.

"That's interesting." She said thoughtfully.

"What is interesting, Lady Shalltear?" He asked.

"That's probably the first time you've contradicted me." She said in a sweet voice.

"Shit." Zaryusu thought to himself.

"Now that I think about it, you seem to not only never contradict me, but also somehow always get your way anyway." She said, looking down at the reins of her undead horse.

He didn't respond.

She looked over at him. "Care to tell me why that is?" She asked with a hint of anger in her voice.

Zaryusu's mind raced as he looked at the sea.

"Look at me, General Zaryusu." She said, emphasizing his title.

He tore his face away to look at the diminutive monster.

"Explain yourself." She said.

"Explain what, Lady Shalltear?" He asked in his most respectful voice.

"Somehow, you've managed to be the one making all the decisions at every single turn, despite the fact that as a guardian of Nazarick I should be… I don't know… In charge!" She said, keeping her last word stern.

"What do you want me to tell you?" Zaryusu asked plaintively, "I am only doing what I know how to do, as are you."

"I want the truth." She said in a voice he'd never heard from her. A note of insecurity underlying her words. When he recognized it, he saw her in a very different light.

"Did Lord Ainz tell you to do this? To take charge, to keep me controlled? Does he not trust me?" She asked, her own voice plaintive this time.

"No." Zaryusu said simply.

She was quiet, then as she thought things over, she asked, "Why then have you been keeping me out of decisions? The more I think about it, you've used me as a weapon, tear apart a door, kill that one there, intimidate those nobles, or merchants, and so on." Her fangs were bared as she spoke, thinking had obviously made her very angry.

"Lady Shalltear-" He said in a patient voice.

"No!" She snapped at him, "None of that! I want your real thoughts, and if I have to hypnotize you to get them, I will!" She said fiercely.

"Fine." He said solemnly. "Guarantee you will not harm nor have me or any of mine harmed for what I say." He said.

"In the name of our lord, I swear it." She answered.

"You're not fit to command." He said bluntly. She looked at him with surprise.

"What did you say?" She asked, seemingly disbelieving that anyone would speak to her that way.

"You don't care about your soldiers, you don't care about how an army works, you don't care about upholding discipline except as far as it doesn't make His Majesty look bad." He said, still being blunt. He dared to meet her eyes, "Do you deny it?" He asked.

"I-" She began.

"Do you deny it, Lady Shalltear?" He pressed.

"No." She said, "I am the third strongest in Nazarick, what do I need to worry about that for?" She asked dismissively.

"Exactly." He said. "Command of an army does not require personal strength. Lady Shalltear, I have never once wished for your humiliation. You are a weapon of Lord Ainz, one of the most potent he has, of that I have no doubt. But this is not a one on one fight, this is a war that spans the entirety of the world I know. This is not a vacation for me. Do you know what I do when you go out for the night?" He asked, his temper getting slightly the better of him.

"No…" She said, "Surely it's nothing important though, after all once you've…" She stopped talking when he reached into the saddle pouch next to him and pulled out a thick sheaf of documents.

"These, these are what I do." He said, and handed them to her.

She took them in hand and looked at him dubiously.

"Go ahead," Zaryusu said encouragingly, "look at them, Lady Shalltear."

She began to look them over as the horses kept plodding along. Her mind was a whirlwind, there were names, dates, figures, amounts of grain and meat and potions, blankets and paper, arrows accumulated and spent, there were maps laying out terrain and regular check ins and update documents to show everything had been done. There were officer and scout reports, award recommendations, death notices, strength reports showing the number of soldiers per unit, and more.

She handed them back to him in silence. "Every night, I'm up for hours doing these so that our master knows all is well. Every day you act as if everything is going well just because the Sorcerer King said it would." He said in utter frustration.

"You doubt the word of the Supreme One?!" She exclaimed in shock and the start of anger, which became confusion as he emphatically shook his head.

"Absolutely not, he has been fair with us since the war, and just as importantly, he has been unfailingly correct in every assessment in the short time I have known him. I do not mean that he says something untrue, I mean that you do not understand why or how he is correct so reliably." Zaryusu said and resumed looking at the sea.

"Have you been to your master's private office?" He asked.

"How do you know he has one?" Shalltear asked suspiciously.

"Professional understanding, of course he has one. Have you been there?" He asked.

"Yes." She replied.

"What is on his desk?" He asked further.

"Just useless stacks of paper." She said indifferently.

"Those 'useless stacks' are probably like the ones I just showed you. He probably spends endless hours pouring over documents, reports just like what we… I… Send to him every day. All of those reports tell him what is going well and what is at risk, it tells him what he needs to know so that he 'can' be right every time. Why do you think the Supreme Ones kept that enormous library? Because to make good decisions they had to have a good understanding of everything. People who have bad information, make bad decisions. I go out of my way to imitate the Sorcerer King. To me he is the god of knowledge and of wise choices." He looked over at her again, his eyes boring into hers.

"In the time since we marched, have you wondered even once why we've gone to the cities we have, in the order that we have?" Zaryusu asked her bluntly.

"No, why does that matter?" She asked.

"Because some cities have more supplies we can conscript, some have better defenses or are more likely to fight, some could cut off our line of supply, and some are key to keeping good relations with neighbors. In the entirety of this campaign you have shown no interest in anything but the next person you need killed or the next barrier you need to break, or your next shopping trip. I can handle everything myself, so unless you 'want' to do any of these things, we should just keep going the way we have been." He said in the most straightforward way he could.

For a minute or two she was very quiet.

"I want to do it." She said.

"Say what now?" He asked.

"I said, I want to do it." She said firmly. "If the other guardians, Aureole Omega, Cocytus, Demiurge, Albedo, Aura and Mare, if they can all do more, then I should too. I thought I was doing enough just by stabbing my lance or breaking down barriers, I had no idea there was this much else to do." She said with surprise.

"You're serious? This is very dry, boring stuff." He said patiently.

She nodded emphatically. "Yes, damn it! I'm not going to be shown up. Nobody is going to say all Shalltear Bloodfallen did during the Godhood War is to swing her damn lance a few times!" She said angrily.

"Alright then." Zaryusu said, "I'm sorry I misjudged your willingness to support the campaign, Lady Shalltear. I hope a bowing of the head will be enough to have your forgiveness." He said and bowed his head to her.

She sighed with some annoyance, "I suppose I don't have a choice. Lord Ainz appointed you himself, and he is never wrong. I should try to see more of why you were given this position."

"I'm not going to ask that you start caring about me or our soldiers, I'm not going to ask that you see me as a comrade or an equal. All I ask is that you remember that being born outside of Nazarick does not mean we are all necessarily morons. Well, 'King Philip' aside that is." Zaryusu said, leaving a hint of humor on at the end.

She gave a quiet nod, and they rode on in silence until it was time to make camp. The road to Re-Lobell was fairly straight, as far as Kingdom roads went. And it was in better condition than many, it would only be days before they got there.

Eventually they got far enough along that Zaryusu was comfortable calling for a halt to the line of march and having their encampment established. He didn't have to wait long before Lady Shalltear showed up at the command tent and sat down opposite him as he was getting out documents. "Alright, show me how this works." She said enthusiastically.

"As you wish, Lady Shalltear." He said as he took out the first and simplest document he could think of.

 _...Road to Re-Estize City…_

It was a very good day. General Nimble rode next to King Zanac on his right hand, while Princess Renner rode on his left, Climb rode next to her, and Brain Unglaus rode next to Climb. It was as if each person were striving to protect the one to the right of them, and it felt… proper.

As a boy, Nimble had grown up with heroic ballads, epics, stories, myths, great kings, noble warriors, an age of legendary heroes whose character and quality were a cut above the norm. It had made him long to be a soldier, a warrior, to stand beside people of great merit.

Life, as it turned out, was good at disappointing childhood expectations. Though he had a very good opinion of Emperor Jircniv, the man's ruthless machinations were not exactly noble. He held a similar view now that he was more familiar with the Sorcerer King, a figure even more cunning and ruthless than the bloody emperor.

Yet with all this had come a kind of respect for their methods, if not a love of them, because it was by those ways that they minimized risk to their followers. The noble charge across a field at a well prepared enemy made for a great story of heroism, but if a clever manipulation had those enemies half starved or divided, a lot more people went home alive from one side.

Now however, as he looked to his left and to his right, he felt confident that he was on the right side in every sense of the word. King Zanac had proved himself to be anything but stupid, Renner had shown a deep and insightful mind, Climb was the most loyal bodyguard he'd ever seen, and Brain Unglaus had an unnatural gift for the sword and a cheerful cockyness about him that made it impossible not to like the man.

It was not until they were a quarter way down the road and hours in to the ride to the capital city that he realized it. "This will be a legend one day." People would write for thousands of years of the Godhood War, and every king, every general, would be etched into the annals of history. In a thousand years people would debate whether or not the feigned withdrawal of the royal family from Re-Estize was truly all part of the plan, or whether it was just pure luck. He snorted. "They'll just end up asking the Sorcerer King every thousand years or so." He thought to himself as he reflected on the idea of a truly immortal ruler of boundless gifts.

Renner was sitting on her horse still playing with a puzzle box. An intense look in her eye that occasionally disturbed Nimble when he looked too closely or too long.

Climb had a stern look on his face that was focused straight ahead, King Zanac practically shook with anticipation. This was going to be the culmination of a long cultivated plan for ending the Slane Theocracy and the threat they posed through their covert operations and treacherous dealings with their neighbors.

"It'll be good to be home again." King Zanac remarked.

"I'm sure it will, my lord, but are we sure they won't put up a fight?" General Nimble asked.

Brain tapped the back of his katana on his shoulder thoughtfully. "I'm pretty sure they won't. Yah know they've got to realize by now it's all over, they don't have an army anymore, almost everybody was captured and the ones that were not, well, those are all dead." He said casually. "Even if the city decides to resist, aside from all the other soldiers we've got, the Sorcerer King gave us death knights, no army in the world can stand against a group of these. Makes me wonder what the hell they were thinking when they joined the Theocracy's side.

"If I hadn't been in the Slane Theocracy, I might wonder what they think they're going to accomplish, but after having spent time there as an unwitting guest… I think I can offer some insight."

Renner smiled radiantly but didn't look up from her box.

"Well, young man?" King Zanac pressed, "Why don't you enlighten us?"

"They're not thinking at all." Climb said bluntly.

"Come again?" General Nimble asked.

"They haven't thought any of it through. I don't mean that they're stupid, it's just… they're single minded. They see one thing and only one thing and anything that doesn't fit within that little narrow vision, they either dismiss, ignore, deny, or destroy. They're so obsessed with the Sorcerer King, with the Synod, with human superiority and their supposed place in the eyes of the gods, that they can't fathom anything else." Climb said sadly.

"General Zesshi was my jailor, on the surface she seems a brutish battle maniac who didn't give a damn about anything, but beneath that was a person who was always on the edge of her own country. They said horrible things to her, betrayed her, abused her little sister in front of her own eyes with how she was made to dress, the beatings she took, and worse. And it never occurred to them that Zesshi, being made aware of all this, would take issue with it."

"That sounds incredibly stupid." Brain said in disbelief. There were nods of agreement from the others.

"Maybe, but it was more than that. The reason they didn't see her taking issue with it, was because they thought they had her seeing everything the way they did, to the point where she'd even hate her own baby sister. They just can't see anything any other way, so when the Synod was announced, of course they believed that all the temples would side with them, of course they believed most of the population would reject the undead, of course they would dismiss the growing number of converts to Neia's beliefs as a mere heresy to be stomped out. They don't understand their opponents, and they don't want to understand them, their entire system of thought is built around not thinking about them at all."

"Self destructive stupidity." Brain said contemptuously.

"Maybe, but they themselves are strong, even if they're somewhat lacking in competent leadership." General Nimble said pointedly.

Brain's head whipped to his left. "Did you hear that?" He asked.

"Hear what?" King Zanac asked.

They all went quiet as they listened.

Climb looked to the sky in the distance. "I-I thought I just heard something. Like Thunder but… not."

"I didn't hear anything." King Zanac said indifferently.

"There it is again." Brain said softly, his eyes were wide with shock as he whipped his head around to look at his companions to his right. "It can't be." He said in utter disbelief.

"What?" The rest asked him curiously.

"A long time ago I took ship on a journey. While out at sea we were passing by a tiny island, it wasn't much, just a single mountain peak. They told me it was a volcano, and as we were sailing past, I heard it erupt. The eruption destroyed that mountain, taking it down below the waves. I suppose it was good that nobody lived on it. But the sound I just heard…" He froze, "It was exactly like that, but farther away."

"You're saying a mountain erupted somewhere to the south of us?" King Zanac and General Nimble looked at one another with concern.

Brain shook his head, "No, I'm saying that a mountain is being destroyed. Maybe it's just me, but it sounds...rhythmic, like a smith swinging a hammer, or a drummer tapping out a beat. Something is leveling a goddamn mountain." His voice was hushed, soft, filled with equal parts fear and disbelief.

"Oh, that is for the next part of the plan." Renner said as she went back to her puzzle box, she fiddled with it as she spoke in a disinterested fashion.

"What do you mean?" King Zanac asked uncertainly.

"Remember how the Sorcerer King expected you to go south to support the invasion of the Slane Theocracy after the kingdom is restored?" She asked casually.

"Yes." General Nimble and King Zanac replied in unison.

"Well, how did you think you were going to get there?" She asked, pausing to look at them both.

"W-Well, I just assumed it was going to be some kind of magic?" King Zanac said cautiously.

Renner smiled sweetly, "Oh brother, I guess you're sort of right. He's having a golem the size of a small mountain, punch part of that mountain flat. I assume he's already taken care of the problem of the Understone Empire and the Dark Elves south of them, so now he's making a road through there that will take us all the way into the Slane Theocracy's northwestern border."

"Did he tell you this?" Nimble asked doubtfully.

"No, not all of it, I knew they had the construct, and I noticed that for untrained or disunited armies he avoided instant teleportation, preferring long marches that would toughen them up and leave them time to train so they'd be competent when it came time to fight. Lady Albedo referred to us marching south not east, and I actually saw the golem once, it was easy enough to put the plan together with those clues." She went back to fiddling with her puzzle box again.

"It can't be possible…" Brain said, "not even for him, it can't be possible…" He trailed off as the sound hit his ears again, telling him that yes, it was not only possible, against all reason, it was so.

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	89. Hunting the Hunters

_...East of Hoburns…_

Fluder did not enjoy this. He'd been patient with many things over the years, but he was a bit old for a 'merry chase' like the sort Skana had been engaged in. It had been such a stressful time that he'd barely said two words to her in weeks. Finally though with her announcement of going on the offensive, he had questions.

"What exactly is your plan?" He asked. "You've kept me in reserve this entire time, but you've been looking at me like a second head has sprouted from my shoulders for the better part of an hour now."

Skana's grin was vicious. "Tell me Fluder, what do you know about fox hunting?" She asked.

"Little. I grew up in a village, went to school, studied magic, you know where I ended up, all that I ever cared about really, was magic." He said patiently.

"I grew up in a village, but ours was a little different. Most villages aren't that close to their lord's manor, but by some twist of history, ours was almost in the shadow of it, I never knew why. It doesn't matter though, the important thing is that our lord was particularly fond of fox hunting. Only it wasn't 'foxes' he hunted, it was people who he called 'the fox'. He'd take peasants, usually bandits or some other person nobody would miss, have them 'painted' and then give them a head start in the woods. After that he'd turn the hounds loose and run them down."

Fluder winced. "Bad way to go."

"Yeah, yeah it was." Skana nodded, "Can't say most of em didn't really deserve it though, some of em, well… running out of bandits didn't stop the hunts."

"Ah, the point, if you please?" He asked.

"The point, my dear magic caster, is that the lord didn't live to see Jaldabaoth. One day he got the wrong criminal, or perhaps just the wrong victim. They ran, but not away. He turned the hunt on its head. I was just a little girl at the time, but I liked the woods, and by chance I came across him as he worked. He turned the woods into a weapon. Spike traps, falling rocks, trip wires out of vines, horse pits that broke the legs of mounts. The dogs went first, then he started targeting the hunting party. After he killed the third one, the last three tried to get the hell out of there. He didn't let them leave. I didn't see every kill, when he spotted me, he sent me away, but I saw some of it, that was how our lord died. Not some grand battle, not hunting some noble beast. He died from a wooden dagger in the throat, on his back, on his own lands."

"And what do you want to do?" Fluder asked.

"Something similar. We move these bodies to the woods, it shouldn't take long. Once they track them to the edge, they'll find that we've gone in there. Then we trap the place, there are a lot of them, but there are enough of us that we can make these traps very quickly, and that is where you come in." She said.

"What do you want me to do?" He asked.

"The first stage will be fairly simple, we start by using your magic to create some fire sharpened spears, and you make some pits for us. They still don't know we've got you with us, so their numbers have been increasing. I lost more people than I planned for, but we did get a lot done, and that's made the enemy equal parts arrogant and eager to get things over with. Once they're in the woods, we lay false trails. Astraka's soldiers are mostly city people and his peasant conscripts aren't from around here, so we have the home field advantage. Once they're after us in earnest, I want you to start blowing them away in small groups, wait until they get separated, I don't want them to know their own losses. Just stay off safe somewhere, look for an arrow in the sky, then target that spot with the strongest spells you can, we'll trap who we can, you destroy the rest." She said savagely.

"Fine. Seems like a good enough idea. Then what?" He asked.

"Then we go back to Prart. We've done all we can in this region, anybody who hasn't left is either dead or on their side." She said with a regretful look. Then she focused on the old magic caster, "By the way, I didn't say this before but… thank you for coming, their magic casters are simply too many if we don't have some serious support."

"If it leads me further down the path to magic, I would stroll through Jaldabaoth's garden." He said firmly.

The next few hours as they got the bodies and moved them towards the woods, Skana spent her time explaining various trap methods to the fighters she still had left, and vengeance hungry faces met her own.

She had the bodies laid out, and then her soldiers went into the woods with only the pretense of an effort at covering their tracks. Fluder moved himself a distance away from the woods, to its very edge, and concealed himself at the edge of a hill. It took quite some time before the soldiers in pursuit found the trail, found the dead, found the evidence of the movement into the woods. Even from where he stood, he could almost hear the commanding officer's thoughts about how it was time to finish Skana and her band off for good.

They spread out and entered. Fluder was not a military man, but from where he was, it seemed they were spread very thin given who they were going up against. He barely heard the first scream.

Skana was ecstatic. She'd drawn first blood with her arrow and then dashed away while a group of a dozen soldiers chased after her. "Catch me if you can!" She laughed at them as they chased her down. Her auburn hair flew behind her, the light but powerful armor given to Neia's elite hundred proved considerably better than that worn by Astraka's infantry. It was easy to stay ahead, she kept them chasing her though. She'd turn and fire another arrow, bring another man down, and egg the others on as she led them farther and farther away. She only had to take down three of them before one fell into the first trap. His foot went into a small spiked pit where the spikes had been coated in human feces before being embedded in the ground. It went right through his cheap boot and into his flesh, he wouldn't be walking on that any time soon. He'd be lucky if he weren't sick or dead before dawn. The next soldier died when he tripped on a vine rope and yanked a snake bound to it, directly into his path. It bit him in the leg, and though the snake died when he severed its head with his sword, the poison finished him in minutes.

From the cries in the forest, similar things were happening all over the place. Leaders were always a priority target for their archers. Black Justice soldiers, especially the elites, were trained to think and respond dynamically to changing situations, and though she had only a few elites, their willingness to adapt and be creative was now thoroughly embedded in the martial culture of every unit, and smart peasants could gain status by coming up with new ideas. However, Astraka's soldiers were a more traditional military apparatus, follow orders or be punished and you are not paid to think. Deprived of leaders, small groups were often lost about what to do.

Making things worse, her archers were some of the best of the known world. Fluder saw the first arrow go up above the trees. He used a fly spell and flew towards its position, as it came back down, he targeted the spot it would land and launched a fireball. He couldn't see 'what' he needed to hit, but he knew 'where' he needed to hit. Odds are there were mages there, those still posed a problem for fighters. He heard screams. He didn't care.

He moved to a safe position and waited again. Ten minutes later, he repeated the exercise. Keeping him a concealed asset seemed to have been the right choice. Against a company of mages, even less powerful than he, well, a fireball was a fireball.

The cleverness of that young girl began to hit home for him as he realized how many soldiers they'd used to try to bring her down. All her daring raids, all her kills, her distinct appearance and her name being made well known, had leveraged more and more power to the east to try to stop her, and everything used against her, was not being used against Prart. She'd tied up thousands with a relative handful and kept a surprise… himself, ready to decimate them. "War is its own magic, I suppose." He said with a begrudging degree of respect for the martial acumen of the Vice Commander.

He heard a laugh somewhere down there, female, it was probably hers. Fluder didn't care about having to take lives, it was just something that had to be done to advance his knowledge of magic. But she took pleasure in her victories.

Another arrow went up. "Back to it." He said to himself.

By the time mages had had enough and started trying to save themselves, it was already too late for most of them. They'd lost much of their leadership, and the willingness to obey their orders had left them in too small a number to matter to the much more powerful Fluder Paradyne. When one gave up and fled, Fluder sentenced him to death. All of them would be too many, but one or two at a time was like having dinner, just finish them one bite at a time.

The more dense soldiers didn't realize how they had been tactically outmatched and with their leadership whittled away, it became worse and worse, and from an organized engagement to just flailing in the woods until they were ambushed and brought down.

It was almost nightfall before a handful of Astraka's soldiers staggered out of the forest, having thrown away their shields and discarded most of their armor to flee more quickly. Fluder descended to the ground and left the woods to wait for their return.

Skana was very, very happy. She was tired, she was sore, but she was happy. Especially when she emerged from the woods and saw the soldiers fleeing. They'd abandoned most of their armor to flee more quickly.

Some of her people were with her, stepping out of the woods like gods of death, they watched the handful go. "Anyone see them surrender?" Skana asked, looking to her left and right.

"Vice Commander, they're running away…" One of her soldiers said.

"I can see that." Skana said. "I asked if you saw any of them surrender. Now did they surrender or didn't they?" Her voice was cold as death.

"No." He said softly.

"Do it." She said.

"Ma'am?" He asked.

"Finish them off." She ordered, clarifying in a voice that said she wondered if he'd lost his wits.

"No ma'am." He said.

"What was that?" She asked in a disbelieving voice.

"They're running away, there's no fight left in them." He said.

"I don't see a surrender, that makes them combatants." She reminded him.

"We won, they can barely move. I mean look at them, they're stumbling they're so tired, most of them don't even have swords anymore!" He snapped out at her.

She snarled and whirled on the dissenter, a palm strike putting him into a tree. She grabbed him by the throat, her green eye on fire as she stared into his face. "I didn't ask if they were happy or full of piss and vinegar. They're combatants and if we don't take them down then they'll end up at Prart! Do you get me soldier? They'll end up where my wi- my Commander is. One of them might take her down, or one of our comrades there, you want that on your conscience?!"

Two more of her soldiers grabbed her by the shoulders and pulled Skana off the one she'd struck. "Ma'am, get a hold of yourself! We'll chase them down and take their surrender! They're broken, alright?! You know the rules! We're not butchers damn it!"

"Gah!" Skana said and relaxed. "Fine, take them prisoner, offer them one chance, and only one chance. But if they don't take it, and I mean immediately, you take them down without fail!" Her voice was alien even to herself as she said that. As directed, her men, took off at a combat shuffle that increased as they drew closer to the desperate fleeing soldiers.

She stabbed her sword into the ground and slammed her mailed fist into the tree she'd shoved the dissenting soldier against. She fumed, breathing hard and heavy. The laughter and mockery she'd heaped upon her targets had morphed into hate as she saw them flee in the direction of Prart.

Practically speaking, she knew they weren't thinking of going there, they were just fleeing for their lives and picked that direction because it was not in 'her' direction. But emotionally speaking… they were going in that direction to kill Neia. She touched the side of her head and took several deep breaths, forcing herself to calm down.

She took up her sword, wiped it clean of blood, and put it back into its sheath. A few minutes later her soldiers were back, with bound men, whose heads hung low in defeat. Her rage had not abated, there were five of them.

"Raise your heads or lose them." She said coldly.

They lifted their gazes to hers. Her people were right, there was no fight left within their bodies. They were young for the most part, pale, dirty blond or brown hair, probably from the same area given their similar features. Only one of them had dark black hair and tan skin.

"Do you know who I am?" She asked.

One of them nodded mutely. "Skana." He said in a hushed voice.

"I will be blunt. I ordered my soldiers to kill you. They sort of talked me out of it." She said, then looked at the one she'd struck. "Sorry about that earlier, I was out of line."

He nodded. "It's fine." He said with a smirk, "I get to tell the story of how I survived a blow from Skana the Bold to my future grandchildren!"

That actually made her chuckle.

"Now, as to what we'll actually do with you. I'd still rather put you all down." She said, "You're traitors to Queen Calca, you're part of the force that has been butchering our people, and to be honest I didn't much care for being hunted so I'm cross with you at the moment. Very cross." She said as her voice took on a more even tone that was somehow worse than when she sounded angry.

They were shaking.

"But like I said, they talked me out of killing you. You're prisoners, but we don't have the means to take prisoners with us anymore. I'm prohibited from mutilating prisoners of war, or executing them, according to the Draconic Accords. So on top of everything else, you've profoundly inconvenienced me." She said in a plain spoken, rational sort of way.

"Uh… ahm, sorrah…" One of the captives offered 'helpfully'.

Skana rubbed her forehead. "I have one option, and I'm going to leave it to you to accept or reject, not many prisoners get to make bargains, but I'm out of ideas."

They went quiet to listen to her.

She took out her sword, they flinched.

Fluder, having seen all this take place, decided to approach.

She saw him as he came near, "Good, I thought I'd have to send someone for you." Skana said with relief.

"What do you need?" He asked.

She looked back at the prisoners. "This is the deal, I have my friendly magic user here heat up this sword enough to burn flesh, then I mark each one of you somewhere visible. That'll mark you as being 'paroled'. You go back to your villages, back to your lives, and don't take up the sword against us again, and you'll live out your days in peace. Go to a Black Justice temple when all this is over, and they'll remove the mark for you. But if you take up the sword against us and get 'caught' again, it'll be your head next time. What do you say?" She asked.

The five men looked at one another.

"Just one mark?" One of them asked.

"Just one, and not very big, just enough that we can't miss it, also I'll give you a bandage and ointment to wrap it afterwards so it heals quickly and doesn't hurt for very long. Now, your answers?" She asked.

A few minutes later they were on their knees as a red hot blade made a long thin line across the back of their left hands. They had sticks in their mouths to bite down on, and though they shook when the burning happened, and screamed into their improvised gags, each injury was quickly daubed and wrapped with a clean cloth.

"It's done, unbind them." She said.

"Take off your armor... then get the hell out of here, and never let me see you again, because if I do..." She cut the sentence off and held the sword up, the tip inches away from them and still burning hot.

They nodded.

"RUN!" She shouted at them in fury, and they ran, far, far away, never to return.

She waited until the sword had cooled again and then put it back into her sheath.

She took the horn up from where it hung at her side, and blew it three times. It took awhile for her soldiers to exit the forest, but as soon as they'd begun to do so, she took a count of her numbers. Losses had been very light, and the victory complete.

"Now what, ma'am?" The same soldier from before, asked her hesitantly.

"Now we go back to Prart, there's a question I'd like to get an answer to, and there are going to be several armies to crush." She said eagerly. "Oh, and thanks. You kept me from committing the type of atrocity that the Theocracy and Astraka happily engage in." She said to him, and when the last of their forces were ready, they started to move west again.

 **AN: Well you got a few chapters today so...be happy and all that. I know, you want longer ones, but it's a pain in the arse to format this stuff for FFN.**


	90. Good day, Bad Day

_...No Man's Sea…_

Zesshi had decided that she definitely did not like boats. All that rocking back and forth, it was like sex with someone who didn't know which way they were supposed to move. Extremely unpleasant. Now here she was on an even smaller boat, and she was enjoying it even less. The waters rocked the little boat as she rowed it along. The one saving grace was that she didn't have to go all that far, a few miles, and she could row very, very quickly thanks to her inhuman strength.

So it wasn't long before she found herself at the base of the cliff overlooked by Fortress Igan. She approached the sheer rock face, activated several enhancing martial arts, put the ropes over her head and across her body, and punched the stone, creating a deep hole. About two feet over from that, she did it again.

She stood up in her boat, and jumping up, she swung her scythe, embedding it into the rock. She punched again, making more small holes. Foot by foot, inch by inch, she created a 'ladder' in the stone that she could haul herself up, and that her soldiers could use to assist themselves afterward.

She wondered what Queen Draudillon was up to. The Queen had made a very poor first impression on Zesshi but… after a little time, she found that the woman was not that bad. She even found an inkling of 'fondness' for her, or at least hopefulness, after seeing the woman obsess over that bottle. They'd parted on good terms, so she had a distinct feeling that when they met again, they'd part afterwards on even better ones.

It wasn't that long before she'd reached the top of the cliff, and she saw that the wall of the fortress was built almost right at the edge. It made the guards evidently sloppy, because when she stood on that very narrow ledge, no more than two feet wide and craned her neck up, she didn't see anyone. Nor did she hear anyone, there was no sense of anyone on this wall. Either the fortress was empty, or minimal manning meant that they'd abandoned defending the one area that 'couldn't be attacked'.

"Easier than I thought." She said softly to herself. The stones forming the fortress walls were big ones, but they weren't smooth and actually jutted out a little in places, meaning she no longer needed to 'create' hand holds or foot holds for herself. Her agility and dexterity were sufficient to let her come close to the top with ease. She got up close to the top of the wall and paused to listen once again.

No one. She took the ropes off of her shoulder and secured the grappling hooks. Being the same color as the stone, they were almost invisible unless you were close. She listened very carefully, there were other voices, the sounds of footsteps. They may have been sloppy, but even these guards were not that careless.

As the sun began to descend, she looked over her shoulder. In the distance she saw tiny dots, her ships, her soldiers. The ropes dropped down to the base of the cliff where it met the sea. She saw the little boat she'd come in, drift away, bumping against the cliff face with a constant 'thonk' sound. She hoped it would smash, she did not like that boat, or any boat for that matter.

Zesshi grabbed one of the ropes and secured it under her foot, resting one over the other so that she could effectively 'stand' all but indefinitely as she held herself to it. She swayed slightly in the breeze as she looked out over the freshwater sea. She did not like boats, but the view from here was truly spectacular. The golden light of the setting sun played havoc with reflections on the moving waters, she wondered how long it would be before she saw a sight like this again.

She shook herself out of her reverie as she watched the distant ships load her soldiers into small boats like hers, they slowly grew in size as they advanced towards her position. There were a great many small boats in the water in no time at all. The captain might have been an annoying bitch with her sing-song rhyming, but… she ran her ship well.

The first group that got to the base of the cliff was grabbing the ropes and awkwardly began their ascent. They made effective use of her improvised stone ladder as they scaled the cliffs, and within minutes they had reached her position. She was the first over the top. Nobody saw her, or anyone else at first. They were all looking 'outward' for danger. Nobody was looking in the direction from which they could not be attacked.

She ran stealthily along the wall and down the stairs of the tower, successfully escaping the guard's attention. For a moment she entertained the blissful thought that she might get most of her damned army inside before the watch even noticed. Which of course meant that this is exactly not what happened. A soldier emerging from a billeting area came out just in time to see her. He let loose a cry of alarm before she silenced him by removing his head with a swing of her scythe.

The anthill had been kicked over, there was no stopping the chaos now. Soldiers clamoured and shouted, awakening those resting and drawing out of the doors desperate men who did not know whom they were fighting. There was no more silence from Zesshi or her soldiers. "Kill them all!" She shouted, "Kill the Theocracy scum!" She set the example, rushing with her scythe and nightmarish power. She kicked men hard enough to splinter bone, and those that survived the impact died when they hit the stone behind them and crushed anything that wasn't shattered before. Her scythe was a whirlwind of bloodshed, but the elves who followed her were not to be denied their revenge against a foe they hated far more than they loved their lives. Thirg and Tefl Dahn were in a vampiric blood fury, such that they did not even remove their weapons from the corpses. They fought with tooth and claw and beastial fury.

Swords rose and fell, the scattered humans of the Theocracy tried to rush to stem the tide, but the dam was breached and there was nothing they could do, they were too few, and Zesshi had an entire army bearing down on them and no defensive positions were available to funnel her into a place where her numbers could be 'managed'.

The moonlight shone off of gleaming swords before they were camouflaged from its piercing rays as they were made slick with the blood of a thousand thousand vendettas.

Against elves, the Theocracy was not going to seek mercy, against former elf slaves they were even less inclined. There was no point to asking in their minds, and if they were right or wrong, well who would fault either end?

Bodies fell and someone broke the door to the interior of the fortress, that was where Zesshi knew she needed to be. She entered the darkened hall with her scythe out in front. A soldier charged wildly at her with his sword up and a scream on his lips and it died there. His fear and hate were plain on his face, her contempt was plain on hers. She punched, his head exploded, his body fell and that was that.

More and more of her soldiers were pouring in and seizing rooms, floor by floor they advanced like a rising tide that could not be stopped, as if the sea were rolling in over them, only that sea was their own blood, and they were choking on it.

Within the hour, Zesshi had reached her final goal, the inner sanctum of the fortress. If there was anyone left alive who happened to be in charge, this was where they would be. She found herself in front of a thick oaken door. She kicked it, and the door flew back, exposing the room within. Zesshi strolled through the empty doorframe with her scythe out, her eyes scanning the interior from left to right.

A brutish-looking man in armor with a thick brown bushy beard held up a mace. He had heavy armor of reasonably good quality and angry dark eyes.

"Good, you're not going to surrender." She said happily and approached.

"Hell no, you half-breed bitch!" He said and rushed her with his mace.

He dropped the mace when he lost his hand. She didn't waste time, she had a message to send. She thought of her little sister, her mutilated ears, all the time she'd spent hiding her own so nobody would know what she was… so the next thing she cut was his ears. She hit them with the edge to sever them in half, letting the mutilated parts fall to the floor. He fell to his knees, clutching the stump and screaming.

"Shut up." She said coldly, and hit him in the back of the head, which was the only real 'favor' she offered to the garbage that lay at her feet. A few minutes later the fortress held almost no one but elves, a few demihumans, a pair of vampires, and those few humans of Black Justice that had been with them since the start. There was not a single living Theocracy citizen or soldier in the place, except for just the one, the one she had a use for.

She dragged him down the stairs by the bleeding stump that was once his hand, avoiding injury to his head but indifferent to the rest, it was a long walk down the steps and out into the courtyard.

Her soldiers were cheering, for them this was an enormous success, their second battle and second victory, and a great strike against the Theocracy. Morale was sky high for the lot of them, swords and bows were striking at the air and laughter and smiles filled the night.

"First, secure the fortress entirely!" Zesshi shouted, "Set a watch, gather the bodies, toss those of the Theocracy into the sea! Find any and all important documents we may claim, then go break out their booze! You've earned it all tonight!" She said with a burst of joy in her breast.

"Oh and someone bring me a bandage!" She said as she crouched next to the unconscious heap at her feet.

A moment later one was handed to her, she wrapped the stump where the hand used to be and treated it with a minor poultice she kept on her, so that he wouldn't die. She didn't want him to die, not yet at least.

It was half an hour before he came to and looked around in confusion. He saw himself looking up at the features of a half elf and reacted with violence, he tried to hit her. She grabbed the arm twisted, and snapped the wrist, drawing a cry of agony from him.

"You half-breed bitch!" He snarled at her. She hit his elbow and cleanly snapped his arm.

"Want to do that again? You've got more bones." Zesshi said with a cruel smile on her face.

"Gah!" he was breathing hard through the pain of the injuries she'd just given him. He tried to wriggle and writhe away from her, but she held him fast and looked at him with the expression a sadistic child might give to a dying animal.

He went silent.

"First smart decision you've made." She said. "Now, do you know who I am?" She asked.

He shook his head. "Just some…" he paused, she was one hundred percent sure he was going to say 'half-breed bitch' again, but evidently she had 'talked' him out of that, because he said 'half elf' instead.

"OK, I'll tell you. My name is Zesshi Zetsumei. I'm a former member of the Black Scripture of the Slane Theocracy. Before I left, I was considered to be 'humanity's trump card'. In short, I 'was' the most powerful fighter in the entire Slane Theocracy." She explained patiently.

He looked at her in silent disbelief.

"OK, you need proof?" She asked.

She approached the wall facing the sea, and kicked it. She kicked it hard. Stones tumbled and flew into the sea, and a three foot gap now stood there instead. She returned to the only Theocracy captive.

"Do you believe me now?" She asked. His expression said he was now willing to credit her story.

"So you're a traitor!" He spat, "Might have figured that from a…" She cut him off, grabbing him near the back of either side of his jaw and starting to squeeze.

"From a 'what'? Choose your words carefully, you pathetic little weakling!" Zesshi said, moving closer to his face. Her white and black hair blew in the breeze that could now reach her, like the tendrils of death at her back, in the darkness only the white was visible, but it was like a skeletal hand was beckoning him, he went silent again.

"And by the way, you betrayed me, the Slane Theocracy betrayed 'me' first. They abandoned 'me' first. And this…" she stood and opened her arms to encompass the fallen fortress, "is the result of that betrayal of theirs."

She got down next to him again, her heterochromatic eyes locked on his, "They tortured my little sister, rubbed it in my face, denied me a place among them, and did it a thousand times a thousand times over. If it hadn't been for their own stupid overreach with that boy 'Climb', I might never have even noticed what they were doing. But I did, and now I have a task for you, you pathetic little worm."

He was angry, but he was silent, and that was enough.

"You're going to go 'back' to Kami Miyako, as fast as you can, and you're going to tell them what happened here. Tell them that General Zesshi Zetsumei is coming for her people, tell them we still have business to settle between us. Oh, and tell them that for every elf I see with cut ears, people had better be prepared to have ears like yours. Do you understand me?" She asked.

"But the accords…" He started to stammer out. She grabbed his jaw and squeezed.

"The accords! The accords! Dominic tore up the accords in front of me, called them worthless trash and threw them on the floor. You dare bring them up?!" She snarled down at him, she squeezed tighter, she could feel his jaw begin to dislocate.

She relaxed her grip. "You need your jaw, and your tongue, or I would deprive you of both for that." She said with hate pouring from every syllable.

"But I won't be breaking the accords, I'll do what I did to you. I'm the best of the very best, outside of His Majesty's inner circle at least. I'll take their ears in honest battle." She said with a happy voice that reminded him of a child finding out they had overlooked a present at their birthday party.

"Why?" He asked in mute horror.

"On your way back to the Slane Theocracy, take a look at the elf slaves you see along the way, and if you still ask that question, you've got to be an even greater villain than Cardinal Dominic."

He went very quiet, until she grabbed him by his broken arm and hauled him to his feet. She shoved him over to where several elves were standing by watching.

"Take his armor, take his clothes, give him a few days rations of food and tell him to get walking. If he stops moving at any point, he's to be considered a hostile target." Zesshi shouted out her orders, and his pathetic injured struggles were of no use.

Within the span of a few waves breaking upon the cliffside, he was left wearing nothing but the bandage on his stump where the hand used to be.

"Get out of my fortress." Zesshi said, and he was dragged forcefully by his beard to the now open entrance and thrown out. He got to his feet, his body ached, everything ached.

Someone threw a sack at his feet, containing only a few loaves of bread, some cheese, and a small water skin.

He took one last look at the fortress behind him as the gate began to close. He saw elves starting to man the battlements of what had been 'his' domain.

"How did it come to this?" He asked himself in a whispered voice of horror. Elves atop the battlements drew their bows and took aim at him. They would definitely shoot if he did not get moving.

He started walking. He did not stop, not even when he had to relieve himself, turned out that pissing while walking naked was easy, though unpleasant. But it was even harder to do with a broken arm, fractured wrist, and a mutilated stump for a hand.

It had been a truly terrible day.

 _...Kami Miyako...Two weeks later..._

The former fortress commander for Fortress Igan was looking much better, he'd found a healer by chance after two days of wandering naked on the road, who had taken care of his arm, but sadly the man wasn't a mage, just a man with some medical knowledge and some poultices. However, he could swing his arm again. He'd also changed the bandage on his hand and found no infection, no pus, no evidence of rot. He wasn't going to die from such a pathetic injury.

The man had also been kind enough to get him a set of clothing at the next town, and when the commander had explained what happened, a horse and a letter of authorization to requisition more had been given to him straight away. He rode as fast as he could for Kami Miyako, while attempts at getting someone to use a message spell for him had failed. When he sought an explanation, he was told that the Cardinals feared eavesdropping too greatly.

As he considered it, that wasn't entirely unreasonable. So a hard ride it was. Swapping out horses as soon as they burned out, until at last he rushed in to the capital and without pause, made his way straight to the meeting room.

A guard attempted to stop him as soon as he approached. "I'm sorry sir, they're in session right now."

"I know." He said, "I'm the commander of Fortress Igan, I have urgent news for the Cardinals." Following a momentary pause and a verification of identity, he was allowed access to the room.

After he gave his report of what happened, and the message from Zesshi Zetsumei, the room descended into a heavy silence.

Dominic was the first to speak. "So, you're the only survivor?" He asked.

"I am." The commander said.

Dominic's eyes narrowed.

"You survived the fall of your fortress, and came all the way back here? They just let you go?" The Cardinal asked.

"To come tell you all this, yes." He said.

"What happened to your ears?" Dominic asked.

"General Zesshi Zetsumei did that to me." He said, not liking Dominic's tone.

"So… you and you alone survived the defeat of your fortress, you come here 'barely' injured and with your ears cut like an elf and tell me that 'General' Zesshi Zetsumei did it to you. That's a pretty respectful form of address for someone who took your fortress, killed your soldiers, and cut your ears." He said.

The commander started to sweat. "It's true!" He gasped out.

"Where's your uniform?" Dominic asked.

"I told you, they kicked me out, naked, I got these clothes on the road, a healer gave them to me…" He said and slowed his speech.

"For free?" Dominic arched an eyebrow, "I know of only one group that heals for free, and that clothing, lot of black there. Remind you of any people we know?" Dominic asked the assembled cardinals.

"What, you can't! You can't think…!" He stopped and went mute, they did think.

Dominic stood and called out to the soldiers stationed beyond the door. "Guards! Take the 'commander' here to be interrogated, I think we need to ask a lot more questions, and a lot harder. Gag him though, let him speak to no one until an official inquisitor comes to 'converse' with him."

"What?! No! You can't! You can't!" He said as armored men physically restrained him and began to drag him away. He struggled, one of them hit him in the gut, he crumpled, he was hit on the back of the head, and as he lost consciousness he had one final thought…

 _"This day is going to be even worse…"_

 **AN: And there you go another one, you go enjoy that now you greedy, greedy readers. :)**

 **Chapter 90 though...wow. You know my original draft had planned for 30 chapters and no side stories? :D Well, plans changed for the better I think.**

 **Reviews encouraged.**


	91. Wild Times

_...North of Crossroads…_

Enri was tired, even empty. The casualty reports she'd reviewed long into the night had gotten to her. Hard. Particularly the news of Goan's mother. Part of her fumed all the way till she'd fallen asleep. "Damn it, Moira! That was stupid." She must have said it fifty times, "Single parents should not volunteer for suicide missions." Lupu of course, could always be counted upon.

"She did what she did for Lord Ainz. That is all that matters." It had been something of a loop. But nonetheless Lupu had stayed with her, and for that Enri was profoundly grateful. Lewd offerings of stress relief aside, it was probably only because the werewolf queen had stayed with her that she had gotten any sleep at all.

She got up and stretched, arching her back and rotating her hips. Military bedding was not especially comfortable. She'd barely been up for a minute when Lupusregina entered her tent. "Ready General?" She asked with her usual enigmatic but somehow slightly predatory smile.

"I ask myself that every day." Enri replied seriously, then broke into a smile, "But so far, the answer seems to be yes."

Lupusregina's grin was a little bit wider after Enri said that. "Good, because we have news, the survivors of the last battle have gathered themselves together." She said, her fingers twitching as if she was already thinking of how best to tear them apart… and she probably was.

"Crossroads?" Enri predicted.

"The same. They're thinking their walls will save them." Lupusregina said with a dismissive snort. "Stupid, dragons ignore walls and I can just tear through them."

"How many?" Enri asked.

"Is a rough measure acceptable?" Lupusregina asked.

Enri nodded. "I'd rather have a good estimate than no clue." She said seriously.

"About twenty thousand got away from the fight, mostly those who ran early when Lord Ainz's wrath hit them. Sure it made the last fight a lot easier, but unfortunately, the ones who run away, you sometimes have to fight twice." Lupusregina said with mild annoyance.

"True, but at least we know they're prone to running. Want to chase the prey?" Enri asked, and a hard, predatory look reminiscent of Lupusregina Beta's more sadistic expressions took over her face.

Lupusregina clapped her on the shoulder and gave her a thumbs up, along with a very happy smile and said, "That's the spirit, this is why we're friends. Always knew you had it in you."

Enri rolled her eyes, "Never change, Lupu."

"Don't plan to, but speaking of plans, I assume you have something in mind?" Her bodyguard replied.

"I do, Crossroad City is unique, the walls are very thick, eight feet if you can believe it, and the gates are enchanted with sixth tier magic, the very limit of human capability. Moreover, they've had weeks to prepare for our coming, so they'll have scorpions ready to shoot down dragons and who knows what manner of siege equipment behind the walls. But they're not invincible." Enri said as she went to her work table, pulled out a map, and spread it open on the table.

"We have the numbers to surround them, so that'll be the first step. They're outnumbered here, even with the survivors, and that'll force them to spread their lines thin. Now, I don't 'think' scorpions can bring down dragons, at least not easily, but they've probably put a scripture in there by now. Do you have that report?" Enri asked, looking up from the map.

"Yes, it looks like all of the scripture members present at the last battle made it out. You can expect to face the entire Windflower Scripture." Lupusregina said with a serious expression. Although she hadn't fought them herself, it was easy to identify where they'd been stationed through simple observation of the battlefield. In those places, there were plenty of her own side, and precious few of the rest among the dead.

"They're not the combat specialists, are they?" Enri asked.

"No, they're not. They're mostly recon from what Lord Ainz has told us. He apparently extracted a fair bit of information from the captive Sunlight Scripture and Gray Scripture members." Lupusregina said calmly.

"I see, I want triple the guards around the clock. A group like that will want to make us fear the night, and I don't plan to let them have their way." Enri said thoughtfully.

"Our first priority is to take out their means of preventing an air based attack, they really don't like our lunch boxes." Enri said with a savage smile.

"Then, should we use them?" Lupusregina asked.

"No. While that is going on, we dig. We have the best diggers in the world on our side, and even though most of the quagoa went north with General Zaryusu and Lady Shalltear, we do have some. We will tunnel under the walls, prop them up with support beams, and when we've got a wide enough breech, we burn the supports and bring the damn wall down. We do it in two places in quick succession, and use a smattering of ladders in a feint against the unbreached sides, just to keep them from bringing sufficient force to bear. Then we bring in the dragons. The city will fall within an hour of all that." She said confidently as she rolled the map back up.

"You really thought that through." Lupusregina said, impressed.

"Well, I spent some time talking with my goblin strategist. Sun is very good at this, but yeah, most of these were my ideas." Enri said proudly.

"You were wasted as an illiterate peasant." Lupusregina said confidently.

Enri put the rolled up map back into a tube meant for such documents and then looked over at her best friend. It was still weird to think of her best friend getting off on her death, but then, Lupusregina was a weird one, and her praise was obviously sincere. "I guess you're right, who knew?" She said with a smile.

"Lord Ainz, apparently." Lupusregina said with a contented shrug.

"Apparently." Enri agreed. "Now I'm going to get dressed…" She started to say before Lupusregina interrupted her.

"Oh no! Help! My general is going to demand my services, oh someone please!" Lupu froze in the middle of a dramatic expression and an 'eek', and Enri blushed a strawberry red that stood out on her skin.

"Damn it Lupu! Get out of here, we've got work to do, I want this army moving in an hour!" She said with the sort of infuriated voice that by now, Lupusregina knew was not that mad and she waved goodbye behind her as she waltzed, or perhaps 'sauntered' out of the general's tent.

Enri rubbed her forehead. 'I wonder if General Boabdil has to put up with this.' She thought to herself.

 _...Crossroad City Prison…_

Moira sat in the interrogation room. It was poorly lit, probably on purpose. Guards were stationed by the wall behind her and the door in front of her. The table she was sitting on was crafted from simple unfinished wood, an embarrassment to any decent carpenter. The chair she was sitting on was no better. The only unique feature was that her wrists were chained uncomfortably. One wrist was fixed to the table where an iron loop had been attached, leaving her just enough freedom of motion that she could have, say… written a document. The other was secured to an iron loop fastened to the chair itself. That arm had no freedom of movement.

In front of her stood an interrogator, a man of medium build, ordinary brown hair, ordinary brown eyes. In fact, the only thing that seemed to make him extraordinary, was his extreme ordinariness. She felt like you could pass him a thousand times on the street and never really notice or remember him.

Even his voice did not stand out as anything special, it was unnerving how bland the man seemed.

"What is your name?" He asked.

'OK, we're starting simple.' She thought.

"My name is Moira." She replied.

"What was your mission?" He asked.

"Don't you know that already? I mean, you did capture me." She said somewhat sarcastically.

"Answer the question, please." He said.

"I was tasked with diverting General Boabdil's reinforcements away from Ikari. I was also successful. I and my comrades, at least." She said smugly.

"How will General Enri try to take this city?" He asked. He started to walk around the table, slowly, methodically. She tried to turn her head to look at him.

"How the hell would I know that? I was a soldier on a suicide mission." She snapped out.

"I'll ask the questions." He said without missing a beat. He passed in front of her again. "How many soldiers in her army?" He asked.

"First, I wouldn't know, but a lot. Second, even if I did know, I wouldn't tell you." She said harshly, slamming her fist on the table, rattling the chain and snarled at him. His expression did not waver even a little.

"Suppose we offered to loosen your tongue." He suggested. She shook a little at that.

"Doesn't matter. I won't say anything, do whatever you want." She replied.

He cocked his head and looked at her, "Why?" He asked.

"What do you mean, why? Isn't it natural for a soldier to be loyal to her comrades, to her people, to her ruler?" She asked, incredulous at the question.

"Maybe most of the time, but your ruler is undead, he doesn't give a shit about you." He said. "So why protect him? Why help him? Help us, and we'll reward you, the Slane Theocracy rewards those who help it."

"You don't know anything." She said sullenly. "Not a damn thing you damn fool." She said, reiterating her expression of contempt.

"So help me to understand." He said in a gentle, inviting tone of voice.

"The Sorcerer King saved my country, saved my life, saved my baby, so it doesn't matter what he is. I won't say anything that will hurt him or his cause. Go. To. Hell." She said, trying to lunge up from the chair, only for the restraints to hold her back.

This caught him by surprise, though his face didn't show it. "Where are you from?" He asked her innocently.

A harmless question, she chose to answer it. "I was born and raised in the Draconic Kingdom." She said honestly.

"So, you were there when he went after the beastmen." He asked.

'Shit.' She thought, 'I shouldn't have answered that. Too late now.'

"I was." She replied.

"Do you know what magic he used? Did you ever see or hear him cast a spell?" He asked her.

She laughed. "Hell no. All I know is that he showed up and everybody that wasn't human, died that day. He saved humans, he saved us, and what did you ever do? Everybody knows the Slane Theocracy was just using us as meat shields. You don't care about us, you never cared about us. We're both humans, and you bastards offered us up like a buffet to be eaten just to keep those things off yourselves!"

She struggled to rise, and failed again, but rattled the chains loudly as she did so. "If I'd had to rely on you, then I'd have birthed my boy just to see him eaten as he cried for my breast! Go to hell you self righteous, manipulative, predatory pricks! I'm not saying a goddamn thing, and it doesn't matter what you say or do to me!" She looked at his indifferent face while she wore a mask of hate. He casually wiped some of the spittle from his face that had flown from her mouth during her tirade.

"I see." He said dryly.

"Suppose I offer to ask your comrades… hard?" He proposed.

"What do you mean?" She asked hesitantly as she relaxed herself in the chair again, ceasing her pull against her bonds.

"Suppose I offer to hurt them, not until they talk, but until 'you' do? You seem to have the most knowledge of the Sorcerer King, the only one with hands on experience. Perhaps if you had to choose between your friends and your dark master, you'd be a bit more talkative." He said as if he was just casually discussing the weather.

"I don't think you'll do that." She said, trying to keep the doubt from her voice.

"Oh? Why not?" He asked, with seemingly genuine curiosity in his voice.

"You haven't done it to them so far, not while I was 'asleep', so I don't think you'll do it now." She replied.

He let out a sigh, which had her somewhat relieved until he started talking again. "You're right of course, General Boabdil is rather… impractical about these things, but you know, he only commands 'here'. I could send you to Wheaton, or Fortress Cross, or even Kami Miyako, all it would take is a letter from me, and I can have the lot of you shipped off with him not even knowing what I have in mind."

Her blood ran cold, but she kept a brave face. "Do it then, but I'm not saying a damn thing."

His face, which had previously maintained a calm and neutral air, suddenly took on a whole other demeanor and he leaned in, inches away from her. "We'll see how you feel, when the inquisitors start asking questions, you heretical whore." He said in a vicious voice, with his face twisted into a mask of demonic hatred.

Moira looked up, and spat on his cheek. "Go die in a fire." She said.

He froze, stood up, wiped his cheek, and looked down at her. "That'll be your fate, heretic." He said, and looked over at the guard at the wall. "Get that thing out of here, I've got a letter to write, resecure her in her cell. Oh, and put her on suicide watch, I don't want her dying any other death but that of a heretic."

The guard approached, started to unchain her, and as soon as she was able to move, she hit him in the face with her elbow and tried to go on the offensive.

The interrogator moved so quickly she never even saw his fist meet her face.

 _…Yaksun…_

Queen Draudillon had seen better days, but she'd also seen ones so much worse that this looked pretty good by comparison. The walls of Yaksun looked fairly strong , and the people manning them appeared to be well fed and enthusiastic.

They also were not very large in number.

"Get the siege equipment ready, and call up what mages we have for cover. They probably expect that the Forlorn Fortress destroyed a lot of our equipment, and they almost certainly have no idea that we had a one woman siege weapon already there." Draudillon surmised.

General Musan gave her an approving look. "Astute thought, Your Majesty. They'll expect us to spend time rebuilding what we need to take the walls, giving them ample time to prepare. I assume you expect we can win if we attack now?" He asked.

"I do." She said.

"I agree." General Oma said, she scratched her ear reflexively as she spoke. It made Draudillon wonder if she were insecure about what was surely distant elven ancestry. "However, we should prepare for the possibility of a longer siege. Keep back a hundred men to lay a camp, it'll only take a few hours, and I think it should be done before the first day of fighting ends."

Queen Draudillon thought that over, "Fine, go set a hundred men to establishing a fortified camp. They'll skip the fighting today, but if it goes on, they'll be first into the fight tomorrow." She said thoughtfully.

"It will be done, my Queen." She said confidently, and rode back to the rear.

She saw the distress on the walls when perfectly intact siege equipment began to roll forward, ladders, a ram, and a low rolling set of platforms with a partially protective wooden wall at the front and sides of it. The platform was only six feet wide, enough that a sallying enemy couldn't just attack the archers that were placed on it, and the front and side walls provided some protection from return fire.

"How many archers?" General Musan asked.

"About thirty each. They'll still be outnumbered, and their defenses are inferior, but we can be confident that no cavalry will be coming out to harass them or drive them off. In addition, as long as the archers fight, the infantry can do their work." The Queen said in a clipped, professional manner that surprised her general.

"Majesty, may I speak freely?" General Musan asked politely.

Queen Draudillon's eyes narrowed as she looked at him.

"Nothing good ever follows that sentence, but go ahead." She said.

"I'm glad you're with us." He said in a casual tone of voice.

"I stand corrected. Good things do come after that sentence sometimes." She glanced over at the moving soldiers and the siege equipment. Flags were going up and down as signals were sent indicating orders, and to the rear she heard the sound of construction going on as a camp was established.

"But why do you say that?" She asked curiously.

"Well, in the past, we both know you were not as attentive as you could have been or should have been. I don't mean to criticize you, Your Majesty. But you do not deny this yourself. However, as I see you out here, away from the palace, among the army, your people, your soldiers, I see you thriving. Perhaps a part of the great trouble with your early rule was your long isolation. Maybe being out here, in the air, even with all the danger and discomfort, has let you truly come into your own as a great Queen."

"There may be something to that." She replied, "I should make a habit of being out more when all is said and done."

She looked ahead, "They're reaching the walls, looks like the archers are giving a good account of themselves." She said, as screams were reaching them from the wounded, and silence reached them from the dead. Flaming arrows shot from the walls. A man fell with an arrow in his face. Queen Draudillon watched, she owed them that much, so she forced herself not to wince or look away.

"Your Majesty, would you prefer to be at the rear?" General Musan asked, his rough, gray beard gave him a very grandfatherly appearance and it felt good to have him nearby.

"I would. But I need to be here." She said as the ladders reached the walls and the ram began to 'knock' on the door.

Someone was giving solid orders to those on the walls at least, and the archers had begun to concentrate their fire on the infantry instead of dueling with their counterparts.

"Damn, I'd hoped they'd keep that up." General Musan said.

"I'm surprised they did it at all." The Queen replied, caressing her horse to calm it down as it moved its hooves anxiously.

"I feel the same. My guess is that they didn't have a command authority present, and didn't expect us to attack this soon. Looks like your aggression paid off, Your Highness." He said with a smile on his face and a twinkle in his eye.

"Yes it does. Let us hope it reaps high dividends." She said with satisfaction. Two ladders were pushed off the wall, another however, had soldiers trying to make their way over it. She saw the first man to reach the top fall, but the one right after him made it on to the ramparts.

Sword, mace, ax, and spear were brought to bear, a little knot of Draconic soldiers had forcibly seized several feet of the wall for themselves.

"This may be a rather artless fight, but it looks like we're going to take this section at least." She said hopefully.

"Maybe, but we'll pay a butcher's bill for every stone." General Musan replied.

Cracks appeared at the gate as the heavy wood began to finally split under repeated blows.

Mages began to duel, with lightning and fire, two mages slew one another in the same instant, falling to the ground, one from the wall, one from where he stood atop the roof of the ram that continued to crack the gate into ever more splinters.

"Find out that mage's name when you can." Queen Draudillon said with awe, "We must honor his sacrifice."

General Musan nodded somberly.

Somewhere among the chaos on the wall, a greater chaos ensued. A massive warrior wielding an enormous hammer began to smash his way through the soldiers of the Draconic Kingdom. He was so tall that even from where they sat on their horses, they could see him walk purposefully through the nightmare of battle as if the hellscape of the wall was a garden through which he could stroll with ease. He wore no helmet, but his arms were wrapped in orichalcum and his weapon was clearly something other than simple steel.

His voice boomed out like a drum, "Push them back or I'll kill you myself!" He shouted at his own side. Whoever he was, he was relentless, the incarnation of war in a human body, Draconic soldiers began to fall, the gain they had made was in danger of being lost completely.

"No…" Draudillon said with horror, "How?" She asked no one in particular. "Could he be from one of the scriptures?" She asked.

"This far east? Unlikely, they didn't even know we were coming until it was too late, and the Sorcerer King's intelligence on the scriptures puts the best of them in the Southern Holy Kingdom, Northern Holy Kingdom, and the rest scattered around as far north as Crossroads." General Musan said softly. The wall was nearly clear, those of her soldiers on the wall who were still alive, were running for their lives back down the ladders.

"We don't have anyone who can get past that man." General Musan said.

"Yes. We. Do." Queen Draudillon said.

"Who?" He asked doubtfully.

"I didn't want it to come to this." She said, biting her lip anxiously.

They heard the clanking sound of metal rising, a portcullis was opening.

"Pull back the ram!" She shouted in a sudden realization, the order went out, the general blew his horn, the soldiers under the roof of the ram could still hear, even if they could not see the signal. They began to pull it back, only to realize too late that they hadn't a prayer of escaping the sally with it. The Slane Theocracy's soldiers burst out of the gate and under the ram. It was over quickly. A few staggered out from cover, stumbling away desperate to flee, only for them to be exterminated within a few steps. For good measure, one of the Slane Theocracy soldiers stabbed a man in his calf, driving him to the ground, then for all to see, shoving his halberd through his neck even as the wounded man's hand reached out, desperate for help that would never come.

The killer however, did not leave the sally alive, the archers, having witnessed the slaying, whirled in one body from two towers, and riddled him with so many arrows that his body could not fall, he had been pinned to the earth upright, a 'counter example' of the Draconic Kingdom's wrath.

Those survivors who had escaped the wall now looked at it with trepidation, the prospect of going back up there had no appeal. The Queen was swearing.

The sun was starting to set, there would be no more fighting now. "Send a messenger." She said.

"Saying what?" He asked.

"Challenging that warrior to single combat." She replied.

"With who?" He asked dubiously.

"With me." She said. "Tomorrow, that city falls."

He looked at her dumbly.

"Do it!" She said in a voice of royal command, sparing no room for debate.

"As Your Majesty commands." He said, and as the army of the Draconic Kingdom began to pull back to the encampment, the cheers of the Slane Theocracy battered at their backs like a hammer.

That evening as General Musan saw to the dispatching of a message and oversaw the rest of the camp's actions, Queen Draudillon sought out General Oma.

The two sat alone in the Queen's private tent. "You know by now what happened." She said to the olive skinned beauty.

"I do. It was bad. The man on the wall, I heard the soldiers talk about him afterwards, he's like a war god." She said, reluctantly impressed.

"I've had a challenge dispatched seeking single combat." The Queen answered.

"Majesty, you can't! You're not a warrior! You're not a Neia, or a Remedios, or the Sorcerer King, or…" General Oma trailed off as the Queen reached out and touched her hand across the table.

"No, but I can kill him, I just can't do it alone. I need three hundred volunteers, men ready to die without hesitation, can you find me that? Promise them that their heirs will be given noble titles and lands, we have plenty of both we can hand out now thanks to the purges. Let these be the first awards." The Queen said firmly.

"I can… among those who joined us there are some who took the option of service to gain forgiveness for past crimes, but some of them have families behind them as well. I'm sure I can find you that many. Our people are desperate to restore their pride as well, and many will die for that, and for immortal fame for their courage." General Oma said with reluctant confidence.

"Do it then, conjure them by whatever means you need, but bring them to me tonight." She said.

"It will be done, Your Majesty." General Oma said.

As she was leaving, a guard poked his head in, "General Musan is here to see you, Your Highness." He said.

"Send him in." She replied perfunctorily.

General Musan approached and rendered his salute. "Sit." The Queen said.

He sat.

"How did it go?" She asked.

"He's agreed to the duel. The chance to kill you and throw us into chaos is too much to resist, but Your Majesty, I must urge you to reconsider. If you die…" She held up her hand to stop him.

"I won't die." She said.

"But…" He began.

"No arguments. I'm the Queen, damn it, and I've made my decision." She said firmly in a voice of mild rebuke.

His head drooped. "We just don't want to lose you." He said softly, and her face softened with it.

"I know. Don't worry about it. Everything will be fine, I swear it. It has to be, I promised Vermillion I'd come home again." She had a warm smile on her face.

"Morning?" She asked.

"After morning meal." He confirmed. "We just plant your banner in front when you're ready."

"Good, dismissed, General Musan." She said, preempting any further objection.

"As you wish, Your Majesty." He said, and saluting her again, he left her tent.

The next few hours were busy ones for General Oma and Queen Draudillon, with many a whispered words, a toasted goblet from which the Queen herself would not drink, many an oath was made, many a promise written down, many tears were shed for the following day, that none appear to disgrace them when the time came.

They ate their fill, all was open to them, nothing was denied them, the army was abuzz with anticipation.

That morning the two armies stood face to face. Before the wall of untaken Yaksun, the ruins of the ram, now burned black and collapsed in a heap of broken wood and metal gave a silent testament to the battle of the previous day.

The breeze was high in the air and it picked up the banners of both sides, proudly flying them high over the heads of their bearers. Those three hundred ate their fill in the morning as well, and in the open space between the two armies, Queen Draudillon stepped out, bearing her banner herself, she planted it a bowshot away from the wall, and then stepped back.

The gate slowly opened, and a man the size of a small bear stepped out of it, wrapped in heroic armor and bearing in one hand, a giant hammer and in the other, a banner of his own. "Regar. Regar. Regar." The chant went up from the wall as the hero of the city came out to meet the Draconic Queen.

He came closer than she did, close enough that she could hear him, she and all her army.

"So you're the whore for the undead that has come to take my country?!" He shouted.

She didn't respond to the provocation, and he stabbed the banner hard into the ground.

"This city will never fall so long as Regar defends it!" He shouted at her.

To this she answered, "Regar will not be defending it for much longer!" It was the right thing to say, the spirits of her army went up. She looked every inch a monarch in that hour, clad in white armor and a white cloak thrown back so that her head and face could be seen, she had the light of an angel cast off her by the rising sun.

He snarled at that. "Then let's get this over with." He said and took the maul to the front of his body, holding it in two hands as he crouched, ready to charge.

"There is time enough for that," she shouted back, "but first I wanted you, and all your city, to see something, I wanted you to see the resolve of the Draconic Kingdom!" She let her voice go loud as it could, and from behind her stepped her three hundred.

"This is a duel! Not a battle!" He said in rebuke as if she intended to have them attack with her.

She shook her head. "Do it!" She shouted, and he tensed, ready to take on all three hundred if that was what it took. But then he froze, the first man stepped forward, took a single knife out, and slit his own throat. The man next to him did the same, then the next, the next, and the next, on down the row.

Regar couldn't believe his eyes, but nor could the rest of the wall. The Slane Theocracy's soldiers stood watching dazed and confused with many of them sickened or horrified. It was one thing to fight and die, it was another entirely to see so many simply end their lives without hesitation in a twisted mass suicide.

The line of men had nearly finished their bizarre display of suicide when someone started shouting from the Theocracy wall. "Regar get out! Get out of there now! Clear the walls!"

Somebody knew what was happening, Queen Draudillon laughed inside her own mind, it was far too late.

"Come and get me Regar! But as you die, know this! To face the Queen is to face the whole of her nation!" She shouted, and Regar, who had never fled in a hundred battles, did not listen to the shouting behind him, he charged towards the Queen, who held her arms open invitingly, and then…

As if to remind the world that she was born of a dragon's bloodline, her mouth opened, and it seemed as if it might have unhinged like a snake to swallow enormous prey, and from her mouth poured a horrible, terrible, beautiful white light. Powered by three hundred dead, it flared brighter than the sun and rushed straight towards Regar, who had only a moment to know its radiance, before he ceased to be. He, his weapon, his armor, all that he was, were erased as if they'd never been.

It was not however, at the end of its work, it raced past him, straight to the wall, towards the gate, it erased the body of the man who had died upright by the mass of arrows, it erased the ruin of the ram, and as if this light was meant to erase the stain of yesterday's failure, it turned the stone to nothingness, the gate was gone, and so was everything beyond it for a quarter mile. Not a single member of the Slane Theocracy that held that gate survived long enough to know just how they had died.

"Charge!" The Queen shouted, rushing back to her line and jumping on her horse, she waved her sword at the suddenly created gap, and though caught in shock and awe, neither side had moved until her horse began to gallop, as if she were going to take the city by herself.

It snapped her people back to reality, "You heard the Queen! Go! Go! Bring them down!" General Musan shouted, with General Oma echoing the sentiment from where she sat further down the line, the whole of the Draconic Kingdom army moved as one body, horses and men bearing down on the gap the Queen had given to them.

The Slane Theocracy's lines descended into absolute chaos, they had thought to defend the walls, but now the wall was irrelevant and they were scattered. The Draconic Kingdom cavalry made it in first, and they rushed to blockade the towers from which the Theocracy soldiers would have to emerge.

The bottleneck, formerly a Theocracy advantage when the walls were being seized from above, had now become a detriment when the attack had the option to take them from the ground.

The horses raced through the city, seeking every hint of resistance everywhere they could find it and strike it down. Unprepared for this, and with many dead from the terrible wild magic that had torn its way through so much of the city, disorder had become the order of the day.

The vastly greater numbers of the Draconic Kingdom were now in play, and with no hero to lead them and no men fit to become heroes in their own right, the city of Yaksun began to fall in earnest. A quarter of the city, including every soldier who had stood on the wall, was dead or captured within two hours. Half the city had fallen within two hours of that, and the last little keep, held by only a few hundred men, was surrounded and its little low walls being scaled by ladders within an hour of that.

The Slane Theocracy's last remaining soldiers fought with an admirable kind of desperate courage. Each of them trying to fend off four or five, and failing one by one as the space of ground they controlled grew ever smaller.

The gate was opened and more poured in. At the head of them rode Queen Draudillon and the last Theocracy soldier fell with hate on his face and fear in his eyes. He tumbled forward to the ground, with the face of the Draconic Queen looking down at him. As she rode past his charge, her face was the last thing he saw before he was carried off to the afterlife.

The little offices of the administrative center were quickly raided and civilian leaders dragged out and put on their knees before her. She did not get down off her horse as she rode past them and looked down at them from the side.

"For years, generations, your country used mine as a shield to save yourselves. That has begun to end. When all is over and done, we will be one country, whether you like it or not. Your city is now my city, and I claim it in the name of revenge for my people, and in the name of the Sorcerer King. Have you anything to say?" She asked coldly.

They were silent, only glaring. "Good enough. Your lives, as well as the lives of your citizens, will all be spared, so too will be your property and liberty, business will go on as usual, but your merchants will be accepting both the coin of the Sorcerer King, and of the Draconic Kingdom in exchange for goods. Any complaints from your citizens may be brought to me, but any attempt at uprising or violence against our occupation will be ruthlessly and completely crushed." She said firmly.

"Am I understood?" She asked.

They glared.

"I asked a question." She said, "When the Queen asks, you answer." She took her sword and held it under the chin of one of the men on their knees.

"Yes…" He practically hissed out.

From behind, her soldiers glared at the man with a tangible killing intent.

"Yes, Your Majesty." He corrected himself.

"Good, appoint one of your numbers as a liaison between your government and my army, that is your first task, we will be settling in here for a while. Do not test my warning." She said in a calculating voice.

She looked back over at her soldiers, raised her sword, followed rapidly by General Musan and General Oma, and they split the sky with their victory cheers.

In their cheers, the three trapped on their knees felt that they were hearing the sound of the Slane Theocracy's death scream.

 **AN: Before you complain about chapter length...this is 20 pages on word. Sooo...hush. ;D Anyway, if you enjoy the chapter, reviews are welcome. Thank you to the beta team. :) Also, looks like the siege of Prart will get pushed back to Chapter 95, need to cover a few other things first because once the siege starts, it will span multiple chapters and most of the rest of the world theater will be of only minor significance.**


	92. A Farewell to Arms

God Rising: The Cult of Ainz

Chapter 92

Written by: AtheistBasementDragon

Edited by: The Usual Gang of Drunken Perverted Idiots

 **AN: Chapter is a little shorter than normal, but still over my minimum acceptable size, so enjoy. :) Kind of tired today, otherwise I'd do two of them.**

 _...Prart…_

Tinamoc was alone when Neia went to see him the next morning. He was at the gate with a decent horse but not an extravagant one. He wore ordinary travel clothing and carried nothing but simple ordinary gear, a purse of coins, simple camp tools, very basic materials. "You look different." Neia said with a little smile, waving to him as she approached.

"Well, I'm missing a bunch of wagons. That might have something to do with it." he said with just a hint of sarcasm.

"Maybe so." She replied. She smiled, and then her face became serious as she took off her visor and met his gaze.

"Traveling inconspicuously may be a good idea, but it isn't without risks. So, you take care of yourself out there." Neia said softly, "I don't have a lot of friends, never did, but I don't want to lose any of you."

He met the eyes of she who had made a dragon quake, and felt no fear. "It's been quite a journey for all of us, but whatever happens, I have no regrets, and let's be honest, you're at greater risk than I am." His voice was warm, and also proud.

"It's been amazing. To think it all began with a simple trade mission…" She sighed almost blissfully.

"Great events from small causes, precious friendships from great events." He said, and got off his horse.

"I'll pay you back for all the costs you incurred because of me." She said kindly.

"What you did to that idiot uncle of mine is good enough, not to mention… everything else. And you know what? After all this is over, I think I'll be able to get some really good deals trading with the freed elves, so… call this whole thing the biggest long term investment of my career, and we're even." He said with a knowing grin.

Neia laughed. "Always a merchant, aren't you?"

"Damn straight." He said with a wink.

"Where will you go from here?" Neia asked, "I'd like to know where to find you, so we can have a drink after all this." She asked.

He stroked his chin and looked away for a moment, "I suppose I could go home to my wife, but after all the peace and quiet we've had over the last few months, all that noise at home might get to me." He winked at her as he said that, and Neia playfully slapped his arm.

"Careful, or when I meet her I might tell her you said that." She winked in turn. "Of course I might 'forget it' if you buy the first round next time I see you."

"Now who's a merchant?" He asked with a hearty laugh. "But seriously, I think I'll head to my country home. It's north of Hoburns, in the woods, not a big place, few people know I have it. It is my own private little getaway. I'll stop off, get my wife, and we'll enjoy a few weeks or months there until the war here is over. After that, I'll send you a letter, and arrange to meet you where this whole thing began, at the gate of the capital."

"It's a date." Neia said with a broad smile.

"Don't tell my wife you called it that." He laughed, "And I won't tell Skana you did either."

"Now there's a merchant's bargain, everybody wins." She said with an enthusiastic nod, which he mimicked.

"So what about your other merchants?" She asked him.

"They're staying here, they're unknown, and it is easy enough for them to blend into the population, we'd all look suspicious if we left together anyway. So they suggested I leave so that my 'isolation' will serve as a kind of disguise. Just another somewhat overweight traveler." He said and patted his ample stomach with a chuckle.

"Uh huh! Well, you just stay well fed and safe, OK? I won't hold you up anymore, get going." Neia said, then spontaneously she went close, and hugged him. He was surprised, she wasn't an affectionate person in most respects, but he was not unhappy. He returned the embrace.

"Thanks for everything." They said in unison, laughed one more time, and then he got back on his horse before riding out of the gate.

They waved to one another, and Neia turned and went back to speak with Queen Calca, the sooner they got word back from the priest of the old gods, the happier they'd both be.

 _...Kami Miyako…_

Raymond slapped the document down on the council chamber. "Well?!" He asked. "What do we do about this?!" He asked.

"Do about what?" Dominic asked with annoyance.

Raymond sighed, "Absolute power and you don't read reports?!"

Dominic turned red. "Just spill it." He said and set aside what he was writing.

"We have infiltrators." Raymond said.

"No." Dominic said with a frown.

"Yes. And don't pretend to be surprised. The Sorcerer King killed off our entire intelligence operation. The only ones left are the paramilitary corps of the Agante and they've been mostly occupied keeping the dark elves from coming for our throats, but hey, good news about that." Raymond snapped.

"Which is?" Dominic asked.

"Oh some of the Agante were captured and the rest have been fleeing the plains. So they're free to conduct operations elsewhere now. I guess they can act in place of all our dead intelligence agents." Raymond said sarcastically.

"I haven't seen that report at all." Dominic said, red faced.

"That's not your fault at least, it just came in this morning along with this one about infiltrators Look, we need extra security in the city, because any infiltrators there might be, will come here. Now as far as the dark elves go, there's a new Khan over them, his name is Chindai, and he's united the tribes. Guess what he rides?" Raymond asked.

"What?" Dominic asked with dread.

"Undead horses. They call them 'Horses of the Everplains' or 'Everplains Horses'. Do we know anybody who deals with raising undead beings?" Raymond asked sarcastically.

"Damn it!" Dominic said, clenching his teeth.

"If finances are a problem, we could tax the brothels and the slave traders?" Berenice suggested tentatively.

"No. We already considered that." Yvon replied. "They donate a lot to the temples and the temples help spread our message."

"So tax the temples." Ginedine suggested as he sat down, "Excuse me for being a little late, I had a slave act up, I had to take care of it." He said with a cold expression.

Raymond mentally sighed with relief, he knew what that meant.

"We can't tax the temples, they do the work of the gods and help keep the people calm." Maximillion said with annoyance.

"Well, the money has to come from somewhere." Yvon pointed out.

Dominic looked tired. "We already got one infiltrator, though the inquisitor tells me that he insists he's innocent. It would stand to reason that there are others. When the Agante come back, have the few surviving intelligence agents brief them, then start sending them to other cities. We will increase the budget for them, taking some of it from the public works allocations."

"That might work." Raymond admitted cordially, "But there is one other thing we might do." He said.

"What?" Dominic asked.

"The percentage of slaves in this city is fairly high relative to the population. We could cut our security risks and increase productivity if we licensed a few businesses to start farms and other production sites outside of the city. Allow those to operate as 'public enterprises' growing food or making weapons and so on. Make them responsible for their own security, then the food can be sold or given to the public to ease their concerns, and compensate for the increased security costs within the city itself." Raymond said reasonably.

"That isn't actually a bad idea." Yvon said thoughtfully.

"Let's draft the details, then I'll start selecting companies today." Dominic said with a grin that, to Raymond, had come to symbolize evil itself.

 _...Forest...West of Ka'ra (Southern Holy Kingdom Capital)_

Inta and the survivors of Gustav's band had managed to rally deep within the woods. They would be difficult to pursue and, for now at least, the Southern nobles wouldn't be capable of doing so, since they only had living mounts that had been ridden to exhaustion, while Inta and the survivors had undead mounts that would never tire.

"What do we do now?" Inta asked bitterly.

Hilda shrugged. "Brother, if I had any ideas, you'd know them."

"Gustav… damn it all! I can't believe he's dead." Inta's voice was wounded as the impact of his friend's passing began to hit home. He whirled and punched a tree. It cracked and fell under the power of his vampire strength.

"I know, but his problems are over, now we've got to deal with our own." Hilda said practically.

"His problems are over?" Inta whirled on her angrily, "He just died for us! At least speak of him with respect!"

Hilda kept her face neutral. "I did respect him, and I do respect him. But the fact remains that he is dead and we still have a job to do."

"Yes… that is what he'd want." Inta said, forcing himself to calm down. "How many do we have with us?" He asked.

A few minutes later after she had finished taking an account of their forces, she returned to where he waited for her. "We have five hundred. There may be more among the more widely scattered bands but… we have only five hundred here." Hilda replied.

"Not much, but that doesn't mean they'll let up, and let's hope they don't." Inta said, baring his fangs.

"Agreed. As long as they've got a scripture hunting us, they won't be north, so do you have a plan?" She asked.

"One begins to form." He said, "I spent a lot of time with Gustav, the man may have been a paladin, all honor and sword swinging, but he was also a thinker and relied heavily on deception and misdirection. I learned a little bit from him, and I think we can keep their focus here even with our tiny numbers." Inta said firmly.

"And how do you plan on doing that?" She asked with her hands on her hips.

"I'll figure it out." He said simply, "As I said, I have the beginnings of an idea."

"It had better be a good one." She said firmly.

"It will be." He said, "Just go see to the disposition of the remaining soldiers, I have to think this through."

That night, as he led his remaining forces out of the forest and they rode towards a small city, he explained his plan to them. They secured their mounts beyond the walls and trickled in slowly, ones and twos and the like, to avoid suspicion. And then, the flames were seen.

Five hundred and one in number, they set fires all over the city, and screamed warning about the 'enemy attack'. People ran out of their homes in fear and panic, his few hundred shouted warnings about ten thousand soldiers coming for them, and allowed terror to work its way into the hearts and imaginations of the population, the city guard struggled in the night. They were fewer than three thousand, and the sudden chaos, combined with fire and shadow, made them easy prey for the prepared little force.

Within a few hours, he had them withdrawing while he and his sister tore their way through the home of the minor noble who governed the city. For a pair of combat veteran vampires, a few household guards of limited experience, in terror of their lives and caught unprepared, was nothing to worry about.

The siblings found him shocked awake and in a state of terror as they smashed through the door of his court, casting it into splinters and strolling in as if they owned the place, which… they effectively did as far as he knew.

Inta put on his most arrogant expression, and his sister, with her delicate, noble, beautiful features, did the same. The court was nice enough, well to do if not luxurious and the minor noble, nothing more than a marquis, was an older man in his fifties. He had a neatly trimmed beard that had not gone entirely gray yet, and his strong jaw and firm face spoke of good constitution for his age. However, nobody looked all that dignified in their nightclothes, and he was no exception.

He had only two guards with him, who charged at the pair of vampires as soon as they entered, only for the siblings to quickly snap their necks and push them aside in opposite directions.

"I am General Inta. I have twenty thousand soldiers ready to raze this city to the ground if you do not surrender." He said perfunctorily.

"He won't do it, brother." Hilda said with a snicker, "You know how these Southern nobles are, they'd rather end their lives as the ones who lost their city and be remembered for their abject incompetence, than live and work hard to fix their reputations." She laughed and took Inta's arm as they drew closer.

Inta mentally wanted to facepalm, Hilda was always prone to overacting and laying things on just a little too thick.

But, the specter of such a legacy had struck a nerve in the marquis and he froze, looking at them in horror.

"Surrender, and the only thing we'll demand are the supplies you were going to send north. You can even claim that you 'drove' us out of the city and save face. Refuse, and my twenty thousand will level the whole place to get at those supplies, we're not really supposed to do that… but accidents happen and you won't be alive to complain." He closed his eyes and laughed as he shrugged the threat away as if in dismissal.

The noble gritted his teeth and shook with rage.

"Fine. Spare this city, and I will do as you ask." He said hatefully.

"I'll order the withdrawal then." Inta said, and took out a horn. He then went to a nearby window, and blew it three times.

"Ah good, today is your lucky day, do you see that?" Inta said as he pointed out the window.

The noble approached hesitantly, fearfully. The fires lit up the night. "What… are you burning the forest down?" He asked in disbelief.

"No, those are signal fires, the rest of the army is acknowledging the withdrawal order, and there, down below, is a tiny fragment of my forces heading out of the city." He said smugly.

"You call hundreds a… tiny fragment?" The noble gasped out.

"Well, when you have twenty thousand, a few hundred is nothing." Hilda shrugged.

"I will wait with you till morning, my army will be monitoring everything from the woods where we've made camp. Your city is hostage to the safety of myself and my sister until I see every single supply you intended to send north, burned or destroyed." Inta said, looking coldly at the shaking noble, he bared his vampire fangs with savage satisfaction, something imitated by his sister who leaned over and put a finger under the chin of the lord, tilting his downward gaze up to meet her eyes.

"Try to betray us, hold anything back, and I'll turn you and leave you here. You know what they do to 'our kind' and we know how much you like fire. They'll assume you were a collaborator secretly on our side. They'll assume you were always one of us and this was just some big plan you were prepared for, and then they'll burn your unliving flesh to ash." She said in an almost dusky voice.

"Hilda, don't play with your food, he probably worked that out already in his own head, just being human doesn't make him stupid, you know." Inta said casually.

"You'll all die for this…" He said hatefully, but lowered his gaze again, "But it will be done."

The following morning the city was assessing the damage, which hadn't been quite as bad as first thought, those guards who survived were glaring at Inta and his sister as they stood in the town square. They badly wanted to act, to strike, to draw sword or level spear or even throw a rock… but their city was now hostage to a vastly superior force. The many, many pillars of smoke coming from the woods spoke of thousands upon thousands of cook fires, and nobody wanted their city destroyed.

So there in the square, a mountain of supplies was formed, grains, salted meats, wooden parts, tools, armor, weapons, paper, medicine, potions, everything an army needed. A handful of city mages reluctantly came forward, they glared at Inta and Hilda hatefully, but the vampire pair only looked a combination of smug and bored. "Go on, get on with it. If I'm not out of here in the next hour, they'll come back, and don't expect them to respond well to some offense against either of us." He said with a very pronounced, threatening tone.

The mages clenched their jaws in frustration, but the noble gave a defeated nod, and fire shot from the hands of the mages, the armor melted, food, wood turned to ash, paper all but disappeared, everything that had been compiled to send north was reduced to uselessness.

Inta and Hilda smiled as the smoke rose in the city center. "Thank you for your cooperation." He said cryptically, then he turned and walked straight out the open gate.

"Bye bye! See you again soon!" Hilda gave a playful wave as she ran after her brother.

When they were well beyond the walls and almost back to the woods, Hilda finally spoke to him. "I was not disappointed, brother. Very, very well done! Gustav would be impressed." She said seriously.

"Thank you, but we've got to move on. It won't take long for the word of the 'twenty thousand survivors' to spread from here, they'll probably send an investigator, but by that time the rumors of how many we were, will have been firmly set in people's minds as fact, thanks to all the chaos last night. However, even if they suspect anything, they'll never admit that they destroyed all those supplies because they were tricked. They'd rather be dead than be seen by others as being foolish." Inta said confidently.

"Agreed, now let's get going, we've got a lot of work to do to evacuate our 'camp'." She said with a playful smile.


	93. Parting Ways

**God Rising**

 **Chapter 93**

 **Written by: AtheistBasementDragon**

 **Edited by: The Usual Gang of Drunken Perverted Idiots**

 **AN: Bonus double release day. I won't be doing many of these in the near future...BUT I will make you an offer. If BD giving dot org raises $100 in charitable donations by Tuesday...I'll do another double release day. If it doesn't...well no big deal, I'll just write one chapter at a time, the story isn't being held hostage, I'll keep writing and publishing chapters regularly. Maybe 'a little' more slowly since my schedule will shift next week, but a hundred times faster than most. Of course if you want to be slave drivers, well everybody wins. :) Anyway, on with the show!**

 _...Commonton…_

Bodies lay everywhere, what scraps of ground and stone not covered in bodies were soaked red as if some painter had decided the dirt should now be colored a dark crimson instead of the verdant green or warmth of brown. Though the victory was theirs, it had not come without a steep cost. Robel went to where he had last seen Gilcrest. He heaved body after body out of the way, dragging some because there was simply no room nearby to relocate them.

Eventually he found him. Gilcrest was dead, a shocked look still on his face as if he could not believe it had happened. A deep sword wound in his stomach just below where upper and lower armor met. That tiny gap, a single lucky thrust, and his friend was gone.

Robel went down to his knees beside the body. He looked into the pale face of his friend, and then slowly, traced two fingers down his forehead until he reached the eyes. Those he grazed ever so gently, and closed them as if Gilcrest had not died, but only gone to sleep.

Surrounded by the dead, he found he only possessed enough feeling in the ocean of his soul to care for one. His hand rested on the armor, heedless of the stains of blood that coated it. Those who had killed him had not survived to celebrate; he, as Gascon before him, had made them pay a terrible price for achieving their desired end. For all the good it had done them, they had lost anyway, died anyway, and gained nothing for their sacrifices. The only thing to change was that Robel now had someone to mourn.

He stayed on his knees there, slumped slightly forward over the body for a very long time. Eventually a multi-headed snake woman came to him, touched his shoulder, and the heads spoke in unison. "He wasss your friend?" She asked.

Robel nodded. "One of the best, and a comrade." He said in a numb, broken voice.

The snake woman looked around, seeing the price that Gilcrest had made them pay for taking his life, "He fought well, many live becaussse of him, of that I am sure."

Robel could barely nod. "That doesn't lessen the ache." He said, not looking up.

"No, but at leassst it was not for nothing, and it wasss hisss choice to the lasssst." She said.

Robel forced a quiet nod.

"What wasss his name?" She asked sympathetically.

"Gilcrest. Gilcrest of Hoburns." Robel said proudly.

"I have a clutch of young in thisss town, had thossse men made it passst Gilcrest of Hoburnsss, they would have killed my young in their nessst. When they grow old enough to underssstand, I will tell my young of the courage of Gilcressst of Hoburnsss, the human who sacrificed his life to sssave them. And I will tell them that he wasss a man worth mourning. I am sssorry for your losss." The snakeman female said.

"Thank you." Robel said sincerely, looking away from the boyish freckled face of the young Gilcrest. His sandy hair was matted with blood, his face displayed a dozen wounds, it was impossible to accept that he was a man grown, he looked so young still. When the snakeman female had left, he looked one last time at the body of his friend, and stood slowly to his feet. He held the gaze as his hand broke contact with the corpse, then he looked up and turned away.

The wounded and the dead were already being tended to. There were no prisoners to speak of, just a handful, literally only five. A few who had fallen and been knocked out when they were trampled by their fellows during the rout.

A large bafolk warrior approached Robel, "Sir, what are your orders?" He asked.

"Strip the dead of anything we can use. I want everyone who can wear armor and bear a weapon ready to move, I don't expect many survivors among the attacking force, but whether there are or not changes nothing." Robel said, he gritting his teeth and blinking back tears.

"Wrap th-the bodies and prepare them for disposal. For those who are Black Justice, gather the last wishes. I expect there will be those willing to offer up their bodies for the turning, and that should augment our numbers. The flesh… the flesh we will set to the pyre and send their spirits skyward with the smoke. I don't know how demihumans tend to the dead, but you may do with them as your customs dictate and we will not interfere." He started to clench his fists.

"Lost someone?" The bafolk asked.

"I did." He replied.

"He make them pay a price?" The bafolk asked.

"A heavy one." Robel replied.

"Is that good enough?" The bafolk pressed.

Robel shook his head fiercely. "Only an end to this war will be enough for me." He said emphatically.

"We can't end it from here." The bafolk added.

"I know." Robel answered.

"So you plan on having us leave, don't you?" He asked.

"Yes, everyone who can bear a weapon, we're going to go west. We'll check the area for survivors, then we're going to Prart." Robel said.

"What about here?" The bafolk asked.

"If the army meant to go this direction is crushed, it will be months before they can raise another, and if they are crushed at Prart, they'll never get the chance to do it." Robel said firmly.

The bafolk scratched its long nose and huffed through it, "I never thought I'd see the day when we'd be invading a human nation to help humans."

"Maybe not." Robel said, and pointed to the body of Gilcrest. "But I never thought I'd see humans die for bafolk, or any other demihumans, yet there is the proof of it. He was barely old enough to be called a man, but he fought like a hero, and he died as one. Now because of him, and a lot of others like him, a lot of demihuman children are going to grow up." Robel's voice, given the wrong inflection, might have been thought to be an accusation, or a rebuke, or a condemnation.

However it was obviously none of those things. His voice carried a deep well of sadness that cut to the heart of the demihuman in front of him. "Yeah." The bafolk said, and pointed to the body of one of his own species not too far away from where Gilcrest lay. "I wonder if they saw one another, urged each other on, shared a look of final understanding, saw each other die, tried to help one another, or perhaps neither saw anything but the enemy around them." He shook his large goat head and walked over to where the bafolk lay.

"I didn't know this one, but he died for me anyway. We're a warrior people you know, we're used to fighting, it's what we've always done." He looked up to Robel, "But rarely have we ever had a reason to actually do it, it was just how things were, it was all we knew. Then the Sorcerer King took over, ended the old ways, we ate good food without fear, nobody could steal from another, and the ceaseless strife that tore us apart was just… ended." He took up a handful of bloodstained dirt and blew on it forcefully, it scattered to the winds from the force of his breath, and disappeared.

"Now here we are again, fighting another war, a war for a new world. Maybe they'll call it that when they write the history books, and as bad as this is, at least this war is 'for' something." The bafolk said, and walked away, "I'll go help with the bodies, you join us when you're ready." The demihuman said.

The next few hours were busy ones as the town took stock of what was lost, scouts rode out to search for the routed forces of Astraka. They found a great many bodies, they heard the cries of skeletons as prey was found, but the number of dead steadily decreased as they moved farther and farther away from Commonton.

When the scouts finally returned, most of the bodies of the demihumans and Black Justice fighters had been gathered and their fates determined.

There were no priests of the old gods available to tend to the bodies of Astraka's soldiers, and so they were taken to a field near Commonton that was used for farming, and buried there in a mass grave, so that their bodies would at least serve a purpose and increase the harvest yields in the days that would follow. It was not an especially solemn affair, the humans they buried had come to wreak havoc and woe on the town, they had come to kill, burn, and destroy. Nobody believed for a moment that the young or the old would be spared, so nobody objected when the bodies were buried in the way they were.

Then came the next task, disposal of the dead. Metal tags were attached to each of those humans and demihumans who chose to be 'Turned' and then the bodies were stacked together outside of the town. It was a very large number of them, requiring ample wood soaked with oil and pitch. The entire population of Commonton surrounded it, including those Black Justice members who had come in its defense.

Many people, human and nonhuman alike, chose to speak of the dead that they had lost. The witnessing of common mourning had done much to aid in the forging of new bonds between the disparate groups. It was not without irony that Robel considered that Astraka had effectively given him a new army that was even more mixed than the last one, and might be a better force for it.

Finally Robel, as the commander of the combined force, stepped forward. "We bled together, we suffered loss together, we gained victory together, we mourn together, and we celebrate the lives of those who bravely fell, together. That makes us one people, no matter what the old ways say. Now we commit their bodies to the flames, let their flesh burn away and return to the land that bore them. Let their spirits rise in smoke and flame, to watch over us and give us courage in the afterlife. They are heroes, martyrs, brothers and sisters, no matter if they are of a different flesh. Speak their names to the air one last time, that it be carried with their ashes to the everlasting sky." His voice was bold and confident, but as he came to the end of his words, he choked on them, his pain was audible, and nor was he alone in feeling it. The night cloaked the faces of many, but his was wreathed in light and dancing shadows from the torch he held.

When the last word was said of his final eulogy for the dead, he lowered the torch to the wood, and fire leaped up as it caught the rich fuel, then it raced along the wood beneath the bodies as if it were trying to escape from his gaze.

Soon the flames were rising high, as if they sought to lick at the sky itself. The bodies were slowly consumed as names were intoned by those who loved the dead. Nobody moved but to look at the pyre, or their neighbors, or to lift their eyes up as ashes began to rise higher and higher, taken up by the wind and carried away. Names were said in reverential whispers by their survivors, as if trying to call their ashes back from the sky, to reform their bodies, and return them to life… or perhaps to send them off, saying farewell to old friends or family. In this, all living flesh stood united. "Gilcrest." Robel said softly, so that only he could hear. His memory flashed back to the youthful smile, the freckled face, the sandy hair. The enthusiastic spirit that drove him to finish the work of his mentor, Gascon, and drove him to fight right to the last. He cast the torch into the heart of the flames, and looked up silently as whatever was left of him, was carried away forever.

It took hours for the flesh to be burned away, leaving only the skeletons.

Those who had chosen to be 'turned' were removed and laid out together, and the priests went to work immediately, adding to their forces.

Those who had chosen 'not' to be turned, had their bones incinerated by the few available magic casters who could create fire hot enough to reduce them to ashes.

Finally it was over and done with, the dead were gone, the undead were ready, and the living were beyond the point of exhaustion. "One day's rest for all, minimal guard on the walls for security, but for now, I think we all need sleep. Tonight we feast and prepare to move, we will take the fight to Astraka and remind him of what happens when he sends his armies east!" Robel shouted those orders, and was met by raised weapons and thunderous cheers.

After all that, there was nothing left of him but the will to get somewhere safe to collapse. He made it to his bed, and fell down to slumber, too tired to even undress himself. He'd be uncomfortable when he woke up, but at that moment in time, he was well beyond caring about how 'comfortable' he may or may not be. All he wanted to do, all he could do was let his head hit the pillow, close his eyes, and let the darkness carry him away to dreams where he did not need to think or feel anything anymore.

 _...Argland Council State…_

The Platinum Dragon Lord read over the document. "So he was serious." He said to his comrades.

"Apparently so." The wyrm dragon lord said.

"So we're really, as a neutral state, going to hold trials for war criminals?" The Blue Sky Dragon Lord said, shaking his head in disbelief.

"I don't think we really have a choice, we're the only neutral state left in the conflict, the only alternative would be to reach much farther east to the Karnasus City State Alliance or the Minotaur kingdom. He's already taken the Understone Empire and gotten the Dark Elves to unite into a single kingdom which… has sworn itself to him." The Platinum Dragon Lord said with a voice of resignation.

"How many are there so far?" The Wyrm Dragon Lord asked.

"I don't have a total count yet, but the report we got suggests that there are a great many, and more will be coming before the war ends." The Blue Sky Dragon Lord said, more than a little on edge.

"He's not going to charge the whole country is he?" The Obsidian Dragon Lord asked incredulously.

"No. I don't think so, but based on what we know, we can make some estimates right at the outset. All slave breakers and traders operating from the start of the war, everybody overseeing the operation of brothels where slaves were used, every work camp operating using forced labor, and we know that General Enri has extended that to include the massive Latifundias that haven't shut down or changed their operations. She did it at Ikari, she'll definitely do it at Crossroads, and Wheaton alone offers a bonanza of such places." The Platinum Dragon Lord proposed.

"I think we can probably include at least some of the temples in that list, and definitely most of, if not all the Cardinals, depending on their individual conduct. Other than that though, damn, this might as well be half the country. If he plans on asking for the death penalty, then quite frankly he might very well depopulate almost the entire Slane Theocracy." The Obsidian Dragon Lord pointed out.

"And we'll have done the killing for him, therefore there can only be two villains and neither of them is he. The Slane Theocracy for its… many… many war crimes, and us, for essentially wiping out that half of the population considered to be guilty in any reasonable trial. Thus we become the genocidal ones to our neighbors, not he." The Platinum Dragon Lord said and lowered his head, "The cunning of this being surpasses anything I have ever encountered in my countless years of life."

The rest of the dragon lords nodded their agreement. "We would have to count ourselves lucky if other nations did not begin to fear us, or even invade and force us into a war. If he lent such forces aid, he could take over our country by proxy, and there is little we could do. We simply do not have the power to match this being, nor do we have the cunning to outmaneuver him in politics." The Diamond Dragon Lord added.

"Perhaps we agree to hold the trials, but on the condition that the death penalty is removed as an option except for certain types of crimes?" The Obsidian Dragon Lord proposed hesitantly.

"Then we become the leaders who care not for justice, and when their deeds become public knowledge and we let them go or give them sentences that are not befitting their crimes, we appear to be hostile to justice or at least not care about the lives of non-dragons. Our rule works because our people believe in us. I could easily see this spiralling out of control into a civil war if the right strings are pulled, and we all know he could pull them." The Platinum Dragon Lord said with increased frustration in his voice.

"Damn it all!" The Obsidian Dragon Lord said.

"Damn it all!" The rest of the council echoed.

"Alright, since we are presented with a door that we must pass through, we should do so at our own pace. We will craft a system of penalties that allows us to appear to provide justice without having to commit genocide on the Slane Theocracy along the way. But before we begin to work on that, I assume we are all in agreement on two things?" The Platinum Dragon Lord said, they looked at him in anticipation of what he had to say next.

"First, that we are all better off without the Slane Theocracy around." He said, to a chorus of affirming nods and enthusiastic variations on the word 'yes'.

"Second," he said, "we must continue to make it our national policy to avoid antagonizing the genius to our south, and push the most stable and favorable terms we can without completely giving up our independence along the way."

This yielded the same response from the council as the first statement.

"Alright, then let us get to work." The Platinum Dragon Lord said with resignation.

 _...Nazarick…_

"Or that is more or less what I imagine was happening in the Argland Council State." Demiurge said to a fascinated Vanysa.

"Remarkable, when did you realize that this was his plan, Demiurge?" The erinyes said, her wings shook happily and her sharp talons clasped together, interlocking as if in prayer, while her storm gray eyes shone admiringly.

"When he asked me offhand what I thought about sending a letter to the Argland Council state to ask them to conduct the war crimes trials. He was 'obviously' just prompting me, to see if I had worked out his plan yet." Demiurge's head lowered and shook dejectedly. "I hadn't, not until that moment, after that it was a blinding flash of the obvious. I can never catch up to him." He said as he slumped back down at his desk.

"Demiurge…" Vanysa said gently as she approached and touched his cheek with a razor sharp talon, "None of us can do what he does, but there is nobody better at interpreting his will and understanding his plans than you, take heart in that. If your service is inadequate, then so is all of ours. Just be proud of what you can manage for our god, and know he will not demand more of us than we can offer… and of course…" She lowered herself to look him in the eyes, "always strive to offer more. Now what say we get back to working on those heads, I think I have an idea on how we can create a blood renewal system."

Demiurge perked up, "Alright, yes, let's do that. I may never reach his heights, but I can always strive to fly higher. Let's get back to work." He said, and he watched as Vanysa began to sketch out a design on a piece of paper in front of him.


	94. The Beginning at the End

_...Roble Holy Kingdom...East of Hoburns…_

"So you were going to kill those men?" Fluder said, looking at Skana with a mixture of indifferent curiosity.

"Yes." She answered as they went and collected their mounts.

"Why didn't you?" He asked, "Was it because of the accords? Was it out of loyalty to master? Was it for yourself? Or something else?" He asked.

"You're the curious one all of a sudden." Skana remarked.

"Well, I don't really care about them or anything, I'd have been just as comfortable if you killed the lot. But usually when people make that decision, they don't go back on it the way you did." He said thoughtfully.

"I see." She said as the formation reassembled and started to ride west. She thought for a moment, just looking ahead of her. "I wish I had killed them." She said quietly.

"Oh?" He asked, cocking his head to one side.

"And that is what bothers me, I've gotten very good at killing, I'm a better swordswoman than Neia is, I killed Braunin, a hero three times my weight, in under a minute. I took down several men before they could even make up their minds about whether to fight or not. I've gotten very...very good at this, and I haven't felt a single thing about it in I don't know how long." She said reflectively.

"Were you a soldier before joining Neia or something?" He asked offhandedly, and paused as Skana started to laugh uproariously.

Skana barely managed to get out her explanation through her laughter. "Oh no, my parents were peasants. My father chopped wood and did a little carpentry, he had a little skill as a hunter, but nothing great; he came home without meat more often than he came home with it. My mother, she was a seamstress, on a good day you could even call her a dress maker."

"Then how…?" He began to ask.

"Did I get to this?" She asked, turning her body to look at him. She was lean and strong, if there was a weakness in her body, the one eyed auburn haired woman didn't show it.

"It's just one of those things. I was kind of a slut when I was young." She snickered at her own past, "I'm taller than the average girl, not like Gagaran or anything, but a little above average, always was, and even before I got...well, to look like this, I was a beautiful girl, especially with both eyes." She winked at the old mage with her good one and cracked a smile.

"Not much to do in a village you know, so whatever you get in the habit of doing, you do kind of a lot, and while I had a lot of fun with the boys...and the girls, who didn't much care for me, except for the ones who really liked me a lot." She winked again and stuck out her tongue teasingly.

"I didn't always do it the right way. I set my sights on a married man, to this day I still sigh and think of how beautiful a man he was. Maybe I'm remembering him wrong now though, it has been years since he died, memory does that, doesn't it?" She asked him seriously.

Fluder stroked his beard, "I think so, I don't trust many of my recollections except for encountering the traveling magic caster who came to my village. The rest? Who knows?" He said indifferently.

Skana looked ahead and gave a sigh that could only be described as 'romantic'. "Maybe I'll never remember his face properly, it might already be wrong, but he'll always have been beautiful in my mind. Anyway, I told him where to meet me in the woods, and he never showed up, I waited, then...the village began to scream. I watched from the woods as everybody died, and I hated myself for watching, I hated myself for living, I hated myself for running, and I hated myself for 'why' I was living." She clenched her fists on the pommel of her saddle and gritted her teeth.

"Jaldabaoth's invasion." He said, not asked.

"Yes. I checked the place after they were gone." She said with a futile smile. "Of course, no luck, my village was dead, the only people to survive were a handful of travelers who'd come there to visit the woods for herbs and other materials that grew near where we lived. They lost their goods, I lost my life." Her chest fell and she looked down.

"If I hadn't been an adulterous bitch who wanted a good man to step out on his wife, I'd have been dead. That was when I knew there were no gods anymore." She laughed again, though it was more a mad laugh than anything else, with her face tilted up towards the sky as if to mock the gods she had rejected.

"If they were going to have spared anyone, it shouldn't have been me. Up to that age I hadn't had a useful thought in my life. I was a good dancer, very good, if I do say so myself, a good lay, and… an empty head. I had no dreams, no ambitions, no desires beyond the moment, I thought I'd just step into a marriage at some point, breed like the cattle our noble thought of us as, and work there until I died while having as much pointless fun along the way as I could. Can you name another person more useless?" Skana asked him seriously.

He didn't answer.

"Probably not. So a few others and I ran, we hid for weeks, and that was when we first heard the rumors that another king had come to save our country. Survivors like us, out in the wilderness kept a network going, always on the run, not just from the demihumans, but we avoided the resistance too, not wanting to be pressed into the fight. How useless." She spat at the dirt as they rode along.

"At first we just thought 'great, two invasions', but as the stories spread, we gained hope, then we gained confidence. And that got most of us killed and it got me caught. We went too close, raided a camp that the resistance had liberated, looking for any supplies, only to be captured by a demihuman patrol sent to investigate what happened there. The others were all caught, killed, and eaten. I was good at hiding by then, but not great, because they found me later and took me to another camp. The demihumans there would make us 'vote' on who would get eaten. Can you guess how I survived and avoided getting 'voted' into the stew pot?" She asked.

"I have an idea." He said dryly.

"Yeah, my old hobby kept me alive because even in those conditions, well you know, and the thing is, it let me forget where we were for a little while. I could pretend I was back in my village, out in the woods with some pretty farm girl or handsome traveler. What an origin story for 'Skana the Bold', the second deadliest of the famous one hundred elites, isn't it?" She laughed mockingly at herself again.

"Then we got rescued, and that was the first time I saw Neia Baraja. She didn't even have her famous green armor then, but she had her bow, and she seemed so strong, so brave, just this tiny, diminutive thing that was younger than I was, walking beside the massive body of the Sorcerer King. She seemed to fear nothing, and I hated her for it." Skana shook her head at her own stupidity.

"I followed the rest of them when we got out, went with her, and him, because what else were we going to do? I heard her speeches and her proclamations about the Sorcerer King, by then I knew she was his squire, and thought she must be a monster, with eyes like that. What else but a monster could walk with a monster?" Skana asked rhetorically.

"I heard her speak a lot, by coincidence at first, then I sought out her talks, just so I could glare at her and hate her. I hated her for being able to fight, I hated her for being beside someone strong, I hated her like I hated Jaldabaoth. By the time the siege happened I was almost happy, because I thought I'd see that smug bitch scared like the rest of us, without the Sorcerer King to protect her. But she went to the wall." Skana finished her statement with a voice of absolute admiration.

"She went up to the wall where the fighting was thickest, I watched, from behind, from down on the ground. I couldn't miss her in that magnificent armor she'd gotten after the rescue, so it was easy to see, and I always did have a keen set of eyes, well, till I misplaced one." She snickered and tapped her eyepatch.

"I thought she'd run like a coward and a hypocrite, I thought she'd die like a dog. But instead...she was magnificent, it was like watching a legend, every time she drew her bow, demihumans died and they shrank from her in terror, she wasn't afraid, or if she was, it didn't stop her. She was the embodiment of terror and fear and courage, no matter how many wounds she took...it wasn't enough, I had to keep wiping my eyes then because she was doing all that so my stupid, worthless, cowardly, emptyheaded self could live. All those wounds, all that pain she had to feel and she just kept going. I saw when her eyes were taken from her, but it still wasn't enough, not until a half a dozen of them stabbed her all at once. She was the last one alive on the wall, and even though she was blind, battered, bleeding, and barely on her feet, she put fear into the ones who treated us like food."

"I couldn't hate her anymore, I'd stopped hating her when I realized she was so...so noble. Even our royalty wouldn't venture where she would, and even paladins who went, died before her. She became my hero and died immediately after. I prayed to the gods I didn't believe in that it wasn't true that someone that valiant could die." Skana's one good eye was dry no more as she told the story, and Fluder, normally only interested in magic, found he could still enjoy a good heroic epic, especially one where their master was involved.

"She was definitely dead though, and then I realized that even if the old gods were gone, there was a new god in the world. He brought her back, she was up and walking around in no time, which is supposedly impossible as I know now, yet not only did she get back up, she was training again in no time. I then started attending all her speeches. I went to every training session, pressing myself harder than a paladin. It turned out that my dancing days had their uses as I was nimble, flexible, and I had an undiscovered talent for the sword that would carry me through the rest of the war. I wasn't a frontliner, but the skills I developed hiding from the demihumans, the resistance, and navigating the woods, all made me a passable scout. By then, I had given up on any other lovers, there was only one I wanted to come close to, but I had to deserve to be there first. I caught her attention a time or two before she really started to notice me, and now, here I am. Hundreds of corpses later, a commander alone, a vice commander when I'm with her." She smiled warmly.

"It bothers me that I'm this comfortable with killing, but getting good at killing is more or less what got her attention, I'll just have to be careful not to go too far. But I've got good soldiers, they'll be my conscience, even if my own isn't where it used to be." She said, then looked up at the Sun.

"Oh, wow, it's getting kind of late isn't it?" She said as she saw it descending in the distance.

"It will be dark soon, and we should get a camp prepared. I want to get to Prart as soon as possible, I want to find out if she's going to say yes." Skana said with a little, thoughtful smile on her face as she raised a fist to call for a halt. "Lay a camp and set a watch, you get five hours of sleep and then we move!" She shouted to the formation behind her.

 _...West of Hoburns…_

Astraka was in a positive mood for once. He spat in the river that stupid peasant had been dumped into, that had been part of his regular routine, and it always made him happier. It was at least a tiny part of why he'd chosen this route of march, this road ran by that river, so every day he could spit into the water that her corpse was rotting in. That happiness seldom lasted, but today it did, he was moving to Prart in earnest to support Remedios and Suchala, and with their combined arms, they were sure to take the city.

Setback after setback had bedeviled him since he'd taken that girl, and he still gnashed his teeth over her final absurd act of suicidal defiance, like she'd cursed him from beyond or something. If he were being honest with himself, he admitted he still felt a little guilty about that, guilty enough that he'd donated the coin's he'd taken from her to a temple. "It had to be done, a king doesn't have the luxury of doing the right thing when his people are on the line." He said, repeating a sentence he'd learned in his childhood. Whatever happened, he could not allow Calca's disastrous rule to return. Calca, Caspond, Handor, none of them had been fit to rule. It was his time, his turn, and nobody was going to bar the way.

So as he listened to the clip clop noise of horse hooves over ground, he contemplated all the ways he would improve the kingdom when he'd crushed the Calcan loyalists. He'd have to play nice with the Theocracy in rebuilding, but he had no intention of following them into a prolonged war with the Sorcerer Kingdom. He'd make peace as soon as it would be to his advantage.

He stroked his strong jaw and thick brown beard thoughtfully. "Perhaps I can offer amnesty to the Sorcerer King's worshipers in exchange for fending of Calcan extremists. Remedios isn't likely to let go of her rule, even if we are allies for now." He said softly to himself. "Fortunately she's an idiot, if Calca should die and the Sorcerer King is blamed, she'll probably go get herself killed somewhere far away from here, leaving me unopposed."

It was a pleasant thought, but not one without potential complications.

He looked at the sky, rain was starting to fall, that was going to make the march unpleasant, but not impossible. He didn't mind, he enjoyed rain like this even if most others didn't, "Tears of the gods, wash our sins away." He whispered to the sky, intoning a prayer to the god of water. It was like being baptised in their blessing all over again, and that was when he caught a lucky break.

As his army marched, a somewhat portly man, riding alone on the road, moved out of the way, off the road so that the army could move past him. But something felt 'off'. Fear he could understand, anyone with any sense stayed out of the way of an army, but when he'd been about to salute Astraka, the portly traveler had hesitated, and redid his salute to the crown. It took only a split second for Astraka to realize what the man had been about to instinctively render. The salute used by Black Justice. He whirled his horse around and pointed at the traveler, "Capture that one!" Astraka shouted in fury. The man had a momentary look of panic on his face and he spurred his horse into a desperate gallop, but arrows were faster, and the horse fell with a hundred arrows in its side. It toppled over, and the rider with it. He screamed, some of those arrows had hit the leg facing the army, the other leg was pinned under the horse, it might have been crushed, or only broken, but either way it would be Astraka's healers who would be determining that. Astraka let out a contented smile, wondering what the gods had blessed him with today.

The soldiers dragged him screaming and struggling from under the dead beast, his eyes were wild with pain, pain that nobody cared to deal with as they dragged his bleeding and broken legs over the ground to where he could be secured and questioned.

 _...South of Re-Estize…_

King Zanac looked at the city he'd been forced to abandon, it was clearly intact, at least the walls were, he checked the battlements, they were very lightly manned. The gates, however, were closed. Somehow he wasn't surprised. He looked over at General Nimble. "You look like you're seeing something unexpected." He said.

"Well, I honestly expected them to surrender right away." General Nimble looked at the gate as if he was willing it to open.

"We can't be too surprised." Princess Renner said, "After all, while Philip was a moron of the highest caliber and didn't really trust anyone, there were some he distrusted less than others, and surely he'd put those in charge while he was gone."

"So you think they'll make a fight of it after all?" Brain asked reluctantly.

"They can't, can they?" Climb asked in horror, "They'd really throw the capital away, all those lives, just to remain in power for one hour more?" He stared at the walls as if he couldn't imagine why they hadn't parted all on their own, just to spite the incompetents behind them.

"If they could, they would, but nobody will die for these idiots." King Zanac said.

"What do you plan to do?" General Nimble asked him with curiosity.

"Why, a duel between champions." He had a sly expression on his face, "If we win, they open the gates and surrender, and I'll even give them a royal pardon They'll be exiled from court of course, but with a little place to live, far from the reins of power, they should be content."

"Will they really accept that?" Brain asked in disbelief.

"Maybe, right now the capital is held hostage, and if my dear brother attacks, he'll be the king who killed his own for power. His desire to avoid that legacy is the only card they have left to play now." Renner said sagaciously as she looked at the walls. The men up top were nervous, frightened, she could tell that from where she stood just by the way they fidgeted, it was that obvious.

Climb clenched his jaw, "So they'll throw someone else's life away in a duel, just to save their own skins? Scumbags." He said hatefully.

"True, but...at least someone there has half a brain." General Nimble said with some disappointment.

"Climb, would you go and make the offer?" King Zanac commanded him with the polite 'request'.

"As you wish your highness." Climb said and rode up close to the gate holding a white flag of truce. He shouted the terms up to the men atop the tower, even from where they sat out of easy bowshot, they could hear the cheers from the wall.

Eventually the gate opened, and the chosen champion emerged.

"Shall I handle it, your highness?" Brain asked.

"Would you, Brain? Thank you." King Zanac said politely, and brain rode up. He went to the space thirty yards from the walls and faced the man who would be his opponent.

"You? You're going to fight me?" Brain asked, baffled. What looked at him was a boy that couldn't have been older than fourteen.

The boy gave him a quick, flashing smile. "Well, I volunteered."

"Are you suicidal? Insane?" Brain asked, mildly concerned.

The boy laughed. "Hell no."

"You think you can win?" Brain asked in disbelief.

"Also hell no." The boy replied.

"Then why…?" Brain asked, "Do you owe them a favor or something?"

"Double hell no, those rat bastards don't do favors for people like me." He snorted in disgust.

"So…" Brain was tapping his katana on his shoulder in bafflement.

"Oh," the boy's eyes lit up, "they asked for a champion and nobody offered, they tried ordering people and those resigned, so I offered to do it on four conditions."

"And those are?" Brain asked, now very interested.

The boy held up one hand, "The first is that they wait there." He held up one finger. "The second is that if I win, I get five bags of gold." He held up a second finger. "The third is that if I lose and die, my mother gets three bags of gold." He held up a third finger, "The fourth is that if I lose and live, I get three bags of gold." He held up his fourth finger. "So, here's the deal, Mr. Champion, you knock me down and I surrender, then I'll give you one of the bags after I collect it. I never promised them I'd win, and I definitely never promised I'd fight well. It isn't my fault they were stupid enough to accept a thirteen-year-old volunteer for this." He gave a big, clever grin to Brain, and Brain burst out laughing.

"I like you kid, it's a deal." He said, "I'll even let you put on a little show first, give me a few overhead swings, I'll back up a few paces, then bam, I'll knock you down, sound good?" He asked the boy.

"You got it, you don't have to knock me out, I'll drop my sword when I 'fall'. Easiest gold ever." He said with a smug expression over his shoulder at the city behind him.

They drew swords, and once, twice, three times the boy swung, and just as promised, Brain sped behind him and hit him in the center of his back, sending him stumbling forward, and he fell on his face, his sword went tumbling away. Brain stood over him with the katana's tip inches from the young man's face.

"Surrender?" He asked with a conspiratorial smile.

"You betcha." The boy said, and shouted his yield to the walls, as the gate began to open, Brain held out his hand to help the boy up.

As the boy took it and was pulled to his feet, he rubbed his back, "Could have just tapped it you know."

Brain shrugged, "Risks of the job, kid. So, what's your name anyway, I'd like to spend one of my 'hard earned' coins buying you a drink later."

"My friends call me 'Alden'." He said as he stood up straight, "And you are?"

"Brain Unglaus." Brain said with his customary carefree and charming expression.

"Nice to meet you to Brain, hey if it isn't to much to ask, could you teach me how to use that thing some time?" Alden asked, pointing to his sword that he'd left in the dirt, before bending over to pick it up.

"I think we can set that up, drink first, lessons second. Come with me, we'll get you a spare horse so you can ride in with us and I'll make sure you get your reward so I can spend some of it on you." Brain said, and they shared a hearty laugh.

They were friends for the rest of their lives.

The procession into the capital went very smoothly, feeble protests about not opening the gate from 'somewhere' were first ignored, then silenced by means nobody ever cared to find out, and the army of Re-Estize and their supporting forces of the Baharuth Empire and the Sorcerous Kingdom marched in behind them.

History would record that it was the King of Re-Estize who would first walk through it's gate again, that much King Zanac was making certain of. The walk through the streets were a reminder, after having seen the prosperity of E-Rantel, of how much the capital of the Kingdom was lacking, and it had only gotten worse under the rule of Philip and his incompetent lackeys.

They made it to the palace where a handful of pampered, foppish, fearful, incompetent looking nobles stood. Even their faces all but screamed 'I wonder how a button fits through a button hole', they were simply that dense even to the naked eye.

King Zanac guessed that they were the only people Philip could find who were dumber than he was.

"As you might guess," King Zanac said, speaking first, "your champion lost. You are allowed to leave with your lives, but you are banished from court. This is your only pardon; your estates are forfeit, your rank is stripped from you, and you will live the rest of your lives as peasants. I will elevate worthy men and women from your own estates to replace yourselves."

One of the nobles fainted straight away, several others wept and cursed, but none of them had the courage to even lash out, they preferred the path of toddlers denied a plaything. It was the opposite of nobility in every way. King Zanac went and sat on the throne again.

"Now get these 'things' out of my palace." He said, and gestured to a throne near to him. "Sister, would you sit?" He asked.

"Happily, dear brother." Renner said with a sweet, innocent smile on her face. "Climb, please take your position as my bodyguard again, and everything will begin to be as it should be, again." She smiled sweetly as could be at the smiling blond young man. "He's mine, he's mine, he'll be all mine forever, nobody will ever take him from me again, no one, no one, NO ONE!" She thought, as he walked over to where she sat smiling at him, and took position one step behind her.

"Your majesty, one small thing?" Brain asked as the desperate wailing former nobles struggled in futility.

"Yes?" King Zanac inquired.

"Their 'champion' Alden was promised three bags of gold if he fought for them and survived. He did fight, and he did survive." Brain pointed out. The former nobles froze and looked at Brain and the King in horror.

King Zanac rubbed his chin thoughtfully, "Well, they have nothing left to repay him with, but we'll confiscate what they're wearing, sell it off, and then as a gesture of good will, I will pay the difference out to the boy as a 'loan' on behalf of these men, and they can pay it back through labor in the places we send them to live after this."

The fops howled at the now impossible sum of money that they would never be able to pay back, but the howls they let loose were drowned out by the laughter that surrounded them.

 **AN: Dear readers...IF you have a question...it would really help if you'd turn on you pm or not leave it as an anonymous guest. I promise I'm not thin skinned, so I can handle criticism and I don't consider it annoying or pushy to get questions in the inbox. I can't take the time to answer everyone of course, but I definitely can't answer people who make it impossible to answer. :D OK, hope you enjoyed that, leave a review blah blah blah and see you next week with another chapter. :)**


	95. Terror & Anticipation

**God Rising**

 **Chapter 95**

 **Written by: AtheistBasementDragon**

 **Edited by: The Usual Gang of Drunken Perverted Idiots**

 **AN1: Birthday gift release to reviewer Akin2018. Happy 22nd, enjoy. :)**

 **AN2: Thanks for reading this far, we're coming up on the climax of act two, and I'm already a little sad that this story is that much closer to its end. We've got somewhere between 60 and 100 chapters to go. But before we get to that, I want to place a special thank you squarely where it belongs. First to the amazing beta readers who have done so much to refine my work, couldn't do this without you all.**

 **Second, to all the members of my, or I should say 'our' community discord server. They make this an amazing shared experience, whether you're a beta reader, a writer, or a fan, it's you who makes it great because a community IS its members and how they act, and nothing else.**

 **Third… I want to say this to all the new writers who have sprung up since my… 'dare to be awesome' author note. (Somebody else's term, not mine :D ). The fanfic community needs writers to survive and to thrive, and the Overlord Community has produced some of the best (not self praising here, though I think I'm passable). So in that spirit THANK YOU for stepping up to the plate and creating some amazing stories. To the rest of you still waiting for that moment to dare to put the story in your head out there, but who are afraid of criticism. Do it. Trust me, do it. Don't fear the critique, embrace it, learn from it. Ignore that voice in your head telling you not to do it, because you 'can' do it if you try. Even if it is bad, it is something you created out of nothing, and you'll never regret it, even when you get a troll or two along the way. Your effort is necessary to make the community stronger, better, and more enjoyable for all. Put simply, we need you.**

 **Now, last but not least… my Discord server (link in the author page) has kept growing, and we've now got a number of very talented authors and beta readers there, sooo… here's the last thing before we get to the story: If you're worried about the quality of your work, we'll help you. If you're a reader wanting early access, well the googledocs format we've used lets you literally watch the story get written before your eyes. If you're a beta reader looking for good stories to edit, well we've got em, and it's done collaboratively, so even the largest chapters don't take all day. Discord has made Beta reading soooo much easier since we can talk about the edits and suggestions along the way. If you've noticed an improvement in my work in the last few months… THAT is why.**

 **OK, that's all, on with the show! (BTW, the overall story for God Rising, side materials included, broke 1 million words recently, I've now written more Overlord than the original author of Overlord) :D How neat is that?)**

 _...Nazarick…_

Vanysa sat at a table in the Nazarick bar, it wasn't her usual spot. Between the library, the 'music room', and Demiurge's office, she had a pretty busy schedule. Today, however, she had some spare time and a map that she was focused on. She sat alone at a table in her human form and stared at it. That map laid out the battle lines as they had been drawn. All she could do was look at Prart, because King Astraka was going there. 'Astraka… Astraka… Astraka…' She thought on a loop. She stood up, slamming her hands down on the table and just staring at the little tiny dot on the map that represented the city.

She couldn't get it out of her head. The bartender ignored her, if he ever left the space behind the bar, she had never seen him do it. Sometimes she wondered if he was capable of acknowledging anything not directly addressed to him. That uncertainty gave her a comforting feeling of privacy. She could have easily experienced the same feeling by secluding herself in her private quarters, but there was no alcohol there, at least not in the quantity she wanted.

She snatched up her cup and drank it swiftly, then slammed it down on the table. She gritted her teeth as she stared at the dot.

The memory of his hands on her body, his fingers running through her beautiful golden locks, the grip tightening at her scalp, the pain when he yanked her head back while she stood naked and chained to the wall, and demanded answers from her that she wouldn't give, those memories still plagued her.

She hated him. She hated him for hitting her, hated him for touching her, hated him for shaming her by taking away the Sorcerer King's present, humiliating her by not even giving her the privacy of a bush to relieve herself, having her chained up or tied like a dog. Then the whip… god… the whip.

It had stripped the flesh from her bones, she had never seen her own bones before then, and all she could do was wail for her master, the only king she'd ever serve, but bad as the pain was, she remembered how he mocked that loyalty in their hours long session. "He'll retch to look at you, you'll be ugly in his eyes when we're done unless you speak. He doesn't really care about you, if he did, you wouldn't be here…" So many horrible things, things she couldn't believe, wouldn't believe. The only saving grace was that, bone stripping or not, the torturer was bad at his job. The blows came so quickly against her body that the pain from one blow bled in to the next one, she never felt the fullness of any one agony. She wasn't sure which was worse, those cutting blows, comments, or those fingers on her body when he was close to her. 'Nobody… never again… never again…' She thought and the memory of it caused her eyes to well up as if to wash remembrance away.

Bitter tears fell to the silk map on the table and she shook with rage, and she felt her mind start to slip. If she didn't regain control, she'd relive it again, so she refocused on that little dot just as a tear landed on it, staining it with her burning rage.

"You'll be mine soon, all mine, and I'll be so glad, so very glad to see you again." She said softly.

"See who again?" A familiar voice responded. She'd been so lost in her own thoughts that she didn't notice the entry of Lady Albedo.

She fell to one knee with her eyes down in deference to the guardian overseer. "Never mind, ignore my words, Lady Albedo, it was nothing of importance." She said, unable to still the shaking of her body.

It was no secret that the succubus did not like her, but most of the time there was simply no opportunity for her enmity to be expressed. For whatever reason, the guardian overseer chose not to dismiss the matter this time. She took a glass of wine from the bar as it was proffered to her and approached Vanysa.

"I didn't ask if it was worth my time, I asked you who you meant. Were you speaking of Lord Ainz? Do you think he will be yours?" She lowered herself slightly and stuck her thumb and forefinger beneath the chin of the blonde female and forced her head up. She squeezed tight, not tight enough to crack Vanysa's jaw, but tight enough for a flash of pain to come and go.

"Nah… ain't that." Vanysa got the words out, and Albedo dropped her hand, releasing her as she straightened up.

"No, while you're certainly crying about someone, you definitely were not speaking of my beloved Lord Ainz." Albedo said with a measure of satisfaction.

"'Taint like that with'im." Vanysa said softly.

"What did you say?" Albedo said sharply.

Vanysa flinched at the sharp tone, but answered, "Ah said it ain't like that with'im, the Sorcerer King ah mean." She said.

"Do you deny offering him your body, are you going to kneel there in front of me and lie to my face?!" Albedo began to get very, very angry.

Vanysa shook her head vigorously, "Nah ah, ah done offered it to'im lotsa times back then, an wah the hell wouldn't ah?" She dared to retort, and before Albedo could even respond, Vanysa's speech and gaze shifted from that of an uneducated and largely insane peasant, to the calculating look Albedo had seen in those moments when she was focused on her work.

"He gave me everything and I had nothing to offer in return but my body. When you're a poor peasant girl, that's not just the best, but sometimes the only currency you have. Also, I was truly grateful and wanted to see him happy, to make him feel like he made me feel. But he turned me down every time." Vanysa caught the overseer off guard by actually laughing at that moment. "Only male who ever did that, but it is also part of why I revere him as the Supreme Being he is. May this humble servant beg a question, Lady Albedo?" Vanysa asked.

That was a curious turn of events.

"Ask it." She replied.

"Why do you hate me?" Vanysa asked. This encounter was reminding her of her question to King Astraka on the journey to his capital and the worst experience of her life, she privately prayed that this would not end the same way.

Albedo looked down at her for a long moment.

"I can see it in your eyes when you look at me, Lady Albedo. If the Sorcerer King gave me over to you, or perhaps even to Lady Shalltear, I'd be lucky if I were dead by sunrise and I'd remember Astraka like a kindly uncle by comparison." Vanysa said plainly. "I just… I want to understand why. What did I do wrong, and can I do nothing to make it right?"

Albedo thought for a moment. "You offered your body to the Sorcerer King, you came into our home, into our very baths, flaunting your… whatever it was, with him. You took a place at his side! You traveled with him alone for weeks! Then you come here, take a room here, the same home I share with the man I love?! And now you can kneel before me and ask that question in seriousness?" Albedo's voice rose in disbelief, and her fists balled up.

"Lady Albedo, I think this is a terrible misunderstanding. Will you permit me a few more words?" She asked.

"They had better be good ones." She said with an edge to her voice and tight clenched fists.

"Do you know what I was before…" she finished her sentence by shifting to the form of an erinyes.

"You were a worthless human worm, a bug beneath his feet that he chose not to crush." Albedo snapped out, and to her surprise, Vanysa did not disagree.

"Lower than that. In a human society like I was born into, you know there is a hierarchy, kings and queens at the top, nobles below them, merchants, soldiers, craftsmen below them, and down at the bottom there are peasants. Among them, males were above females, we had few options for tasks, we could farm, we could weave, we could work in the temples, or we could become whores, very few could become adventurers or soldiers. Not much else was available to us. For the poorest of poor peasants, like… me, a girl's only currency was her own flesh. For a beautiful one such as I…" She paused, wondering if Albedo would interject and deny that she was beautiful. To her surprise, the succubus did not.

"... I might have managed to become a mistress to a noble or wife to a village headman or something, but I had nothing but my body and my clothes. When the Sorcerer King did… everything he did. He saved me, taught me, gave me books, treated me kindly… do you know what I had to give him in return?" She asked the now curious Succubus.

"What?" Albedo asked.

"Just my flesh, just my body, and you know, I was happy to offer it because he made me feel so good about… everything, I was happy, and wanted him to be happy, and I could see he wasn't. I felt how sad he was, and…" She paused and looked down, Albedo reached down to her chin and forced her to look up again. The storm grey eyes of the erinyes went and glassed over with her madness again before the eyes of the overseer.

"Ah couldn'a bear it, ah won't deny offerin mahself to him, an ahm nae gonna deny ah'd 'av been appy if'n he'd taken me, but most'vall ah jus didnae want im ta hurt no more, he done give me stuff ah ain't had no place even dreamin of, an when'eed talk of is friends bein gone… Well ah lost all mah friends too, beastmen got some, time got others, and a few didnae want me round no more cause ah got prettier than they didn they got men ah their own they ain't trust alone round me. Ah saw how he done lost all them he liked, so ah gave'im what ah could. Even ah dumb, stupid, ignint peasant what aint got no home an no money can be company so some'n ain't lonely." She whispered softly.

She dragged her sleeve in front of her eyes, wiping them clean and seemingly clear of her insanity again.

"I am not trying to be his queen, I am not trying to take your place, if he commands my body it is his, but I will never pursue a place at his side as you and Lady Shalltear seek, that is not what I want. I don't see him the way you do, as a potential mate, nor do I see him as Neia does, as a fatherly figure, maybe it was because I wasn't created from nothing, but rather that he created me from the dead flesh of my old self, but what I want to be to him is different." She said firmly.

Albedo, now with somewhat less hostility in her voice asked, "What is that?"

"His break." Vanysa answered instantly.

"His… what, like a toy?" Albedo looked at her, at a loss.

Vanysa shook her head. "Not what I mean, Lady Albedo. The Sorcerer King is surrounded by responsibility and subordinates, myself included, but all of you were created specifically to serve, I wasn't. I offered my service in gratitude and loyalty, I chose this life, if not this body. So he doesn't see me as he does you, and when we started traveling during the Beastman invasion, he took me on as a lark more than anything else, I think. Just so he wouldn't be traveling by himself. So I treated him like a companion to talk to as much as a lord to serve, and he seemed to like that. He can be at ease, I make him feel relaxed because I talk to him like he's just good company and not like a mate or a lord or a god or an all-powerful conqueror, he may be all those things, he definitely is, but he's also a man who lost his friends. As someone who lost the same, I can make him feel… like it isn't all gone. That is all I want, I cannot say this enough, I don't want your place as his queen. When the day comes that he gives in and marries you and Lady Shalltear, I'll be happy, not envious. I don't want your place, I have my own, and it is enough for me." Vanysa said in a gentle voice that Albedo could not find a lie within.

"Please forgive any offense I have ever given to you, Lady Albedo. I never wanted to give the impression that I thought… or sought… that." Vanysa said, and lowered her gaze again.

Albedo was silent as the grave for a moment, but Vanysa faintly saw that her fists had relaxed, and that bone crushing grip hadn't come to her chin again.

She didn't look up, but she felt the shift in demeanor, she didn't need to be a mind reader to know that Albedo was reframing everything she'd previously thought in a different light to see if it 'fit' what Vanysa had said. The little fury knew very well how intelligent the Guardian Overseer was, and the succubus was looking at her very, very differently, though she couldn't feel any 'affection' it was something else.

"Perhaps I am seeing you the wrong way, perhaps you are not an obstacle or a rival, perhaps… you are an asset." Albedo said.

Vanysa looked up at her.

"An asset?" She asked, her mind already racing to the logical conclusion, given Albedo's goal.

"Yes. As you no doubt are aware by now, the various maids are all divided over whether Lord Ainz should wed me or that flat chested lamprey first. You do know this, don't you?" Albedo asked.

Vanysa nodded. "I do, Lady Albedo."

"Where do you stand? You have been closed-mouthed about it, not one hint of gossip about your thoughts. I had believed it was because of your own foolish ambition, but if that is not the case, then you must have formed an opinion." Albedo said.

"May I speak freely, knowing that my words will not be carried elsewhere?" Vanysa replied.

"You may." Albedo answered.

"Lord Ainz is a genius, his first born should also be a genius in order to ensure a wise eldest heir. Whatever the strengths of Lady Shalltear, a brilliant mind is not one of them, therefore it is most logical for you to be the head wife, and perhaps the only wife at least until you have birthed a child for him." Vanysa said pragmatically.

"And here I'd planned on just tormenting you." Albedo said with a shake of her head, "Your… opinion, is safe with me. And… so are you." She said, "Your past offense is forgiven, but do not pursue a place that can never be yours." She pointedly reminded the erinyes.

Vanysa nodded solemnly.

"Now, you still haven't answered my question, if it wasn't Lord Ainz, then who?" Albedo demanded.

Vanysa got up and went back to the table, she turned the map to Albedo.

"I was looking at this, Lady Albedo." She replied and pointed to the dot representing Prart.

"What is so special about that dot?" She asked.

"That is where Astraka is going." Another familiar voice said.

The two looked over, Demiurge was approaching.

"How…?" Albedo began to ask.

"The siege of Prart is at hand, it'll be the biggest fight of the war so far, and just as importantly, the one who tortured her and drove her to suicide out of loyalty to Lord Ainz, is going to be there too. It was easy enough to guess what she was thinking." Demiurge answered with his casual and remarkable competence.

Vanysa's eyes shone like stars as he came over to speak, and Albedo picked up on the change in her demeanor immediately, were it not so undignified, she might have slapped herself for not having seen it before, even if Demiurge didn't yet.

"Exactly correct, I just… I'm sorry, may I sit?" She asked.

"You may." Demiurge said, and she sat back down at her table, the two guardians did not ask as they took seats as well.

"I was powerless then, helpless, a nothing that was going to die in a gutter if nothing changed, and the change I got was to die in a king's dungeon with my body ripped apart. I'm stronger now… relatively speaking." She said as she looked at the pair sardonically, they did not refrain from satisfied expressions at the contemplation of their own strength.

"In a strange way, he did me a favor, driving me to the end that resulted in the Sorcerer King making me this." She flapped her wings for emphasis, "But I want revenge… I don't like to be… touched, uninvited like that, I hate him… I hate him… I hate him, I hate him, I hate him… I hate him so much…" She shut her eyes tight and clenched her fists, her body shook to the tips of her wings, "I will make him pay for it, for leering at me, for touching me, for stripping me and shaming me and humiliating me, and stealing from me and for torturing me. I know the time is close… so close, when I can truly deprive him of everything. So… I came here, I thought I could drink, and look, and plan." She said savagely.

"Plan?" Demiurge and Albedo asked.

"Yes, our god has recreated me in his sacred home, given me a new body and new purpose, and the one who tried to get me to betray him, is his enemy. I am now shaped perfectly for punishment, and Lord Ainz has promised him to me when the time is right. I can feel it approaching like I can feel the beating of my heart. So I want to make it devastating, terrible, horrifying beyond measure. So I got these." She said and reached down to a satchel by the chair and took out documents which she laid out on the table.

"What are these?" Demiurge asked.

"These are Astraka." She said sweetly.

"Explain." Albedo said.

"More precisely, it is absolutely everything our operatives could gather about him, I know who he likes and who he doesn't like, I know who his favorite concubine is, and what she likes and doesn't like, I know his mind as close as I know an intimate lover's. And His Majesty has given me leave… and the resources... to make his march to Prart a living nightmare, so I was refreshing myself. He will lose everything he values first, then, when he's at his lowest point, I'll take him, and make sure he knows it was me, right before I show him how to 'properly' carve up someone." She said with absolute joy written all over her face.

"I told you she was an asset." Demiurge said cockily to a quiet Albedo.

"Perhaps you were right." The succubus answered.

"But before you do that, I came here looking for you to tell you that the Draconic Queen's prime minister sends word that they have 'reacquired' your old house, you need only go by the property house with the returned funds and they'll give it back to you." Demiurge said casually, finding, unexpectedly, that he rather liked the way her eyes lit up when he said that.

 _...Prart…_

"Are you sure about this, Your Majesty?" Neia asked Calca. The pope had removed her visor and was staring intently at the Queen. Calca stood close to her, holding Neia's hands gently, one over top of the other. "The Sorcerer King can provide vastly better protection than I can even at my very best, I'll do anything to see you back safe, it's what I have to do. But… I can't emphasize enough that he will do it better than I."

Calca looked into the eyes of the woman. Neia was shorter than she was, but even while looking down, she felt like she was craning her neck to look up. In the eyes of that woman whorled a maelstrom whose depths she could not fathom, and within her mind she felt like she could hear a constant pounding, as if something was nearly breaking the surface. Though she felt no fear as she looked at the oddly 'cute' face that framed the eyes of a demon of demons, she understood why others did. "I believe you." She said, "But think about it, if I go with an escort of the Sorcerer King, I'll seem like the prisoner she believes me to be. Even if the escort is hidden, if she chooses to test to see if they're there, she will have 'exposed' that I truly am a captive, even though I am not."

Neia put her other hand on her sword hilt. "I…" She started, only for Calca to shake her head.

"No. Whatever happens, you'll do your best, that's all I ask, if I die, I die, and it won't be on you. This is atonement, or its beginnings, for all the sins that haunt me when I walk the streets. You say that 'weakness' is a sin, right, and it comes in many forms?" She asked.

"We do." Neia said. "Justice cannot come from weakness, nor can right, they are safe only on the sufferance of evil, which will not suffer them to exist." She said as she'd uttered the statement at a thousand sermons.

"Then I died a sinner and am back for another chance at making things right. I won't do anything that will add to the wrongs I am at fault for already." Calca said firmly.

"But…" Neia said, only for Calca to take the beautiful, long, luxuriant hair she had prided herself on, and hold it in a tight grip at shoulder length. She then took out a small knife from her side, and sawed it off crudely.

The length fell to the floor and she looked at it somewhat regretfully.

Neia looked from the pile on the floor and up to the face of the Queen for whom she fought.

"As I said, I died a sinner, I will live to atone for my weakness of rule. I will do nothing to add to my old sins. Perhaps if I had spent less time looking at that and more time at who my subordinates were, we would not be here now." Calca said in a royal voice that brooked no argument from anyone standing before her.

Neia knew that argument was lost, so she tried something else. "At least let us bring Blue Rose with us, they're stronger than I am and their connection to His Majesty is still not widely known to have deepened." Neia said fervently.

"No wonder you were Tinamoc's head of security." Calca said with the beginnings of a smile on her face.

"No wonder." Neia said flatly.

"Fine, I'll allow that much additional protection." Calca said, giving in just a bit.

Neia looked around the empty hall, no other guards were present, so Calca wondered why she was doing this. She was answered by what Neia said next.

"Before… everything, with Jaldabaoth, I admit I did not have the best view of you. Not to say your reputation was bad, but I thought you a fairly run-of-the-mill royal. The fact that you died rather than flee was the only good thing I knew about you. And later, I would have spoken against your resurrection and advocated for the kingship of His Majesty. When you arrived in this city, I didn't want you here, I thought you were a liability. But when I look at you now, I'm glad you're here, and I'm proud you were our Queen once before, and I'll be proud to set you on the throne again. I thought you wouldn't be right for this, I thought you'd be in the way." Neia held her gaze up at Calca's own, and in her gaze the Queen saw something she had not seen there before.

"I was wrong… Your Majesty." Neia said, and put her other hand over Calca's own.

Calca saw respect.

"Thank you. But now we need to get going, we'll get Blue Rose on the way out, they're probably still in their rooms, and I have a lot to say to my former Paladin." Calca said, visibly moved.

"Yes, you're right." Neia replied, and abruptly turned on her heel and walked purposefully towards the door.

Watching Neia, the Black Paladin of the Sorcerer King, move away from her, she quickly fell into step behind her. As she watched the slowly rolling shoulders, the steady swing of her arms, the steps longer, harder, and louder on the floor than they had any right to be, all she could think was, "This was just one of my squires?!"

Neia knocked firmly on each of the rooms housing the members of Blue Rose, and they came to the door battle ready, much to her surprise.

"The Queen requests your services as an escort to a meeting with Remedios and Suchala. I need your help protecting her." Neia said plainly. "But ah… why are you already dressed for a fight?" She asked.

Lakyus gave a knowing smile, "I'm not stupid, I figured that she'd refuse security from the Sorcerer King, and that you wouldn't accept that. You'd want her to have more, but you were too smart to suggest additional members from your hundred, that meant we were the best option that was a known quality."

Neia couldn't keep back her enthusiastic expression as she slapped Lakyus on the shoulder. "You're not adamantite for nothing."

"Nope." Lakyus said with a confident expression.

"So what are the parameters?" Evileye asked as they walked down the hall, already surrounding the Queen.

"Victory comes in several possible forms." Neia said, starting her mission brief on the go.

"First objective, Remedios surrenders without a fight, this is ideal, and I don't have to tell you, unlikely, if it happens, it only happens because of the Queen. Secondary victory objective, Remedios refuses to surrender, but we get the Queen back alive and unharmed. Tertiary victory objective, the Queen is injured but we get her back alive. Each victory condition includes the goal of dragging the meeting out as long as possible, if we can engage in several days of talks, that would be ideal." Neia said in a professional, perfunctory voice.

"OK, what is the probability of drawing talks out?" Gagaran asked from her position at the rear.

"Fair to good. Remedios is a moron. I don't know Suchala, but even if Remedios found someone to do her thinking for her, like Suchala or this 'Yuri' woman I've read about, well that fallen paladin is obsessed with the Queen, just the chance to gaze at her for longer might do it." Neia said thoughtfully.

"Oh, it's… like that?" Tia said.

"Like that." Tina added.

"Like what?" The Queen asked.

"Like…" Lakyus blushed a little, "Like Neia and Skana."

It took Calca a moment to work out what she meant, and when she did, her face turned strawberry red. "No, no no, definitely no." She said emphatically, "She was just very dedicated to my beliefs is all."

"Moving on," Neia chose to spare the Queen further embarrassment and continued the briefing. "Defeat conditions include Queen Calca's death or capture, while worst defeat conditions include that for all of us. Top priority is her security and safety, we get her in, we talk for as long as possible, we get her back here safely. Questions so far?" She asked.

"Special equipment?" Lakyus asked.

"Extra healing potions and undead horses, otherwise use your personal equipment, any losses to you will be reimbursed or replaced." Neia added.

"Special conditions?" Lakyus asked further.

"We'll be on open ground a half day's ride from the city, their army has pulled back for this as well, giving us equal distance. Trees are being cut fifty feet back so there will be no opportunity for easy ambush or assassination by either side." Neia replied.

"You thought this through." Lakyus said.

"I learn from my mistakes." Neia said coolly.

"So do I." Lakyus said regretfully.

"The same." Calca said with equal regret in her voice.

They walked in silence until they exited the building. The city was a buzz of activity still, everybody knew that the army coming to kill them had been delayed, and that meant extra time to prepare. Unsurprisingly, there were many couples working together, everybody was wondering if this might be the end for them, armies like those coming to end their lives had never existed before. It was terrifying to the common mind, and so it was no surprise that many had paired off and would lie together when the work was done.

"Assuming we win this battle," Neia said with a somewhat crude laugh, "you can probably expect a baby boom in this city next year."

Gagaran was the first to get what she meant, and she laughed just as lewdly.

It took the others a little longer, while both Lakyus and Calca blushed, Evileye and the twins managed a minor chuckle at the crude bit of humor.

They walked the streets proudly, waving to everyone who waved in turn. Word flew faster than their feet moved, and what had been a deliberate walk through crowded streets became an impromptu procession, with people moving aside to line the streets. Behind them, a group of soldiers fell in and began to march as a kind of honor guard.

Spirits were high, all the way to the wall. Neia went into a guard house and removed a satchel, then held it out to each of them. There were several potions in there, and they each took a few. "Now, we're ready to go." She said, and went to one of the undead mounts, as did all of the others.

The gate was opened, and they rode out into the open, leaving the safety of the walls behind them.

As they rode on, Neia reflected on how beautiful the morning was. She could hear everything around her, birds in the trees calling for mates. Scrabbling in the bushes signalled the presence of small animals digging nests or scrounging for food to stay alive. Rain drizzled down, it wasn't bad, but as she looked to the east, she wondered if it was falling harder on Skana, wherever she was.

She was glad of her position at the front, for as she turned to face the way ahead, nobody could see her bite her lower lip. 'Was Skana still alive out there, was she in danger?' She wondered. The proposal was the last word she'd gotten, no prisoners had come from that direction, and all other communications were on blackout. "Yes." That was all Neia wanted to tell her, but she couldn't, not yet, and she couldn't know if it was even possible to answer that question.

A horrible thought flashed briefly through Neia's mind as she imagined that Skana might have died somewhere out there, she pictured herself growing older, alone, with nothing left but a question she couldn't answer in a letter that would yellow and fade with time. She shook off the dreaded thought and focused on the task at hand.

They rode in silence, there was no need to rush. If anything, it was the opposite of that. They needed to go slowly, every minute made another arrow, every five another sword, every hour was more time to train those who were still battle virgins.

So they went slowly, watching the terrain creep by. Everyone could feel the anxiety rise as they drew closer, and that did not change when they finally came around a bend and emerged onto open ground. There, as promised, was a table. At it, among those she did not know, was one face Neia would never forget as long as she lived.

She called a halt to her delegation and looked over her shoulder. "Guard the Queen, I go first, anything happens, get her out and forget me." Neia said, then added, "That's an order, you carry her out if you have to."

The hesitation of Blue Rose melted away, "Understood." Lakyus said, "But you'd better not die, drinks are on me when we get back."

Neia's stern face melted into a friendly expression. "I'll live just to hold you to that one."

She then turned away from her companions and looked ahead of her, she spurred her horse forward, trotting it casually over. She did not dismount as she approached the assembly. There were five men and women lined up behind Remedios, and one woman beside her. At a guess, Neia thought it was the 'escort' and that would make the woman 'Yuri'. Beside her sat a man old enough to be Neia's grandfather, she supposed he must be the Slane Theocracy general, given he wore the Theocracy uniform and matched the descriptions she'd seen from intelligence reports. She held in her smug expression as she thought of all that information seized when they'd blinded the Slane Theocracy's intelligence agency, executing or kidnapping all those agents had been a bonanza of material, giving detailed names, descriptions, and more when properly assembled. She set the thought aside as she came within a few feet of her adversary.

For the first time in what felt like a lifetime, Neia got a close look at Remedios's face. Her eyes were dark, featuring prominent circles underneath them, while in the eyes themselves all Neia could see was hate and rage.

"Hello, Remedios." Neia said coldly.

"Neia." Remedios acknowledged.

"Not getting much sleep? Well, you know, if you'd stop burning people, maybe the light wouldn't keep you up at night." Neia snarled at her.

Remedios looked at her in outrage, "Undead worshipers will be purged, you stupid squire." Her voice was filled with bile as she spoke.

"I'm not a squire anymore." Neia said. "I am the Sorcerer King's Black Paladin." As she finished that sentence, she reveled in the twisted expression of impotent rage on Remedios's face as the word 'paladin' was applied to someone who followed the undead.

Before she could retort, Suchala spoke. "Enough, you insisted on talking, so we'll talk. Bring over your delegation." He said.

"First I'll be checking the area, I don't trust you not to kill Queen Calca in an ambush." She said, looking spitefully at Remedios, rather than Suchala, and she enjoyed watching her face twist into a mask of pain at the thought of Calca dying.

Neia checked as slowly and methodically as she could, venturing into the woods on either side. This was not just a matter of dragging things out, in her mind it was a very real possibility that someone might try to target her charge. Only when she was at last satisfied did she get back on her horse and wave the group over.

When they came close, they spread out, and Calca got down off of her horse. She stood across from the table, and Neia saw Remedios's face light up with joy like she'd never seen on the woman's face before.

"Queen Calca!" Remedios shouted in disbelief and happiness.

Calca's face did not reflect that joy when she saw her former paladin. "Oh Remedios… " Calca said with a broken hearted voice and a deeply saddened expression, "What have you done…?"


	96. West & East

_...Great Western Road…_

Shalltear sat across from Zaryusu in the tent, staring down at the paper clutched between her delicate looking fingers. There was a quill sitting untouched on the desk in front of her. The lizardman wasn't watching her, he was steadily writing on a sheet of his own. She looked to the left of him at a stack of documents that was quite thick, she was sure if she laid her hand vertical to them, they would reach past her thumb.

She looked to the sheet she had in hand, then back to him. The document in her hand was an award recommendation. "What do I do with this?" She asked incredulously. He set his quill and paper down in front of him and folded his hands together on the desk. "You read it first." He said patiently.

"I've done that." She said, irritated.

He paid no mind to her tone. "If you look near the bottom of the document, you will see a pair of empty boxes marked 'approved' or 'disapproved', and below that a place for a signature. After you've read through the document, you make a decision about whether or not the soldier's achievement merits reward. If it does, you put a check mark in the empty box marked 'approved' and sign below, and then set the document to your left."

"But it is reward enough to serve the Supreme One, why would anyone want or need more than that? It is gift enough to lower life forms that they be allowed to live, let alone serve." Shalltear said, for once sounding less 'arrogant' but instead more 'at a loss', as if she could not understand anything more desirable than serving Lord Ainz… which she couldn't.

"Lady Shalltear, Lord Ainz sometimes dispenses rewards to the guardians when their work is exceptional, does he not?" Zaryusu asked, mentally wishing to slam his head to the desk.

"He does." She replied simply.

"You do not require a reward to do your work, do you?" He asked.

"No, of course not!" Shalltear said, mildly offended at the very notion of such a requirement.

"But when one is given, you feel 'special', 'valued', and you treasure what was given, do you not?" He said, guiding the thought process of the adorable monster.

"Yes, of course, he has chosen to offer tangible proof of his praise!" She replied enthusiastically, "Even the mere act of service to one so wonderful is reward enough, but when he offers some small thing of himself, we're reminded of how much he treasures us, and we know our work was truly valuable to him!" She said so happily that her eyes shone like stars.

"I see." Zaryusu said patiently, "Now take that reasoning, all the things you just said, and apply it to every living and unliving servant outside of Nazarick. It is just as true for them, as it is for you."

Her mouth fell open.

"It is that simple," he said. "May I see that document?" He asked. She mutely handed it over to him and he read through it.

"This scouting trio had two of their members fall and get serious injuries. The soldier in this report acted immediately, treated their injuries and saved their limbs and their lives, then carried them back to safety by himself, protecting his charges along the way when some of the bandits of Re-Estize attempted to rob and probably murder them. His quick thinking and skill protected two of Lord Ainz's servants, exposed a danger, and eliminated it. Should he be rewarded?" Zaryusu asked thoughtfully, "The decision is yours."

He slid the paper back to her. She stared at it as she picked up the quill. "What award would he receive?" She asked.

"Look on the back side." He said, she flipped it over, there it read that he was being offered a few acres of farmland, or the equivalent value of two gold coins.

"He's a soldier, why would he want land?" She asked dubiously.

Zaryusu reached into his desk and took out a thick book and dropped it with a heavy thud next to the document stack of his.

"What is that?" She asked, a little intimidated by the heavy book, in a way that fighting never bothered her.

"This outlines, the goals and guides of various processes and teaches all about every document in this stack. Now, you're considering an award, so flipping this open… awards… here we go, section four page seven." He flipped to the relevant segment and read it aloud to her.

"Soldiers in the past who survived beyond the conflict often became bandits and criminals because they had only one single skill, which lent itself to only two careers, law enforcers or law breakers. As the former was not in high demand, the latter was the most common choice. Therefore, soldiers departing service may be offered land as compensation, and soldiers who perform exceptionally well may be offered additional land to be worked by tenant farmers during service, or themselves after service. In this way, the Sorcerer King will populate the useful lands while encouraging tranquility and peace. Soldiers who prefer equivalent value will have the coin deposited into and held by an insured financial institution in their home of record. If they should die before their end of service or collection, then the coin will be passed to their next of kin listed in their personnel file."

Zaryusu closed the book. Shalltear gawked. He looked blankly back at her in silence, then went to a small file cabinet and flipped through it, pulling out another document and bringing it over to her. "This is his record, it lists who he is, where he is from, who his living relatives are, how much of his pay is to go to them while he is here, and what is to be done with any extra coin he is awarded for special service. If he survives to go home when this all ends, this document will be pulled and he will be given travel documents authorizing his return home at the Sorcerer Kingdom's expense. If his family moves somewhere, he will have a new document made to replace this one. Additionally, if he is mutilated or wounded, that is documented as well for end of service awards, either in expanded land holdings, additional coin, or if he is deemed mentally traumatized by the event, authorization to enter a recovery center. There are roughly twenty odd documents of different types for every soldier in the army." He said as he set the document back in the cabinet, closed it up, and returned to his seat.

She was still gawking.

"You do all of them?" She asked in disbelief.

"No, there are commanders and squad commanders and the like, and a corps of the more literate and educated persons who tend to most documents and ensure they are orderly. This cabinet holds only those who directly serve the command element, that would be ours, and these documents include material aside from them, it also has intelligence reports, training recommendations, a timeline of our advancement, and more." He replied.

She felt her head hurt. "Now, do you believe this soldier merits the award his commander has recommended for him? If you say no, he receives nothing, it goes back to the commander, and will probably be disposed of. If the commander wishes he can resubmit it in a modified state to show any additional unreported actions that may influence the decision you make, if it fails then? Well then it will be disposed of, permanently. What is your decision, Lady Shalltear?" He pressed her.

Every instinct in her screamed that lower life forms should just grind themselves away and be grateful to live to serve instead of being ground to nothing.

She knew beyond doubt that if she marked 'disapproved' General Zaryusu would accept her decision. She thought carefully as she stared at it, and then she remembered some things that Lord Ainz had said, a saying of the supreme ones, 'Greater love has no man than this, that he lay down his life for his friends.' She bit her lip, she remembered Lord Ainz rewarding Zesshi for her service, his gifts to the combat maids and to her fellow guardians for their work. Rewarding good service seemed to be thoroughly emphasized even when the service itself was all that they desired.

Zaryusu was still looking at her. "I will do as Lord Ainz would." She said, her voice full of the confidence she lacked earlier. She marked 'approved', and proudly signed her name below, placing the paper next to her. After making her first real administrative decision, she could not help but preen as she said, "Give me the next one, General Zaryusu."

"As you wish, Lady Shalltear." He replied, and as he said it, she felt there was a different undertone to his voice than there usually was. And though she couldn't quite place it, it felt like a good change.

 _…Fortress Igan…_

Zesshi received word quickly that Yaksun had fallen to Queen Draudillon, and unexpectedly felt a smile creep onto her face. Despite the poor first impression that the Draconic Queen had made on her, the woman had turned it around and Zesshi found herself very 'pleased' for the Queen. The message included the option to come and seize part of the supplies the city held, to further sustain her as she moved towards the Elf Country and a reckoning with her father. That merited some thought, but ultimately she rejected it. She dashed off a note of congratulations to be rushed to the city and had her soldiers utterly empty the entire place of anything even remotely useful before signalling for the fleet of Ys to return.

Reboarding the ships did not make any of the elves happy, but when they did finally return and set underway again, they were filled with savage eagerness. The ships almost flew over the water as magic casters kept wind in the sails, they would inevitably run out of mana, but working in shifts and thanks to a steady natural wind, progress was made quite steadily.

Within a few days, they were passing an area that she knew held the southernmost Theocracy fortress.

She gritted her teeth to bite back the urge to disembark and seize it. Briefly she ran through what she knew. 'Fortress Tear, holding five thousand laborers supporting fifteen thousand soldiers, responsible for protecting the southernmost city of Tearliis and drawing most of its soldiers from their citizens. All adult male residents did two years service there in some form and it had a large enough space in its walls to house the entire evacuated city.' She briefly indulged a fantasy of threatening the city, then when they evacuated to the fortress, putting the entire city to the torch. 'How would you deal with that problem, Dominic?' She wondered smugly.

She dismissed the thought however, she had a different goal, Fortress Than. The easternmost Elf Country fortress. It guarded a gap in the mountain pass, make it past that, and she was marching straight toward Crescent Lake. She had absolutely no doubt that her elves, humans, and others who made up her army could make it through that fortress. However, more importantly she had very little doubt that the fortress would join her as soon as she showed her strength.

The week of sailing had not been wasted, squad fought squad and soldiers drilled on the large decks, confidence was at an all time high, even if the constant rocking of the boat made every meal an unpleasant experience. The upshot, however, was that the constant rocking of the boat made her forces ever more able to function on unsure footing. Nonetheless, when they reached the departure point, a lot of the elves were especially happy to be leaving, even more so than any of the others.

The air felt crisp and cool on her face as she stood up in the boat that carried her to shore. She made sure to stand up the whole way and show herself to her army, for she had learned some time ago that a commander setting the example was one of the best ways to ensure the confidence of their followers, and so far that had proven to be true.

She set foot on the sand, and was quickly followed by some of her elites, including the sibling vampire elves. The fortress wasn't that far, but chances were not being taken, the elites formed an immediate beachhead just in case of a scouting party or surprise attack. However, everything went smoothly, boats went back and forth from the fleet of Ys without incident until her entire army was ashore and formed up for the march. The unloading of the undead horses took only slightly longer, chiefly because they were so much larger than any one individual, but this too was done in an efficient manner that made her proud of her soldiers and their motivation to succeed. Within a few hours, Zesshi and her command team were mounted and moving. It was evening by the time she came within sight of Fortress Than, and predictably the fortress saw her as soon as she saw it. The alarm bells they rang and the signal fires they lit were clearly audible and visible to her as much as to whoever they were meant to warn.

She paid them no mind, she kept her army moving forward until they were just out of bowshot. The mountains to the north and south of the fortress were formidable, there was clearly no easy way through, save the pass this fortress was meant to secure, and from a purely professional perspective, that fortress was a masterpiece. The walls were very high and probably very thick, the mountain no doubt provided many of the materials for its construction, the ground was clear cut for miles in front of the only avenue of approach, and there were a number of towers interspersed along the side facing the pass.

Zesshi called a halt to the army, and looked to her right and left for Thirg and Tefl. "You two are with me." She said, they nodded in answer, and she spurred her horse forward at a slow trot. They kept their horses beside her, keeping a thorough watch on the mountains for any hint of a possible ambush.

As she drew closer, she saw more and more soldiers lining the walls, all armed with bows, she kept her hands up, and it was as she came closer, that she realized something was truly amiss. Those who had drawn arrows and readied them for the command to fire, were relaxing their grip.

A spokesman appeared above the gate, between two towers. "Who are you, what do you want here?!" He shouted forcefully.

This was it. "I am Zesshi Zetsumei, commanding General of the Elf Liberation Forces, I am in the service of the Sorcerer King, Ainz Ooal Gown. Behind me is an army made up of tens of thousands of freed elf slaves! I am going to Crescent Lake to capture the capital, free our people, and when the chance comes, kill the King!"

Laughter greeted her. "Kill the King?! You think you can kill the King?! In centuries nobody has even managed to bruise him?!" The wall laughed, but none of the laughter was happy, it was the depressed laughter of the hopeless, mocking the idea that there might yet be hope.

"Yes! I can! I am his daughter, child of the Black Scripture woman he raped many years ago. And if you don't believe me…" She said, and rode slowly over the narrow pass to where the mountain and earth met, she drew back her fist, activating every strengthening martial art she knew, and slammed it forward. The sound of it echoed for miles as the stone shattered and an enormous deep gouge was left where once impregnable rock sat.

The laughter stopped.

"I abandoned the Slane Theocracy after learning what they have been doing to my brothers and sisters! I have joined the only kingdom in the world who sees to our freedom and prosperity, and they have dispatched me to bring that to you in turn, to overthrow the rule of an undeserving monarch! I am sure you serve him out of fear, not loyalty, but now you have seen that I have power that can match his. I will kill my father, and I will free all of our people from this endless nightmare! Open that gate!" She shouted up to the silent walls.

For what seemed like forever, nobody moved or spoke, they simply stood at the wall in disbelief at what they had just seen, and what she had just said. She wondered if she would end up having to fight after all, and then they snapped out of their stupor.

"Open the gate! Open the gate! Open the gate!" The elf at the top shouted as loudly as he could, the walls became a buzz of activity, word flew fast and before she could even trot her undead horse to the gate, elves began to pour out of it. She almost thought they were coming to fight, only to see that they were heading straight to the site of her blow, a chunk of rock thirty feet in circumference and seven feet deep was simply 'gone' and rubble and dust from the blow was still coming down from the sky, where it had all been shot to.

The crater in the mountain that she had made inspired awe, wonder, and hope, something they had not had in many a long decade, and they uniformly approached wanting to meet with her, to look into her heterochromatic eyes and at her black and white hair that hung down behind her, exposing her elf heritage in her ears as if to put it on display.

Her undead horse, once it was recognized as such, drew even more commentary and questions until she raised her hands and said, "I will answer everything you ask, but my army is tired from our journey and we must rest, let's all go inside, and we will speak there as they rest."

This was quickly accepted, but before she went further, she added as a precaution, "You will see some humans among my ranks…"

Dark mutterings and hostility began to build.

"If you cannot speak kindly or respectfully to them, do not speak to them at all. They are instructors who have helped to train my army, they are members of Black Justice, followers of Neia Baraja, who burned Wenmark to ashes. Many of them have risked their lives and died to protect and save elves from the slavery of the Theocracy, these are not the humans you know. Remember that." Zesshi added thoughtfully.

The dark mutterings ceased as quickly as they had begun, after all this time the names of both Neia Baraja and Black Justice had become famous for their efforts as freed elves made their way back to their homelands. Rumors had filtered in of a new religion, new lands, a mixed army led by a nightmare inspiring human whose eyes were such that they would haunt the nightmares of demons. A woman who destroyed the cities of their tormentors and bore with her, word of a new god that could slay impossible horrors with ease.

Zesshi and her aides went back to the army, and with a single blowing of the horn she carried, the march resumed. Elves stationed at the fortress stood aside. The ground quaked at the march, but more importantly, the stomping feet, undead mounts and massive figures in armor that would have been deemed impossible by the garrison, cracked the shell of hopelessness that had encased the hearts of the elves, and long buried hope began to widen those cracks until it burst forth as the last in the line of soldiers entered the gates, and was born in cheers and tears of joy. Zesshi's name was on countless lips and carried loud enough into the air that she wondered if her vile father could hear it far to the west.

Just as importantly to her, however, she felt something else, something she hadn't even known in the human centric Slane Theocracy, or even in the Sorcerous Kingdom with its many races that lived cooperatively.

She felt… at home.

 **AN: Hadn't planned on uploading till Tuesday, but hey, I've written all the way through Chapter 100 and my discord readers are all happy all the way to the end of that so... enjoy. :) Reviews would be nice by the way, authors feed on feedback!**


	97. The Great Escape

_...City of Crossroads...Dungeon…_

Moira stopped what she was doing and sat with her legs up against her chest, staring blankly at Melkan. The footsteps that had warned her to cease her activity came closer and closer, and then, there he was. The interrogator. "I got your letter of authorization. You're going to go to Kami Miyako, not many people ever get such a 'close up' experience with the Sorcerer King, so you're too valuable to risk. So unless you have anything to say, which may influence us to give you a behavioral 'parole' and let you go…" He let the sentence trail off and looked at her.

She hadn't looked at him as he was speaking, and when he stopped, she turned her head up to the little light that came in from a small barred window. "Let me go, huh?" She said thoughtfully.

"You'd do that?" She asked.

"Yes." He replied with an emphatic nod.

"I've got a son back home, you know." Moira said, still looking at the light streaming to the floor of her cell.

He was quiet, he let her talk.

"Do you love your mother?" She asked him.

He was quiet still.

"Please answer." She asked kindly.

"I do." He said.

"Would she die for you?" Moira asked.

"She did." He said flatly.

"I'm sorry." She said sincerely.

"It was a long time ago." He responded.

"I bet if she were back here now, she'd do it again, good mothers are like that. I'll bet when you were a little boy, very small, before you became… this," She waved her arms up and down at the man who stood beyond the bars of her cell, but still did not look away from the light, "that when she'd take you through your prayers, you were thinking not of the gods, but of her. To little children, that's how it is." She rubbed her wrists, they hurt, the chains were tight.

"When they're in the dark, afraid of the terrors they believe are there, even when in reality they aren't, they cry out for 'mommy, mommy, mommy…'. They do it as grownups too. I wasn't at the battle of Ikari city, but before we got there, I volunteered for a scouting mission, and we came across a few of your men, people doing the same job as us. We saw each other at the same moment, pulled the same stupid faces, and we clashed, and your people fell, so did some of ours, but we won. If you can call it that. When it was over, I saw grown men on both sides, huge men in heavy armor, who not minutes before were big, brave, terrors on the battlefield, laying on their backs calling for 'momma' to come and save them from the pain."

He didn't need to see her face to know that she was afraid, that there were tears in her eyes.

"It reminded me of the invasion. I already told you I came from the Draconic Kingdom, you remember that little detail about this helpless prisoner here, right?" She asked.

"I do." He said.

"I had a husband then. We'd been together for two years, with my little boy as our first child. When the beastman invasion hit, we were all caught off guard. I was four months pregnant, and wasn't much of a runner at that point." She smirked, not that he could see it on her face, but he felt it anyway.

"He… he ran away. He ran out of the house, ran to the stable, and got our farm horse, I thought… I thought he was going to bring it over so we could escape together. He didn't. I realized he was leaving us moments before he did so, I saw his face, the terror, but it was only for himself. I called to him only once as the horse passed me by, I tried to waddle after him for a few steps, but I had no hope of catching up. I watched him until he was out of sight, still praying to the gods that he'd realize what he'd done and come back, but he didn't. Father of the year, right?" She said.

She didn't expect, or get an answer.

"I hurried into the house and tried to hide under the bed, still praying to the gods, but they didn't even have the grace to let me fit under there. I struggled for a few minutes to squeeze myself into hiding, but my belly was in the way. So I got out of the house and tried to go somewhere else to hide. I didn't get even three miles away before a tigerman and his advance party caught up to me. My baby is what saved my life then, do you know why?" She asked softly.

"No." He answered.

"Because they liked newborns, a newborn was a delicacy fit for their warchiefs, so they were going to let me live. They taunted me constantly, describing with gruesome detail how I'd be put onto a dinner table when my labor started. I cried, I begged, I offered to let them eat me if they'd just let my child live. It was a big joke to them…" Moira's voice had gone strangely calm as she recited the past, she held her hand out, letting it catch the light, she clenched her open hand as if she could 'truly' capture it in her grip.

"You all were nowhere to be found. They moved me around from place to place, keeping all the expectant mothers alive since they liked to make us beg for our children's lives. We never once saw them spare any, but we did hear the mothers screaming for the gods you love so much to do something for their babes. We never heard an infant cry more than once for the breast, that was the closest to mercy that we got. The mothers never wailed for long either, I guess that was a kindness in its way. All we could do was wait for our turns, getting bigger and bigger, begging and praying and begging some more. I was almost at my due date when I was saved, when my child was saved. It wasn't by you people." She said in a scathing voice.

"Somewhere out there, my son is alive, probably playing outside, maybe at school, spending time with those two girls he met. I think he's a little sweet on them, too young to do anything about it, but maybe… someday?" She finally turned her face to look at the interrogator.

"He's out there now because of the one you're asking me to betray. I don't know much, maybe none of it is even useful, maybe it is, but I won't chance it. I want to go home, desperately, I want to see Goan grow up, grow strong, his first love, his first kiss, his first night under the stars, I want to see how big and strong he becomes. I know he'll be a better man than my husband, may he rot in hell. I want to live and see all those things, because that is what every mother wants if she's worth anything at all. I don't want to die, not just because I want to see tomorrow, but because my death will make him sad, like you were when your mother died protecting you from whatever danger she had to. We want to protect our little ones, our babies, our sweet little boys and girls, and see what wonderful people they make of themselves. I'd do almost anything to get out of here." She said, pausing to wipe her eyes so they'd be clear when she looked at him.

"But if I do what you want, and you do let me go, I'll be spitting on the only one to ever do anything for my son. Would you do what you're asking me to do? Are the people of the Theocracy so low as that? So fine, send me to Kami Miyako, have me asked as hard as you like, doesn't matter, winning will keep him safe from anything you'd ever do to him, and defying you to the very last is the only way I can finally repay my debt. So you can threaten me, or my comrades, you can do whatever it is you think y-you need to do." She said, stumbling slightly over her words as she started to shake.

"But I will give you nothing. Now leave me alone." She laid down on her side and closed her eyes. He stared at her in silence for a very long time.

"I'm sorry." He said, and walked away, but though he looked at the letter, he did not set it aside, it stayed in hand as he went to arrange for her transportation.

He wasn't gone for long when Melkan looked at her in silent contemplation. "Do you have a way to get out of here?" he asked, "Any ideas at all, anything?" He asked.

"Yes… thanks to the rusty and eroded state of these chains, I think I can get out of them, but it'll take hours, hours I don't have. They'll be back soon, then they'll take me away. Once I'm in Kami Miyako, there'll be no way out." She said softly.

"You're not going to Kami Miyako." He said bravely.

"Sweet of you to say." She said to him with an affectionate smile, "But that's where it'll end for me. Either they break me, or I die while they try to. I hope I can hold out, but I'm afraid my words are braver than my feelings." She laughed nervously and went back to looking at the light in the window.

He shook his head. "No, there is one way you can avoid it. Gotta give it to the Slane Theocracy in one area, they're very efficient. On the back of our clothing there are numbers that identify us, so we'll strip and switch clothes, and I'll take your number, while you'll be wearing mine. I'll be all the way to Kami Miyako by the time they realize they've made a mistake. All we have to do is tear the cloth enough to get it off and then resecure it. All these glorified sacks are old and nasty anyway, nobody will notice a few tears."

Her mouth dropped, "But they might kill you?" She said in disbelief.

"So what? They also might not, and I might find my own escape on the way, but we know what'll happen if you go there. Make it quick!" He said as he got to his feet, tore the cloth, and took it off. He threw his prisoner's garb over to her while urging her to move. She hesitated for a moment, then obeyed his instruction, and soon he was putting on her number and she was putting on his. After they'd changed, she asked, "This wasn't just your way of getting an eyeful of me, was it?" She winked, and he chuckled in response.

"One last laugh, I always need one of those." He said as he took up some loose straw and improvised string to bind the cloth back together at the shoulders. She did the same, and soon they were sitting down again.

A guard came by minutes later, "Backs to the door." He said in a bored voice, and they quickly obeyed. "OK… 007, that's this'n" he said, and approached Melkan's back. The guard undid the chain at the wall, then walked him out of the cell. Moira held back the impulse to correct the guard, letting her mouth just hang open and her hand stretch out into the empty air as if to reach for him, until they were gone and she sat alone.

As soon as she felt like there was nobody around, she took advantage of her neglected state to start picking at the lock. She didn't have much to work with, just a somewhat sharp, long splinter she'd managed to take from the table she'd previously been seated at, but old, corroded locks were not exactly the world's greatest security system, and if it was brittle enough… if… She bit her tongue and poked, and poked, and poked at the latch, tapping at it relentlessly until she heard a very tiny 'snap' and a small, victorious smile came over her face.

Time for the next step. She cursed. It was still too early. She went back to watching the fading light as it crept along the length of the floor with the movement of the sun. When it got late enough, someone would bring food.

She moved herself as far from the door as possible without making it evident that she had picked the lock holding the links on her wrists to the chain on the wall She was confident she could just yank it off, but that was a gamble, a gamble she had to undertake.

So Moira sat, afraid to even move, and watched the light.

Eventually, the guard came, the Theocracy's predictability worked in her favor. The guard entered holding a bowl of watery stew. As he came closer, she started looking quizzically at a spot on the floor a few feet behind him. Instinctively, he turned to look where she did, and that was when she jumped up, pulling the chain loose, and looped the portion on her wrists over his head and pulled it tight against his neck.

She gritted her teeth as he tried to grasp for the chain. He bent forward, raising her off the floor at the feet, and he tried to call for help, but could only choke out sounds that nobody other than Moira could hear. She was breathing hard, but he wasn't able to breath at all. He slammed her back against the wall, trying to jar her loose as he clawed at the chains and made desperate gurgling noises. She hit the back of her head, but held fast, gradually he weakened. He slammed her back two more times, but she did not let go. He staggered forward to try it a fourth and final time, but his steps were so labored and weak, he could do nothing but fall to his knees in exhaustion. She kept her grip until he had collapsed completely to the floor and lay unmoving on his face.

She held the chains tight for a little longer, just to be sure he wouldn't get back up. He wasn't a huge man, in fact he wasn't much bigger than she was. That worked in her favor.

She scrambled for the keys at his waist, undid her shackles and put them on him, then she took off her clothes… Melkan's clothes, and took off his. She quickly dressed him in the prisoner's attire, and she put on the guard's uniform.

She lowered herself closely and listened, he wasn't breathing, he was dead, definitely dead. But that meant he wouldn't interrupt her escape… an acceptable loss.

She grunted as she dragged him toward the wall and made it appear that he was asleep, hiding his face away from the door so it might not be noticed, then she took up the watery stew, dumped it out on the floor, and walked out of the cell. She resecured it behind her and walked away.

Her heart was pounding in her chest, and she feared that at any moment the interrogator would come around a corner or out of a door and see her. She froze in mid-step. "Oh god… no. The others…" She said softly to herself. Melkan had said there were others, the interrogator had said there were others. She looked down at the keys and then back the way she'd come, she looked at the door at the top of a short set of stairs, the exit had to be up there.

'Dammit all… Goan, forgive me.' She thought to herself. She walked back the way she'd come, looking in each cell. Each time she saw one of her people, she made a 'hush' gesture, and walked past, there was one thing she needed as she improvised all this on the fly.

She found a solid wooden door and pressed her ear up against it. Upon hearing no sound within, she tried a few keys on the lock until one worked, then went in. The room was lit with a continual light enchanted item, illuminating a small number of weapons hung along the walls. She took a sword for herself, a long chain with multiple wide circle loops used to attach additional chains on to, and… the other thing she needed, a menacing looking whip.

She wondered how long she had before somebody else came down this way, probably awhile, but she was not prepared to waste a moment.

Moira had to hurry. She moved to the first cell with one of her people and unlocked it, unlocking his chains and then attaching them to the long one meant for leading multiple prisoners. She removed the key from the ring and handed it to him. Then she moved to the next cell and repeated the process. There were nine of them in total.

"Is there anyone else?" She whispered the question as low as she could.

"Maybe a dozen, we don't know the exact number. But they're not here, they're kept in a different area of the prison entirely. Do you want to try to free them?" The man who spoke asked her in a serious but doubtful voice.

"Anyone know where they can be found?" She asked.

"No idea, they separated us, and we know a lot of people didn't survive. Hell, they might already be dead." Another man said sadly.

Moira thought as fast as she could, and then made the call. "No, I wish we could save everyone, but we don't know how many there are, if they're alive, what kind of security there is, or even where they are. We have a chance, but this is all we can do. I'm sorry." She said with a regretful voice that showed she would second guess this decision for the rest of her life.

Nobody argued with her at least.

"Come on, walk in front of me with your head down and start crying and sobbing. Make it good, not too loud, but if anyone sees anything, let it just be a guard with a whip and a sword leading some malcontents out for punishment." Moira said as fast as her lips could form the words.

"Got it." They said together and began to trudge toward the exit with heads down, whimpering and uttering quiet, pathetic pleas for mercy. Behind them, Moira adopted a swagger and twirled her whip arrogantly with a smug, superior sneer on her face.

She was sure other guards heard her, she could hear the echo of their voices in some rooms, but nobody did anything but yell for her to "Give em hell!" She only replied with arrogant laughter, fearing that her speaking voice might not be recognized and thereby draw unwanted attention.

She opened the door to the growing darkness, and it was only after they'd discarded the faux shackles that they breathed a collective sigh of relief.

"Well, now what?" Someone asked.

Moira shrugged. "How the hell should I know?"

 _...Army of the Grand Matriarch…_

Enri rode at the head of the formation next to Lupusregina Beta and the goblin strategist. They were now within sight of Crossroad City, more commonly known as just 'Crossroads'. The sun in the sky was well past its zenith when they began their approach, and that was when the white flag went up on the battlements.

Enri looked over to Sun, and asked him, "Do you think they want to surrender?"

He stroked his long, thin, white beard and said, "No, no, I don't think they plan on doing that."

"What do you think they're up to?" She asked.

"Maybe a prisoner exchange?" He suggested tentatively.

That got Enri's attention. "General Boabdil did say they had some of ours who survived the massacre of the straw army, but will they really give up captives at this point?" She asked.

"It's hard to say, and there's only one way to find out." He said, and looked at her expectantly.

"Hell. Might as well, we won't be fighting till tomorrow anyway at this point." She took the horn up and blew a halt to the march. The white flag was raised a moment later.

"Lupu, you're with me. I'll try not to get you off during this meeting." She said with a wink to the beautiful, smiling sadist who was… somehow, also her best friend.

Lupu winked in return. "Sun, you stay with the army, if they do attempt an assassination, take the city for me." Enri said confidently.

"As you wish, General Enri." The goblin strategist replied.

Lupusregina and Enri trotted forward on their horses up to the halfway mark between the army and the city walls, and a moment later the gate opened enough for three figures to come riding out slowly to meet with them.

"General Boabdil." Enri said politely.

"General Enri." He said with equal courtesy.

"You did very well at the last battle." He said sincerely, "I find it difficult to believe you were ever a helpless, illiterate peasant."

Her eyes narrowed, and she searched his face for insult in his remark on her origins. Lupusregina gave a low, menacing growl from deep in her throat, and the horses of the Theocracy stamped nervously at the ground.

Enri put her hand on Lupusregina's shoulder, "It's alright Lupu, he didn't mean anything by it, at least I don't think he did." She said patiently. The growl cut off.

"Well, believe it or not, I was, and your soldiers did as well as they could under the circumstances, but you never had a chance from the moment that wave hit you, if you had a chance in the first place." She said as gently as she could.

"Could I ask," Boabdil's voice became curious, "was that your magic? I thought we knew almost everything about you, but there was no hint of you being a magic caster in anything I've ever read." He said, baffled.

"That was His Majesty." Lupusregina spoke up with a big, wide grin.

"He was there?" The general asked in shock.

"No, I'm not sure where he was, but it wasn't with us. He was probably at home in Nazarick." Lupusregina said with a grin.

"Then how…?" He started to ask, then halted as Lupusregina looked silently to Enri for advice. Enri nodded.

"Go ahead, tell them." Enri said.

"Something he found out must have made him lose his temper. That wave of wrath and terror you felt was generated when something made him incredibly angry. Now, can you think of anything that might be responsible for that?" Lupusregina asked with exaggerated curiosity, touching one finger to her cheek as she looked up, pretending uncertainty while the three delegate's faces went pale.

"Why did you call for me to come and meet you?" Enri asked, forcing things back on track. "Are you going to surrender the city?" Her voice on the last question was somewhat hopeful, but dubious.

"More professional courtesy than anything. After all, you won't win this battle. We have walls that are very secure, they won't just fall down like the ones at Ikari did. While I did lose much of my army before, I still have many more troops in reserve, plus this is a very martial city, I'll raise the population to arms, and we have, as you can see," he gestured to the large towers positioned at regular intervals along the city walls, "many an answer to the few dragons you have. This won't be an easy fight for you." He said bluntly.

Enri looked at him with the hard eyes that had let her tame ogres. "Hard fight, easy fight, as long as I win, I'm OK with either. And make no mistake, I will win. Crossroads will fall, Wheaton will fall, Kami Miyako will fall. The Slane Theocracy 'might' hold out through the winter, but by spring your nation will be a province and your independence a fading memory. The old gods will not help you, because there is only one god that actually does anything, and he's behind me, not you. The days of your country using people as meat shields, slaughtering peasants, enslaving other races, butchering demihumans just for existing… those days are all over and done. We will win this war, even if we have to tear down your walls so that no brick stands on brick to show that they were ever there at all."

Lupusregina never once adjusted her smiling expression, but as she heard Enri speak, she'd never been so proud of her friend.

Enri's tone had been hard and unforgiving, but she spared some harshness and said with courtesy, "You at least seem to not have steeped yourself in the sins of your country, or the sins they visited on others. Given that, I hope you survive this, I hope the loss of your country grieves you less and less as the years pass, and that you see the coming of a new world, a better world, and that eases whatever pain you feel in the future after this war is over. Now, do we have any other business?" She asked.

He looked at her in utter disbelief, nor was he alone, his companions were equally shocked that she could so casually predict the fall of a country that had endured for some six hundred years, and within such a short span of time.

When they offered no response to her question as they tried to process her disturbing revelations, she decided to offer them one tiny olive branch. "Perhaps we could at least exchange prisoners. I understand you have some of ours, so we'll trade you two of your prisoners for every one of ours." Enri said generously.

"Deal." He said. "We'll have them all brought here to this spot within the hour."

"Alright, I'll see you then." Enri said, and after politely inclining her head, she and Lupusregina turned their horses around and returned to their front line.

"Why did you offer a two for one trade?" Lupusregina asked curiously, "That isn't a very good deal for us."

Enri grinned, "It's a fantastic deal, the only captives they have are ones from the Battle of the Straw Men. Those were remarkably brave soldiers, and they'll be an incredible asset to have back with us. By contrast, many of the ones we got from them are people who ran away or surrendered quickly. We're giving away two sheep, and getting back a wolf, which sounds like a very good deal to me." Enri said with a very sweet expression that bore a hint of maliciousness that Lupusregina found absolutely delightful.

"You've become very impressive, Miss Grand Matriarch." Lupusregina said with an emphatic nod and a broad smile.

"Thanks Lupu, but you know, I admit there is one more thing I didn't mention." She said with a look down at the grass under the feet of their horses. Behind them the camp was being established, hammers were being swung, tents pitched, fires lit for cooking. She dismounted from her horse and led it over to a groomsman, who took both horses from the women.

As Enri walked towards what would become the center of the camp, where her tent was still going up, Lupusregina walked beside her. "Oh, what's that?" Lupusregina asked.

Enri was quiet while she stood and watched her command tent rise up, the tip thrusting towards the sky. "I'm hoping… hoping that maybe Moira will be one of the captives we get back." She said.

"Oh." Was all Lupusregina could say in return.

 **AN: Here, eat it up, don't forget to leave a review. :)**


	98. The Trouble with Victory

**AN: Not formatting this one the way I usually do, I an tired of fixing every damn double space on this, and I've got more chapters to upload, hopefully the default format looks OK when it is rendered. If it doesn't look right to you, let me know in a review.**

 _...Fortress Alaf…_

Leinas stood atop the battlements and looked off into the distance. She turned to Aureole Omega beside her. Aureole laughed in a tittering kind of voice while covering her mouth. "Something funny?" Leinas asked.

Aureole Omega pointed out to the marching ranks that were inching ever closer. "Them." She said.

"How so?" Leinas asked.

"They expect to win." She said.

Leinas started to laugh as well. "We're outnumbered in enemy territory and have no sight of our reinforcements. They've got us beat by ten to one odds, more or less. And yet…" Her laughter stopped and her face expressed the predatory bloodlust of the adamantite adventurer she had been before.

"I pity them." Aureole said.

"Hear that you fucks! You're coming all this way to die! Leinas Rockbruise, General of the Sorcerer King's Army of the Abelion Hills, will have your heads!" She shouted from the ramparts as loudly as she could.

"You're taking this very well." Aureole Omega said sweetly.

"Of course I am." Leinas said, "A thousand specks of dust are nothing to a mountain. How soon do you think they'll get here?" She asked.

"Them?" She pointed to the approaching army.

"Or them?" She pointed to the north behind them.

"Either or both." Leinas replied dryly.

"The Theocracy will be here first." Aureole Omega said, "But the pounding stopped earlier this week, and part of our view of the mountain is gone, so I'm sure they finished the road. By now, Re-Estize has probably been fully occupied, or nearly so, which means King Zanac and General Nimble will be coming south with the Imperial Legions and the Army of Re-Estize very soon."

"That reminds me," Leinas said thoughtfully, "All those prisoners from Philip's army, they're being returned home, right? I read they took an enormous number of people captive."

"I would imagine since they were already armed and equipped, that they're being sent to fight for King Zanac by now." Aureole Omega replied.

"No loyalty issues there?" Leinas asked dubiously.

"You never met Philip, did you?" Aureole said with a dismissive laugh.

"No, was he really that bad?" She asked.

"He was the worst, the very worst, he gave no loyalty and inspired none. Nobody is angry that he's gone." Aureole replied confidently.

"Well fine, but how long will it take them to get here?" Leinas asked.

"Don't you remember what I told you before?" Aureole asked.

"What?" Leinas turned the question back to her.

"I said 'the gloves are off'. Did you forget? His Majesty could open a gate and move them from there to here almost instantly, the only reason not to is to buy them time to prepare themselves. As far as our other more recently acquired allies, well, how much do you know about Jaldabaoth's invasion?" The guardian asked.

"Very little." She admitted.

"The invaders, according to the Sorcerer King, actually left the resistance alone for awhile despite knowing where they were, just so they could be gathered together and crushed. That is what is happening here. The Slane Theocracy is a very, very wealthy nation, it probably has… or had more total power than the Baharuth Empire. Not just in an economic respect, but in their fighting power and resources. Even if we crushed them to dust in an instant, we wouldn't be changing the spirit of their people who believe themselves destined for victory in the end. They'd then undermine the rule of His Majesty. So we are bleeding them dry. They're spending blood and treasure on futile battles, concentrating fighting power in unreliable ways, and allowing us to bring them to abject ruin. When this war is over, the conquered population will no longer believe they could ever have won, and any who doubt it will not have the resources to change anything. We are erasing their beliefs, their culture, their confidence, as well as all the means they have to fight back." Aureole Omega said, and her beautiful laughter rang out over the field before the fortress as she looked to where the enemy armies would assemble.

Leinas looked at her, stunned. "You're… serious."

"I am. He is. We are." She said. "When this is over, everything evil about the Theocracy will be laid bare. Many of their people are guilty of horrible crimes, violating the treaty they themselves signed, and they will cease to be factors. Their best soldiers will either join us by choice or they will perish. Their cities will have no proud walls, their beliefs will hold no power over the hearts and minds of their broken people." Aureole Omega looked at Leinas with shining eyes.

It was an expression Leinas knew well now, Aureole Omega was not looking at her now, she was seeing the days ahead, the way she saw a battlefield with all the sights and sounds that told her where the weakness of their enemies lay to crush them under heel.

"Are… we going to exterminate them, to commit genocide?" Leinas asked in a hushed whisper.

It was several minutes before Aureole Omega came back from her 'vision' and answered, "No, they will do it to themselves. Though depending on their stance, the Argland City Council State might do much as well."

"Argland? Are they joining the war?" Leinas asked.

"No, they're going to conduct the war crimes trials. How many soldiers do you think have visited the brothels of Kami Miyako? Of Wheaton? How many Latifundias do you think there are? How many mines have slit eared elves toiling under the lash? Do you think all the people responsible for doing those things will just walk away as if they'd done nothing wrong?" Aureole asked her doubtfully.

Leinas began to drift off into her own thoughts as she began to imagine the numbers, the staggering numbers of 'guilty' that would stand before the juries of Argland.

"Now, how many of those who are guilty do you think have children of their own? You have been to E-Rantel, did he leave the children to die in the gutter?" Aureole asked probingly.

Leinas's eyes glazed over as understanding dawned.

"He's… you're not serious? He'll take the children, won't he?" Leinas asked, in her mind she pictured countless institutions dotted around a newly forged empire, with the children of the Slane Theocracy, most of them, either occupying his state run organizations or fostered out to his firmest supporters.

"General Enri seized every child who lived on the Latifundias around Ikari, and she probably had it done inside the walls as well. She'll do the same at Crossroads after she's won there, and the same will happen at every single Theocracy city and town of significant size. All the children of the die-hards, which is to say 'the guilty', will grow up being educated under a new system, a new way, His Majesty's way. Where then will their loyalty lie, to whom will they look to as their god, their supreme king?" Aureole Omega asked with a serene expression on her face.

Leinas saw it as the guardian laid it all out for her. This was not just 'a' war, this was not just a religious conflict, this was the erasing of an entire people. In a generation after this was over, nothing of the old Slane Theocracy's culture would be the same, most of it would be gone, and all future generations would grow up instilled with absolute loyalty to the one who conquered them.

"This isn't like any war I've ever fought." Leinas said softly, disbelieving the future she clearly saw.

"No, it isn't. This is to be 'the last' war he ever intends to fight on these lands. He will erase the old barriers and destroy the old ways. Every time you swing your sword and make an orphan out of the child of a fanatic, you guarantee that the child will grow up with their loyalty better placed than that of their fathers." Aureole Omega said. "This isn't a war over borders, and it is even bigger than the question of the nature of our king. We're fighting for a new world, a better world, and all new worlds are built on the battlefields of the old. That is why he laid out the rules he did, to lay a foundation for all that he wants the new world to be." The tranquil voice of the guardian pounded into Leinas Rockbruise's brain like hammer blows striking a bar of molten metal.

A struggle warred on the general's face, "Is this really right? Does it have to be this way?" She asked in a hushed voice.

"Would you rather it be done the way the Theocracy would do it? With the wholesale extermination of every man, woman, and child? Would you prefer to do it the way of Re-Estize, in which any potential threat is ground down to poverty and despair so that they can never rise? Or in the Elf King's way, through abject terror?" Aureole asked her seriously.

"No… no, you're right. This is a terrible thing, erasing an entire people, something I've never even imagined before, but… this is kinder than anything else he could do. Their children will grow up, have children, grow old, there will be nothing of the old nightmares to haunt them, and they will prosper. I've seen his rule, it is good, but the sheer scale of this? I never imagined it until you said it just now." Her voice was breathless and low as she forced the words out.

"I…" She froze, then looked at the advancing army with a new hatred. Resting her hands on the crenelations of the ramparts, she leaned forward and shouted at the oncoming force. "You stupid, stupid fools! You're destroying yourselves! Don't you get it?! You're destroying yourselves! Stop! Stop! Stop!" She shouted again and again, her entire body shaking in rage.

"Feel better?" Aureole Omega asked indulgently.

"Yes." Leinas replied flatly.

"No way they heard you." She replied.

"I know." Leinas replied.

"How are you feeling about all this now?" Aureole asked curiously.

Leinas turned her gaze away from the marching dots and looked at her comrade. "I'm less than pleased, but… I'll make a lot of orphans when they get here, as many as I can, so that it doesn't have to happen twice."

"Good." Aureole said frankly.

"No, it isn't, but there is no other option. If there were, the Sorcerer King would have used it instead." Leinas replied, "If he's doing it this way, it must be the best way."

'Her attitude is the correct one.' Aureole Omega privately noted.

…Yaksun...

Queen Draudillon sat in the governor's office. Restoring order after their victory over the Slane Theocracy had been relatively simple, the sudden shock of the magic that poured out of her own mouth like a dragon's fire made of angelic light had utterly demolished the city's sense of pride. The death of Regan, however unfortunate, broke their spirits like her magic had broken the gate.

Most of the soldiers died in the fighting nonetheless, desperate men pushed to desperate lengths, but when it was over and her soldiers swarmed the streets, there was no further dispute about who had won that day.

She spent the first day of her rule simply writing death notifications and overseeing the funerals of the fallen. The first day of fighting had given them a butcher's bill on the wall. Almost a thousand of her people had died on that attempt by itself, her largest casualty figure so far. It took hours of moving her hand over documents to sign all the condolence letters by hand.

She envied Vermillion back at the palace, and as she looked at the rolls of the dead, she missed her alcohol. However, her first action was to distribute every ounce of the stuff in the manor to her soldiers outside.

She grabbed her wrist and rotated her hand. It was sore from all the writing, but given the significance of the content above each signature, she couldn't complain. Not in good conscience anyway. So she sat, and she signed her name again and again until the last notice was completed.

She rang the bell and General Musan entered, followed by two soldiers. "General Musan, have these dispatched today, and send a note to Vermillion reminding him to keep sufficient reserves of gold and silver on hand to make death benefit payouts to the deceased." She pushed a stack of documents to the end of the desk. She then reached over to the left and set them in front of her. "These are for the other three hundred, the ones who gave their lives for my magic. Any with criminal offenses are to have their criminal records burned, all their houses are to be given noble titles and lands, any children of theirs are to be given admission to the academy of their choosing at the crown's expense, and have them posthumously knighted for their sacrifice." She pushed that last set of documents over.

"How bad was it?" He asked.

"We lost roughly one thousand the first day, and if you include the three hundred who sacrificed themselves, then we lost some fifteen hundred all total. Given that we started the campaign with thirty thousand and we lost five hundred or so at the Forlorn Fortress, we've now lost one fifteenth of our army in total, barring any reinforcements. And speaking of reinforcements..." She looked at him expectantly.

"Roughly five thousand reinforcements left the capital and are on their way. They'll occupy the Forlorn Fortress for one day to rest, then march south to join us." General Musan said proudly.

His pride was well justified. Because most of the Draconic Kingdom's population had been consumed during their last war, those who remained were not generally wealthy or fit, and for that many to volunteer was no small thing. It spoke volumes about their new confidence since the purges, and when the rewards and death benefits started to flow back from the Queen's will, it was beyond question that many more would volunteer to swell the ranks of her little army.

Still, it 'was' only a small army. A single pitched fight could end them all.

"Your Majesty?" General Musan asked as he saw her sink into thought.

"General Musan, how many farms surround this area?" The Queen asked.

"Hmm, I don't believe we have an exact number, but there is a lot of open ground between here and Wheaton, so probably quite a few." He said thoughtfully.

"How many slaves are on those farms, and do you think they would appreciate a chance to fight back?" She asked, then added, "And what do you think it would do to their last harvest if we took all the manpower needed to harvest those crops?"

General Musan got a contented smile on his face, "Over an area that wide, there may be around ten thousand slaves. Most of the farms this far east are fairly small, so it'll take at least a week, but if there are any Latifundia in the area, well, that'll be a considerable boost. If we take their slaves and their food reserves, they'll have to pull people from the army or draw supplies from elsewhere. We also won't have to worry about an army marching east to take us down because they won't have the supplies to march that far."

"So? Let's do that then." The Queen said serenely. "Oh, and send me General Oma, I want to see how her inspection of the city here has been going."

"Your Majesty." He said with a deep bow, and taking up the documents, he departed with his aides.

An hour later General Oma was in front of her. "What have you learned?" The Queen asked formally.

"Your Majesty, there were only three thousand slaves inside these walls, only about one thousand of them are capable of fighting, and…" The general trailed off, her olive skin looked pale.

"What is it?" Queen Draudillon asked, feeling the chill that came over General Oma.

"Your Majesty, I don't…" She was clearly trying to speak. The Queen waited.

"General? Out with it." She said forcefully.

"Majesty, did you ever 'see' the beastmen invasion?" General Oma asked.

An odd question and it left her with a very bad feeling.

"No. Why?" Queen Draudillon asked.

"I did. You sent me east, remember? We managed to take back a settlement, mainly by choking the beastmen in our blood, but we took it. It was just a little nothing town out in the sticks, and when we took stock of what we won, nobody felt it was a victory. I went to the largest building, it had been turned into a kind of 'dining hall' by the beastmen. What I saw there, I will never forget. The blood on the walls and floor was bad enough, but what was done to the people... Some of them had obviously been alive while they'd been either eaten or tormented, as shown by the horror on their faces. We took a few beastmen captive, and after I saw that, I had them tortured to death." General Oma's voice was that of calm horror at the recollection, her entire body shook at the memory.

Queen Draudillon was not unaware of the horrors of the invasion, but even so, seeing the normally unflappable General Oma react this way, it had to have been awful, and she had a distinctly twisted feeling that there was a connection here.

"Why are you telling me this?" She asked.

As if she had not heard the question, the General continued, "I always believed to my core, even after torturing those captives to death, that we were 'the good guys', we were the heroes, that humans were decent. Even with my… ahem, heritage being obvious enough to have drawn some small hostility, I still proudly counted myself human, and thought we were basically, uniformly decent as a people, at least compared to the utter brutality, cruelty, violence, and vile barbarism of the other races, that is what I thought anyway."

"And?" The Queen prompted.

The General's fists balled up, she rigidly bent forward tensely, shut her eyes, and screamed, "We are the beastmen! Or worse! We're the monsters they're fighting against! Majesty I… the... I can't even say it… please, go see for yourself!" There were tears forcing their way past her tightly shut eyes.

Queen Draudillon slowly stood. "Show me." She said, "Take me there. The Queen would see what you've discovered."

General Oma nodded mutely, and with nervous steps, forgetting all etiquette about bowing or even saluting, she walked out the door.

When they were outside the manor they mounted horses and rode off in silence. The General led her to a quarter of the city near the western wall, a large but unassuming building with a small open pavilion around it, complete with trees and benches. It wasn't bad to look at, a nice place for people to rest at least. However, flanking the only door were two guards who looked very sick. They glared hatefully at every citizen of the city that passed by.

"Through there, Your Majesty, it is safe, we've swept it. The ones who 'worked' there are very much dead, but we've left the 'other occupants' in place, for you to see for yourself before we remove them." General Oma said in a quivering voice.

Queen Draudillon looked at her uncertainly, but she nodded encouragingly, and the Queen approached the door, she touched it and looked to the guards. Their eyes were red and staring blankly, and the only emotion to change their faces was an uncontainable animosity that resurfaced every time they looked at the people who lived in the city.

She had a very bad feeling about this. She gingerly pushed open the door, her heart pounding in her breast as she closed it behind her. General Oma stood outside, it was unthinkable to not accompany her Majesty, but she couldn't go back in there.

A few minutes later, why that was, the Queen now clearly knew. She could hear the Queen screaming, the guards at the door didn't move, they knew it wasn't danger, it was horror. The screaming kept going, they knew what it was, she was going from room to room in the building, and could not find any better reaction, or muster any other.

After a time, she came out the door again, her heart, which had already been pounding, was breaking. There was a simmering hatred in the eyes of the Draconic Queen.

"General Oma, order our soldiers gathered. I know some have questioned this war, some have questioned my decision, they've wondered what we're really fighting for. I don't have a perfect answer to that beyond what satisfies me, but I want the entire army to see what we're fighting against. Line them up outside, have them walk through here, that should answer any doubts about the side we're on. Then after that, gather the entire population of the city, outside the walls, we're going to file them all through here too, I want them to see what their side is like, without concealment to hide it from them all." Queen Draudillon's voice was low with terror, not fear for herself, but the embodiment of someone aching to make another one suffer.

Her instructions were not finished, however. "Keep some of our soldiers back after they've gone through and have them carefully watch the faces of those who exit this place. Any who do not appear horrified are either responsible or knew first hand. They are to be imprisoned until we can call for some special assistance." She said with a voice of royal wrath.

"Special assistance, Your Majesty?" General Oma asked.

"Yes, I know of one who is very skilled at punishing the remorseless guilty." The Queen said, her voice becoming calm and almost tranquil.

"It will be done, Your Highness." General Oma said.

Within an hour, soldiers were lined up outside. The citizens of Yaksun were baffled beyond words at this strange behavior, and while many questions were asked, none received an answer. But when the citizens saw soldiers enter the building and the screaming and wailing begin, and more than a few exited with vomit being wiped from their faces, rumors began to flow like water down hill.

Citizens of the city gathered to watch, many made jokes and laughed, and some enterprising merchants even began to set up stalls as the people gathered to enjoy the discomfort of the hated occupiers.

That was how it had begun. Then the citizens were herded outside the walls, all of them, they were made to line up, there were no exceptions, not for age, or sex, or infirmity, and those who could not walk were to be carried.

Anxiety began to build and grow, fury and anger at this potential humiliation were the most common expressions.

That was until the first walked through the doors, and they heard the screams of their own countrymen, and their own emerged, white with horror and distress under the loathing eyes of the soldiers of the Draconic Kingdom.

Little by little, person by person, citizen by citizen, their feelings changed to something else.

Shame.

It took a long time for the people to pass through those doors and see what their own had been privately up to. Some came out, not realizing that this was a test to see if they were aware of the private hell that had existed in those walls, or had even participated in it. They emerged with calm eyes and were immediately seized and shackled.

When the last citizen had gone through and came out changed forever, there were three hundred or so residents that had been arrested by the Queen's soldiers.

One of them had the temerity to shout, "They were only elves!" as he was shackled and he tried to struggle.

It was only after the citizens who had passed through and were mutely walking away turned to glare at him that he realized speaking had been a very bad idea.

One of the citizens, a boy with the scraggly half beard and face that showed he was just becoming a man, with his face already turned white as new cotton sheets looked at him as if he were a monster. The boy was shaking, and his peasant garb had a damp spot on it where he had presumably lost some control over his guts. At his side was a water skin, he took it off, and it being the only thing he had to hand, he threw it at the man who dared to speak. He shrieked in the cracked voice of youth, and as if a dam had burst, those who stood close by who had not left the area, took up his outrage as their own. They threw objects of their own, and any doubt about why 'those' people were being detained and others were not, was wiped from thought.

The guards watching over the prisoners quickly formed up, surrounding the group of people they'd detained, but outrage was growing. Someone threw a rock that hit one of the prisoners in the eye. He fell to his knees, shaking and clutching the injury. Another rock, and someone fell with his teeth shattered.

"Keep order here!" Queen Draudillon shouted, but the crowd couldn't hear her, a knife came out, and the bearer rushed the prisoners. "Gotta kill em, gotta kill em, gotta kill em" was all he said as he strained to force his way past the Draconic Kingdom's guards.

They were at a loss of what to do, calls for order couldn't be heard, the people who waited to go inside were paralyzed with fear, but those who came out, once they realized who was responsible for what was made to exist within their city, joined the rioters. "Bar the door till order is restored!" Queen Draudillon commanded, hoping to stop the angry mob, she cantered about on her horse, staying out of the way of her soldiers, but they were trained for killing, not for nonlethal control, not to guard men this way.

However, more importantly… they didn't want to. They didn't want to protect the fiends behind them, they didn't want to stop the wrath, they wanted to heap it down upon their charges, so when the first rioter to make a gap, pushed the soldier aside, they made only a half hearted resistance as they fell back, instead surrounding the Queen, who though she called out for order, could not gain it back. Feet rose and fell, bricks went up and came down, ears were cut and bones were broken, bruises and pain were given. It was over in a matter of minutes, but even when the prisoners were dead, the ones out for their blood did not stop beating their corpses. It was only after they had utterly exhausted themselves and fell to their knees in the pavillion, when they were reduced to feebly raising and dropping their fists, that it could have been called 'over'.

Queen Draudillon turned to her guards, "Arrest these, confine them, but do no harm to them, I will deal with them later. Anyone else who is to be arrested, remove them from the area immediately and confine them separately from these."

"What of the bodies?" A guard asked.

Queen Draudillon looked down from her horse at the man who spoke. "Leave them for anyone else who comes out to beat upon if they wish, they may as well have some use to us."

"General Oma," she called out, and the woman rode over, "I'm going to be busy crafting a letter to explain what happened here, I have to report my failure to the Sorcerer King. Come see me tomorrow, I may have to put you in charge if I am called away to account for myself. If I don't come back, support Vermillion as King in my place, unless the Sorcerer King appoints someone else."

General Oma went pale. "Majesty you can't… you aren't at fault for this." She said emphatically.

"I am. I didn't take the prisoners away, I left them in reach with inadequate guard, I'm sure they all deserved it, but I let a riot break out, and I'm not going to further disgrace myself by lying about it. Thank you for your confidence, but to be in this skin of mine is to be accountable for everything under my authority." She said with displeasure, General Oma bowed deeply, and held the bow as the Queen rode away. Her mouth turned down in a deep frown and her face green with disgust.

When the last of it was done under General Oma's watch, the city was as silent as Wenmark. Some of the population couldn't bear what they'd seen, and in the next few days there was a spike in suicides, some of the infirm and elderly died when their hearts simply refused to beat anymore, no longer wishing to be a party to that world.

The Black Justice priests that had joined her army, along with a few priests of the old gods, did their best to heal the victims they found, but even with their bodies restored, most only wanted to end their own lives as soon as they were able, and they were allowed the private dignity to do so. Nobody felt they had the right to tell them to keep living, not after that. Others craved revenge, or wanted to live to see those responsible suffer in return, and they immediately joined the ranks of Queen Draudillon.

There were no slaves left in Yaksun after that, but there was also no pride left in the city, to the 'relative' credit of the citizens who lived there. Being confronted with what lay within their walls, what Regan had been fighting to protect, kept their heads hanging low, and any thoughts of rebellion were stifled by weight of shame alone.

The next day, Queen Draudillon was attending to several documents pertaining to supply acquisition as cavalry rode out to farms beyond the city when General Oma returned to her.

"Something on your mind?" The Queen asked rhetorically.

"Majesty, how many do you think really knew?" She asked, she didn't have to clarify what she meant.

"I don't know. I sent off a request for…" The Queen froze for a moment, she had almost said 'a friend', but her own shame at her role in what had happened to the erinyes would not allow her such a word, "for some assistance from a helpful intelligence operative."

"The one that sees remorseless guilt the way I see you? The blonde girl, hell, I can't remember her name." General Oma said.

"Yes, if we can get her for a day, well we should get everybody responsible. The city stays on lockdown till then, any citizen who tries to get out will be summarily executed." The Queen said coldly. "None of them will escape for this, and I owe her a… meal."

"Do you think the Sorcerer King knew about this place?" General Oma asked.

Queen Draudillon shook her head, "I honestly don't know. It may be that he did, and that is why he made an army conquering this otherwise relatively small region a priority. He probably knows a lot more than he lets on, dispensing just enough so that we can work out what he wants us to do. He seems to lead us to the answers more often than he gives them to us. It seems to be part of what makes him such a genius of a ruler. If I were to guess, he knew we'd find things 'like this' but not that exact building, otherwise we'd have been given specific target buildings instead of target cities."

"That makes sense." General Oma said thoughtfully. "How long do we remain here?" She asked.

"Not long, I'll leave three thousand behind to hold the city and then we'll move out. There are seven objectives left for us to take, then we will have done our part and captured the entire eastern third of the Slane Theocracy." The Queen said as she looked at a map hung on the wall.

"Do you think we'll find more… like here?" General Oma asked in a haunted voice.

"I don't know, if someone had said a month ago I'd find anything like that at all, well I would have called them a liar. But now? Now I don't know. This one was apparently a 'minor amusement' of some sort for a few twisted individuals, and the rest of the city is now forever shamed by association. Rule here should at least be peaceful as a result. But elsewhere? Fortresses probably won't have much, but our inspections will remain very, very thorough." She said angrily.

"And if we do find more?" General Oma asked.

"The Theocracy likes fire a lot, don't they?" The Queen asked rhetorically.

The General answered anyway. "They do."

"Then we'll give them all the fire they like." The Queen said spitefully, and when she laughed and clenched her fists hard enough to snap her quill, General Oma laughed with her.


	99. Fifth Column

**AN: Reuploaded due to formatting error. Fucking FFN. If you don't recognize the character of Chindai or his wives, read 'Dark Plains' where they're introduced. I was a little iffy about even mentioning 'past players' but the player won't ever 'appear' and they serve only as foreshadowing for a future event and an explanation for the Dark Elf culture so...I can live with it, I think it works. Leave your own opinion in the reviews.**

 _...Kami Miyako…_

Raymond looked around him as he walked the streets of his city, or more accurately, Dominic's city. The streets were dark and a gentle rain was coming down, night had fallen over the capital of the Slane Theocracy. Most people were home asleep, the shops and restaurants were closed, only a few buildings would be open at this hour. Inns, brothels, bars, and places that were all three.

He wasn't Zesshi, even as good as he was, he couldn't be certain that he could slaughter an establishment without meaningful opposition.

But this, this he could do. He quickly located the house he sought. It was a large place, built for the most part with bricks rather than wood. That alone made it stand out, but the quality of the wood was equally impressive. It had been sanded down to a fine, smooth finish before being painted a solid white that, in the daylight, must have been quite pleasant to look at.

For all the beauty outside, however… Raymond bit his tongue and checked the area around him one more time. No sound, no noise, no one.

He crept to the side of the house and jumped back and forth between it and the neighboring residence, using each push off the wall to propel him higher until he got to the top floor.

He raised the window and slipped in, drawing his sword as he stood back up while taking slow, deep breaths. It was darker inside than outside and he quickly concealed himself, as a shadow dwelling among shadows. His heart didn't pound in his chest the way it did in his younger, more 'green' years, but this was still 'murder' and that bothered him.

Not much.

But a little.

He moved to the door of his target, pressing his ear to it for a brief moment. After hearing no sound within, he pushed the door gently open and slipped inside. There was a little light from a window where the moon shone down, it fell directly on the target, asleep in his bed.

The man was smiling, apparently having a good dream. Raymond moved beside the bed, standing silently over him. He raised his sword high, holding it with both hands, and then brought it down hard into the man's head, piercing his brain and abruptly ending the dream.

Raymond withdrew his sword, lifting the dead man's head slightly off his pillow as he did so. He then wiped the sword clean on the bed and returned it to his sheath.

He felt a great well of satisfaction as Hangan Bale's blood dripped slowly off the bed and onto the floor. He'd been the largest slave owner in Kami Miyako, and left behind several greedy, lazy heirs.

Raymond went quietly downstairs and out the front door, calmly closing it behind him. He returned to his estate as if nothing had ever happened.

Berenice and Ginedine were waiting in his study. "Couldn't sleep?" He asked them.

"No." Berenice replied, biting her lip.

"Not a wink." Ginedine said as he fidgeted with a book he was holding on his lap.

Raymond took his seat behind his replacement desk. "Well, you can sleep soundly knowing that Hangan will sleep forever. Thanks to his stupid, greedy heirs there will be a glut on the slave market very soon. Ginedine, I assume you're ready to buy them up for our little operation?"

"Absolutely. I had a servant acquire a few acres to the south. For some reason, the family that lived there just decided they didn't want to farm anymore and donated it all to a temple one of my servants does the books for. That temple happened to be very generous about selling the land to a newly formed entity dedicated to providing food for the citizens and soldiers of the Slane Theocracy." He kept his face blank and his voice deadpan as he said it.

Raymond however, had a large smile on his face.

"Berenice, what about you?" He asked.

"I had a servant buy up a number of old wagons, nothing fancy, but suitable for transporting people or goods, and some farm equipment. For some reason, the servant then 'quit', and I believe he applied to work as a finance officer with some new organization aiming to start farming a few miles south of here. It's just so hard to find good help these days." She said with a heavy sigh and a very big smirk.

"Well then, everything is moving along as it should, isn't it? Of course, we can't expect that to last forever, but if we can keep Dominic and his allies focused elsewhere, then we should be able to accomplish quite a bit." Raymond said thoughtfully.

There suddenly came a knock at the door, and they all stiffened simultaneously. "Sir, I saw you come in, and I thought maybe I could bring you some tea." A sweet voice said from beyond the entrance.

They each exhaled heavily when they recognized the voice. "Come in, Nua." Raymond said with noticeable relief. The door cracked open, and in slipped an elf girl of small height and slender frame with long blond hair and darting, nervous eyes, bearing a tray with three cups and saucers.

"Nua, you forgot something." Raymond said with a frown.

"Sir?" She asked with a quivering lip.

"You forgot yours. I keep telling you, you're not a slave in this house. If I'm having tea, then you should feel welcome to have some as well." He said patiently.

"O-Oh ah, sir, I didn't really want any." She said quickly.

As she set the tea down in front of the three cardinals, he looked at her pointedly, she was eyeballing the cup that had the most sugar in it.

"Nua, go get yourself some tea. It's alright." He said gently.

"Ah, thank you sir." She said, and saw herself out as fast as her feet could carry her.

"Why does she call you 'sir' if you're trying to convince her that she's not a slave?" Berenice asked uncertainly.

Raymond closed his eyes, rubbed his forehead, and let out a very heavy sigh. "It's the best I can do with her so far. She's very much on edge; it took a week just to convince her that I wasn't trying to trick her into misbehaving as an excuse to punish her. It took another week to convince her that she wasn't just a well treated slave, that I wasn't going to do anything to her. Frankly, I should be happy with this much progress. She's been a slave longer than I've been alive." Raymond said with a catch in his voice that he did not, could not, conceal.

"Have you heard from the Sorcerer King yet?" Ginedine asked, shifting the subject.

"Not yet. However, I did speak with Lady Albedo, the 'Guardian Overseer' which seems to be their equivalent of a Prime Minister, the head of the government under the Sorcerer King. She and her chief advisor, Lord Demiurge, seemed to favor my request, and I think we can count on help of some sort." Raymond replied hopefully.

"I hope so." Berenice said.

"The same." Ginedine added.

"Agreed. It would be nice if, before I die, I could begin to atone for what I did to that girl." Raymond said, and picked up his cup of tea, its warmth hitting his tongue along with the faintest hint of sweetness. Nua had done a fine job making it.

 _...Roble Holy Kingdom…_

Robel's last few days had been nothing if not busy. Preparing the town of Commonton to go on the offensive had been a shock to many of those who had sought refuge there. But after Astrakian loyalists had attempted to slaughter them, just to advance farther east? Oh, they were more than pleased to strike back when he explained what they were going to do.

More importantly, they had the numbers to do it.

"So, what do you think our odds are?" A large spear-wielding bafolk walking beside him asked.

"Very good actually. The force we faced wasn't the biggest of the war, but we were a soft target, relatively speaking of course. And if I had to guess, I'd say that since they had nothing but victory over little villages and small towns till now, the usurper king won't be expecting us to come knocking on his back door." Robel said with a deep and savage laugh.

"Perhaps not, but how long will it take us to travel all the way to Hoburns?" The bafolk asked.

"You weren't part of the invasion back then?" Robel asked. Anyone who had invaded the Holy Kingdom, or at least most of them, had been to the capital one or more times before everything turned around on them.

"You ask that in a strange way, human." The bafolk said.

"Call me Robel." He said politely. "But what do you mean I ask it in a strange way?"

"Like it would not matter if I had been. I know what my kind did to yours." He said, "Are you not thirsty for revenge against us?" His voice was unusual, quite hard to describe, but Robel thought he sounded incredulous.

"The invasion was ghastly, but everybody suffered. Jaldabaoth tormented those who served him and those who didn't. When the Sorcerer King came along and wiped out the invasion, I figure you lost as many or more than we did, probably many more." Robel said, and looked at the bafolk for confirmation. It nodded slowly in reply.

"So, let's call it even. You were forced to invade, and we were forced to wipe you out. Jaldabaoth is dead now, and we are what's left, so I'd rather not have to worry about your children killing mine, and I'm sure you don't want mine killing yours. So, why don't we spare both our children the risks of fighting tomorrow by burying the hatchet today?" Robel said practically.

"You may be very wise, Robel. I hope that wisdom extends to how to win battles." The bafolk said.

"Me too. By the way, I didn't get your name." Robel said with a wry grin on his face.

"You couldn't possibly pronounce it, just call me 'Ba'." The bafolk replied.

"Baaaa it is then." Robel said with a smirk.

That was when he learned the immutable truth that yes, demihumans can and do facepalm. Ba slapped his hand to the long bridge of his face and with a shake of his head said, "Please do not pronounce it that way, my brothers and sisters will never let me hear the end of it."

"You got it, Ba." Robel said cheerfully, "Now, to answer your question, we'll be at Hoburns in about a week or so. According to what I've heard, Skana is somewhere west of us, so if possible I'd like to link up with her to give us a few thousand extra soldiers, but if I can't make contact, we'll just have to make do."

"You don't think we'll encounter another large army?" Ba asked dubiously.

"No, not really. Astraka is probably starting to run out of people willing to fight for him about now. He was never very popular in the north in the first place, and thanks to the efforts of Gustav and his people, supplies among the southern nobles are significantly harder to come by, so they can't really get together what they need in order to send large numbers north to help their guy out, so he's basically alone. We win at Prart, we win at Hoburns, and then we can invade the south."

"How will you take the city though?" Ba asked. "We have many with us now, and I am sure more of your people will help along the way, adding to our strength, but we lack siege engines, and we have no engineers. We do have tools, but we cannot build towers to take the walls, and ladders are easy targets." Ba said unhappily.

"Well, we will have some help. Astraka has made a lot of enemies, and Hoburns was where Black Justice got its real start. Trust me, we'll make it in, we'll just need a little help first." He said with satisfaction.

"I guess I'll trust you then, I have no other choice." Ba said with resignation.

"That's… Ok, that's not quite the spirit, but hey, it'll work out." Robel said, his cheerful grin still in place.

Though he smiled outwardly, the harrowing loss of Gilcrest still ate at him within the quietness of his mind. But here, now, on his way to avenge his friend, there was nothing he could do but put on a brave face and march towards the front lines where heroes were either born, made, or butchered.

 _...Nazarick…_

Ainz was on his throne taking reports from the guardians, it was always a little nerve racking. However, with the passage of time he had gotten more used to being up there and looking down at their kneeling forms as they spoke. He had, little by little over the years, become more comfortable in the role that had been thrust upon him.

"So, you're able to keep heads alive for several hours now? That is considerable progress Demiurge, very well done. However, I understand the goal is 'indefinite', so where do we stand in regard to that?" He asked. "What further experiments will you perform?"

"My lord, I would humbly ask that we be given more living bodies to test with. The current number is almost all used up, so I have temporarily called a halt to our experiments until we have either refined our techniques further or until we have more subjects to work with." Demiurge replied.

"Finding new subjects will not remain problematic for long, but you said 'our experiments'?" Ainz asked curiously.

"Yes, my lord. Vanysa has been assisting me when her duties permit her. She has been quite useful." Demiurge said politely.

"Well, as long as it gets done, you may borrow whomever you need so long as it does not impact their duties. I will speak with her later to commend her on her… efficacy." Ainz said, making a mental note to find out where she'd learned anything that could be useful to Demiurge.

"Aura, Mare, what can you tell me?" Ainz asked.

"My Lord, I visited the Dark Elf Khanate, and Chindai Khan has assured me that he has eighty thousand ready to ride south on your order, and they are 'very' eager to pay a visit to the Slane Theocracy." She said with her customary enthusiasm.

"Do they require anything that will aid them in their success?" Ainz asked.

"Nothing special, Chindai has asked that some additional runecrafted gear be provided to his war leaders to ensure their safety in command positions, but he has also asked that he be permitted to come here in person to swear his allegiance to you before the campaign." Aura replied as she recited his request from memory.

"Reasonable requests, does he stand ready now?" Ainz asked.

"I had him stand where I left him for just this purpose my lord, himself and his wives." She said.

"His wives?" Ainz asked curiously.

"Yes, my lord, apparently among the dark elves a household oath is not valid unless its head and the head's spouse give it. As he has two wives, they would come with him to secure his bond, and if any one of them should attempt to break that oath, it falls to the others to kill the breaker and offer the head to the one they would have wronged." Aura said in a voice that suggested she rather approved.

"Would you like to visit them again some time?" Ainz asked her.

She thought it over for a moment, "I guess they're not too boring. Yes, my Lord, plus I'll bet they have rare monsters I haven't seen yet." She scratched her cheek and gave him a broad, full faced, childish smile.

"After the war, you're authorized an immediate two week vacation to their country, guest rules apply." Ainz said, gesturing to Albedo beside him to make note of it.

"Mare, what of you?" He asked.

"L-Lord Ainz, the road through the Understone Empire is cut all the way through the pass, Gargantua has finished his work and awaits your order on the other side. I-It isn't laid yet, b-but I talked to the dwarf council and th-they'll have it paved all the way through in t-two weeks or less. A-Also, they offer five hundred direwolf riders and magicine infantry as a token of their allegiance to serve alongside th-the dark elves." Mare said anxiously.

"Very good Mare, is there any way I can reward you for all your hard work?" Ainz asked.

"I-I can't th-think of anything now, b-but I will, I promise." he said hurriedly.

"As you like." Ainz said gently. "Open a gate for Chindai and his wives, I will take their oaths." He said.

A few moments later, out of a gate stepped a tall, well-muscled but rather slender looking dark elf, followed by an elf woman of the south, followed by a dark elf woman tanned like the man Ainz assumed was Chindai. Their hands were held open in front of them, palms out to show that they bore no arms.

To his surprise, they did not lose their senses as they entered his throne room, gawking was the norm, but they had mentally prepared themselves well enough that they treated it as any other.

The trio proceeded toward the front center of the steps, standing beside Aura, Mare, and Demiurge, and then sank down to one knee with their eyes downcast.

"Raise your heads and speak." Ainz commanded.

Chindai almost couldn't manage it, he'd heard that this being was undead, but the noble voice, the size, the sheer power and charisma emanating from this being was such that he could scarcely accept what his eyes were telling him, let alone the crackling sense of authority and power that radiated from this entity.

Out of the corner of his eye, he could tell his wives felt exactly as he did, and he didn't think anyone in the khanate of the dark elves would fault them. However, he had promised himself he would not disgrace his name or station at such an important hour, and so he forced himself to raise his head.

"Sorcerer King, I am Chindai Khan, ruler of the plains, in large part it seems, thanks to your aid. You have fulfilled a dream of my childhood by making possible the unity of my people and ending the influence of the Slane Theocracy. In gratitude and reverence, my wives and I offer you our oath." He said clearly, doing his best to keep his voice from trembling in awe.

"Make it then." Ainz said briefly, looking down at the trio.

The three spoke together as if they had practiced it many times. "We of the tent of Chindai, Khan of the plains, offer to the Great Khan, the Sorcerer King, Ainz Ooal Gown, the allegiance of our tent, and the service of ourselves, and our heirs, to the ending of the plains themselves. Our bows, our swords, our lives are yours, and our service will be a testament to your greatness. So say we all."

"The oath is made." Ainz said, "Lady Khava, Lady Ryla, Khan Chindai, I will remember your oaths, and speak of them to your heirs until the end of all things, thus will your names live on, should you serve me well." Ainz said in a reserved, dignified voice.

"You will have your revenge on the Slane Theocracy. You may begin to move south immediately after the soldiers from the Understone Empire have joined you, they are few, but will serve well to your security and flexibility in battle. You will go south to provide support to Fortress Alaf, where General Leinas Rockbruise and Guardian Aureole Omega are under siege. Turn back the Theocracy, defeat and destroy their army, and let them know the danger of meddling in the north for a thousand generations." Ainz said in a fierce and valiant voice as he sat on his throne, looking sternly down at them.

The faces of the three leaders of the new kingdom were ablaze with happiness and barely contained enthusiasm at the prospect.

"One thing, you mentioned the term, 'Great Khan'?" Ainz's voice went curious.

"Yes, my Lord. Many, many, many centuries ago there came among us one who united our people and led them to the plains. He gave us our traditions, and ruled over us for many years until his death. It is from him that we drew words like Khan and Khanate, and some of our customs which separate us from our neighbors." Chindai said, his own voice becoming curious in turn.

"My Lord, forgive this new servant for asking, but what brings you to ask such a question?" Chindai asked.

Ainz reached into his pocket dimension and pulled out a bow, it was one used by players around level sixty, worthless really, compared to Nazarick, but if he was right... "Did he use a bow… like this one?" Ainz asked. The bow was a magnificent golden colored wood, a recurved shape with strips of black with words etched in the Sogdian script along the edges.

The jaws of Ryla, Khava, and Chindai fell open, and they flung themselves forward onto their faces. "Are you the Great Khan come again?" Chindai asked reverentially.

"No, I just wondered if your lives were tied to someone I knew… a long, long time ago." He said as he lost himself in thought, and looked away as if looking into the distant past, adopting 'ancient undead pose number five'.

"Did he introduce himself as Chengis and have a fondness for dancing, and absolutely no talent for it?" Ainz asked, chuckling at the thought.

Chindai looked up and smiled, "The stories say he was a terrible dancer, and that name is correct, but, you have his bow?" He asked.

"Not his, a similar one though, and he's passed on you say?" Ainz sighed, "I suppose it was inevitable."

'So, other players did make it to different points in time, and different places, we'll have to widen our search. I wonder if the location a person was located in our world, influenced where they appeared in this one…' Ainz thought to himself, glad at least that it was not one of his guildmates who died.

He shook the thought off, "Well, I will rule well in his stead. You may return to your homes, but be ready to ride south tomorrow when the dwarves arrive."

"It will be done, Great Khan." Chindai said, putting special joy into the way he said the last two words. He stood, together with his wives, bowed deeply, then walked through the gate that opened for them again.

 _...Dark Elf Khanate..._

"He knew him? Our new lord, knew our first lord?!" Someone shouted, and the story spread like wildfire among the dark elves under Chindai. When he came through the gate, his first act was to have a challenge circle drawn and to stand in the center, so that any who disbelieved his word could face him. Challenge circles were rare things, only the gravest issues were settled there, where only one could walk out alive.

It spoke to the gravity of his words as he related what the Sorcerer King had asked them. The bow in his possession exactly resembled the legendary weapon detailed in stories of myth and lore, and his mannerisms spoke to a long and distant memory of the past. The excitement of the story of the impossible realm where an immortal god ruled, who knew in life their greatest champion, their founding hero of legend.

Nobody stepped into the challenge circle. The reputation of Chindai and the support of his wives, all of truthful reputation who confirmed every word he'd said, was good enough. Too, it added to a buzz of excitement, as if Chindai Khan had become the chosen successor to the united Khanate of the Dark Elves. They practically itched to jump into the saddle and ride south to bring glory to their heritage, for as it had been in the beginning…

So it would be again.


	100. Fallen Paladin & Risen Queen

**AN: Welcome to the 100th chapter of 'God Rising' this storyline (with its related side stories advancing the plot, has now considerably exceeded 1,000,000 words and also contains more material than ALL of the canonical Overlord story written by the original author, it has been an amazing journey so far, and I'm glad you've stuck with it, I hope to continue entertaining you to the very end of it all. OK, on with the show!**

 _...South of Prart…_

Remedios's face froze when Calca asked that. "What have I done?" She blinked, that was all. The joy on her face at seeing her beloved, revered, icon of justice and righteousness ask with a broken hearted voice, what she, her champion, had done, turned to hurt and confusion ever so slowly.

They sat across from one another. "Tell me, Remedios, my true paladin, that what they're saying isn't true." Calca asked and held her hand out across the divide between them.

Calca was a beautiful Queen, rivalled or surpassed only by Princess Renner among human nobles, and even with her hair sheared off at the shoulder, she was a heavenly sight to behold. Yet her pretty face was now contorted into a mask of emotional anguish, and Remedios could not miss it.

She snatched Calca's hand, but didn't answer. She caressed the surface of it as if she was uncertain whether or not it was truly real.

"My Queen, my Queen…" Remedios stared, murmuring the words again and again.

"The day… the day you died, I thought I'd lost all hope. Only saving everybody, all the people you worked so hard for, only that kept me from ending my life in despair." Remedios whispered just loud enough to be heard.

She snapped her gaze from the hand up to the face of the Queen. "But I wasn't enough!" She said loudly, "We sought the aid of Blue Rose, they turned us down, they told us to seek the hero, Momon. If only he had come, perhaps we would not be here now."

"Or if only I'd been stronger, perhaps then…" Remedios said in a voice full of recrimination and self-loathing.

Her eyes were welling with tears. Suchala sat uncomfortably next to her and traded a glance with Neia that showed, if only for a moment, their mutual frustration in dealing with the former head of the Paladin Order.

Neia, however, for all her hatred, found an ember of pity for what seemed to her now to be just a broken woman.

"But I wasn't." Remedios said bitterly and thumbed a tear away from her eye and flung it away. "Momon didn't come and I couldn't stop Jaldabaoth, so we turned to a monster, to fight a monster, Ainz Ooal Gown…" She said, only for Neia to savagely cut her off.

The pope of Black Justice slammed her hand down hard on the table. "That is 'His Majesty' to you! Or at 'least' the Sorcerer King, you disrespectful butcher!" Neia snarled out at the fallen paladin and glared at her from behind her visor.

Remedios looked at her and said, "Ainz. Ooal. Gown."

It was an obvious provocation. Neia reached for her visor and tore it from her face. She turned the force of her gaze at her one time idol, her torturer, the butcher of her followers. "I said… His. Majesty."

Remedios had been about to provoke her again when she was locked into the gaze of Neia Baraja, and her lips shook as she tried to form words. The pupils of Neia's terrible eyes expanded and contracted ever so slightly as if they were the head of a drum being pounded upon, a terrible rhythm that reminded Remedios of a siege where a ram was slammed against a gate until it was shattered asunder. The kaleidoscopic shadows that spiraled and twisted in a convoluted dance of agony behind them was not even recognizable as human to the woman who had sought to slay her. And her voice had torn through Remedios's body like lightning from the sky ripping apart a great tree.

"What… happened to you?" Remedios managed to get out in a hushed voice. Suchala was about to ask what she meant when he followed the gaze and met those eyes for himself, and the power of Neia's voice struck him as it had her.

Neia didn't answer that question, instead she said in the voice she had used to tell a dragon it would serve as her mount, "One day very soon, Remedios, we will meet again, but there will be no table between us, and I will end your life." Neia's voice was quiet, but it felt like the deafening roar of a mighty, uncontainable storm, and within the breast of Remedios Custodio, she felt the malevolent hand of death tenderly embrace her still-beating heart.

Suchala looked over at Remedios, "We came to this meeting at your request. At least adopt the proper protocols and refer to others in the proper way, or I will order this ended now."

Though his words sounded formal and polite, Yuri knew what they really were. It was a man responding to his own fear, and she did not blame him for it. She looked over into the eyes of Neia Baraja, and felt quite clearly the fragile nature of her own mortality. Something within those eyes was trying to break out, and it was getting a lot closer than Yuri cared for.

"Fine." Remedios said, and turned to face Calca again, trying very hard to pretend that the concealed horrors within the Black Paladin's gaze hadn't gotten to her.

"Remedios, I've already been informed of what happened. The Sorcerer King told me himself, shortly after he brought me back to life." Calca said, lowering her gaze in shameful remembrance of her death.

"So it really was the…" she paused, carefully avoiding the word 'monster', "Sorcerer King. How did he threaten you? Did he torture you? Please your Highness… tell me what to do and… and I'll save you." Remedios said desperately.

Neia gritted her teeth.

Calca shook her still hanging head, "No, Remedios. He didn't hurt me, he didn't torture me, and he didn't even threaten to do so. Do you really want to know what he did?" She asked with a little smile, prompting a rapid series of mute nods from the paladin before she braced herself.

"He offered me an estate to retire to if I wasn't willing to help him, or an escort if I rejected his help but wanted to go back to reclaim the throne on my own. I hold no delusions about the power he bears within him, so I know he 'could' have done anything and I would have been unable to stop him. But after he saved me, he gave me clothes to wear, a good room, a servant or two, then when I agreed to his wishes, well, you've heard about the meetings with the other powers. I am myself, whole and intact… except for that hair I cut off this morning." She said, adding the last part somewhat mournfully.

"My Queen, he is an undead! He doesn't care about any of that, even if he wanted to, he can't love or care for anyone, any respect or kindness is an act of deception to manipulate or control others!" Remedios said emphatically.

"I know that is not true." Calca said firmly to Remedios. "You helped me see that." She said to the former paladin.

"I what?" Remedios's face was confused.

"Wenmark." Calca said in a hateful voice, her little fists clenched together and she shook with rage, "That such a place could exist under my rule, even in the South… I am ashamed of my own country, but perhaps worse, I have to know..." She stopped mid-sentence and grabbed Remedios's hand and squeezed it as hard as she could.

She searched the eyes of the closest companion in her last life, her most dedicated paladin, she asked in a childlike voice, "Did you really go there, did you… did you really ride in on horses and cut down slaves fleeing a nightmare, please tell me, I have to know."

"Oh that?" Remedios said flippantly and waved it away with a gesture of her hand as if she was turning away an offer of a glass of wine, "Of course I did. My riders and I killed hundreds of them, hard to say exactly how many, but we guessed it was well over a thousand easily. All we had to do was ride around the city, they'd come down their ropes and we'd send their heads flying or finish them with a thrust, whichever was easier."

Lakyus and Evileye grabbed Neia's shoulders and held her forcibly down to her seat as the woman tried to rise.

"Sadly we didn't get more, it was a big city after all, but it made that bitch suffer, and we did our part to punish those opposed to your rule…" She trailed off again as Calca yanked her hand away in horror and looked at her as if she were a stranger.

"My Remedios… give me back my Remedios… you can't be her… you can't be… she loved my justice, my peace, a nation where everybody could be happy and nobody cried…" Calca's voice was cracked and her body was shaking.

Remedios was stunned by the reaction of her queen. "Yes, for people. Demihumans aren't people, it's why you never cared when I butchered their children as future threats to humanity, it's why you never cared about the fate of the elves in our sister kingdom or the ones who ended up here, a nation like that… for people, and neither of those groups, not elves, not demihumans, not halfbreeds, and definitely not the spiritual heteromorphs, like that bitch," she nodded her head in the direction of Neia, "who can follow and serve the undead, those have to be burned to purify them of their sins, only their screams can bring redemption, and… help me to sleep."

"No…" Calca said, "You can't be my Remedios…." Calca's lips parted and she did her best to wipe away the trickling proof of sorrow that ran down her cheeks.

Remedios spat on the grass in disgust, "They trade their souls away, abandon the gods, promote an undead who killed almost two hundred thousand people as a god in the stead of the true ones! They have to die! All of them! Demihumans! Elves! Half breeds and heretics! Any of them not in chains should be in a hole in the ground!" Her eyes looked frenzied as she reached for Calca's hand, only for Calca to yank it all the way off the table.

"Don't you understand, Your Majesty?!" She said frantically, "I'm working your will, if I destroy them all, then we can finally create a human kingdom that is completely safe, where nobody will cry, where the gods can bless us all, and we won't ever have to sacrifice anyone again!"

Calca stood up, outraged and pointed at her. "You are sacrificing my people! You are NOT my Remedios. I don't know what you are anymore, but you are my paladin no longer! I strip you of your rank! I strip you of your place! I strip you of your title! You are no paladin of MINE!" Calca spat the words out as if they were rot within her mouth, while her eyes looked at her most loyal follower, and saw only a mad dog.

Remedios was frozen again, as she had been before, and a serene, tranquil look came over her face. "I understand, truly I do, I cannot fight for you anymore." The 'former' paladin said with a welling in her eyes that did not fall down her cheeks.

She held her arms open as she stood up slowly, calmly, her gaze lowered, her lips quivered. "I was… I was truly wrong. Let me say goodbye."

Calca was moved, she opened her arms to embrace her former paladin, "Go out there, and find your peace, I failed too, I failed to see what you had become or could become, so I have no right to judge you, for all your many sins, but end this madness." She stepped closer, and Neia reached out to take her hand.

"Majesty…" Neia started to say, then paused as Calca looked at Neia and shook her head.

"I have to say goodbye." She mouthed, and Neia dropped her hand away in midreach.

"I understand." Remedios said, and fell sobbing into her embrace, "None of it was ever true… though it feels good to see your face… you are not my Calca." She said, and it was just as Calca's eyes were widening, that she felt a sudden pain in her stomach, she looked down, and saw the welling blood around the hand that pierced her flesh.

"Go and die, false Queen!" Remedios snarled into her ear, and brought the hand out and up in a blow that smashed the shocked Queen's jaw and shattered her face all the way up the length of her cheek bones, turning her beauty into a ruin for a second time in the Queen's existence.

The poignant moment turned to nightmare as the Queen fell back with eyes wide with disbelief as she staggered and fell onto her back, clutching at her stomach and unable to move her jaw to scream at the pain.

It was uncertain of who moved first after that, Evileye went straight for Remedios while Neia ran back, cursing herself and Remedios, then picked up Calca in her arms and rushed her away, the cloaked figures at the back threw off those cloaks and revealed the uniform of Holocaust Scripture members.

Yuri went straight for Gagaran and quickly found that this had been a bad idea as the ox of a woman could move her hammer as easily as she could her own arms.

Suchala began to engage with Lakyus as the twins cloned themselves to face off against the Holocaust members, it was less a battle and more a brawl, but in this, Neia had at least one advantage.

Her voice turned on their foes, "You will lose, the gods will not support you!" Her words reverberated in their bones and sapped their strength of will. "For the true god, fight, Blue Rose! His power is at your back!" Energy and strength filled their bodies as Neia rushed the Queen who was now gurgling on her own blood to an undead mount secured behind the meeting area.

"She's secure! Withdraw! Blue Rose, withdraw!" Neia shouted and wheeled the horse around, she yanked a healing potion out of a pouch and poured it on the pain riddled queen. A horn went off somewhere.

"Flag of truce, my pope ass! CZ, target is clear. Suppress! Suppress! Suppress!" She shouted, and as Blue Rose disengaged, pops began to ring out, faster and faster, two heads of the Holocaust Scripture exploded where they stood and the rest went for cover, Suchala and Remedios went off into the woodline, followed hotly by Yuri and the surviving scripture members.

Blue Rose rushed to their mounts and took off after Neia, Calca didn't move, she could have, the potion had done its work, but reduced to being 'royal baggage', she simply let her guardians do what they did best.

She looked behind their path of escape and watched as her most loyal paladin, the woman who had just tried to kill her under a flag of truce, withdrew under fire from a weapon that could only be held by the hands of the maid demon who was always with Neia.

She was too numb to care, the woods raced past them as their tireless mounts carried them swift as the wind all the way back to Prart. No time was taken to slow down, the blood pumping in their veins told them to go all the way back to the heart of their operations, much had to be said and none of it was fit for the public.

No sooner that they'd gotten to the manor where they were operating out of than they'd jumped down off their horses. They didn't even set them aside, just left them for a servant to attend to. Neia reached up and helped the royal baggage down from the horse and walked straight to the door and flung it open hard enough that the handles slammed into the stone and left deep marks in the brick. She entered without looking back, followed quickly by the others.

Tia and Tina shut the doors behind them as the last entrants, nobody broke stride, nobody said a word, they simply followed the long quick steps of the pope until she'd made her way into the office occupied by the former governor. That door was opened by a guard, to which she said only one sentence. "Nobody comes down this hall until we've all left this room, go guard the way from over there." She said, pointing down the hall.

He nodded numbly as General Neia entered, one by one the rest of the party followed behind her. When Tia entered last, Neia closed the door, and in the span of a second, far faster than she was once capable of moving, she'd reached the wall and slammed her fist through it. "Gah!" She shouted as her face twisted into a mask of rage.

"Neia." The Queen said to her.

Neia looked over to where the woman stood.

"Damn it all!" Neia said, looking at the Queen's feet, she went down to one knee.

"Your Majesty… I'm… I'm sorry. I shouldn't have let her get that close to you. I was prepared for anything Suchala might do, for an attempt by the scriptures, even for Yuri. But even though I suspected the possibility, I didn't really believe that Remedios would… to you of all people…" Neia's voice cracked.

"Neia, raise your head." The pope did, and as Calca looked down at her, she saw her face reflected in Neia's eyes, the memory of the pain, her guts, her jaw and cheeks being turned to powder, the sight of her mutilated face that she'd seen in a puddle just before the potion did its work, it rushed unbidden to her mind, and she flinched against her will.

Neia's soul turned to ash at the flinch, but the Queen steadied herself and recovered. "Neia, I am alive. I provoked that… that thing wearing the skin of my former paladin. If I hadn't done that, she might not have done what she did. I thought, I thought she had understood me, that I had reached her… you tried to warn me, I didn't listen."

Lakyus touched Neia on the shoulder, "You were charged with her safety, she's alive, you did your job."

"I let the Queen get her face demolished and her guts ripped open because I misjudged someone… forgive me if I don't feel especially successful right now." Neia said with a bitter voice, her teeth clenched and her eyes shut tight as if she could keep from seeing the memory of her charge's shattered face playing behind her eyes.

"One thing bothers me." Gagaran said from where she stood, leaning up against the wall sullenly.

"One thing?" Tia and Tina said in unison.

"One other thing." Gagaran corrected herself. "Why didn't you tell us about CZ being out there, Neia."

Falling back into her status as a General, Neia stood up and looked over to the giant of a woman.

"Need to know only, you didn't need to know, so I didn't tell you." She said bluntly.

Gagaran's jaw tightened. "You didn't trust us." She said through gritted teeth.

"That's not it." Neia said reassuringly. "If one of you had glanced in the direction of her position, you'd have given away that she was there, if you didn't know she was, you couldn't give it away to anyone else."

"I still don't like it." She said.

"I don't like that I screwed up and let Remedios get close to the Queen. If I'd just made her stay a few steps back, gotten in the way, pulled her back…" Neia trailed off and kicked her desk, it shattered.

Her fists clenched and unclenched, knuckles cracking over and over, for a long time it was the only sound in the room, until the door opened and CZ walked in and closed it behind her.

"Thank you for the help, CZ." Neia said appreciatively, "You took out two scripture members at least, even if they can resurrect them, they won't be as strong as they were."

"You're welcome." CZ said simply and sat down.

"Neia, I'm alive." Calca said forcefully, almost snapping at her, "Remember what I said before, if I perish, I perish. I count this as a success because I'm still here alive, and I have what I really wanted."

"What was that, Your Highness?" Lakyus asked.

"I know the truth of Remedios. Whatever she was before, she is a monster now, and the seed of the monster today was planted a long, long time ago. I never thought much about the things she did out in the field, as long as my people were safe and she saved their lives I didn't worry about much else. But…" Calca began to pace, she placed a hand on her forehead and another unconsciously went to her stomach where she'd been injured earlier. "I wasn't thinking. I wasn't thinking about what 'people' meant, and I never thought to consider it as more than humans, even though if somebody had asked me, yes, I would have considered elves the same… if I'd known what was happening at Wenmark, if I'd sent an investigator like I'd planned to, and done it sooner… Damn it, none of this would be happening now."

Neia went to the ruins of her desk and looked down at it. "Well, that leaves only three things to do now." She said.

"What's that?" Lakyus asked.

"Well, I need a new desk brought in here, and we've got to prepare for a siege tomorrow. I had hoped we could stretch that meeting out for another two days at least, but that is not going to happen, even if she offers, I won't allow the Queen anywhere near Remedios again."

"Won't 'allow'?" Queen Calca asked archly, only to be shocked with the intense look Neia gave to her.

"Correct, Your Majesty, unless the Sorcerer King chooses to relieve me, which I admit he may after this, I am responsible for the security of this city and yourself and if I have to restrain you to keep you alive, I will beg your forgiveness later, but I will have that gate opened and throw you bound and gagged through it and straight into His Majesty's throne room if that is what I have to do. Remember I said I learned from my mistakes, and my most recent mistake was to let my charge, even for a moment, dictate a security risk to me. Queen or not, I will not let you take unnecessary risks again."

Calca was not accustomed to being spoken to that way, she found that she did not much care for it, but as she looked at the face of the Black Paladin, it was obvious she meant every word. She let out a resigned sigh, "Fine."

"And of course, I need to do is report this to His Majesty, I almost cost him a subordinate today because I didn't properly respond to a potential threat and lost control over my charge, if he wants me replaced, I won't even beg for forgiveness. Failing His Majesty is unforgivable." She said grimly.

Though she said 'replaced' she had to turn away from them as she spoke so they wouldn't see the expression on her face. Part of her wondered if she'd end up in a session with the fury, and a warped, twisted part of herself told her that not only could she, but that she belonged there. She'd almost gotten the Queen killed, it could have thrown the whole war into disarray, all for one more delay. She wanted to hit something, but there was nothing left to hit but walls, as she wasn't going to strike her friends.

"CZ, could you make the report to His Majesty, I'll go order the siege preparations accelerated, everything has to be ready tomorrow. Blue Rose, can you handle some last minute lessons, just be seen, boost spirits, just be yourselves out there." She gave the women a crooked smile, and Lakyus nodded in acknowledgement.

"Yes, we've got it." She said, then as she was about to leave the room, she said, "Remember this Neia, the person you were responsible for keeping alive, came back alive, no matter how bad you feel about how that went back there, that is a win. You got her back alive, we all got out alive, they lost two of their elites and left the area with nothing to show for their losses. Injuries may be bad, but death is worse, and she didn't suffer it for long, right, Your Majesty?" Lakyus said to the Queen behind her.

"Right, I'm alive, you picked me up, rushed me to a horse, and got me away while under attack by the most powerful paladin in the country, an entire scripture, a famous general, and a squire with a nasty reputation. You then healed me in the middle of that high risk situation and shielded me with your own body as you rode away. I count this as a success, even if you don't." Calca said firmly.

"Thank you, Your Majesty," Neia said in a hushed voice, "and thank you, Lakyus."

"Any time." Lakyus said, "It was a rough spot there, but we all got out alive and they didn't, who really should feel like failures today?" She added, and on that note, she walked out with her party following behind her.

"OK, I guess I'll go see to the-" Neia began to say, only to stop when CZ shook her head.

"His Majesty wants to see you." CZ said.

"Can you see to the defenses?" Neia asked softly.

"I will." She said in her clipped, abrupt fashion.

"Thank you." Neia said, and when the gate opened, she stepped through it ready to face the consequences, whatever they may be. She wondered how much it would hurt.

 **AN: One hundred chapters. Who saw that coming? Not I, my estimates are always wrong! :D If you liked, leave a review.**


	101. Consequences

**AN: OK a few quick things before I get going on this. FIRST… I can't believe how many people have written to tell me how much this story has meant to them in one way or another, I've done my damnedest to do justice to the heavy themes in here, to draw from the well of your own rich inner lives and create characters who you can connect with, feel for, and become invested in, through all the triumph and tragedy they experience, it isn't ME that brings them to life, its YOU, because you make them part of you and recognize yourselves in them. So… well done you. :) Embrace your own complexity, the richness of your experience, because no matter how banal you may 'think' you are, the fact is that if you can connect to the characters in this rich world I'm striving to populate, there's more to you than you thought.**

 **SECOND… These next few chapters after this one will have very limited perspectives, focusing primarily (though not totally or exclusively) on the siege of Prart and the characters involved, though I 'could' end it in a chapter (albeit a long one) I would do an injustice to the characters, and an injustice to you who have stuck with me all this time. AFTER these few chapters are done, I'll need a little bit of a break from 'God Rising' and I'll be doing more of 'The Synod' and 'Shadows in the Deep' (working title), then it will be back to the usual routine.**

 **So… with all that said, on with the show.**

 _...Nazarick…_

Neia stepped through the portal, her face was a mask of resolve and her body was straight and proud as a veteran warrior, a speaker, a leader, a breaker of walls and a commander of armies. Inside, however? She felt a flutter in her stomach.

She thought back to 'the test' when Demiurge had informed her that her lord commanded that she end her life, and then he handed her a weapon to use for that end, which would only foil her attempts. She thought of the futility with which she'd tried to stab herself, cut herself, only to find the weapon useless as it would not obey her will. It had been the ultimate test of loyalty, of the sort only a personal servant of the Supreme Being could create, ensuring loyalty without destroying the body of the loyal.

It made her the only pure human that she knew of that had been completely accepted as being 'welcome' in Nazarick.

As she walked across the floor her footfalls echoed over a silent chamber. Few guardians were present today, Demiurge and Albedo were at the top of the steps to the throne, flanking the Sorcerer King. Cocytus stood off to one side not far from where she'd be standing, and Vanysa watched curiously from a far wall. 'Will he be taking my head, or will she be taking me away?' Neia wondered privately.

It reminded her of the first time she'd encountered the Sorcerer King, when she'd knelt and taken a risk, offering up her head to pay the price of offending him if it was necessary. Even then he had been kinder to her than Remedios Custodio.

Now? She wondered if Cocytus was stationed there to carry out the offer she'd made what seemed like forever ago. If it was to be, then it was to be. She resolved not to disgrace herself before her master by begging, pleading, or putting blame on the Queen or on Blue Rose.

Her echoing footfalls ceased and she went down to one knee, lowering her gaze deferentially as she removed her visor and stored it away. "My King, Neia Baraja reports to you as ordered." She said, and as her voice echoed around the chamber, a look passed between the two that Neia caught only a strained glimpse of from the edges of her eyes.

"Raise your head, Black Paladin." Ainz said, and Neia looked up.

The look passed between the two guardians again, and she could not mistake it this time.

"I would hear in your own words what happened at the meeting." Ainz said in the straightforward manner she had come to expect from the god of gods and king of kings.

"As you wish, Your Majesty." Neia said, and then relayed the account truthfully to the last detail.

"So who was at fault for the injury to Queen Calca?" Ainz asked with a hint of curiosity, "In your honest view, speak freely."

"I was, My Lord." Neia replied. "As the head of security, I made the plan, I selected the guards, I assessed the threats, I approved the equipment, and I let the package approach regardless of my instincts. I allowed the Queen to dictate her own security, and it was because of that mistake that she was injured and nearly killed."

"So," Ainz said, putting his boney fingers together in a steeple shape in front of him, "you take full responsibility for your failure to completely protect your charge? You recognize where you erred?" He asked.

"I do. I am prepared to offer my head to atone or…" Her gaze darted over Cocytus next to her, and then to the erinyes waiting against the wall, "whatever is necessary. To fail your instructions cannot be excused." She kept her voice proud and forceful, determined not to show the ache in her heart.

"Tell me Neia, what would have happened if Queen Calca had been killed?" He asked.

She bit her lip and her mind raced. "There would be no 'Calca' to be loyal to and the justification for the Sorcerous Kingdom's presence would have been all but erased, the usurper king could have turned on Remedios and crushed her as an assassin and thereby won over of many of the Calcan loyalists. Her offer of her kingdom as a province to you would be null and void, it is possible that you would have pulled your forces out when the usurper from the south offered favorable terms to you, sufficient that you would have had to accept them to avoid appearing to be just another conqueror." Neia said rapidly, giving the most rapid summary she could think of.

"Is that everything?" He asked patiently, drawing looks from Demiurge and Albedo as he undertook 'Deep Understanding pose number three'.

"That is all this servant can think of at the present, sire." She said, her face turned red from embarrassment that she couldn't see as deeply into matters as he could.

"Good enough, then you are aware of the significance of the near loss." He stated, and she nodded mutely in turn.

"What did you learn from the experience, what should you have done differently?" He asked.

"I shouldn't have let my charge go within a striking distance that could not be intercepted. I should not have allowed my VIP, even of senior position, to dictate their own security, and I should have given increased threat status to a powerful individual, regardless of the perceived probability of their taking action." She said in quick succession.

"What did you do right?" He asked.

"We had covert security available, adequate force protection from a crack adventurer team, healing potions on hand to ensure her immediate restoration, mounts for rapid escape, proper secrecy for additional security, and a preplanned route that took us to safety." She said truthfully.

"So, to sum up, you delayed an army of many thousands by an additional half a day, protected your charge when she was injured by covering her with your own body, used your prepared measures to ensure her survival, and everybody escaped with their lives while killing two members of one of the more powerful Theocracy Scriptures. It isn't a perfect win, but it is well within expectations, and more importantly, you learned from your mistakes." Ainz said, pointing to Neia to emphasize the significance of his words.

"Forgive me sire, I would never dream of contradicting you, but…" She began

"You're going to power through it anyway?" He asked, somewhat bemused.

Demiurge and Albedo were looking less than pleased at that

"No, Sire. It is just, I thought I was to be punished for this, am I not to lose my head for what I almost cost you, am I not to be… is she not here to take me to…" She paused and barely got out the euphemism, "...make music?" Neia's mouth was partially open and her eyes were wide and uncertain.

The disapproval from the two guardians had disappeared as they understood the meaning of her question, they remembered quite well Sebas's indiscretion, the lost battle of Cocytus, the mind control of Shalltear, each time the one who had failed, had expected to suffer or perish, and considered it right to do so.

"No." Ainz said flatly, "Your success was not total, but you did your duty and your charge is alive, moreover the advantages outweigh the minor harm, in addition, you have learned from what went wrong so that you will not repeat your errors in the future." He said, all but praising her.

"Defeat," Ainz said, "is the mother of victory, from those things which go wrong, you can learn, grow, and do better next time. Experience is a great teacher in that regard, and on this occasion it only cost us a healing potion. You performed satisfactorily."

"As His Majesty says, so it must be." She said, lowering her gaze again. "Yet, forgive this humble servant a question, but if my lord already knew all this, why have you summoned me, am I to be simply replaced?" She asked, with a quiver in her voice.

"No. I wished to know what you learned, but I also wished to know how you fared after such a strenuous action. You have faced terrible perils, taken countless lives in my service, and now you were forced to confront your torturer, while being forbidden from striking her down under a flag of truce. So tell me, Neia, are you well?" He asked with concern.

"Majesty…" She whispered softly, at a loss at the clear depth of his concern for her.

"I am ready to fight, to strike down your enemies, my resolve is harder than adamantite, and all that I am stands ready to be ground into dust for the sake of serving you well." She said with a joyful smile that could only come from serving an absolute ruler.

"Of that I have no doubt." Ainz said thoughtfully, "However, there is one thing unique to you which has drawn the interest of my guardians."

"My Lord?" Neia asked in disbelief.

"Demiurge." Ainz gestured to her, "I permit you to explain."

"As you wish, Lord Ainz." Demiurge said with a smile. "Pope Neia, from the beginning of your devoted service to our lord, your true service, after your death at the wall some years ago, you developed a 'class' of sorts." He said.

"A class?" She asked, now completely lost.

"Yes, I didn't think much of it at first, despite its relative rarity. You see, your voice 'reaches' people, and it is more than simply public speaking, a skill like any other, but rather you have been growing in the ability to persuade, to draw ears to you, to get people to believe you. You already are aware of some aspects of this, aren't you?" He asked seriously as he descended the steps, stopping one step from the base, in front of her.

"Yes, Lord Demiurge. I… I have accidentally used it sometimes, I don't fully understand what is happening." She said, a little anxious shake in her voice that had not been there when she expected to perish.

"Vanysa, do it." Demiurge said, and the fury approached. Neia looked past Demiurge, up to the Sorcerer King, he nodded quietly, and she relaxed her body for whatever what was going to happen.

Vanysa, in a small act of kindness, Neia supposed, held the form of a human, and she knelt down to Neia's level, offering some further physical reassurance that nothing bad was going to happen. She gently touched Neia's cheek, and turned her face to meet the storm gray eyes of the blond female.

She looked into the whorling eyes of Neia Baraja and held her gaze for a very long time, until at last breaking it, she looked up to Demiurge and shook her head, then she stood and stepped back, giving a sweet, reassuring smile to the pope.

"Lord Demiurge?" Neia asked inquisitively.

"That was our first experiment. It is no secret that you have slain many, many people, and it is also no secret that you harbor deep emotions over the elves, and… other matters. As Vanysa is an erinyes, she can detect guilt, she was hoping to determine if those things that have troubled you, are a direct cause of the changes that have taken place in your general capabilities." He explained.

"I don't understand." Neia said bluntly.

"Neither do we, that is the point of experimentation." He said with a wry devilish grin that drew a laugh out of Vanysa.

"Master?" Neia asked, unable to accept that there might be something he didn't know.

"We know 'what' you are, for the most part, but you have developed something unique about yourself that is a blending, a hybrid if you will. Your ability to impose fear and terror is similar to that of a death magic user on the one hand, yet you are a paladin, which normally is limited to holy magic, which we have seen that you can also use. There has never been anything like you that I have ever seen, therefore it is unlikely that there has ever been one like you at all." Ainz explained, as if to a child.

"If that which made you could be properly understood, you could be the basis for an army of Death Paladins who practice sacred death magic… or holy death, the guardians are still arguing over what to call it." Ainz said with a roll of his red orbs, like a father over squabbling children.

"You swore yourself to the service of our lord, if we must tear your body apart to find the secret within you in order to give it to him?" Albedo asked.

"Then tear me apart here and now." Neia said without flinching.

"You will assist Lord Demiurge with his experiments as soon as he summons you." Albedo said in an authoritative voice.

"When the gate is opened, I will go. I will ensure my final affairs are in order at all times, that I may give up my life on command." Neia answered proudly.

"Take care not to trade away your life too lightly, Neia Baraja." The Sorcerer King said gently.

She felt her heart practically burst at his kindness, it reminded her of when she went to the wall and he seemed to say, 'Come back safe' it was as if he were a father or grandfather sending her off to the world, hoping she'd come back home again. The terror others felt in his presence seemed to her to be like a warm embrace.

"I will hold Your Majesty's words to my heart, as tightly as I hold the very thought of Your Majesty." She said with a slight upturn of her lips, her control slipping enough to let a smile through.

"Now, you must return to Prart I assume." He said, "You are about to face a siege, and I know you have much to do. But as you go back through that gate, know this." He said, and she listened intently.

"I will not let a single death be for nothing. One people will come from this, where there stood many before, do not forget it. In this crucible of necessity, all distinctions, all racial lines, all beliefs that do not preserve one's life in battle, are burned away, leaving no vices, only the virtue of common brotherhood, that no elf hate human, no human hate dwarf, no vampire regard another as nothing but a meal, you will all stand as one. When you take your places on that wall this time, Prart will not fall." Ainz said, drumming his words into her very soul.

"It will be as you say, my beloved God of Justice!" She shouted and sprang up from her knees and spontaneously rendered a salute, her words echoed back and forth against the walls with such power that they who occupied the throne room, wondered how long it would take for them to die.

The echo was still going when Ainz dismissed her, and she marched back through the gate to the city from which she'd come.

When she was gone, Ainz turned to Demiurge. "What do you think?" He asked.

"Well, My Lord, we have eliminated one source of her power. I wondered if a sense of guilt might fuel her, but that isn't it, Vanysa's assistance eliminated that, and she's not harboring any demons within her, otherwise their occupation would have been noticed for the same reason. This 'growth' seems to be entirely native to her body, though just what allowed it to develop, I cannot say." He said, lowering his crystal eyes in disappointment.

"Take heart, Demiurge," Albedo said, "you know two ways it doesn't work, you will find the answer." She said confidently.

Vanysa nodded emphatically, "And if'n ah can help, yah know ah will." She grinned broadly.

Ainz half expected Albedo to give a firm rebuke to the fury for speaking up, yet to his surprise, she did not, it was a good sign as far as he was concerned. He chose to 'test' those waters a little further. "Vanysa, you were coming to ask me for some materials in order to target Astraka?"

Her eyes turned vicious as they tightened on her face, her lips curled in a sadistic smile that bared her teeth even as they morphed into the fangs and her erinyes shape emerged. She knelt before the stairs and said, "Yes, My Lord, to carry out my plan I require the following, if you will permit it." She then drew a list from her pocket and read it off.

Again, he thought Albedo would speak up, say something about a useless expenditure of Nazarick's resources, or at least snap at her a little, yet this also did not come to pass. "Albedo?" Ainz asked of her, "What say you to this request?

"I say it is well within reason for her intentions, sire. He will suffer much for damaging a loyal servant of our god." Albedo said, looking down at the kneeling fury.

"I agree." Ainz said, "Your request is authorized, draw the materials you need and depart at once."

"My Lord." She said happily, then stood, bowed, and withdrew herself, skipping happily down the hallway humming a little tune.

 _...Prart…_

Neia's return was greeted by a sigh of relief from Queen Calca. She immediately went to the woman who saved her life and embraced her. With her cheek pressed to Neia's own, she couldn't see the surprise this brought to Neia's face.

It was only when Calca stepped back that she registered the look for herself.

"Is something wrong?" Calca asked.

"Ah, no Your Majesty, I just… I didn't expect that welcome." Neia said, somewhat fumbling over her reply.

Calca shook her head and grabbed Neia's shoulders. "Lady Neia, you saved my life out there. You may not have felt like it was a success since, yes, I did get hurt, but you pulled me out before I could die, your planning kept healing potions on hand, your insistence on undead mounts despite the risk of the reaction gave us the means to escape quickly, your forethought about keeping your demon maid partner in the woods gave us the means to force a break to the threat. The real mistake was mine, you tried to tell me not to let her close but… I didn't think she'd do that, I thought it would be closer, and that maybe she'd just leave and…" She shook her head vigorously.

"It was foolish, I know, and I've learned from that. I'll never be so quick to take chances like that again, not least of all because I don't want to forget the risk I put you at." She said in a self-deprecating manner.

"Your Majesty, risks are part of my job." Neia said dismissively, waving it away with a roll of her hand.

"Not what I mean. I mean I know I was more at fault than you think, but no matter what you say, I do have some guilt at least, and I was worried that the Sorcerer King might blame you as much as you blame yourself. I know he doesn't rush to violence, but nor does he shrink from it, and I feared you might bear some terrible punishment as a result, if he held you to be as guilty as you hold yourself." The Queen said with a voice that all but broke.

"If I had gotten you killed, the woman who saved my life, I… No, I don't even want to consider it." She said.

"Think nothing of it." Neia said confidently, "Keeping you alive was my job, you're alive, just try to stay that way." She began with a blunt, professional voice, but ended with a wink at the Queen, who found it in her to let out the start of a laugh. "Now I've got to go, I'd like to see to the last preparations for this place. The enemy will arrive sometime between tonight and tomorrow morning, and I want to know that our soldiers are completely ready before they get to making next year's baby boom." Neia said with a confident expression.

"Of course." Calca said, "I'd like to join you, I trust that isn't a problem?" She asked archly.

"Not at all, Your Majesty." Neia replied, "Just make sure to heed any warnings I give you as we walk the city."

"Not to worry, General Neia Baraja, I'll follow your instructions to the letter as long as you're heading my security. After all, I can trust you." Queen Calca said with great confidence.

They then walked out of the room towards the exit, and Neia took extra care to keep her face entirely neutral and said not a word when they passed a mirror, and Calca visibly flinched.


	102. Vendetta Growing

**AN: Two questions...**

 **1\. What has been your favorite or most personally meaningful scene to you in this series so far?**  
 **2\. Who is your favorite OC character in the God Rising Universe so far? (across all side stories and the main one)?**

 _...Prart..._

Touring the city proved a comforting distraction to both the Pope and the Queen. The streets stayed remarkably clean thanks to the army of volunteer laborers keeping any and all debris clear and repurposing any refuse to put into bags to reduce the impact of any blows against the gate. A few dwarves that had settled in the city worked round the clock or nearly so, preparing weapons above and beyond the standard used by many full time armies, and the Sorcerer King continued to dispatch a trickle of runic weapons and armor to the city's military forces.

Per a suggestion by Lakyus, units turned training into contest, with the winners able to get first pick of the incoming elite quality gear. Neia's hundred had taken to decorating themselves, adopting as their unit designation the number which they totaled. The esprit des corps for that unit shot through the roof, pride and confidence were at all time highs, and other units adopted the same practice not long after. The Vines took to embroidering vines on a willow tree, the Blood Miners put a dead man with a pick sticking out of his chest on their shoulders, the Sons of Iontariil put on their shoulders an upright replica of their hero's weapon, free elves liberated elsewhere used a broken chain... before the sun had set, every unit had something.

"They're looking confident." Neia said to the Queen beside her as they turned a corner and were rendered a hundred salutes by those who saw the pair.

"They are, and they should be." Queen Calca replied as she waved back to the smiling, enthusiastic crowds. "You've done everything you can for them, and they know it." She added.

"Not just me, Your Majesty." Neia replied, "You've worked hard, and they'll be lucky to have you, when all this is over." Her voice was gentle, not a very common tone from the hardened pope, but it was undeniably sincere.

Calca gave a very small smile at the praise, her lips turned only just up at the corner while her eyes looked ahead, rather than at Neia. "I appreciate your confidence, but after the debacles before my death, well..." She shrugged.

"Don't let that define you." Neia said firmly, "It was a mistake, and you've learned from it. Now that I've gotten to know you better, I know you wouldn't have let things in the Southern Holy Kingdom go on as they did if you'd known of them."

"Definitely not." She said, and paused at a vendor's stall. She took out a coin and handed it over to the merchant, causing his eyes to widen for it was gold. "Majesty, I can't make change from this, it's too much."

"Keep the difference." She said with the casual generosity of a noble.

"Thank you, Your Majesty!" he said with gratitude, and he took a basket and filled it with various fruits and a few loaves of bread. He looked over his shoulder and shouted, "Hansel! Hansel get over here!" A little blond boy rushed over, decently dressed as peasants went, probably the man's son. "Take this basket and follow the Queen and the General, hand them whatever they wish, attend to them until they dismiss you, then come back, understood?"

"Yes father, but what if I should get lost?" Hansel asked.

"Don't go outside the walls and you'll be fine, drop some breadcrumbs if you need a damn trail, I don't know, just go and don't keep the ladies waiting!" He said with exasperation.

The boy blushed and took the basket in hand.

"For such generosity," he said, turning again to the Queen, "at least I can ensure you needn't bear the goods yourself. My son will follow after you as you go, he's a good lad but... always worried about getting lost for some reason." He chuckled and rolled his eyes.

The women shared in the laugh at the frustration of parenting and Neia said to the boy as she took an apple from the basket and handed it to the Queen, "Just stay with us, we will be wandering back this way eventually."

The boy gave a toothy grin, and at a questioning glance from the Queen, he took out an apple and handed it to Neia as well.

"Thank you, Your Majesty." Neia said politely as they resumed their walk.

"When all this is over, what will you do?" The Queen asked casually.

"I have the Synod to attend, I will speak for His Majesty's godhood, then I will settle down somewhere with Skana, assuming we both survive that long, maybe have a shot at a life, that'd be nice." Neia said with a wistful voice and a faraway look in her terrifying eyes.

"Could I persuade you to remain in my Kingdom?" Calca asked curiously.

Neia went quiet, and for a moment conversation was halted as they came to an armorer's shop and the Black Paladin paused to praise the workmanship and trade a few encouraging words with admirers as the Queen looked on. When they resumed their walk, Neia still hadn't answered.

"Is there a problem with the question, Lady Neia?" Queen Calca asked cautiously.

"Your Majesty, that is a difficult question." Neia said with a hint of an ache in her voice. "I don't know where I'll go after all of this. My village is dead, I'm fairly certain I'm the last survivor, my parents are gone, and finding a scrap of earth anywhere in this country that does not have a painful memory tied to it is going to be all but impossible for me. I am, in a very real sense, a homeless vagabond while here. Skana is not so different than I in that regard. The invasion tore our lives apart, and neither of us had marvelous lives before that anyway. If I were given my pick of places to settle, I would want to live in E-Rantel, or Carne, or perhaps his Majesty would allow me a little place in Nazarick to retire to one day, it seems like that might be a nice place to die when the time comes."

"My nation has not been kind to you, has it?" The Queen asked, slightly frustrated.

The conversation paused as the Queen stopped to praise a hard working groomsman caring for a horse, but when they resumed their walk after disposing of the apple cores and being given two more by Hansel, Neia thought through her answer.

"If I were to be truthful, the answer is no, it hasn't, Your Majesty. I suppose my life was no worse than most but, while I have full confidence that you will make this place a wonderful one in which to live, I feel myself being pulled elsewhere. I almost left with the Sorcerer King after the war with Jaldabaoth, I remained only because he had expectations for me here. I strove to live up to them but have had 'mixed' success in that respect." Her face twisted bitterly before she let it fall away.

"So when all is said and done, and I can finally live in peace, I need to live somewhere that my heart can be at ease, and I know of nowhere here that it would be possible for me. I pray you forgive me, Your Majesty, for any offense this answer causes you." Neia said honestly.

"I take no offense, I understand. The religion you have begun has taken hold here, so it won't require you to be expressly present in order for it to thrive, therefore you will be free to live where you choose. Still, my nation will be poorer for your absence. I wonder how many will feel as you do?" She asked, speaking more to herself than to Neia.

"An important question." Neia said thoughtfully, "But one that is not without solutions. There will be many looking for new homes after the last sword is sheathed. To help you, I can encourage my followers to settle in your country from overpopulated areas. Our temples have already developed some experience with this. To hide our followers from the wrath of the fallen paladin and the lackeys of the Slane Theocracy, we created a sponsorship program that scattered our people to various villages around the kingdom. With a little administrative improvement, we could sponsor resettlement to these lands from elsewhere. You will not rule over emptiness and ashes, Your Majesty. If I survive to the end of all this, I will make sure of it." Neia promised, her voice thrummed through Calca's breast and seemed to caress her heart.

"Thank you." The Queen replied, marking down in her heart's ledger a debt to the Black Paladin that she could never hope to repay.

"Neia!" Lakyus shouted when they rounded a corner and saw the leader of Blue Rose talking to a fresh faced young man holding out a sword for inspection. She quickly excused herself and rushed over to the Black Paladin and the Queen. She bowed to the royal, then immediately said, "You're... back." She said, changing whatever word she had first intended to say, to something much more neutral.

"I am, and none the worse for wear it seems. His Majesty's view of my performance was rather better than my own." Neia said with a measure of surprise still evident in her tone of voice.

"I told you." Lakyus said like a teacher who warned a worried student not to worry so much. "You take too much on yourself. We're a team, all of us, you can't be responsible for everyone and everything all the time."

"It is my job to be exactly that." Neia said firmly, "I will not let His Majesty down." She said with the resolute voice of a closing portcullis.

Lakyus sighed, "Just try to relax a little, too much tension snaps a rope." She reminded the pope.

"I'll try, but 'after' all this is over." Neia qualified. "Where are the others?" She asked.

"Gagaran is working with one of your instructors, Tia and Tina have gone out to keep a watch on the armies of Remedios and the Slane Theocracy, and Evileye is coordinating with the other magic casters. It really won't be long now, will it?" Lakyus asked gravely.

"No, not long now." Skana said as she stepped out of a black, swirling gate directly behind Neia.

Neia whirled to look at her in shock. The one eyed auburn haired girl had an enormous smile on her face as her lover gaped at her with her mouth open wide enough that Skana could see the back of her throat.

"Hi there." She said with a playful wave. "I'm back."

Neia pulled her into a tight embrace, leaning the woman back and kissed her fiercely. Skana laughed into her lips, before locking her own and wrapping her arms around the living nightmare she loved.

It gave the many passers by pause, one did not often see such a public and fierce display of affection between armed and armored figures.

When the kiss finally broke, Neia had only one thing to say. "The answer is yes! Yes! Yes! A thousand times yes!" She said joyfully.

"I thought you'd say that." Skana said with the playful smugness of her nature.

Lakyus and Calca, watched all that play out in silence, not wishing to interrupt the reunion, but it was a delicious kind of silence, the sort of empathetic pleasure one gets from seeing happiness bloom out of nowhere.

Neia's voice had long been all but bereft of real happiness, even her laughter when it came, was tinged with the very real weight that came with having the fates of nations on her shoulders. Though she could be kind and gentle of voice, the somber nature she bore when not having to put herself on energetic display clearly took its toll.

Yet in that moment when she heard her lover's voice, all that vanished and they heard her for the first time as she must have sounded when not struggling to bear the burden of her role. It was a very... unexpected sound. Light and airy, the woman who seemed to be far older than her years in her carriage and conduct, had become again the young girl in her twenties that she truly was.

"How? Why? Now?" Neia asked, stunned.

"The great orator has forgotten how to form sentences." Skana said with a snicker that was shared by the Queen and the leader of Blue Rose.

Neia blushed.

"The Sorcerer King, he felt we would do more good here, so the rest of our soldiers and Fluder, were brought to training grounds, but I asked that the Sorcerer King dispatch me directly behind you. Apparently he found the suggestion to surprise you to be... as funny as it turned out to be, and so he agreed, and now here I am." Skana said, explaining it with a joyful smile on her face.

"I see." Neia said grabbing Skana's hands tightly. "I'm glad I don't have to face this without you." She said.

Any response of Skana's was cut off by the sound of a horn blowing from the wall, it echoed throughout the city, and the sound of soldiers in armor running followed hot on the heels of the horn.

Neia and her companions instinctively looked in the direction of the wall, the sun was already setting, the light of the evening turning everything golden red as the sun set in the distance.

"They're here early." Neia said gravely.

"Probably just the advance parties." Lakyus said in a pragmatic voice. Whether she believed that or whether she just wanted it to be so, the others never knew, but as it was, Neia did not stay to find out.

"I'm going to the wall. Skana, take the Queen back to her quarters and then join me at the top of the main gate. Lakyus, get the rest of your people together and then go and guard the Queen with your lives, if Remedios has gone to the opposite extreme when it comes to Queen Calca, she may make an assassination attempt out of nothing but spite."

Behind them, Hansel picked up on the sudden tension and went pale with fear. Noticing this, Neia approached the boy and touched his shoulder. "Listen boy, there are some bad people beyond those walls, but people like me and like your father are going to keep them out. You'll be fine, but you need to go back home, do you know the way?" He nodded rapidly in mute fear.

"Then go." Neia said, and the boy shoved the basket into Neia's hands and took off running.

"We will." The other women said in unison as if Neia had spoken to them as well.

She didn't take the time to laugh at the absurdity, instead she ran like the wind until she reached a tower. The echo of her footfalls rang in her ears, she breathed hard enough to hear it, and her heart pounded in her chest. When she reached the top of the stairs and stepped out onto the thick wall of Prart, her famous green armor and terrifying aura made it easy to walk forward, people gave her a wide berth.

She looked out over the walls in the fading light of the day and saw shapes far away, Tia and Tina were beside her a moment later.

"How many?" Neia asked, neither knowing nor caring to know how they'd gotten back to her so quickly.

"A few companies." The twins said in unison, and then spent the next little while informing the Pope about all of various equipment and types of soldiers they witnessed during their scouting expedition.

"So a flying column, here to establish a camp till the rest arrive. The only reason to do that is if there is going to be a forced march to draw the bulk of the army here early. They're idiots." Neia smiled happily.

"How so?" Skana asked as she came up behind Neia.

"They're acting like they can pin us down the traditional way. Like they expect to be able to starve us out and break us, as if we could run out of food or water, or the dead will choke us with their stench, or we could run out of arrows or potions. Those fools, those foolish, foolish fools." Neia began to laugh long and loud, and with an undercurrent of malice and hatred that Skana raised an eye at when she noticed it.

"They're either unaware of His Majesty's ability to simply 'appear' where he wishes and send others in the same way, or they have not recognized the implications of it. Remedios I could understand, but Suchala should know better, which means he is probably unaware of it entirely." Neia said as she thought the matter through.

"I wonder how long it will take for them to figure it out." She bared her teeth with the smile on her face, and the expression spread to all those who heard her.

"I see, well then this will be interesting." Skana said thoughtfully, "But do you know what would make it more interesting?" She asked with her lips pursing together with one corner turned slightly up, her eyes narrowed slightly, she looked like the cat who had swallowed the canary, smug, self satisfied, salacious, and to Neia, the most beautiful woman in the world.

"You're thinking of something savage, aren't you? Out with it." Neia said, her voice filled with anticipation.

"Well, you said 'yes' to my proposal, so why don't we treat this oncoming army as guests to the wedding? We marry here, on the ramparts, in full view of the advancing host, let them watch. Ideally we would ask our Lord to do the deed, but that might be a little excessive, perhaps we can ask for a monster to do it? Or perhaps Lakyus? We may kill half that army with just the shock of our blasphemy." Skana's expression did not change, but Neia's did, to one of utter delight.

"A wonderful idea. Let's do it. I don't want to enter the next fight without my 'wife'. I wonder if it would be too much to ask His Majesty to bless our union in some way?" Neia asked thoughtfully.

"Well, we might as well welcome them to the wedding." Neia said, and wrapping her arm around Skana's waist, she waved to the small but growing dots. Her wife-to-be waved in return, and laughter greeted the coming storm.

 _...Nazarick..._

Ainz watched through the mirror, it was a pleasant sort of scene. He thought about his guild mates, some of them had been more than friends from afar, a few had been married to one another, and he remembered fondly how happy they'd been when they talked about their weddings and their daily lives. The world he knew back then was bleak. His life, save for Yggdrasil, had been empty of friends and family. So looking down at Neia and Skana as he did, he could not help but feel a hint of envy. More than that, though, he wanted it to end well. Watching them wave at death marching towards them as if it were an old friend come to celebrate, he found their bravery commendable.

Sebas stood at hand to attend him as he looked on, and from behind himself Ainz could feel the curiosity at what had so fascinated him. He moved aside, "Sebas, would you like to see?" He asked generously.

Sebas approached and looked on, "They appear to be celebrating something." He said, "Are they that eager to fight the armies coming to destroy them?" His voice was somewhat critical as he asked, but Ainz shook his head.

"No, it's because of 'how' they will face their enemies. Those two have passed through fire and come out fused on the other side. They get to fight together and, unless I miss my guess, they're discussing a wedding. Perhaps I should provide them with a gift, but what to get them..." Ainz thought casually.

"I'm sure if it comes from you, My Lord, they will be eternally grateful, no matter what it is." Sebas replied.

"True, but it is a tradition to give a newly married couple things they can use to begin their lives. Do you know the state of their homes?" Ainz asked, stroking his chin as he thought.

"They have none." Sebas said in a neutral voice. "When Demiurge took on the role of Jaldabaoth, in addition to killing both Neia and Skana's parents, their villages were both entirely wiped out. There is nothing left of either of their former lives but ashes and outlines where homes used to be."

"I see." Ainz said in a neutral voice as his emotional suppressor kicked in hard. "I should do something about that. I will provide a home for them when the war is over and their duties are discharged, also, have Pestonya select a few people nearly of age at one of her orphanages, there will surely be those wishing to work, therefore there are some who can be trained as maids, butlers, or other servants. That will be their wedding gift."

"An excellent suggestion, My Lord. No doubt they will be deeply appreciative." He said in a deep, reverential voice.

 _...Astraka's camp..._

Vanysa walked with the doppleganger to the tent of Astraka's mistress. There was a copious amount of 'guilt' from her, but also an abundance of shame. The demoness regretted that she would not have enough time to get to know the woman a little bit better, she was... curious. Curious and hungry at what she would offer up. It didn't matter though, she had a different goal in mind.

"Imitate her." Vanysa said, and the doppleganger's shape formed into that of a beautiful, buxom blonde with hair hanging loose down her back. Vanysa's face took on hateful look, glad of her invisibility in this moment, for the woman looked shockingly like Vanysa herself. She wondered if that played in to Astraka's choice of playthings, or if it was just a general preference of his. Suddenly, his eyes over her when she'd been his captive made much more sense.

She clenched her talons into a fist. Vanysa then entered the tent while the woman's back was turned and hit her on the back of the head. The woman awoke an hour later sitting alone in a room, four wooden walls, a door, the chair to which she was bound, and against the wall in front of her, a nightmare leaned with wings folded in, talons out, fangs bared, and feet crossed in front of her golden body.

 _...A Cabin in the Woods..._

"Hi." Vanysa said, scratching a horn casually as the woman's mouth fell open in a scream and her eyes widened with terror. Vanysa didn't move, she just waited. The scream cut off when she ran out of air, then she took a deep breath, and did it again, leaning forward and shrieking for heaven's help, her body shook and there was a faint smell of ammonia coming from where she sat

"Let me know when you're done, I have time." Vanysa said casually, looking at the beauty through coldly rational storm gray eyes.

Eventually the woman ceased to scream and started to beg. "Please... whatever you're going to do to me, don't do it, don't, I don't deserve it..." She said frantically, tears streaming out of her eyes and being cast about the floor.

"Well, we both know that isn't true, but I'm not here to hurt you." Vanysa said. "I have a question, and depending on how you answer, well, that will determine where we go from here, just know that if you lie to me..." She put a talon under the woman's chin and forced her head to either raise or bleed. It rose, and she met the eyes of the nightmare from inches away.

The woman nodded, although it was more of a quiver, Vanysa was sure she understood.

"First question... do you love 'Astraka'? Vanysa asked.

The woman froze, of all the questions she imagined, that was not on the list.

"N-no. I'm his concubine, his mistress, his whore if you want to be crude about it." She spat the words out as fast as she could and went quiet.

"Good. I know almost everything about the lot of you, but emotions are harder to quantify." She scratched her horn again and started to pace in thought. "It really is a bother, it makes the predictable turn unpredictable and the rational turn irrational." She put her thumb and forefinger to her chin and looked away in thought, "I wonder if it could be calculated mathematically via a point system based on familiarity and activity..."

The woman looked at the demoness like she was not only horrifying, but incomprehensible.

Vanysa shook off the thought, "Doesn't matter, not now anyway. Good, that makes this easier. Now I'll make this simple, I know you're screwing his best friend, and I know his best friend has some unsavory habits that would make you regret screwing him if you've got any standards at all, and you seem to have at least a few." Vanysa reached into a pack and pulled out a sheet of paper. "You actually have a daughter, Aela, and she lives with your mother and you give them some of your money every week, you attend the church of the god of life, and you're screwing the priest there... and a few of the congregation members, and I'm guessing Astraka doesn't know, isn't that right, Lohra?" Vanysa asked, but she was not guessing.

"Please... not my little girl, not my little girl... she's innocent, she didn't do anything!" Lohra screamed and struggled and kicked in her chair.

Vanysa waited until she was breathing hard, then forced her head up with one talon again. "You're right, Aela didn't do anything, and at least when it comes to me, neither did you, which is why I'm not going to hurt you, any of you." Vanysa said.

Relief and doubt both filled Lohra's eyes. "My target is Astraka. He and I have a history, and it has left us with unfinished business, so I'm borrowing you for that end. See, I used to look just like 'this'." Vanysa spoke and withdrew her wings, returning into the shape of a human girl that might have been Lohra's sister.

"Then he did things to me, and now I am 'this'." Her wings came out and her fury form was restored, her arms crossed in front of her and she looked down at the woman. "He kidnapped me, beat me, had me tortured with whips, with rack, with another device I know not the name of, but when he attached weights to my ankles..." Vanysa shut her eyes and clutched the side of her head and stepped back, shaking and fighting against the memory, before she straightened up.

Lohra listened in quiet terror until Vanysa stood straight and terrible again, and pointed down at the bound woman.

"So 'ere's the deal girl, ahm gonna letcha live, but far away. Gonna give you enough money fer you, yer lil girl, an yer momma ta go far, far away, ah'l even make sure yah got safety so yah can get there intact an all. Butcha gotta do somethin fer me." Vanysa said, her mad eyes came an inch from Lohra's.

"What?" She asked in a hushed voice, her wide beautiful gray eyes trembling as she could not look away.

"Leave 'ere an never come back. Issat simple, yah go, yah take what ah give yah, take on a new name fer each of yah, an go, then yah ain't never gotta let no man have yah no more, course if yah like yer work, an yah seem good at it, well thas up ta you, but yah gots ta go far, far from here, an yah gots ta go now. Unnerstand?" Vanysa asked.

Lohra nodded, and then from out of the pack Vanysa drew a small pouch of coins and opened it where the prostitute could see. Lohra looked within. "Gold." She said, stunned.

"An two platinum uns, now go through that door, ah gots somebodah waitin on yah, m'kay?" Vanysa said and cut the ropes securing the woman, she was gone out the door as fast as her feet could carry her. Vanysa felt a sense of tranquility wash over her, as her plan began to unfold.

Then a message came in from the doppleganger.

"As you said, he was more than eager." The doppelganger said.

"Dopple two, reel in the fish." Vanysa sent the message to the other, she'd sent in to the camp, a faux 'messenger' meant to draw Astraka near the tent of his mistress.

"Dopple one, use emasculation line one, that one worked wonders on Philip, I wonder what it will do to someone not as idiotic." Vanysa said with a grin.

 _...Astraka's camp..._

Astraka was following the guard when he heard a man call out with lust, "Gah! Take it! Take it all!" He laughed, he recognized the voice of his best friend, Olaf always had a way with the ladies, no doubt he was having fun with one of the camp followers. He'd ask about it later.

Then he froze. "Oh god, yes! You're sooo much bigger than that needle dicked Astraka!" He knew the woman's voice.

Astraka broke off from the messenger and went straight for the source, and found himself, to his disgust, outside of the tent of his private concubine.

"You're such a better lover than he ever could be, now give it to me, god I need it so I can forget what he felt like." Dopple Lohra said with a laugh, and said loud enough to be heard outside, "Let me go to my knees for you, so that you're still on my tongue when he kisses me." She made sure to add a wicked laugh.

And she made sure to cut off that laugh when Astraka stormed into the tent to confirm with his eyes what his ears had heard. His sword was out, and Olaf lunged for the blade he had set aside, there was just enough time, their swords clashed and chaos erupted. They pushed back and forth, the little furniture found in the otherwise luxuriously appointed tent, were smashed to sticks as they raged at one another. Finally Olaf swing his blade as if to sever Astraka's head, only for Astraka to drop and lunge forward, piercing Olaf through the stomach and all the way out his back. However, he had not stopped at the lunge, he pushed forward, carrying the body of the lord all the way against the wall of the tent, tearing the fabric with the sword, and bringing both themselves and the tent crashing down over them. Olaf had lost his blade, but not his will to fight. So Astraka began beating him, pummelling him with his fists, as hands he couldn't see struggled to tear the tent off of the combatants until they were exposed to the light again. Olaf had quit fighting, as the dead usually did.

"Gah!" Astraka shouted in rage, blood soaked and furious, he walked to what he thought was his concubine, who sat there quietly, still disheveled and obviously reeking of sex. "What do you have to say for yourself, you whore?!"

"Being good with that sword won't make you any better with that twiggy one you were born with." Dopple-Lohra sneered up at him, and in a rage, he slashed his sword across her body and gutted her in the center of her stomach. She fell backwards, wondering if she were overdoing it with the screaming about the murderous king who killed his best friend.

"Throw those things in a ditch." He said, and then he went to go find some wine. It would be a long march to Prart still, but that wouldn't stop him from overdoing it tonight.

 _...Cabin in the woods..._

Vanysa laughed and laughed as the doppelganger told her everything. She was absolutely overjoyed. She'd gotten him to kill his best friend, insulted his manhood to the point where she wondered if he'd ever get it up again, and damaged his reputation by having him 'kill' a woman that way. Tomorrow morning, phase two.

"Dopple two, take this form next." She said savagely, "Then go invisibly to his tent and enact the next stage of the operation right when the morning guard shift changes are taking place."

"It will be done," the shape changer said with a flamboyant bow it had been taught by a certain German speaking Guardian in Nazarick.


	103. Ambush & a Vendetta

God Rising

Chapter 103

Written by: AtheistBasementDragon

Edited by: The Usual Gang of Drunken Perverted Idiots

AN: Well I have to say, I enjoyed writing this chapter, in particular because I've been eager to write Vanysa's revenge sequence for almost fifty chapters now, and it is finally on us, do enjoy how thoroughly she works. I do. :D Leave a review if you like this chapter/story. Also I'd love to hear your opinions on various character arcs, I thrive on feedback and reader interaction. So...I get to 2300 reviews for this today, I'll do a double release and put up another chapter no later than this evening.

 _...Remedios' Camp, post meeting..._

"That thing isn't human." Remedios snarled as she threw her sword angrily in her tent as her people packed up outside. "Whatever she is, I have to kill her, she's got demons in there or something." She grabbed her hair and pulled it hard enough that it hurt, but was far enough gone that she didn't care.

"Whatever she is," Yuri said, "kill her and she's a corpse. We need to put some fear into that city, some horror, some nightmare that will give that woman nightmares all her own." Her face was a blank stare, but she smiled inside when Remedios grew distracted by the suggestion, atrocity seemed to fit her nature very comfortably.

"That doesn't change anything about how to take the city." Suchala added, "Though about that woman, it felt similar to the black wave that swept over us before... Could she be behind it?" He asked.

Remedios and Yuri both shuddered, when the wave had hit their armies everything had ground to a halt, horses either wouldn't move or would only run away, the less courageous peasants outright fled and even the fanatically devoted felt the icy grip of death, swallowing up their souls. It had been a very bad day and it had slowed them down far too much.

"No." Remedios said, "Neia isn't that powerful, but whatever she is, she's tied to the source of that thing."

"She seemed plenty powerful from where I was sitting." Suchala said doubtfully, "I've never seen anything like what dwelt within those eyes."

"I wonder what they'll look like when dead." Remedios stated flatly.

"Well if we want to find out, we need to get there, this slowed us down by half a day." Yuri said unhappily.

"Fair enough, but it wasn't useless." Suchala said with uncharacteristic positivity in his voice as he raised a finger to give them pause. "We know she has some connection to the 'event', we know she's gotten stronger than she used to be, back when you almost killed her, and we know they have a weapon capable of killing scripture members with ease. That is a problem, but it is not as big of a problem compared to what it would be if we didn't know about it until it was far too late."

"Alright, I admit that." Remedios said sullenly, "But Calca... it can't really have been her." She asserted boldly, "It's some trick of the undead, my Calca would never have..." She shook slowly as she steeped herself in denial. "It can't have been..." She said slowly as she looked down at the hand that had pierced her guts and shattered her face.

"Then kill the fake too." Yuri said casually, "You'll feel better." She said.

"Good idea." Remedios said, a positive energy coming back into her voice as her lips turned up in a hungry grin.

"We'll send out a few companies as an advance party, nothing dramatic, just watch the city from out of reach, if they pursue with those undead horses, well we'll have an ambush laid for them and take care of them that way." Suchala said casually.

"Fine, but we should do a forced march as well, and get there tonight, we can establish the siege perimeter and keep anyone from getting in or out, the fighting can start the day after." Yuri added.

"Agreed." Remedios and Suchala said after a moment's thought.

"I'll see to it." Yuri said, and walked out of the tent to give the orders.

 _...Prart..._

"Do you think they can be chased down?" Skana asked thoughtfully.

"You know, you're very bold, and I like the idea, but that would be very reckless." Neia said, tightening her arm around Skana's waist. "I'd wager your right eye that they'll have a force back beyond that, hidden away to ambush any pursuers. They know our horses can outrun theirs."

"So they're hoping we try to chase them off." Skana said thoughtfully.

"I think so." Neia replied, then gave an upward glance at her Vice Commander. "You want to go anyway, don't you."

Skana nodded, her grip on Neia tightened. "I owe them pain, I'd like to start repaying the debt." She replied angrily.

"Do you have any ideas on how to do that without getting ambushed yourself? They can see you coming after all." Neia pointed out.

"Bows. I doubt they can outrun arrows." Skana said, baring her teeth in a broad smile.

Neia sighed and caressed her face. "I can't let you do that, if you go out there, there is a high probability that they'll take you down first. I just got you back, I don't want you to go outside the wall again without me, and I can't go out there now."

Skana looked down at her with a small frown on her face. "I've been outside those walls for awhile now, one more hour..."

"Might be your last one." Neia interrupted firmly, "I absolutely forbid it. The conditions we're in right now do not allow for effective mission performance."

"Meaning the siege, or meaning your own feelings." Skana said sharply.

Neia released her grip and stepped back, looking at Skana in surprise she said, "It doesn't matter which it is, I've given my instructions and you will follow them."

Skana balled her fists and gritted her teeth. She was angry, very angry. "If you give me that command as the Pope of Black Justice, I must obey, but if you give me that order as my wife to be, I'm going to restock my arrows and go out that gate, there are heads to be taken."

"No." Neia said, it wasn't forceful, it was broken, a small voice that cracked her hard face and caused her lips to shake. "No. No. No. Please don't go." She whispered and grabbed at Skana's hand, she squeezed it with a desperate strength that made the already very strong Skana wince.

"Neia what...?" She asked, her green eye widened in surprise.

"This is always when the bad moments happen, as soon as I start to be happy, something destroys it, and if you go out that gate without me, all I'll get back is your corpse. I have to be there to protect your flank, I have to be." Neia desperately pled.

"Neia... You can't expect to be at my side every time, you already trusted me to be away from you for what, a few weeks?" Skana said incredulously.

"This is different, you're talking about a direct engagement on open ground and into an almost certain ambush!" Neia's eyes went wide and she grabbed Skanas arms and forced her to square off against her. "If you go, you go into a disadvantage without me and that is not acceptable."

Skana's heart melted a little. "What if we do something different?" She asked.

Neia's body became noticeably more relaxed. "If you have a plan that isn't insane, I'll listen." Her voice became more calm, stable, and her eyes returned from their wide and almost frightened state, to the terrifying state that terrified Skana not at all.

"When I was out before, I had Fluder use fly magic to rise aloft and target areas I'd pinpointed with bow shots to the sky. Now we have Tia and Tina," the twins gave blank faced stares and small waves to the pair, "that means we have another option." Skana said, and Neia's face began to turn very interested.

"I see..." Neia said, "Go get Fluder. Tia, Tina, how would you feel about a little time doing some pinpoint targeting?"

The two shared a silent look, nodded, and drew their kunai.

A few minutes later the three were allowed to leave in secret, the hour was not yet late, some light still held, enough for their work. Fluder flew high enough to avoid detection, while the twins raced past the 'bait' and sought the hidden ambushes in the woods.

They found them.

Straight to the tops of trees they went, throwing kunai into the air, and poking his head through the clouds, Fluder saw the glint of metal with his magic enhanced senses and sent fire from the sky as if in divine wrath at their foes. Fire rained down on one position after another beyond the hill, and those companies standing as bait kept their eyes on the gate and not on their backs. Neia kept opening the gate a little, then closing it again, keeping their focus on what she was doing, while well behind them, their ambushes were burned alive by fire from above, while in the shadows the twins cut down anyone trying to flee decimation. When they were done, a full three hundred lay dead in the woods, and they returned with the same stealthy process they had used to depart.

Again they stood before Neia and Skana.

"Now?" Skana asked, hopefully.

"Now." Neia said, approvingly. "Go with double their numbers though, take no chances, I'll never forgive you if you don't come back to me."

Skana's face split with a wide smile, and she lunged in and kissed her betrothed passionately, this time bending Neia back as she had been bent earlier. She rushed off and soon hundreds of cavalry were being assembled.

Fluder looked at Neia curiously. "I miss something?" He asked.

"Nothing to concern yourself with." Neia said with a dismissive voice and a deep blush.

"Lover's quarrel." Tia and Tina said together.

"Ah." Fluder said, losing interest.

The blush did not go away, so she turned her back to them and started to open the great gate, creak by creak it opened until it was wide apart. "GO." Neia shouted down below, and hundreds of Black Justice cavalry rushed out, the thunder of undead hooves shook the very ground. Skana had her bow out well before she'd reached range, nor was she the only one, she nocked, drew, and loosed as soon as she was able, followed almost immediately by the others.

The archery skills of the hundred had all but entered legend and living myth for their many victories, but even a moderately skilled member trained hard to banish the greatest sin they had, the sin of weakness.

The fruit of their hard work now was put to the test, a triangle formation took shape at Skana's command, with herself as the head. Their untiring mounts were rapidly closing the gap. The enemy cavalry did not wait to meet the charge, they wheeled on their horses and ran away, thinking to lead Skana and her people into an ambush a mile away, they didn't have to hold the lead long. Many dark smiles graced the faces of fanatics as they imagined the legendary unit of Black Justice riddled with arrows from both sides, they drew closer, closer, closer to the site.

A few of the more clever ones began to grow concerned when they saw tendrils of smoke rising on either side ahead of them, but with nothing to do but go forward, go forward they did.

The gap was closing, their horses were tiring, 'not much further' was a phrase on every one of the enemy cavalry's lips, until 'not much further' was turned into 'where are they?'. No arrows flew to strike down their enemies, no ambush was sprung, instead Skana, laughing with glee as she dispensed with her bow after bringing down a half a dozen men and horses with her bow, a number others wished to surpass her at themselves, and some did or nearly did, and instead she drew her sword.

"Come here you sons of bitches, I owe you some payback!" She shrieked above the thunder of hooves as she ran the first man through at his back and as she pulled the sword out, his body went flying off his horse, where he was promptly trampled by her comrades.

Seeing that it was too late and that the trap had failed, the rest of the horseman tried to swing around, and found that this resulted in the V shaped formation piercing deep into their ranks, Skana's sword flew like a bird through the trees, and she shrieked her war cry like a half mad banshee, dancing among the soldiers halfway into their ranks, the V began to break apart as they overwhelmed the would be ambushers. Numbers, equipment, and skill began to tell the tale of the encounter as the undead mounts feared nothing, felt nothing, and obeyed perfectly. The excellent custom equipment of the hundred made short work of the common equipment of light horsemen, and even the lower quality gear of the non-elites were superior due to the overwhelming ability of the dwarf craftsmen.

Skana laughed as blood soaked her hair and horse and armor, blows glanced off her breast plate and her sword opened up many necks until one unfortunately heavy hammer blow unhorsed her. The armor absorbed the worst of the shock, and she responded by stabbing the horse the rider was on, sending him falling to the ground with his leg pinned underneath it, he had only a moment to realize his horrible luck when a smiling Skana pushed her sword into his left eye and all the way to the back of his skull.

Other unhorsed warriors came to take her down, only for her acrobatic skill to leave them waging war against the air around her. A high swing resulted in her ducking and stabbing a soldier in the thigh, only to follow it up with a forward roll that ended up in a thrust into a soldier's guts just below the armor, she caught a man's attempted blow at his wrist, twisted it to draw a cry, and brought him down to the ground. Before he could recover she drew a knife from her pouch and jammed it into the back of his neck, severing his spine.

Her own people were all around her now, there was no mercy being asked for and no mercy being offered, shouts and screams did not long endure from the lips of the wounded, as they became the forever silent dead. So it was until the last man fell and Skana staggered to her feet and raised her sword up. Her hands and face, sword and armor, were all slick with the blood of her prey. She licked her lips clean of it, and found what vampires enjoyed so much about their nature.

Her eyes wild with fury and bloodlust, she shouted the victory call, a gesture imitated by all her surviving people.

She wiped her sword on a patch of grass that had been mercifully unstained.

"Gather our wounded and our dead, leave their own." She said, cutting off a sudden desire to leave only a pile of heads, and doing so chiefly because she did not think there was time.

There were few of either dead or wounded from her ranks, and they quickly stormed off back the way they came with the few riderless mounts they had, as well as all their people. The gates of the city opened immediately for them, and Skana took the lead, riding in to cheers for her heroism, remaining upright and smiling as the blood soaked terror of the battlefield she had become. When all were in and the gate was closed, she dismounted her horse and turned to find that Neia was already there, pulling her in for a passionate kiss, heedless of the eviscera, the odor of death and blood, or the slickness of it that permeated Skana's armor and clothing.

"You came back." Neia said happily, grasping Skana's blood soaked cheeks and looking into her eyes.

"For you, I will always come back." Skana said duskily, "But now I need a bath, perhaps... you'd like to help me... clean up?" She winked, and Neia nodded.

"Nothing would make me happier." She said with a toothy smile that had the corners of her mouth upturned boldly.

"We'll see about that." Skana said archly, and lowered her hand down Neia's back, beneath the base of the armor of the Grand King Buser...

For once, Neia did not blush, she only took Skana's hand, and led the way back for both of them.

 _...Astraka's Camp..._

Doppel-One and Doppel-Two were completely undetectable when they made their way to the tent of Astraka in the middle of the night. He was thoroughly drunk and unlikely to awaken. However, to be safe, they used a scroll of 'deeper sleep' to ensure he would not awaken for their next task.

Slipping into the tent, they simply waited, their superior senses informing them of the activity beyond, as the man who would be king lay unawares of the ruin that was to befall him. It was a richly appointed tent, befitting a king, he even had a small carpet transported for his private use so he wouldn't be on the ground when he walked around his personal area. His armor had been polished to a shine and rested on a varnished wooden T shape, but no equipment lay around to care for it, it was done for him by a servant. His bed was not just a crude cot, but a mobile bed that was disassembled and reassembled at each new camp, and as his mattress he had a series of furs from beasts like foxes and bears, along with a warm blanket over him that kept out the chill of the worsening weather.

Nothing compared to their lord in Nazarick but... as good as any human king could ask for.

They waited patiently until they heard voices outside indicating a shift change in the predawn hours, and Doppel-One notified Vanysa via a message spell.

"Alright, do it, assume forms two and three." Vanysa replied.

A moment later the doppelgangers took the shapes of naked, young children, a male and a female, their bodies took on the appearance of deep bruising in various places, and they opened up cuts and created abrasions on their pseudo-skin. They then took expensive cloth from a drawer in Astraka's tent and fashioned crude gags for themselves. Then, with heavy tears flowing down their false faces, they crawled out of his tent in the middle of the shift change, whimpering and begging for help.

They'd taken the forms of beautiful, innocent children of the sort that none could ever fathom hurting, but most importantly, they included features of the children of these, his most trusted guards, so that each of them might see something of their own children in this pair. The guards to see them first jumped backwards in horror as they came out of the shadows. The torches they carried cast light and shadow to dance across the despairing, agonized faces of the two doppel-children.

The reaction of the first pair of guards caused the other two on shift to turn around and look down. Playing up the reaction, the doppelgangers grabbed at one of the guard's feet and looked up at him in a desperate, whimpered but muffled plea for help. He knelt immediately in horror and removed their gags.

"Please... please... no more... no more..." Doppel-One whimpered as he fought 'sobs'.

"Don't send us back in... pwease don't do dat... anytin but that." Doppel-Two whispered plaintively.

The realization of what they were seeing, hit home for all of them at almost the same moment, the bruises, the bleeding, the abrasions, their nakedness and fear and obvious pain. And as they looked at the despairing little ones who had been gagged for who knows how long as they suffered at the hands of the man who would be king, each saw elements of their own child's faces.

"What can we do?" The first guard whispered to the others.

"We've got to get them out of here!" Another said, the little doppel-boy turned on his side and held his stomach, an enormous boot print and bruise was visible through his opened fingers, that mark seemed to fit Astraka's own boots flawlessly.

"Not like that, they'll die out in the woods for sure!" A third guard whispered hoarsely.

"Little boy, little girl, where is your home, can you tell us that?" The fourth guard asked as he crouched down over them.

"W-we're brother an sister, w-we live tha way." He eeked out through an agonized voice. "Momma an papa fell asleep in the fire after the white man came, took us away while momma and papa slept in the fire with the red on their clothes..." Doppel-boy said in a soft, pained voice.

"White man?" The first guard asked the others uncertainly.

"Oh by the gods... the Theocracy adjunct... he rides out sometimes with the other Theocracy scouts, he wears a white robe, I get it... he came into their home, killed the parents, took the children, then burned down the home. Then he brought them back here to... give... them..." The second guard said, then trailed off as he couldn't finish the sentence.

"Is there anywhere else we can take you?" The third guard asked urgently. "Where you'll be safe?"

The little doppel-girl nodded, "Auntie house in the woods behind ours, put us a our house'n we can get ta her, pweease don't make us go back in... it hurts in me..." She bit her arm hard to keep from making noise while she started to cry.

"I'll go sneak a few healing potions, we're coming off shift so the two of us will get these children out of here. Oh gods, what are we following...?" The fourth guard said in absolute horror.

"OK, do it, we'll stay here and pretend nothing is wrong." The first guard said and took his position with his companion.

"Good, Wilam, pick up the girl, I've got the boy, let's get them out of here!" He whispered hoarsely. The two did exactly that, while the children whimpered their 'pain' to all the world, they rushed to a supply tent, quickly stole two healing potions with the assistance of the two guards watching over it. When they saw the two little ones and heard the story, they were utterly disgusted and got right out of the way. A few minutes after that they rode like demons out of hell as fast ahead of the camp as they could until they found the house that Vanysa had burned down the night before.

The 'bodies' of Doppel-3 and Doppel-4 looked suitably burnt, further confirming the story in the minds of the two horrified guards. "Auntie lives ova thisay." The little doppel-boy said, pointing towards the woods.

A quick message later and Vanysa, taking on her human form, put herself outside the door, covered her arms and legs in fresh soot and ash from a small bin she kept handy after burning the house down, making it appear that she'd been digging through the wreckage. She tossed the bin back inside, and then started sobbing uncontrollably and rocking back and forth while she waited for the guards to appear. She did not wait long.

As soon as she saw the children, she popped up to her feet. "Vale, Bera! You're alive!" She shrieked and rushed with a desperate stumble towards the children that the guards carried. "My niece, my nephew! But how? How?!" She asked desperately as they reached out to cling to her. "Who are you noble heroes?!" She exclaimed, lavishing them with desperate praise as they let go of the children.

"We're some of King Astraka's soldiers, miss, we... well we wanted to get them home to safety." One of them said.

"I see, well I would do anything for such a noble King, who would be so kind to a mere peasant as to personally return our poor littles to us, could I perhaps go pay my respects and gratitude to him?" She asked with a sweet, innocent, winning smile that elevated Vanysa's already great beauty.

"Ma'am, listen to me, you must not seek the King, something terrible happened, your... family, they didn't die naturally, they were killed, the children were taken and... the king... he did things to them, terrible things, you must not be here when the army passes by., Wwhen he finds them gone, he may look for them, you must run away." His companion said, and Vanysa let herself collapse to her knees and shake and cry.

"He is who will rule us... oh gods, what hope is there for us if our children are to be his playthings...?" She sobbed for a solid minute while the two men stood there awkwardly.

"If he could keep this secret, oh gods... we're damned! We're the country of the damned..." Vanysa said in a hoarse voice filled with despair.

"Miss, there are plenty of witnesses now, us, two others, and the two guarding the supplies where we stole the healing potions from, this will not stay secret, and our line of march will take us past the house, plenty will see, all will know just what a monster he truly is." One of the guards said, placing a hand comfortingly on her shoulder.

"Do you have money, something to help you get away from here?" His companion asked.

"A little, a horse and enough food for a few days, about twenty coppers." Vanysa whimpered, the guards then looked at one another, and in unison reached their hands into their purses and handed her twenty five silver each.

"Y-you'd gimmie this ta help me get away?" She asked in awe.

"We've got children too, miss, and your niece and nephew, well they look a lot like... please just go, go quickly before the camp awakens." One of them said.

"I'll pack my bag and go right now, thank you, thank you!" Vanysa said and embraced them both.

"I will never forget what you've done today, I promise you that." She said, her storm gray eyes held their gazes, and within them, to her pleasure, she felt no more guilt from them than any common man., Sshe resolved that, if the opportunity came, she would keep them from harm, even if her little 'play' was false, their character was true.

She rushed into the cabin, and when they were well and truly gone, Vanysa burst out laughing maniacally, within a few hours the whole of his own army would think that their king enjoyed the bodies of children. There was vile, and there was vile; even a brute who preyed on women might hesitate when it came to innocent looking children, so such figures were thought to be the worst of the worst.

The doppelgangers restored their former shapes.

"Now," Vanysa said, "assume shapes five and six. Return to the camp, and make it worse." She smiled with absolute viciousness as her erinyes shape was restored.

The two doppelgangers took the forms of soldiers and crept into the camp. Rumors were already flying within minutes of the sun breaking the horizon, and the two doppel-soldiers were quick to confirm everything, claiming to have seen the children and seen them carried away, while the two actual guards confirmed to their comrades the burned up house and the two bodies of the 'parents' and for many that was the only evidence they would accept, even when the other guards produced the cloth that still bore teeth marks fitting small children who had bitten hard in pain when the cloth had been used as gags to keep them quiet while they suffered.

Astraka did not hear the rumors for most of the day, but when the line of march passed the burned out house and someone suggested a brief halt for men to relieve themselves, and many wandered over to the home and the 'bodies' of Doppel-Three and Doppel-Four' the rumors were accepted as true.

King Astraka then had someone bring the rumor to his attention, and it was vile enough that he stood in front of the entire army, shouting, sputtering, and raging his denials, but so vigorous and angry and not to mention more than a little intoxicated as he'd indulged in a few drinks on the road, that he did not come across as believable. His denial was taken as proof of his guilt, and the morale of his army plummeted.

The doppelgangers that remained in disguise as soldiers, continued to spread rumors about his 'seedy side' and many perversions.

Their many reports of the growing hatred that built over the course of the day, warmed Vanysa's heart.

When the day was over, she called the doppelgangers back to her little improvised headquarters. "Wonderful work, next... oh, I am going to love this next part." The Erinyes declared, laughing with absolute joy. She shook so hard that her wings trembled and her talons clicked together as she leaned her head back and laughed harder and harder, as if her laughter could reach the sky itself.


	104. False Vendettas

God Rising

Chapter 104

Written by: AtheistBasementDragon

Edited by: The Usual Gang of Drunken Perverted Idiots

 **AN: Another chapter, enjoy, I've written out to 106 now, had some fixes to do on that which my stellar beta team caught, Prart's siege was originally intended to be 5 chapters, looks like it will be a bit longer after all. I never get these estimates right. Then we're back to the rest of the world.**

 _...Prart..._

Inside the city, Neia and Skana went back to their shared quarters, neither minded the blood that stained them, if anything it seemed to bond them, Neia refused to let go of the bloodsoaked hand of her betrothed, and at this point they did not even draw any looks, most of the city already knew that Skana had ridden out and slain those coming to slay them, so a bloodsoaked one eyed heroine was not the last thing one would expect to see.

The only one doing the unexpected was Neia, rarely did she take the lead in any emotional or romantically physical sense, being more comfortable leaving it in the hands of the experienced Skana, the killing demon whom she loved. Yet now, driven by her earlier distress and her present relief, she did take the lead, and Skana did not object. They went into the manor and made their way through the long halls, indifferent to the blood and dirt they left tracked behind them.

In such conditions as these, that was of no account to anyone. Their quarters were placed near to those of both Blue Rose and Queen Calca, so it was no surprise that Lakyus should be seen standing outside on guard against a potential intruder. As soon as she saw the bloodsoaked pair she smiled with relief, though she did not leave her position.

"I'm glad to see you're alright." Lakyus said sincerely. "I wish we could have joined you but... after what happened..." She trailed off.

"Not a problem, the twins performed admirably and the ambush was ambushed... twice, and they're all dead." Skana casually said, "No doubt Remedios is raging about now, and if our information on Suchala is right, he'll have paced the site to figure out what happened and have worked it out almost to the last detail. In short, we can't use that strategy again, he'll be prepared for it next time, Fluder's presence with us is known now. I'm sure they'll be here before the sun has set all the way, so I need to get cleaned up. Join us for dinner later?" She asked.

"We'd be happy to." Lakyus said warmly, "Would you like to speak to the Queen before you clean up, or after? She'll want to know how things went, and to be honest, she's been worried since she heard about the sally out of the gate."

Neia and Skana traded a look, "Better to do it now I guess, I've been soaked like this for a little while now, what is two more minutes?" She asked rhetorically.

Lakyus chuckled, "Been there." She said, and knocked three times on the door. "They're back." She said through it, and the door opened.

Queen Calca stood in the center of the room, and relief swept her face as she saw that Skana was alive. She was obviously trying to mask her feelings about seeing the pair as bloodsoaked as they were, but the relief was clearly not a mask. Neia and Skana walked through the door, tracking blood into the Queen's room, though if she cared, she gave no indication.

Skana knelt to the Queen, while Neia simply bowed her head politely. "Your Majesty, we have victory. Several hundred of theirs are dead, and we lost fewer than twenty of our own, none of them our elites."

"Twenty is still high given the circumstances." Neia said somewhat unhappily, "We will have to redouble the training for our second stringers. We shouldn't lose that many when we have the enemy at a disadvantage like that."

"Maybe not, but it happens. These were fairly skilled, and they were fanatics, none of them tried to run or tried to surrender, so I would say twenty is within the range of acceptable losses." Skana said pragmatically.

"I will visit with the wounded and pay my respects to the fallen this evening before dinner." Queen Calca said, "I'm glad you came back alive, the city's defenses would have been poorer without you. That said..." She looked over to Neia, "Do you object to me leaving my quarters now? I daresay I feel like a prisoner locked up here, I really don't want to be trussed up and tossed through a gate back to the Sorcerer King, but I am the Queen of this country and I will be forever shamed if I'm seen as hiding away while my people struggle to face this threat without me."

"Hell." Neia said as she grabbed her own forehead. "That is a good point, I've been so focused on securing you that I didn't think about your duties, I apologize for that. Your Majesty, move about as needed, but there are three things that must be consistently adhered to."

"Yes?" Calca asked.

"First, you must have at least one adamantite adventurer or two of my elites with you at all times. Second, you must vary any of your visits to the wall." The Queen looked confused, "What I mean is, you go to different parts at different times, don't adhere to any pattern that would allow you to become an easy target to prepare for, and never stay there longer than needed. Third, you don't sleep without a guard in your room and a guard at your door at all times. To protect your modesty we'll ensure it is always a woman, but I will not let you risk yourself again the way we did before." Neia said in a crisp, professional tone, but out of the corner of her eye she noticed something that would forever haunt her memories. Every mirror or reflective surface in the room, was either covered up or broken.

Queen Calca's face was a mask, but Neia could see well enough through it at least, that she knew the memory of the pain, her proud, beautiful face, being smashed into hideous fragments, still touched a nerve, and though she could keep herself from showing an excessive reaction, Neia's eyes could not miss the emotion in those of the Queen. The Black Paladin wondered how long it would be before she allowed mirrors around her again.

"Those are acceptable." The Queen said with some reluctance in her voice, "Thank you for your concern and for your sense of duty, and of course, thank you for your service to myself and our lord, the Sorcerer King." She said, "Now, I'm sure you want to get cleaned up, so I will not keep you longer. I will see you for dinner this evening." She said, finishing her statements with a warmth for the pair that she had once reserved only for her closest family and for the woman who had tried to kill her.

"Your Majesty." Skana said as she stood, bowed, and departed with Neia to return to their own quarters.

Neia immediately went and drew a boiling hot bath, throwing a bar of soap in with the water to give it a pale white shade. Skana entered the room and immediately began to undress.

"No..." Neia said softly, taking Skana's hands, "Let me." Skana relaxed her hands, and Neia knelt to her, and undid her lover's boot laces. Skana raised her foot, and allowed Neia to remove first one, then the other, and she set them aside. She stood, and unfastened the buckles that held the armor in place, and then removed it over one shoulder. Underneath lay the gambeson, a padded shirt, which was... harder to remove, given that Skana's height was greater than Neia's. So the taller woman bent forward a bit, to allow its removal over her head. So it was with one piece of war gear after another, until she stood naked but for the blood of her enemies on her skin. Neia wasted no time in disrobing herself, and took Skana's hand again, leading her into the soap clouded waters of the bath. She fumbled around for the bar for just a moment, and with a smile, she began to wash the victorious woman completely clean, ignoring not an inch. The water turned a faint shade of pink as the blood mixed with the clouded white water, and it was in this way that, when their bodies were washed, their arms entwined for more passionate intentions. Intentions that carried on until the horn rang again, and the city was alerted to the coming of their foes.

 _...Ambush Site..._

Remedios fumed when she saw the bodies, her face turned purple with rage as she realized her ambush had been ambushed and her hated enemy had gotten the better of her again.

She walked to a corpse and kicked it in the head. "Idiot!" She screamed at the corpse. "This should have been an easy win and you screwed it up!" Her fists balled tight enough that her palms bled, and it was only the intervention of Suchala who approached and laid his graying hand on her shoulder, that stopped her in mid rant.

"No." He said, shaking his head. "The dead can't answer you anyway, but this man is not at fault, and if he were, he has already paid for it with his life." He said and pointed to the thin wisps of smoke still rising from the woods. "He did his job, the others died before he got here, and their faster mounts took these men down, they tried to fight..." He started stepping around the area, pacing it out. "The clash began here." He said, pointing to a clump of bodies on their sides. "That man back there," he pointed to a body with a sword wound in his back, "was the first to die, the others realized the ambush failed." He paced, a few feet away. "They tried to turn to fight here, whoever led the fight came in a V formation, they killed several to get deep in..." He stepped a dozen feet or so inwards, "and were finally stopped here."

He took them through the course of the fight, his eyes glazed over as if he were watching it unfold, "Poor men never had a chance, they were outnumbered, out equipped, and their comrades who were to help them were already dead." Suchala sighed, "Leave a contingent behind to bury the dead and then join us as we establish our siege. We'll need a priest to lay them to rest properly to ensure none come back as undead."

"Fine." Remedios said, knowing all too well how important that was.

"Move the bodies out of the way first, throw them into the woods for now, we don't want the army behind us to get cold feet seeing their dead comrades." Yuri added pragmatically.

A dozen were set to the task and within a short period of time the bodies were temporarily tossed into the woods close by where they would not be seen, though nothing could be done about the blood on the dirt. 'Evidence of a battle' was tolerable, while 'evidence our side got its ass handed to it' was not.

That evening they arrived at Prart. They outnumbered the city considerably, and began to move to surround it, tents went up, siege equipment was assembled, and then, there on the walls, they saw something seemingly insensible occur. Someone was putting up... decorations. Flowers were being hung from the walls, ribbons and banners, they could faintly hear the sound of music being 'practiced' from the interior of the city. It was as if they were preparing for a celebration and not a battle.

"Have they all lost their wits?" Suchala wondered openly.

"I have no idea." Remedios said, "If I didn't know better I'd say it was for a wedding or something. What daft madness is this?" She asked in her own disbelieving tone of voice.

"I suppose we'll find out soon enough. It'll take us most of the evening to get the city completely surrounded, and we won't really be battle ready until tomorrow afternoon after that forced march, so for now we keep watch on them and find out for ourselves. If we can get someone close enough to use appraise magic, maybe those decorations are enchanted in some way to protect the walls? I don't know." Yuri suggested in a rare moment of absolute uncertainty.

 _...Astraka's Encampment…_

The march had been a poor one by his reckoning, his reputation was suffering from a run of horrible misfortune, misunderstandings, and rumors, the reverence and respect his men rendered him before had been reduced to hollow gestures given by rote discipline and the enforcement of his noble supporters, and… the threat of harsh punishment if it were to falter.

However he did have one thorn in his side at least, that was almost ready to come loose. He visited the 'discipline tent'. This one was unique, on the outside, it was an ordinary tent, on the inside, a cage, a very small, uncomfortable cage, one the prisoner could neither sit in, nor lie in, nor stand in. Within the tent, a number of implements of pain hung on display before the eyes of whoever had the misfortune of finding themselves in confinement.

Astraka closed the tent flap, the tent was one of the only enchanted fabrics he had with him on the march, and it kept the screams in when the flap closed. By now, the prisoner knew what the closing flap meant, he started to sweat.

"You're looking leaner." Astraka said sarcastically.

The cage sat on a swiveling table that allowed the one outside of it, to make any area of the prisoner accessible through the cage. Hours in there would leave anyone to sore to move or resist, they could be brought out, 'questioned' and put back with relative ease with a little assistance.

The man looked at him.

"Will you tell me your name now?" Astraka asked.

"No." Tinamoc replied.

"We've been gentle with you so far since it is a minor question, but I will know everything I want to know. One way or another." Astraka said with cool confidence.

The man was quiet.

"How about you just tell me this first, are you a spy?" Astraka asked reasonably.

"No." Tinamoc replied.

"No you won't tell me, or no you're not a spy?" Astraka asked.

"No, I am not a spy." He said in the weak voice of an almost broken man, Astraka knew the signs, he was reaching the limit of his strength and will. He'd held out longer than a pampered overweight man like him had any right to, but he was nearly broken now.

"Good, see, you can answer questions, and it hurts a lot less to answer them than to not, doesn't it?" Astraka asked rhetorically.

Astraka gestured to the torturer, and the ugly trollish looking human approached and knelt at the feet of the king.

"Time for some 'hard' questions." Astraka said sharply, and he took a seat nearby.

The large, muscular torturer was easily to much for the overweight, weak, sore merchant, and he quickly had Tinamoc secure to a pair of wooden posts embedded into the ground.

"First question. I'll ask it again." Astraka said. "What is your name."

Tinamoc tried to lie, he'd tried a dozen different names and somehow Astraka always smelled a whiff of untruth, and it started all over again. The blows were painful, the implements, many, until a shredded and bloody mass hung limp between the poles, to weak to even stand to ease the strain on his wrists.

'I'm sorry… Neia… looks like I'll suffer the fate of a sinner… I'm just… not strong enough…" Tinamoc thought to himself.

"What is your name." Astraka asked, the question had been repeated again and again, and Tinamoc had either been silent or tried to lie his way out of it every time, but now, he could bear no more.

"Tinamoc… my name is Tinamoc…" he blubbered out as best he could manage it.

Astraka's eyes widened. 'The kingdom's greatest merchant, the former economic advisor to Queen Calca, Neia's wealthiest supporter, looks like my luck has started to turn.' He thought happily.

"Next question." He said, confident that there would be no more lies going forward.

 _...A cabin in the woods..._

Vanysa was very happy. She gave her instructions to the four doppels and they clearly understood what to do. It wasn't that hard, but she did wait two days, that was the hard part, all the anticipation. However, if events transpired too closely together, suspicion would grow that someone was manipulating things. This… probably would not happen, but she wanted to avoid any and all risks.

So two days later, four doppel peasants and an invisible erinyes with a scroll, sat hidden in the woods well beyond where Astraka would arrive. Birds chirped and beasts walked or crawled, a doe hopped across the road near where they lay in wait. To ensure success Vanysa had measured out the distance and marked it by transplanting a bush right beside the road, from her location, she could see it easily. When Astraka passed it, he was in range.

"Are you ready?" She asked the doppels. They nodded together, their peasant faces were dignified and rough, they looked like ordinary, common laborers, two men, and two women on the older side of life but not quite ancient. Still firm enough of body and mind for work, they were exactly what you'd see on a farm or a boat, they were the definition of 'the everyman'. Just looking at them and their common clothing would resonate with the army, most of whom came from that social class.

She smirked, it was almost time. She could hear the army marching in the distance, step by step they drew closer to where she wanted them to be. She looked at him from where she'd concealed herself, his handsome beard was still in place. She hated that he was still not unpleasant to look at, after what he'd done, and another frown came to her face.

He stepped across the place she mentally referred to as 'the threshold'.

She nodded to the doppels, and they ran from their place across the woods, they swang ordinary farm implements, an ax, a hoe, a mattock, minor things of no real threat to even an ignorant and untrained young knight.

She smiled, they were screaming at him.

"This is for what you had done to our children, you bastard!" One of them cried out, Vanysa used her 'Scroll of Greater Fear' and terror seized his heart, and he shrieked like a child, wheeled away on his warhorse, and tried to gallop away squealing in abject terror shouting for someone to protect and save him.

The peasants were immediately dispatched by other attending guards, but the general disgust with the king's cowardice was already sweeping the ranks as those who saw, informed those behind them of what they bore witness to.

The four were quickly bound with their hands behind their backs, struggling desperately to have their chance at revenge.

Astraka was ashamed of his unexpected cowardice, he sought distraction by answers and asked, "What are you talking about?"

"You killed our daughter!" A couple said. "You killed our son!" Another said. "Then you took our grandchildren and abused them! You monster! You monster!" They sobbed from their position, bound on their knees, they spoke as loudly as they could, feeding in to the rumors.

Vanysa pulled out another scroll, 'Scroll of Greater Wrath' and used it. His face twisted in fury.

"Stupid know nothing worthless peasant trash! How dare you!" He said as the rage enveloped him, he drew his sword and he stabbed or slashed at each of them once, striking in painful, lethal places that would kill them slowly

The watching soldiers were disgusted and horrified both at once, and with their horror and disgust, he had lost not only his reputation as a brave monarch, but also his reputation as a fair one or a just one, he appeared the worst of tyrants, and more than that... he looked guilty, like killing them would cover up his murders or his abuse of small children.

With the spell still in effect, he only snarled at two soldiers to throw the corpses into a ditch to be devoured by wild animals, it was a cruel fate. The natural result was that his reputation for cruelty against even the grieving, not to mention his 'coverup', and his abject and total cowardice, fleeing from old peasants who barely qualified as 'armed' grew exponentially.

Vanysa departed the area and returned to her little base of operations. She spent the next few hours laughing happily as the doppels undertook the next stage on their own, whimpering for help that the king, ensnared by the scroll, forbade, with every whimper they increased the hatred and contempt his army had for him.

That evening, alone in his tent, he wondered what was wrong with him. "Goddamnit, how the hell could I have run from mere peasants?!" He snapped at himself, "How could I have wet myself and shat myself over them, in front of my whole army?! Damn it... my reputation!" He snarled out, then froze with fists clenched.

"Gah! Damn it all! Where did anyone get the idea that I did these things?! Abusing children? Murder? As if my reputation were not already sullied, this is disastrous!" He snapped out at no one. Something had to be done. He went and started to pour himself some wine, his hands were shaking violently, he tried to tell himself it was just anger, but he knew it was worse than that, it was anxiety, it was the feeling that the value of his name was slipping away like sand through an hourglass.

He took several deep breaths. "It's alright, Astraka, it'll be fine, I just have to show them I'm generous to them. Tomorrow I'll pause for a little longer and hold a feast, remind them that good things flow from me." He said aloud as he spoke to the empty air. One thing he wanted to do first... he walked out of his tent into the darkness, found the small river where he'd dumped that stubborn peasant's corpse months ago, he dropped his pants, and relieved himself. He wondered where her corpse was now, probably out to sea, reduced to bones and scraps, it felt good to think about that. While she seemed amusing at first, her stubbornness ate at him. He looked into the river. "Stupid bitch, you could have had everything, you could have been rich, comfortable, even gotten a title and an estate, instead you made me do all those things to loosen your tongue." He spat into the water, it still got to him.

"Did you really think there was some purpose to holding out? That you'd get rescued, nobody heard you call for your master except me and my servant, peasants aren't supposed to do that anyway, just do as you're told, and everything works out okay. I guess it was kind of impressive that you held out no matter what we did to you... I really thought the wooden horse would do the trick... and I never expected you to carve a farewell into your own breasts and bite off your tongue. Of course, not that anyone else ever knew you bade farewell, so all being a 'faithful servant' got you was an ugly death in a dungeon instead of in the gutter you crawled out of in the first place. Though in retrospect, holding on to your head would have been useful at least, I could have given it as a gift at the treaty signing after this war ends." Astraka laughed at his own wit as he resecured his pants. "Ahhh, much better." He said as he stretched out and looked into the river one last time, he briefly fantasized about how such a beautiful girl would have felt to have seen the mutilated results of resisting his questioning, and he resolved to have a mirror put into the dungeon.

"Now I'll be able to sleep." He said out loud to himself, and strolled back to his bed with a confident smile on his face.

When the army made camp that evening, the doppel-peasants assumed the guise of soldiers and entered the camp. There, they awaited Vanysa's instructions to undertake the next step of her revenge.


	105. Bonded Before Bloodshed

God Rising

Chapter 105

Written by: AtheistBasementDragon

Edited by: The Usual Gang of Drunken Perverted Idiots

 **AN: Who would like to see 'God Rising' turned into a 'Manga' style work? Just add 'Yes' to the bottom of whatever review you give. (Also, no I wouldn't charge for it, it wouldn't be ethical) Well, I look forward to your reviews, they feed my creative energy, do not leave me starving! :D**

 _...Outside of Prart…_

After the horn went off, things were very busy, but it was immediately apparent that there was to be no battle that night, the positions were being taken up, camp established, nothing more. A kind of 'truce' emerged over the course of the evening as everybody on both sides was simply too tired to fight each other.

However the next morning, the entire city was up before the dawn, with the blowing of a great horn, and they were up for a very special reason. When the enemy encampment heard the noise and saw the signs of activity, they rushed to battle positions and began to move into counter attack position, to their surprise, the gate opened slightly and a single horseman came out with a white flag, holding no weapons, only a basket, he rode close to their lines, laid the basket down, and ran back.

Hesitant in the predawn hours, a brave man nonetheless ventured forth and took the basket up and opened it before a very tense army. He relaxed visibly when he saw the contents, and took his time walking back to his own lines.

There on the wall the commanders watched what had to be Neia and Skana stand at the center, between the two towers that bracketed the gate, there was a white arch that shone brightly with a continual light spell on it, and the two women were clad entirely in white clothing. Whatever it was, it seemed it must have been vital if it drew them together, awakened the city, and had them dressed very differently than they normally were. So they rode closer, cautiously, and that was when they made out a figure that had to be in excess of seven feet tall, standing in front of the pair with his back to the forces of Remedios and the Slane Theocracy. As they drew closer, they could hear him speak.

The sun broke on the horizon. "Does anyone dispute their union?!" A powerful, incredibly noble voice pierced the air and carried over the city, joined in unison by a beautiful feminine one that was brought into view, standing beside the enormous figure.

"No…" Remedios said in abject disbelief. "It can't be."

Silence reigned for half a minute.

The sound of tens of thousands of swords coming out, echoed all the way to the siege camp, and the enormous figure in black held his staff aloft, and the feminine figure beside him, held up a sword of her own. Contrary to Remedios's words… it 'could' be, and understanding started to set in.

There was not a word said until the staff slammed down to the stone at his feet, and both Neia and Skana sheathed their own weapons as the sun's light passed over them.

"Then we are one! Let none dispute it, unless they wish to shed blood!" Neia and Skana said in unison, then they faced one another, embraced, and kissed deeply, happily, passionately, and the entire city let loose a cheer at the wedding of their heroes.

"Let's go back to our lines, I want to know what that messenger was delivering." Remedios said sharply. They rode quickly to their command tent, with the cheers of the city chasing their backs. The basket was sitting on Suchala's desk.

He flipped open the top and found a sealed letter, he opened it, and there he read aloud, "Thank you for attending the wedding of Neia Baraja and Skana the Bold, as a token of their appreciation for your attendance, we have provided a gift that you may toast to the long life and success of the happy couple." He set the letter aside and pulled out a bottle of wine, he stared at it in absolute disbelief.

"Are they... serious?" He asked.

"They mock us! That was the Sorcerer King up there! And that false Calca! It is not enough to mock us, they mock her memory by making her false copy party to their blasphemy! The monster performed a dawn wedding on the morning of a siege!" Remedios gritted her teeth in hatred, picked up the bottle, and flung it in a rage. The bottle did not shatter.

"Calm down." Yuri said casually, "Marriage is parted by death, so, kill them all, no more problem." She said casually.

That seemed to make Remedios more comfortable, Suchala however, was still seething, a faithful member of the Slane Theocracy, seeing the wedding of blasphemous, undead worshiping heretics was enough to make his blood boil. They could still hear the cheers and the music.

 _...Inside Prart..._

Neia awoke in the dark, predawn hours of the morning, still wrapped in post coital bliss with her lover, who was still asleep. She smiled, and chose to kiss Skana into wakefulness, the auburn haired Vice Commander was clearly not a morning person by nature. She mewed out little noises that were not quite words, and it took several very happy minutes until she at last began to stir under Neia's enthusiastic attentions. When at last she started to stretch and yawn, Neia disentangled herself and drew a bath for them both, they had little time to prepare.

So they hurried through bathing and preparations for the day. One thing remained on Neia's mind though, and she was sure it was on Skana's as well. A small ache now, but an ache. There was none to stand for them in the role of father or mother. Their parents, indeed the entirety of their former villages, were all dead. It made what was to be one of the happiest days of her life, have one vacant hole that would stand out strongly.

She felt that way until the moment she stepped out into the hall and saw the back of the Sorcerer King. "Your Majesty?!" She said in abject disbelief.

He turned, "Hello Neia." He could not smile, but she got the sense that he would have, had he been able.

"I, ah, my lord, my god, Your Majesty… why, how… what brings you here?" She asked as she managed to stumble through a question.

He let out a light, noble laugh. "Lakyus contacted me. She informed me of your wedding. I'm a little miffed I got no invitation." He said archly.

Neia blushed from down on one knee, "Sire, I didn't think…"

Ainz reached down and touched her shoulder, "Stand up, Neia. You are the first of all humanity to embrace me to so great a degree. You served me through all danger, argued for me before kings and paladins, suffered terrible pain for my sake, you are… more than you think yourself to be, in my eyes. Of course I would attend, but more importantly, there is a vital role that seems to have no one filling it in, or so Lakyus says." He said in his grand, royal voice.

"Sire?" She asked, just as Skana exited their bedroom and took her place kneeling beside Neia.

"You have none to stand as father or mother for either of you, so Lakyus asked if Queen Calca and I would take that role. Apparently she witnessed a wedding ceremony of ours on her way to Kedyn, and she saw you had none to fill that place. She didn't wish to see this day have any void that would taint the memory, so she asked us." Ainz explained patiently.

"Of course if you have another…" He said tentatively.

"No sire, we don't!" Skana said, deeply moved by his offer.

"We would, I would…" Neia couldn't finish speaking, her voice caught in her throat, it was a full minute before she managed to whisper out, "I'm… so… grateful…"

"Good, then let's be off to it." He said and strode away.

Neia paused at the room occupied by Lakyus and knocked on the door. The noble adventurer answered the door and before she could say a word, Neia embraced her with a strength and tightness that the adamantite adventurer did not know that she possessed.

"Thank you… thank you so much… I never could have asked them…" Neia said with her voice choked and tight.

"It was nothing." Lakyus said, "This is what friends are for. Now get going, my sisters and I will be out shortly. Gagaran takes forever to get ready." She sighed the sigh of a long suffering and much amused martyr, and Neia rushed off after her bride and her king.

Light music was playing as they went to take their places, Queen Calca was waiting for them outside the manor. Skana impulsively embraced the woman, catching her completely by surprise, only to find the embrace gingerly returned as she gave thanks of her own.

"You're welcome." She said with a smile, "I'm happy to do it, Neia saved my life, you're defending my throne, I couldn't be happier to stand for anyone than I am to do so for you two." Queen Calca said.

It is rare in any time or place or even world, that heroes wed, and how much less so on the day a fierce battle is to be waged, yet here it was, an event that no one doubted would be told in stories for centuries to come.

The Sorcerer King and Queen Calca walked side by side in a slow procession, the city's residents had, of their own accord, parted the way to pay their respects, those who could kneel, knelt, those who could not for want of space, rendered firm martial salutes. The way was lined with thousands upon thousands, so tightly packed were they that people climbed atop buildings to be able to have a place to watch this once in an era event.

Despite the gravity of the day, there was hope, optimism, even happiness, as if the very act of blessing the union of two heroes would make their city unbeatable by their enemies. Step by step, the undead King and risen Queen moved towards the walls facing the command tents of the enemy siege. Soldiers formed an impromptu escort behind them, countless hours of drill had them marching in perfect sync with one another, with their eyes straight ahead and almost entirely unblinking. The unit was composed of elves, orcs, humans, and more, making it unique in the world outside of the areas the Sorcerer King and his subordinates had already reshaped.

As they came to the final turn, they found that Neia's hundred had lined themselves up on either side and drawn their sword, holding them aloft at an angle to be passed under, the rulers, their honor guard, and the couple to be moved beneath this final show of respect. The impromptu honor guard marched past the entry, halted crisply and performed an about face. "Ready! Arms!" The commander shouted, and their ranks drew swords in unison. "Present! Arms!" He shouted, and their swords came up to the center of their faces. It was a memorable moment for all of them, as the royal pair moved up the steps to the top of the wall, and the Sorcerer King placed himself on the wall in front of Neia, while the Queen did so in front of Skana, they issued the call to challenge, and then stepped aside when none dared answer it.

When it was over, the skeletal hand of the Sorcerer King touched the shoulders of the new couple. "As my gift to you both, when all this is over and done with, I will give you a home to reside in. You may pick whatever land you wish, and a home will be prepared for you, along with servants to provide for your many needs. I know you lost everything in the invasion, I would see to it that you not be left homeless after rendering such good service to myself and to the rightful Queen of this country."

"Thank you, sire…" Neia and Skana said in a hushed whisper of deep affection and reverence.

"Now, I have work to attend to, can the people of Prart handle that little nest of rats out there?!" He asked loudly. Swords and spears and bows were raised with enthusiastic cheers.

"I thought so." He said, "I'm proud of all of you." Then he descended from the wall, walked among the crowd for a few minutes, and then disappeared.

The Queen turned to the newly wedded couple and said, "I should probably get down from the wall now, but… when everything is over and done, before you leave my country and find a place for yourselves in a time of peace, come and see me, I will have something to give you as well."

"We will, thank you, Your Majesty." Neia said happily, then she and Skana turned towards the enemy camp, and waved happily, holding one another close, as if welcoming old friends to their nuptials. They were fairly sure that would gall every single person who recognized what they'd just seen, and that made that moment all the sweeter for the both of them.

 _...Astraka's Camp…_

An individual asleep has a lower resistance to magic than an individual awake. Learning this had been something of a revelation to Vanysa, but it was one she was glad to know. Slipping into his tent was child's play, and as she stood over him, thinking how easy it would be to end him, or to simply take him away, she almost did it. However, instead she shook the thought off, and used another scroll. When he awakened, he would be ravenously hungry. She used another scroll, weakening his resistance to poison. She smirked and shook with excitement. She then used a third scroll, imbuing him with a much deeper sleep.

She then used another scroll on herself, a cruel smile came over her face, and she looked him over, it was such a surreal moment for her. He seemed so very human, so small really, she wondered what he must have been like growing up, was he a cute kid? He'd grown into a handsome man, so he probably was, had his parents loved him, or had he just been a tool to advance the power of the family? It was a pointless question, she knew that, yet as he looked so helpless in his sleep, without any of the arrogance or anger on his face, she couldn't help but ask it.

Her cruel smile, which had vanished as she wondered about pointless things, returned in full and she got on to the bed with him, she straddled him as one might a lover, and caressed his chest with her hands. She wondered how many times he'd thought about doing this with her when she was a prisoner, helpless and afraid under a gaze of lust, anger, and manipulative, exploitative kindness so thick she could feel it like the air around her body. Her wings came out and the caress of a finger became one of talons.

'Would you still want me, like this?' She wondered, and as she looked herself over in a moment of vanity she thought, 'Yeah, and I wouldn't blame you, praise His Majesty for his taste in transformations.'

She dismissed the idle thought and lowered her forehead to his, and entered his dream. His dream, to her surprise, was about her. Unsurprisingly, it was sexual. That would not do. She suppressed a laugh, and switched the scene, he was now in the dungeon of his castle, but he was not himself, he...was she.

Drawing on her memories, she put him in her place, while she took his.

Astraka… as his victim, looked around desperately, he heard his cruel voice, into his own ear as he stood trapped in the body of his victim. The whip, he felt every blow, Vanysa made sure to include all the pain she could remember, he was wailing as he darted his face around in confusion, she smiled when he looked at 'his' arm and saw his own bone where muscle had been torn away.

Vanysa played his role in the memory to the hilt, and Astraka, trapped in her former place, was struggling to bluster to the torturer that 'she' was really the king.

"Put her on the wooden horse, add weight." Vanysa said, using the same voice he'd used with her, she remembered all too well how she'd begged. "No, no, please no more, don't, oh god, someone…" only for words to vanish as she was forced to straddle the terrible, simple instrument while he just sat and watched with distaste. She made his dream one where he relived every moment, and shed every tear, under 'his' own watchful eyes, until the moment the door closed.

Vanysa exited the dream, and looked down at him, he was shaking in absolute terror, her life had become his nightmare, and it would run on a loop until he woke up, which wouldn't be for several more hours.

She crept out of the tent, and 'almost' wondered if she'd done enough for the night, but quickly dismissed the thought, and so she visited the supply tents and took all the measuring cups away, and replaced them with smaller ones, not dramatically smaller, but smaller nonetheless.

Then she left, and when she was safely out of the camp, her arms went behind her, hands folded at the small of her back, and she fairly skipped away, beaming with absolute happiness written all over her face with shining gray eyes wide with bliss, and a smile as broad as the river her body had been cast into.

In the morning the soldiers were up and about early, but King Astraka had not left his tent. The doppel-soldiers were happy to explain why, the king had chosen to sleep in, he was so lazy and slothful, while all others with little were working so very hard, he chose to get all the rest he wished.

He did not emerge from the tent until the 'feast' he'd ordered, was nearly ready to be served. When he did, he was bleary eyed and staggering, the rest he'd begun to get, he'd been denied. Moreover, a ravenous, beastial hunger had overtaken him. He did not even address the gathered army, instead he began calling for more food and wine to be brought to him, and he devoured it greedily. Enormous helpings of meat and fruit were brought, and seemed not to be enough, his sense of decorum and royal dignity were gone.

And of course the doppel-soldiers did their part. "He's such a glutton, here all this time I thought he was a noble of regal bearing and dignity, but look at him, as soon as he thinks he has the crown, he becomes this?" Variations of this phrase and that gesture of hand waving disgust came from each of them as the slothfulness and gluttony of their leader was made evident.

When he began to drink wine, it got worse, thanks to his lower resistance to poison, the alcohol hit hard, his speech became slurred and he appeared every inch as kingly as... a tavern drunkard. He got up from the table and staggered away, evidently going towards the slit trench where people relieved themselves, only to stagger and fall into it face first and pass out.

"Our 'king' wants to march us to Prart? But he can't even move from the table to the latrine pit?" A doppel-soldier said, and the words, and laughter, spread as two servants dragged the drunken and unconscious king away from the disgraceful place he had planted his face. And of course they were quick to explain his bleary look as drunkenness from the previous evening, talking about all the wine bottles that had to be disposed of on a regular basis. When that story took on a life of its own, they continued with the next step.

"Hey…" Another doppel-soldier pointed out. "Why is there less meat in my stew?" The other three doppels repeated the phrase themselves after pretending to inspect theirs more closely. "Yeah, there's less meat and there's less vegetables, there's less of everything but water!" No news spread like bad news, and no words spread like rumors. So the doppel's put it about that the King was trying to save money by shorting them on their rations by using smaller measuring cups.

By the time he regained consciousness, his army was convinced he was a gluttonous, lazy, cheap, child abusing, murderous, drunken, violent, and cowardly thug. The march was resumed sullenly, with the doppel-soldiers at every break, telling stories of his cowardly flight from Kasaga, how he'd thrown one of his own men from a horse so he could take it and flee to safety for himself. Over the next few days, at every little village that they passed by where the army encamped, a doppel would take the form of a woman and follow after the army on the morning of their departure, asking desperately if anyone had seen her little boy or girl, and wander off dejected when the answer was no. Sometimes they hammed it up, wailing as if they found a body, letting the soldiers form their own conclusions and start their own rumors. None of his nights were peaceful. She gave him only dreams of herself, but with himself cast into her body, seeing himself as she had seen him, the hateful face, the pummeling, the anger, she made him experience her trembling, and every humiliation, one by one, whatever one she picked, she put on a loop, preferring the worst ones, though sometimes she 'spliced' several days worth of memories together in a pageant of terror that left him waking up sweating and terrified until he realized it wasn't a dream.

There was only one more thing she had to be sure of, and for that, she had to go to meet with Robel, he'd be marching to Hoburns soon. She wanted to make sure he did exactly as she wanted him to.

She looked over at his sleeping form, he was tossing, turning, twisting in the nightmare that he'd imposed on her very real life. "What's the matter?" She whispered to his dreaming body. "You can dish it out to me in reality, but you can't take it, not even in a dream?" She laughed in a voice low and cruel. "Don't worry, I'll give you plenty of practice enduring it all." She added, and disappeared from within the tent. When she was free of the camp, she was so very happy that rather than fly, she chose to skip happily, as she'd done around His Majesty, humming a joyful tune to its completion, before at last she took to the skies and savored the darkness that enveloped her.


	106. Dealing with a Demoness

God Rising

Chapter 106

Written by: AtheistBasementDragon

Edited by: The Usual Gang of Drunken Perverted Idiots

 **AN: Well you wanted to see a few Black Paladin abilities, I trust you'll not be disappointed. I look forward to your thoughts. :)**

 _...Prart..._

Neia watched with great pleasure as Remedios ordered the advance. "Come and get me! You hear me over there?!" She shouted as loud as she could over the empty ground, her sword was out and high in the air, while Skana walked the walls as archers took their places. Her steady footfalls and one good eye falling on those who seemed on edge, a touch from her to their shoulder to reassure them, a few brave words, and she moved on.

"Loose!" Skana shouted, and the gray goose flew from countless bows, arching over the walls and landing on those who came to kill them, warriors fell screaming or silent, but more came in to replace them. "Pick your targets! Fire when ready!" Skana shouted, moving up and down the line still, looking for weaknesses beyond the wall and on it.

Neia waited until the first ranks of men with ladders and ropes were near, then and only then did she use her voice in earnest.

"Prart will not fall again!" She shouted, "You who come, come to your deaths! We who stand, will fight like the god we serve!" She stood firm and sheathed her sword, then drew her bow and sent arrows flying as fast as she could draw them.

"Come here! Come here and die!" Neia snarled out, her evangelistic voice thrilled her allies and cowed her enemies, but those paladins among the enemy ranks countered with 'lion's heart' and drove enough of their soldiers forward, and soon they were climbing. Soldiers atop the wall cut the ropes and sent men falling to the ground, ladders were pushed off with the same effect, but more came on, soldiers were coming close.

"Switch!" Skana shouted, and bows were replaced by swords.

Neia switched as well, and began to run the length of the crenelations, stone to stone she ran along the edge, her green armor and terrible eyes struck fear into those who faced her. It reminded her of the siege she'd endured against the demihumans, only now? Now to be equal to a common paladin was a step down, her sword flashed and she laughed with monstrous glee, she felt something shift within her, her muscles felt like steel and her fingers harder than the stone she defended, an unfortunate soldier happened to be coming up the ladder in time for her to pass, and she saw him kill one of the defenders. The sight of her soldier's blood sent her into a fury. "Kill all! Spare none! These are not the hearts of lions! These are the hearts of SHEEP!" She snarled as a ravenous wolf as she activated a martial art. [Undead Strength] She shouted and grabbed the neck of the soldier she'd witnessed commit the deed. She held him over the battlements for a moment. "Is this all you've got?! Send me something other than prey you bitch!" She tore away her visor and met the soldier's gaze, he met her eyes, and screamed as he understood just what had grabbed hold of him, terror emanated from the Black Paladin, terror raw and visceral and it spread like fire on a spilled lamp oil. She squeezed, his scream died, and she threw him bodily from her wall.

Remedios looked to Yuri and Suchala from where they stood, the voice had reached their ears, their horses nickered nervously under them at it's echo. "She's stronger, but she can still die."

"Not if nobody will go close enough to kill her." Suchala said and pointed to where Neia stood on the wall. "See?" He asked, nobody wanted to come near to her.

"Shit." Remedios said, "Someone told me about this."

"What?" Suchala asked unhappily.

"She was the last one standing on the western wall, she wiped out demihumans that killed paladins, everyone else with her died, but she killed so many and so fiercely that she got the nickname 'The Mad Eyed Archer'. I only know about this because there were peasants down below who watched her fight like a demoness. The demihumans killed her, but it was a very costly effort, those soldiers there?" Remedios gestured to the ones avoiding her, "They haven't a chance, especially if she's stronger now than she was back then, and she definitely is."

Demihuman reinforcements and elves began to make their way up the tower stairs to reinforce the first ranks of Skana's archers, the wall had been cleared and the survivors withdrew under shield cover, though the fighting had been fierce at the ramparts, it was clear that this had only been a probing attack and they'd had enough.

Neia however, had not had enough. She took out her bow, and sent arrow after arrow through the necks of the withdrawing ranks. "If you want these walls, you'll have to do better than that!" She shouted, and jumped back down from off the stones and onto the walkway, storing her bow.

Cheers rang from the wall as Neia approached her wife. "You did well over here." She said.

Skana gave her an enormous and smugly satisfied grin. "I could've told you that."

Neia laughed, "And I'm sure you would have, which is why I said it first."

She looked down the length of her wall. "Rank swap! Next on the wall, Kedyn! Seems you've got a reputation for holding walls, show Prart what you've got!"

The cheers she heard could only have come from the massed ranks of Kedyn's professional and militia volunteers. A moment later Ulthis was saluting Neia and Skana.

"Ready?" Neia asked him in the voice of a battle hardened commander.

"Yes." He said bluntly, his red vampire eyes meeting Neia's eyes of terror, and drawing from them courage, confident that none would stay near the walls for too long.

"Good. Now remember this is combat, not a meal time. Finish them first, get drinks later." Skana said with a laugh and slapped him on the back.

"Har... har... har." The vampire priest said with a roll of his eyes as Neia's elites withdrew for a brief respite and were replaced by fresh troops from Kedyn. "You staying up here?" He asked.

"Hell yes." The two women said at once.

"I swear, you two sound like a married couple or something." He said humorously and winked at them as they rolled their eyes.

"Is there something about being undead that makes them terrible at telling jokes?" Skana asked with a serious look at Neia.

"Maybe, I've never heard one tell a good joke, I'll have to ask Fluder, or perhaps His Majesty." Neia said scratching her head in mock seriousness.

It was Ulthis' turn to shake his head, "Uh huh, just take your places, looks like another attack is coming our way in just a moment."

Neia rushed to her side of the wall.

"What does Kedyn do?" She asked as loudly as she could as the next advance came on.

"We. Hold. Walls!" They shouted again, and again, and again.

"Prove it!" Neia dared, and the resolve to stand or die filled their breasts.

"Draw!" Skana shouted.

"Loose!" She called out as the ranks came on again, this time under cover of archers. However the wall had the high ground, and could hit the archers before the archers could hit the wall. Here and there, a soldier of Kedyn fell, but the toll was worse on the archers of the Slane Theocracy and their allies.

In this way, the shielded ladder bearers reached the wall and began to climb up again. [Courage of Unlife] Neia shouted stilling all fear within her forces along the wall.

There would be no retreat.

An enormous man was the first atop the wall, he killed two soldiers of Kedyn as they tried to push the ladder away, and this drew Neia's attention. She drew her bow and fired several shots in a row, they hit his armor like hammer blows, but he did not die, he was clad in plate mail and carried a large, two handed sword. He swung it wildly to clear space for the soldiers following behind him. He would be a problem.

As she drew closer, the ranks of Slane Theocracy soldiers climbed up behind him, only to start dying when their heads simply 'exploded'. Neia grinned savagely as he looked dazed at what was happening. "Ahh CZ, don't ever change." Neia said happily and finished her rush in with a sword, she slid past as the sword came down and hit where she'd been. [Jephthah's Fire] She shouted as she jumped to her feet and leaped towards his back with her sword over her head and brought it down against him, a pillar of black flames engulfed him, he screamed like a stuck pig... for a moment, until he was burned away to ashes.

Skana, on her end, kept the archery fire going as long as she could, then shouted to those on the ground behind the wall, "Seventy yards! Scatter shot!" That was when the mangonel teams dumped baskets full of rocks into the load position, and then set the ropes to the seventy yard position, and loosed. Stones flew over the walls in great numbers, and Skana watched with satisfaction as they began to strike the heads and bodies of the archers of the Slane Theocracy and their allies.

It was several more minutes of heavy fighting before the next probing attack was done and the soldiers who had been trying to take the wall, lost the will to fight and fell back.

It was going to be a... very long, long day for those who defended Prart.

 _...Robel's Expedition..._

Robel and his army were well fed and very enthusiastic. It felt good to be heading west, advancing instead of retreating, fighting instead of hiding. As he moved, he sent out scouts to various villages informing them of his advance and the elimination of Astraka's eastern expedition. There was not a single army left between himself and Hoburns now that Astraka had gone west, and though he very much wanted to introduce himself to the man in person, well it was easier to rob an empty house. Suffice it to say, those members of Black Justice who had been in hiding and waiting for the opportunity to strike back, found that chance in his ranks. His numbers grew by a hundred with every passing hour it seemed.

There was nothing that was going to stop him but some nasty walls and well... the lack of siege equipment, but a message dispatched the day of their departure resulted in assurances that he would be given help.

All that put him into a very good mood until a very fine, bright morning when he was in the middle of a march, when the sound of thunder echoed from the ground ahead and threw up a cloud of dust. He and his front ranks shielded their eyes as best they could, and when the dust settled, there in front of them a most unexpected sight.

Fifty feet from where he stood, was a gold skinned buxom demoness with very sharp fangs, curved horns, and solid black wings. He immediately yanked up his horn and blew a halt to the formation. With a two step motion, the army halted. He turned to Ba and said, "If anything happens to me, you take command." The bafolk warrior nodded grimly, and Robel approached her. She simply waited until he came within courteous speaking distance, and then she said in the most cheerful voice he'd ever heard, "Hiya. I'm Vanysa, pleased ta meetcha." He caught a look at her eyes, storm cloud grey and as intense as those of the absolutely mad.

"Ah... Hello. I'm Robel..." He said, scratching his head uncertainly, so dazed he could think of nothing else to do but introduce himself in response.

"I know, I've been lookin for yah." She said, then tapped her cheek and looked up thoughtfully, "Well, not really lookin for yah, I knew where yah was, ah just had to get to yah. Anyway, doesn't matter, came tah tell yah ye..." She said started to say in a very sweet but somehow menacing voice, until he interrupted her..

"You're a demon to stop me! Astraka summoned you, didn't he?!" Robel snarled, responding more to the bizarre tone and situation than to anything she actually said, and drew his sword, as did those who stood behind him, only for the demoness to raise her hand to give him pause.

"Nah, ah ain't gonna stop yah..." She said simply, only to be interrupted again.

"You think you can bribe me?" Robel asked in disbelief.

"Baaaah!" Vanysa said in a frustrated voice and grabbed her horns as she shook her head with her eyes closed tight. "NO! Astraka didna send me!" She sighed heavily and looked at him again, "Not at all. Will yah stop interruptin me b'fore ah tear mah horns out! Ahm tryin ta tell yah..." She paused, he didn't interrupt her again, "I'm yer help. Yah sent a message askin fer help with Hoburns, an that lines up perfectly with what ah gots planned."

"What you've got planned?" He asked. "Wait, you're my help?" He asked further, his voice becoming more incredulous.

"Aye and aye. See the guy what calls 'imself 'King' he's mine, ain't lettin no one else have 'im. But b'fore I take im, ah wanna take everthing he's got, an that includes 'is pretty chair he done so much bad ta get. So I'm gonna help yah, but yah gots ta promise ta leave Astraka to me afterwards, yah can stay there in tha city if'n yah want, or go out, but he's mine, got it?" She explained patiently and emphatically, putting her hands on her hips, a gesture that belied her patient tone.

"No deal, I want him to suffer." Robel said angrily.

The mad eyes into which he stared went clear as the blue sky above.

"No problem, I'm an expert at suffering, I daresay I'm at least the third best at it, in some ways, maybe better." She said cheerfully as if she was announcing clear weather after a storm.

"And... so? I think I can..." He began, only for Vanysa to interrupt.

"Nope, I'm a Tisiphone Fury, I exist as I am for no other reason than to punish the guilty." With the madness was gone from her eyes, he saw a deep well of cold, calculating wrath. As she held up a hand palm up with her talons pointed towards the sky, she laid her other hand upon her breast and said with absolute confidence, "Believe me, falling into your hands would be his dream come true, you could make him suffer for an hour, maybe two, a full day if you work really hard. I will make him suffer till the children you've yet to create with the woman you've yet to meet, die of old age."

Robel's mind staggered, yet somehow he couldn't bring himself to doubt the terrible beauty.

"Moreover, the Sorcerer King has expressly given that man to me as my prey. As you serve that divine ruler, you must accede to my wishes and his will, however..." She said as her talon pointed at him, "you can aid in his suffering by simply trusting me to help you when you get to Hoburns." She smiled viciously, baring her fangs.

"We've never worked together... and I don't know you. It doesn't sound like you plan on being with us during our travel, so...?" He asked tentatively, not finishing the sentence as her face turned angry with a deep scowl. She clearly did not like that he had a heavy air of doubt around him.

She thought for a moment, "I suppose I can spare one, you want to know I'm properly motivated, that's fair." She took out a scroll. She quickly used it, and came close enough for her breasts to graze his chest, she met his eyes with hers, sharp and clear now, but with a deep well of pain behind them. "See why you can trust me, this... was what he did, to an innocent girl who didn't even know him." She whispered, and placed her hands on the sides of his head, and touched his forehead to hers. All of a sudden he watched as a whirlwind of horror passed before his eyes, and he watched the events play out for the poor blonde in the vision, until the moment of her death. He couldn't move until the memory ended, then he flung himself back onto the dirt and looked up at her in horror.

Behind him, the front ranks of his army began to respond, he quickly raised a hand to stop them, when they did, he got to his feet. She was standing in front of him with her arms crossed in front of her chest.

"Good enough?" She asked. He nodded numbly.

"I didn't know that could happen to anyone, I never imagined..." His voice was low with disgust.

"Well it can, and he did it, as an erinyes, it is my job and my pleasure to punish him, he belongs to me. I will get you that capital, all you have to do is show up. However, I'll need a few days to make Astraka suffer more."

"How long?" Robel asked in a hard, clipped voice.

"I have already begun his torment, for several days now I have gradually taken away from him, absolutely everything. He's suffering mightily even at this moment as every gaze at his back is filled with contempt or loathing. I made him kill his best friend, he thinks he killed his lover, his soldiers think he abuses children, and that he's a coward. The entire army thinks he's responsible for shortening their rations while he eats like a glutton. I made him pass out by being publicly drunk, and he fell face first into a latrine pit, and his manhood was so insulted I doubt he'd be able to use it for years, even if he got the chance." She giggled with wicked glee as she depicted a handful of her torments.

"He... deserves everything you do to him, and more besides." He said coldly.

"He does, and I have not yet finished with him, not until he has lost all that he loves and longs for. When his ambitions are ashes, his dreams are reduced to dust slipping through his fingers, his hopes are reduced to one more hour of life, and he wonders 'how did this happen to me', only then will I reveal myself to Astraka as the architect of his misfortune." She cackled happily and said, "Already his nights are nightmares of his wrongs come back to haunt him, he suffers what he inflicted on a helpless girl who never did him any harm. Her torture and death condemn him more than any other single act, though the desecration he heaped on her corpse and which he strives to continue to this day, do not help him." She let out a low, furious growl as she gritted her teeth.

Then she took a deep breath and explained, "The girl he had tortured, he also robbed. Leaving a girl who had almost nothing, who lived with bugs and filth, who had already lost everything once before, with absolutely nothing but the humiliations and terrors he inflicted on her when he had her trapped in his power, therefore it is fitting that he loses everything as she did. You have an army, you can take it from him, but only if you do as I say, and march there slowly." She said sweetly.

"Well, that sounds great." He said, "I have no siege equipment, will you be bringing some?" He asked.

"That won't be a problem." Vanysa said happily, clapping her hands together like an enthusiastic child.

"All you have to do is show up, I'll make sure everything goes well. I'll even do you one better, what if I bring one of the leaders of Black Justice to you, to officially take back the place, and hand it over to the Queen in person, how does that sound?" She asked.

"I'd say you drive a hard bargain, but... that is the best deal I've ever heard." He said and approached the demoness, he then stuck out his hand and she took it gingerly, taking care not to injure him with her talons. "But can you really get the Queen and someone like Neia or Skana to show up for this?" He asked in disbelief.

"Sure can, Neia knows I work directly for the Sorcerer King, and I'm the one who got Blue Rose to go from Kedyn to Prart, so all the other important ones over there know me too, by reputation if not by face. All I have to do is show up, and don't worry, I'll have it all taken care of. Just take your time getting there, don't rush yourself, and when you arrive, you'll get the best damn reception of your lives, courtesy of 'King' Astraka." Vanysa said sadistically.

"OK, we're going, what about you if you're not coming with us?" He asked.

"First I'll get things ready, including a person or two for an 'official hand off', then... I'm going to make sure we have what we need to throw the biggest party Hoburns has seen since the liberation." Vanysa said cryptically.

"I'll be ready." He said, "One more question though, he did all this to some poor helpless girl who'd never done anything harmful to him, what did he want her to do, that he was willing to go to such lengths with her?" He asked, baffled.

Vanysa stared into Robel's eyes with an undying merciless hatred and said, "He wanted her to betray the faith and trust of the Sorcerer King."

"He will be crushed." Robel said with equal hatred in his voice.

They traded smiles of mutual understanding, and the demoness took to the air and was gone from view shortly thereafter.

"New plan!" He shouted, "Who wants to drink the capital dry?!"

The cheers of the army warmed his heart, as they slightly altered their line of march to a longer route.


	107. Ghost of the Past

God Rising

Chapter 106

Written by: AtheistBasementDragon

Edited by: The Usual Gang of Drunken Perverted Idiots

 **AN: Enjoy. I know some of you have looked forward to this as much as I have. :) Reviews feed me. Don't leave me to starve. ;)**

 _...Prart…_

That night Neia and Skana sat together at a dinner table with Queen Calca, the members of Blue Rose, and several of her noble supporters that had flocked early to her banner. The meal was a good one, a very fat turkey had been prepared for their pleasure as well as rich creamy gravy, good wine, and a thick stew rich with meat and vegetables.

"I have to say, I've never eaten so well in a siege before." One of the nobles said enthusiastically after the attending servants had prepared all of their places. All of those who attended as servants were freed elves, the volunteers who had insisted that they do something for their savior. It had neatly solved a problem when they'd presented themselves at the manor.

Neia almost wanted to laugh, that evening as the fighting had died down, she was just about to enter the building when she felt eyes at her back, she'd turned around, and there stood thirty elven males and females of obviously young ages, dressed in common clothing.

They'd stared at each other for a moment, though Neia had kept her eyes behind her customary visor. "...Yes?" She'd said, breaking the ice.

"M- Lady Neia, we want to work." The tallest of the men said.

"Work at the siege, you can put yourselves to task wherever you're needed." She'd replied.

"Wh-What we mean is, we want to work for you. You are the reason we're not in hell, we're too young to fight and the adults won't let us near the front, please, there has to be something you'll let us do?" He'd asked.

Neia was about to turn them down, but they all looked so earnest, so tense. The younger ones clung to the older ones, they all had fragile expressions on their faces, she wondered if she looked stern to them. She relaxed her shoulders and let out a sigh as a solution occurred to her, for a problem that had been bedeviling her.

She faced them and put her hands on her hips. "OK, there is one thing. I've been struggling with a problem that you might solve. As you know I have to ensure the absolute safety of the Queen of this country, however she has a distinct lack of servants. I got rid of all the ones I couldn't trust, and that means she has none. It isn't seemly for a Queen to go untended, and as you're aware I'm going to see that she's put on the throne where she belongs. I am sure you see where this is going." She said patiently.

"I'll take you all into the manor, you'll serve the Queen as her personal attendants, prepare food, tend the manor, serve at dinner, and so on. She'll treat you well, of that I'm sure, and I think we can trust elves far more than any humans around her at the moment, so, do you all want the jobs or not?" She asked bluntly.

Their faces lit up, and it turned out to be a very good fit, as former slaves, they knew all about taking care of people in homes, and it required minimal effort to give them the basics of noble etiquette.

Now here they were, and if some of those faces lingered longer on Neia or the other rescuers they recognized, and if those faces held awe, wonder, or abject devotion, well, if anyone else noticed it, they were too well mannered to comment.

Neia turned to the noble who spoke, he was a Marquis named 'Thrush', had two towns to his estate, sigil was that of a thrush. She'd vetted him first for any connections to Astraka and found none. "That's true, Marquis Thrush, but it isn't surprising." Neia said, taking a sip of her wine.

"You need only grasp why sieges succeed or fail from the attacker and defender perspectives." She continued, "The defender usually falls not because the walls are taken. Most of the time when an attacker is striving to take the walls, it is because they expect the defender will be reinforced, so they attack like swarming ants and usually lose without special circumstances altering the odds. What brings the defender down is running out of supplies, disease, and other trials that weaken them from within. Most of the time, unless there is a serious strategic reason to hold out or there is hope for reinforcements, a defender can do better by surrender through negotiation than they can through resistance. By contrast if they're going to be reinforced, the attacker is wiser not to attack the position at all if he can avoid it." She set her cup down and took a bite of meat.

"Fair enough, but then why are they out there?" He asked as he dug into his own meal.

"Well, I'm here for one, and so is Neia, if they kill both of us, the Sorcerer King loses his just cause and he loses his most important spokeswoman." The Queen replied, "This city is not terribly important on its own, but it has become a symbol of Neia's triumphs, the elven slaves fled here, it has the highest percentage of her followers outside of pre-civil war Hoburns, it was the place where she first defied royal authority by killing the governor…"

Neia interrupted, "Sorry, Your Majesty, but I'm afraid that isn't quite right, I didn't kill him. I gave him to the Sorcerer King, he's probably been begging to die for months now." She had a chilling smile on her face as she said that, and it froze Calca's blood. She'd seen the bloody Neia, she'd seen, from below and far away, the casual ease with which she inflicted death on those who came to the wall, but this was different.

"He's… not dead?" She asked, her voice hesitant as if she were not sure if she had heard properly.

Neia shrugged, "Well, probably not, he might be, I left that up to His Majesty." She said casually, "He was profoundly angry at how his followers were mistreated and by the theft of the supplies donated to the rebuilding effort, not to mention the abuse that he allowed through his collaboration with corrupt temples. I would imagine that the former royal governor is still alive and wishing that he wasn't." It was blood chilling to see 'Neia the Sadist' come out.

"I'm… not comfortable with torture." Queen Calca ventured.

"You don't have to be." Neia said, "You just have to keep people who are, and who will direct it where it should be applied. There are people in this world, Your Majesty, who deserve more suffering than you can imagine. They're mad dogs, plagues on not just humanity, but all races, sure killing such people is easy…"

"But it is far too kind." Skana interjected, and Neia nodded with hard eyed satisfaction.

"You had much respect during your reign, Your Majesty. You had much love, but nobody feared the consequences of deceiving you, hiding things from you, your reign had a weakness, and that was that you were naive. You assumed everyone is basically good and wanted the world free of tears just like yourself. But that isn't the case." Neias visor was gone, and her gaze turned hard and penetrating, and Calca could not look away, as if the eyes were swallowing her whole, and within them she saw countless images, beating into her brain as Neia spoke.

"They want their happiness only at the expense of others. They will lie, steal, cheat, rape, torture, abuse, anyone and everyone, they cannot be reformed, they cannot be corrected, the only justice left to them is to make them regret their existence before depriving them of lives they didn't deserve to have. You could show them kindness, but that would be cruelty to their victims. The carrot and the stick are both tools you must use, and some of us make better sticks than carrots."

Calca felt the chill leave her body as Neia stopped speaking, and the images that passed before her faded like the ephemeral things they were, but they were not to be forgotten.

She looked down at her plate. "I know I was naive, and I won't be that weak again, I don't think I'll ever find it in myself to enjoy the torment of others though."

"Nobody expects you to." Skana said, "You just need to do what needs to be done, even when you don't like it. Look at our situation, outside those walls are over two hundred thousand soldiers, if they break through those walls, if we don't stop them, they'll butcher this city. Men, women, children, these are the most die hard fanatics, and Astraka is on his way bringing more people to the fight. We're badly outnumbered, even with the population mobilized. We have to be absolutely ruthless, we have to make them fear to come close."

"You seem to be doing a solid job of that." The Marquis Thrush said with satisfaction. He was a slender, hard bodied man with deceptively gentle brown eyes and brown hair, he looked every inch his age of twenty two.

"You're not doing half bad yourself." Skana said, "Hell, that's true for all of you on every wall." She expanded her praise to the rest of the table.

There were satisfied expressions all around. The chatter shifted to more ordinary matters, with Neia and Skana trading jokes and stories with the members of Blue Rose, and a hearty round of congratulations went to the newly married couple, it became a tranquil evening and the tension near the head of the table faded until at last it came time to rest.

Neia and Skana embraced both Lakyus and Queen Calca with fierce gratitude for their part in the wedding, ensuring that no void would ever taint their memories of that day, whether it be for one year or for one hundred later.

They then departed for bed, when the door closed behind them, it was quiet, but to them both, it was loud as a thunder clap.

Neia began to undress. "I still can't believe it." She said.

"What?" Skana asked as she did the same.

"I'm actually… married." She said with a hushed and reverential awe.

Skana laughed, "I always knew I would be, but it is a damn sight different than what I expected."

"How's that?" Neia asked as she walked over to draw a bath for themselves.

"I was a brain dead peasant girl, I thought I'd marry some farm boy, pop out a few kids, and die ten feet from where I was born. I couldn't read, I couldn't write, I couldn't do math, I could dance, farm, screw, and I knew my way around the woods, and that about sums up the better part of the first two decades of Skana the Bold's life." She laughed, "You're no farm boy, Neia Baraja." She said, her laughter increasing as Neia bent over to check the water.

"True." Neia said with a half serious acknowledgement. "I never thought I'd have anyone, I thought I'd just hunt and scout and fight until I died. That was all I had in front of me, men tended not to marry girls who look like murderous bandits." She let out a laugh, but Skana could feel the well of bitterness that underlay all that, a past that for all their common ground, still set them worlds apart.

Intuitively, Skana approached her new wife and wrapped her arms around her from behind, she pressed herself firmly to Neia's back, their bodies bare and close together, she put her head into the crook of Neia's neck, longing to take away an ache that might never truly disappear, she whispered lovingly into the ear of her hero, her wife, "You don't look like a bandit, you look like my wife, and you'll never be alone again, not as long as I live." Neia melted and turned around, they kissed, and Skana didn't need to open her remaining eye, to know that there were tears of happiness in Neia's own.

The next morning began with the boom of siege engines. Catapults, mangonels, ballistae, all firing back and forth at one another from beyond the easy reach of spells, the soldiers on the wall were forced to take cover to avoid being smashed, but in this the magic casters of Neia's army had an advantage, they could shoot down projectiles, and end the threat. By contrast, when the opposition in the field tried to burst rocks with magic, it just turned them into shrapnel that would harm more soldiers than a single impact alone.

Neia chose to stand on the wall, to ensure she was seen, though she had to dodge occasionally, by virtue of being seen, she heartened her soldiers.

She would take a position, draw her legendary bow, and destroy projectiles. Fluder and Evileye proved particularly useful, with 'Crystal Wall' absorbing many an impact, while the powerful magic of Fluder saw boulders just 'drop'. Lakyus used her flying blades to great effect, and though the walls took blows, they held.

Still, it was strange to her that they didn't try to send soldiers to mount the walls again, or so she thought, until she caught a glimpse of 'why' in the distance, construction was underway in earnest, and she immediately recognized the shape.

"Oh shit." Neia said softly. "Towers."

 _...Astraka's Camp…_

Astraka sat in the chair looking at the prisoner in the cage. The man was a pitiable site, but there was nothing of pity left in Astraka for anyone who got in his way. The last time he'd pitied someone, he'd gotten sloppy and she'd almost killed him or escaped.

He glanced over at the interrogator. "So you got everything?" The man grunted, not the most articulate fellow, but based on the papers Astraka had seen, they had indeed gotten everything of value from his own lips. Sadly, 'value' was something it didn't really have much of. Aside from the incredible amount of detail he knew about Neia, Tinamoc knew next to nothing about the Sorcerer King.

"So you really think that highly of that… girl, do you?" He asked incredulously, and the merchant nodded, he couldn't speak as his mouth was gagged, there would be no more outs via suicide this time.

"Doesn't matter how highly you think of her, she'll be put to ground soon enough. I suppose her showing up on dragon back was impressive, but the dragon did the real work. True, when I saw her at the conference she was… quite a presentable sight, but still, this is too much to swallow." Astraka said dismissively.

"I suppose if there is nothing of value left to extract from your brain, I could go ahead and kill you." Astraka said, standing up and drawing his sword, he poked it through the cage, pressing it hard enough into what fat was left on his prisoner's belly, hard enough to draw a little blood.

Tinamoc however, didn't beg for mercy, if anything, his body relaxed, death meant an end to pain, and as he was scrunched in a painful posture, filthy, stinking of unwashed sweat and still in agony from the various painful forms of interrogation, death seemed like such a sweet release, a reward, not a punishment.

Astraka put away his sword, "However, I think there is a better use for you. See, you're not the only one we've picked up. Not far from here, we've got a little holding facility where we captured a few Black Justice worshipers that were trying to get away from the fighting. I think I'll pick them up, and then I'll hand the lot of you over to Remedios Custodio. I'm sure when I tell her who you are, she'd love to find out what showing Neia your head, will do to her."

Tinamoc tried to make protesting noises and rattled his cage angrily, but it was drowned out as Astraka laughed and turned to walk out. He pointed to the interrogator, "If that prisoner dies, you die with him. He stays alive, till we turn him over. After that, I don't give a damn." The interrogator laughed, and Astraka continued to laugh as he walked out of the tent. 'Finally I think I'll get a good night's sleep.' He thought to himself, 'That felt fantastic.' As the sun fell and night swept the horizon, King Astraka laid himself down to sleep, with a smile on his face, confident that tomorrow would be a brighter day.

 _...Astraka's Encampment...Midnight..._

Vanysa loved her wings, she considered them her best feature, or at least the most fun as far as she was concerned. Being able to fly was a dream everybody born on the ground, would have in their life, but now here she was doing it. Given that she had fulfilled that dream in part due to Astraka's actions, she thought she might shave a few years off of his torture for it. Not a lot, but some.

She smirked as she flew to his camp, it was easy enough to find, armies didn't hide well on roads, and in the darkness, cookfires and sentry lights stood out like a sore thumb on a hand. By now she was an expert at slipping past guards, her doppel helpers were doing a fine job of rumor spreading, but nothing helped rumors quite as much like reality.

She slipped in to Astraka's tent and used a scroll to put him into a deep sleep, she then took a tube and forced it down his throat. She then attached a funnel to the tube. After that, she removed from her satchel several bottles of hard liquor. She popped the cork, pulling it free with her teeth, then humming a dwarven drinking song, she began to force alcohol into his body. First one, then another, then another. She snickered, this was petty on the surface, but when he got up, aside from being hung over, he'd stink like a drunk and probably still be thoroughly intoxicated. His soldiers contempt and his officers mistrust of his stability would only grow.

She then used another scroll, and straddled him again after yanking the funnel and tube from out of his body and casting them aside. She lowered her forehead to his, 'So warm…' She thought, 'hard to remember you're human, more human than I… another thing you took from me…'

She entered his dream and found him sitting smugly on a throne. A happy one? No that would not do. The dream shifted, she called up her final minutes and made him stand in her place, feeling the nail carving a final epitaph into her breast, feeling the rats trying to tug on scraps of flesh, the bite of teeth severing tongue, and of course, the choking. She set the memory to loop, he would relive her death in his dream until he awoke, it would be anything but restful sleep. She then departed the tent, taking up the materials she'd used and vanishing into the night.

She then went to the other side of the river. She'd seen this habit a number of times now, so she was reasonably confident about where he'd approach, straight from the tent, to the point in the water closest to him. She pulled out a sixth tier scroll, and altered the weather conditions. There would be a thick fog coming up from the water soon, not too thick, but good enough. She then used two more scrolls, creating a pane of clear glass tall as her body, and a glass mirror. The pane of glass was placed against a tree, while the mirror was out of easy view, invisible in those conditions, and she laid them so that her reflection would be cast into the pane of glass. She grinned and said softly. "Illusion magic, without magic, instant ghost."

She then waited, it was hours, but she was happy, and when he awoke, oversleeping again, she could see as he staggered from the tent that he was feeling horrible, his sleep had tortured him, with her sharpened senses she could see his eyes were red, his body was staggering, he was obviously drunk, and from the reactions of those who saw him, he stank like a distillery.

But he kept to his habit of pissing in the water her corpse had been thrown away in. He didn't see what she wanted him to at first. She mimicked a bird call, he looked up, and she, shaped as she once had been, a beautiful, youthful, peasant girl, full of life and happiness in spite of all, was there before him again, with tears streaming down her cheeks, she pointed. The light hit the window pane, giving her a translucent, ephemeral quality enhanced by the fog.

He saw her image, her crying, wondering, beautiful, accusing face, staring at him and pointing. He screamed in horror and fell backwards, scrambling back and calling for help from a priest and a magic caster, so drunk and so horrified that he hadn't even properly pulled his pants back up.

She suppressed her laugh from the other side of the river. She took up the mirror and the pane of glass, and walked away. They'd find no sign of a ghost, and no sign of the type of magic used to raise one, his very sanity would be called into question.

Astraka returned after she'd gone.

"I'm -hic- telling you -hic- -hic- I saw her! A dead girl, a girl whose corpse I held in my own hands, I know she died, and I saw her ghost on the other side of -hic- that river!" He slurred out angrily, holding up his pants, too drunk to properly bind them shut again.

"Majesty," the priest said patiently, "I know when undead are near, my magic would find ghost or skeleton or zombie or any form of spirit, and none are there, nor were any." He said with an emphatically professional voice. However those who were near, who heard him talk loudly about a dead girl he'd held, immediately seized on it as a confession of his guilt in killing children.

"And Sire," the magic caster said, "If someone had used an illusion spell, I'd have found it, I am telling you that there was no magic at work, which means that there was… no… ghost, either real or magicked into being, you imagined the whole thing, it was just a delusion of your own." He said equally emphatically.

"Am I going mad?! -hic- No! I saw that girl, I know she died and she was there!" he pointed across the river and hiccuped several more times, "Shtanding right there across the river, crying and pointing at me as shurely as you stand here now!" He roared furiously as they refused to believe him.

Within hours the doppel soldiers were spreading the rumors about the madness of the man who would be king, and of course many overheard the drunken shouting about a dead girl he'd held, and seized on it as a confession of his crimes, what lingering doubt their was of his guilt, began to melt away. His 'guilt' was obviously driving him mad, that was quickly becoming the common consensus.

And as Vanysa sat in her little cabin and listened to the reports of all this taking place, she laughed as happily as she ever had, and clicked her talons on the table. "Oh Astraka, just wait till tomorrow…"


	108. Pain & Progress

God Rising

Chapter 108

Written by: AtheistBasementDragon

Edited by: The Usual Gang of Drunken Perverted Idiots

 **AN: I hope you enjoy, also...a special shoutout to the six readers from the DnD group who used the escort mission with Tinamoc for their month long DnD campaign! Glad it provided so much entertainment, and yes, it's OK if you cried when Illyana died, it was meant to be emotionally impactful. :) Thanks for joining us for the rest of this story, it has been a wonderful experience writing it, and I hope everybody finds it worthwhile right up to the very last word. I'm going to miss this when it ends...but at least there is the audio project, and the illustrated ebook, and maybe a manga, depending on how many p a treon supporters are accrued to pay for the work to be done. (I can't draw for shit, need an artist for that). Now on with the show...**

 _...Prart…_

Neia was less than pleased to see the construction of the towers, but she was even more unhappy about how well protected the construction of it was. They had an entire company of mages and archers surrounding the construction areas, not to mention heavy infantry beyond that. It was a defense in depth put together by somebody who knew what the hell they were doing.

CZ approached her as Neia looked quietly out with troubled eyes.

"Problem?" The maid demon asked.

"Towers." Neia said.

"Towers?" The banal tone had the air of a question around it.

"They're mobile troop carriers, you build those big structures, then people file in behind them, go up ladders, and then a whole bunch of soldiers spill out onto the walls all at once, much harder to protect against than just a bunch of soldiers holding ladders. Can't just push them over and they're usually protected against fire." Neia explained.

"Solutions?" CZ asked.

"Enough fire usually takes them down anyway, and siege weapons can break them, when that happens, most of the people inside them die, usually painfully." Neia explained in her clipped, professional tone, she started to walk the wall and looked out over the enemy ranks. Probing attacks had become rare, but the city was completely surrounded and towers were being built on all sides.

"Congratulates on your wedding." CZ said. Neia smiled at the kind distraction.

"Thank you." Neia said softly, and broke her professional posture for a moment to embrace her companion, her bodyguard, her best… her first… friend.

"Cute." CZ said, and put a sticker on Neia's forehead. Neia rolled her eyes, but she missed the stickers.

"We can try to raid the construction areas, but we'll be outnumbered and we'd have to pass over open ground to do it, we'll also be badly outnumbered. I'd rather not give them local superiority." She said as a boulder passed over her head and smashed a building on the ground behind the wall.

Neia didn't flinch, nor did those manning the battlements, this was the new normal for them now. Boulders like that rarely hit anything, the fact that it smashed a house was unfortunate, but it was doubtful anyone was harmed, all noncombatants had been pulled well back from the fighting.

"Why are they doing that?" CZ asked and pointed to the large number of people who had begun to chip away at the rock and put the smaller stones in baskets.

"Ammunition, they give us one rock, we give them a lot back, we'll use it in the mangonels, and unlike them, we have targets that we won't easily miss. We're guaranteed to get a few hits in." She said with a smile as she thought about all the smashed in heads that would exist in a short while.

Skana approached from her segment of the wall. "CZ, do you think you could hit those crews building the towers?" She asked.

CZ walked up to the top of the gate tower and looked out over the field, she readied her weapon and took aim, people came sharply into focus as she calculated her range, wind direction, and her odds of success. She squeezed the trigger and watched a man simply drop where he stood. CZ's face was blank as she saw the panic ensue through the scope.

She looked down from the top of the tower to her friends a dozen feet below on the wall. "Yes."

"OK! Do more of that then!" Skana said with a laugh.

"I should have thought of that." Neia said wryly.

"Think nothing of it, my dear, you're probably still a little sore and it's affecting your ability to think." Skana said with a winsome, sweet smile. Neia still had it in her to blush while CZ targeted another of the work crew.

The commander and vice commander watched from the wall along with the other soldiers holding their position as chaos reigned over the construction site for that tower and those nearby. She could see the flags going up and communications flying back and forth as the alarm spread about the range capabilities of the defenders.

Neia was so engrossed in her satisfaction at the chaos and the rhythmic shooting of CZ on the tower, that she paid no mind to the appearance of the Queen behind her until she'd spoken.

"Won't they just pull back?" Calca asked, "Or at least put up some shield or something so they can't be seen to be hit?"

Neia didn't look away, her gaze remained fixed, but she answered anyway, "Very likely both, Your Majesty. Very likely both. However it'll take hours at best, and they will have to do it for every single one of them, plus some of those are skilled laborers. Wipe out a crew, and you can't just pull some random soldier out of uniform to do a job, they'll have to pull people from other tasks, all that slows them down, and time is on our side, even if they don't know it." Neia explained.

"I see." Queen Calca said.

She clearly did not see.

"Your Majesty, the soldiers out there all have to eat every day, they have to drink every day, they'll run through supplies on a regular basis. An army marches on its stomach, even though they don't fight every day, they still require daily supply. Gustav has been wreaking havoc on their southern supply lines, and we've been slowing them down at every step. They actually have to win this siege, take the city, and kill us. All we have to do to triumph, is not lose. As long as we hold, we will win." Neia explained.

She could feel the Queen's face light up behind her as understanding dawned. Now she saw.

Calca went along the length of the wall, visiting with the various soldiers, praising their courage, and what most pleased Neia and Skana as they watched, was that she made a point of making no distinction between human and demihuman.

This shift had the Sons of Iontariil manning the wall at the main gate, while Blood Miners manned the west, Vines manned the east, and city militia manned the south. However interspersed with the Sons of Iontariil, were Neia's hundred, the elites, the scripture breakers. She stopped to touch the shoulder of an orc and welcome him to her kingdom, she stopped at a goblin and praised his disciplined position and strong, thick muscles. She lingered longer at an elf whose ears had been cut, however.

"May I ask where you're from?" She asked politely.

The elf wore the armor of Neia's hundred, so she could probably guess, but she asked anyway. He gave the name of a place the Queen had never heard of, but it was a distinctly elven name.

"Captive of the Theocracy." She said gravely, she did not ask.

He nodded. "Make them pay for the mistake of enslaving an elf." She said gravely.

He gave her a predatory smile. "Yes, My Queen." He said.

As she walked away, it hit her, he was one of those who intended to settle in her kingdom. She descended from the wall and as her feet fell stone to echoing stone, she realized in a daze how different her kingdom was truly going to be after everything was said and done and the last sword sheathed.

"It'll be like the Sorcerous Kingdom is now…" She whispered to the soft echoing walls before she stepped out of the stairway and into the light of day. "How could I be so dense as to not realize this?" She muttered to herself. In the back of her mind she'd always pictured her kingdom coming full circle, when the fighting was over and she was on the throne, her nation would still be entirely human, even as a province, but that wasn't the case. The elf warrior's last two words informed her of her new reality. There would be elves, dwarves, orcs, goblins, vampires, demihumans, and who knew what else, all moving freely. The borders of old would be a thing of the past, she would rule a province adjacent to another province, sharing the same king and held by the same rules. Travel would flow freely from one place to the next.

She remembered Neia's promise, the pope hadn't said anything about ensuring 'humans' moved to her country, only that she would encourage her followers to move there and help them to do so. But Neia's followers now included many races, and she knew even without thinking about it, that Neia would not prohibit any race from settling where they wished.

Calca wanted quiet for a moment. She didn't get it, Tia and Tina stepped from hiding. Her evident shock had caused them concern, though she'd asked them to be discreet about guarding her, moments of distress seemed to be exceptions in their minds.

"Something wrong?" Tia asked.

"Something is wrong." Tina said.

The twins knelt in front of her, waiting on the Queen's response.

"I… I want to go back to my quarters." She said hastily, and they escorted her there, openly this time. She waved to the populace and accepted their praises with a smile, but as soon as she got to the manor she went to her private room and closed the door behind her.

A knock on the door a moment later, and she found herself admitting Lakyus into her private chamber.

"Majesty, Tia and Tina tell me something is wrong." Lakyus said with concern evident in her voice.

Queen Calca sat at a table and gestured for Lakyus to join her.

"Just… A realization that I hadn't thought of before, and I've been very uncomfortable with myself ever since." Calca said with a heavy sigh and a downward look.

"Care to tell me about it?" Lakyus asked.

She was quiet for a moment as she gathered her words. "I just realized there is still something awful about me is all. It is an ugly thing, to find something in yourself that you resent."

Lakyus put her hands in her own lap and clasped her hands together, she leaned forward slightly. "Your Majesty?" She asked gently.

The Queen did not meet her eyes. "Have you ever been to my kingdom before… well let's say before Jaldabaoth came to it?" She asked.

"No, I haven't, Your Majesty." Lakyus said reluctantly.

"But you know it was entirely made up of humans… well… they were the only ones we counted at least." She said, thinking bitterly about the elves who eked out a miserable existence in bondage, and those few demihumans who hid deep within the woods or migrated covertly.

"I have heard that, yes." Lakyus answered casually.

"I had…" Queen Calca wrung her hands together uncomfortably, "I grew up here. My kingdom has always been a certain way, and without realizing it, I just assumed that everything after the war was over, would go back to the way it was, well, not entirely, but close enough."

"And…?" Lakyus tried to draw out more, now quite lost.

"And it won't. The Sons of Iontariil are entirely made up of demihuman species, the elves of Wenmark may choose to stay as free citizens, the demihumans from the Abelion Hills can immigrate freely into my borders, I could have more races living in my kingdom than I even knew existed a few years ago." She said in a voice that was almost one of awe.

"Yes, things are changing." Lakyus said wryly, "Not that long ago I thought vampires were little better than animals to be put down, I didn't know I had one for a sister for years. I didn't ever think of them as having hopes, dreams, personalities beyond bloodlust. Now I know differently."

"I spent my whole life hating and fearing demihumans, I never gave a thought to elves since from here I could only be barely aware of their existence, but orcs, goblins, bafolk, zern, and so on… I… I was taught to either hate them or look down on them. Now there are a multitude of races on the wall protecting my life and I just noticed I still have my old attitude. Like they'd just go away after everything was done, back where they came from. But they may not, and what's more, I'm not supposed to want them to." Calca's voice was a little bit cracked as she finished speaking.

Lakyus let out a sigh of her own. "So, if I understand you right, you found an ugly attitude you didn't know was still part of you, and you found it because you were confronted with a reality you hadn't prepared yourself for. Do I have that right?" She asked.

Calca nodded numbly.

"Your Majesty, I told you a moment ago about how I felt about the undead, well, vampires in particular, but it wasn't exclusive to them, I felt similarly about most things… races… that aren't human, that aren't me." She said, and gave an embarrassed look at the Queen's face.

"My sisters and I would occasionally defend demihumans, but at the heart of our mission, we had a 'humans first' policy for ourselves, and I don't think we ever even tried talking to problem demihumans before we killed them. Not even once. If we had, maybe things would have been different in a lot of ways for all our lives, but we can't unlive our choices." Lakyus said softly and reached over, taking the Queen's hand.

"You were raised to think a certain way, live to defend your kingdom and fight a terrible enemy that always threatened to overrun your people. You can't banish those old ways of thinking overnight, I understand that it might bother you to some degree…" Lakyus bit her lip, "promise you will never repeat what I say next." She said, seriously.

"I swear it on my throne." Calca said seriously.

"Evileye and I are very close, not Neia and Skana close, but close. We've shared close proximity to one another in a hundred campsites or more, many nights she's clung to me while she slept and I've awakened to find her nestled against me. Before I knew what she was, I thought nothing of it. After… after her true nature was revealed, even now, this very morning, when I woke up and found her clinging to my arm, my first thought was… 'She wants my blood, she's a threat' and my heart would beat as if in battle until I forced myself to calm down. Fortunately I always wake early, if she saw the face I instinctively made every morning that I find her holding me… I would never forgive myself."

Calca listened intently, Lakyus's voice was rich with emotion, enough that it caused her body to shake just telling the story.

"She's my sister, I love her, I'd do anything for her, I even offered her my blood once, if she wanted it, but I grew up being taught she was an abomination, that the gods despised her kind, I learned for all the early years of my life, that anything not human was a threat, and even having to put down other humans, didn't lead me to realize that hypocrisy in myself or my attitude. I 'know' better now, but I can't help how I 'feel' instinctively. I don't think it goes away overnight." She said in a frustrated tone of voice.

"I want to purge those attitudes out, so that the vile thoughts I have sometimes, stop coming unbidden to the surface, and I think… I think you're feeling the same right now, aren't you?" Lakyus asked, and squeezed the Queen's hand.

"I am. There are orcs and goblins and elves on that wall who may die today so that human children will get to grow up. We share food, shelter, walls, danger, everything, and here I am wanting them to go away when the war is over? Wanting them to go back where they came from when I don't need them anymore? I've never hated myself until I recognized that feeling when an elf I'd just praised, called me 'My Queen', he intended to stay, to stay and serve me, my people. I have elf servants in this very manor dedicating themselves to my wellbeing. So, how can I call myself a good Queen if I don't want my own people around me?" She asked the question emphatically, Lakyus was not alone in shaking.

"I think… I think it is a start to ask that question. If we know 'what' we feel and acknowledge that it is wrong, we can choose to 'act' differently, and make conscious choices to be as fair and just as possible. Maybe those 'thoughts', those 'feelings' that we don't want anymore, will gradually disappear if we're aware that they're wrong and we don't give them the power to guide our choices. You can be a good Queen, even if you don't feel the way you think a good one should." Lakyus said with an inviting smile.

"Thank you Lakyus, I appreciate you taking the time to listen to me, it really helped." The Queen stood, as did Lakyus, and the monarch who had shorn her hair, impulsively embraced the surprised adventurer. "I think I'll do some reading for awhile, come see me in an hour or two, we'll visit the western wall together."

"I'll do that, Your Majesty." Lakyus said with a smile, then she bowed and walked out, behind her, Calca went and picked up a copy of the Book of Black Justice, and resumed reading where she'd left off.

After the Queen left the wall, Neia went back bout her duties, it took hours for the tower construction to be moved beyond CZ's range, and they spent a good portion of the day pulling the entire camp back so that she couldn't take pot shots at them.

For a short while, Neia thought that might be how this day would end, but it was not to be. Siege engines were rolled up, and again they started to batter the walls, most shots fell short however, and the few that hit, did not do tremendous damage as they lost most of their momentum by the time they hit. Down below where her own siege engines were waiting for use, the crews stood by patiently, she saw no reason to fire back, as there was minimal chance of hitting anything for now.

So she waited, and let the walls take the bombardment. Pacing got tiresome though, and danger grew dull. She paced the wall and stopped when she came to her wife. "Behold the banality of horror, eh?" She sighed out as a small stone impacted the wall a few feet below the top of it.

"I know." Skana said, "Amazing what we get used to. Makes me wish for an attack just for a change of pace." She said with some annoyance in her voice.

Several peasants appeared at the tower doorway bearing soup pots, they were all humans, all wearing the clothing that had become standard for members of Neia's organization. They weren't soldiers, they were too young for that. None of them could have been much into their teens. Nonetheless she didn't shoo them away, several carried bowls and ladled the meals in one after the other, going straight down the line. Behind them came others bearing water to refill the soldiers water skins, they were quick, efficient, and in Neia's eyes most importantly, they didn't show any favor to other humans to the exclusion of orc or goblin or anyone else.

They left as quickly as they'd come, and judging by how much they'd been sweating, they'd already gone to the other walls. "That was the future that just walked past us." Neia said to her wife.

"How do you mean?" Skana asked curiously.

"They gave to each of the soldiers, just what they were supposed to, they didn't penalize an orc for being an orc, or a goblin for being a goblin, nor did they give a human special exalted status for being a human. Most importantly, it didn't even seem to occur to them to do anything else." Neia said pointedly as a lucky stone managed to fly overhead and crash into a building behind them.

Neia paid it no mind. "I was always taught that every generation is worse than the one before it, but I don't think that's true anymore." She said thoughtfully. "I think if it were true, then the previous generation had to have been really shitty parents. If anything, every generation should do better than the one before it, shouldn't they?" She asked reflectively.

"Maybe." Skana said as they started to walk the wall again, looking out over the stones to see that a ram was being brought up and ladders were being handed out in the distance. "Ready arms!" Skana shouted. "I mean look at us, fear of the other was the norm before, and now here we are standing with the other, while those who look like us, come to kill us for it."

"I read in the Library of Ashurbanipal that the arrow of history arcs towards justice, but the arc is very, very long." Neia said as she took out her bow, at a glance, they had a little while yet.

"We're all saddled with fixing the mistakes of people like the rulers of the Slane Theocracy, or the evil consequences that came to us from Jaldabaoth, or even people who might have been good kings for their time, but if we do things right, we won't leave as many mistakes for those kids who were just here, to grow up and clean up after us."

"Well the mess is coming for us right now, what say we clean up a little bit for em?" Skana asked with her lips upturned and her teeth bared wolfishly.

"Bet I can get more than you today." Neia said with a wink.

"What's the bet?" Skana asked archly.

"Loser makes dinner for the winner." Neia said as the forces of the Theocracy came on.

"Fine, as long as the loser gets to have the winner for desert." Skana winked in turn.

Neia didn't even blush this time, she just said, "Deal!" with wicked, ravenous smile as she nocked an arrow.

A few minutes later, they called out "Loose!" and the started to count their kills.

...Astraka's Camp…

Vanysa went straight to Astraka's tent as soon as the darkness made it easiest to do. For this night's torment, she wanted to pick something different. Again she forced enough alcohol down his throat that he'd forget most of the previous night, and question his own sanity in the morning. She wondered if he'd wet himself. She snickered and got on top of him, she didn't have to do it this way, but part of her enjoyed it, like she was making his suffering more intimate. She pressed her forehead to his, and entered his dream.

Tonight he was dreaming of his coronation, but worst of all, attending the coronation and kneeling in front of him, was her God, her Saviour, His Majesty, the Sorcerer King. She felt a blazing anger that his mind would even dare dream such blasphemy. That could not be tolerated. So she selected from among her memories, some of the most casual humiliations he had inflicted on her, and some of the most intimate ones. She put him in her place, let him feel what it was like to be ogled at and afraid, chained up alone with him. Let him feel her hunger and desperation while he ate, and the fear that she'd be left to starve to death. She'd been hungry before, starvation was a slow and agonizing torture, so it was frighteningly real to just lay there chained up, hungry and inches from food, with someone who could and perhaps would withhold it if not pleased.

Then she selected the moments when she had to relieve herself, heeding nature's call, he didn't even give her privacy or let her loose, he held her beautiful hair like it was a damn leash, when he didn't outright use a chain, and made her go in front of him. She made him feel the shame wash over him, she'd sobbed the first few times it had happened, until she grew numb to the degradation. Part of her knew it was just practical to make sure she couldn't escape, but that did not make it better.

There were weeks of those moments, the occasional slap when she'd offended him, and sudden terrors that didn't go away when he reached out to touch her, always fearing if that was going to be what initiated her violation.

When she made the dream a repeating loop, she left his mind and dismounted from him. She looked at the man who would be king, and it was all she could do not to open an artery right then. Instead, she left, she had somewhere else to be.

That 'somewhere else' had her seeking out the paymaster's tent. The doppels knew where that was, fortunately. It was, unsurprisingly, heavily guarded. Almost as much so as Astraka himself was, which… for her meant it might as well not have been guarded at all.

When she was inside, caution was required. There were stacks and stacks of chests there, all filled with coins from copper to gold, meant to pay his army. They'd been marching for almost a month since being raised, and they were two days from Prart at most, she was fairly sure. Clever man that he was, that he'd timed it so that their pay would be on the eve of battle. It would remind them who paid them, and it would remind them who they fought for, which was the same thing.

She gingerly opened a chest and looked inside, she took a coin out and held it up. These were special, these were some of the first coins to bear Astraka's profile on them. She doubted they were in circulation anywhere else yet. There was one more village ahead, and tomorrow the soldiers would be able to take their pay and go buy booze and whores and feast to their heart's content. Or... they would have, were it not for herself.

The gate opened as soon as she called, and chest by chest she took them into Nazarick.

Demiurge was waiting for her when she arrived. "You've been busy." He said.

"Yes, I have been." She said happily as she set another box down on top of its mate.

"What do you have there?" He asked.

"All the pay for his soldiers." Vanysa said happily.

"I see." Demiurge said as a realization dawned, "So when they go to collect their pay, they'll find they've been robbed? Not bad, a little crude, but they'll be angry."

She shook her head. "No, no, they will get paid. But with these." She said and took out a coin from her pouch and handed it to him. He took the coin and looked at it, the weight was different, but the profile and appearance was the same.

"Scratch the surface." She said proudly, his demon claw scratched it, and then he smiled wickedly.

"This isn't real gold." He said with great amusement.

"Nor is the silver real silver, nor the copper real copper, I had enough fakes made to fill all these chests. The intelligence we gathered gave me the exact design of the originals, all I had to do was make the fake duplicates. Now I'll empty all these chests, refill them with the fakes, and put the chests back. When they collect their pay tomorrow and stop at a village to drink and whore themselves half to death, the doppels will make sure to 'check' the coins in the guise of merchants who stopped in the town, and they'll expose the fake coins, and then…" She clapped her hands together happily.

"They'll not get a drop of drink and those worthless coins with his face on them wouldn't buy a whore even if they had a mountain of them. He'll be lucky if they don't riot and walk away right there and then. Fitting that the only coins with his face on them be worthless trash." She said hatefully.

"Agreed." Demiurge said, and then he listened as Vanysa worked, swapping out the old coins with the 'new' coins. She spoke to him of all the ways she'd been avenging herself on him during his army's line of march, all the torture he was enduring without having a drop of blood shed, the way it was fraying at the mind of the man who would be king.

Perhaps it was that she held the form of an erinyes, a beautiful demonic body by any standards, or perhaps it was the utter gleeful sadism and torment she was so artfully inflicting on her former tormentor, but when she got to the part in her story about his dream, of their master kneeling to him, and replacing it with himself in a state of abject humiliation, he felt… very glad that she had been restored to life. He found himself enjoying the moment when she came back through the gate on yet another trip, putting false coins in place of real ones, and disliking it when she disappeared.

Finally, she put the last one in place, and came back through to find no chests left to move. She turned to him and said, "It's a pleasure to see you again Demiurge, after I've finished my… well it isn't really work if I love it, but after I've finished my… outside tasks, and I bring 'him' here, perhaps before we get back to research, we could arrange to play a song on this one 'together'...? It would be my way of making up for being unable to assist you lately." She said politely.

"That would be very welcome." He said, a sadistic smile passed between them, and she walked back through the gate, already contacting the doppels. She was efficient and wasted no time. Of that, he wholeheartedly approved.

The next morning in Astraka's camp, the pay was dispensed by a number of officers under heavy guard, and the King had ordered something a little 'extra' be given to each of them, a whole extra silver, which he hoped would help repair some of the damage to his reputation that had been done lately.

It seemed to work, and the soldiers were all very happy. The unused coins intended for the next month's pay were held under guard again, and when they reached the village, a largish place that was really closer to a town, he called a halt and gave his men one full day of leave to go within its borders.

Vanysa, for her part, walked through the town wearing a wig and makeup that changed her skin tone. With that and a very minor illusion scroll that she used to change the shape of her nose and her eye color, she looked like a whole other person.

The doppels had set up merchant stands and were selling the sorts of things soldiers loved to buy. Meat and booze, right in the center of the place, it took the soldiers only minutes to swarm the townsfolk's many businesses, and prices quickly skyrocketed as they intended to drain the soldiers dry of their newfound 'wealth'.

Vanysa simply took a seat on a bench and watched. A lot of useless coins were already spent and the town would be outraged at the fraud. However, she wasn't worried about the soldiers or the townsfolk, she was fairly sure she knew exactly where the blame would fall, and she could get them compensated for their losses later. This was a military operation for the betterment of Nazarick after all, even if it did have a personal element to it.

She smiled as one of the doppels cut into a coin after remarking that it was light. He cut into Astraka's face, that had been her 'personal touch' and however petty it might be, it made her smile.

The doppel merchant shouted in outrage, the other merchants began to do the same, and the shouting intensified, it was quite loud. The soldiers looked stunned, embarrassed, then incredibly angry.

Word spread like wildfire. Within an hour, soldiers were either being thrown out of taverns and brothels or they were being forced to work to repay what they'd already spent. It was one thing to make quite a mess in a brothel, it was another to clean it up. They were definitely… not… happy.

Vanysa however, laughed uproariously as soon as it was safe to do so, she could not hold it in from where she sat, so she stood quickly and walked down an alley, leaned against a wall, and just let all the laughter out.

Fights were breaking out, officers of the army were dragging their men back, and when they heard what was happening, shock and anger swept their faces as well. The doppels 'angrily closed up shop' and left the area, after their 'props' were stored, they assumed the guises of soldiers and went back to camp and spread the word about the fake coins. Thousands of knives came out and cut the faces of thousands of coins, but it was the thousands of shouts of utter outrage that got King Astraka's attention.

What he found when he left his tent, still reeking of alcohol, was a virtual riot waiting for him. However, he was not stupid, and he issued two things that saved him in that moment. The first was that he broke open the entirety of the supply wagon's alcohol stores, including his own private supply. The second thing he did was even more effective.

As the soldiers filtered back he called for an assembly, "I do not know what has happened, however you are my loyal soldiers! I will not see you left with nothing, therefore when Prart falls, I will let you plunder the town uninterrupted for five days, whatever you can seize, belongs to you!"

The promise had settled the tensions below the point of violence, though the soldiers were more than displeased still, and trust in their 'king' had plummeted.

The doppels however, were not done. "The king hoards the wealth for himself, he doesn't really intend to use the money to pay us at all. He's greedy to the extreme, he chose to pay us now so that he could take the money off our corpses when we die in battle."

"The town kicked us out for more reasons than just the coins, another child went missing."

"The king doesn't even have a single real coin to his name."

The rumors flew from doppel lips and flew through the camp like the breeze at their backs, in the end Astraka had to end the rest early and deprive them of the remainder of their leave. It was a sullen, angry army that marched towards Prart that afternoon, and the king wondered how long the head of the mint had been stealing from him. The torturous death that would befall that man would be told as a cautionary tale for generations about the danger of stealing from kings.

The only things he had to do, would be to take that city, kill that pope, and kill that Queen, and his problems would all but disappear.

In a small cabin in the woods, however, a beautiful demoness arched her back, tilted her head back as if to gaze at the sky, and laughed maniacally. "Oh Astraka... Astraka… Astraka… just wait until tomorrow." She said to the empty room.


	109. Stealing from Peter to Pay Paul

God Rising

Chapter 109

Written By: AtheistBasementDragon

Edited By: The Usual Gang of Drunken Perverted Idiots

 **AN: Here you go, wanted to have this up yesterday, editing wasn't done. May or may NOT have a chapter done today, internet service is up and down here, I'll see what I can do. Truth be told, it may be a day or three before I can do more. In the meantime, reviews and whatnot are happily received.**

 _...Prart..._

The arrows fell on the attackers. These were more heavily armored soldiers, and it was definitely not a probe, this was an assault. They'd endured quite a bit of this, a fact that Neia reminded Skana she'd brought on them by wishing for a break to the boredom. Her wife rolled her eye every time and reminded Neia in turn that she'd constantly asked for them to come and get them. They were not good jokes, but they didn't need to be, any laugh was a good one when it might be the last one.

CZ sniped relentlessly at anyone who looked important who came in reach, and those who did make it up found themselves in the unenviable position of facing off against a dazzling array of different enemies. Their difference had made for strength. The Sons of Iontariil had been made powerful by many years of breaking stone, and their muscles were thick enough that their armor scarcely held them in. Orcs tended to favor the heavy blunt weapons, maces, hammers, mauls, while the traditional combat of Black Justice stuck chiefly to sword work and grapples. More than one enemy was 'helped' over the wall… and all the way to the ground on the other side. Neia's voice called for courage in her allies and broke it down in her foes. Skana's dread reputation, the one eyed Skana the Bold, had grown immensely since her killing of Braunin and her many successful raids. Her auburn hair flashed bright in the sun as she danced with the attackers like she had with the farmboys of her youth, but it was a deadly dance and she did not stay with a single partner.

Blood spilled as bodies flung themselves over the wall as if desperate for something beyond it, and if what they longed to find was a place to die, then the city of Prart obliged them happily.

Mangonels fired high over the walls, and in the moments between battle, Neia saw that the field before the city wall had been splattered with the blood and bodies of those their stones and arrows had struck. Fluder of course, along with the few mages they had, were happy to lend their magic to burning ladders and people, with the result of screaming people falling to their death at the base of stone. Some rolled desperately to put out the flames, others ran screaming as their flesh was scorched, neither made it very far.

Neia shouted over the side with her sword aloft, "Come on, Remedios! Is this all you've got for me!" Her voice was filled with abject contempt. She thrust her sword into the neck of a man who had fallen to the ground, at her feet, and after almost an hour, the attackers who were still alive lost heart and fled. Neia drew her bow and took aim, she released her arrow and a soldier fell with an arrow through the back of his brain, her face was filled with a pounding rage. "If you come to these walls with swords in hand, do not expect to leave with your lives!"

The rest of the bow bearing ranks drew as if that were an order, arrows flew, many fell. Skana did not draw her own. "Cease fire!" She shouted as she thought about her last ambush before coming back to Neia.

Neia looked in her direction, Skana was already moving to hers, she kicked aside some entrails that had fallen in her path, they fell over the wall inside the city, she heard some unfortunate shout in disgust as they evidently landed on someone. She paid no mind to it. "Neia, NO." Skana said firmly and put her hand on her shoulder.

"They're still combatants." Neia said with iron in her voice.

"It's still too far, please, just trust me, you don't want to do that." Skana said forcefully.

"The hell I don't." Neia snapped and turned to the ranks of soldiers, "Fire again!" They drew and loosed, the last of the ones in range fell with piercing wails.

Skana let her hands fall away from her wife. "Neia, please…" Skana said and reached for her hands, "For my sake, just… you trust me, right?" She reached up and took Neia's visor off, the pounding drum like rhythm in Neia's eyes had not faded even slightly, however they did soften as Skana gently caressed Neia's hand, only now noticing that it was shaking like a leaf.

"I… yes, I do." Neia said ruefully. "Kind of dealing that card from the bottom of the deck though." She said wryly.

Skana felt her emotions getting the better of her, she forced herself to choke back tears, "Wifely entitlement." She said and wiped her nose, "Just trust me, you don't want to do again, what has just happened. Promise me." She said firmly.

"I promise on my life." Neia said seriously.

"No, you're too reckless with that one, promise on mine." Skana said in a sweet and affectionate tone that belied the blood coated swordswoman at the conclusion of a life and death struggle.

"Fine, I promise on your life, the life of my wife, if anyone runs away, I will not give the order to kill them." Neia said with great solemnity.

"Oh look, they're adding another ram." An orc said, resting his heavy hammer over his shoulder and pointing out over the field.

"Second wave!" Neia shouted, "Deploy relief!"

Several ranks of soldiers made their way up the wall from where they waited in reserve. "Gate squad, prepare for ram!" She shouted further orders.

"How long before they start using angels, I expected I'd see them by now?" Skana asked.

"Holding them in reserve I think, not wanting to reveal how many they have. I expect we'll see them when the towers start rolling." Neia said thoughtfully, then with a regretful sigh, she clenched Skana's hand. "Go to your command post Skana, I've got it from here." Neia said and touched her cheek, "I promise." She leaned up on her toes a little, and kissed the cheek of her wife. Skana nodded quietly and walked away, letting her hand fall away only slowly and reluctantly, before speeding to her position.

Arrows fell, but the Theocracy soldiers and Remedios's fanatics had shields aplenty, and though here and there someone fell, by and large the arrows glanced off. There were two exceptions to this, Neia's bow and CZ's spellgun. While the bows of her hundred were far and away superior to the average, all being runecrafted custom work made expressly for the best of the best, these were thick, heavy shields and penetrating them was no easy task.

Arrows riddled shields, but the better shots focused on weak points and sought to cripple more than they sought to kill. Still the advance came on. Neia looked behind her, "Unleash bones, five thousand!" She shouted, the command was echoed, and before long she saw someone leading a hoard of skeleton warriors from where they had been stored. They were not especially strong, but they didn't need to be.

The gate was opened, and the one leading them ordered them to kill everything outside the wall, it was a simple command, and the undead shout pierced the hearts of those who heard it. Skeleton warriors charged in earnest, the living who advanced, were frozen for a moment in horror when they realized that the dead had been called upon to defend the city.

Neia still paced the wall, she smiled as the struggle continued, "Loose!" She shouted at the same moment as Skana as they read the moment as ripe for an attack, arrows filled the air and, mostly passed through the skeletons, very few of their own fell but it forced the living to protect themselves from one hazard or the other, not both, they were not trained to expect to face a rain of arrows in close combat with an existing enemy.

It took several minutes in a waking nightmare before the skeletons fell in sufficient numbers to resume the advance, and just as the ram was getting close, the gate opened and out came three legendary heroes followed by a very angry number of former elf slaves. They charged the shocked crew. Tia and Tina flashed about the combat space dealing death from a distance, while Lakyus reaped a harvest of lives with her flying blades and her cursed blade. The former slaves fought like madmen at the coming of the longed for vengeance. The soldiers of the Theocracy had tired themselves from one fight already, their armor was heavy, their shields were heavy, and the constant haranguing of the evangelist nightmare, and the bowshots of the elites picking their numbers off, gradually broke the spirits of the remaining numbers, none made it onto the wall at that time.

Lakyus, for good measure, used her swords to shred the ram behind her as she walked away, its collapse emblematic of the entire effort. A number of survivors were fleeing desperately away from the wall, Neia gave off a heavy sigh, and let them go, watching their backs as they fled for their lives.

 _...Astraka's Encampment, morning..._

She did her little ghost bit with Astraka again the morning after forcing him to get drunk. She watched as he staggered out of his tent after waking up late again. It had been a joyful thing to see, his face was haggard and red, he'd obviously spent the night crying in his restless sleep. Her 'ghost' was crying again as she pointed to him, again he ran for aid, and again she was gone with her props and no magic was found. When she was well out of the way, she wiped her face. The tears she shed had not been false ones, even though it had been the better part of a year since she'd suffered it all, it was still raw. She wondered if it ever wouldn't be? Would she be a two thousand year old demoness one day, and still wake up in terror from the nightmares he'd given to her? Was her pain to be his only legacy? It was a bitter thing to contemplate, and made her urge to avenge herself on him all the greater. Only when she was well out of sight and would not be seen, did she take to the air and head for her next destination.

 _...Hoburns, hours later..._

Vanysa was enjoying the cold. When she'd been nothing but a perfectly ordinary human, the winter had always frightened her, things died around her, crops wouldn't grow, warmth became a luxury. When she'd shamed herself by letting the nobles of the Draconic Kingdom steal her reward, lost her home, and been reduced to living in a ruin, the snowfalls left her all but whimpering. The winter chill would not be stopped by the flimsy walls and damaged wreck of a door, she had to cuddle in the only warm thing she had, the pandaskin coat.

So she'd lain in bed, warmed by the flimsy candle and read books by its tiny warm light. Her brief visits to the Sorcerer King in winter to return books and replace them with new ones were the happiest hours of her life, even 'if' she felt the incessant need to absolutely avoid the two guardians. Many times she'd almost told him what happened, but shame stopped her every time.

Now, she felt differently. The building winter chill did not touch her, not even as she soared in the sky. Her demonic blood gave her safety from such common things, and she embraced the brisk feeling as rather pleasant. She fully expected snowfall soon, perhaps even within the next few days, and that made her even happier because of 'why' she was over Hoburns, and why she was descending to it. She aimed herself towards the palace, that was easy. It had four great towers on the corners and one thrusting up from the center, it was remarkably well made, rather nice to look at really. She snickered as she thought about the next time Astraka would be seeing it.

She shook her head to get her mind back on track as she thought the matter through, the hour was late, so there wouldn't be any court being held, so she went to the tower her report indicated that the city governor slept in, in the absence of Astraka.

She stopped when she got to the window and perched herself outside to briefly run through what she knew of Baron Stono. She took several deep breaths, preparing herself mentally for this part. When she had her heartbeat under control, she used one of her long talons to lift the inner latch of the shutters, and slipped into the bedroom.

Baron Stono was asleep alone, his wife was away, however the guard was outside the room, that much she was sure of. She paced the bed, and held out a talon. It would be so easy, slit his throat and the city would be in chaos, he would die, she would leave the way she'd come, and that would be that. But Stono was innocent. Her wings trembled, she'd searched every single scrap of material she could find to indicate he'd done something to justify killing him.

But there was nothing. Not a damn thing. She wanted to do it anyway. She closed her talon back into her waiting fist. It didn't matter, there was leverage, and he wasn't particularly brave.

She pulled out a scroll and used it on the guard just beyond the door, he would be asleep for awhile, the shift had just changed, nobody would bother them.

She took out a chair and sat it next to his bed. When she was comfortable, with the back of the chair roughly even with the enter of his torso, she took out another scroll and prepared to use it. First, she placed two of her talons upright on his chest and began to walk them up the length of his body, talon by talon, in imitation of legs. "Stono... oh Baron Stono, wake up Baron Stono, you have a guest here to see you." She said duskily as she leaned forward to whisper into his ear.

He began to awaken grogely, his eyes fluttering slowly open. She sat upright so he would see her face, and as soon as he did, she used the scroll in her other hand, and he was paralyzed.

"Hi there." She said sweetly. The terror was stuck on his face, and she kept her talons visible on his chest, they tapped patiently.

"You don't know me, but we're going to be very good friends very soon." She said happily.

He didn't say anything, paralyzed people seldom did.

"You see, I'm going to save your life, and I'm going to solve a very big problem of yours, and I'm going to make you very rich, all in the next five minutes, are you going to hear me out?" She asked sweetly.

He didn't object. Paralyzed people seldom objected to anything. She gave him a winning demonic smile that was made more terrifying because it was evidently intended to be very sweet.

"First, the problem I'm here to solve, your wife has a nasty habit of spending money when you're not around to keep a handle on things, it's why you're in this position, because Astraka bailed you out several times, you owe him money, it's why he trusts you. What you were afraid of is, your wife was going to do more of what got you in trouble, and you'd owe him even more. Well, guess what?" She said practically and reached into her satchel, she held up a large receipt.

He didn't move to take it.

"Oh right, the paralyzed thing." She teased him lightly and stuck her tongue out, she was enjoying herself. She held the receipt out over his face where his paralyzed eyes could read it. "Congratulations, you're the proud owner of a new summer home." She could feel his urge to groan, "She borrowed some money for this one, want to guess where she borrowed it from?" He didn't, she knew she didn't.

"Yup, Astraka's family." She smiled. "But now to solve the problem." She could feel his skeptical optimism.

"The Queen is going to rule this country and reform the banking and lending laws, no one will be able to borrow more than their total asset value, credit blocks and limits will be placed on non-income earning dependent family members, so basically your wife will never be able to borrow enough to ruin you, nor will any irresponsible children bankrupt their parents. What is more…" She put away that document and held out another where he could read it, "I got this just for you after learning of your situation. The Sorcerer King has promised debt forgiveness for every noble who abandons King Astraka, so when Queen Calca takes over, she won't call in those debts, he'll pay them for you. Her Majesty was quite taken with his idea, and copies of this are being sent to every noble house under the usurper king." She grinned enormously.

"You're probably wondering what he's offering the ones who are already loyal to Calca… well… they get the lands of the ones who don't take this deal, and any war crime perpetrating nobles or anyone else who ends up losing everything along the way. So, everybody wins, except the losers." She said happily.

"You with me so far?" She asked. He didn't respond. She didn't expect him to.

"Good." She said and patted him on the chest. "Now, saving your life, it's very simple really, do what I say, and I won't kill you. I could have killed you in your sleep, and I could kill you now." She said gently she placed a talon at his neck, she could feel his fear. If his body worked he'd have lost bowel control.

"So 'not killing you' is the second way I'm going to help you." She said politely, "I'm fully justified in doing so, you're on the wrong side, making you disappear would throw the city into chaos, you're a member of the government, you're a legitimate target, but I don't want to do that, because…" She swiftly moved her face an inch above the middle aged man's wrinkled face and locked her eyes on his, her fangs were bared and she put her talons to the side of his face, there was no sense of real guilt coming off of him, wrong side or not, he was not a bad man. "You are innocent, and I prefer to hurt the guilty." She said, and sat herself back down in the chair very prim and proper.

She folded one lovely golden leg over the other, "So now the third thing, you have nothing left but debt, and I'm getting rid of it and making sure it can't become a problem again, I'm sparing your life even though I could kill you, and I said I was going to make you rich, didn't I?" She said in a jovial sort of mood.

He didn't answer, he only stared unmoving under the influence of the spell.

"You just wait right there, I have something for you." She said, and stepped into a hole in reality where she disappeared. A few moments later she came back with several chests and started dumping coins all over the bed. Two of gold, four of silver, eight of copper, all bearing Astraka's face.

She smiled warmly, "All this is yours, and all you have to do is make sure anyone loyal to Astraka is blind drunk, out of the city, dead, or imprisoned, I don't care which ones you do, though if I had to pick…" She tapped a talon on her cheek and looked away thoughtfully, "dead is the most efficient, but I'd like more time with them. Tell you what, if there's anyone vile, find some way to imprison them for a few days, all the rest, blind drunk or out of the city, it's all the same to me otherwise." She said gleefully and clapped her hands together.

Vanysa caressed his chest again and leaned in close, her storm grey eyes held on to his like a snake did with those of a wounded bird.

"Congratulations on your newfound wealth. Now this paralysis spell will wear off in an hour or two, don't bother calling for the guard when it does, he's asleep, thanks to me. And don't think of refusing my… friendship. I've already bribed half of the city guard to go along with me anyway, and if you're wondering about the other half…" She giggled as she stood up and walked back towards the window, "well they're Black Justice converts in hiding, so they didn't even need the money, just opportunity. So, do we have a deal?" She asked patiently. "Lay still if we have a deal." She laughed as he lay there unmoving.

"See, I told you we'd be friends." She said as she flapped her wings, "Don't hurt my feelings by betraying me when the time comes, or I'll come back again, and there will be no spells involved. Guilt or not, I 'can' kill you, and I can do so whenever I want." She said, and for a moment, he felt the aura of oppressive savage violence sweeping over him, then it was gone, and the terror with a smiling face that rose above the floor, headed to the window and disappeared.

She laughed relentlessly into the night as she soared far above the city, "Soon my precious Astraka, so very soon, you will have nothing left at all but your misery, fear, and pain, just the way you left me." She laughed with wild happiness, and descended to the streets, it would be a long night talking to various guards, but she now had to carry out the lie she'd told, and bribe every officer she could, to do nothing.

Fortunately she knew who the Black Justice operatives and secret leaders were within the capital, and they were able to, on request, send urgent requests for those officers that could be relatively easily bribed to come by for 'urgent matters'. She didn't even end up using most of the chests of coins that she still had, she ran through an entire box of silver and a quarter box of gold, fulfilling the lie she'd given to Baron Stono.

It was nearly dawn when she was done. A handful would probably have to die to ensure there were no problems, but that could wait. According to her last talk with Robel, he would arrive at Hoburns tomorrow, better to remove the problems at a time when their disappearance would be more problematic for their fellows.


	110. Cracked Mask

God Rising

Chapter 110

Written by: AtheistBasementDragon

Edited by: The Usual Gang of Drunken Perverted Idiots

 **AN: Double release day. Also, looks like I...yet again, radically underestimated the number of chapters I'd need to finish this, my last plan was for 125 chapters, then 150, now...honestly...I might go as high as 300 chapters before this is all said and done. Prart hasn't even hit the climax yet an it is the only part I'm focusing on, and it has taken...well it might easily take five more chapters, I can't say for sure. I might keep it down to three, but...on this, I'm always wrong. Remember, reviews feed authors, don't let us starve. :)**

 _…Remedios' Encampment…_

"We've lost a few thousand soldiers and gained nothing." Suchala said sharply.

"There are some dead heretics at least." She added with equal sharpness, "If we keep pushing, we will break through."

Suchala wanted to slap this woman. 'How did anyone this dense ever become the head of an order? Power does not equate to competence.' He thought angrily. "That may be true, but we still need enough of an army remaining to go on and finish the rest of the resistance. What good is it if we win only to destroy ourselves?" He asked gravely.

"Ma'am," Yuri said as she walked in, "A messenger just arrived on horseback. King Astraka is due to arrive soon, and he has brought an army with him."

"Good! With all three of us together, we can't possibly lose!" Remedios yelled enthusiastically as she slammed her hands on the table, shattering it under her.

"Yes, we can." Suchala said as if to a child. "And that belief right there is one reason why we still could. This is not just a game of numbers, Remedios. Yes, we have some of the Black Scripture, yes, we have some of the Holocaust Scripture, and yes, we have some of your paladins, but they're not without resources. General Neia Baraja is no fool, and she wouldn't fight if she didn't think she could win. They've harassed our armies at every turn, leaving us with insufficient supplies for a months long siege, and if we run out of food, we run out of options. All she has to do in order to not lose is just to hold on, but we have to win." He sighed, "I hate sieges. I really, really hate sieges."

"How are the siege towers coming?" He asked after several more minutes of grumbling.

Yuri picked up a document from the floor where it had landed after Remedios shattered the table. They'd gone through a number of tables thanks to her tantrums. It was tiresome, but now routine enough that nobody even remarked on it anymore. "They'll be ready tomorrow."

"Convenient." Remedios said, satisfied, "Then we'll deploy mages as well, and another ram, one for every gate."

Suchala then spent the next two hours trying to explain to Remedios why attacking everywhere at once had its own weaknesses, and when he'd finally drilled that into her head, nearly exhausting himself in the process, a tired looking King Astraka walked into the tent.

He did not look nearly as kingly as his reputation had suggested he might, he looked like a terrible wreck and he still had a faint smell of alcohol about him.

He didn't waste time with introductions, "Those bitches have to die, so when do we take the city?" He asked with a tired, angry voice.

"Our next attack will be tomorrow, we'll be using towers for maximum penetration." Remedios said gleefully.

"Good. My soldiers will be tired after the march, I will volunteer them for the third wave." He said, recovering some fragment of his noble voice.

"Fine." Remedios said, "But tonight I want to show them something special."

"What?" Suchala and Astraka asked in unison.

"The fate of heretics. I say we light up the night, let them know terror." She said.

Yuri grinned happily, this was her favorite part, the only good thing about Remedios, the sadism. It was still a marvel to her that this woman was once considered a hero to her country.

"Do it." Suchala said, his voice was full of grim satisfaction.

"That reminds you, I have someone for you, call it a… gift, in appreciation for your help to me." He said. They looked at him curiously. "Do you know of a man named, 'Tinamoc'?" He asked, knowing they knew that name quite well.

 _…That evening…Prart…_

CZ, Neia, Skana, the members of Blue Rose, and Queen Calca sat around a table talking, Neia spoke animatedly with Lakyus in particular as they talked about their past adventures, both the good and the bad. It wasn't a surprise to Skana that the two could talk so easily with one another, since both had come into leadership positions, both had been confronted with contradictions to their view of the world and been forced to change, both had risked their lives for the same monarch, and both represented considerable personal power that stood out as 'unique' among their warrior peers.

Truth be told, Skana felt a little bit 'envious'. Not much, but a little, since both had come from a class greater than her own, even if Neia's had not been all that elevated, coming from a powerful Paladin mother, she'd had some advantages that Skana's peasant heritage lacked. Neia might not have had a noble background, but it was sufficient even in a backwater region to give her comfort that others lacked when dealing with those of noble birth. Also, her carriage bore authoritarian confidence. It had been the first thing Skana had hated about her, until she didn't anymore.

Queen Calca took a particular interest in Evileye, whose bare red eyes seemed not to discomfort the Queen even a little. Lakyus knew it probably did. However, she recognized it for what it was, that she was forcing herself to confront and erode her own attitudes.

The elven servants who moved about the table did so in silence, but for a rare moment of their lives, that silence was not born of fear, rather they looked at those who they attended with almost a divine, reverential awe, doing their best to ensure every glass was filled, every empty plate replaced.

CZ of course, could always be counted upon, she 'fixed' the cuteness problem of Calca's lost long hair by placing a sticker on her forehead, it matched the one that still sat on Skana's eye patch, and as per usual, she spoke only in short, brief sentences.

It was, in short, a pleasant reprieve from a dire situation, and they enjoyed the growing camaraderie very much. Neia praised the efficacy of Tia and Tina's destruction of those moving the ram, but special praise fell to Lakyus for her casual destruction of the siege weapon when the fight was over. By contrast, Neia's decisive command of the soldiers earned considerable praise from the Queen.

The evening might have gone on that way for quite some time, until Ulthis burst in to the dining hall. His blood red eyes were wide with shock and horror, "We have a problem." He said without bothering with the niceties.

Neia and Skana were already on their feet before he finished speaking. "What is it?" Neia asked.

"Fire." He said. He didn't need to explain. Neia, Skana, and CZ immediately followed him at breakneck speed, fast as they could move to his position on the wall. [Light in the Darkness] Neia said, enhancing her vision in the evening hours. Skana, mildly annoyed, removed one of her scrolls and gave herself temporary dark vision.

They could scarcely believe their eyes. A dozen stakes had been set in place on small platforms, and a single person was tied to each of them, naked and slumped forward with their head down.

"No…" Neia said, "She can't."

"She can." CZ said.

"Shit. She is." Skana said with anger and disgust thick on her tongue.

"No, she's not." Neia said, and drew her bow. She was absolutely certain that it was either Remedios, or her closest aid walking by with a torch and pronouncing doom on the 'heretics'.

"CZ." Neia said, her friend looked over to her.

"Target the hostages." Neia said calmly.

Skana paled. "You can't be serious?" She asked.

"I am. Do you remember the siege?" Neia asked.

"I do but…" Skana began, and Neia interrupted.

"You weren't under arms at the time, or you weren't at the wall." Neia said.

"Consider it done." CZ said as she unholstered her spell gun.

"CZ wait!" Skana said, the maid demon paused. "I… no I wasn't, but I saw you fight, you were magnificent. But what does that…"

Neia interrupted, "The demihumans used children as human shields, I ordered them all shot."

"The demihumans des-"

Neia cut her off. "The children."

Skana's hand flew to her mouth as she looked to the blank mask her wife had for a face.

"Everyone followed my orders, even the paladin, I said, 'aim for the kids', and I had them all killed, every one of them, or nearly. We couldn't save them, there was nothing we could do then, and if we'd hesitated, we'd have encouraged more of the use of hostages against us. Everybody behind me would have died, people I had to protect. Killing those children was the only mercy I could give them. I don't know if that bitch out there," she gestured beyond the wall, "knows what I did or not, maybe this is just one big coincidence that I'm back in this situation again. But I can't save them, nobody here can, and even if we could do it, we shouldn't because it will just make hostages a viable choice forcing our hand in the future." Neia's voice was cool and rational, and Skana stood frozen as she realized just what she was looking at.

She tried to imagine her wife shouting an order to target children, and she realized just how disturbingly easy it was to picture.

"CZ, do it." Neia said, "You start from the left, I'll go from the right."

"But that's… it's a monstrous act…" Skana said softly.

"It is a monstrous war, and I have no choice. This is the only help I can give them. I'm… I'm sorry, Skana… Perhaps you'd better not see this, please go to our room, I'll talk to you when I get back." Neia said as she nocked an arrow.

Skana shook her head. "No, I should see, if you can bear to do it, I can bear to watch." She said, biting her lip.

"Snake Shot." Neia said, and loosed an arrow at the same moment as CZ's spell gun went off. One by one, the hostages died while whoever was about to burn them, dove for cover.

It was only a few seconds, but they were dead.

Skana watched in mute horror.

"I expect everyone here to do the same for me." Neia said to the silent walls as she put away her bow. She stepped forward and leaned on the crenelations with her hands folded into fists.

Skana stood by, quiet as the grave not a foot away from Neia's side. 'What is she thinking? What does her face look like now?' Skana wondered, she stepped closer, expecting the mask she'd seen before when Neia calmly spoke about a past Skana was unaware of, and her reasons for doing the same thing again. So it was a surprise to her, that she saw, as she came closer, that Neia's hands were shaking, barely controlled. While down the cheek that Skana could see, a rivulet of a tear ran down. Skana could not see her eyes behind the visor, but she didn't need to, to know what she would find.

Neia snapped erect and covered her head with her cloak and walked off the wall. As she passed by Ulthis she touched his shoulder, "Thank you for telling me. If it happens again, please keep me informed, it doesn't matter the hour, I'll come take care of it. Don't hand the task to anyone else." She said in a controlled, even voice that was so at odds with all that Skana had just seen that it chilled her blood.

CZ descended shortly after and whispered quietly to Skana, "Walk with me."

Skana quietly fell in beside CZ. Neia was radiating an aura of violence of the sort her wife had never felt from her before, and although much seemed uncertain in her mind, there was one thing she knew.

She did not envy the ones who would attack that wall tomorrow.

 _…Astraka's Encampment Outside of Prart…_

The doppels were doing very well. While Vanysa didn't know how many soldiers had quietly deserted since she'd begun to destroy Astraka, she guessed it was a fair number, even if his subordinates had been keeping that knowledge from him. She smiled whimsically as she crept into his tent that night, used her sleep scroll, and then after forcing his intoxication again, she pondered the nightmare to give him in the evening. But while she did that, she picked up his sword and gave it a once over. It wasn't much by Nazarick standards, but… it was his. It was obviously lovingly cared for, he must have spent countless hours personally caring for it, unlike his armor, she saw nearby there was a whetstone of adamantite, an absurdly expensive indulgence, and probably not even necessary. She wasn't great with magic, she had only a handful of skills and abilities, but she could at least detect an enchantment.

She'd seen his sword before now and would never forget it. She thought back to the day it had been shown to her, she was sitting, bound up in the carriage, he'd stopped pretending to be nice to her, though she'd occasionally seen a flash of conscience, it was evident he was good at crushing it, and he had a petty side. She still had her clothing then. He'd taken out his blade as they closed in on the capital…

"You don't have long, then I start asking you hard. I don't want to, but don't think I won't." She glared at him, or tried to, he took out his sword and began to caress it's edge with the whetstone. "This stone is worth more than your life." He said, holding it up so she could see it. "Just a hunk of rock shaped to rub against a refined rock we call a 'sword', when you get right down to it." He said casually. "But if I were to take this rock to an armorer, and take you to sell to a brothel, the rock would put more coin in my pocket."

That had made her cry and hug herself, the weeks of degradation had taken their toll, the bruise from where he'd hit her hadn't quite healed, then he'd held up the sword and put the tip at the cloth between her breasts. "No… no…" She'd shaken her head, and she remembered how she'd trembled, unable to move and unable to speak, as the tip of his very expensive sword started cutting down her shirt, it was the last thing she had, just her clothes, and he was taking that too. She whimpered for her master then, so soft that he couldn't hear her, she'd curled her legs up to her chest and wrapped her arms tighter, she'd hoped he would stop when she did that, and he did, for a moment when the edge of his sword had split the skin on her arm.

"You don't need your arms to answer questions." He'd said, and she'd forced her arms and legs away, and let him shred her last possession, leaving nothing but the hair he'd made into her leash, the chains on her wrists, and her tears to hide her newly imposed nudity. He'd dragged her by the base of her skull out of the carriage, then used the tip of his sword at her back to drive her forward as he'd taken her into the dungeon, he loved his sword, that much she knew.

Her mind flew through those thoughts, the way she'd stumbled in the dark only to have him yank her hair to get her to move, the way the tip had terrified her as it poked at her skin when her pace slowed. "Yes… that memory will do." She whispered softly.

When he was thrashing in the grip of the nightmare… her life… she watched for only a moment in grim satisfaction, she wiped away her tears, she hated remembering, but it was necessary. Seeing him thrash though, whimpering in his sleep. This big, dangerous, king of men, reduced to a whimpering pile of flesh in his sleep, reminded her of just how much she had endured. Hurting him, hurt her, but it hurt him worse, so it was a price she was willing to pay. She went back to his sword.

"So you love this, do you?" She asked, he didn't answer, he couldn't. He didn't need to, she knew what he would have said.

"You used this to shame me, to dehumanize me, to take away the only thing I had left in the world. I hate you, I hate you so much…" She whispered, "I hate you so much that it hurts just to think of you, just to feel it tears me up inside, do you know…" she said as she carried his sword over to him and held it over his body, "it took me weeks, weeks to remember what you did, to remember everything. The horse, the whip, the pear of anguish, the… the jailer, your fist, your breath, your fingers… you had me reduced so much that my mind shut everything down, my own brain turned against me, protected you from my wrath by hiding you even from me. It did so much that my master didn't even want to try to recover it because he feared what would happen to me if I remembered too soon. He was so kind… you know, when everyone else was gone, he held me, and he just let me cry. Would you ever have done that for a servant? Probably not. That's why I was willing to die, why no matter how much it hurt, all I would give you were my wails and my tears and my pleas for death. If you valued your servants as much as your trinkets, maybe you'd have been worth something. But now? By the time I'm done, you'll stand where I did, and be the nothing you called me." She whispered maliciously.

"I hope you don't mind, but I'm taking this." She said, holding the sword up. "But don't worry, I got you a replacement." She said casually, and she took out the sword she'd brought with her this time. "It's even enchanted, though perhaps not the way you'd like." She gave a sweet smile to the thrashing form and put the replica into the sheath.

"Don't worry, I'll take good care of the one I'm removing, it'll be a nice trophy. Maybe I'll hang it up on the wall where you can see it every day for the rest of your unnaturally long life." Vanysa whispered and vanished.


	111. Fall of Hoburns

God Rising

Chapter 111

Written by: AtheistBasementDragon

Edited by: The Usual Gang of Drunken Perverted Idiots

 **AN: Hope you enjoy a double release day. :) Tell you what, if bdgiving dot org gets $100 in donations, I'll do an entire WEEK of double release days. I've got some down time coming to me, and I'm happy to donate it to providing you with entertainment.**

 _…Remedios's Encampment…_

"I can't believe they did that?!" Suchala said with disbelief in his voice.

"I can." Yuri said flatly.

"I…" Remedios started to speak, then trailed off.

When Neia and whoever was with her casually killed the people bound to stakes, it had an immediate effect, and not the one desired. The intention had been to terrify the city, but the result of their choice had been to terrify the soldiers of each of the three armies as word spread that they were dealing with a general that would casually execute her own if they were captured, to prevent them from being used as pawns.

Anxiety about just what they were dealing with was going up. Very few came back from their forays to the walls, and those that did were not the same as when they'd gone there in the first place.

"It doesn't matter." Remedios said, in a voice that said she was forcing herself to believe it. "When we attack, we'll attack with overwhelming force."

"If numbers were all that mattered, this would already have been over." Suchala said through gritted teeth.

Remedios waved that away, "Doesn't matter, wait until tomorrow." She said confidently, "Right now, I have someone I want to go and see."

She walked out confidently as stares of contempt drilled into her back, though she noticed not a one of them, a vicious plan formed in her mind. She went to the prisoners delivered by Astraka as a 'special gift' of appreciation. Most stared back at her defiantly, they hadn't been poorly treated, but one man was dejected and sat in pain.

"Hello, Tinamoc." Remedios said to him with a pleasant smile. "Do you know who I am?" She asked.

He nodded in small, rapid, jerking motions.

"Heard about me from Neia, did you?" He nodded again.

"Wishing she were here?" Remedios asked as she taunted him, tapping on the top of the cage that held him.

He didn't nod, but she could feel that he wanted to.

"Well, the good news is, you get to see her again." Remedios said warmly.

His eyes brightened.

"The bad news is, she's going to kill you." Remedios said with equal warmth. He stared at her with accusation and disbelief in his eyes.

"You don't have to believe me, but see, I know she will. We put up a few people on stakes, we were going to burn them in front of the city, but…" Remedios shrugged heavily, "She and one of her little demonic helpers killed them all. Looks like a little bonfire wasn't to their liking." She crouched down and stared at the overweight, middle-aged merchant. "You'll burn nicely, whether you're alive or dead, but the best part is, you let slip that she's your friend, so when you die, it will tear her apart, and that…" Remedios grabbed the cage hard with both hands and shook it with her entire body, "that will feel so, so good to me…"

She let go of the cage and walked out, Tinamoc could only make furious noises of frustration, grab the bars of the cage that held him, and shake it impotently.

 _…Prart…_

Neia didn't go back to her room, instead she walked the streets with her hood down and cloak closed. She didn't want to be recognized, she didn't want to speak to anyone, and she didn't want to feel anything. Rain had started to fall, and it felt like a curse. It was cold, everything was cold now, for snow would be coming soon, but nothing was as cold as her heart in this moment. That was frozen through and through, and deeply cracked. "It's fine, everything is fine. I just did what I had to do, nothing more, nothing less, they'd have been burned alive. If I'd tried to rescue them, it would have just created more in their place even if I'd been successful." She said those words over and over again, but they were like ash on her tongue.

"You're fine, you're fine, you're fine. You're made of stone, you're not tired, just deal with it, what're six more, or twelve more? If it has to be, it has to be, and if I have to, I have to. You're not going to crack, you have to keep it together. Just focus Neia, focus." She snatched and clutched the side of her head with her hands as she talked to herself.

"God… Skana saw… the way she… looked at me… God, what do I do, what if…" She gritted her teeth. "Of course, it was one thing when I was a hero… but who could watch that, who could look with love at a child killer, I wish I'd told her before, then she wouldn't have to regret…" Neia looked down at her hands, they were ordinary enough, a bit more calloused from the use of bow and sword, they were not the delicate feminine hands that poets of love wrote of in their sonnets, and they were soaked in so much blood and pain that she felt she could smell the copper and salt, the fruits of both, stuck to the very tips of her fingers. How would her wife feel about them now? She wondered if Skana would take a bath, as if to wash her touch away. She shook her head vigorously, "It's fine, whatever she does, she's not wrong, I can't blame her for her feelings, I just have to do my job, that's all there is, just focus on the task at hand and let everything else happen as it will." She straightened up and walked without destination, all over the city, for hours.

CZ and Skana walked next to one another, they took their time getting back to the manor. "You are bothered." CZ said flatly.

Skana let her expression speak for her.

"Why?" CZ asked.

"The day she talked about, on the wall." Skana said, and cut herself off.

"Yes?" CZ probed.

"That was the day I fell in love with her, with all that she is, her valiance, her courage, her unbreakable will, her relentless drive to protect even my then worthless empty headed self. And now I learn that she shot children, that she ordered others to do the same? And I just saw her shoot our own people, giving the order to you like she was ordering tea at a cafe. I… It was like looking at another person. Like she didn't care about who she killed or why. I think she did, I saw her reaction afterward, but… I don't know, I didn't know she was capable of being so cold." Skana said in disbelief.

CZ was quiet. "She loves you." She said after a moment.

"I know." Skana said, hanging her head.

"That is not cold." CZ added.

"I know." Skana bit her lip and was quiet for awhile, "But when we go to bed tonight, and I kiss her, I'll be kissing a child killer, when I touch her hand, I… and I'll think about how easily she killed our own people… maybe all those things were necessary, but to be so calculating about it, she seems so… normal. I couldn't be, not after that, so how is she?"

"She is not." CZ said.

Skana looked at her doubtfully.

"She is not." CZ reiterated in almost the same tone, only Skana's familiarity let her detect the subtle emphasis that she placed on the repetition.

"I-" Skana started to say and CZ's stopped in her tracks, turned to Skana, and her hand darted out to Skana's shoulder and grabbed it hard enough that it hurt, she whirled the vice commander to face her.

"She. Is. Not." CZ said, an octave higharder than she usually used. "Look closer."

By then they were nearing the base of the stairs leading up to the manor, and any further conversation was cut off by the sudden descent of a demoness landing in front of them.

The demoness had them at her back, and she folded her wings in gracefully as she approached the guards at the entrance. She spoke in a very sweet, cooperative voice with her hands above her head in a peaceful gesture.

"Hello, I'm Vanysa, a servant of the Sorcerer King. I need to see General Neia Baraja or her vice commander, and Queen Calca, and I need to see them now." She said firmly.

It was almost a relief to have the distraction.

"Well, Skana stands behind you." Skana said, putting on the airs of enthusiasm, "And I can take you to the Queen immediately."

"Thank you CZ, I'll talk to you later." Skana said and walked away from her as Vanysa looked over her shoulder towards the advancing Vice Commander.

"You remember me, I suppose?" Vanysa asked.

"I do." Skana said.

"Good, then we'll get down to business." The beautiful erinyes said as she walked by the stunned guards. To Skana's surprise, she paused and took two steps backwards, then she turned to one of the guards and touched his face with her talons. For a moment the Vice Commander thought violence was going to occur and her hand went instinctively to her sword, but the touch was gentle, even 'tender' and the fury leaned in and spoke just loud enough for himself, and for Skana to hear, keeping her cold gray eyes locked with his. "If you keep cheating on your wife, you'll make your daughter cry, and if you break her heart, I'll have reason to visit you." She licked her lips, and he went pale. Vanysa smirked, and then folding her hands behind the small of her back, she skipped back over to Skana.

"What was that?" Skana asked, mystified.

Vanysa gave a happy demonic smile, "He was easy, he was guilty, but he was very proud of himself. People who are proud of the things they do, are like open wounds on a naked body."

"I see." Skana said in a neutral voice, privately wondering what Vanysa got from her, or got from Neia. She wanted to ask, but she didn't want to know, so she let it pass and walked to the Queen's room. Lakyus was outside.

"Lakyus, I need to see the Queen." Skana said in a smoothly professional voice that neatly concealed her inner thoughts.

The adventurer knocked on the door behind her, "Visitors, Your Majesty." Lakyus said loudly.

"Enter." Queen Calca said in a light, airy voice.

The door clicked open and the demoness entered with the Vice Commander.

"What can I do for you?" Queen Calca asked, gesturing to a pair of chairs at a small table.

If she was bothered by the fact that she was asking that of a demoness, she gave no sign, though Skana was fairly sure her heart was pounding.

Vanysa sat down in a very ladylike fashion, and then the demoness was gone, and in her place sat a beautiful blond girl no older than Skana herself.

Skana sat and remained very quiet until the Queen sat down. Only then did the now 'human-looking' woman speak.

"How'd you like to leave here?" Vanysa asked the Queen.

"I'm sorry, but I do not understand." Queen Calca asked, and Skana looked at Vanysa in surprise.

"I'll rephrase, how'dja like to take Hoburns?" Vanysa asked. "You know, getcher throne back?" She asked with a broad smile that was somehow not less predatory on a beautiful human face than it had been when she'd been a gold-skinned sharp-fanged demoness.

The pair of them stared at her in open-mouthed surprise. "How?!" They asked in unison.

"Ah took care of it." She said with shining gray eyes. She then explained everything she had been up to, down to the finest detail, though she left off the subject of what had driven her to that point.

"I think I never want to make you angry at me." Calca said with a laugh.

"No, you do not." Vanysa said without a trace of humor in a deadpan voice.

"Now, I need a few things." Vanysa said, looking at the Queen.

"First, I need a letter of pardon for every soldier of Astraka's that deserts him for you. That is really the only thing holding his army together, the knowledge that they're already bound to hang, though some have gone already, the rest are there out of fear of being hanged, leaving them no other option but to fight. I want to give them a third option, if they join your side and fight for you, they will keep their lives." Vanysa said, "From the looks of things, another… oh, I don't know exactly how many he has, maybe thirty thousand or so, defending your walls would do a lot of good."

Skana felt her heart pound at the possibility of such a numeric increase. She looked at Vanysa, stunned, and felt a meteoric rise in her estimation of the buxom belle.

"How do you know they'll desert, even with everything you've done?" Calca asked dubiously. "He's kept them together so far after all."

"I'll be 'helping' their decision along, so don't worry about it, Your Majesty. Just promise them amnesty, their last month's pay, this month's pay, and a place in the fighting for your army, and you'll have almost all of them." Vanysa said with a loving smile on her face.

"I see, well it is worth a try. I'll write it right this instant." Queen Calca said, getting up and taking a blank sheet of paper, she quickly wrote the offer and placed her seal on it, then slid it over to Vanysa after blowing on the wax a little in order to cool it off.

"Thank you, Your Majesty." Vanysa said, "Next, I need both you and Skana to come with me. Robel will be at Hoburns very soon, and when he is, the gates will open. Then the city will be yours, and you can sit on your throne again. Would you like that, Your Majesty?" Vanysa said with a happy shine to her storm gray eyes.

"Very much so." Queen Calca said with an edge to her voice. "I only wish I could watch Astraka when he finds out his capital is now my capital. It would be such a wonderful sight to see."

"I'll have a picture drawn for you after everything is over, Your Highness."

"I'd like that." Calca said with a malice that Skana did not think the Queen possessed.

"Do you really need me?" Skana asked hesitantly, "There is a lot going on here and it is a critical time."

Vanysa frowned slightly, "I suppose I can manage without you, but this is the capture of Hoburns, either you or Neia should be present for that to officially restore the Queen to her throne."

Skana sighed and ran her fingers anxiously through her hair. "Fine, but I shouldn't be away for long."

"Good." Vanysa said, and a gate opened a moment later.

Calca got up and walked to the door to her room. After she informed Lakyus of the current events, the adventurer spontaneously rendered a salute with an ecstatic smile on her face.

 _…Road to Hoburns…_

A moment later, the three women were gone and they found themselves standing in front of an army that was steadily closing in, but they didn't move from their path in the road, they just waited. Robel didn't even slow his army down, he trotted ahead of it a pace, and they quickly saw that he was leading several horses behind him in anticipation of their arrival. They mounted the horses quickly and fell in so that they were now four abreast in front of the army.

"Good to see you again, Vanysa." Robel said politely.

"The same." She replied.

"You're right, you do look different." He said.

"Better or worse?" She asked with a teasing sparkle in her eye.

"A beauty of another sort." He said in a charming tone that drew a little laughter and a polite blush from the blond little monster in disguise.

"Quite the charmer you are." Queen Calca said with a laugh, "After I ennoble you, I'm sure you'll find a bride in no time."

His face turned to one of astonishment. "Me?! A nobleman?!"

Calca looked at him with pride. "Absolutely, you defended my people, saved countless lives, defeated an army of the usurper king, and are about to take back my capital and put me on the throne. If you don't earn a nobility for all that, well, what the hell do you earn a nobility for?!" She said passionately.

"I guess… I guess I never thought about it." He said quietly, "I just did what I was supposed to do."

"And that too is nobility." She said affirmatively. "We'll pick out a decent estate for you when the war is over, but for now we'll settle things with our mutual enemies."

"Speaking of," Vanysa interjected, "When we get within reach of the capital, by a few minutes, I should venture there to make sure everything is as it should be. I doubt Baron Stono would make the mistake of holding on to Astraka. I was very persuasive." She smiled brightly enough that she rivaled the sun and the moon, but the way she said it told them all that they really didn't want to know just how she'd 'persuaded' him to switch sides.

They were quiet until the walls loomed in the distance as they crested a hill. "That'll be my cue." She said and jumped off her horse. She started to run ahead, her long hair flying behind her, then she shifted, her wings popped out from behind her back, and she took off into the air.

Vanysa soared over the city with joy in her demonic heart, admiring the vast layout of the capital below. It was beautiful. Cities, she had found, were hotbeds of guilt, the perfect environment for someone like her. Where others sensed nothing, to her it was like the scent of freshly baked cookies or warm bread straight out of the baker's oven, or a perfect view of a vast sea from a high cliff at sunset. It was spectacular. She could see all the guilt below, the hate, the lust, the rage, it glowed like a warm fire to her eyes. How she longed to sweep down and take someone for her own amusement, someone fit for punishment. But not tonight, no, not tonight. She found the palace again with ease, and the room she sought. She likewise found the space where the window was, only now… it was all bricked up.

She pursed her lips as she clung to the window sill that was still there, and then she started to giggle. "Oh Baron Stono, I do hope you're not going to disappoint me." She whispered to the cold air, watching her frozen breath appear and vanish as if it never were. She smiled wickedly and punctured the cement holding the stones together, using five talons at a time, it was easy to separate and remove the blockage brick by brick. She'd pull one and toss it behind her, then do another. The soft material might have been inconvenient and difficult to chisel away, but for the talons of a fury, it was no tougher than pushing knives through paper. Soon she'd opened it up all the way and crept through the window. The baron was sound asleep. She walked to the door and used a sleep scroll on the guard outside, then she placed the same chair next to his sleeping form.

"Wake up, wake up, but don't fuck up!" She said with a winsome and terrible smile as she tapped his cheek lightly. His eyes fluttered open and he saw the demonic face staring down at his from beside him. He was about to cry out when her talons hovered over his face, all pointed down at him. The scream died in his throat. "Hi there! So, now is the time to play your part. I trust we're still… friends?" She cocked her head to one side and looked at him with the sort of curiosity a child might have when looking down on a kind of bug they'd never seen before.

He didn't say anything.

"You may speak, as long as you don't scream." She clarified.

"Yes, I d-did everything. There are f-f-five in p-prison, a-and I h-have been throwing a l-lot of parties lately. L-Lots of people are drunk. Th-The soldiers, they're also expecting you at the gate, I t-told them a beautiful demoness would give them orders to follow." He said with his voice pale with fear.

"Good, then you have nothing to fear, and I thank you for the praise." She said politely and withdrew her talons.

He relaxed bodily as she stood up. As she was walking to the window, she paused, then turned to ask, "Incidentally, is the interrogator, the torturer still here?" She asked. "Piggish or orcish looking human, foul breath, dirty and fat? I have a history with him that requires a reckoning, and I thought maybe I could pick him up tonight."

Stono shook his head. "No, he was called away, there were prisoners that Astraka had that needed questioning."

"I see." Vanysa said with a frown, "Well, I'm going back anyway after this, so I suppose I'll visit him then."

She leapt out the window and spread her wings, flying straight to the gate. She landed inside of it, just a few feet away from the guards.

They immediately adopted a defensive posture as the fire cast flickering light and shadow over the face of Vanysa.

"I'm your contact." Was all she said, and they relaxed.

A moment later, one of the guards ran up and notified his comrades that the time had come. By the time he had returned, Vanysa was already at the enormous wooden bar, a thick and sturdy beam that took a number of full-grown, physically fit men to lift it.

She stood at the center of the great gate, taking deep, slow breaths as she savored the moment when she took Astraka's home away from him, then she put herself beneath the bar, crouching under it, and began to lift. It was a strain for her, but doable; it inched up, and men moved to help her.

"No… this is for me to do." She said with an ache in her heart as she put every muscle in her body to work, and finally she got it up over the bracers that held it in place, and cast it to the ground with a thunderous crash.

"Open the door." She said with a heavy breath. The soldiers rushed to either side of her and began to push the gate open, she stood and watched as her people came nearer, when the gate opened, they wasted no time, Robel ordered a cavalry charge, and with Skana beside the Queen, they rushed to the opening Vanysa's revenge was giving them. She flapped her wings so that they would pass under her, and she laughed to the midnight sky with absolute bliss in her heart. She flew higher as they passed her by, they rushed to all corners of the city. Fighting was almost nonexistent. What little of the city's military that was not in on the ploy was asleep, drunk, or otherwise completely caught off guard, not to mention outnumbered thousands to one and scattered everywhere. The city had almost completely fallen within an hour or two and Black Justice banners, along with those of Queen Calca, were going up everywhere as fast as they could be raised. Soon there wasn't a tower in sight flying a flag not her own, and they had reached the palace. Vanysa watched it all unfold, just the way she'd wanted it to.

The Queen mounted the steps of her home for the first time in what felt like forever, it was not done without trepidation, she remembered her own demise here, the way it had all ended for her, but she kept her response to nothing but a rapid heartbeat, and remained otherwise the picture of what royal dignity truly meant. Skana held her sword ready to defend the Queen, as did Robel, and they walked through the halls of her home, unsurprisingly they met very little resistance. A handful of Astrakan loyalists tried to make a stand at the door to the throne room, however.

"Get out of the way." Skana said without a hint of mercy in her voice.

"For the Queen who failed?" One man said, "Never."

"Then die where you stand." She said, and as the Queen took one step back, Robel and Skana rushed forward, there were only four, and though they were not without skill, Skana the Bold had slain heroes, and Robel was many times a veteran by now. They made short work of her last remaining opponents.

Skana and Robel then moved the corpses aside so that the Queen would not have to step over their remains, and they walked in to 'her' court once again. She walked with slow deliberate steps towards the throne, until she was standing right in front of it, Skana and Robel hung back a few paces.

"I can't believe it." Queen Calca said as she looked at the empty chair.

"Believe it." Skana and Robel said firmly, in sync together.

"It's been so long…" She said, and touched the arm rest.

"It's going to be longer still, we have to finish Astraka, kick out the remains of the Slane Theocracy, defeat Remedios…" Skana said, listing off their tasks.

"But this is a big step forward, enormous even." Robel said confidently.

"It is, but still, so many dead for a chair." She said with a somber voice as she looked down at it.

"Not for the chair, but for who deserves to be in it. Majesty, I admit I had my doubts about you at the outset, but you convinced me you belong there, and Astraka convinced me he didn't. All I can say is this…" Skana said in a gentle, but very serious voice.

"Don't let all that death be for nothing." She and Robel spoke the same thought as one, as all the loss ran through their minds. Calca was clearly thinking something similar.

She turned her back to the chair, and slowly sat down in her throne again. "I won't, and if I do, kill me, because no more bad monarchs should sit here, not ever again."

"Yes, Your Majesty." Skana and Robel said as they took a knee before her and turned their eyes down in deference, the rest of their leading soldiers began to filter in, and took positions around the throne room. Then one by one and two by two, they slowly knelt before the monarch.

"Long live Queen Calca! Long live Queen Calca! Hail the Risen Queen!" The chorus of voices bounced off the walls, and from the window outside, a demoness smiled happily, and pushed off into the darkness, bearing with her, joy in her soul, and Astraka's doom in her hands.


	112. Pressure

Written by: AtheistBasementDragon

Edited by: The Usual Gang of Drunken Perverted Idiots

 _...Prart..._

Neia finally went back to her room after hours of wandering, and as she opened the door, she announced herself, "Skana, I'm back. I..." She instantly froze. Nobody was there, and it was obvious nobody had been. Normally, Skana's clothes would have been put aside and she'd be in bed. Neia walked into the bathroom, the tub was dry as a bone. She checked the wardrobe, nothing had been put back, wherever Skana had gone, it hadn't been here.

"No..." She said to the empty room, to the world, to the Universe, to herself. "No..."

Skana was gone. Wherever it had been that she went in the city, she hadn't come home to 'their' space.

Neia tried to pretend it was normal, she took off her clothing and drew a bath. She sat there at the edge, letting her feet dangle in it as the boiling water rose, she liked it hot, even if it hurt at first. She bit her lip, hating the emptiness, hating the silence, hating what she'd done, hating what she'd said.

The water fell loudly into the tub on full blast and she was grateful for the noise, anything was better than the silence. When it was full, she slipped in and began to wash herself, her face blank to the point where even CZ might have told her to show some emotion.

It held for awhile until she was well and truly clean. She didn't want to get out though. She curled up into a ball and sat there, her head barely above the water, and let herself slowly roll forward into it, until her forehead rested on the bottom of the tub. Which was why she did not hear the knock on the door at the entrance to her room. Nor did she see Lakyus enter to see if she were present, nor was she seen or heard in turn. It was only after Lakyus had left and her forehead touched the stone bottom of the tub that she screamed, she let her arms fall away from her and then she pounded on the smooth stone surface, bubbles flew from her mouth to burst on the surface as she screamed beneath the waters until she was forced to come up for air.

"Moron." She said, her face returning to the neutral mask. "Of course she's not here, you told her you shot children and you shot your own comrades in front of her. Why the hell would you expect to find her here to hold you or to make love to you after learning and seeing that? Stupid."

She got out of the bath, standing up quickly and letting the water that clung to her body gently fall away from her back into the tub, then she stepped out and began to dry herself off with a nearby towel. She didn't bother to change into anything, she didn't care. If she was called back to the wall, it would take only a minute to dress, and then she could go kill more of their comrades. Nobody else had to bear that burden, it was her duty, hers and hers alone.

She saw her reflection in a window, shook her head, and climbed alone under the covers, caressing with one hand the place where Skana had slept the night before, and that was how she fell asleep. The rain came down hard outside while she slept, and also within her dreams, her mind carried her back to the day the priest turned assassin died, he just hung there by the rope, and she dreamt the same moment again and again, before she turned away from his corpse and walked home, she envied him. It was not a restful sleep.

 _...Cabin in the Woods..._

Vanysa used a duplication scroll and handed stacks of the Queen's pardon and promise to the doppels before returning to the camp. In the predawn hours when everything was still dark, she took to the air over them all and dropped the documents everywhere. As soldiers stirred and found the copies of the Queen's offer... a number of them walked out immediately before their absence would be missed, including the guards who would actually miss them.

But that was not enough. Vanysa laughed from the position she'd taken up outside the camp after her latest little foray, she'd left him invisible this time, only for a few hours, but that would be enough to ensure he survived at least.

She counted off the seconds as the doppel's did their part. She smiled patiently, letting the moments of the events she had orchestrated pass slowly. A doppel had taken on the form of a child, a little blond girl. One who looked very much like Vanysa herself had been when she was very young. The doppel's form had every indication of being deceased, and having not died peacefully, but what was most important was 'where' the doppel had concealed itself.

The private latrine pit of Astraka himself. She rather pitied the doppel on dits unfortunate role in this, but it had obeyed without complaint. The other doppels had done their part as well, and had lured a charismatic captain away from his post. They had disguised themselves as ladies of the evening that lived outside the city, and were hoping for some easy money, as they sought seclusion, one of the doppel-whores 'tripped' and fell, she looked down at what she at tripped over, and froze.

She looked down in 'horror' at the little hand that poked out of the earth, as if its owner had died trying to claw their way out. The captain, a decent man, immediately recognized what it was and dug with his bare hands into the earth and pulled out the 'body'. He yelled for help, the doppel-whores cried out in fear, being close to the command tent of the would be king of men, a number of guards rushed over, Astraka did not stir, passed out drunk as he was.

Disgust ran thick. They might have killed him, but the guards at his tent, no less disgusted than the rest, found he was 'not present'.

The doppel 'whores' heaped their disgust on the army, using their simulcrae of beauty to best effect, their honeyed words overflowing with contempt for those who followed a man who took pleasure in ending children, remarking that "You must be getting paid a fortune for this, if you would put that on the throne of the kingdom."

Thus reminding them, that they in truth had not been paid at all. "So you must be very afraid of being killed by the Queen." Which prompted word of the amnesty to spread like wildfire to the few that didn't already know it.

One by one the doppel-whores made mention of the things that 'surely must be true' about the would be King of Men, each of which only served to remind them that no... the king was a drunkard, he was a violent killer who slaughtered his own friends and his own women, he was a child killer and a sadist, he was a glutton, he was lazy, he was a coward, he was jealous and envious, he was lustful for the weakest and most defenseless. He was greedy, he was slothful and unreasonably proud, lording himself over those beneath him with little respect to their contributions. In the end the doppel whores asked when denials met their claims, "Well, why are you all still here then?!" They leaned forward angrily and stamped their feet, and very few soldiers had an answer.

As a result of this, it didn't take long before Astraka's army began to melt away. Vanysa laughed and laughed and watched as the stream of soldiers headed towards the city where the members of Blue Rose opened a gate and let them in, having had the Queen's own notice to go by, they knew which gate to open and what to expect.

There were a handful of soldiers who remained loyal to Astraka, people who were too heavily vested or too guilty of too many things for them to change sides, but they were simply not enough to stem the tide, and had they tried, it would have become a riot they could not contain.

She was still laughing back at the city when she gathered the cavalry together under the leadership of Blue Rose. The tension was palpable, this was to be a small operation, small but brutal, a pinprick really, compared to the masses beyond, but it would hurt who Vanysa hated most in all the world.

When Astraka woke up in the morning and staggered out of his tent in abject confusion to find that his camp is all but entirely empty and almost all his army gone, he panicked, fearing a battle had happened, but as he looked around, he could find no sign of it. The few soldiers he saw, looked utterly dejected and 'empty' of spirit and will. They moved like they were already dead.

"What the hell happened?!" He asked in horror and shock. His remaining soldiers wouldn't meet his gaze. They bore the look of men who were just 'lost' and had no idea what to do. "Tell me?!" He demanded, approaching one of the soldiers and grabbing him by the shoulder.

"They deserted." The soldier said as he went to one knee. "Your Majesty, they have all gone." He picked up one of the scattered pieces of paper that were still blowing around the remains of the camp, and offered it up to King Astraka.

The King snatched it up and read over it. He shouted in rage and tore it to pieces and scattered the document to the winds. As the sun began topeek over the horizon, his 'allies' would surely see that his camp was all but abandoned, and even if they didn't, he had to let them know, he had no chance of helping take the city as things were.

When the soldier explained about the dead child they'd found with his latrine pit, his shouts redoubled and he sputtered denial after denial after denial.

The soldiers who could hear him came to kneel and show that they, at least, still remained. Some believed him, some obviously did not, others he sensed did not care one way or another, others clearly thought he was guilty, but were either greedy for some yet to be named reward or thought he was 'like them' and so were glad of his guilt.

His army had been reduced to just barely over two hundred strong, it was a disgrace.

"Send a runner to Remedios and Suchala, let them know that some trickery has stolen my army." He said angrily, "But we are not leaving yet, we'll take our supplies and move to join the encampment of our allies, we will take this city and..."

"Sire." A soldier stood up and pointed with alarm, a small force of cavalry had come out through the gate.

"No..." Astraka shouted. "NO!" His allies wouldn't know that his army was gone, they'd think he could handle such a small force, they'd leave him to deal with it, but he couldn't, and he knew it.

He gripped his sword tightly.

Vanysa left her position and approached the cavalry that was forming up at the gate, she wore her human shape for this, a horse had been readied for her.

She put on a blank, snow white mask and 'turned' her hair so that it was black as her erinyes shape. She looked at the cavalry around her. "Remember!" She shouted, "You can kill all the soldiers, but do not touch their king, he belongs to me! I want him to run! I hear he's good at it anyway!" She said, drawing a laugh from those who knew of his disastrous defeats and retreats.

Vanysa was no swordswoman, she wasn't a fencer, but... human shaped or not, she had her erinyes strength and her erinyes toughness, and she doubted very much that there was a sword over there that could scratch her.

The doppels, of course, could be counted upon, one of them rushed over to the king with a horse. "Sire, you must flee! We will buy you time! Go to Hoburns, avenge our defeat on the bodies of all traitors!" He said vigorously, making a much exaggerated gesture out of his salute.

Astraka's face was grim. "You survive this, soldiers, and I will make lords of all of you."

He got on the horse, and began to ride away, the doppels and the remaining soldiers formed up to receive the charge as Astraka rode through the biting cold, abandoning his camp and his remaining forces.

The thunder of hooves was a beautiful sound to Vanysa as she rode forward shrieking with the call of judgement, men quailed in their guilt as her little force of a few hundred cavalry, supported by a team of five adamantite adventurers in the form of Blue Rose, smashed into the pathetic resistance, they swarmed around the little host, she knew that a few hundred yards away, runners were alerting Remedios and Suchala that something terribly wrong was going on in the camp of King Astraka, they would be waking up, donning armor, rushing out to look, but by the time they worked it out, it would all be over.

Metal clashed with metal and Vanysa tore through flesh with glee, a poor fool ran with a hammer, only for her to snatch it away in midswing, spin, and bring it to the side of his head. The little force was surrounded entirely and though they made an impressive effort, that effort was worthy of only a few minutes of life before the sound of clashing between metals stopped.

Scouts were rushing from Remedios' camp, it would be only minutes before they understood the camp was wiped out.

Vanysa whirled to the force that had been put to use for her, "Burn everything, there is no time to take anything, then rush to the city as fast as you can, leave nothing but ashes!" She said in a rushed voice.

They understood, but as they acted on her instruction, Lakyus turned to her, "What will you do?!" She asked hurriedly.

"I have an... intimate acquaintance to visit, and I'll just bet he's still here." She said grimly. Lakyus didn't ask, she joined the others in burning or destroying all they could, and as fire jumped up all over the ruined encampment, both armies recognized entirely that something terrible had happened to their ally.

Most of the camp was aflame by the time they got away, but Vanysa had one place she knew she had to see. She'd never asked about prisoners before, it hadn't been a part of her mission, so it hadn't occurred to her, but knowing that the torturer was here changed things. She ripped down tent after tent, she wasn't worried about the scouts, they would withdraw soon, they wouldn't search to closely, not with all the fire rising. They would report back, and a larger force would come soon after, that gave her time.

Tent after tent fell down with nothing to show for it. "Come out, come out, wherever you are." She said in a sing song voice, she 'turned' her hand so that her talons were free and she sliced rope after rope, it must have been thirty tents before one came down on a human shape, it wasn't the tent she expected, it was obviously a supply tent. Then it dawned on her, he'd planned on running alone and was packing up when chaos happened. She smiled as her feet crunched on the clumps of cold hardened dirt. She started slicing away at the fabric. The figure underneath was struggling, it was a large shape and it immediately made her think 'pig'. Even the fingers she couldn't see, were obviously thick, given the way the fabric formed around him as he struggled to disengage himself from the fallen little structure. She started to laugh and sliced faster and faster, cutting away at the cloth from the outside while he struggled within, little streaks of blood stained the fabric as she went through the tent and hit fingers or hand, he tried to pull back, she could tell that he'd fallen, she was blissful as she tore more and more away. Before pulling she made herself visible, she returned herself to human state entirely.

When that was done, he looked up at the masked woman in shock and confusion. "We meet again." She said, her voice muffled through the mask.

"Who're you?" He asked as he struggled to stand, she kicked him in the chest, knocking him on his ass. He tried to get up again, she kicked him again, refusing to allow him to his feet.

"You don't know me?" She cocked her head to one side, as he landed on his back a third time when she kicked him once more as he tried and failed to rise. He snarled.

"Nuh uh!" he rolled over on his belly and tried to get up from all fours.

She kicked him in the ass, knocking him flat. "Yes, yes you do." She said. "Perhaps this will jog your memory, stupid." He snarled at the word 'stupid', and tried to rise, only for her to cross to his flank and kick him in the kidney, he fell on his other side and clutched the injury with a squeal of pain.

"Speak... no pain, no speak... much pain." She said. He shook his head, she rolled her eyes behind the mask.

Her hair returned to a blond shade, and she pulled off her mask. "How about now, do you remember me now?" She smiled down at him.

His eyes showed a faint hint of recognition. "Purty, so purty... softee..." He drooled, his eyes glazed over, she laughed, and kicked him in the face, right in the nose.

"I broke your goddamn nose, you bitch." She said with a laugh, the words tickled his memory further, and confusion hit him.

"But... you dead?" He asked dumbly.

"Yes." She said gravely, with hate in her voice.

"I got better." She added, and her wings popped out of her back and she turned into a demoness again. A lot better." She said, laughter pouring out her mouth as fear came across his face, she jumped on him and started cutting, biting, tearing at the flesh of the torturer Astraka had sicced on her. However frenzied it looked, it wasn't. Far from it, she was precise. She severed his tendons and tore at his kneecaps. Every place she stabbed was done in such a way that would still allow a person to survive for hours or even days, until at last he was left as a sobbing, trembling, screaming mass of stupidity and pain.

She grinned down at him, "Speak... or no speak... there will be much pain." She said happily, and when the gate opened, she dragged him through by the hair, and cast him down at Neuronist Painkill's feet.

"Hiya Neuronist, sorry I have nae been by to play with you, but I gotcha a present. This'n is a rank amateur when it comes to hurtin people, but he really likes hurtin girls, how aboutcha teach him a few things? Vanysa asked.

Neuronist looked over at the agonized body of the torturer.

"Oh, how delightful! Tell me, do you know if he's ever had kidney stones?" She said as she rubbed her hands together.

Vanysa shook her head, "I didn't ask, I leave'm all to you, I've got one more to go get, but there's no rush with him, I know where he's going, and the doppels will be tracking him anyway. Still, I have to head south, there is just a little bit more to do, and then... I will feel so, so much better." She said with a smile, "When I come back, we can play with this one together."

Neuronist gave her that terrifying grin that Vanysa found so charming. "Till then, my dear." She said, and began to chain the torturer to the wall.

Vanysa waved farewell and sent another gate request, it opened swiftly, and then she was gone.

 _...Prart..._

Neia woke up early in the morning, it had been an unhappy rest. Her arm, which normally was lovingly draped over her lover turned wife, was now resting on an empty side of the bed. Her eyes fluttered open as she looked at the empty space. She looked at it for a long time, as if willing Skana to exist there again, as if trying to deny what her eyes were telling her.

"She really... she really didn't come back to me, where'd she go? Where did she stay?" Neia whispered to the empty space, the room felt so large now. "Could you really not even bear to look at me after that?" She said to the empty space, a little louder than she meant, because a knock at the door answered her.

"Come in." She said, hopefully. She kept her face neutral when CZ opened it, walked in, and closed it behind her.

"Sleep?" CZ asked.

"Badly." Neia answered.

"Why?" CZ asked.

"Skana is gone." Neia said in a hollow voice.

CZ started to speak when the horn went off.

"Shit!" Neia shouted and threw her armor on, "CZ, take Skana's position for now, go! I'll be right behind you!"

CZ hesitated only a moment, and that begged a question of Neia which she didn't have time to ask, CZ never hesitated. Nonetheless, she went, as she rushed out the door she saw a blood covered Lakyus down the hall.

"Lakyus what happened?!" Neia shouted as she ran, the adamantite adventurer didn't wait until she caught up, but immediately filled Neia in on the mass desertion of Astraka's army during the dark hours, the sudden charge organized by the demoness that finished off the remainder, and Astraka's 'sort of' escape.

Neia was pleased by this turn of events, and it showed in a formidable expression. Her face, though it seemed blank and neutral at first, was clearly a mask of stone, and the driving rage in her eyes held a deep well that even Lakyus considered dangerous to dive to the bottom of.

"I should have been informed of the operation immediately before it happened. But... It was a calculated risk and it paid off, and we've now got thousands more soldiers with us, so I'll let it go. But in the future, these things should be run through me." Neia said in a voice as cold as ice.

"You're right, I'm sorry." Lakyus said sincerely.

As they moved out into the city, Neia grabbed Lakyus's shoulder and halted her, she then held out her hand, "You've been a good friend out here, and I won't forget it, I mean that, I've lost... a lot of things, but I won't forget what I still have." She tried to turn her mind away from the missing Skana, she desperately wanted to ask Lakyus if she knew where she was, but such a concern had to be shoved aside, to think of one's wife when battle was near was not what she should be doing, and she knew it.

Also, she was afraid of what the answer might be. 'It's fine, it'll be fine, Skana will come to do her job at least, somewhere, somehow,' she thought, 'Even if she can't...' She cut off the thought as she remembered the pale expression on her wife's face when Neia calmly explained the deaths of children and with equal calmness ordered and tended to the deaths of the hostages.

Lakyus clasped the hand firmly, Neia seemed... so much more than what she had been when they first met a lifetime ago, when as a skilled scout, she sought the aid of Blue Rose and been turned down flat. In some ways, the head of the adventurer team counted that as a black mark on their record that would never wash away, from a practical standpoint she still considered it the right decision, but as the stories spread of the Sorcerer King and the mad-eyed archer, the right decision became a shameful blemish, one that left her eager to reconnect and perhaps make up for the first refusal. Now, here they were, outnumbered against the largest combined army the world had ever seen, and neither felt the least bit like they could lose.

"The same to you." Lakyus said, "I'm glad to stand with you, so is the rest of my team."

"We can speak for ourselves." Gagaran said as they emerged out of the manor behind the pair. "But... she's right." The large woman said with her unflappable large grin.

"Wait, who is guarding Queen Calca?" Neia asked with concern.

"I would imagine whoever is in charge over at Hoburns, what's his name... Robel. And also probably Skana." Lakyus said, "That was the other part I was trying to tell you, the capital has fallen, that demoness woman wrought merry havoc all over the place, I don't have the time to fill you in on everything." She said as they rushed quickly through the streets to the wall. "However, the bottom line is that the Queen is sitting on her throne, Astraka's last armies are destroyed, and that force outside, along with whatever the South has got chasing Gustav around, is all that is left."

Lakyus gave a professional smile, turning the corners of her lips up in a knowing expression.

"Wait, Skana is in Hoburns?!" Neia asked in shock.

"She went last night, with the Queen." Lakyus said casually, "I tried to let you know, but you weren't in your room, I let CZ know to tell you when she saw you, but..." She trailed off and shrugged.

Neia slapped herself in the face, "I should always let CZ finish speaking." While the gesture was one that showed her annoyance with her own haste and self absorption, it had another purpose; to hide the tears of relief welling within. She didn't know just 'what' Skana felt right now, but at least she had her ignorance, and not the certitude of revulsion.

She went up to the wall and took position, there were siege towers rolling into place, taking over what had been Astraka's position. She'd walked the entire wall of the city and looked carefully at those who surrounded them. Whatever Suchala was, an idiot wasn't among them. Each gate was cut off by a central camp just beyond the reach of siege weapons and bows, and wings sprung out from each camp that would allow them to attack and flank anyone who exited through the gate. Further back lay cavalry commands that were little more than companies meant to run down anyone who tried to sneak out over the walls. The destruction of Astraka's position by way of mass desertion... and a demonically initiated cavalry charge at the remnants, meant that either Remedios or Suchala had to reoccupy the position in force, that would take time. Neia gave a contented, smug smile. Time, after all, was on her side, not theirs.

 **AN: Well y'all did it, I'll be doing double release days for awhile, I'll get started on them on the 15th, but here's the latest chapter for now. Great job y'all, part of the donated funds went towards building a school in Uganda, I still have to figure out how to distribute the rest, but I'll figure that out by this weekend. In the meantime, reviews feed me, do not leave me to starve. :)**


	113. Loyalty & Loss

God Rising

Chapter 113

Written by: AtheistBasementDragon

Edited by: The Usual Gang of Drunken Perverted Idiots

 **AN: Thank you everybody for your feedback asking about the estimated levels of Neia & Skana, just one more quick question, do you think I've done a decent job showing their relative 'growth' from their beginnings in this story? I 'think' I did, but I may be biased, and I ask because in future stories I want to have a kind of reference to draw from to know what I did well vs poorly. **

**Also, double releases will begin tomorrow, I plan on writing 4 chapters on Friday, Saturday, & Sunday, for a total of 12 chapters but I ALSO have to allow time for the beta readers to do everything. Most of the chapters will be 'God Rising' but I'd also like to start releasing a new side story as well, that is Momon centered. I've got to say I'm really proud of this fandom, Overlord fans are the fucking best. A more open, welcoming, constructive, and positive fan community I have never seen, you should all be damn proud of yourselves just for being who the fuck you are. **

**Lastly, in case you're wondering, Vanysa's vendetta will end tomorrow, I know some of you have really enjoyed finally seeing her retribution manifest itself in steady dismantling the life of her former tormentor, but all good things must come to an end, the siege of Prart will reach its climax in a day or two (I just have to rewrite some of Chapter 115 before releasing it) and then it will be back to the wider war at large. Then that will close Act 2 of the overall story. I will try to release 2 chapters every day, but again, editors gotta edit, and some chapters will be longer than others, but fear not, I will drive forward like a bat out of hell and keep my promise to you all. Now...on with the show...**

 _...Prart…_

"How long will it take?" Lakyus asked, looking at Neia after they'd mounted the walls to watch the repositioning to what had been Astraka's position.

"Several hours I expect, they have to steer well clear of us, and siege towers are not known for their speed.

"How do we stop them when the time comes?" Lakyus asked.

"We don't, not all of them." Neia said thoughtfully.

"You intend to allow a general attack on the whole city?" Lakyus asked with surprise.

"No, absolutely not, just on three sides. I want some of them to be able to get here so we can kill them off, I want them to feed us their army in pieces. We try to swallow the whole thing, we choke, we take them in bite-sized elements, we can eventually swallow the whole thing." Neia said as they walked towards the top of the wall.

"Makes sense, but I'm an adventurer, not a general." Lakyus shrugged.

"It's like a dungeon. Do you want to face fifty enemies in a large open space, or fight them four abreast?" Neia asked.

"OK, yes that makes sense, they have fewer options and can't use their numerical advantage." Lakyus said as she thought about past engagements as an adventurer.

"Precisely." Neia said, watching as some soldiers at a corner position performed maintenance on a small catapult.

"So what do we do till they come for us?" Lakyus asked.

"Not much, just walk the walls and visit the soldiers, they're all ready to fight, militia from Kedyn, orcs from the Understone Empire, or perhaps better said 'the Abelion Hills', elves rescued from Wenmark, humans from the mines, my own elites from our time at Hoburns, you, from Re-Estize... and many, many more. Everyone is coming together for this, we'll see many fall, but His Majesty's will is going to be made manifest within these walls." Neia said with a fanatical resolve.

"That's right." Skana said as she stepped out of a gate, a few feet behind Neia. "Everything will be as it should be."

Neia's entire body turned tense as a coiled spring before Lakyus's very eyes. The warrior pope turned around to look at her wife. Lakyus bit her lip, she could feel Neia's awkwardness.

"Skana, I…" Neia brought her hands up to her chest, right over her heart, and wrang them together, "It's… I thought… when you weren't there… how do you… are you… are we… please…" Neia was struggling to find what to say, in a rare moment looking as small as she truly was, and riddled with insecurity over the unfortunate things Skana had to learn at the worst possible time.

Though from Lakyus's eyes, if she were being fair, Skana didn't make it easier, when the woman saw how flustered and anxiety riddled the ever confident Neia was, she had trouble meeting her eyes. "Look, I'm… I didn't know how to, or… or what to say. It was all a bit much you know, I know you're not like… a monster or anything, I didn't mean for it to come out that way…"

Lakyus finally could take no more, she 'accidentally' tripped with a very obviously false 'oops' and her hand pushed hard into the center of Neia's back, and the warrior pope fell forward into Skana's arms, her wife instinctively caught her, she wrapped her arms around Neia's body and held as tightly as she could. She stroked the back of Neia's head, as the warrior pope pressed herself hard into Skana's chest.

"I didn't want to, I swear it... I swear I didn't want to do it." Neia whispered. "Not ever, not ever, not ever, no…"

"Hush…" Skana said, interrupting the loop and being reminded in that moment quite starkly that Neia was indeed younger than herself, and had been forced into unspeakable conditions. "I know, I know, it's OK, you did what you could to save who you could, if you hadn't, I'd have died then, and our followers, your followers, would have suffered horribly. Just remember, I'm always at your side, even if service carries me elsewhere, I promised you before, didn't I? That you'd never be alone again. So you're stuck with me." She said, and flicked Neia's nose, smiling down at her as she did so.

"Do you two need some time alone?" Lakyus asked with a smirk. "Neia did say we had a few hours, between CZ and myself we can keep an eye on things here."

They shared weak smiles between the two of them, that quickly turned salacious. "Thanks, Lakyus." Skana said, "I owe you one."

"Tell you what, you cover dinner once when the Synod commences, and we'll call it even, there is a fantastic restaurant there I want to try, it's called 'The Platinum Plate'. What do you say? It'll be fun." Lakyus said with a wink.

"You got it." Skana said, before practically dragging Neia back to their room.

 _...Southern Holy Kingdom…_

As Vanysa waited in the library of the manor she'd just broken into, she sipped a glass of wine and looked around. The books were beautiful to look at, the rug was ornate, a spiral of blues and greens, the windows were spotless, and the chairs were well appointed. It reminded her of the homes of the nobles she'd cut to ribbons with a knife, in service to Queen Draudillon's purge.

It wouldn't be long now. As she waited she reflected on all that she had endured, her parents were dead, her would be husband was dead, she had neither aunts nor uncles, and no surviving siblings. She was the last of her line, if she died, nobody would remember who they were. As she looked around, she saw the legacy here, the insignias, the crests, it spoke of centuries of heritage and history.

She resented it just a bit, but she resented it more because it was the family of Astraka. Part of her wanted to kill them all and deliver their heads to him, so that he would be the last of his line. She 'turned' her human hand into talons and contemplated how easy it would be.

"I am not the weakling that I was." She said to the empty room, "Neither in mind nor in body, even if I have my barking mad moments."

She looked out the window at the rising sun. All the information she had indicated that the head of the family and his wife were avid readers, it was a redeeming quality in her eyes, and they would often come to the library to drink tea and read first thing in the morning before any other business was done. She made a mental note to take up that habit herself when her life allowed for it, if it ever did.

She snickered a little bit about the notion of free time. "What is the reward of good work?" She asked the empty room.

"More work." She chuckled at the punch line and watched the sun further.

Her hand became that of a human again. She wore a very expensive set of travel clothing under some light armor provided by the Sorcerer King in case she had to fight, it was far and away the best stuff she'd worn in her life, runic enchantments enhancing the toughness of the otherwise very light, wyvern skin armor. Her tunic was made of silk, and mottled in the design of forest shades, and included a hood as part of the shirt. She had no cloak as she needed little to no protection from the elements anymore and had no intention of hiding her identity now.

Just as the sun had come a quarter way up on the horizon, the door handle turned and clicked, then in walked the lord and lady of the manor. They were an older couple with graying hair and wrinkled skin, though the skin itself was light, indicating that they were not exactly the outdoor types. At the moment, they were dressed in nothing but night clothes with robes over them as the servants would be drawing baths and preparing meals for them, including their regularly scheduled tea. When they saw Vanysa sitting in the chair against a bookshelf looking for all the world as if she had every right to be there, they froze.

Vanysa took a sip of wine and gestured for them to enter. "Come in." She said politely, as if she were inviting them into her room instead of inviting them in to their own.

"Don't call for anyone, they'll die if you do." She said, fixing them with her storm grey eyes. "Come in, sit down, and have a listen to what I have to say, and have a look at what I have to show you." Vanysa's voice was cold and threatening, but it was at odds with her smiling, friendly face. The difference between tone and appearance was… unsettling. The older couple didn't move.

"You can sit by choice, or I can make you. Close the door, and sit down, I have ample desire to hurt you, but if I can avoid it, I am not going to." She said, further unsettling them with the sweet voice that expressed the desire to rob them of life, and the willingness to not do so.

The head of the family acted, he gestured to a chair for his wife, then slowly closed the library door.

"Lock it." She said.

The lock was clicked into place, he then slowly seated himself.

"I suppose I should be polite enough to introduce myself." Vanysa said. "My name is Vanysa, and your son ruined my life when I barely had enough of a life left to ruin." She said bluntly. The couple looked at one another.

"He wanted something from me as he pursued the throne, that I wasn't willing to give. To try to force me, he beat me, tortured me, humiliated and degraded me, I won't go through everything he did, but the important thing is that as much as he ruined my life, he failed to get what he wanted. I killed myself." Vanysa said with ice in her voice.

Their eyes said they didn't believe her.

"Oh, it is quite true, but see, I got better. My master recovered my body, he… changed me." She said with a sadistic smile. "When your son got me, I was weak, powerless, I was nothing, as he put it, doomed to die in a gutter. As nobles, I assume you instilled that kind of thinking into him." Astraka's father was about to speak, Vanysa held up a finger, "No, wait, I don't need an explanation for that, whether you taught him that or not makes no real difference." She said patiently.

Disbelief was still in their eyes, but there was a shadow of fear that she loved. There wasn't a terrible amount of guilt coming off the couple, it almost disappointed her.

"I suppose a demonstration of the… change, would be helpful?" She asked.

Their expressions, wide eyed and doubtful, said that it would.

"Fine, but if you scream I will silence you." She said, "Understood?"

They nodded and closed their lips tightly.

Her wings popped out of her back, all the clothing and armor his majesty provided her included two 'wing slits' for them to pop out and allow her to turn.

She stood, her wings emerged, her skin was gold, her horns were hard, her talons sharp, her fangs bared, and her eyes flashed like lightning in storm clouds, she held her arms open to let them behold her new glory. "As I said, I got better." She voiced in a bland sort of tone. Mute shock was on their faces, and her wings withdrew, and she reseated herself.

"Now that all that is out of the way, I have some news for you." She said. They listened.

"Hoburns has fallen to Queen Calca, she sits on the throne again, the siege of Prart will be ending soon, and then you'll have thousands upon thousands of soldiers marching south who are very, very angry with the lot of you. In sum, your entire family is under a death sentence."

They paled. "You don't have a chance in hell anymore. If I wanted to, I could start to cut throats and wipe out Astraka's entire line in a matter of a day or two, and I'd probably get a substantial reward for it. However, I'm going to present a chance for you to save your house."

"How?" Astraka's father asked numbly.

Vanysa reached into her satchel and removed a document, she handed it over to him. He read it, then handed it to his wife.

"So we join her side, and our line endures?" He asked.

Vanysa nodded sharply. "Precisely, however there is one additional condition that applies only to your family and all its branches, as the most senior member, you and you alone can carry it out."

"Yes?" He asked, having a distinct notion of what it was.

"Disown Astraka, from every tie to his household. He is a traitor anyway, if your house had real integrity it would have been the first thing you did, but you chose to at least tacitly support him when it seemed advantageous. The Queen will never trust you, but she'll let your family continue to exist with its noble title intact. No noose, no headsman's ax, no…" she paused and 'turned' her hand into talons, "time alone with me."

"You want me to abandon my son?" He asked in a hushed voice.

"It is that or everybody dies, refuse, and I'll tear out your throats where you sit, then I'll take your heads, and I'll visit every single manor of your branch families and take their heads too, then I'll dump all those heads at your son's feet, and his life will end anyway. There is no saving it, he cast the die and it came up with Skana's eye." She said calmly, using a turn of phrase she'd heard for rolling a 'one' from soldiers who enjoyed gambling with games of dice.

"Is there no other option?" Astraka's father asked sadly, "He's still our son." His wife clasped his hand.

Vanysa's eyes held no mercy. "After what he did to me, no, nothing. He sealed his own fate, he made his own choices, and now it will be seen through to the end."

"Please… something… anything…" Astraka's mother whimpered.

Vanysa stared at her long and hard.

"That was what I sounded like, when I was begging him to just kill me, when I was crying for my master to save me, when I just wanted the pain to stop and was asking for anything, and I got nothing but more pain." Hate poured out of her lips like burning acid, and his mother looked down.

"He's my son." She whispered.

"He was my torturer, now he is my prey. Either you sign the document disowning him and save your nieces, nephews, and cousins, and switch sides over to Queen Calca, or I start killing." Vanysa said. She removed a document and slapped it down on the end table next to Astraka's father.

"Please, don't do this." He said.

"I asked the same of your son." Vanysa said. "I asked the same of the jailer he left me with." They sought mercy with a desperate gaze into the demoness's hate filled eyes.

"You have three seconds to sign it, or your entire family will be exterminated as traitors to the crown." She said, her wings came out her back again, and the demoness stood before them with talons clicking.

"Please… anything, some small bone, our son, whatever he did, I'm sorry, but if he ever showed you any hint of decency, any kind of mercy, please, offer some small token to us, even if he has to die, let us have something so that we don't go into the ground with nothing but ash in place of our hearts... please, in the name of your mother and father, in the name of your master's mercy and kindness to you… anything…" They stumbled over their words quickly as she walked over to them with talons reaching out to end their lives as they failed to obey, but then she paused just before the deed was done.

"Alright, it is true, whatever he did to me… there was one thing he did not do. He did not rape me, and he promised not to actively permit anyone else to either, and… he did let me make a few sandwiches… too, I remember my mother's fear for me, and my master's kindness in what he did for me, very well, I will promise three things to you." Vanysa said calmly.

"The first is that his suffering will not last forever, though I have the means to ensure it does, his life will end, and his suffering with it. Two, I will have him buried next to you when the time comes. Three, the pain he chose not to inflict on me, I will not inflict on him. There was precious little he didn't do to ruin me, but that little he held back from, I will hold back as well. Do not ask me for more, this is your final opportunity." Vanysa's voice carried iron in it, there was no question that they could get naught else from her.

"Alright… alright, just spare the rest, I warned him about this, but…" He shook his head, took up the quill, and signed it, then he took a copy of the family tree from off the wall, and blotted out Astraka's name. He then signed the first document and handed it to his wife, who wept as she signed it in turn.

"You can save your children from many things in this world," Vanysa said, "but one thing that you usually can't protect them against is the consequences of their actions, and these are his. You can go ahead and start mourning him now." She said as she watched the family seal get affixed to the document that disowned Astraka.

"You can start to mourn him now, he is already dead." Vanysa repeated as she picked up the documents and put them in her satchel, "I'll see myself out. But know this, if you ever consider some form of uprising or revenge against anyone over this, if I even suspect you have, I will ensure your house is wiped from history, that it is torn up root and branch, that your homes are turned to ashes and any record that any of you ever existed at all, is purged from history so that not even the memory survives. Do not doubt that I have the power to do it, ironically enough, in a twisted way, it is because of your son that I do." Vanysa said, and unleashed a wave of killing intent on the pair that ensured her words were driven home, before cutting it off entirely.

"What… are you?" Astraka's father asked in mute horror.

As she turned herself back into the beautiful golden haired girl, she looked back over her shoulder at him and answered. "I am the fruit of evil, born from the misdeeds of your son, and others like him. Whether he likes it or not, whether you like it or not, the world you know is changing. Tell the rest of your family, that nobles that act like rabid wolves, will be purged." She held up a forearm and 'turned' it, baring talons, and smiled back at them, baring fangs, but most disturbing of all were the gray eyes that were wide with madness. "Or don't," She said, "Ah'll be happy ta see em!" She laughed insanely, then restored herself to the semblance of normalcy, and walked the rest of the way out of the room, shutting the door behind her and, leaving them alone to mourn in peace.


	114. Ruination & Revenge

God Rising

Chapter 114

Written by: AtheistBasementDragon

Edited by: The Usual Gang of Drunken Perverted Idiots

 _...Prart..._

Whether one called the time alone between the pope and her wife a 'reunion' or a 'make up session', no one would have called it quiet and no one would have called it tender. They fell to one another as the hungry wolf fell upon its prey, though were one to observe them, the observer would have been hard pressed to determine the true aggressor.

When at last mutual satisfaction left them to fall into the bed arms and legs entangled, they could only look at one another and twine fingers together. They locked gazes and did not turn their faces away, finally Skana spoke. "I couldn't sense any feeling from you... then, when you ordered it done. That was what scared me the most."

"Because there was no feeling to sense, not till after. Not till it was done. I'm General Neia Baraja, the warrior pope, the mad-eyed archer, I can't allow myself to feel when giving orders. When I say the things I do, it isn't the woman you love speaking. You weren't wrong to call some of the things I've said or done 'monstrous', but war makes monsters, just as monsters make war."

"Just don't lose yourself in this, my love. Stay as much yourself as you can, remember there will be a time after this is all over, and it isn't enough to just not die in body, you have to remain alive in spirit, otherwise what's the point of it all?" Skana replied.

Neia was quiet, she smiled gently and inched closer, so that their bodies were pressed together, "I'm fine, everything will be fine. We'll win this, grind the enemies of our God into the dust, and build the world we seek, where people like Evileye, and Ulthis, and the elves, and orcs, and everyone, can live happily and in peace. When that happens, then we can settle down into the home our master gives to us, maybe we can have a few children."

Skana laughed, "You noticed we're both girls, right? Did nobody tell you how this works?"

Neia laughed in turn, "Perhaps we'll adopt, or find a suitable body father to... assist. We can work that out later. For now we'll live off dreams of the future and passion in the moment."

"You know me, I'm always in favor of that." Skana grinned wryly, thinking about her life as a peasant and the 'live in the moment' way in which she spent her life before the invasion took it all away.

"It's a welcome reprieve, I spend too much time on the future, not enough in the now." Neia said, prompting Skana to flick her wife's nose again. "I'll do that every time I have to remind you of the moment." She teased, then teasingly kissed the tip of the nose she'd flicked. "Now come on, moment or not, we do have work to do, and I'd like a bath first. If we're going to fight to the death out there, I'd rather not go charging into the fight smelling like sweat and sex, I can have both of those things 'after' the fighting." She laughed, got out of bed, and helped Neia after her.

Another hour later they'd taken up their positions along the wall, it had taken a number of hours for Remedios and Suchala to reposition everyone in place of the defeated Astraka, leaving little daylight left. This suited the city's commanders just fine, Ulthis had taken it upon himself to organize the former Astrakan army into support units that bunched themselves at tower bases to provide reinforcement, and to then space out reinforcements at staggered intervals further back into the city. If a position was threatened, the nearest unit would raise a flag and move in to the fighting position, the unit nearest to that one would raise a flag to half staff and move to occupy the former's position, and only move in to support its predecessor if the former appeared to be in trouble. In this way they retained a reserve unit and there were always fresh reinforcements, plus it also alerted others that there was a problem in a particular area and allowed command and control over the city's defenses.

Neia made a mental note to add Ulthis to her permanent staff after this. She hoped Cersei wouldn't be too sore about the temporary loss to her of his talents.

She was just inspecting all the work her soldiers had put into everything, but even then, she felt something different was at work. Even if this night saw little more than skirmishes, she swore there was a tension in the cold air, like the falling snow and winter breeze brought something new on its back. As Neia walked the wall, she saw that most of the soldiers gathered there were wearing similar expressions.

She walked to the top tower at the gate where CZ had perched herself. "CZ, can I have a moment?"

"Yes." CZ said, setting her rifle down for a moment.

"I mean alone." Neia said.

"Not here." She said bluntly.

Neia opened her mouth to argue, but something about CZ's face told her it would be a waste of effort.

"Fine." Neia said with a sigh.

The general looked out over the army in front the city, she could feel the hatred and fear they represented.

Finally after looking for a long moment, Neia went down to one knee. She drew out her sword and put the tip to the stone and held the pommel with both hands so that her fists closed around it and one another, then she looked up to the sky.

"Your Majesty, I do not know if you can hear this, if my prayer to you will be heard even from the highest tower or before the most dangerous host, but if it can be, if you are listening to your loyal... servant, please, help me. I feel the wind turning, and I do not want it to blow me down. If it is your will that I die a second time in your service, then let your will be done, let me die a thousand deaths if it will serve you but please, if you can, for the sake of those servants I have shepherded to your justice, please send aid. I can bear a thousand pains on myself, but one on my wife or my friends this day will... will rip me apart. Please... help me protect her, them, everyone... please... please... lend this nation your strength... just one more time." Neia said softly.

 _...Nazarick..._

Ainz was watching at the mirror as she spoke, though no sound carried, he could read her lips, and even if he couldn't, the nature of her plea would not have been lost on the blind or the deaf. Sebas stood beside him in attendance.

"How may I serve you, My Lord?" Sebas asked as Ainz looked towards him in thought.

 _...Prart..._

Neia finished her prayer and looked to the sky, she felt a chill pass over her, some part of her felt that, against all reason, her god had heard her prayer, and as the moments passed away she thought the silence meant the answer was 'no'.

Until she heard a voice behind her. "I understand you were asking for help, I couldn't come last time, but the Sorcerer King said that things have changed, and I am at your service for this battle."

Neia shot to her feet and turned around, her eyes went wide as her eyes took in an aura that felt supremely noble and overwhelmingly powerful. "Lord Momon..." Neia barely suppressed her joy, her lord had heard her prayer.

"How can I help?" He asked the warrior pope.

 _...Road to Hoburns..._

Astraka rode like demons were at his heels, not realizing that there was but one. "Hoburns, if I can get back to Hoburns I can organize the raising of another force, I can come back from this." He said to himself. Even he didn't know if he believed that. He'd been riding all day, he even changed horses, stealing or rather... trading one from a farm and leaving his horse behind. "Peasant got the better end of that unintended deal I think." He muttered, disgruntled.

The trees were quiet on either side, he didn't hear much, the birds were leaving and the clouds were ominous overhead. He knew what that meant, snow was coming and it was coming soon. Fortunately if he continued for a long time without rest, traded out horses again, and both ate and drank from horseback, he could get to the capital much faster than he'd left it with the army.

His fists tightened on the reins. Going without rest wasn't going to be a problem, the nightmares never seemed to end. In the quiet hours he wondered if it was because of the resentment that had grown up around that girl. She'd become a symbol of everything that had gone wrong since the day she died. Even though she was rotting in the great sea by now, and couldn't refuse him anything, the hour he touched the cold shell of her body, that was when everything started to go wrong as far as he was concerned. Everything else had just made it worse, and though she was gone, he needed somewhere to take it out, and her memory was a convenient target... even if the nightmares plagued his conscience when he saw himself through the eyes of the dead.

"Damn it! It was her fault! All she had to do was obey! Just talk!" He said angrily to the empty air. She was the first person he'd ever had tortured, though not the last. He wondered if the secrets in her mind would have explained the curse he seemed to be under.

He kept up that train of thought as he rode through the night, pausing at a farmer's home to trade out horses again. It sickened him, to play the role of a sneak thief, creeping through a field and getting away as fast as he could with a horse.

He rode for eight hours after midnight before he grew too utterly exhausted to go further, he felt like he was going to fall over in the saddle, so he took the horse off the road and a short ways into the woods, out of sight of anyone who might pass by, then he stripped off his armor and did his best to make himself comfortable on a bed of leaves and grass. A king's bed it was not, but in his exhausted state, it might have been heaven's own embrace.

Vanysa watched it all with great amusement from out of sight. As soon as he was well and truly asleep, she crept over to where he was and used a scroll to put him into a deeper sleep. She rolled him onto his back. His hand struck a rock, it scraped him, but that didn't bring him out of the deep slumber she'd placed him into. She straddled him as she had become accustomed to doing, and thought about what memory to give him next.

She gently stroked his cheek, her talons could have shredded him with ease. "You're homeless now, like I was." She said. "Ever been homeless? Ever been hungry? Ever wanted for anything at all beyond a throne that wasn't yours?" She asked his sleeping body. He didn't answer.

She made a fist and stared hard at him as he started to snore. She lowered her forehead to his and looked through his dream. He was dreaming of a warm bed in his palace. She almost didn't swap the dream with one of her memories, after all, it might make the realization that the capital was lost, that much more cruel. In the end, she decided against it. Ever since she'd begun the process of seeking revenge, more and more memories of what he'd done to her came roaring back, things she'd blocked out, things she didn't want to remember. She wished the only thing she could remember was the tear and sting of the lash, but at least as they returned to mind, they gave her new ways to exact her retribution.

She called up the memory of the filthy rag in her throat, the water being poured down it, the feeling of drowning when she was strapped down on the table, eyes wide with pain and fear as he looked down at her and asked her questions. Constantly shaking her head no, but pleading with eyes that searched for mercy and found none from jailer or noble.

She set that on a loop, let him drown over and over, all night long, then she got up, picked up his armor, took the horse, and rode both back to the farmer the horse had been taken from. When she arrived at the farmer's residence, he reacted with surprise to see a beautiful woman riding his horse directly over to where he stood in the field, looking with confusion at the 'new' horse and scratching his head at the whereabouts of his other one.

"S'cuse me, this your horse?" She asked him, applying deliberately the thick peasant speech that she was gradually leaving behind.

"Aye, it is, how'dja come by it?" He asked in confusion.

"Ah done found s'm bandit done run off with it, ah knowd it weren't his cause the horse didna wanna go with 'im. After ah got'im away, well he done walked back this'ay on 'is own, an ah guess he knows yah?" She said with a kind, folksy air about her.

"Well ah thanks yah for returnin im." The farmer said as she dismounted and handed him the reins.

"Yer right welcome, neighbor." She said kindly, "An yah know, yah can'ave this too." She said as she dropped the marvelous looking armor at his feet. "Ah can't use it, an ah thought yah deserve some'thin fer all the trouble them bad folk putcha through."

The farmer's face lit up. "Thankee, I should be able to sell this fer lots when ah goes to town next time, tell yah what, when next yah come by here, there'll be a share waitin fer yah, lady."

"Right friendly of yah." Vanysa said with a radiant smile, "Well, ah done the right thing now, so ah guess ah otta get goin, gots a long ways to go yet, you have yerself a right fine day, kay neighbor?" She replied, and with a wave, she turned and walked back the way she'd come.

She smirked, that armor was worth a small fortune, if he managed to sell it, he'd be able to expand his farm enormously even if he did only keep half the money gained from the sale.

She returned just in time to watch Astraka from concealment as he awoke and found his horse and armor gone. He moaned in anger and frustration as he realized he'd been robbed, he punched a tree in a blind rage, only to then swear and rub the injured hand. Vanysa wondered if it was broken, she hoped so.

She moved a little further away and used a weather control scroll, the snow was coming anyway, but she wanted it sooner. The flakes began to drop and so did the temperature. He began to rub his arms. His gambosen kept his chest warm at least, but now he'd take two more days to get to Hoburns.

She stalked him happily, his every shiver from the cold making her body shiver with pleasure.

Finally he had to rest again, and when he slept, she decided to skip the memory and deep sleep, she wanted him to see the city, so instead she cut his satchel with his remaining food and coins, and took them away. As soon as she was gone from his side, she took to the air and found a farmhouse nearby, and there she overturned the satchel and dumped out all the food and coins into the yard in front of the house.

Then and only then did she return to stalk him again.

He awoke and found his satchel gone when he reached for it, he must have been hungry, he didn't eat before he slept. She laughed, he'd used food against her towards the end of their time together, leaving her without a bite while he ate in front of her. She didn't know at the time how much she'd miss hunger in place of the later torments.

He screamed at the sky, the sky did not care. He began to wander onwards, trudging through the snow that was starting to blanket the road. She watched while he caught himself a lucky break and found a house where a peasant had left both a bow and a quiver of arrows outside his home.

"Ah... finally some luck." He said to himself and after looking around, he stole up to the home and swiped both objects and moved as far away from the house as he could, as fast as he could. He went into the wilderness in search of prey.

Vanysa shook her head and continued to watch. Reluctantly she admitted, he was a skilled hunter, left alone in the wilderness even as he was, he would almost certainly not only survive, but he would thrive. She, however, had no intention of leaving him alone.

She tracked the same prey, and when he came to shoot it, drawing bow and nocking arrow, she waited until the time was right, and then spooked his prey. The deer got away from him as if he were an amateur hunter instead of a master of it. She savored his frustration for hours before she finally let him shoot something, no sooner did he injure it, than she used a healing potion so that even if it were on the edge of death, it would recover and escape. The peasant had not kept many arrows, and soon the quiver was empty, making the bow useless.

"Gah! Damn it all!" He shouted and flung the bow deeper into the woods with utter frustration.

He resumed the long, cold walk, trudging through another night, eager to get away from the snow and the cold. Vanysa kept her distance and tracked him still, until that very important moment when...

He stepped out onto the road, and found himself smiling joyfully as he saw his capital city, Hoburns, center of the royals of the Holy Roble Kingdom for centuries.

However as he drew closer, she could feel him start to have misgivings, and then she saw it, that face. That crestfallen, hopeless, despairing face of utter ruination and loss as he realized that Queen Calca's banner was flying from every tower. He collapsed to his knees in utter disbelief. "No... no! How... how? How could this have happened?!" He didn't even scream it, he yelped it like a whipped cur. He slammed his fist into the frozen, snow-covered ground. He was tired, he was hungry and he was colder than he'd ever been in his life... so far.

He got up, and moved off the road and back into the woods, he rushed deep within, as if fearing he were pursued even though none, that he knew of, had seen him. When he'd gone two or three miles within, he found a large dead tree with a hollowed out trunk, it was some protection from the wind and the cold at last, so he curled up within and fell into a slumber borne on the back of pure exhaustion, both mental and physical.

Vanysa approached his sleeping form. She was dressed in magnificent clothing, and he... well, wasn't anymore. She smirked and drew out a scroll, she summoned a minor monster, it was nothing to speak of, just a very harmless slime, the weakest of weak monsters, this one had one particular trait, it ate fabric of all kinds. The only fabric around, other than hers, was his.

She gave it a small kick away from herself as soon as it appeared, and it rolled over to where Astraka lay, ironically the thing probably helped keep him warm for at least a little while, as it ate away at his gambosen, his shirt, his boots, and everything else he wore, while Vanysa moved away from him.

He awoke when it mistook his now scraggly and ruined beard for some form of fabric. He was horrified and disgusted by what he saw crawling and sliming all over him, leaving a dreadfully foul smelling goo all over his body, he pushed it away and got up, he drew his sword, and immediately hacked at the slime with desperation.

It didn't kill the slime instantly the way he thought it would, though it obviously did some damage, he felt ever more and more tired as he used the weapon, until the slime finally died. When it was a puddle of ruined goo on the snow, he looked at it with disgust, then lowered himself to the ooze, and began to scoop it to his lips just so he could have 'something' to eat, however foul.

Vanysa had to bite her lip to keep her laughter from revealing her presence just yet.

She took out another scroll, and summoned a wolf. It darted out of the place it had been summoned from and rushed to where she'd sent it, straight at Astraka. It snarled as it padded in the snow, its growl was menacing and it looked equal parts hungry and dangerous.

In full kit, armor, weapons, everything, Astraka would have looked down on the beast with contempt. But now? Cold, tired, sore, hungry, bedraggled, devoid of everything but his sword? Now it was a very real threat.

He drew the blade again, and immediately it felt heavy in his hands, he was even more exhausted than he realized, but at least he wasn't a coward. He attacked the wolf, and though he seemed to be doing damage, with ugly red wounds appearing on the body of the animal, his arms, then his entire body felt incredibly heavy. The two tangled back and forth, the wolf kept him hard on the defensive, but every time it lunged, he struck and it retreated again. Finally he felt he had nothing left, and he wagered all on a single swing, he screamed a warcry that would have made him proud to have yelled in battle on the walls of Prart when facing Neia Baraja herself... only to have his sword strike the wolf in the side, and to his utter disbelief, it shattered into a multitude of pieces that scattered into the blanket of snow and disappeared.

"So this is the end." He said as he fell forward in front of the wolf, unable to move. To his shock, he did not feel the bite at his throat that he expected would end his life.

Instead, the wolf turned and ran away, back the way it had come. He wondered why, then he wondered if freezing to death was the better option. He'd noticed how ruined his clothes were, his boots were scraps, so were his pants, his gambosen was gone, his shirt was in tatters, he didn't even have anything with which to make a fire.

He wanted to cry.

He might have done so right then, had he not heard a voice.

Astraka forced himself to turn his eyes up, there, floating above the ground was a well dressed demoness of golden skin, grey eyes, bat wings, horns that looked as hard as stone, and talons that looked like they could shred steel like paper.

"What...?" He asked weakly.

"I said, how does it feel?" Vanysa asked from above him.

"How does what feel?" He asked, shivering in the cold snow.

"To be nothing, to have nothing, to be all alone." She clarified, with her arms open as if to embrace him. "Nobody loves you, nobody cares about you, you're completely isolated. If you made it to a village and died in the gutter, they'd use your body to step to the other side of it, and nobody would even bother to move your corpse unless you clogged the trench or your flesh went fetid and started to stink. You have no money, no wealth, no power, no good name, you have nothing left, not even clothing, except for the filthy sweat stinking rags that remain on your skin now. It's all gone, isn't it?" She asked. Her voice seemed... sympathetic... almost.

Astraka regained a little of his strength, enough to scratch his beard, a tick or flea was crawling through it, its once noble trim was now no different than that of a homeless peasant.

"You don't even have a title anymore, Queen Calca occupies Hoburns. She has all the official roles and with this last debacle, nobody will get in the way of her stripping it from you, it's probably already done." She said casually.

Astraka nodded mutely, his face looked pitiful. He tried to stand so he could be closer to where she hovered, but as he tried, he fell and his knees struck a pair of rocks, it hurt like hell.

Vanysa lowered herself, slowing the flapping of her perfect wings, she put a talon under his chin as he looked down in pain, she raised that talon, curling it towards her upturned palm and forcing his face to rise to meet her gaze, or to start bleeding from the sharp pressure of her terrible natural weapon.

His resistance gone, he looked up.

"So now you're a peasant, just wanting to crawl out of the gutter again, you're probably hoping you could make it south, to your other family members and their estates, but I'm afraid that isn't possible, they've disowned you completely and are switching sides to Queen Calca in exchange for immunity from retribution, rather like your army did, don't you think?" The demoness asked, she still sounded sympathetic, and that was the only reason he listened, but his mind was racing with horror, wondering how she knew the things she did.

She reached into a satchel at her side and pulled out copies of two documents. He stared at her blankly as she held them down to him. "Take them, I brought them for you to see." She said sweetly. He reached up reluctantly, his arms felt like they weighed more than a palace, but he managed, and read the document that disowned him, signed by both his mother and his father, he looked to the next document under that one, the family tree, his older brothers were there, but his name was blotted out permanently.

"That's right, you don't even have your family now, even if they wanted you around anymore, you'd just get them sentenced to death, you're dead weight, a burden, an anchor tossed to the drowning, and if you did go to their homes, they'd turn you over to the crown just to save their own lives." She said casually, slowly descending and putting her fine boots into the snow.

"No... no, it can't be true, it can't be! You're lying, you have to be!" He shouted and tore up the documents into countless small pieces and flung them into the cold winter breeze, they fell around him, as if besieging him with a truth that Astraka was not prepared to face.

"If you live long enough, you'd be nothing but a pauper in the street, if not an outlaw perpetually on the run. You'd learn all about what it means to be a peasant in the power of others who can hurt you, abuse you, do anything they like to your body, and be unable to do anything about it because you're just another object to the nobility." She started to pace in front of him with her hands clasped behind her back as he managed to get up from all fours to his knees.

"Maybe in different conditions, that would give you a new understanding, and make you a decent ruler." She said philosophically as she trailed off. He stared down at the torn up shreds of the documents as if willing them to reassemble before his eyes, with words other than what they bore.

He felt numbness start to creep into his fingers.

"But of course, you'll never get that chance, not anymore." Vanysa said, her voice taking on a mocking tone.

"Why are you here, demoness? Why?" He asked through gritted and chattering teeth. "Did you come to offer me power in exchange for my soul? Or just to mock me? Whatever it is, out with it! I'm busy dying here and haven't got all day." He snapped out in anger and frustration. Tears began to come then, as he realized he truly was dying out here like a miserable animal, most of the tears froze on his face, a few landed in the snow or on a scrap of torn up paper.

She stopped and stood up straight in front of him. "Well, for starters, I thought you might want to know why all these bad things happened to you. Would you not?" She asked with a voice of almost idle curiosity.

He looked up at her, she bent far to one side, looking at him with her head to one side so that her face was even with his as she asked, "Well?"

"Yes... I would! I didn't do all those things! I didn't hurt any children, I didn't kill any, I didn't steal from my army! I... I don't know why any of the things that happened, happened, but I swear I'm not responsible!" He tried to shout, but his misery and the cold caused his voice to crack pitifully.

"I know." She said, "Well, you're not 'entirely' responsible." She added the caveat as she straightened up, and pointed at him with one talon.

"Y-You know?" He asked in utter disbelief and momentary happiness that someone finally believed him.

"Yes, I do, because you see," she flapped her wings and hovered a foot above and back from him, and with her talon still pointed down at him she said, "I made all that happen, well... with a little help." She smiled happily, her broad sadistic grin bared her fangs.

"No! How?!" He tried to ask, but then she began to lay it all out, explaining in great detail, pausing only to give in to her terrible fits of almost insane laughter and pure unadulterated joy as parts of it broke him down sobbing when he gradually understood that one thing after another, all the things that had happened, had been orchestrated expressly to be done 'to' him, to destroy him.

When at last she finished telling him everything he had only one question.

"W-Why? Why would you do this to me?! I never did anything to you! I don't deserve this! I never did anything to deserve this!" He exclaimed angrily through chattering teeth.

She looked at him like he was the village idiot. "Oh really? Did Vanysa deserve any of her suffering? You abused her, you humiliated her, hurt her, stole from her, tortured her, you let the jailer hurt her, you drove her to suicide. You desecrated her corpse when she died, throwing her out like garbage after weeks of trying to grind her down to worthlessness, you denied her dignity even when she'd been reduced to nothing but a little bundle of dead flesh, you chose your line of march in part in the hopes that she would be further desecrated by your ugly fluids as you pissed into the river you dumped her body into, because it made you feel good to get some petty revenge on the dead peasant whose life you first ruined, then stole away."

She bared her fangs and her talon trembled as she spoke, "She didn't know you either, she'd never hurt you, her only crime was daring to have a friend that nobody could take away from her, her crime was that she wouldn't betray the trust of someone she cherished, she didn't deserve a single thing you did, did she? Why did you strip her naked, were you planning on breaking your promise to her if she hadn't died when she did, or just watching that pig of a jailer do it?" Vanysa's voice was loud and wrathful as she laid into Astraka over his actions, but he was, after all, still himself.

"I did the things I had to do! It was a necessity, not a pleasure! I needed her knowledge and she kept it from me! As to the rest, I... no, I did many things to her or had them done, but I was not going to commit that abominable sin against her, nor was I going to allow it." He said defensively and in disgust. "The truth is…" he rasped out, "you're right, she didn't 'deserve' any of it, she was just an ordinary person, and she hadn't done anything." He looked down, a little ashamed of himself, he looked back up, "But she had knowledge out of the ordinary! She knew things I needed to know! I never thought it would have to go as far as it did! I'm… I was, a king damnit! The things in her head would have saved the lives of my people and could have ensured my victory, or at least prevented my defeat!" He said emphatically. "It doesn't matter that she didn't deserve it, she still brought it on herself by forcing my hand!"

He tried to slam his fist into the snow, but his arm was to weak and it simply 'fell' like a dull thud. "Queen Calca could not be allowed back on the throne! Don't you understand?! I come from a martial line, all three of my elder brothers went north to fight Jaldabaoth and none of them came home again, then Caspond took over and had three failed reconstructions before basically handing our country's fate over to a woman more loyal to a foreigner than to her own people, a woman who did whatever she saw fit, Neia killed a royal governor… scum yes, but it doesn't change the fact that she was a rogue element that nobody could or would even try to control! Then Handor got control and he was just a corrupt scumbag, cousin or not, I'd have killed him myself eventually… I was the only one left! The only one who I knew would not sell out my country, and would not let us stay weak! So I had to get at what was in that girl's head, whether she deserved it or not didn't matter, I did what I had to do!" He said vigorously and emphatically.

As he spoke his last denial, a hint of what had once been a noble voice came through, and it gave Vanysa pause.

"Is that why you neglected her, left her in agony, left her to whatever else might happen, let that torturer… work… on her?" She asked curiously, for some 'greater good' relating to your ambition?"

"Yes! It is what kings must do, accept the vile to accomplish the good of the nation!" He said defensively. "I'm not wrong! People don't always get what they deserve, but that doesn't mean they're not responsible for what they get anyway! If she'd just obeyed me the way she was supposed to, she'd be rich and being waited on hand and foot, instead of being food to fatten the fish." His eyes blazed with righteous anger as he finished his rasped out rant, and then he went on.

"Now, tell me why! Why did you do all this to me!" He shouted in a hoarse, agony filled voice, "I demand an answer, damn it! Surely this wasn't all over some peasant from a city gutter or a dead village somewhere?" He asked in disbelief.

Vanysa smiled with an almost matronly warmth and flapped her wings again, giving herself the best possible view of his face. "Well, what if I said I had a deal to offer to you?" She asked, "Not many peasants are given the opportunity to make deals with kings you know." She said encouragingly, she watched as his face started to change with the stirring of a vague memory. A ride in a carriage, a terrified girl shaking with fear and silent in spite of his best efforts, her beautiful storm grey eyes, he looked closer at the demoness in front of him, searching her face, her eyes, and finding storm gray surrounded by golden skin looked very, very familiar.

His eyes went wide, he started to shake. "No... no... no... no... no... no... no...!" He shouted in disbelief and denial. "You're a demoness, you're not a human! She was just some no-account trash that didn't know to obey royalty!" He snapped hoarsely.

"If she'd just told me what I wanted to know I never would have hurt her! I never wanted that end damn it! I thought I'd ask her, bribe her, then cut her loose and there'd be no problem! But she wouldn't cooperate! OK, yes, after her death I was angry! Furious! Everything went wrong after her, maybe I made her corpse a target, punished it because I couldn't punish her! But we couldn't let Calca come back! She almost RUINED us the last time she was on the throne! If that stupid peasant had just told me what I needed to know about the Sorcerer King I'd know what I was dealing with, I have to have information to make decisons and she held it back from me! She should have obeyed! I had no choice but to get hard on her! I tried and tried and tried to buy the knowledge, but she wouldn't sell it, so I had to take it by force!" He ranted at the demoness, holding his hands up in frustration and clenching his now very numb fingers into fists.

"You tried to buy the only things she had anymore, what did she tell you they were? Her loyalty, her integrity, to give you what she knew would have been to betray her only friend in the world, the one who saved her life and gave her a chance at starting over, but you didn't care, and so you missed the most important information of all." Vanysa said contemptuously.

"Information? What information?" He asked, confused.

"Even now you don't see it?!" Vanysa exclaimed and slapped her palm over her face, "Ugh, if you had become a king, you'd have been a disaster, I think. Fine, she wasn't trash to the Sorcerer King. To him..." She leaned forward and whispered almost conspiratorially, "she was a 'faithful servant'."

His mouth fell open in silent disbelief.

"Of course, what she held back from you, you saw an inkling of and never knew it, he values victory and he values his servants, your failure to break Vanysa was not victory enough. He searched high and low for her corpse before he even knew she was a corpse, he almost killed a Queen over it, would have, if he'd thought she was responsible. When he found her body, he viewed her suicide as a murder and her treatment as an insult. Even though he knew she'd taken her own life and deprived 'the captor', of whatever you wanted, that was not enough for him. Though he didn't yet know it was you who had done this terrible thing to his 'faithful servant.' He sought to fix the problem." She smiled an arch smile that was happy and threatening both at once.

She gazed at her victim with pure overwhelming joy as she described the actions of the master she served. "After he got her body back, he used a tiny fragment of his massive power, and turned her to this glorious form you see before you. " Vanysa said happily and let herself drop into the snow, her arms went up and she spread her wings as wide as they could go, her talons pointed up towards the sky, her golden skin caught the light of the setting sun, and she appeared every inch as if she were some terrible goddess before him.

"Now… if it is not completely obvious, she... is me!" Vanysa said, and drew her wings back in, returning to her human form, all buxom and bouncy, she smiled sweetly and wiggled her fingers in a playful hello, as seeming as joyful as she did when about to eat a sandwich, it was a radiant, beautiful smile even now, or perhaps especially now. "As you can see, I'm a little different, I'm an erinyes, otherwise known as a fury, I am a demoness that punishes the guilty. I'm also a human. I was born, but created, free, but I serve, I died, but yet I live again. And I have, by the way, become an excellent torturer. I'm far, far better than that incompetent pig you let do things to me. He didn't know anything, I could have hurt me much, much worse. Why, Demiurge even says I have a natural talent for it, he calls me a musician." She sighed at her fond thoughts of the archdevil.

She turned her momentarily distracted gaze back to Astraka, "You'll learn all about that though, because you're going to come with me, and you're going to sing for me for many... many years, maybe a few generations, we'll have to see, I did promise your parents you'd be allowed to die some day, and if it makes you feel better, I also promised them I'd put your body to rest with theirs when I was done with you. But... I won't be done with you for a long time to come." Her beautiful face split with a sadistic smile and her eyes were wide and stared at him with hunger akin to a kind of lust.

"Don't bother trying to get away, the sword I replaced yours with was indeed enchanted, but it drained your strength to keep itself intact, and every use weakened it considerably, now that it is shattered, well, even with the little rest you just got from our time together here, I think the cold will have kept you from being able to get much of your old strength back. Not that even you at your best would be anything to me anymore." She said with her ever present smile, then kicked him in the chest, sending him falling hard onto his back, she put a foot there, holding him down on the cold, cold ground. He coughed as she knocked the wind entirely out of him, he couldn't breathe the frozen air even if he wanted to, he hacked and coughed as she used a message scroll.

"I'm ready for the gate, yes thank you, I have him, and it was glorious, everything I hoped it would be." She said, and a hole opened up in reality. "You come with me now, out of the cold, and into the hell I've prepared just for you and you alone, but tell me... how do you feel about 'horses'? It just so happens I have a wooden one I'd love for you to try riding." She said, and bent over, then grabbed him by his beard, she started to walk towards the gate as he wiggled and struggled and cried out in futility.

He managed to get out a few bitter words, "You think this... this will make a difference, that by hurting me you'll forget it all and everything will be all better?!" Spittle fell from his lips as he struggled to get out every syllable.

That gave her pause, she looked down at him as she shifted to her erinyes form and smiled with sharp fangs clearly looking him over. "Maybe, maybe not." She said, her smile never changing, "But it's a fucking start." She added, and dragged him with one more desperate, choked off scream into the gate and through to the other side.

 **AN: Two things...**

 **First double release day, enjoy.**

 **Second thing...Bigoted bullshit will be deleted, don't be an asshole.**


	115. Divine Wrath

_...Prart…_

For a moment, Neia felt the urge to fall in worship before the sky that the Sorcerer King might see and hear her, but confronted with the enormity of the aid he had dispatched to her, she chose the ultimate act of worship… action in his name. "Lord Momon, I'm very grateful that you're here." Neia pulled herself together and let her face become a mask.

"Things are feeling different today, and I trust my gut, so let me fill you in on what I can. Where we are is the main south gate, this position is very well defended because we're facing the combined command teams from both the Slane Theocracy and Remedios Custodio, we're outnumbered by two to one in terms of quantity of soldiers, however exempting the elites among them, our overall quality is higher.

"Quantity, however, is its own quality. I believe I can hold here, but there is a danger that they may break through one of the other gates where we have to rely more heavily on militia, mercenaries, or other irregulars. It does no good to hold the south gate if we lose the north gate." She said patiently, bearing in mind that he was not known as a strategist.

"I understand, you're worried that they'll break through in one position and cause all others to collapse by outflanking and surrounding you, thus allowing Suchala to destroy you in detail." He said thoughtfully.

"Y-Yes, that's it exactly." Neia said, her neutral mask slipping briefly with a show of surprise.

"So you want me to station myself at the weakest gate and keep them off your backs." He concluded.

"Yes, you're an ace that we're dealing from the bottom of the deck, I fully expect the worst attack to be where I am. The hatred Remedios bears for me, and if the Theocracy is as bad as they say, Suchala probably shares it. They will make killing me a priority."

Neia paused her narrative to make a proud, preening expression. "I'm confident I can handle anything they can throw at me as long as I have CZ," CZ waved and then resumed her ready position, "Skana, Lakyus and Ulthis, there shouldn't be a problem here."

Neia gestured to the east and to the west. "The rest of Blue Rose and some of our other elites are covering the east and west gates, but those are lightly manned positions and I think they intend to just make sure we don't come out there to outflank them." Neia explained further.

"I see." Momon said plainly, "I will hold the wall no matter what happens!" He declared, drew his sword and saluted dramatically.

"Ah… yes, I have no doubt you will, Lord Momon." Neia said confidently, covering her surprise at his over the top reaction.

"Can… can I ask you a personal question? Would that be OK, Lord Momon?" Neia asked, biting her lip and looking a little uncomfortable.

"If you wish, though I cannot promise to answer." He replied seriously.

"You've worked under Lord Ainz for years, correct?" She asked.

"I have, but that is hardly personal." He pointed out.

"Has he… has he ever talked about me?" Neia said hopefully.

"Yes, he spoke very highly of you on several occasions. Few humans impress him to any degree, and the degree to which you have devoted yourself to his will reminded him of his closest guardians, the very children of his friends whom he provides for." Momon said casually.

"They're… they're like his children, aren't they?" Neia asked, reflecting on all she had observed.

"An apt statement." He replied.

"I… envy them that way." Neia said with a kind of longing smile.

She went quiet for a moment, "There was more I wanted to know, but… no, maybe after all this is over. Go ahead and head to the North wall. I've got things covered here." She said calmly.

Momon's dramatic salute came out again, and he quickly departed.

"I had no idea that he had a flair for the dramatics." Neia muttered under her breath.

 _...Nazarick…_

Ainz struggled against the urge to facepalm as he watched. Demiurge had joined himself and Sebas, and it was almost a relief to the Sorcerer King when the towers moved and provided a distraction from the antics of Pandora's Actor.

Demiurge had a smile of awe on his face. "To plan in such detail such an outcome… I am truly in awe." The archdemon said.

"What do you mean, Lord Demiurge?" Sebas asked, much to the relief of Ainz.

"Neia is about to break, of course, and possibly die as a result." He answered.

Ainz said nothing. 'What is he talking about?' He wondered.

"She is?" Sebas asked, doubtfully.

"Yes of course, do you see that platform being pushed behind the tower with the people tied to stakes?" Demiurge pointed to the wheeled construction.

"Yes…" Sebas said uncertainly.

"The one in the middle there, the one who is somewhat overweight, his name is Tinamoc. Earlier Neia killed a number of her followers to spare them pain, but while they were followers, Tinamoc is a very good friend, doing so will… well, just watch." Demiurge said patiently.

 _...Prart…_

The towers began to move, and Neia smiled with satisfaction, "Come on, come on." She said as her breath deepened and her fingers twitched with anticipation.

They had a few minutes, but not long, so she turned behind her to face the city. "Servants of the Sorcerer King, followers of Queen Calca, we have little time, so I will make this quick. You come to the fight today hoping to see heroes carry the day, but I tell you that if you wish to see heroes, you need only look at yourselves! Behind you are the weak, the aged, the elderly, the sick, and before you are people coming to kill them. You put yourselves in the way! That makes you heroes! That is where we are, on the heroes' ground! That is when we are! In an age of heroes! Remember your justice, remember why you are here, and even IF you fall, your will, shall be carried on! Now ready arms and prepare to fight!"

A tingle ran through every spine as the evangelist hammered the heroes light into the bodies of her followers, no man or woman under arms felt death caress their hearts, their fingers held weapons without tension, as if they were prepared for a stroll in the summer, instead of a fight in the winter of their lives.

The towers crossed the extreme range markers. "Mangonels! Loose!" She shouted.

In the distance she saw mages summoning angels. "Magic casters! Summon angels!" She shouted over her shoulder, the order was carried back, and angels rose to fight angels. One of the towers went down, struck by a mangonel's massive boulder. She wondered how many died in that moment, but brushed it aside while she waited for them to come into range of her bow.

"CZ, you can fire whenever you're ready, you don't have to wait for me." Neia said calmly as she took her bow out. CZ's answer was to make a head explode out the back of itself.

"Nice shot." Neia said calmly. CZ did not break her concentration, though she lifted a hand away briefly to render a thumbs up to her comrade, before repeating the feat on another unfortunate soul.

"Draw!" Neia shouted, and bows were nocked with arrows. She looked briefly to the other walls, fierce fighting was resounding at the northern gate, but the east and west were quiet.

"Loose!" She shouted, and arrows flew from runic and common bows alike. For a few wonderful moments the flights of arrows filled the air until at last they came raining down, robbing soldiers of their lives.

"Fire at will!" She shouted. Then Neia's bow began to reap a deadly toll as she coldly and calculatingly decided who should die in that moment.

Unsurprisingly, many were using the siege towers as cover, but such was the size of the advance that not everybody could do so. Another tower went down.

Something felt wrong, very wrong, she couldn't put her finger on it right away, but a feeling of dread was welling up in her that was not the norm. She put it out of her mind as she ended another life, but every time it was pushed out, it pushed its way back in.

The angels were clashing overhead, some made it past her own and began to engage the walls, from her position at the tower she made a tempting target she was sure, and that was when it hit her. That was what was eating at her, nobody was targeting 'her' they surely knew she was here, she knew she was a priority target, so why…?

The answer was not long in coming as her enemies drew to within ninety feet of the walls, she watched as from behind one of the towers that still stood, a platform was pushed out into view. Her first thought was that it was a weapon's platform of some odd design, only to realize how wrong, and right, she truly was.

On that platform were a handful of prisoners bound naked to cross beams. "Human shields?" She said under her breath, "How loathsome, but… she should… know… bet-" She began to add and then cut off her words in mid sentence.

"Tinamoc!" She shouted in shock as she recognized the one in the center.

"No!" She bit her lip as her voice echoed out across the field. A horn blew from beyond the wall, and ranks made room for a woman to step into view, a woman Neia recognized from her nightmares and memories alike.

The arrows stopped, the towers stopped, the angels drew back, her own side, mystified by this sudden behavior, began to freeze as well.

"Neia Baraja! Does this man look familiar?!" Remedios Custodio shouted as she drew her sword.

Neia's mind raced. 'How did she get him? Where did she get him? I sent him away from the city for his safety, he knew to choose the most obscure road, her entire army was coming here, we didn't…' She thought all these things before the realization hit. "Astraka." She said with her teeth gritted angrily. "Damn it all to hell!" She spat the words out.

"I'm sure that isn't the only thing you remember!" Remedios shouted, and she shoved her sword into Tinamoc's forearm, wrenching a scream from him.

"No, no…" Neia whispered softly, "Is this a punishment? I killed my followers, so now I have to kill my friend?"

Her hands clenched her bow as she reached for an arrow instinctively.

"How about when I did this to you?!" Remedios shouted, and shoved her sword through his leg. "Do you still think about it? Dream about the way I almost killed you last time?! Perhaps a few more will refresh your memory!" The fallen paladin was in a frenzy, Neia's eyes were wide and unblinking as she pulled the arrow from sheer muscle memory and drew it back.

Tinamoc looked up at her from where he hung, his eyes, she'd always remember those. Sharp and clever in his business dealings, the way they danced when he would tell a joke, the way they were hard when he was serious, the way they shone when he was curious. Of all the merchant's she'd ever known, he was the one who exemplified every virtue a man of his class should have, at least in her eyes.

Neia couldn't see her target anymore, everything was a blur, but that didn't matter. "I'm sorry, I'm so sorry…" She said as the bow reached its maximum draw. Remedios had not stopped shouting the entire time.

"I made your pope bleed and crawl! I made her suffer! She's a traitor who kills her own people! Throw her down and keep your own lives!" Remedios harangued them relentlessly.

"Snake shot." Neia said with a bitter, mournful voice.

The arrow lanced out when she dropped her hold on the arrow, and it flew out, piercing first one prisoner, then the other, right through the chest, then looping around to pierce Tinamoc, straight through the heart. He slumped forward, his pain ended.

 _...Then, within her, something snapped._

"REMEDIOS!" Neia shouted, but not with a voice like any the fallen paladin knew, it reverberated, echoed, and hit her like a hammer did soft, heated metal.

The 'cracks' that had been building in Neia's eyes, broke entirely, they went completely black.

That was when the rumbling began, it started where she stood, it began to radiate outwards, it forced her to her knees, she gritted her teeth hard enough that it seemed they might crack.

"No…" Neia said, even her whisper reverberating, the entirety of her wall's defenders were forced to their knees.

"No… it can't be… it absolutely cannot be…" Lakyus said as she struggled to raise her head. The rumbling had hit the entire wall, threatening to collapse it.

"No... there... there!" Neia thought as she struggled desperately to command this unforeseen shift. Her body was rattling, but the pressure and rumbling moved away from the walls... towers crumbled like toothpick sculptures.

"What…" Remedios started to ask, not understanding just what was happening as the towers fell to scrap and her soldiers began to kneel and struggle to stand, then had the question answered when she was knocked to her knees in turn.

The rumbling became a roar, the roar became a storm as hearts quaked.

They knew this pressure very well, and it was not from Neia.

CZ, laying flat as she had been, did not move at all, but she did say, "Stop, if you wish to live." While unaware that Neia had no idea how to stop even if she wished to.

Skana snapped her head over to look where her wife was atop the tower, just as soon as she was able, she might not have known 'what' just happened, but she knew where and to whom it had.

Lakyus had similar thoughts from her position, and they rushed as fast as they could to where Neia remained on bended knee, her jaw fell open in a reverberating scream of unutterable rage.

 _...Nazarick…_

"As I said." Demiurge said rather proudly.

"I do not understand." Sebas said patiently.

"What I mean is, she's reached level five as an evangelist, and it comes with one particularly powerful skill." He said.

"What is that?" Sebas asked.

"Aura of the Divine. Countless lives have ended, both willingly and unwillingly, over the divinity of Lord Ainz, and she has spearheaded it all. By continuing to fight with both her words and her weapons, she has grown by leaps and bounds beyond what I ever thought she was capable of when first she caught our master's eye, but it appears once again he has shown me up. This skill of hers allows her to draw on the aura of the source of her faith, as if he were working through her, and look at what is happening." Demiurge said, and he gestured back to the viewer.

 _...Prart..._

Pressure and terror, as if they faced the personal wrath of Ainz Ooal Gown, was being exhibited on those before the wall. They might have run if they could have moved, and Neia pushed her sword into the stone trying desperately to stabilize herself under the pressure that was ripping through her fragile human body, her demonic eyes filled with unquenchable wrath and seemed to glow with a terrible, holy light that shone all the more brightly for the blackness that engulfed her as the invisible pressure became visible and took on a dreadful darkness.

Neia had lost almost all sense of herself, she could feel her muscles tearing apart, but as bad as it was for her, she could still see through terrible eyes as the injuries grew among the army in front of her.

"I'll take you all with me!" She shouted, "Feel the wrath of my god!" She was dying, she knew it, she didn't care, not much anyway, she discarded CZ's council, she couldn't stop, this was a gift of wrath from her lord that would vanquish his enemies and preserve what was left of those she still held love for. 'I am the pope, responsible for all, if I'm to die for them, that is just my job.' She thought as she accepted her fate, though she hated that she would miss out on the post war life with Skana, the little future dreams where all years of glory were but distant memories, she trusted her wife would forgive her.

Groans and screams began to fill the field. Neia felt her shoulder become dislocated and another muscle tear.

She gazed to the heavens, it ached horribly to do even that much.

 _...Nazarick…_

'I did not plan this.' Ainz thought as he watched blood began to come from Neia's flesh as her body was being ripped apart by a force she couldn't hope to contain.

"Will she die then?" Sebas asked with a kind of passive sadness.

Demiurge nodded, "Most definitely, as things are. Her wife and her friend are coming to her aid, and I see CZ has gotten up and is trying to shake her out of it, but as they get closer, see how they fall too? They can't touch her, all they can do is watch her be ripped apart as she draws on the power of our lord. But she'll destroy that entire army, there must be over a hundred thousand just at that wall, if they are turned into nothing but red stains on the snow, how long will the rest stick around? I must confess I envy Neia, to give her life to such a glorious pursuit as serving as a conduit for the last Supreme Being, to perish in his service is an honor, especially for a human." Demiurge touched his chin thoughtfully, "I wonder if we could make others like her, it would have been a worthwhile experiment."

Ainz was already standing up and moving as Neia's black eyes turned skyward as her flesh began to tear away from her bones, he wondered how long she'd have.

 _...Prart..._

Neia could see CZ, Lakyus, and Skana, but was scarcely aware of their presence as they tried to come close to where she knelt. She knew felt her eyes change, though she couldn't see them for herself, she had a feeling that even if she could turn her face to look at them, they wouldn't see her expression of farewell. She wondered how much longer she'd have before she was peeled down to nothing but bones, as the force continued to pour out of her.

In the back of her mind, there had been a part of her whimpering at the pain, telling her to stop, at least when it first hit, but now she had passed beyond it, she had passed beyond flesh, there was only her duty to the last, the pain was nothing, the whimper snuffed out like a candle as soon as she realized that she had become a weapon of the divine, but one thing did come to mind, one small sentence managed to pass her lips.

"Goodbye… father." She managed to utter as she tried to hold enough control to crush the force in front of her, but it was not her human father she was thinking of.

"Not goodbye." A voice said and she felt a grip on her shoulder that could only come from the fleshless.

As if ripping her soul back from the edge of death, Ainz pulled her from her kneeling position and back into his arms, cradling her as one might a child and breaking the grip his power held on her. Her shredded arm hung limp beyond his hold and she looked up at the red orbs that served as his eyes.

As the power cut off, her friends could rise to their feet as the wave swept out undirected and wild beyond the wall until it vanished.

Neia barely had the strength to smile up at him, "Am I dying now?." She asked.

"I would not have it so." Ainz said, and Lakyus fumbled for a healing potion and cut off further words by forcing it between Neia's lips and pouring it down her throat.

Skana, grabbed Neia's face in her hands and held firm, watching as the healing potion did its work and her many injuries faded away.

CZ looked over the wall, she looked for heat signatures indicating life, she saw many a fading temperature indicating a recent death.

Neia held Skana's gaze and managed to utter one word. "Now."

Skana immediately read the mind of the commander of Black Justice. "Go! Now!" Skana shouted, she drew her sword and pointed beyond the wall.

"Tear them down! Unleash the undead! Unleash the angels! Unleash the cavalry! Unleash your WRATH!" The Vice Commander was not one to fail to heed her own advice, and as if snapped out of a dream, the gates were swiftly opened and on the stunned, fallen, and weakened numbers, the soldiers of Black Justice, the Sons of Iontariil, the Vines, the Blood Miners, began to empty out into the open snow covered ground.

They moved like gods of war, angels of death, goddesses of chaos against the fragile order, war cries and bloodlust made of flesh and blood, the tumult spilled forth from beyond the wall like water through a dam that could no longer hold back the depths. In this way they came, to sweep away the old world like a flood, and cleanse the sacred field of battle with an offering to their god.

The wall began to empty, and Ainz took from his pocket dimension a single green potion.

"You need to rest, but don't want to rest." Ainz said to Neia, she nodded. "Here. Remedios Custodio is still very much alive, go and fix that." He said, "She belongs to you now."

She drank the stamina potion and felt vigor start to return to her body.

"I will give you her head before this day has ended." Neia vowed as the Sorcerer King set her gently down.

"Thank you for coming for me…" Neia said as she took her bow out again.

"You called me 'father'. Who could bear to be called such and not come to the rescue of one who cherishes him so?" Ainz said nobly.

Neia wanted to cry with happiness that he let her use that word with him and did not rebuke her for the presumption, he even seemed 'happy' about it.

She covered the redness in her face and in her eyes by turning to the field. "CZ, where is Remedios?" Neia asked as she looked at the chaos, the melee was in full swing, Neia's heart felt like it was beating ten thousand times a minute and the blackness did not vanish from her eyes.

"There." CZ said, and pointed at the direction that Skana was moving.

"Then there is where I belong." Neia said and after quickly securing a rope around a part of the battlement's stonework, she secured it to an arrow and fired into the battle line, piercing the breast of a horse clean through to the other side, throwing the rider as it collapsed. With the rope pulled taut, Neia jumped from the wall and slid down the length of it.

CZ opened fire as fast as she could, taking down anyone who appeared that they might be targeting the warrior pope as she flew over the field towards her target.

She dropped her grip on the rope and landed on the snow, where she rolled forward and sprang to her feet and found herself only a dozen yards away from Remedios Custodio.

"Remedios!" Neia shouted, her voice held so much force that it was not carried by the wind, rather the wind was carried by her voice, and the stunned face of her enemy turned to meet her own.

 **AN: Well a second double release day, and I'll be spending most of today writing, except for a few minor chores, and I'll have 2 more ready for you tomorrow, possibly 4 more depending on how long it takes and how many beta readers are digging in to the subject. I know some of you are probably upset with what just happened here, I guess that means as a writer, I did my job. I get very strongly attached to some characters though, so believe me it isn't always an easy thing to do. Next chapter is something you've waited for, for quite some time, and thanks to the generous donations to charity by readers, nobody has to wait for it. Next chapter is being posted within five minutes time from this one, thanks to the time it takes to format manually. If you don't see it right away, well wait a little bit, you know how FFN is.**


	116. Requiem for Remedios

God Rising

Chapter 116

Written by: AtheistBasementDragon

Edited by: The Usual Gang of Drunken Perverted Idiots

 **AN: You've waited for this, enjoy it. If you want to support various God Rising projects from illustrated pdf creation to turning it into an audiobook, you can do so at p a treon dot com slash godrising. I will never personally profit from any of this, all funds will be used for supporting the fan projects for this community, if there ever is any overage, it will be donated entirely to charity and I will not keep a single red cent.**

 _...Prart…_

"Remedios!" Neia shouted as the woman stared at her, hatred burst from her breast as if from Tinamoc's heart. Despite the desperate melee, nobody came near to her. She could see Red Paladins fighting the Holy Paladins of Remedios. She could see the screaming undead flying into the melee with the abandon that only the unliving are capable of offering up. She could see Black Scripture fighting Black Justice, and she made a mental note to thank Gustav when she saw him next time, drawing away their best had no doubt saved many lives.

The army before them was truly massive, but the crushing weight of her god's power had killed many and wounded others, while those neither wounded nor killed had lost their heart's will. Remedios herself did not look her best, she stared at Neia as if she were seeing something unknown, some dread beast she did not truly believe existed.

"I warned you at Wenmark that I would kill you! Now I'll keep that promise! In the name of the elves of Wenmark, in the name of my followers, in the name of His Majesty, the Sorcerer King to whom I have sworn my life, today I bring death to you, an end to your legend, an end to your terror! Your life belongs to me, Remedios Custodio!"

Neia held her sword in hand and pointed at her. "Now get over here!" She shouted, a head exploded behind Remedios as CZ took down a scripture member. In the corner of her eye Neia saw Lakyus take the heads of a trio of soldiers with her floating swords, the snow turned red and churned with the earth beneath, soaking the frozen ground to make an icy mud.

"Pronounce all you like! But you are the one about to die!" Remedios said as she held her sword pointed up at Neia, each one mirroring the other's gesture. "I'll tear your cult up root and branch, I'll light all your worshipers aflame on stakes from here to Hoburns, and BURN the evil out of this country!" Her voice was filled with anger and hatred, a zealot's gleam in her eyes, but she did not meet the black hollows that Neia's eyes had become.

"You wanted this!" Neia shouted at her as the Paladin's face twisted. "I never did! You were my hero, damnit! You ruined everything! You're a butcher! A traitor! A monster! You brought this end on all of us!" Neia's voice was a hammer to the soul, her hatred, wrath, and fury had but one focus.

"You're right!" Remedios said in a thunderous voice, "I did want this, I wanted to kill you for the undead worshiping monster you are before you brought my country to ruin! I should have killed you last time! I WILL kill you this time!" Her voice was hard and hot with wrath of her own as she gutted a soldier who dared come too close. She drew closer across the space between them. "I'll present your head to that damnable undead, and I'll make sure that whore you married sees your corpse before I wipe this city of evil off the map! Now that you're in reach again, no walls, no guardians or monsters, there will be nothing to stop me from finishing what I started."

"Not… _no_ guardians." Skana said as she kicked aside the body of a woman who did not know yet that the Vice Commander had killed her.

She approached to stand near to her wife.

"Ah, good! Together, it'll be that much better to kill one in front of the other, and I get to answer one burning question." Remedios said with sick, twisted smile splitting her face. "Does evil mourn the death of evil?" She asked, and shot towards Skana the Bold.

Her sword flashed down in a terrible arc, but Skana flipped backwards out of reach, only to bounce on her feet and spring forward in an attempted lunge against the aggressive Remedios. The fallen paladin twisted out of the way of the lunge, then leaned in and flung her body hard at the crouched Skana, throwing her off balance. Before she could bring her sword in to finish her off, Neia closed and slammed hard into Remedios's side, flinging her off balance instead.

Neia's visor was gone, in its place only eyes dark as death's own shadow held sway. She locked her gaze on the paladin, the dread drumming that Remedios remembered, the fractures and cracks, they were all gone, purity was all there was, the force within had broken through and threatened to annihilate and consume, an aura whirled around her, smaller by far than when she'd been on the wall, but it was like the grasping hands of spirits trying to tug the paladin's own from out of her body.

She slammed her elbow into Neia's jaw, then kicked Skana back and tumbled away, buying herself, and them, distance.

While neither individually was as powerful as Remedios, both Neia and Skana were augmented by the finest equipment available and ample experience. While fighting together in perfect synchronized motion, it was a dangerous combination. As Skana flew back, Neia flew in, sword flashing towards Remedios's eye, the fallen paladin stopped the blade but forgot that the way of Black Justice focused on adaptability, the sword was not the only weapon, they had their hands. Neia grabbed the blade hand of her enemy right at the wrist and twisted, Remedios yelped and kicked Neia in the knee, only to find as the Pope went down that Skana was already coming forward before the sword could deliver a killing blow to Neia. For Skana, it was just a more complicated and deadly dance, she was not only bold, she was a sword dancer and every opponent was, to her, a new dance partner. The whistling of blades cutting through the air was her music, and adapting to the rhythm was her speciality.

Remedios shouted in frustration as she had to dodge aside, only to take an open palm blow from the pope directly to her inner thigh that twisted her off balance. Skana took advantage of that to land a mailed fist into her face. Remedios fell and rolled to one side, following the momentum, she was on her feet and she charged in, hammering Neia Baraja with the force of her martially enhanced body.

The warrior pope fell backwards, and rose to a crouch, drawing her bow in a practiced motion faster than Remedios could reach her, she sent several arrows at her target, Remedios avoided two, but after stopping a rear strike from the Vice Commander behind her, the third caught her in the gut, and armor or no, knocked the wind from her.

She kicked behind her and knocked Skana back, she growled in unbridled fury. "Just DIE already!" Remedios screamed at the monster in front of her. "Holy Strike!" She shouted, and the white light came down to obliterate the evil servant of the undead.

"Neia! No!" Skana shouted, and Remedios laughed, ready to take joy in the cries of a dying evil.

But to her shock, she did not hear screams she heard… laughter.

"So, this is what it means to take holy damage! This is holy pain?! This is nothing!" Neia's head was tilted back, a shadow in the light whose night black eyes stood out all the more as they gazed into her opponent, and she laughed until the light began to fade. Skana did not have to be in front of the fallen paladin to know that shock and disbelief colored her expression, however as Skana realized what Remedios had done, she felt an overwhelming sense of relief. It had long been a fear of Skana's that Neia's growing battlefield zealotry was taking her away from the good woman that she was, and by some almost miraculously good choice of attacks, the holy strike confirmed to Skana quite firmly that her Neia was, if different than she had been, still very much herself.

"No! You serve the undead! You're evil! You have to be evil!" Remedios shouted in a kind of deep personal agony.

"Fuck you! No, I don't! I was never evil! You stupid, stupid fool, just because someone looks different or thinks different or is different, doesn't make them EVIL!" Neia shouted, Remedios could not accept what she was seeing, and definitely could not accept what she was hearing. Neia Baraja followed the undead, the undead were evil, therefore Neia Baraja was evil, evil was harmed by holy damage, good was not, therefore what was not harmed by holy damage was not evil.

She couldn't make these contradictions fit, her head hurt just thinking about it, so she stopped. "Sinner's Penitence!" Neia shouted, and Remedios was engulfed in shadow, where Neia had laughed within the light, Remedios screamed within the darkness until it faded away.

When it was gone, there were countless cuts and marks all over her body, hundreds and hundreds of them it seemed. "What did you do?! You were never this strong!" Remedios shouted in disbelief, leaping out of the way as Skana took advantage of the moment to try to get her from behind, her attempt at avoidance was successful, but not nearly as fast as it had been moments ago.

"I'm a Black Paladin. Your own sins have been turned against you! Every mark and scratch and pain is a tiny bit of the agony given to one who did nothing to deserve it. What you feel now, is what you chose to inflict on someone who you should have protected! You are a sinner! You are the weak one! You've destroyed your own power by abandoning everything that paladins are supposed to be! I am strong, it is true, stronger than I ever was! But that is not why you struggle…" Neia said confidently as she began to walk towards Remedios, Skana moved again to her wife's side, wiping blood from her face and sweeping it into the snow.

Around them lives were still being snuffed out, Fluder was wreaking havoc as he forced numerous mages to defend themselves desperately, he may have been an old man on the ground, but in the air, he was a young dragon in his prime, a dragon that shot terrible fireballs. Angels tore into one another, out of the corner of her eye, Neia saw another scripture perish when Lakyus's terrible blade proved that Unholy Roses have sharp thorns. The leader of Blue Rose fought like a demoness herself, her cursed blade reaped a harvest of death, as if every swing was intended to atone for her own unintended misdeeds towards her sister.

But for Neia there was only one view that held her interest. "I did rise, but you? You have fallen! Your sins have dragged you down by their weight, you even turned on the one you swore yourself to! Don't you get it you stupid bitch?! You swore yourself to Queen Calca! Then you tried to kill her when she came to you again!" Neia shouted as if a louder voice would penetrate a skull she now thought of as infinitely dense.

Remedios looked shocked, "But… no! No! That wasn't Calca! It wasn't! It couldn't be! It couldn't have been! I won't believe it!" Her voice was one of not hatred, but desperate misery.

"It was! It WAS Calca and you tried to take her life, the center of your duty and your oath and you betrayed her, you loved her, and tried to deprive her of all the heartbeats she had yet to experience!" Neia's forceful voice hammered the truth hard into Remedios's very core.

A part of the woman broke; and she unleashed a heartrending cry, then as if to extinguish the truth she hadn't the will to face, she rushed at the warrior pope in a berserker-like state, Neia got out of the way, moving as fast as she could using every martial art she knew, she felt the strain on her body as it was taxed to the limits by the exertion of keeping up with the fallen paladin who even in her weakened state was a force to be reckoned with. Twice the armor of the Grand King Busar saved her life before Skana drew close enough to hammer a fist into the side of Remedios's face and send the woman stumbling out of the way. As she tried to rise, Neia kicked her full in the face, sending her flat on her back. She was still adamantite ranked however, and pain or no, she got to her feet.

She coughed up blood, and went for Skana, her sword came down over head, flying faster than the eye could see, smashing into Skana's defenses.

Skana had her sword over head to guard, and tried to strike back with her free hand, however Remedios interrupted the blow with a kick to her chest, sending Neia's wife flying backwards over the ground, bouncing and rolling several feet away.

Neia had already been in motion though, and she slammed headlong into the paladin, but rather simply force her off balance, she outright tackled her former idol. They rolled over the ground, scattering red snow or pressing into the cold, churned up mud, but it was good enough to let Neia capture the eyes of Remedios Custodio, the black void held the fallen paladin more firmly than the muscles of Neia's arms ever could have. Terror was as pain and they were close enough that, had it been the embrace of her wife, Neia could have kissed her. It gave the former paladin pause, it made her hesitate, just for a second, nothing more.

But in that second, Skana rushed in, stabbed down, and her sword found Remedios's waist, just between where the plate armor met the armor on her legs, she hit that gap and pushed the sword into Remedios's body piercing her kidneys and stomach. Remedios swung her fist up as hard as she could as she screamed in pain, connecting into Skana's head sending her reeling away and causing her to lose her grip on her sword, then getting her leg up, she kicked Neia off her as hard as she could, sending the black paladin rolling several feet away. She then twisted and stood up, and grabbed the sword and wrenched it out of her body with a cry of agony.

Remedios coughed up more blood and almost crumpled as she threw the lost sword away, cries of pain came through the blood that was fountaining out of her mouth.

Neia was back on her feet again. Remedios was fumbling in a pouch.

"Stupid woman, you were always dense as a box of rocks." Neia shouted and pulled out her bow, she put an arrow into the air as Remedios looked to see the danger, and the arrow pierced her hand through and through, knocking the potion from her fingers and sending it skittering across the field. She screamed and broke the arrow off and pulled the embedded part out through the hole, her hand shook and trembled with the shock and pain of what she'd had to do.

"You forgot that I'm an archer first." Neia said, and another arrow replaced the first one, she began to walk closer to the impaled Paladin, putting an arrow into the slit next to the sword wound in her gut, screams came out of Remedios's lips.

"Now our positions are reversed." Neia said, "Remember before? The way you tortured me, the way I sought to get you to stop this madness before it destroyed everything?" She asked as another arrow went into Remedios's cheek and out the other side, taking off a chunk of tongue with it's passing. "I didn't want to fight you, I never wanted any of this, you forced it, and now it has destroyed you." Another arrow entered next to its mate as Neia drew closer.

Remedios toppled forward, the arrow in her hand snapped as she thrust her arms out instinctively to stop her fall. Skana closed in next to her as Neia grabbed Remedios by the hair, yanked her head back, and thrust her armored knee into the fallen paladin's face, once, twice, three and four times in a row, until there were no more screams left in her battered form.

"You did this!" Neia screamed at her as rage boiled up, "You brought us to this end, you stubborn stupid bitch!" She screamed again as Remedios fell onto her back.

Blood fountained out of Remedios's mouth, her arms moved pointlessly, nothing to speak of remained of her face, she was in terrible pain, she had no screams left, only groans.

"Neia, no more… end it!" Skana shouted, grabbing Neia's shoulder, "She's suffered enough!" Remedios continued to move her lips, desperately trying to speak.

"She could never suffer enough!" Neia shouted angrily.

"Neia! No! Just end it!" Skana shouted and grabbed her wife hard on the shoulder. The dark raging aura that was building up around Neia began to fade, little by little.

Remedios was still trying to force out words, despite her tongue being mangled… twice, and the arrows still stuck through both cheeks, but Neia was obviously not who she was speaking to, her arm went up, her hand, still with a broken piece of arrow in it, curled as if to grasp someone offering help.

Neia put her bow away and picked up Remedios's sword. She stood over the woman who she once admired so much, she looked down into the battered face, so beaten that it was unrecognizable.

"For all of them." Neia said as she brought the sword up. Skana nodded mutely, keeping her hand on Neia's shoulder.

"Calca…" Remedios said softly, getting the name out, mangled and mutilated, but getting it out nonetheless. "Calca…"

And Neia thrust the sword down through Remedios's throat, and cut off any other words, her outstretched hand closed into a fist, then fell limply to her side.


	117. Red Snow

**AN: Just a few quick notes...here's double release day number 3, I'm going to get started on the next two chapters shortly, unfortunately I AM going to be slowed down tomorrow, we have a 2 star general coming down because somebody fucked up a class that a Colonel was sitting in and of course... he complained. 'sigh' Soooo as a result I've got to give up my down time tomorrow and go give a class so that 'we' look good. The reward of good work is... more work. :D I'm a trifle salty about going in, but I actually do enjoy giving classes and public speaking, I'm just annoyed I won't have the time tomorrow that I thought I would, still, expect repeated double release days until the 5th of September. Longer if I end up having to skip days due to schedule shifts, but that 'shouldn't' happen very often.**

 **Next up, I want to offer a special thanks to reviewer 'Maderfole' who gave me perhaps THE most detailed review I have gotten since I started this project, seriously dude, that is the kind of critical feedback every writer who's skin isn't made of onion peels, CRAVES, HUGE help and I really appreciate the time and effort you put into it. Not that the rest of y'all are chopped liver or anything, but holy shit his was the size of some chapters I've seen and it covered everything I wanted, the good and the bad.**

 **I'm an OK writer, maybe better than OK, but I know my work isn't perfect, even if 'I' can't see the flaws, so seeing such an enormous amount of effort go in to detailing it all...my one criticism in return is...dude where were you four months ago? ;) Ah well, anyway, I'll have the next chapter up in about 5 minutes, if you don't see it, brew some coffee and come back after it's done. Now on with the show.**

 _...Nazarick…_

Ainz returned to his place in Nazarick to watch the rest of the battle unfold, though he considered turning the tide himself, he ultimately thought, 'No, I will not take their victory away.' Sebas had remained in place all but unmoving, but even without saying anything, Ainz could sense that Sebas was pleased that the young woman he'd watched over and saved from death once before, had seen her life extended beyond another moment.

Demiurge of course, was quick to voice his praise, "Of course, Lord Ainz! Your current plan makes much more sense! How could I not have seen it before?!" He touched his hand to his forehead at the revelation of the finely detailed plan his master had clearly laid out. "This is much better than allowing her to die!"

"Think nothing of it, Demiurge." Ainz said casually, choosing not to ask just what the archdevil was thinking.

"How is your 'head' project going?" Ainz asked, hoping for a distraction.

"Very well, My Lord. Our blood pumps with mana crystals attachments are keeping the heads alive and aware now and we have not lost anyone from the latest round of trials, I believe we're nearly ready for deployment into field use now." Demiurge said proudly.

"Good, Neia promised me the head of Remedios Custodio. It would be a shame to waste it. After she is dead, we'll restore her, remove the head, keep it alive, and give her over to the elves in the settled lands, put her under a curse in an elf village somewhere so that she must raise the alarm whenever a threat appears. That seems a fitting end." Ainz said casually. Demiurge was smiling for the rest of the day, overjoyed at the cunning and cleverness of his master.

 _...Prart…_

When the sword came down and buried itself into Remedios's throat, Neia did not feel the relief she thought she would, instead her mind flew back to the assassin, the man who had tried to end her life as she slept, and the way he hanged for it.

She'd walked away from his corpse in the rain that day, she was alone, and all she'd felt was sadness for the waste. Now here she had buried blade through flesh so hard that the sword stayed erect in the ground, swaying back and forth as she let go of the hilt.

Remedios's body did not know it had died yet, it was still twitching as if there was still some human will to fight left within her, but Neia had killed enough to know that this was just 'the end' taking place, she would not rise again, not from this.

"Neia…?" Skana said as the pope looked down at the almost severed head, the pope looked up.

"I know." Neia said, and snapped her eyes around her, "Finish the rest!" She took up her own sword and alongside Skana, they began to move towards the fray. The fight had moved considerably farther from the gate now, heavy undead horses were terribly difficult to put down, though not impossible, they were closing in on the enemy camp, enough so that as they got halfway there, CZ had abandoned her position to join the pair and close the range.

"Better?" CZ asked as they moved their battered, exhausted bodies over the hellscape that was the battlefield.

"No." Neia answered grimly. Churned up frozen dirt had mixed with snow melted from the heat of human living bodies and the blood loss that changed them to dead ones made for a bleak and ugly view. Men and women groaned where they lay, whether they were lucky or not when compared to the unmoving was… debatable, to say the least.

Filth, cries and hands grasping out, calling for aid that none of the trio could provide, battered at their backs and would haunt the conscience of the pope. She remembered a book she'd read in her freetime when in Nazarick. "The comrade who fell and cried for aid, whom I moved past, I judge myself in the trial of my heart and am therefore guilty." She recited the words softly, but trudged on.

She wanted to look back at the bodies of her comrades, especially the merchant whose heart she'd pierced, but now was not the time, she felt his gaze on her nonetheless, piercing through her asking why she had not grown farther, faster.

They were halfway within reach by now. They could still hear fighting behind them, Neia didn't need to look to know what was happening, the gate security forces had seen the victory beginning in her location and had chosen to send aid, therefore her city's observers had chosen to sortie on their own to prevent an attack on the rear position or take advantage of the now depleted southern gate.

"CZ, take up a position as soon as you're in range." Neia said.

"No." CZ said.

"I'm sorry." Neia asked in surprise.

"No. I guard 'close' now." CZ said.

Another person might have thought she felt nothing, but after so long with her, CZ's very subtle inflections were an open book, and Neia knew when it was futile to argue. She sighed, "Fine. We don't have time to argue."

Neia took out arrows from the bodies she passed and put them back into her quiver, it wasn't long before they were within range, CZ was the first to fire, and bodies began to drop. Neia nocked an arrow soon after, walking and firing was no easy thing for most, but her skill had grown by leaps and bounds with countless hours of practice and real life and death experience. She knew to release the arrow at the most stable state of her step, ensuring it flew straight and true and deprived the target of their life. By the time they reached position, she had enough strength restored… and a lack of arrows, to rush to the fray with her sword out.

The fighting was thickest at the centre, but as both sides exhausted themselves, the fight devolved into battle pulses, where combatants would clash together for brief moments, perhaps a minute or less, then withdraw a few paces to breath, however there were those for whom this was not an issue. Lakyus had her whirling blades and she could reap a harvest of death as long as she had the means to sustain them, her own cursed blade was all but weightless in her hands, and her reputation alone meant that she had few eager to come to try to bring her down.

Neia's green armor was distinctive, as was the famous bow visible on her back, and her face bare to all so that her terrifying gaze could serve as armor in its own right. Also, she carried her runecraft blade which was as sharp as a comedian's wit and even if it was not her specialty, she was vastly more experienced than most of those she might face, and had the support of her wife on her left and her bodyguard over to her right.

Inch by inch, the recruits of Remedios Custodio were forced back and the wedge grew between them and the remaining allies of the Slane Theocracy. Without the very best of the best of the scriptures, their power was effectively halved or worse, and though they could even kill those of the famous hundred that had been with Neia since they'd begun guarding Tinamoc's trade caravan, neither the Holocaust nor the Black scriptures were trained to fight as part of an army, they fought as individuals or small squads at best.

With the equipment the select few had been given, the scripture threat was greatly elevated but even if the hundred could not bring them down, they could keep them on the defensive and constantly threaten the flanks.

Neia unleashed her voice, shouting down her enemies. It trampled the very clouds with its thunder, calling down terror and fear, while in her allies, it sprang up as lovely as flowers in spring, heartening them and filling their bodies with energy and courage to fight. Fluder's fireballs constantly hit one flank over and over again, concentrating his fire to devastating effect, and few angels were now left in the air. Those who had called them up had gradually expended their mana and been reduced to hand-to-hand combat. Arrows were all but nonexistent, few had any left.

Skana's sword dancing killed fewer than expected, but with her visible skill she was able to keep opponents off Neia's flank, allowing her wife to advance further and further into what was now the heart of the enemy encampment for the force besieging the southern gate. Carts overturned and fire sprung up everywhere as the sun began to dip below the horizon. Night turned the fighting into nightmare, fire illuminated friend and foe to give them faces like demons, and it was soon impossible to distinguish who brother or sister from dreaded foe.

Neia cursed. "Fall back!" She shouted loud enough to be heard, this did not, as she feared, embolden her enemies, if anything it seemed to embolden them to only do what they wanted to do, and that was to flee with their lives intact. The southern force began to withdraw themselves and from there they turned to rout entirely.

"We're not pursuing?" Skana asked in disbelief.

"We're drained, if we pursue, we'll be chasing them at night when they're desperate. Send word to the villages all along the way, I doubt they've been very good to those places they passed by, our militias will hunt down many of them out of revenge alone."

She bit her lip in thought and then added, "We'll dispatch cavalry as soon as we get back to the city and keep the pressure up, but our army here is wrecked beyond our ability to fight any further. Now we need to see to the rest of the walls." Neia's voice was filled with exhaustion as she gave her instructions and after wiping the blood from her sword, she sheathed it and looked around, the camp was a wreck, burning husks of wagons and bodies, fabric, barrels, everything ruined, bent, broken and shattered.

She supposed she should have raised her sword and shouted their victory, but she didn't feel as victorious as she thought she would.

"Return to the city, first and second, western wall! Third and fourth, eastern wall! Fifth, follow me through the city to the southern wall! CZ, Skana, Lakyus! You're with me!" Neia's shout echoed over the field, reminding them all that whatever had happened where they were, the fight might not be over yet.

"If our forces have broken off, do not engage! Return to the city, eat, and sleep! If you want to die, don't do it in the dark where none will see you! Die in the daylight, at least you'll have a goodnight's sleep first!" She shouted in the most humorous voice she could, eliciting grim and often forced laughs out of her audience.

It was a grim walk back, the ground wasn't that large, barely a mile, before it had seemed so endless, now it seemed like nothing, but it was a very grim nothing. When they got an eighth of a mile from the gate, Neia found Remedios's body, the sword still sticking out of the remains of the fallen paladin.

She looked down at the corpse, and knelt next to it. Lakyus placed her hand on Neia's shoulder. Neia closed the vacant eyes of the dead paladin. "You OK?" Lakyus asked with concern.

Neia stood up, drew the sword from out of the throat, raised it, and hacked down once, severing the spine and detaching the head. She picked it up by the hair and looked at it from eye level. Lakyus, CZ, and Skana were each at a loss to guess what thoughts lay behind the blank face. That was what bothered Skana, Neia's face showed absolutely nothing, even CZ's face has shown more emotion. The demon maid was looking over at Neia as the warrior pope let the head fall to her side and dangle from her grip, the maid demon's eye twitched ever so slightly as Neia said, "Come on, I need to see how Momon is doing on the other side." She said, not answering Lakyus's question.

The gates opened for them again and they passed through them, as they did, Neia passed the head to a guard, "Put that thing in a bag and have it delivered to the manor for me, I've got work to do." She said, and kept walking as the man looked at what she'd handed him so casually and realized he was gazing at a human head, he dropped it and jumped back against the wall in surprise, and drawing a somewhat embarrassing yelp from the poor man in the same moment.

Neia paid no mind to that, he would obey, they always did. Skana's thoughts turned elsewhere, she returned to thoughts of her early years before the war with Jaldabaoth, the plays that were put on by troops of actors that sometimes passed through her village, the occasional bard or singer who traded heroic epics for a night's lodging, a meal, and a few coins. She'd sometimes given the better looking ones a little fun as an extra reward. She still smiled at those memories, but in this moment she thought about how they talked about charges across long fields, they seemed so amazing at the time, but now? Now she wanted to laugh, she was worn out, the fighting had been intense and every muscle ached, if she tried to charge from one end to the other, she was quite sure she'd drop dead of exhaustion. She mentally promised the next time she heard a bard sing about a long charge over a field, she'd chuck a bread roll at their head.

The fighting they'd heard earlier however, had died down before they got halfway through the city, after so much… it was all Neia could do to stand on her feet, the silence, it was like she'd heard nothing but metal on metal, screams and death for an eternity, and then suddenly nothing. The silence was unnerving. She pounded on a nearby guard shack, several ready militia emerged. When the torch light hit her face, the fear nearly caused them to faint.

She wasted no time. "I need one of you at every wall. If tranquility reigns, have the command of each position meet me in the manor, I want to know exactly what happened." She turned to Skana, "Organize one hour guard shifts for the South Wall, minimal manning but everyone sleeps in full kit tonight, I won't have us taken by surprise, and…" Her eyes welled up, "Have… have someone bring Tinamoc's body in please, I want to see him."

"Yes, ma'am." Skana answered, rendering a salute as Neia turned to go back to the manor. CZ and Lakyus followed after her as she walked.

"Lakyus, do you want to go check on your s-... your team?" Neia asked with concern.

"They'll join us in the meeting hall." She said gravely.

"Mhmm." Neia said absently.

They were quiet.

Lakyus fidgeted.

"You were amazing." Lakyus said softly. "Like… like one of us, like a rose." She cracked a smile.

"Thanks." Neia said numbly. "I feel pruned." Lakyus rolled her eyes, it seemed to her that in addition to the Sorcerer King's power, she drew on his inability to tell a decent joke.

"What was that… the thing that happened earlier?" Lakyus asked with disbelief still in her voice.

"I don't know." Neia said, she looked over at Lakyus, her face was blank, but the familiarity that had developed between the two women revealed a hint of confusion that told Lakyus that Neia was being truthful.

"It felt like 'him'. Like the Sorcerer King." Lakyus said.

"I know. For a moment, I thought it was his wrath falling on me for killing Tinamoc but… then I realized that wasn't it, something was different, but I'm not nearly as powerful as he is, instead I think I… I don't know, borrowed some part of him, and even doing that was tearing my body apart, I couldn't contain it and…" Neia went very quiet again. She couldn't say 'I almost died.'

She didn't need to say it, Lakyus had been at hand and had tried to reach out and touch her, to yank her back, she knew her friends and her wife had tried to help, but she was glad they hadn't pressed too hard.

"Don't do that again though, promise." Neia implored, momentarily throwing Lakyus off, "Don't try to… pull me out of that." Neia clarified.

Lakyus pursed her lips. "I can't make that promise." She replied.

"Promise me." Neia demanded firmly. The warrior pope's eyes had frightened kings and dragons, she had stood in a whirlwind of killing intent and smiled at the one who tried to terrify her as if he had been a mere child, yet now, even with the death shadow blackness gone from her eyes, they were powerful to look into. Not, in this moment, because Lakyus found them terrifying to her, but because it seemed that behind them was an ocean of tears held back only by sheer force of will. Lakyus had seen pain, she had felt pain, but… she had never been forced to kill a loved one, and Neia had done exactly that only a candle or so ago. Nor had he been the first of those she valued, that she had been forced to strike down.

Neia might as well have been saying, "Please don't make me kill another of my friends." It was tragic, but it was also touching, and so it rent the heart for Lakyus to reply as she did.

"No." Lakyus said firmly.

"Lakyus, please… I've killed enough of my friends, if that happens again, I don't want to lose another, if I… just don't, OK?" Neia asked gently, "I don't know how that happened, or how to control it… yet, but if it happens like that, things are bad, very bad, and it's better to use me as a weapon that protects my friends, than let me be the living accident that destroys them." Neia's voice was not a hammer, it was a gentle falling rain that caressed the skin, there was a deep well within that blank face.

Lakyus's voice was patient, gentle, and noble, every syllable bespoke her good breeding. "Neia, maybe when we first met, we were just client and client representative. But for better or worse, we've helped each other, we've fought together, we live together in that manor, we're friends, so I know what you're asking and why you're asking it. And given a reversal of our positions I'd ask the same as you, and you'd say 'no' the same as I am now. I'll promise not to take undue risks, but you can't ask me to just stand aside and watch my comrade's body get ripped apart." It hurt to have to say it, to deny such a heartfelt request, but as Neia looked into the noble eyes of her commanding counterpart, she saw in turn, a sadness that mirrored her own, at the thought of abandoning a comrade.

She did not ask again.

Neia glanced over at CZ.

"Don't ask." The demon maid answered in advance, and shut her down at the outset.

"So this is what it is like to feel frustrated and proud at the same time." Neia said, cracking a very small smile. It might have been forced, but it was there.

Both Lakyus and CZ shrugged casually. "I still can't believe it." Neia said, her hushed voice a stark contrast to the neutral mask on her face as they mounted the stairs leading up to the manor.

"What?" Lakyus asked.

"Remedios is dead, she's finally dead. All this time, all the horror, all the blood, and one thrust and a quick hack later, then she's dead and her head is probably in a potato sack headed this way by now. I should feel happy, relieved, I should feel lots of things, but honestly, I just don't know what I feel, maybe I don't even feel anything at all." Neia's voice was confused and troubled as she spoke, the doors opened and she rendered a return salute to the guards.

"Well, you have time to figure it out, Remedios doesn't, and that means she won't be lighting anymore people on fire, you have to feel pretty damn good about that." Lakyus said emphatically.

Neia let out a genuine smile, "You know, put that way, about that at least, I do." She said as she entered the meeting hall and took her seat at the head of the table. A few minutes later, the rest of Blue Rose, Momon, Ulthis, and Skana entered and took seats at the table. Right behind the last of them came a guard who was carrying a potato sack, he approached Neia and held it out to her uncomfortably. "Thank you." She said to him, "Sorry I made you tend to this, I thought I had to go make more of these, you're dismissed, soldier." She gave him a wane smile, then a salute, and as he returned the salute, she let him leave, which he did, very quickly.

When the last of them were seated, Neia stood up, reached in, took the head out of the bag and held it up for the whole table to see. "We've solved one big problem today, but now I want to hear how it went for the rest of you." She said, letting them look long and hard at the head of Remedios Custodio, before she set it back in the bag and then on the floor, she put her boot on top of the head, and wished that Remedios could feel it. "Lord Momon, would you go first?" She asked, looking directly at the raven black hero.


	118. Ils Ne Passeront Pas

**God Rising**

 **Chapter 118**

 **Written by: AtheistBasementDragon**

 **Edited by: The Usual Gang of Drunken Perverted Idiots**

 **AN: And here we are, the second act is about to close out here shortly, there'll be an intermission chapter detailing some world reactions, then the story will shift back to it's multifaceted state. To be frank I...MAY have to take a day or two off just to reread the ten or twenty chapters before the siege of Prart simply because so much time has been spent on this one...but you can expect quite a bit in the days ahead. Till next chapter...OH, and of course, reviews feed authors, don't leave us to starve. :)**

 _...South Gate of Prart...Earlier that Day…_

Yuri was utterly horrified, and Suchala was not less so, not because of the barbarism, neither minded brutality much, if for different reasons, nor did they mind how much this would damage Neia Baraja, but it seemed a huge risk to assume that the fighting might pause.

"It will, trust me." Remedios said. She had a very smug expression on her face. "Don't forget, Neia used to work for me. She scouted for us on the way to Re-Estize and on the way to the Sorcerous Kingdom, she was with me all through the fight with Jaldabaoth. She might seem like an ice cold killer, but it's like having a wound you're used to, you stop noticing, like your old bones creaking doesn't bother you anymore, Suchala." She gave the old general a smug look. "This will be an all new wound, she'd stop the world, and then I get to rip her heart out."

Both Yuri and Suchala had come to regret listening to her. They watched dumbstruck as Neia 'broke' and some horrible black-eyed being was born from who she had been, which exuded terror and pressure that had only one event of its like before. They still remembered the wave, those who lived to old age, even to a thousand, would never forget it, and now here it was again, concentrated and progressively moving over their army like a blanket woven from the threads of a thousand nightmares. They could only watch as the towers shattered and their men screamed before the pressure tore their jaws away from their heads.

It continued outward and brought their men to their knees, grunting frantically, some horses fell with broken legs, neighing painfully.

The only relief seemed to be that it was hurting Neia too. The pressure continued to move outwards. "We wait it out, it'll stop when she dies." Suchala kept his head about him.

"We won't have an army then!" Yuri shouted at him, grabbing his arm and forcing him to look at her.

They heard her shout, "I'll take you all with me!" and Suchala's face went white as a ghost. Yuri nodded grimly, "I've been dealing with these fanatics longer than you have! They won't stop, she won't stop, she's insane, she'll rip her own body apart if that is what it takes, she doesn't care! Now listen to me and listen good! However devoted you are to the silent six, she's a thousand times more so devoted to her single and very active one! We're fucked, do you understand me?! That stupid bitch pushed her too far and even if 'that' stops, the broken spirits won't mend and we'll have holes in our lines where people died!"

Yuri could see Suchala thinking it over, her hand darted up and she slapped him, hard. He hit back, harder with his lips curled in a snarl. Yuri fell to the ground on her back, it was enough to excite her masochistic tendencies, but she got back up, "That's exactly right!" She said of his strike, "You hit me because I hit you, Remedios just hit Neia hard enough to break her, and Neia's wife is up there while our army is getting literally crushed into the ground! What do you think she'll do?!" Yuri grabbed his shoulders and shook him hard.

"Gather what people you can, start calling back a few, we have GOT to start moving some of our people out of here, FAST! The siege is lost. Our best bet is to fall back to Yanana and hope we have enough of a head start to rest there before we move further south. If we can't or we don't, then we're done for!" Yuri said emphatically.

"Damnitall!" Suchala shouted frustratedly as he watched the events unfold and he watched the wall intently for a few seconds. "No… what?" He muttered in disbelief as he watched the dark figure pull Neia back into an embrace, and the wave went wild and vanished soon after.

"Alright fine!" He said, "Do it!"

When night finally fell and gave them a reprieve, Yuri and Suchala worked triple quick to gather routed soldiers to their ranks, they marched, or more accurately, trudged in defeat back the way they'd come, neither believed themselves to be safe, both expected it would not be long before cavalry was dispatched to harass them and they had few horses with which to respond, but venturing south was now their only choice. Though neither knew the fate of Remedios Custodio, there was little doubt in either of their minds that with the fall of the southern gate's command position, the siege of Prart was truly over.

 _...North Gate of Prart...Earlier that Day…_

Momon arrived at the North gate to find Evileye barking out instructions to various soldiers. She was brusque in her mode of speech, though he supposed that was because of the position she'd found herself in here in Prart. He stood patiently behind her until she'd finished speaking, and when the last soldier departed, he asked "How may I be of assistance!" in a firm, noble voice.

Evileye jumped and spun around, though she wore a mask, the fact that her voice had gone several octaves higher was quite noticeable. "Lord Momon! I didn't think you'd be here!" She said excitedly.

"Well, I am. Should I not be? The Sorcerer King said that General Neia Baraja was asking for additional help." He said thoughtfully, only for Evileye to shake her head so vigorously that it seemed it might pop off her body, she waved her hands in the air with wild, animate gestures.

"No, no, no, no, no, no! We can definitely use your help, it is just, I didn't know you were coming and ah… well thank you for coming!" She sputtered, covering her awkwardness as best she could.

"Of course. Open the gate then." He said.

"O-Open the gate? But…" Evileye began to stammer out.

A sound from beyond the gate told them there was no more time, Momon looked towards the wall, "You are right, there is no time for that, they are coming."

Evileye had no time to object as he jumped to the top of the wall and then beyond it out of sight.

She swooned briefly, "He's so cool…" She said, clasping her hands together, she flew to the top of the wall and stared down at the force beyond. In truth, however she was scanning for only one thing, and it was not that army.

She was looking for Momon, she found him as he stepped away from where he'd landed, and moved to stand in the middle of the path to the gate. He took out his two massive blades and held them out at an angle from his body.

"They… Shall Not… Pass!" Momon's voice echoed to every soldier on the wall, and it echoed to those who could scarcely understand what they were seeing, a raven black warrior was standing alone holding two enormous blades and pronouncing the futility of their coming at him? Madness.

Or so it seemed until they began to draw closer, creaking wood drowning out their footsteps as towers moved towards the wall.

Above him, Evileye repeated his call, "They. Shall not. Pass." From one to another, it became a chant as bows were fitted with arrows, until it became a battle cry that crashed like an avalanche down a mountain side.

Still the forces of the Slane Theocracy marched on, while Momon stood alone not thirty paces beyond the gate. Orders were being shouted up and down the battle lines of both sides, and moments felt like hours, but Momon did not move. Not even as arrows flew from the wall and back again, no one seriously thought he would stand there, none except for one masked vampire mage.

Not until they were ten feet from where he stood, did he play any role but that of a statue, then as if he received a signal that was only known to himself, he sprang forward, unleashed like an arrow from a bow, he went for the nearest tower and to the terrible awe of the Slane Theocracy, the hero of humanity brought the structure down with a single blow, his sword clove through it, splintering wood from one side all the way to the other, nor did he stop at a single tower, he went down the line, the towers on the left wing were doomed, they did not fall 'immediately' but it was clear they would. Men screamed down below for those waiting above to 'Get down now!'. Some heard and heeded the warning as their brothers and sisters below rushed out of it. Others did not hear nor listen.

The towers on the right wing received the same treatment, and he returned to where he stood, holding the same dramatic pose that now seemed not a statue, but an impassable feature of the landscape itself.

He waited, the towers creaked and groaned, and then one after another, they fell forward, crashing to the ground like the fallen great trees. Momon had made himself a target, Evileye was at once awed and terrified, even the most powerful could be felled by a lucky blow. She began sending crystal shards into the enemy ranks, her soldiers at the wall, briefly frozen in shock, resumed their work with deadly confidence.

"Protect the hero! Will you let him fight alone?!" She shouted, the Slane Theocracy had halted briefly in shock, but heroes can be born in many lands, and true courage was not a virtue of only the greatest of warriors, so from their ranks came champions of the Theocracy.

For a moment it appeared, they were going to speak, to try to address him, to try to convince him that he should turn on the city he had come to protect, and Evileye trembled for a moment, she knew what she was, her sisters had only recently learned of it, and even now she knew it was still a struggle for Lakyus to accept, though she loved her sister for the effort. Lord Momon was a human however, could he be persuaded to turn on those who were not like himself? "No, he's far too noble for that." Evileye whispered so softly that only she could hear her own words.

She was thankfully not wrong. "Save your words, warriors of the Slane Theocracy!" Momon stabbed one sword into the ground, it shook at the force of the thrust and he brought his mailed fist hard to his own chest. "I am Momon, I have given my oath to protect the city, I know you come to destroy it! I have seen your works and judged them cruel! Yes, I once defended humanity alone, for virtues I thought humans alone to have possessed! But I have lived in E-Rantel and seen that virtue knows not only a single flesh! I have seen goblin children play with human children! I have seen the young of the Zern help humans build homes! I have seen giants on the hunt share the fruits of success with human party members! So now I tell you this, I, Momon, defend all who live justly, NO MATTER THEIR FLESH! Come at me if you wish to slay the just, but know that you will die before you can reach that wall!" He gestured dramatically behind him, and took his sword out again, pointing it toward the army in front of him.

 _...Nazarick…_

' _He's never going to stop… is he?_ ' Ainz thought as he cringed at the dramatic gestures of Pandora's Actor.

Yet as he watched, it seemed to have an electric effect on those behind them, Momon was widely known beyond his own adoptive home city, even his enemies knew his greatness, he was not less well known among demihumans, but this was the first time they'd heard of him as 'their' defender, and to hear the greatest champion of humanity speak of them as if they were his own, swelled their hearts to bursting, as near as Ainz could tell, he wondered again if there was something wrong with his taste, or that of the New World in which he'd found himself.

 _...Prart..._

Evileye made two silent vows as she heard him speak that she would survive this, and no matter what, so would he, even if she had to break the first vow to ensure that kept the second. She wanted to cry with joy at hearing his short address to those who came to preserve the old ways.

But she couldn't, she had to ensure his survival, no matter what, Momon would survive, she would watch his back while his partner was away. The Holocaust Scripture came for him, five abreast they rushed in, they knew his reputation, they used every martial art they knew at the beginning, they moved faster than the eye could see, only to find he was not standing where he had been, a monk attempted a punch only to find his fist grabbed and crushed into powder before he was flung bodily at the oncoming ranks of soldiers, the army of the Slane Theocracy could do little, they had counted on the towers, now they had to rush people on horseback to the east and west gates to retrieve ladders.

In the meantime, magic flew back and forth from to and from the wall, arrows filled the sky, and those without such weapons hunkered down behind shields as the duel between Theocracy Scripture and the Raven Black Hero of Legend continued on. Momon might not have had magic himself, but Evileye could see he was adept at avoiding it, she targeted those who attempted to strike him from a distance or from behind, more than once bringing up a crystal wall, to stop a spell, only for Momon himself to shatter it by flinging an unfortunate scripture member through it like it was nothing but mere storefront glass.

Momon's sword severed two scripture members entirely in half with ease, and it became clear that elites or not, these heroes of the Slane Theocracy were in a one-sided fight that they could never hope to win, not in a thousand tries for a thousand lifetimes. Momon had impossible strength and speed to match, their weapons, gifts of the very gods themselves, seemed like children's toys in the few hits they did land, which they suspected he 'let' them land, simply skittered away, deflected by his godlike armor.

Within a matter of minutes, a long time in a fight really, all of them were dead or dying on the ground, scattered in front of them. He had kept his promise, they would not pass him.

"Turn around! Go home!" Momon shouted to the army in front of him, "Leave this place now, and I will guarantee that you will not be harmed, no one will hunt you, no one will harm you, and if that means I must protect you myself, then I will do so! I will put the name of Momon to your lives!" He said loud enough for the army in front of him to hear.

"Refuse, and my next attack will come to you! Let it not be said that Momon is merciless in his actions!" Momon added firmly.

There was a moment of hesitation, the commander of the Theocracy that sat on horseback drew his sword and held it into the air, he had the face of a man already dead.

"Then your choice is made, and I am free of the blood guilt for ending your lives!" Momon said authoritatively.

"Get down there!" Evileye roared to the soldiers on the wall, "Open the gate! Are you going to let Lord Momon fight an army by himself?! Open the gate! Charge! Rally to the raven black hero!" She shouted almost frantically, and it put the force on the ground and on the wall into instant motion.

The gate was already creaking open and the first few soldiers made it through just as the commander of the Slane Theocracy lowered his sword at Momon and commanded that they strike him down.

Momon was already moving, he tore through armor and bodies like they were paper dolls and he a pair of adamantite scissors. Evileye was already up above and sending crystal buckshots into the thick of it all, and then the rest of her forces hit, the melee was sheer chaos as people clashed so closely together that some could scarcely hold a sword out to thrust or slash it.

That was when they heard the voice. "Remedios!" And the terrible rumble that grew to roar began at the south gate. Momon knew all too well that this had to be ended quickly, and so he did, speeding up the terrible whirlwind of death that he had become, and despite having superior numbers, pebbles, even a thousand times a thousand times over, could not bring down a mountain. The massed desperate efforts at bringing down the hero were quickly coming to nothing, and when thousands more were added to it who came on knowing that they could not be defeated, while those who were failing could only feel their lives being swept aside and had no hope for victory in their hearts, the weight of their mortality slowed their swords and weakened their resolve, and so they died in great numbers and at great speed.

The killing did not stop until the light of day did. When it was done, Momon raised his sword and let out the victory call, they had won the day where they stood, a sea of bodies lay around them, and Evileye took advantage of that moment as she came down from the sky and fell into his embrace. "We won!" She squealed happily. "Thank you, Lord Momon, for everything! Not just for this but… for fighting for my future." She said, a little nervousness in the voice of the battle hardened heroine.

"Hmmm." He said after letting her 'hang on him' for a moment, he stabbed his sword into the ground, then reached out, touching the bottom of her mask, then to her surprise, he lifted the mask up away from her face.

"You know," he said, "I think you look better this way."

' _WHHHHHHHHAAAATT?!_ ' Evileye thought in surprise. 'Did he just...?'

He held her eyes with his, and she felt her long stilled heart beat in spite of its impossibility.

"Your future is deserved, defender of justice. No need to live in hiding anymore, not after this." Momon said in assurance, and after he put his swords away, he took her little waist in his hands and gently disengaged her from himself and put her back down to the ground. She felt so thrilled by his evident, shockingly casual, treatment of her vampirism, even though he had known for some time, this was the proof that it simply did not matter to him. That alone made her so happy that she couldn't even bring herself to pout when he set her down. She looked at the mask as he handed it back to her, and rather than put it back over her face, she slipped it into her belt, and turned to her army. 'Let them see. If Lord Momon does not care, let anyone dare to.' She thought proudly.

"Tend to the wounded! Take prisoners, squads set a watch to the wall, minimal manning, then go rest up!" She seemed almost comical, her tiny body and loud voice barking out orders, but nobody laughed, they went to work, binding the wounded of both sides and tending to the injured as they sorted through the living and the dead.

As she walked back to the gate, beside Momon with her face naked to the world for the first time in some two hundred years, not simply revealed to a few leaders, not to a handful of family members, but bare for all the world to see, she had a degree of confidence about her future that she felt might last forever. The only thing that held any concern for her now was, 'If my sisters could see me at this moment, will I ever live this blush down?'

'Who cares, I have my Raven black hero, and he thinks I'm pretty.' She thought with no small amount of satisfaction.

 _...Prart, Governor's Manor…_

"...And that is how it happened." Momon finished giving his report. As he sat down, Evileye, for the first time in her life, genuinely missed having her mask on, she had been more than a little worried he would drop some embarassing detail of her responses and behavior which… the entire table, especially her team, would absolutely believe. It had been all she could do to not sweat blood to reveal his comment on her beauty.

One by one the others filled in the gaps, how the west gate had seen the attempt at pulling out and offering support and sent out Astraka's former army to deal with it, lead by Gagaran & Tina, the east gate had seen the same, and lead by Ulthis and Tia, they had used the other half of Astraka's army to the same purpose. Between their use of reserves and support from the walls, each gate had been effectively prevented from supporting the others and eventually gained local superiority enough to drive them off in a rout.

It had been a satisfying work.

"Casualties?" Neia asked.

"Still coming in." Skana said after she stood up. "However it looks like out of the elites of the hundred we suffered twenty five dead…"

Neia's eyes went wide, "So many? We didn't even lose that many against the Gray Scripture."

"I know, but the fact that we lost 'only' twenty five today is miracle enough." Skana said calmly. "Out of the rest of the force at the south gate, it looks like, based on preliminary estimates by small group commanders, that we lost almost twenty five thousand dead or wounded, we can't be sure yet, however estimates are that the casualties we inflicted were over one hundred thousand killed or captured among Remedios's fanatics and their Slane Theocracy supporters." Skana finished and sat down.

The table was quiet. Taken together with the dead of the other gates, even without the casualty figures yet, it was the single largest battle in the world's history as far as they knew, and what was more, taken together from both sides, it had higher casualty levels than the Massacre at the Katze Plains.

Neia felt eyes on her, the weight of so many lives hanging over her head was like a dark cloud threatening to strike her down.

Her fingers intertwined together flat on the table in front of her. "I see." She said seriously, she took time looking around the table, the black void was gone from her eyes completely now, and they appeared as only the 'normal' nightmare inducing eyes that they were now familiar and comfortable with.

"You know, after we made it 'here' with the surviving slaves from Wenmark, and Tinamoc greeted me and showed me his success, I saw many fresh, happy faces, I saw a lot of survivors, everything I saw before, at the city…" She paused and swallowed hard, the elf servants who were attending the table stopped what they were doing to listen with interest, "…it did something to me, but when we made it back, to this place, and I saw all the survivors, the people who now got to have their lives back, they were their own again, I had one thought, can you guess what that was?" Neia asked.

Heads shook.

"I thought, 'It wasn't for nothing.' I think that is what got me the most, was that there was so much stupid suffering and death, it was just all for nothing and nobody had gotten anything for it except more pain, more suffering, and more death for their trouble."

She shook her head regretfully, "But when I saw the former slaves crying with joy, just wanting to give me thanks I didn't really deserve given my… mistakes, I was reminded that it hadn't been for nothing, that we did accomplish 'something', and as terrible as this all is, as great as those numbers are, these are the labor pains to birth a new world."

"If I could create it without suffering anyone to lose their lives, I would. I finally understand the way Queen Calca used to think, but we can't do that, things don't work the way we wish they did. So all I'll say to you all is this. You did good work and I'm proud of you all. Momon, I'm especially grateful that you chose to join us for this battle, without you, our losses would have been even greater."

"Tomorrow we'll have breakfast here and go over the night's cleanup results and deal with the final reports. The scouting parties should be out hunting down stragglers and I want to know what happened to Yuri and Suchala, if they died too, then we've all but won this country back, but if they're alive, well there is still one army in the south at least." Neia said in a very tired voice when a servant knocked on the door.

"Enter." She said, and a man approached, he leaned in and whispered, she nodded, he departed.

She let out an exhausted breath and stood. "If there is nothing else urgent right this moment, I…"

"There is one thing." Gagaran spoke up.

"Yes?" Neia asked in a voice filled with stress.

"What happened to you?" Gagaran asked bluntly. "I wasn't there, but I could see from where I was, and I heard some of the talk on the way over here, Lakyus was on that wall, and whatever happened could have killed her the way it killed the soldiers on the other side."

Neia hung her head, the neutral mask broke and a wave of guilt washed over her, only for the mask to quickly restore itself.

"Gagaran!" Lakyus said harshly, "Neia wouldn't hurt me." Her voice was confident, but Neia held up a hand.

"Maybe not on purpose, but we have a right to know what kind of threats we're facing, from inside as much as from outside." Gagaran said, standing her ground.

Lakyus and Skana were both on their feet, but Neia shook her head. "It's alright, you have a right to know." She didn't meet anyone's gaze, she just stared down at the table.

"The trouble is, I don't really know myself, when I… when I killed my friend, something broke, I don't know what else to say but that, I guess it has been building for awhile, Remedios even saw it, as near as I can guess, I somehow was able to tap into the power of the Sorcerer King. I was able to draw upon the pressure and terror he can exude and, I'll be honest, I have no idea how far that can go, but if he hadn't showed up and pulled me out of whatever state that was himself, I would have died. It was literally peeling my flesh away the way you'd slice the peel off of an apple. I managed to direct it, but it tore me apart along the way." Neia answered in a rambling, half-frustrated way.

"I can't promise that I'm not a threat, because I don't know how I drew on it in the first place, and I don't have the means to dispel it on my own. If anyone wants to leave…" Neia gestured to the door. "No hard feelings, truth is, it might even make me feel better." She lied with a hint of a smile to disguise the statement. "You'll get your full pay and I'll ask the Sorcerer King to transport you wherever you feel the safest. If I knew more, I'd tell you, but I can't say what I don't know." She went quiet and sat down to watch the table. Gagaran looked very uncomfortable.

"Sorry." She said glumly. "Just got a little worried is all." She said as she folded her arms.

"It's OK." Neia answered. "Other questions about… that?" She asked.

Silence fell.

"Then if we're done, I have to go, I'll be down in the crypt to see Tinamoc, his body I mean… I need to say a few things." She said, keeping her face coldly neutral, there were quiet salutes, as the rest of the table stood, and then she headed for the door.

"General Baraja, may I join you?" Momon asked politely.

She froze, he felt… so much like f- Ainz when he was close to her. "Y-Yes, if you wish. Please follow me." She said, and as the room emptied and went one direction, she lead him in another, until they were walking alone down a long hall together.


	119. Waking Up

God Rising

Chapter 119

Written by: AtheistBasementDragon

Edited by: The Usual Gang Of Drunken Perverted Idiots

AN: Another double release day, day four as promised. :) I have to work again tomorrow unexpectedly, but I'll get as much done as possible, in the meantime, enjoy, blah blah blah, leave reviews and tell me what you liked and didn't like, and of course, join my discord (Invite code in the author description)

 _...Prart, the Crypt..._

Neia and Momon were silent for most of the walk until they began to descend the stairs, finally Momon chose to break the ice. "The Sorcerer King did not mention you being... this quiet." He spoke up casually. "To the contrary, he praised your public speaking." He added.

Neia's face took on a wan smile that he could not see from behind her. "I killed a very close friend, not even a handful of hours ago, I'm going down here to see his body. When I had lost myself in my anger, when... that event... happened after his death, none of my friends could move, even my wife couldn't move. If I hadn't been able to shift the direction, I could have killed both Lakyus and my wife and myself and hundreds of my soldiers and broken the entire southern wall, leading to the complete collapse of the city and the death of everybody who was counting on me. What can I say after that?" She asked, feeling the guilt over the implication.

"That you did what you had to do, and that you didn't kill any of your friends, or your wife, or your soldiers on the wall." Momon replied, "There are a lot of 'could haves' in the world, but they don't matter, only what 'actually happens' matters. You can't feel guilty of things you didn't do." He advised sagely.

She smiled, "You remind me of him." She voiced gently.

"Who?" He asked, slightly tilting his head.

"The one I... well I called him my father when I thought I was going to die, guess I should be a little embarrassed about it now, thankfully he didn't mind... the Sorcerer King, I mean." She said weakly, anxiously as their footsteps echoed on the stone steps that twisted down into the ground below.

"Oh. How so?" Momon asked.

"You didn't have to try to make me feel better, but you did anyway and you gave me some good advice, I'm not that great at taking good advice but... I know it when I hear it." She let out a grave chuckle and trailed off for a moment, then she continued, "You also 'feel' like he does, like you share the same noble spirit, it feels like I am talking to him, so... please forgive me if I'm too forward or familiar with my words."

"It's alright." He said, nodding slightly, "But why did you call him father? Are you truly related in some way?" He cocked his head curiously as he spoke.

She shook her head, "Not in the traditional sense, no. But... he did give me life, and I found a new purpose in service to him. I haven't had a father in a long time, and even when I did have one, well I guess he wasn't bad, but he bore greater love for my mother than for me. So I was never very close to him, even though I have some things in common, my eyes, my skill with a bow, my ability as a scout. My mother was a skilled paladin, but she'd get lost in our own house if nobody pointed her to the exit." She smirked a little at the memory.

"So, it's just, the Sorcerer King... Ainz... it felt right to call him 'father' when I thought I was going to be torn apart, so he'd know how I felt, even if he only heard it second-hand at the end." She laughed a little awkwardly, "I hope the other guardians don't mind much."

They came to the bottom and approached a heavy wooden door that was obviously several centuries old and rarely used, with a thick layer of dust being one of the telltale signs. Neia turned the handle, opened it, then stepped into a room lit with a handful of stones that were enchanted with continual light magic. There were a number of slots carved into the walls along the length of the room but only four stones, clearly it was intended that the stones be moved around according to need. The room was long and had several tables set to waist height, each one roughly broad enough to hold a body over seven feet tall.

There were pillars every ten feet or so, carved from one solid piece of rock and polished smooth, Neia didn't recognize any of the designs on it, but they spoke of great antiquity. None of it bore any resemblance to the architecture or designs above ground. "Wow. The manor must have been built on top of this place." She muttered, impressed in spite of herself.

However she felt about the room was now quickly forgotten as she had a task in mind. A quarter way down the room she saw a body on one of the stone slab tables, there was only one body it could have been. She approached and stood at the right hand. She enfolded it in hers and looked him over. He was very pale, the blood had already pooled in his back, and part of his body had been covered to give him some semblance of dignity in death, she looked at his face, his eyes were open and white as ice. She looked down at him in melancholy.

"I'm sorry I killed you." She choked out. "If I'd let you stay in the city, you might have been fine, you almost certainly would have been. Or if I'd sent guards with you whether you wanted them or not, maybe they'd have kept you safe. We had a great run, you and I. Accomplished a lot, the truth is, you saved more lives than I did, and I learned a lot from you. You were like an uncle to me after awhile, not just another mission. I hope you can rest easy, wherever you are, as soon as I'm able, I'll go visit your wife and beg her forgiveness for letting you come to this end." Neia said in a small, almost little girl-like voice.

Momon stood quietly beside her as she spoke. When she stopped, Momon asked, "Was this man an asset to the Sorcerer King?"

Neia looked over at him, "He would have been, had he lived, he was very impressed with the justice of my god and he put considerable wealth behind seeing it through, many of the elves that swelled His Majesty's ranks, came to them because Tinamoc put his own money towards buying them and risked his own life hiding them away. He's a merchant, most of those tend not to count anything but coins, or understand the world in any way but in terms of profit and loss. But Tinamoc was different. He treated life as if it had worth independent of coin, and with the influence he had, well he'd have been able to kick off the trade in this entire country, and perhaps more, if the corruption had been purged." Neia said with a note of pride in her voice for her deceased companion.

Momon was quiet. "Can he not be resurrected?" He asked.

Neia sighed somberly and shook her head, "I don't think so, I asked about that once, if a person isn't strong enough, their bodies will be reduced to ashes, and he's been desecrated enough." She said, dejectedly.

"I see." Momon said, "But there was no magic or anything used on him that would prevent him from returning or that would have changed him to something else if he were strong enough otherwise?" He asked.

"No, nothing. I killed him with the bow that father... I mean Ainz... loaned me." Neia said, her voice rife with uncertainty at these questions.

"The Sorcerer King treasures your service." Momon assured, matter-of-factly.

Neia nodded numbly, "Thank you." She replied, still looking down at the body.

"Enough that he instructed me to do whatever it took to ensure your life was not snuffed out." Momon continued.

"I will thank him later, when I give him the head of that bitch this evening." She said in a still, small voice. "But why do you say this to me now?" She asked.

"Because he gave me something to make sure that you survived, even if you died at another wall." He answered.

He then reached into a pouch and slowly drew out a wand, he then placed it on the table, next to Tinamoc's body, in front of where she stood.

"What is this?" Neia asked, picking it up curiously as she gently set Tinamoc's ice-cold hand back on the table.

"A single use item, the same one he used on you when you died on the wall the first time, when you were just a squire, well, not 'the' same item, but the same type. They're single-use tools that vanish after being applied. This will restore Tinamoc to the world of the living, even if he would be ordinarily too weak to survive resurrection." Momon explained.

Neia gingerly clutched the wand to her as one would a newborn. "But..." Her eyes went wide, "...wouldn't using it be like stealing from him? He didn't authorize me to do this after all." She clearly wanted to do it.

Momon shook his head. "What kind of father would he be, if he were upset by something alleviating his daughter's suffering? Moreover, this man is an asset, so there is a 'royal' reason to do this as well. You can use this without guilt, I guarantee it. I swear it on my name that this is his will." Momon stated with certainty.

She looked at him uncertainly, she desperately wanted to believe him.

"I have all necessary discretion in these matters, you may trust in me, Neia Baraja." Momon said, and touched her shoulder and gave it a gentle, reassuring squeeze.

'He's so much like...' Her thought trailed off as the conclusion was reached.

"I believe you." She said with a conviction in her voice, "Tell me how this works, please."

A minute or two later, there was a sudden intake of breath from the body on the table and the white eyes of the dead were again full of life.

His head turned left and right in alarm. "Neia, why are you crying, why am I laying on a table, where is that..." The questions poured out of him as fast as his dry lips could move, his voice raspy as he struggled to use his vocal chords properly. "By god, I feel like I've been dead for a month." He said with a groan.

Momon chuckled as Neia hugged Tinamoc, "Only a few hours, not so long as a month. What do you remember?" Momon asked casually.

Tinamoc tried to move his arms to return the embrace, but they barely swayed. "Ah, I was tied to a stake, I remember looking up at Neia for some reason, the bow..." He trailed off, Neia leaned back, breaking the embrace and resting her hand gently on his chest.

"I killed you." Neia confessed. "You're my friend, but I put an arrow in your heart and ended your life." Tears ran down her cheeks like rivers, "I didn't want to do that, if I could have done anything else..."

Tinamoc didn't look at her. "I see... I honestly don't know how I feel about that if you want the truth."

"Remedios was torturing you in front of me, she kept stabbing, and stabbing, she was starting to do that to you, the things she... the things she did to me before we left Hoburns. I have no right to beg your forgiveness, not for letting you get captured, not for letting you get hurt, and definitely not for taking your life. If there were a way..." Neia's sentence died, but though he didn't look at her directly, he could see the haunted expression on her face when Neia said, 'the things she did to me' and he began to understand.

"I suppose I should be grateful that I am alive." Tinamoc said practically, "So thank you for that I think, even if I do feel mostly dead still." He tried to force his lips to turn up in a smile, but it came out looking rather sickly.

"How long before I can move again?" He asked, "This table is... very cold. It was probably much more comfortable for me a few minutes ago." He winked to show he was joking, and Neia choked out a laugh when she saw the twinkle in his eye.

"Hours probably before you can move around, weeks or months before you've truly regained any degree of strength." Momon said casually.

"So what else happened after I took my dirt nap?" Tinamoc asked with a degree of joviality in his voice, "I assume we won."

"We did, not without heavy cost, of the hundred elites with me, twenty five died in the battle and will have to be sent to Nazarick for resurrection and retraining to restore their strength, we don't have an exact count, but around one in every four of the soldiers who fought today, died from our side, however early estimates suggest that roughly seven out of every ten or better of the other side is lying dead outside the walls." She reported, forcing herself back into the role of the professional soldier.

"I see." He said thoughtfully, "I have no head for soldiering, but ahhh... the woman who had me, she's dead, right?" He inquired hopefully.

"I have her head in a bag sitting next to my feet." Neia responded happily, pointing her finger down her side, "I'm giving it to the Sorcerer King after this." She explained.

"Good." He snorted, "But since we're confessing things and apologizing, I owe you one." He said solemnly, then turned his eyes toward Momon. "I'm sorry to ask this of you, my good man, but... could I please have a minute alone with the Pope?"

Momon nodded, "Of course." He replied, he gave a small bow of his head and retreated from the room.

When the door shut, Tinamoc looked over at her. "I betrayed you." He opened up in a whisper.

"What do you mean?" Neia asked in shock and disbelief, her eyes went wide in stark contrast to the threatening narrow glare she typically wore.

"First, you should know what happened. I wouldn't have been caught, except I rendered your salute without thinking as I rode, and Astraka saw it, so that mistake was mine, not yours. Second, he had me... questioned. I held out as long as I could, and well, it wasn't that long." He explained, if he had been sitting up, he'd have hung his head in shame.

"I did my best, but he broke me, I gave him my name, and that was all he needed, I didn't know he was giving me to Remedios, but it wouldn't have mattered. Once she got me, well, I gave up everything I knew, which wasn't much, but it was enough. Enough for her to understand that I wasn't just some expendable client, that we were friends, and she was able to use that to hurt you. I ended up telling them everything about you, right down to your favorite thing to drink first thing in the morning. Tinamoc took a breath, savoring his ability to do so, but also regretting the words he had to form with it, "I'm sorry... I was weak, and I died guilty of the gravest of sins. Weakness."

Neia was quiet for awhile and then she laid her hand over his heart. "Tinamoc, look at me." She said tenderly.

He managed that much at least.

"If everybody were strong all the time, we wouldn't know what weakness was in the first place, you're a 'merchant' strong in mind, you're not a warrior, you're not trained to withstand torture, but you dealt with people who knew exactly how to use torture for their personal gain. It would have been a miracle for you to hold out in those conditions." She gave him a tender smile, "The one who was really guilty, is the one who hurt you beyond your ability to bear it. If you feel you need my forgiveness, you have it." She said happily as she reached up to wipe her nose and eyes clean... and smearing her face with blood as she did so.

"Maybe so, but I accepted your ways as my ways, and my betrayal, however unwilling, was not less of a betrayal, if I had held out, how different would things have been?" He asked rhetorically.

"Maybe a lot, maybe a little, but you're alive, we won, Remedios is very, very dead, and that means things have worked out, if not perfectly." Neia replied thoughtfully.

"True enough, though I must still find some way to atone for my wagging tongue.." He said, "However, in the meantime, one thing still bothers me." He added in a troubled voice.

"What would that be?" Neia asked with concern in her voice.

"I told you before. That this table is really... really uncomfortable and I can't seem to move off of it, could you maybe see your way to sending someone to me with some clothes and ask that they help me get to a bed and some food, I haven't been eating well lately and I'm both tired and half-dead on top of that." He said, winking again. Neia half-cried, half-laughed.

"I'll send someone down immediately, just... don't you go anywhere." She winked at him and he rolled his eyes.

"You're bad at jokes." He claimed, only half-teasing.

"Long as I'm good with my bow, I can live with that." She acknowledged that with a happy shrug, and walked out the door to meet with Momon.

After briefly conversing with him on their way back up the stairs to explain the nature of his sudden desire for privacy. "I see, well he's not a warrior, his body is quite soft, it isn't any wonder he broke." Momon affirmed casually.

"That is more or less what I said." Neia replied, "But he still feels very guilty about it, and he is nonetheless braver than one would expect, he could have ignored everything I wanted to do during our journey, he could have fired me, he could have reported me to the crown or sided with city authorities in Wenmark and I couldn't have done a damn thing about it, instead?" Neia's body visibly relaxed and she gave a tranquil smile to the hero beside her.

"Instead he chose to help even though it put him at risk, sometimes the brave are not especially strong, and you know, maybe that makes their bravery that much more impressive."

"How do you mean?" Momon inquired curiously as they came to the top of the stairs and started to walk back down the long hallway again.

"If I know I'm invincible, it isn't brave of me to go into battle because I can't be hurt. But if I know that I will bleed to death from even a small injury, how much braver do I need to be than the invincible person to do the exact same feat?" She asked rhetorically.

"A reasonable point." Momon agreed. "Now the battle is over though, and I need to go back. No doubt that Nabe is wondering what is taking me so long."

"I see, well thank you again Lord Momon, you are a credit to the Sorcerous Kingdom, I hope to see you again soon under more peaceful conditions." Neia said and rendered a professional salute.

Momon returned it brusquely, "I'll let His Majesty know to expect you... after you've cleaned up, I believe he probably hasn't forgotten the time you rushed over in your night clothes and reminded you that unless it is urgent, you always have time to change."

Neia blushed in surprise, "He uh... told you about that, did he?"

Momon nodded hastily, "Yes, with ah, much laughter."

"Yes, well then, I'll do that then, thank you again, Lord Momon." Neia voiced amicably, her hand waving goodbye as she went to get the attention of a servant before rushing off to clean herself up. He was gone before she made it halfway to the servant.

 _...Nazarick..._

Two hours later, Neia was kneeling before the throne of the Sorcerer King with her gaze downcast as the guardians looked on.

Lady Albedo and Lord Demiurge flanked him on the left and right hands as Neia recited the events of the battle, omitting the personal details, unaware that most of them had been casually watching the struggle unfold at one point or another when possible.

When she was finally wrapping up, she reached into the bag in front of her left foot, grabbed the brown hair of the former head of the paladin order, and held it aloft. "As promised to you, my lord of lords, my king of kings, my only god, I present the head of Remedios Custodio, who learned painfully before death, that she could not bar your will."

Her evangelist voice carried every inch of meaning and intent with it as it struck the ears of those present, her loyalty was already beyond question, perhaps the only pure human adult for whom that was true, even those known to be loyal otherwise, did not hold the same status as one who promoted their lord as the god they knew him to be. So the power of her voice only enhanced existing perception, something Demiurge took great interest in as he watched her with great curiosity.

Albedo was smiling, something Neia rarely saw the succubus do, it was quite radiant, and it was only her absolute devotion to her god that gave her the power to keep her eyes on him alone.

"Demiurge, accept the head from Pope Neia. I believe you had a use for it, yes?" Ainz ordered.

"I do, thank you, my Lord." The archdevil acknowledged with a bow, and descended the steps. He took the head gingerly and returned it to the sack, then reclaimed his place at the side of the Sorcerer King with the sack held in hand.

"As for you, Neia Baraja, you have won a great victory. How can I reward you?" He inquired in a noble voice.

Neia was about to speak, but Ainz interjected first with his raised skeletal hand, "And do not say that serving me is reward enough."

She closed her mouth as she thought it over for a few moments. Finally, she revealed her request, "My Lord you have given me so much already that I am at something of a loss. There is one thing though, it might be nice. My wife and I are, well... you were at the wedding, we have not truly had time to ourselves, and there will be several days before my army is able to pursue survivors and invade the south, what with the wounded and all, may I ask for a weekend together here in Nazarick for us?"

Ainz sighed, "I suppose I should be glad you even ask for a little thing." He chuckled a little, "Very well, tend to your business tomorrow and then appoint someone you trust who can administer affairs in the city and for the army, then spend two days here, having full access to all of Nazarick's pleasures in our best guest room for that time." He waved his hand before him, encompassing the grand throne room. "My servants will grant your every request, I will appoint a servant to tend to you when you arrive."

"Thank you very much, my Lord." Neia expressed with so much gratitude in her voice.

"Now I have business to attend to. Neia, you may take a meal here or return immediately, I'll be in my office, but I do not wish to be disturbed unless necessary." Ainz announced, standing up from his highly decorated seat, and a moment later he teleported away.

Neia did not rise until the guardians moved, and when she did, Demiurge approached her. "You have a great deal of work ahead of you. However before you go back, know that I will be seeking your 'assistance' with an experiment soon, to understand the nature of your ability, how it is harnessed, begun, terminated, and so on."

"Of course, Lord Demiurge, barring the will of my Lord, I am always at your disposal in the advancement of his interests." She said respectfully.

"Very good then, I look forward to it. Are you going to have dinner here, or back in Prart?" He asked.

"I will return to my wife. I'm sure she's eager for my company." She answered cordially.

"Very well," he said, and a moment later a gate was opened for her, "I will see you again very soon then." He gave a polite smile when she bowed to him, and then she stepped through the gate and was gone. Demiurge's tail lashed with satisfied anticipation as Albedo descended from her position.

He looked over to the overseer. "You were unusually quiet there." He commented. "No sign of your usual contempt for humans in general, no taking her aside and telling her not to forget her place. Should I be concerned for the future of my experimental subject?" He asked with an almost mocking hint at genuine concern in his voice.

Albedo's hands were folded primly and properly in front of her and she gave Demiurge a smile that was very, very sweet. "Did you not see? She called him 'father' when she was about to die."

"What of it?" Demiurge asked dismissively, "We've already seen that she's very devoted to him. Would anyone else have almost lost their sanity because they failed to commit suicide on command?"

Albedo gave a gentle shake of her head, "Have I gained one up on the archdevil, the master of conspiracy?"

He gazed at her through crystal eyes and held his silence.

"We have discussed the fate of Princess Renner, did we not?" Albedo prompted.

"Yes..." Demiurge said thoughtfully. "Wait, you don't think our Lord means...?"

"I do." She answered, "Even for all our abilities, the best of our maids could not clean every manor, the wisest of us cannot administer every kingdom, you yourself have acknowledged the utility and the ability of that girl he created, you even called her revenge against Astraka 'inspired'. Also, there is the boy 'Goan' as further evidence, and that of the human maid, 'Tuare'. Our master's limitless mind has foreseen..." Albedo let her verbalization of thoughts trail off as she saw Demiurge's expression change.

"I see, but... this is so far in advance... wait you don't think this was the point of all his ventures out into the wider world on his own, do you? Could he have been 'talent scouting' all this time, to find jewels of all kinds so that as we hand the world to him..." Demiurge too, trailed off and he lowered his head.

"How could I not have seen it, I was so narrow minded, it's such an obviously masterful plan. I'm truly grateful to you Albedo, you are well placed as the Overseer of the Guardians." Demiurge said with ample praise in his voice.

"I only just realized it when she was kneeling before our Lord, she had a child's affection in her eyes, and our Lord did not deny what were nearly her final words. He even personally went out and saved her, as if to confirm it." Albedo's voice was filled with almost rabid enthusiasm, but her head too was bowed with shame. "If only we could more fully anticipate his plans, I fear he will one day despair of our ineptitude and abandon us as the others did."

Demiurge could not stop his body from shaking at the very suggestion. "No, please don't even suggest it!" He hissed with a chilled horror in his tone.

"I don't like thinking it, let alone saying it, but it haunts my nightmares still." Albedo said in a small voice. "We must make sure our efforts are redoubled, I won't intervene before our Lord when you experiment with Neia Baraja, but you must make absolutely sure nothing happens that might harm her. If he does intend her elevation, we cannot ruin his plan. We both know you could not bear the shame of it."

Demiurge nodded very slowly, with a grave expression on his face. "I will ensure my... assistant, is aware of that instruction. Our Lord made her a demoness of retribution and punishment, if she sees what guilt Neia harbors, she might overreach in her attempt to learn more."

"I'm still not clear on that concept." Albedo said with a frown, her finger laid against her jaw in thought.

Demiurge shook his head, "It's strange to me as well. I was thinking I would devise a series of experiments using various criminals, but until recently she was very busy utterly ruining one of our Lord's enemies. I should have been annoyed, but the truth is, I really enjoyed watching it all."

"I see." Albedo answered, "I've been far too busy to inquire further, but the last time I spoke with her it seemed like she had extensive plans for him. Why don't we have a drink and you can tell me just what was so interesting."

"It would be my pleasure. I have time right now, shall we go?" Demiurge responded happily.

"Please, after you." Albedo replied with the sort of warm smile that was reserved only for close comrades, and then they walked out of the room together.


	120. The Silence

God Rising

Chapter 120

Written by: AtheistBasementDragon

Edited by: The Usual Gang Of Drunken Perverted Idiots

 **AN: Tomorrow will be an intermission/aftermath chapter detailing the immediate results and giving some opposing perspectives, and probably an opposing look at how the battle played out from a scripture perspective, then you can expect a reversion to our previous way of doing things with chapters showing different aspects of the war, but as I said before, I might need a day or two to reread presiege chapters because this climax took longer than many people's entire stories put together. (Seriously, I'm not exaggerating there, the siege began either with Chapter 101 or 103 depending on whether or not you count the meeting between Calca and Remedios, and we're now up to chapter 120 with the minimum chapter length being 3,000 words). I'm terrible at these estimates on story/chapter lengths, lucky you, eh? :) Reviews are welcome, and don't forget the GR side stories that explain other events taking place in this universe.**

 _...Prart…_

When Neia returned through the gate she found herself standing outside her room. She felt at ease, relaxed and at peace, but she knew it wasn't going to last. It was the afterglow of the comfort of the one true god, his kindness and warmth toward her belied his undead nature so much that she sometimes felt she could see flesh over the bones of his face. Like she could 'see' a smile she knew wasn't there.

She vaguely felt like she was a little girl again presenting a toy she'd made to her father. She'd been so proud when she finished it and gave it over to him, but she never did see it after that. She shook her head at the memory, when she'd been little she thought maybe he didn't care for it, but she'd been too upset to ask. As she grew, she accepted that he'd probably just thrown it away minutes after she was out of sight. It was a petty matter in retrospect, considering the way the years of her life had gone since.

She took a deep breath and opened the door to find Skana waiting in anticipation. She was laying sideways on the bed wearing a smile, and nothing else.

"So I saw Tinamoc." She began, "And I thought you'd like to celebrate things, and… well I wanted to make up for not having been there with you when you went to see him. So come on over here, my love." She said and held her arm outstretched and curled her finger towards herself.

Neia began to undress and shook her head, "No need to apologize, you had work to do, and if I don't hear about how it went, it'll bother me all night long and I'll be too distracted to enjoy you."

Skana rolled her good eye, "Fine, but I'm only explaining until those clothes come off."

"Deal." Neia grinned, beginning to slow down the process of removing her clothing.

Skana rolled her eye once more, snickering, "That's cheating." Neia sent a winsome glance her way.

"Too bad, now fill me in or I slow down further." Neia demanded playfully with a wink.

Her wife exhaled heavily in surrender, her hands up in the air, "Fine, so I sent the most rested cavalry out and dispatched a handful of people with continual light magic stones to look for survivors, priority is retrieving the wounded followed by identifying important dead. The few reports we've gotten back is that survivors have gone to ground."

She grinned hungrily, "We'll bury them there eventually, but we don't expect to find anyone else tonight, but unfortunately it looks like someone was smart enough to start pulling people out early, based on tracks and other indicators of hastily grabbed supplies, and that means there may be a small but substantial force out there somewhere that we have yet to find and eliminate." Skana's tone was professional, but her eyes were salacious and wandering over the toned and steadily more undressed body of her wife.

"That'll be a problem, we need to move south as fast as possible, have we heard anything back from the far south?" Neia asked as she began to slowly untie the laces of her boot, until Skana, impatient with her teasing slowness, got down on the floor herself and unlaced them both, and then gently pulled them from Neia's feet. Neia tried hard not to laugh as she continued to address the issue of her concern. "No coded messages have come to me, but based on the urgency of their siege I think it's safe to say some activity was disrupting their supply lines."

Skana shook her head, "I've heard not gotten anything either, but I also instructed the riders to seek word from farther afield, but also to be cautious, I don't want to be fighting Remedios's people in hiding until they've died of old age in the woods or a cave somewhere because we missed them early on." Neia conveyed emphatically as she began to pull off her armor. "We find them, we eliminate them with extreme prejudice, and we move on."

"Of course, so did anything happen in Nazarick?" Skana asked as she began to undo Neia's belt.

Neia smiled broadly, it was a radiant expression that filled the usually neutral face with a rare warmth. "Oh, yes! The Sorcerer King was pleased enough that he offered us a weekend in Nazarick while things are settled here. Before we go south, it'll take a few days for tending to the dead, loading supplies, getting all the wounded healed, and so on. So we'll appoint someone to the task of overseeing it all, then we have two whole days with just us and all the amenities they can offer."

Skana had an enormous smile on her face at that as she tossed Neia's pants casually over her shoulder to the other side of the room, and then helped her out of her gambeson, she said, "Time's up, get over here." And then she tugged Neia down onto the bed with her.

They were four candles down before they finally slept, and the dancing fire on the wick neither cast its shadow over the writhing entwined forms, nor kept its motion in imitation of their rhythm, the light died, shadow covered them, and sleep took them away to dream of more of what they had just done.

When they rose in the morning, the sun was already peeking over the horizon. It was a later hour than Neia anticipated. However, after the day and the evening everybody had previously had, it was no wonder nobody had knocked to awaken them before they got up on their own.

So with that understanding in mind they made their way to the manor's dining hall, where they found a number of familiar faces. Evileye, Lakyus, Ulthis, Gagaran, Tia & Tina, and much to Neia's relief, 'Tinamoc', since she had feared upon waking that his revival was nothing but a dream.

Momon was notably absent, which she found room to regret, but she kept her face a pleasant mask of happiness as she sat next to her wife and joined the others at the table. An elf woman approached who had cut ears and still bore scars on the lower arms, and in a lyrical voice asked, "What can I get for you?"

When she leaned over and realized she was asking Neia Baraja what she'd like to eat, the warrior pope saw her eyes light up. 'None of it was for nothing.' Neia thought, but chose not to inquire about why she hadn't been healed of the marks from her days of servitude, it was enough that the option was there.

"Eggs, scrambled. Juice of some sort if we have it, I don't care which." Neia mentioned her orders, her hand over her yawning mouth.

"The same." Skana added, gesturing to what her wife just ordered.

"Didn't sleep well?" Ulthis asked with some concern.

"For all the best reasons." Skana said wickedly, drawing a blush to Neia's face and a laugh from Lakyus and Gagaran, with eye rolls from the rest of the table.

"That's enough out of you, Skana." Neia chided and pinched her wife on the cheek.

When she let go, Skana rubbed her cheek melodramatically and turned to Evileye, who now sat maskless at the table. "I thought for sure you'd go back with Momon."

Evileye pouted, "Maybe one of these days, but he did call me pretty, kind of. So I'll call that one a win." She said.

"He spends most of his time with the Beautiful Princess Nabe, so yeah, you should." Gagaran remarked bluntly, with a grin. Evileye shot her sister a glare, her red vampire eyes might have appeared threatening in other circumstances, but as the time since her sisters had come to accept what she was had grown, the glare came off more comedic than anything else to the behemoth of a woman.

Chatter around the table was blessedly free of business for once, as if a silent unspoken truce had emerged that everyone needed a break after the conclusion of the siege.

But all good things must come to an end, and one by one the plates were all cleared, the last cup was emptied, and as if they all understood that the truce was over, Neia stood and called for their attention by rapping a spoon on the table.

"OK, let's make this quick because there is a lot of work to do." She stated and their side conversations faded to nothingness as they turned to look at her.

"First, we need to prioritize tracking the ones who escaped from the battle. Skana has already dispatched scouts and is letting villages know to be on the lookout, the various adventurer teams that have been contracted to protect my Lord's followers will probably be enough to keep the fleeing soldiers at bay, but we'll want to start contracting them away from the low risk areas as we go farther and farther south, eventually…" Neia paused and took a map from against the wall and laid it out on the table as soon as the elves finished clearing it of dining utensils and empty plates.

"We will contract the positions to here." She said and pointed to the pass between the north and south. "We're going to invade the south and finish this mess here once and for all, they won't be able to break out and we'll hunt them down to the last, occupying villages and estates as we go. Queen Calca's declaration of amnesty and the recent victory of ours should go a long way to settling the matter of the proper ruler for this country beyond any further dispute." Neia lowered her head and rubbed her forehead just above the eyes and all the way to the bridge of her nose before continuing.

"But fanatics will be fanatics, and they won't quit easily. Lakyus, I want you and your Roses to venture out before us. Race to the south and link up with Gustav, I want you to be as familiar as you can with the terrain, woods, everything, before those survivors get there, and as soon as you start seeing them, kill them. Don't take unnecessary risks, but don't let them get away either."

"How long till we should depart?" Lakyus asked in the crisp professional tone of an adamantite adventurer.

"As soon as you're all able, if you need an hour or a day, fine, but try to make it before that." Neia brusquely instructed.

"Consider it done, we'll leave after the noon meal." Lakyus said, and her team stood up from the table.

As they began to leave, Neia looked over at them, "Oh, and… Lakyus?" Neia said calmly.

"Yes?" Lakyus asked uncertainly.

"You all be careful out there, OK?" Neia said personably.

Lakyus gave a warm smile to the warrior pope, the corners of her lips turned up and she winked, "We will, and we'll meet again at the coronation that finally ends this front of the war."

The Roses saluted in unison, and as soon as Neia rendered one in return, they departed.

"Next," Neia said as she returned to the business at hand, "Ulthis, you showed a great deal of tactical acumen in this struggle, I know Cersei would like to have you home, but I'm afraid I can't let her have you just yet. Like it or not, this city is now more than the linchpin of the northern defense, it is now the central command for the northern offensive. I can't leave this place in any hands but the best, so I want you to take over temporarily. Starting tonight, you have two days to get accustomed to it all, my wife and I are going to be in Nazarick during that time, so it is 'sink or swim' for you, can you handle it?" She asked gravely.

"I can." Ulthis said, "I've had some practice with Cersei and I am a decent enough commander that I can defend the walls against any sudden offensive, and I'm not going to be easy to assassinate either." He gave a fang baring grin as he finished speaking.

"Fine, then here, take this." Neia said and removed a key from around her neck and tossed it to him from across the table. "That is the key to my office, everything you'll need is there, go ahead and get started now."

"I'll do it." He affirmed, and after rendering his salute and receiving one in turn, he too was gone.

"Tinamoc," Neia said with the same relief she'd thought earlier, "I know I had you leave the city before, but now, if you can bear the place a little longer, it would be helpful if you'd oversee supplies for just a few days, you know more about this than anyone, and Ulthis could probably use the support, even if he wouldn't admit it."

Tinamoc stroked his beard thoughtfully, "I can do that. How long will you need me here for, and what then?" He asked.

"Just until the bulk of the army has left, after that…" Neia's voice suddenly faltered.

Skana looked worriedly over to Neia as her wife trailed off. She knew very well what that meant, and even if she hadn't, there was a small shake that started, which Neia immediately killed.

When Neia had regained full control over herself, she looked up from the map, "After that," she resumed, "I want you to go home."

"Wait, what?" He asked in disbelief, his wide-open eyes staring at the evangelist.

"Go home, go back to your wife, maybe both of you should go to Hoburns where the queen is, you should be safe regardless, now that this is over and Astraka is… well if he's lucky, he's dead. The north is effectively ours again, or will be within a few days. I will however, be sending guards with you this time, a hundred of them, and don't even think about objecting." Neia insisted firmly.

"Your part in this, at least all the dangerous things, is over. Go embrace your wife, make love to her, tell stories, send out the younger merchants again while we make things safe for them the way it always should have been. Skana and I will finish the fight on the front lines, and the next time I see you, I'll apologize to both you and your wife for dragging you into so much danger in the first place." Neia tried very hard to make her smile a positive one, but even at a glance he didn't care for what she'd had to say.

He sat with pursed lips for a time, looking over at Neia, a complex array of emotions ran over his face, anger, sadness, happiness, satisfaction, frustration, all passed through his eyes.

"You know, I was going to wait to tell you this." He began, then paused and took a deep breath. "I stayed up all night trying to think of some way to atone for what I did."

"Tinamoc…" Neia said with a small voice, but he shook his head vigorously.

"No, let me finish." He maintained, "I'm thankful you've forgiven me, but that doesn't tell me how to forgive myself. I sold everybody out, I told them about you, about Skana, I told them how many soldiers I'd seen and where, I gave up every single thing I knew, just to buy myself a few minutes free of pain." Tinamoc's voice was filled with self hatred in that moment, so much so that neither Neia nor Skana knew what to say to him.

"When I was a boy, I heard a bard playing a ballad, one of great heroes of course, and I stopped to listen, because of course I did. When it was over, the bard stayed around to let children like me ask questions, and I asked him if he'd ever met any heroes, do you know what he said?" Tinamoc asked.

"No." Neia and Skana replied together.

"Only in stories." Tinamoc chuckled at that memory before he continued, "That was what he'd said, he told us he'd been an adventurer and had known many great fighters, warriors, mages, and so on, but then he told me something else I never forgot. He told us that if we were ever captured by some savage, violent demihumans and they wanted us to talk, talk, say whatever we had to say, because if we didn't they'd hurt us till we did or till we died, so there was no point in trying to play hero, do what we had to do, and we'd get a chance to continue living." Tinamoc's body shook in his seat and his voice, still somewhat hoarse, cracked.

"I was a precocious boy, and if you ask my wife, she'll say I still am. Plus I still had all kinds of heroic notions in my head at the time, I was surprised by what he said, but then I asked him how, if we do what he said to do, are we supposed to live with ourselves afterwards?" He looked from Neia, to Skana, and back again.

"Do you see?" He asked, "He didn't have an answer for that then, and now here I am all these years later, and I don't have an answer for that now."

His soft hands folded into fists ashe started to raise his voice, "I sold everybody out, my friends, my comrades, everyone, just to save myself, just to save one middle-aged merchant with most of his life behind him, I very well could have gotten all of you killed!" Bellowing, he slammed his fist down on the table, startling Neia and Skana.

"Your forgiveness," he said with his voice suddenly going soft again, "...means a lot to me, but that doesn't mean I know how to quite forgive myself. So last night I didn't sleep, I couldn't have even if I had wanted to, I need some way to make up for what I did, some way that lets me live with finding out that my tongue can't be trusted when I'm threatened hard enough, by enough, and I found an answer."

"Which is?" Skana asked, concerned at the direction he is going in.

"I'm going to do what you ask me to do here, but before I carry it out, let me make that clear first, this work is far too important to make it hard for anyone to work with me. But as soon as I've gone home and explained everything to my wife, I'm going to have my tongue removed. I will never speak again. I hate the sound of my own voice, because every time I speak, I hear treachery, weakness, cowardice, and betrayal rolling past my lips." Tinamoc said angrily.

"You can't be serious." Neia said, sitting down and staring at him in disbelief.

"As serious as they come." Tinamoc said bluntly. "What I did can't be forgiven, at least not by me, and if that part of me lets me play the coward, then let that part of me be cut off and cast into the gutter with the trash where it belongs."

Skana and Neia exchanged glances. "You're really going to do this?" Skana asked, "You know you don't have to, it's an extreme measure to go to." She said tentatively while she struggled to think of a way to talk him out of it. Especially as someone who has lost an important part of her body, she wanted to stop him from doing that to himself intentionally.

"What happened was extreme, and you know, it won't hurt that much, not compared to what was done to make it wag like a whipped dog for Astraka and Remedios. Maybe, some day, I'll be comfortable having the wound healed and regaining my powers of speech but honestly, I don't see it. I'd rather live with myself as a mute, than spend another hour whole and hating the very sound of my voice."

Neia bit her lip and scratched another tick into her heart's ledger. "What will you do if you're captured and they tell you to write?" She asked sarcastically, "Pretend to be illiterate? Cut off your hands?"

"If necessary." He said flatly, "I will never break again, no matter how much all that hurt at the time, nothing feels worse than knowing I almost got so many others killed, nothing I felt then, feels worse than this does right now. This is my atonement. I'll keep my voice just for these few days, just to finish this job, my last spoken words will be for my wife, she should be the one to hear them." He said with steel in his voice, and Neia leapt on the last statement.

"What about her? Shouldn't she have some say in this? Won't she object to what you're talking about?" Neia's voice rose in pitch as she grew more restless. Skana covered Neia's hand with her own.

"My wife may look like the soft matron of a merchant's counting house… and she is. But she's also endured the fear of me traveling either alone or under often dubiously reliable guard for over twenty years now, she's got the heart of a lioness, when she hears my story, she'll fetch the pruning shears and clean up the blood for me." He said confidently, denying whatever Neia was hoping for.

Neia leaned back in her chair and let her arms fall limp at her sides. "I can't talk you out of this madness, can I?" She asked in a small voice.

"No. Absolutely not. I'd cut it off here and now if I didn't still need it for one last purpose." He said with a boldness she hadn't realized he truly possessed.

"I see." Neia said, her face went neutral, neither happy nor sad, and her voice came to a profoundly even tone, "I hope then, my friend, that this allows you to live happily for the rest of your life. For now, go ahead and get started, Skana and I need to walk the city, do a victory tour, and wait for the results of the casualty evaluations, that kind of thing."

"Of course." He said and stood up, when he did, he rendered a salute to General Neia and then walked out.

Skana and Neia were left alone together and they sat in silence for far longer than either of them liked.

Finally, Skana spoke up, "Neia, let's go get started, we've got a lot of the city to see, and a distraction will do you good."

"Yeah, yes, you're right, you're right. I shouldn't just sit here brooding all damn day." Neia's voice was tired as she answered, but her step was long and energetic as she moved towards the door. As she went, she looked over at the elf servants who had lined the wall. "I apologize for any upset these outbursts have caused you. Please, return to your tasks and think no more of this." She said with gratitude.

"Come on, we've got work to do." Neia said over her shoulder. Skana was jolted out of her own sudden reverie, and she stood up fast enough that she almost toppled the chair backwards before she moved to join her wife.

"Alright, let's do this." Skana said, projecting confidence to disguise the upset they'd suffered as they walked out of the manor and into the light of the city they'd saved.


	121. Epilogue for Act II

Epilogue

 **AN: Well this wraps up the Prart Arc and the END of Act II. Truly a joy to write, yet also I must mourn the end of another part of this grand experience. Remedios is dead, Astraka... wishes he was. (He'll pop up in the occasional short cameo) and some characters parts in the story will change dramatically, new characters and new goals will challenge established figures, old ones who still live will struggle on, and you will continue to find that what doesn't change about war, is that it changes people, and forces those who live through it, to ask how they can live with themselves afterward.**

 **Reviews are welcome of course, and in answer to those who asked, I'm an American. If you have questions, easiest to send them to my pm box. If you want to support this project's expansion to other media, well you know how if you're reading author notes. :) If you want to hang out, get help with your own story, etc. well join the Overlord Fanfiction discord. Have a great day.**

 _...Prart..._

The next two days were hectic ones, but if anyone cared about the pace of their labor, nobody said it. If anything, a renewed spirit of hope and optimism swept through the streets, and even the growing winter chill could not dampen the fires of their enthusiasm. People, even peasants, walked brashly and boldly through the streets, their heads held high as if they were the highest of nobles.

Every citizen who had drawn a bow or fletched an arrow felt their part in the victory. Those who ran food to the walls would show their children the path they took to feed the defenders, and those who repaired damaged swords would bequeath their hammers to their children as heirlooms that had preserved the city. Those who tended the wounded did not wish the stains of blood removed from their clothing, it was a mark of honor that they wore proudly.

The Blood Miners and the Vines were the first units to take initiative in marking the victory. They pooled a small amount of their reward for services rendered and purchased a building in the merchant district, founding a kind of 'club' for the city's veterans.

When Queen Calca learned of its existence, not only did she give her blessing, granting it an official status within the nation as a whole, but she also exempted the organization from taxation as long as they rendered support and services to veterans and their families with their membership dues.

It became the first of its kind, and as they required an official name, they termed themselves 'The New World Veterans Association' and started issuing official cards to everyone who served in a combat capacity. Over the years thereafter, the N.W.V.A. would see chapters spring up around the New World, providing places to drink, eat, or just relax, becoming popular waystations for soldiers of all types.

These, unsurprisingly to Neia, became the hubs of social change, as lizardman, orc, human, and species of all other types, could trade war stories and form common bonds through shared experience, overturning old rivalries and unifying under shared ideals that everyone deserves a place of their own in the world, if they can live and let live.

Ulthis settled in quickly to his task, and though Cersei was rather cross with him for being absent for even longer, she was unsurprised and took it in stride. The performance of the men and women of Kedyn became a thing of legend, their resolute defense of the walls no matter the casualties gave their little city an enormous boost to its reputation, and this would spawn extensive tourism, in particular from Prart, who wanted to see the wall where their reputation truly began.

Burying the dead required a concerted effort, the few priests of the old gods who were still living in Prart buried the dead of their enemies in mass graves not far from the city, giving them only simple cloth wraps for the sake of their dignity, leaving religious symbols alone, but stripping everything else of value. The field they were buried in would become incredibly fertile for many years, but every year on the anniversary of the battle, the field was sanctified again to keep the dead at peace, the reason for this would eventually slip from memory for all but those few immortals who had been present, it became the site of an annual festival where the city's culture and heritage was celebrated by its occupants.

Those members of Black Justice who perished but which were not powerful enough to be restored to life were instead dispatched according to their wills. Some had their bodies burned, a mass ceremony held them all in a great pyre that sent so much smoke into the air that it could be seen from Hoburns. Others were taken to a great turning ceremony where they became skeleton laborers and were willed to their families or to the temple.

Those twenty five of the elite hundred who perished were raised from death in Nazarick and rededicated their lives to the Sorcerer King's ideals, a few emerged with new unique abilities, but all were out of the fight for several months as they were retrained under the watchful eyes of Cocytus and Sebas.

The Sons of Iontariil, the Vines, and the Blood Miners who perished were given state funerals and buried at the walls they had died defending, and it became a custom when approaching the walls of Prart, to bow to the walls on either side of the gate, out of respect and reverence for their sacrifice.

The homes and businesses that were destroyed by wayward rocks and magic attacks were rebuilt at the city's expense, drawn from the profits reaped by selling equipment looted from the besiegers' encampments, and the walls were little by little restored to their former glory and Prart was once again made an impressive, powerful fortification that wiped away the stain of its past defeats.

Blue Rose set out that afternoon on undead horses, as fast as their mounts could carry them, they rode faster than the wind, eating and drinking from the saddle, pausing only to relieve themselves or alert the villages that they passed as to what happened. More than once they found a burned out husk and bodies to mark the passing of the southern invasion, but most of the time thanks to the policy of stationing adventurers in villages, when a place was abandoned, there were no bodies, only ruins, suggesting the occupants had been warned in advance and escaped successfully.

While topics were diverse on their restful hours before sleep, two things were frequent occurrences. The first was teasing Evileye over her attraction to Momon. The second revolved around the conflict itself, rehashing and deconstructing the events of the siege to try to make sense of them. The near death of Neia, the fact that an undead monster cradled her like a father would his child, the sheer ferocity of the fighting that had birthed a thousand heroes, the death and restoration of the merchant, all became legends that would be told and retold forever more.

However, for all their talk, some things were always kept private. Lakyus made no mention of her more 'private' conversations seeking spiritual and emotional guidance from the Pope of Black Justice. The long years that Lakyus had spent wounding her sister with her bigotry would not lightly leave her thoughts, and she had begun, in quiet hours, to revisit every kill she'd ever made to wonder if there could have been a peaceful solution.

Though tears were not shed, her thoughts were heavy, and Neia had been patient. Between that and their fighting together, living together, and coming to common ground under a single banner, not to mention the more casual and occasionally humorous moments over dinner, Lakyus had found that, now that she was away, she was missing the company of a good friend.

But as with all such things, it was a bittersweet thing, because of course it meant she had a friend to miss. And when she sat around the fire with her sisters and Gagaran cracked a joke or Evileye was made to blush and the beer flowed like water, she was quick to remember that when you got right down to it, that was really the point of all of this, that was what they meant by making a better world.

 _...Hoburns…_

When word reached the capital of the defeat of the army of the south, the death of Remedios Custodio, and the large scale destruction of the army of the Slane Theocracy, the celebration lasted all day and well into the night. Queen Calca opened the stores of wine in the palace and distributed bottles to every unit, and taverns were open all night long as people traded drinks for stories from the Black Justice units, and their demihuman companions, about all that had transpired.

While at first many were more than a little hesitant about the mixed units, Ba and Robel made a habit of being seen together from the day of their arrival, and had been promoting good will as often as they could. It did not hurt that Black Justice units had spread the word that Ba's demihumans had fought like demons to protect human lives, nor did it hurt that human and demihuman alike wore the symbols of Neia's religion. The military stores of his unit were opened up to the public by special order of the Queen in order that the entire city could feast, and the Black Justice temple that had been forcibly closed was officially reopened by royal decree as soon as the renovations were completed.

Robel was quickly appointed to high command beside the Queen, given the title of Count and awarded the northern lands formerly belonging to Count Handor. The news of the death of Gilcrest in the east and the manner in which he sacrificed himself, and for whom, served as inspiration to nominate him for official martyrdom, a request that would be quickly approved. He had streets and military buildings named after him, but perhaps what would have made him proudest, was that the aqueduct that he'd spent so much time on, in the dark days of the reconstruction, was named for him, with a small plaque added giving the years of his life and his deeds both before and after the war, put right where people would draw water. In time, it became a local tradition that couples from Hoburns who followed Black Justice would bathe their newborns in water drawn from the aqueduct on which a hero had labored, as if they would be washed in his virtues as they were cleaned for the first time.

Robel would never forget the loss of his companion, and kept an empty chair at his table for the rest of his life, even after he married and fathered children. He named his firstborn son 'Gilcrest', his second 'Gascon' and his daughter, at his wife's insistence, was named 'Neia'. He learned to live with the absence of his comrade in arms, as all the living must do, and when Ba eventually settled in the city himself, they would swap stories of the goings on of Commonton, where Gilcrest earned a statue in the town square and grew into something of a local legend that aided in the general unity between humans and nonhumans that both lived in and passed through the area. When his life did finally come to its inevitable end, he would describe it this way… "It was magic sometimes, tragic at others, but it was a good life to the end."

 _...South of Prart...deep in the woods..._

Twenty thousand soldiers were crowded in the woods in the impromptu encampment under the leadership of Yuri and Suchala, and none of them were especially happy. Suchala however, was optimistic. "We lost, but we salvaged a large number of our soldiers." He remarked calmly to Yuri.

"True, but we lost a whole lot more, we never should have listened to Remedios." She sighed and clenched a fist, "True, she was right, it hurt Neia badly, but if I'd been smart I'd have noticed that every time Remedios did something to that woman, that damned undead worshipper only got stronger, more dangerous, and more destructive. What a pain in the ass."

Yuri spat on the ground, annoyed at the memory.

"I'm normally all for blaming Remedios, especially since everything that went wrong was usually her fault somehow," Suchala commented, then shook his head, "But not this time, who could have foreseen that Neia could act as a conduit for the power of the undead?" He asked numbly.

"Tch. Agreed," Clicking her tongue, Yuri grumbled a reply, then asked, "but the question is... now what?"

"We go south. There is still an army there, we make it to the capital, declare southern independence from the north, and try to negotiate that without violence." Suchala explained, "If Calca accepts, then that will hamstring the Sorcerer King."

"Why in the eyes of the gods would she ever accept that?" Yuri asked incredulously.

"Because we don't have to win in order to deprive her of victory." He said. "True her amnesty will have appealed to many nobles, and I'm sure some will take it, perhaps even most, but if we take a few hostages, we might be able to force their hand, the South has never had a firm connection to the North, so independence will appeal to that sentiment. We don't have to defeat her, we just have to fight her. If she wants to rebuild her nation quickly, well the south had cut off the north before, perhaps the north will be willing to cut off the south now."

"You don't think they'll want revenge for the burnings?" Yuri asked as she took a swig from her water skin.

"Neia solved that problem for us, that was Remedios, and Remedios is dead. So the focus of revenge is now gone, if she were still alive, we could have just used turning her over as a bargaining chip." Suchala said with a casual ruthlessness Yuri appreciated.

"Maybe, but who do we put up for the throne?" She asked. "We don't know what happened to Astraka, we never did find his body, even if we didn't have long to look." She set her water skin aside and broke off a piece of bread from a loaf, she handed one to Suchala and started chewing the rest herself.

"That is for the better." Suchala said, taking the piece with a thankful nod. He took a bite, "Hard stuff, never liked it, but it beats eating arrows." He said with grim humor, she laughed a little and nodded in agreement as she tore a chunk off with her teeth.

"Astraka lost his entire army, he didn't win a single battle, even if it wasn't always his fault, the reality is that if we had him back, he'd be useful only the way Remedios would be, trading him away. So we need someone else, someone from the south. Do you think his family would be willing?" Suchala asked.

Yuri shook her head, "No, I'm from the south, there isn't much chance of that, family is a big deal there, if his family head has accepted the amnesty, none of the rest will buck him. You'll need to find somebody that the Queen doesn't have a personal grudge against, who hasn't outraged the Sorcerer King, who can be made peace with amicably. Find that person, and we find a way to get out from under this. But we'd better find them fast, once the invasion begins in earnest, we'll have a very hard time convincing them to call it off."

Suchala had a grim expression on his face as she spoke. "How did it come to this?" He asked out loud, and for that, Yuri had no answer. They ate the rest of their 'meal' in silence.

 _...Suchala's Encampment..._

Stauc wasn't happy. As the head of the Holocaust Scripture, he'd had several important jobs, and not many of them had gone well. His unhappiness showed on his face as he chewed on a tough hunk of meat.

"Quit looking so sour, you're sour enough that you'll spoil the damned meat." Shala replied unhappily. She looked at him with annoyance.

"How exactly should I look?" Stauc retorted with bitterness in his voice. His worn leathery skin had seen better years, but the toughness of his hide was evident on his face. He had short sandy hair and blue eyes that might have marked him as handsome in his youth, but which had become as hard as his face had become care worn. Shala was his opposite, young and of pale skin and black hair, her ample time in the woods had kept her free of the burden of the sun's rays, and she wore all of her twenty-two years of life with great vigor. Her green eyes were lively and energetic even at the worst of times, and that included these.

She shrugged. "I don't know, but maybe not like that?" She said dismissively.

"Half of our numbers are dead, and what have we to show for it?" He asked furiously as he tore off another chunk of meat.

"The knowledge that they have people who can kill us?" She said casually. "Did you really expect some other end than a violent death?" She asked, looking him in the eyes.

"No, but not like this. Taus and Nerina had their heads blown apart, what kind of weapon does that? But arguably worse than that..." He trailed off and his mind flew back to the battlefield...

 _...The Battle at Prart...The Previous Day..._

"Don't let them penetrate the line! Hold firm! Hold firm!" Stauc shouted just before the Black Justice elites drew close. He watched as Taus, a behemoth of a man with two longswords who was accustomed to opponents who used shields, clearly seemed confounded by someone who did not, but nonetheless stopped every strike he threw at them. The soldier of Black Justice wore armor that glowed with enchantments, he moved like he wasn't wearing any armor at all, and his leather glove was somehow as hard as steel.

Stauc saw that he found that out the hard way when that palm opened and stopped a slash by intercepting it at the wrist, Taus responded like he'd slammed his arm against a stone wall and he fell back several steps in obvious pain. They both knew immediately he was facing one of the hundred, few enough of those were around that their reputations, equipment, and general methods were now well known. Stauc periodically lost eyes on Taus as he struggled against a wave of undead skeletons, not particularly dangerous individually, but a problem in numbers, especially with many other more dangerous enemies around.

He regained sight on his man when he saw Taus flying head over heels into the dirt, the elite that had sent him soaring moved in for the kill, and desperate to save his comrade, Stauc rushed in and engaged the elite himself before the final blow could be delivered.

That was when he'd learned how difficult it was to combat the unique method of Neia's elites. The Black Justice soldier swapped from blade to bow and then to grappling when Stauc came close, but every grapple was a means to resort to a weapon. It was like it was tailor-made to combat the Theocracy's elites in turn. Taus got to his feet and together they might have made short work of the elite, only for Taus' head to suddenly explode like a placid lake when a rock was thrown in to disturb it.

A stream of combatants flowed between the two, and Stauc lost track of the elite he'd attempted to strike down, only to find himself facing two orcs with heavy weapons that steadily pushed him back, he used every martial art he could, and though he dispatched them, it was clear that he was being forced back.

He was still feeling the heavy drain of the terrible pressure that the undead worshipper had somehow brought down on him and all his people, more than once he found a body that had no evident injury, but was nonetheless quite dead. The army fought around him with the courage of desperation, and that was a courage the Holocaust Scripture had grown to know all too well in this war.

Shala found herself in the unenviable position of fighting two elites by herself. She could not suppress the thought that it was very unfair, but if they were interested in her opinion, then they would have asked her what she thought. They fought in tandem, with one attacking at an angle while the other used his bow at a distance, they kept from getting in each other's way, while also supporting each other's counter attacks, it was clear that this was the fruit of countless hours of training. Had they not been using it to try to kill her... well, she would have praised them for it. As it was, she was doing her best to use the terrain... which in this case meant other soldiers, to interfere with the archer's ability to gain a target. Occasionally all three combatants were forced to disengage to deal with another threat, but the three of them must have 'danced' for a solid five minutes before Remedios had pushed her out of the way to make way for herself and forced them onto the defensive themselves.

Shala had lost sight of them then, but as she saw their bodies a few minutes later when moving to another foe, she could only assume that Remedios Custodio had been able to finish them alone

Steadily the scripture had been forced back, between the weight of numbers, magic, and the considerable power of some of their opponents, it gradually became clear to the woman that they were in very big trouble. At one point she had broken out of the line, and caught a glimpse at a battle she would never forget, Remedios Custodio was embroiled in combat against two figures, and she instantly knew who they had to be. The seamless teamwork was disgustingly familiar, but also awe inspiring, but the worst was when she saw the unusual attack... or skill, or whatever it was that Neia had used that shredded the body of the former Paladin commander, while the Paladin's famous 'Holy Strike' only brought laughter from Remedios' opponents.

For almost two full minutes she was uninterrupted as she watched the fight unfold and could not look away, in that she was not alone, she noticed two of her opposite numbers were similarly transfixed, and though they saw one another, it was as if they had come to a silent truce to watch a battle of heroes play out before their eyes. When Remedios finally fell and Shala saw Neia thrust that sword into her neck and sever the thread of life that bound her to the mortal world, the Holocaust Scripture member was certain the battle was over in fact, if not in name. When she saw the two leave and be joined by a figure she recognized from her intelligence reports as a maid demon of Jaldabaoth, she'd immediately rushed and grabbed those comrades she could find and started to pull them back for the escape. Had she not, she was sure she would have ended up laying among the dead.

 _...Present..._

Stauc was still grumbling and Shala was still sighing.

"Look, we got out, retreat isn't the same as defeat... And yes, we lost that battle, but we're not beaten, so we can still do something to salvage this. General Suchala will get us south, we'll link up with the elites of the Black Scripture, rally to whatever army is still in the South, and if we just win one big fight we'll be fine." Shala said with the positivity that annoyed Stauc to no end.

"Maybe, but there is no denying we lost today, and I reserve the right to be pissed off about it." Stauc grumbled frustratedly.

Shala sighed in annoyance. "If that makes you happy..." She rolled her eyes and went to lie down. A few hours sleep would do her good, she probably wouldn't get it, but even a short nap would do her some good, so she'd take what she could get.


	122. R&R

God Rising

Chapter 122

Written by: AtheistBasementDragon

Edited by: The Usual Gang of Drunken Perverted Idiots

 **AN: Kudos to the beta readers for some neat ideas along the way, i.e. the mandrake scene and giving Entoma some screen time, might have to increase her role a bit. Also, yeah I know it isn't back to the action yet, I need a day or two to review previous chapters before I get to them in earnest, so this is a little bit of entertaining filler, a little humor, a little perspective stuff, that kind of thing, before I get back to the meat of the story after reviewing the twenty chapters or so before the siege took place. Enjoy another double release day! Act III technically starts with this, but...really it might be better counted as the chapters after this, and their time in Nazarick will be fairly short, 1-3 chapters, just enough time for me to gather what I need to get Act III going in earnest. Quite frankly by the way, it is possible that God Rising will run for 300 chapters, I never get my estimates right, but 200 now seems FAR to short.**

 _...Nazarick...the Music Room..._

Vanysa sat in the chair and looked at her former tormentor. Her arms were resting on her thighs just where they met the knees, and bent upwards so that her chin was resting on her thumbs, and her fingers formed a pyramid in front of her lips. Astraka was chained naked to the wall, exactly the way she had been. He was unconscious now, he hadn't been awhile ago. She was in her human shape, she even wore her old clothing, or a facsimile of it. It was made to look just like what she'd worn the night he took her and ruined what had been left of her former life.

In short, she looked beautiful and sweet, the way she did before sadism and insanity had been grafted by fire and pain onto her nature. He was unconscious, he'd passed out after the chains had been affixed. She didn't mind that. It was for the best, it gave her time to think. That was why she'd chosen to look this way, she wanted him to remember everything, and she drew out every single detail that she could remember, from the way she'd worn her hair, to just the right shade of green and brown to her clothing. She wore earth tones, the things she'd loved, it reminded her of where she'd come from once upon a time, and they'd been the only decent clothes she still had before they'd been cut off her body and torn to shreds no matter how she'd kicked and screamed and fought.

He started to stir. "G'mornin, sunshine." She greeted sweetly, "Time to wake up and start the day, we've got ever so much time to play, so don't you sleep the day away!" She chirped in a cheerful, sing-song voice. His head stirred further and he gradually looked up.

"So it wasn't a dream, huh." Astraka mumbled groggily as he brought his arms up in front of him and looked at the chains that bound him.

"No, it was only the beginning of your nightmare, and you don't get to wake up from that." Vanysa's voice became sharp, watching the man before her finding his bearings.

Astraka looked around. "No, I suppose I won't. I'm now in your place, and you are in mine." A sigh came from Astraka as he realized what was happening.

"Correct, anything to say, now that our positions are reversed?" She challenged.

He shrugged, his chains making clinking sounds in the action, "Would anything I say make a difference?"

"Maybe." She replied, arching her eyebrow in a hint of curiosity.

He thought a moment, "You were in between me and saving my kingdom, what would you have done in my place?"

Her lip twitched at the left corner.

"Can you tell me one thing though, before we... well begin, I guess?" He requested, a bit resigned.

"Ask." She stated as she got up from the chair and went to the wall and selected a whip that had appeared in her nightmares over and over again.

"Before all this, I had nightmares, I saw everything through your eyes, was that really your doing?" He questioned.

"Yes, and everything you dreamt, was how it all felt to me." She answered as she cracked the whip a few times, testing it out without looking at him.

"I see. So when you were in the carriage, the things I thought..." He began.

"Yes, those were my thoughts, those were my feelings when you touched my beautiful hair... when your eyes moved over me, when..." Vanysa muttered and went very tense.

"Then all I can say to that," he answered, "is that the thoughts you believed were mine, were not. You misunderstood my intent." He explained as calmly as he could as she started walking over.

That gave her pause, however, "Do you think I'm stupid?" She quizzed incredulously, "After all the ways I've managed to utterly ruin you just by virtue of my own work, you still think I'm some stupid peasant who'll believe you just because you say so?"

He shook his head with a hint of vehemence, "No, I think it is abundantly clear that you were never stupid. But I think your experience colored your perception, I swear to you, I was not ever looking at you the way I did because I had intentions of violating you, I meant what I said about that at the time, and I mean it now." His voice was sincere at least, she granted him that much.

"Explain it then." She demanded as she set the whip down in the chair and approached, her erinyes strength forced him to stand as she pulled up the chains and forced him to his feet.

"You were an unknown quantity, a person closely tied to the most dangerous enemy my nation could ever have faced. I didn't know what you could do, what you were capable of. I didn't know what you might try or how effective it might be. I had to do everything I could to draw your knowledge from you, while at the same time making absolutely sure that you were secure and couldn't escape. You don't have to believe me, I'm sure you can extract the truth from me some other way. If you were horrified and disgusted by the thought that I might rape you, know that I was equally disgusted by the prospect of it happening. I did things that hurt you, I don't deny it, to save my kingdom from a repeat of disastrous rule, I'd do it again and I won't apologize for it. But I am not a monster, I didn't enjoy any of it, and the thing you feared I would do, I swear on my life, I would never have done."

She looked at him blankly.

"If I were going to do that, what do you think I was waiting for? Maybe you could believe I'd hold back while I was being nice and trying to bribe you, but once you were naked in the dungeon, if that were my intent, wouldn't I have done that first?" He expressed his thoughts, anticipating the answer from the woman of considerable intellect in front of him.

Vanysa thought it over, "I suppose that is true." She said thoughtfully after securing his chains and returning to pick the whip back up. "I'll believe you on that I guess, but... that doesn't change the rest, you felt it in nightmares, but trust me, the reality is worse." She remarked and the whip lashed out, "Oh and by the way," she continued as he screamed, "I do enjoy it now, thanks to you, and I'm very, very good at it."

"Get on with it then." He said with resignation.

"Don't tell me what to do." She replied, and started to laugh insanely as she wielded the whip.

It was hours before she was done and she skipped to the baths happily wearing the blood of her tormentor.

 _...Nazarick...Guest room..._

Neia regretted not being able to see Blue Rose off, but people meet and people part, and that was the way it had to be. Although she did find herself hoping they would meet again soon as far apart, they tried to turn the wheel of the world further by pushing against its spokes.

It made her smirk as she remembered the suspicion and near hostility they had for one another when Lakyus had first sought her help. In a relatively short time they'd come to respect one another, even appreciate each other. Not long after that, with the reveal of Evileye's nature, Lakyus turned to her for advice, and when the great burning of Wenmark had been underway, Neia's gratitude towards Blue Rose as a whole had grown tenfold. Time and events had made them into good, perhaps even close, friends, as well as allies in the same cause. So leaving her behind without even a fare thee well had been unfortunate.

"What are you thinking about, dear?" Skana asked as they put on robes to go to the bath.

"Nothing important, just thinking it was a shame I couldn't see Lakyus off." Neia replied casually.

Jumping in shock, Skana clutched at her breast and stared at her wife wide-eyed, "You're thinking of another woman on our vacation!" For a moment Neia thought she was serious, but her wife could not keep a straight face much longer than it took to wink, and they both burst into laughter.

"Hey, I'm married, not dead, and I reserve the right to look, I'm fifty percent better at it than you are anyway." Neia smirked, and blinked both eyes at her.

Skana's mouth opened in surprise at the verbal riposte. "Uh huh, well just remember, I've still got this one on you." Skana said and pointed at the emerald green eye she still had, "Plus since you have two of them, you should be done looking twice as fast, while 'I' get to look for twice as long." She responded with a smug grin.

"Fair enough, but maybe 'don't' do that if we see the guardians bathe, I have no idea just how Lady Albedo would react to that, and I do not want to explain the mess that may result, to the Sorcerer King." Neia cautioned lightly, wagging her finger with great amusement.

"Yeah OK, fine." Skana relented with her hands up in the air with mock disappointment as they headed out the door. A short while later they were laying aside their robes and descending into the beautiful heated waters, only to find that they were not entirely alone.

Not far away was a very familiar blond girl scrubbing dried blood off of fair skin. She waved hello politely, but didn't approach or stop what she was doing for longer than it took to wave. "She looks familiar." Skana whispered.

Neia nodded, "Her name is Vanysa, you've met briefly, but I've met her several times." Neia whispered.

"You know I can hear you, right?" Vanysa voiced out with an amused laugh.

To make her point, she allowed her wings to emerge and the fair skin and blond hair became gold skin and black hair, and she sat before them as a demoness. "Yeah... demon senses, remember?"

"Oh... right." Mildly embarrassed, Skana apologized, "Sorry."

"No worries." Vanysa acknowledged warmly, "You've had a lot going on, and your wife has met me more times than you, and much more closely." She chuckled.

"Say what?" Skana asked, turning to Neia with an arched eyebrow.

"Damn it, Vanysa! Don't say it 'that' way!" Neia exclaimed, her voice having a hint of panic and exasperation.

Vanysa laughed, it rang like crystal bells and she shook her head. "Sorry, no Skana, your wife and I have definitely not had some torrid affair, as far as I know she's been completely faithful to you, despite countless opportunities otherwise..." She shrugged.

Neia was blushing beet red, "Vanysa, do me a favor, and don't be on my side anymore." She sighed heavily and rubbed her forehead at the bridge of her nose.

Skana chose to save what was left of her wife's dignity. "So ahh, can you explain the blood?" She asked casually, reminding herself to add that to the list of sentences she never expected to say casually in her entire life.

"Oh, it belongs to my special guest, the former King, Astraka. Today I stayed in my human shape, I even wore the clothes I had on when he kidnapped me, this is my first time with him for this kind of retribution, and I wanted it to be as memorable for him as it was for me." Vanysa replied contentedly.

"Oh. Sorry I asked." Skana muttered numbly.

Neia however, was interested. "Did he have a hand in taking Tinamoc?"

Vanysa nodded. "I'm certain of it." She said. Her voice took on a hard edge, "I suppose I owe both you and him a bit of an apology, as it was outside my mission scope. I didn't think to see if maybe he'd taken any prisoners. If the dopples encountered any hint of it, well I didn't think to ask. I was so focused on what I was trying to do that I didn't think of what else was going on." She lowered her gaze, "I'm sorry."

"You weren't his torturer," Neia replied empathetically, "nor were you responsible for his safety or his capture. Unfortunately as it was that you missed an opportunity, finding him would have been very unlikely unless you were specifically looking for him."

Neia's face held a hint of sadness, but she quickly shoved it aside, "I want to see that man." She stood up, her voice had a hateful edge to it.

"Neia, no. Not now, not today." Skana begged, "Please, I just want some 'us' time, without thinking of revenge, without thinking of war or goals or progress, just to 'be' for a little while, here, now, in the present." Skana reached her hand out, and gently flicked Neia's nose.

Neia sat back down into the heated water and leaned back into her wife's arms. "Fine. That's fair." She relented in a more relaxed manner. "He's not going anywhere anytime soon, is he?" She inquired with a smile.

"No, definitely not." Shaking her head, Vanysa reassured Neia, "Definitely not."

"Another time then, just promise not to kill him until I have gotten a visit." Neia said hopefully.

"Promise made." Vanysa responded, "In the meantime," she perked up happily as she clapped, her eyes sparkling, "His Majesty said you'd be here, and you'll have two maids and myself at your disposal."

"Two?" Neia asked.

"Yup, for this weekend, CZ will be at your service, as will Entoma. Me, I've got other work, but if yah want anything that the tomb doesn't have, it'll be my job to fetch it for yah." Vanysa said sweetly as she shifted into the shape of an erinyes and began to scrub her horns.

"Ah, well that is wonderful and all, but isn't three a bit much?" Skana asked.

Vanysa shook her head, "Nope, 'parently not. An' besides, the maids, even the battle maids, they don't leave the tomb much other than CZ or the others who have specific tasks. His Majesty gets real worried bout 'em, but ahm ok out there on account of I lived out there an know how things work." Vanysa started to scrub her wings.

"I see, are you as strong as they are though?" Skana asked curiously.

Vanysa's eyes went calculating for a moment as she thought the question over. "I don't know, probably not, but knowledge is its own power, I know how to blend, behave, and can adjust my behavior with greater versatility than they usually can. So if you want anyone or anything brought to you, I will see it done."

"Well, thank you." Skana said politely, quietly reminding herself that 'normal' took on an entirely new meaning when it came to Nazarick.

"Till then, lemme show you something really neat." She said, standing up and going to the water's edge, getting out, and beginning to dress. "You're done bathing, right?" She asked.

"Uh, yeah." Neia said cautiously. "What is it you want us to see?"

Vanysa had a cheshire grin on her face, and after walking for a short while, they were on the sixth floor looking down at a circle of plants.

"What's neat about these?" Skana asked dubiously.

Vanysa just kept looking down at them as Neia and Skana traded doubtful expressions.

"Just wait." She said softly. Then as she looked down at the plants, she recited, "Long live Ainz Ooal Gown."

Then up jumped the entire ring out of the ground and they began to bounce, shouting "Long live Ainz Ooal Gown." over and over again. They began to move in a circle while the couple watched, fascinated.

"Can they say anything else?" Neia asked, her eyes still glued to the chanting plants.

"According to Lady Aura, no, they can't. They're not very intelligent, but she taught them to say this much." Vanysa replied with a happy smile on her face.

Skana enjoyed watching the funny little things, their little brown wooden like appendages bouncing, their tiny little arms flailed, their faces some weird amalgam of cute and horrifying, their high pitched, almost childlike voices. But as she took her gaze away, her eyes fell to the demoness, she wore a joyful face, much like a little girl might if she found a kitten in need of a home and being told she could keep it. It was hard to square it with the woman calmly washing blood off her body after torturing someone.

If it seemed that Neia favored the woman, then Skana, in her heart's ledger, put a question mark beneath Vanysa's name. Whatever she was, entirely sane did not seem to be it.

After watching the little mandrake plants for awhile, Vanysa looked up, "Why doncha go change, ah believe they gots some clothes for yah as a lil present left in yer room, an if yah haven't yet, go to the Nazarick bar? Go have somethin ta eat, drink, and relax, if'n yah don't know the way, well CZ an Entoma are probably already atcher room waitin on yah." Vanysa gave them a big toothy grin that looked entirely absurd on a torturer or a demoness.

"Ah, I think that's a great idea." Skana nodded, and tugged at Neia's hands.

Neia reluctantly looked up, "Yes, that would be fun." She smiled with tranquil contentment and followed her wife, when they arrived at the suite that had been prepared for them, they found Entoma and CZ waiting for them just as Vanysa had said. Neia had never really gotten a close look at Entoma before, and though she'd spoken with CZ before about her sisters, Entoma in fact did not meet that expectation when looking at her from only a few feet away. She looked like an ordinary teenage girl, and when the couple entered the room, she and CZ both curtseyed in accordance with their current task as maids.

Neia took it in stride, Skana however, coming from a peasant background of lower social status than Neia, still found it in herself to be a little awkward in receiving such an honorific, and she gave a weak smile in return.

"So we'd like to head to the bar and have some breakfast, how about a change of clothes." Neia said happily, taking the initiative for her wife.

Skana chose to follow Neia's lead in this, and as Neia did not move from where she stood, neither did Skana. They simply waited as the maids replied, "Of course." And went to the wardrobes to remove a set of garments.

CZ approached Neia and gently began helping her friend out of her clothing, Neia took it in stride, allowing herself to be stripped. Though she looked with askance at the choice the maid demon had made for her. "Ah, is that really 'me'?" Neia asked, looking at a blue and white dress.

"Cute." CZ said emphatically.

Neia shrugged. "If you say so."

Skana though, spoke up as Entoma tried to undress her with, "Ah, I can take off my own clothing, it's quite alright." Entoma's face did not change its expression, but her step back was clearly unhappy.

Neia looked over to her wife, "This is how things work in these situations my love, let her do her job or you'll be disrespecting both the Sorcerer King and the effort she puts into her job." Her voice was mild, but carried a very slight hint of rebuke.

"You're right, sorry." She looked back at the girl in front of her, "Please proceed, I meant no disrespect, I'm just not used to being treated this way." Skana apologized, and though Entoma's expression did not change, there was a definitive air of relief about her.

"It's alright," she said in the airy voice of a teenage girl, "think nothing of my discomfort, it is only that years ago someone said nobody would want me to serve them and as a being born to serve, it was a hurtful thing to say to me, and I simply remembered it just now." Entoma explained.

Skana felt exceptionally bad just then, and gave a warm and sincere smile, "Please accept my double apology then." She stretched her arms back her so that the maid could pull her shirt off. "I'm sure you're an excellent maid, you're doing a fine, efficient job with me, and I'm happy to let you fulfill your place, any discomfort is due to my own past, not your performance and I ask your forgiveness for even the perception of rudeness." Skana spoke quickly, succinctly, and sincerely, and the maid attending to her clearly warmed up with what had been said.

"I will remember that." Entoma replied pleasantly.

"But, is this really me?" Skana asked as she looked at the blood red dress with green trim laid out on the bed.

"Cute." Neia, CZ, and Entoma responded in unison.

"Well, I guess I'll have to trust the experts on this one." Skana said patiently, "But it'll be strange to wear a dress again, I can't remember the last time I wore something that wasn't related to combat." She laughed a little bit at that, "I suppose I'll have to get used to it again sooner or later."

"You and me both." Neia agreed as the maids brought the dresses over their heads and pulled them down, as if in sync with one another, CZ and Entoma went behind them and pulled the laces tight at the back and secured them with a well-practiced motion.

"Done." CZ and Entoma said together.

Neia and Skana then went to the front of a mirror and looked at their reflections, "Yeah, not bad, good call." Neia said and rendered a thumbs up to the pair of maids.

"No kidding, I look great." Skana added and gave herself a twirl. The maids faces were neutral, but Neia did not miss the sense of a smug 'I told you so' satisfaction coming off of them in spirit.

"Now, to the bar!" Neia proclaimed, enthusiastically pointing in the direction they'd first come from.

"That is not the way to the bar." Entoma explained, slightly tilting her head.

"It doesn't matter! I'm pointing dramatically!" Neia insisted enthusiastically.

"Oh." CZ voiced. Skana rolled her good eye, but Neia stubbornly refused to change the direction in which she was pointing.

"Ah… which way 'is' the bar though? I do need that information." Neia added sheepishly, still not changing the direction in which she was pointing.

"You can stop pointing now." Skana said dryly, barely holding back further laughter.

"Please take us." Skana said, turning to the maids, "She'll point that way all day if you don't." Her lips started to crack as she tried with ever greater difficulty to restrain her own urge to laugh.

"Yes, this way." Entoma said and opened the door. As they exited, CZ fell in behind the pair, and within a few minutes, they found their way.

When they entered, much to their surprise, the Sorcerer King was seated at a large table with the other guardians, telling a story, as soon as they saw him, their immediate impulse, and that of their maid attendants, was to kneel, however the Sorcerer King saw them and waved them over, apparently in good spirits.

"Come, you are guests, take a seat and join us. I was just telling a story about some of my comrades, you might enjoy this one."

As fast as they moved, in none of their minds could it have been fast enough as they rushed over to hear a story like that for themselves.


	123. Parricidal Leanings

**God Rising**

 **Chapter 123**

 **Written by: AtheistBasementDragon**

 **Edited by: The Usual Gang Of Drunken Perverted Idiots**

 **AN: OK we're back to another double release day, I've still got more to catch up on, lots of stuff to do, you're actually getting a triple release day bonus with a humorous little one shot, with the story 'First Flight' set immediately after Chapter 55 after Vanysa's resurrection and recreation, did that one live with discord members watching it unfold, the seem to like doing that, which is fine, I'm glad it is so entertaining. :) Anyway, let me have your thoughts. Oh, and welcome again to Act III, the longest segment of the story, this will take us to the very end of the war and the start of 'The Synod'. Remember months ago when I said this may be 100 chapters? HA! Now here I am saying, 'Maybe 300'. How things change, right? Oh, and if you're wondering what Neia experiences in Nazarick, you won't have to wait long, I just have to catch these events up to the conclusion of the siege, then you'll get the rest of her mini vacation.**

 **Oh...and one more thing I wanted to address per someone's previous review... I am PRETTY SURE I am not 'famous' by any stretch of the imagination. I mean I don't even put my real name on these things in the first place, and the only two places I go for Overlord content are here, one discord server, and occasionally Reddit, even 'if' I were widely known, I'd have no way of knowing that. I'm proud of what's been accomplished through these stories and all, but lets not go crazy here, if you can walk down the street and be unrecognized, probably not famous. I've not been casually approached with an advance for a book deal, and I don't expect to be. I like to think my work is pretty well enjoyed, I mean really, I don't think this is quite what 'fame' is supposed to be like. So lets have no more of that, shall we? :)**

 _...Elf Kingdom Eastern Border..._

Zesshi loved the armor she wore, she felt incredible, a constant flow of energy seemed to fill her voice with power and to sharpen her senses beyond even that razor's edge which she was naturally long accustomed to. Too, it felt 'right' to wear the armor that was liberating her people. She made a mental note when all was over and done to give proper gratitude to Neia Baraja for all her efforts. How do you say thank you to someone who was literally saving your little brothers and sisters from torture and bondage? Zesshi did not know, but she had time to find that out.

When she'd moved through the first wall, elves had celebrated like they'd been rescued by a god, now they swelled her ranks while messengers rode out beyond to other towns and fortifications to make them aware of what was happening. The unthinkable, the end of the nightmare.

The great forest was next and she began to make rapid time. The elf population had never been as large as that of the Slane Theocracy, their long lives necessitated slow reproduction rates, and this meant that their settlements were of course, smaller. Towns began to open their doors and their stores, the only thing stopping her advance was the barrier of new volunteers eager to end the rule of the old monarch. Never once did she feel her march was at risk. She had to pause to make a demonstration of her power many times, but this only solidified the legend that was growing in the minds of the elves.

Just as significantly in her mind however, was making sure that the humans and heteromorphs were well treated at every stop. The wine stores were opened up with extended hours, as were the many taverns of the elf kingdom's towns and small cities. Feelings about heteromorphs were not the best, and feelings about humans were nothing but hateful. Therefore at each town she stopped at, before entering she called the population to hear her out.

"With me march a number of humans and heteromorphs, they are servants of the Sorcerer King, like myself, many of them are combat specialists who train the soldiers who come to free you, the armor they bear is the armor of your liberators! They are not of the Theocracy, they come from the Draconic Kingdom, they come from the Holy Kingdom, they come from the Sorcerous Kingdom, they come from the Re-Estize Kingdom, from around the human kingdoms they come to descend upon your oppressor and bring him DOWN! I will not suffer their mistreatment by the hands of those they come to set free, am I understood?!" Zesshi declared something of that nature at every town and village before granting her soldiers leave to take their ease for hours or a day, only once did she have to uproot and depart early when the anti-human sentiment threatened to grow too virulent and some drunken elves tried to pick a fight with two human Black Justice instructors.

"Damn humansh, getshout of our village, yana welcome 'ere!" An elf slurred at a human in a tavern. The human wore his black and red armor and still bore his sword, he looked at the drunken elf with uncertainty, the hostility was naked on the elf's face. His ears were cut and he bore a number of scars. Empathy swelled in the instructor's breast for what must have happened to the poor drunken fellow.

"I plan to, then from here we will go to Crescent Lake, we will crush the elf king, and then I will go north, out of your kingdom, and I will help crush the Slane Theocracy. Is that far enough?" He asked.

The elf staggered and slammed his mug down on the bar. "All schettle fer a hole in tha ground outschide our village, schom place ah can c'mfertably go ta piss." The elf cackled, rudely pointing at the instructor.

The instructor kept his cool. "I don't want a fight, just a drink before going somewhere I'll have to fight." He said and turned his back to the elf to call for the bartender.

"D'oncha turn yer back ta me, human filth!" The elf slurred angrily and grabbed at the human's shoulder and tried to turn him around.

The Black Justice instructor stepped away from the grip. "I'm under orders not to start any fights, please restrain your temper." He said calmly. "I don't want to do any harm to anyone here."

"I do!" The elf hollered and drew a dagger from behind his back. The instructor stepped further back, his eyes narrowed, the situation was now more dangerous. The rest of the crowd was watching with mixed degrees of violent anticipation and uncertainty, which was largely dependent on their level of intoxication.

The elf thrust straight at the abdomen of the instructor, it had been a poor decision. The instructor inched just out of the way and spun on his heel so that he was facing the side as the elf went past him. He grabbed the wrist as it moved beyond his body and twisted his hand, forcing a yelp of pain and causing the knife to drop, with his other hand he grabbed the elf at his hair and pulled him backwards then releasing his grip on the now disarmed hand, he raised his arm up and brought his palm up above the upturned breast of the drunken elf and then down, hard enough to send the unbalanced elf down to the floor on his back.

The elf coughed hard as the wind was knocked from his body with such force that he couldn't rise to fight further. "I do not wish violence, you are not my enemies, someone please help this man." He said, gesturing down at the elf who was still coughing on the floor. The mood was turning ugly, and the instructor threw a coin on the bar to pay for his drink and tried to make his exit, several elves approached to help the fallen figure up, but the sight of a human doing violence to an elf, even in self defense, was too much for some rabble rousers and shouts began to escalate.

Someone had already rushed to warn General Zesshi Zetsumei however. Before a full blown anti-human riot could get out of control, her killing intent encompassed the tavern and quickly sobered up even the most violently minded elves.

It took only a few minutes to sort out what had taken place. "Out." Zesshi ordered, pointing her thumb over to the door and looking at the instructor.

"Way ahead of you, ma'am." He responded and walked out with back straight in a brisk fashion, he did not even look behind him on the way out.

With the human out, Zesshi blocked the door by standing in the center of it with her arms folded, clearly displeased. "I gave instructions, you did not follow them, you disgraced elven kind and turned on someone who risked his life saving hundreds of your fellows from torture and death in Wenmark, I am ashamed of all of you. We'll be moving out tonight and we will accept no support from this village since I cannot trust you to control yourselves in my encampments." Her disappointed voice seemed to echo throughout the tavern even after she left the bar.

When the drunkards sobered up in the morning, Zesshi's forces had been gone for hours and the realization of just what a disastrously bad idea their behavior had been, hit home for the village elves.

"What if they leave? What if they stop? What if they decide we're not worth saving? What if they decide we deserve the king we have? What if the rest of Black Justice hears of this and recalls their instructors or even gives up saving more of our people?" These and a hundred other ugly questions were asked of one another and they were asked in the quietness of their inner thoughts.

What had been an anti-human crowd the night before, became pensive, and the mayor rushed a rider after the army, desperate to offer amends, lest they gain a reputation as the village that hated its heroes. The rider caught up with them at noon the next day, and by then General Zesshi Zetsumei had calmed down considerably, thanks in no small part to the vampire elves who rode at her left and right flanks.

"You can't blame them for being bitter, you know." Thirg commented patiently.

"That's right, when alcohol is mixed with bitterness, people can get nasty even when sober they would know better." Tefl added.

"True, but I don't like seeing the other half of myself behaving too much like the people I left. When I left the Theocracy, a part of that was because of how the humans of Kami Miyako treated me when they could see my elven heritage, I saw the same thing in that bar last night. The human instructor who just wanted a drink after a long day of working with our people, trying to save more of us, trying to protect their lives by teaching them to protect themselves... what did he do wrong?" She asked rhetorically.

"If he'd wanted to kill the drunkard, he could have, we all know that, he didn't even leave a bruise, he handled the would be killer neatly, efficiently, and professionally, all things that have given us victory. I understand the hatred they have, but if elves can't tell friend from foe, if our people can't learn to live with humans, we'll destroy ourselves more effectively than the Slane Theocracy ever could." Her voice was grim and her thoughts were dark as she spoke, and that had her right and left hands quiet for a time.

"Wounds do not heal overnight." Thirg said patiently.

"But they must be allowed to heal. I saw what that elf looked like, gods alone know what horrors he endured, but how many more are like him? Will whoever replaces my father be like that? Will I be called to lead an army against this other half of my blood when some embittered elf wants to launch a war of revenge against humans? It's terrible to contemplate such a thing." Zesshi said with a shake of her head.

"Not if you're the one who rules." Tefl said suggestively.

Zesshi snapped her head over to Tefl. "Say that again?" She asked, her head tilting in slight confusion.

"Not if you're the one who rules." Tefl repeated.

Thirg laughed, "Don't tell me you haven't thought about what happens 'after' you take Crescent lake and kill your father?" He asked, throwing his head back in laughter ,unable to restrain his sense of humor.

Zesshi's mouth hung open, then closed, then opened, then closed again. "I ah, no, I didn't. I just wanted to bring that piece of trash down, I just assumed that the Sorcerer King would appoint someone to take his place. It didn't occur to me that 'I' might be that someone."

Thirg slapped her on the shoulder, "I can think of no better reason than that, you may think yourself to be nothing but a battle maniac, but I've seen how you set yourself to the task of commanding this army, you've cared for your soldiers, you've treated their lives as if they were the lives of your own children, you've been at the front of every fight, and you made a real choice for yourself to abandon the comfort of the familiar to come and save half of what you are. Not many could do all that, you'll make a fine Queen." He expressed confidently.

"Plus remember, bastard or not, your father 'is' the king, and that makes you royalty here, you'd be the rightful heir to the throne, you have the right to rule, when all is said and done." Tefl added.

That gave Zesshi pause, and she was still deep in thought when the rider arrived and begged forgiveness for his village, and to accept some volunteers to help her efforts.

After several minutes talk, Thirg looked at her and said, "Well, Your Majesty, what will you do?"

...Re-Estize Kingdom...Great Western Road...

"Excellent work, Lady Shalltear." General Zaryusu remarked. Hours of work in the encampment had been fruitful. Once her eyes had been opened to the task at hand, to all the things Zaryusu was doing by himself, Shalltear had thrown herself into the task of learning everything he had to teach.

He'd begun just by allowing her to decide the awards, who would draw a commendation, and who would not. At first her initial impulse to reject all, had reversed itself to the point where she was going to approve all, and Zaryusu spent some time explaining the various options to her.

"You can also upgrade or downgrade awards as you think appropriate, it is entirely your decision my lady, I will not question your choice." He said deferentially.

Shalltear had looked at him uncertainly, then back down at the document in front of her, then back to him. "How do I know what I should do then?" She asked and looked at the book to her left, "this doesn't say exactly what choice I should make." She elaborated further.

"Correct. If it did, it wouldn't be a 'choice', you must exercise some degree of judgement for yourself. I can suggest criteria to you, but I can't make the decision for you. His Majesty values independent thought in his subordinates, he doesn't want us to be mere puppets on strings. I think that is why he doesn't reveal the fullness of his plans, but lets us gradually come to understand them as they unfold, so that we may grow and learn to think more deeply about his intentions." Zaryusu said thoughtfully, pausing to scratch under his long jaw.

"That makes sense." Shalltear agreed somewhat hesitantly, "When I was accompanying him among the dwarves, he cut off Aura's statement about what happened to the two death knights, and let me work it out for myself."

"Perhaps that is why he also paired you with me, I was trained in Nazarick to manage an army, but I don't live there. Perhaps our being seated here at this table, having this very conversation, was his goal all along. That you would seek out a chance to learn, but it wouldn't be from someone who might lord it over you or remind you by their presence that there was something you didn't know how to do. After this, I go to my home again, we might never be in the same place after this, but you'll still have the knowledge you gain here." Zaryusu elaborated on his thoughts, and she froze as if struck by a bolt of lightning from the heavens.

'This lizardman general was right, this was Lord Ainz's plan all along!' Shalltear thought, again in awe at the unutterably limitless wisdom of her beloved master.

"Now... the decision then?" She forced the topic back to her question.

"If I were to put this in a way that makes the most sense to you... suppose one of your fellow guardians faced a similar ordeal to the one you are considering here..." He held up his hands to stop her inevitable interjection that nobody was powerful enough to hurt a guardian like that except their master, "...just imagine it as a hypothetical. And your fellow guardian performed as the person in the recommendation did, would you praise them for it?" He asked.

That gave her further pause, she tried to imagine various guardians in various scenarios just like this, and as she did, she found herself easily praising the forethought, cleverness, and even sacrifice of her peers in such conditions. She checked 'approved' and signed her name without further hesitation.

Zayusu nodded in approval and went back to his own work. Shalltear progressed rapidly after that, clearing out the entire stack of awards, upgrading some, downgrading others, approving some, and a few were outright rejected. When she was done, she laid them in a neat stack in the box beside the lizardman general.

"I am impressed, Lady Shalltear, you've truly taken to this task." He remarked enthusiastically.

Shalltear closed her eyes and preened proudly. "I'm a creation of the supreme being, Lord Pereroncino, of course I'm capable of learning new things." She lowered her head then in a little bit of a pout. "I just have to know what things I need to learn first."

"Then I owe you a deep apology, Lady Shalltear." General Zaryusu spoke humbly.

"Oh?" She raised her eyebrow at what he said, looking curiously at the lizardman in front of her.

"I harbored disrespectful thoughts of your willingness to work, I was wrong, and I am sorry, I should have known that you would be willing to undertake tasks as long as you actually knew what they were. I assumed your disinterest without even bothering to bring them to your attention, and thereby created an impression of you by myself that did not reflect who you truly are. I swear on my young and our master I will not make such a mistake again." He said with his head bowed.

"See that you don't." She stated imperiously, then added, "However, I will forgive you, this time, and..." She hesitated, thinking back to the way some of her peers often spoke down to her, and her own failure, the way for so long she'd been relegated to being nothing but a gate maker, "I will admit I have not always made the best impression in that way I guess."

"Nonetheless, I should have taken the time to talk to you before I judged you as I did. That mistake was mine." General Zaryusu said humbly, his hand touching his own chest. Then his mouth fell open in shock.

"What is it?" Shalltear asked him, seeing the shock appear on his face.

"I just realized something." General Zaryusu replied.

"Yes?" She asked, her voice slightly tinged with concern.

"It's just..." Zaryusu groaned in annoyance.

"Spit it out." She prompted the lizardman, concerned.

"I just realized, if I had just talked to you at the outset and tried to see if you were willing to learn how all this works, I could have saved myself so very, very much work! Do you know how many hours of sleep I've missed since I've been doing this by myself all this time?!" He groaned again, even louder this time, and rolled his eyes as Shalltear started to laugh.

"Serves you right for underestimating me, let us call that your punishment, and then never speak of that folly of 'yours' ever again, shall we?" Shalltear asked 'sweetly' with a very smug expression on her face.

"Agreed. If word ever got back to my wife, I would never live it down." Zaryusu found room to laugh at himself, and then reached for another stack of forms. "Now let me show you how this one works, this deals with our logistical summations." He said and slid another form over to her. He was glad, even proud, to see the way she focused so intently as she looked down at the new challenge to her mind.


	124. Guardian Rising

**God Rising**

 **Chapter 124**

 **Written by: AtheistBasementDragon**

 **Edited by: The Usual Gang Of Drunken Perverted Idiots**

 **AN: I know some of you have been expecting this for awhile, and I hope I do the scene justice, let me know what you think. :) BTW, originally this chapter was going to have two different perspective scenes, however I ultimately decided against it because this has been so long in the offing, it worked better as its own chapter.**

 _...Re-Estize Kingdom...Capital City..._

Brain went out drinking with Alden that afternoon, one bag of gold coins to the good and the first mug was to be his treat. Climb found himself walking in front of Princess Renner all the way to her bedroom, and he checked every room along the way, the over protectiveness of her 'puppy' was so very precious to watch. He was taking no chances at all, and behind him, her eyes were wide with obsessive madness. Her fists clenched and unclenched, as she looked at his back.

'He's mine, all mine, and nobody can ever take him away from me, never again, no, not ever, ever ever never, no never, not ever again... my Climb, my Climb, my Climb, my Climb, my Climb, my Climb!' Her obsessive thoughts furiously raced through her head, over and over again. Her footfalls were even and deliberate and echoed off the walls of the palace as she made sure to keep her steps in perfect rhythm several feet behind his own.

His was a martial step, hard, heavy, pronounced, but hers were the steps of a dancer, light and lithe, graceful and done with the purpose of being beautiful. Under one arm there was a box, a very special box that was a special gift of the Sorcerer King, delivered to her by the Guardian Overseer herself.

The box had a tantalizing puzzle on the top which contained multiple parts, Renner had one by one, solved the different locks, and now she was about to solve the final one, she just wanted to be alone with her puppy, in her room, when she did so.

Occasionally she took the box from under her arm and held it in front of her with both hands, she smiled down at it joyfully. Whatever it contained, she longed to see it.

When she gazed at it, her deliberate forward step would shift as she twirled behind her bodyguard, she spun so quickly that her dress whirled up with the force she created, only for her to then fall back into perfect step as if nothing had happened.

Door by door and turn by turn they moved over the smooth polished floor until at last they reached her room. The creak of the door as the handle was lifted and it opened outward was one of the most beautiful sounds she'd ever heard in all her mad life. Climb bowed low and held the door open for her after he inspected the room for any hint of a potential assassin come to end the life of his precious princess.

"Welcome home, your highness." He said in a voice that seemed... deeper than she remembered.

'Perhaps he's not such a boy anymore.' Renner thought to herself, 'But it doesn't matter, he's mine, he's mine and only mine and none can ever have him!' She carefully suppressed her smile and walked slowly past him back into the room she'd abandoned in seeming haste once before. She set the ornate little box down onto the table, and a glimmer of sanity peaked through. She looked over to Climb.

"Climb, you meant what you said, didn't you?" She asked.

"What was that?" He asked.

"That you loved me, no matter what, right?" She probed further, her voice grew momentarily weak.

"I did. I am yours to the end." He said with bold confidence.

'Yes, mine. MINE!' She thought as that glimmer of thought was buried under her obsession.

She smiled sweetly. "Good." She said and moved the last tiny square in the puzzle box into place. It fell into position with a neat little 'snick' sound, and the pie slice shaped pieces spun round three times, then slid open, revealing a small key. The key was ordinary looking enough, she reached down and took it out, then held it before her eyes at level with her nose. She looked at it in abject confusion until she heard the sound of little ringing bells. "Climb, did you hear that?" She asked.

"Hear what your highness?" He asked with concern, his grip tightened on his sword, he closed and secured the door behind him and then approached to where she stood, alert for any dangers.

She followed the sound and looked down at the box, at the front where there had been none before, a keyhole appeared, it glowed and sparkled like tiny stars before her eyes. She inserted the key, it was a perfect fit, she turned it, and heard a satisfying 'click'. Then and only then could she open the lid, inside were two items.

The first was a scroll wrapped up in a note which was secured with red thread. The second was a small white egg shaped object that felt like it was made of porcelain and was decorated with many curious symbols. She looked at the contents with a dubious expression, but gingerly reached down and pulled the red thread loose, and withdrew the note from its resting place on the deep blue lining on the inside of the box. The note was short and to the point.

"Use the scroll and send me this message, "Vivat Rex", then retrieve the object and wait. Signed, Albedo"

Renner frowned deeply, this was not what she had expected, but perhaps that was the point. Nothing was as simple as it seemed when it came to her monstrously brilliant master.

She took the scroll and looked it over, it was a simple message scroll. Understanding began to dawn. She used the scroll and called for Albedo.

"Vivat Rex." She said, hoping she was pronouncing the odd 'words?' properly.

"I understand, congratulations, in a moment the gate will open, take up the item beside the scroll, and step through it." Albedo replied.

The Guardian Overseer was as good as her word, the gate opened, and Renner began to walk towards it. "Your Highness, please, let me go with you..." Climb began to say, only to stop when he saw her looking at him with a sad expression.

"Not this time, my Climb. You had your journey, and you served His Majesty better than I ever dreamed when you were in Kami Miyako, my instructions for this were clear. When I opened this box; I was to come alone, I cannot take you on this task of mine, but I will come back. Please, wait here for me." She said in a small, sensitive voice that reminded him of when she was very small.

"Princess please, I don't..." He started to say, only for her to cut him off.

"No." She said firmly, sharp enough that it brought him up short.

"I'm sorry, I have spoken out of turn, my apologies, princess." He replied and bowed his head.

"No Climb,"she said more gently. "Just wait here, I know why you want to go, but not this time."

He took a deep breath and forced himself to relax. She then went to the gate and stepped through, disappearing entirely from his view, the gate closed as soon as she was gone, and Climb stood alone in her room. It reminded him very much of the first time he'd looked around the tower room he had to himself in Kami Miyako. That had not been a good feeling, and nor was this, but for the noble knight, what other choice was there but to wait for the return of his mistress? None.

When she looked around on the other side, she found herself standing outside of the double doors that led to the throne room of Ainz Ooal Gown. Beside her, stood a demoness. "Hi there." Vanysa greeted casually. "I've been told to expect you, and to tell you what to expect when you go in."

Renner looked at the golden skinned demoness and nodded mutely.

"Quiet one, aren't you." Vanysa commented, then shrugged, "It's fine, you don't need to talk, just listen, you passed a test few humans would. With His Majesty, many things are tests, either for himself or for ourselves. Neia Baraja's test was to offer up her own life, my own unwitting test was to sacrifice myself, Queen Draudillon's was to raise an army in his name, Lakyus' was to choose between her god and her family, and Climb's was to hold faith in captivity. For you it was different, yours was a mental test, but in every test no matter how strange, there is change as either challenge or reward. Do you understand?" Vanysa asked her patiently.

Renner shook her head. "No."

"I used to look like this." Vanysa said, and drew her wings in, revealing her human shape, "Then I died, I took my own life rather than betray my master, he restored me to life as a demoness of retribution and punishment, befitting my nature. Lakyus was rewarded with a place and status within the changing world, Neia has received power that has only grown over the years and is nearing its very peak. One by one our master is rewarding those who succeed, and now you will be presented with a choice of your own." The demoness said gently, enfolding her talons over the soft human hands.

Renner looked uncertain, but gradually, Vanysa saw that understanding was starting to dawn on the princess' face. "It is time for you to grow, choose wisely, like the vine that must wind it's way with care to ascend to the greatest heights. Now go on in, the master waits." Vanysa urged lightly, and pressed lightly on the great door, it parted, and Renner stepped within.

She had been in this room many times in service to the Sorcerer King, and it was a point of pride that it had never been to report a failure. In all those comings and goings, she had never left this place unimpressed. Not with the power, not with the raw beauty, not with the unparalleled intellect which she encountered within its sacred walls. She always left feeling like she was leaving a divine realm and returning to a mortal one.

Still for all that, only twice had she come in a state of anxiety. Her first time, and this time. In both cases it was the uncertainty of it all that had her at a loss. She well knew others, the few like the Marquis Raeven and her brother, King Zanac, who recognized her inner nature, considered her to be twisted. At times like this, she wondered if they were right. However, she was bound and determined not to shame herself, and so she strode purposefully forward, her hands folded around the little egg, as they hung daintily in front of her.

She stopped when she reached the base of the throne and knelt before the Sorcerer King. She lowered her gaze and raised up her arms. There, cupped in her hands, was the little egg that had rested within the box.

"Congratulations." The Sorcerer King spoke up grandly, "This completes the test, and astutely done, completing it on the day your capital is reclaimed, I couldn't have timed it better myself." He said with a dark laugh.

"Of course there remains the matter of that final city, but I expect they will offer up terms of surrender shortly, do as you see fit in that regard." Ainz said magnanimously.

"Thank you, My Lord." Princess Renner said in her most gentle, feminine voice. "Yet your servant does not quite understand what this object is to do, the servant at the door explained somewhat, but..." She hesitated, and Albedo chuckled patiently.

"Princess Renner, the servant, Vanysa..." she gestured to the demoness who stood within the chamber near the door, well behind Renner, "...showed you how she had been, and how she now is, did she not?" Albedo asked.

"She did, Lady Albedo." Princess Renner replied affirmatively.

"For her, death was required first, but that will not be the case for you, however your human days are done." Albedo stated in a tone of voice that was more 'order' than 'explanation'. "You are to be promoted to the status of a Guardian. However, my lord in his infinite wisdom, has chosen to make a distinction there, you will be what he has chosen to call an 'Outer Guardian'. In short, you will be the 'Outer Guardian of Re-Estize'."

"Does this mean my brother will be deposed then?" She asked casually.

"No, he will retain his position, you however, will be responsible for ensuring his competency and compliance with the will of the Sorcerer King." Albedo said in a precise, professional tone.

"And this object will let me do that?" She asked.

"In a manner of speaking," Albedo began to explain, "you will choose one of the undying races, it matters not to us which it is, you may become a vampire, or a demoness, or anything you wish, so long as it is a being that will not be touched by the passage of time."

"What of my... puppy?" Renner asked weakly.

'What puppy is she talking about? I don't remember her having a dog...?' Ainz thought, before dismissing it as a trivially unimportant detail.

"We can keep him from death indefinitely without changing him if necessary, by way of using Idun's apples." Albedo explained, and a wave of relief swept over Renner's face.

"How do I use it, Lady Albedo?" The Princess asked, drawing her arms in close to her chest, she looked down with awe at the little egg.

"Clutch it to your breast, and state your choice, it will do the rest." Albedo said simply.

She looked down at the little thing, of all the possibilities that might have lain within the box, this seemed beyond words, so many things came to mind, the demoness behind her had an appealing body, as did the succubus in front of her, to be a vampiress would allow for many possibilities, but for her there was but one, only one for the Golden Princess. She looked at the little egg one more time, emblazoning its every feel, contour, and look into her memory forever, and then whispered softly so that only the magic within the object could hear her.

Light poured out of her body as if through countless cracks. She immediately felt as if she were stabbed with ten thousand knives all over her flesh, she wanted to scream, but all she could do was arch her back and look up as light poured out of both her throat and her eyes.

"Master, what is happening to her?" Vanysa asked cautiously.

"She is changing, nothing more." The Sorcerer King said patiently.

The light gradually began to fade away and reveal the form within, and when it did, great white feathered wings burst forth, and Princess Renner hovered where she had been kneeling before. "What a wonderful feeling." She said softly as she looked herself over, her body had not changed greatly, but there was now a kind of holy 'glow' coming from her skin, no more bright than what one might find from ordinary cave moss, but it was a visible, white glow that made her body absolutely radiant. "So, this is what it feels like to be an archangel." She said, her eyes were now completely white, as if there were no pupils, and she gazed up the steps to the Throne of Kings, and slowly brought herself down to the stone floor, back to her knees, and with some fumbling effort, brought the unfamiliar appendages on her back under control.

"Archangel Princess Renner, Outer Guardian of Re-Estize, awaits the commands of her god and is at his service, now and forever." She declared, gazing at the lowest step.

Behind her, Vanysa could not help but smirk, Renner was kneeling where she had before. Where a demoness had risen and knelt, now an archangel did, though she rather doubted the beautiful golden princess was going to bounce up and ask if she was still pretty and nice to look at. It was all she could do not to laugh at the solemn event of another human's elevation. Idly she wondered if the Sorcerer King ever intended on making a similar gift to Neia or Jircniv, or others who had been critical to the success of his plans. She dismissed the idle thought as irrelevant at the present, and focused on the events taking place at the base of the throne.

"Rise, Outer Guardian, and return to your duties, you have played your part well these long months, and I will not forget your service." The Sorcerer King said in his ever noble voice. "Fold your wings in to your back, and you will again look 'yourself' as you were before this hour, in that way you may pass comfortably around normal humans and other beings." He said patiently, she did as he instructed, though with this too she fumbled a bit, until at last she was restored to herself.

"Thank you, Your Majesty." The Outer Guardian said with humility and pride mixed within her voice.

"You may reveal your new self to your brother, your bodyguard, and what few need know of it, but let that information slip only gradually out into public knowledge, until the rumor becomes so commonly accepted that the demonstrated truth is almost banal." He cautioned her.

"It will be as you say, My Lord." She responded in a voice that seemed more powerful to herself than it had been an hour ago. She stood, backed away from the throne, and began to walk towards Vanysa, where a portal opened.

As she came close, Vanysa whispered, "Congratulations, but trust me, when you want to start flying, don't jump off a roof right away, the ground still hurts when you slam into it, take off from the ground until you've got full control over those things back there." She giggled, tapped the princess on the back, and winked at her with a knowing smile.

It so caught the newly minted Archangel off guard that she stopped, stunned, and stared at the demoness in disbelief. And then as she processed all the words and the images they conjured up, she found it in herself to start to laugh before she stepped back through the gate, and into her room once again.

When she finally entered her room, Climb was still exactly where he had been when she left, his face was filled with anxiety. Even though he had come to a degree of respect, even trust in the Sorcerer King, the fact was that he had killed Climb's comrade, idol, and teacher. That was no small thing to let go of, and so anxiety rose unbidden from his heart.

As soon as she had returned, he immediately began to ask in a hushed voice with wide staring eyes, "My princess, is everything..."

What ever he was going to say was silenced by surprise when Renner, moving faster than he had ever seen her move before, came close and grabbed him with strength her tiny, flawless, soft royal fingers had no right at all to possess. She held him up a few inches off the ground at arm's length, greatly increasing his surprise at this formerly impossible feat. And in a breathless, joy filled voice, she said...

"Oh my Climb, my dear sweet Climb, everything is perfect, absolutely perfect."


	125. Meeting with Mine Enemy

**AN: OK, double release day again achieved. It is a little bit harder to do now, the army has sent me to an instructor course and I'll be fairly busy with that for the next 10 days, I will be working hard to get all my double release day promises achieved, but do understand I will be a little slower until that is taken care of.**

 **Also, to answer one question: The Elf King and his supporting force was not marching to Prart, they were marching towards the east of the Abelion Hills, the Abelion Hills is between the Roble Holy Kingdom and the Slane Theocracy. I'll use a map as the cover image later to show the general layout if that will help.**

 _...Slane Theocracy...Kami Miyako..._

Blood was dripping from Raymond's knife when he finished his work. The moonlight was all he had to see by, but it was far more than the older former Black Scripture member needed to do his work. Beneath his blade lay a woman, beautiful in death, more beautiful in life, but beautiful still. She was in all respects, far more beautiful than she had any right to be, considering that she was near the age of forty herself. She did have one particular habit that she always insisted kept her young, and that was bathing in the blood of long lived elves.

Her extensive wealth as the last heiress of her house, afforded her the means to indulge this cruel vanity of hers. The irony was, were it not for her ears, one would have thought her an elf herself, her fair skin, her golden mane that hung down to the small of her back. She reminded him a bit of a peasant he'd once seen attend the Sorcerer King, save for the lack of the little freckles on her breast.

She was surrounded by luxury she no longer needed. Curiously, Raymond felt nothing about his kill but satisfaction. She had deserved to die. He used her golden hair to clean his knife, a final act of contempt for the trash beneath him.

He went out of her room by the door, he had no fear of being interrupted on his way out, and he wasn't worried that the slaves would bear blame for her death. A smirk swept his face, her public disputes with some of her similarly nasty neighbors would do well enough to set that notion at ease.

He listened carefully as he got to the front door, nobody was near or stirring, he went over to the neighbor's home and crept into their yard, he buried the knife there under a small bush. Tomorrow, one of Ginedine's servants would report seeing someone bury 'something' in that yard before walking in the front door. The neighbor, a similarly foul person, would be dangling from a noose before the end of the week, and two groups of slaves would come on the market. 'Two birds with one stone.'

He found it in himself to laugh as he returned to his residence.

When he returned, he went to his room and found Nua sitting nervously on the floor by his bed. His heart practically broke. She'd been with him for weeks, and yet she still seemed to be waiting for him to summon her for the same purpose as her former masters had, one after the other. "Nua," he said gently, "I told you, you have your own place to sleep, I won't ever do that to you, your days of being mistreated are behind you." He smiled gently and took extreme care to make sure she did not see any hint that he was armed, lest he terrify the poor girl.

She shook her head, "Sir..." Her voice was very different all of a sudden, much different than he expected.

"You have a... guest." She said softly. Her eyes were often wide, it was this that made her relatively unique to most of her race, most had more narrow eyes than herself. She bore a beautiful wide eyed expressive face that would have captivated many a youthful heart and it was for that reason that he did not notice that she had not been staring at him. She had been looking to the corner of the room, and only the timbre of her voice brought him up short.

As the door closed behind him, he followed her gaze, there, seated on a chair was a figure he could not forget, not if he never saw him again and lived for ten thousand years.

"You wished to speak to me." The Sorcerer King spoke up in a soft, noble voice.

Raymond almost jumped out of his skin. He swallowed hard instead. "You..." He began in a hushed whisper as if the spectre of death had come by for a cup of tea.

"You were expecting Dominic, maybe?" The Sorcerer King said with a dark laugh.

Dumbfounded, Raymond stammered, "Ah, no... I'm sorry, I, it's just... you're here, in my home."

"You wished to speak with me." Ainz patiently said once more, "Did you forget?" He asked, slightly tilting his skull.

"No, but I did not think you'd come to me, and I already spoke to your subordinates after writing to the Emperor." Raymond managed to stumble out the excuse for his surprise, but the dumbfounded look did not leave his face.

Ainz nodded and stroked his chin. 'Well damn, I guess I didn't need to come myself, I could have called him to me, maybe this isn't the most kingly thing to do, kings should call people to them, not be the ones to go, crap, he's looking at me, I need to cover this.' Ainz thought in a hurried pace, and then gave a soft rough 'harrumph' to recompose himself.

He then said, "Hmmmm, yes I suppose I could have just sent a messenger, but this is better, don't you think. We can speak and not worry that our words might be misunderstood. And I thought this would be more illustrative. You know the potency of my magic, and now you know your city is helpless against my power. If I wished, I could obliterate your entire capital now, every man, woman, and child. I could do here, what I did in Wenmark, or Ha'ak Pale, or any other city that had the misfortune of containing a population which outraged me beyond measure. None of your people would even know why they were dying or who was killing them."

Ainz paused for a moment to let his words sink in the cardinal's mind. "Have I made my point clear?" He inquired in a casually threatening voice.

Sweat could be seen on his brow as Raymond swallowed hard. "Yes, you have... Your Majesty. Crystal clear." He replied, and sank to one knee. "If that is your purpose, I have no way to stop you, I know that now, my past folly has come home to roost, all our follies have, if this is truly to be our end."

"Perhaps I could be persuaded to spare your city however, if..." Ainz commented innocently as he trailed off.

Raymond's eyes widened slightly at the statement as he asked in a hopeful tone, "If?"

"What do you think? What reason would you offer, that I should spare your people from my wrath? Can you think of any reason that they should be saved from the consequences of their actions?" Ainz quizzed.

"I would ask that you spare it for the sake of the innocent ones who live here." Raymond answered desperately.

"Hmmmm..." Ainz then looked around the room, staring hard at the walls, first West, then North, then to the East. "Are there any such? I do not see any." Ainz asked.

Raymond tried, and failed, to not pale as he frantically wondered, 'Can he see through walls?!'

"Would you spare it if there were?" Raymond asked. "Are you not being proclaimed a god, will not the one who stands in judgement do justly, and spare the innocent the punishment of the guilty?"

Ainz thought quietly for a moment, "You make a moral, legal point that a man of ancient myth once did in another world in which I lived long ago, and I will answer as he was answered, or nearly so. 'I will not punish the innocent, for their sake, even if there be but ten, I will spare this city for their sake.'" Ainz recited in a noble voice that brooked no argument.

"There live the children here who do not even know that they are humans yet, they are too young to know anything but to cry for their mother's breast. Are they not innocent of the sins of their parents, even if they were a child of Dominic himself?" Raymond asked, glad to find himself in his oral element, speaking from one thinking man to another. As he heard the unbelievably powerful monarch out, it felt like he was not even speaking to the undead. It was like speaking to a scholar at the academy again.

"Then for their sake, this city is spared." Ainz declared, and then leaned slightly forward, emphasizing what he said next, "And my capacity for mercy is proven beyond doubt, do not ever test it again."

"Now, what is it that you want of me?" He asked patiently, leaning back in the chair.

Raymond held back his urge to blink, the entire conversation had been a setup to let him show his capacity for kindness to his enemies. 'I should expect no less from such a king. Maybe even more than just a king...' He thought, as his feelings of the past when he would utter the phrase 'that damned undead' were swept away like sand blown away in the winds of change.

The Cardinal took a deep breath, "Sire, I know the way my nation is going, I know what we've done, and I know what Dominic is thinking. He has grown unhinged. The Pontifex Maximus is reduced to an isolated puppet, nearly a prisoner, thanks to the steady stream of lies and propaganda Dominic has been putting forth."

His countenance twisted in anguish as he continued, "What's more, he has stirred up so much blame against the elves for everything that I don't know how much farther he intends to go..." He swallowed hard as the Sorcerer King seemed to stare daggers at him.

"I own my part in that, I won't make excuses when the time comes for judgement at the end. I just want, till the end of the war, to try to make things closer to being right, and to make up for my failure to the daughter I never had." Raymond whispered, he could feel Nua's eyes locked on him, but he did not shy away from his shame.

Ainz however, seemed to have softened for a moment, "There is one among this new world who is something of that sort to me, or has become so at least, though we have never said it, she currently stands at the walls of Prart, ready to face down three armies for my sake. I, too, have something to make up to her. I will not be taking you prisoner today, Cardinal Raymond, only tell me what your aim is." The Sorcerer King's voice was shockingly gentle as he spoke, and found altogether unexpected common ground between the two of them.

Raymond then proceeded to explain what himself, Ginedine, and Berenice had been working at, and Raymond's own role as a new 'serial killer' to put more slaves on the market for him and his colleagues to acquire for their 'business' that wasn't.

"I see." Ainz stated while nodding in acknowledgement. "Then I will support this effort. To simply make the elves all disappear would be trivially easy, however that would be an enormous population increase in areas not prepared to support them, and it would only feed the paranoia that is going to make life a living hell for the humans as well, I would only be destroying two peoples and saving neither. Therefore, this is what I will do for you." Ainz said, and though he could not smile, Raymond felt a very cunning one would surely be present as he listened to what Ainz described his plan next.

"I will provide you with a sum of gold bars, unmarked. By using these, acquire property in the name of a dummy corporation meant to grow and harvest food, then acquire all the elves you can and set them to that purpose. The war will carry on through the next harvest season at least, and I will make sure to occupy those lands right around the time the crops are due to be reaped. In this way, I will save the population 'and' have enough food to feed them all and more besides."

Ainz focused his gaze on the cardinal, "Will that serve your purposes?"

Raymond looked at him, dumbstruck, it was brilliant, simple, and solved all their problems all in one go. "Y-Yes, Your Majesty. May I ask but one more thing as a boon for my undeserving self for when all is said and done?"

"You may 'ask' but I will not promise granting it." Ainz answered calmly.

"Allow me to see Zesshi one more time before whatever judgement we face. I want to tell her how I tried to do the right thing, I want to say how sorry I am for everything, and all the ways I let her down when she needed me the most." Raymond's voice was rough as if holding back a deep well of emotion, it reminded Ainz of someone else, far, far too much.

"I will not force her to see you if she refuses, but I will grant the opportunity." Ainz said magnanimously.

"That will be more than I deserve as it is." Raymond voiced in gratitude, hanging his head shamefully.

"You may or may not be right about that. But all of this will be determined after the conclusion of the war." Ainz stated, and stood up. His figure towered the kneeling man in front of him, making Raymond feel small in not just a physical but also an emotional sense. "The gold will be delivered here by morning, tell your compatriots what happened here, when they arrive." Ainz finished, but before he stepped through the portal.

Raymond expelled a deep breath when the Sorcerer King was gone, he set aside his cloak, and Nua turned her back as he changed. It had taken two weeks for her to develop that habit instead of trying to help him get into his night attire, and she still refused to leave in case he needed anything, he still suspected that she was thinking he would order her to turn back to him. He sighed, his people had a lot of things to make up for, of that he had no doubt.

When he was dressed, he called out to her. "Nua?"

"Yes sir?" She asked softly, turning back to him again.

"Are you alright?" He asked in concern.

She nodded gently, "He frightened me but... at the same time, he didn't. I have never in my life, known any feeling quite like that." Her voice was one of awe and reverence.

"Perhaps Neia was right about him all along." Raymond wondered aloud, with much regret in his voice. "I am going to sleep, you can go if you want, but if you wouldn't mind, could I ask one small thing of you?" His voice was gentle, even vulnerable as he spoke, Nua didn't even suspect a salacious intent, no matter how often she had it in the back of her mind before, his tone of voice simply did not allow room for it, not now.

"Sir?" She asked.

"Could I ask that you hold this fool's hand as he drifts off, I will not be long, I assure you. I can barely stay awake as it is, and I'd rather not be alone right now." He pleaded softly, his voice tinged with sad tone.

She inclined her head, "Of course, sir." She said and moved a chair over beside his bed, she sat there near his chest and held his hand until the snoring eventually started. Nua slowly turned her head towards the window where the moonlight was shining through, and she silently gazed at the moon.

 _...Nazarick..._

As Ainz explained his orders to the guardians, Demiurge began to laugh, followed quickly by Albedo. "It is as I said, all we needed was the genius of Lord Ainz to see an additional benefit from this 'help' he renders."

"What?" Cocytus and Sebas voiced their confusion, while Ainz thought the same.

"Do you not see?" Demiurge asked with an enormous smile on his face.

'No! What?!' Ainz thought desperately.

The other guardians shook their heads. Upon seeing that, Ainz struck 'Brilliant Undead Pose, Number Two' and added, "I permit you to explain what you have understood, Demiurge."

"Thank you, Lord Ainz." Demiurge acknowledged the permission with a bow, then turned to the others, "Lord Ainz is buying the best farmland out from under the Slane Theocracy in the middle of a war!" He gestured reverently to the one sitting on the throne.

"At the end of it all, he will own all the best farmland under corporations they've started themselves. Dominic is essentially selling his country to his worst enemy, and he has no idea!" With a grin plastered on Demiurge's face, his finger tapped his temple as he continued exuberantly.

"They'll do 'all' the work in planting and harvesting it, creating a skilled labor force along the way, taking care of them, protecting them, everything, then after the war, all Lord Ainz has to do is 'distribute' the property he legally owns as the head of their organization and chief financial backer. He can hand it over to supporters, soldiers, and all manner of useful entities, and own it in perpetuity or rent it out for additional income for Nazarick's benefit, all while appearing to be the great hero and champion of the elves afterwards!" Demiurge's hand went to his chest as he caught his breath at the expansive benefits he saw laid out before him.

Upon hearing the details, Sebas' stoic expression had a hint of enlightenment while Cocytus' mandibles clacked in awe.

"You have again foreseen my intent, Demiurge. Truly you stand at the pinnacle of insight, I am quite proud of you." Ainz voiced his praise out loud. 'I guess I can do all that, but how did I not notice that right away?!' Ainz thought, internally grumbling.

"I am unworthy of such praise, my lord." Demiurge said, "I am ashamed I did not consider this plan myself before you so generously allowed me the clues to see it laid bare."

"Be that as it may, you have now better understood my will. Now, let us look in on matters in Prart, I would like to see how things fare." Ainz said, hoping such observations would provide a suitable distraction from any inconvenient problem questions.

 _...Yaksun..._

Organizing the city had proved shockingly easy when shame swept the streets and city pride was ground into the muck of a shit trench. The exposure to the house of horrors that they'd found had done much to make the population's spirits sink like stones in the sea, there was not even a hint of rebellion. If anything, they seemed to revile their own existence at this point in time. It made it easy to decide who to leave behind and who to keep.

Much to the Draconic Queen's relief, the Sorcerer King's response to the small scale riot was just to ask what she'd learned, then let the matter go. After the details were included as to what had set him off, all he demanded was that after Vanysa was dispatched, all those determined in such a way to be guilty of pre-war crimes be turned over to her and Demiurge for punishment.

Queen Draudillon smiled at that, she well remembered the way the beautiful prancing blonde had sliced up her nobles in the purges, drawing out their suffering and exciting the crowd. There was no pity for the guilty in her for their inevitable fates and those dead in the riots were the lucky ones.

Sadly she wasn't to get the fury right away, for she was busy with the one called 'Astraka'. A few details of Vanysa's plan for the usurper king had been given to her, and she shuddered as she understood the totality of destruction that was being wrought on him as he neared the city of Prart.

For now though, there were two tasks before the Draconic Queen. Her outriders were presently sweeping the area to the west of Yaksun and were taking every ounce of food that would serve a potential military use. With her small force at hand, this was giving her enough supplies for months and months of marching, some of this food was 'traded' within Yaksun in exchange for more horses to expand her cavalry ranks. The rest was hoarded for later use.

The next was to prepare for the march to Mictan, it lay at the crossroad of the south, to the southeast lay the Iron Fortress, to the southwest lay Fortress Vyce, and directly to the south lay Seaborn. All four had to fall for her aims to be achieved, and the small city of Mictan had to be the first of them.

So now she sat at a table with General Oma and General Musan, going over her options. "What can you tell me?" She prompted.

General Oma stroked her olive skinned chin thoughtfully, while General Musan flipped through some documents.

"They call that place 'Chasm City', it won't fall easy." General Musan reported grimly. "It has a big gorge on either side of it, so it can only be approached from the front or the back, at least not without being obvious, and if you try to approach it from the sides, well you're insanely vulnerable."

Turning away from the documents, he looked at the Queen and asked her, "If we resort to wild magic, you can create gaps in the gate, but how often do you really want to use that?" He asked.

"Rarely." Queen Draudillon stated, "I don't want my people to think I see them as being nothing more than just fuel for my magic, that would not bode well for my rule." She said bluntly.

"No, no it would not." General Oma said, waving her hand in disagreement, "Ironically in saving more lives, you'd lose their love and their confidence." She looked somewhat frustrated, "The real world is definitely not fair that way, when the best option is impossible, just because people don't like how it makes them feel."

"Agreed. But I must work with the options I have. Other than that, if we try and fail a few times, it could be justified, but if it is my first resort, even if it is the best one, we will not fare well in the long term." Queen Draudillon reiterated.

"With the harvest of grain we're taking, we could conceivably lay a siege for weeks, even months. However, Theocracy reinforcements and a pitched battle would likely result, and that would not go well for us." General Oma added in her lilting voice of reason.

"How badly do Fortress Vyce and the Iron Fortress outnumber us?" Queen Draudillon asked in a grim voice.

"If we include the ten thousand slaves or so, from both inside the city and the liberated farms beyond, assuming they're mostly able to fight, we'll still be outnumbered by at least two to one by soldiers who are still better than many of our own." General Oma replied starkly.

"What if we don't advance? What if we retreat?" General Musan suggested thoughtfully.

"Retreat?" General Oma gasped out in surprise. "You can't be serious."

"Have my women become men, and my men, women?" Queen Draudillon questioned in a taunting voice that spoke to her displeasure at the suggestion.

General Musan folded his hands in front of him on the table and explained, "It's simple, we win 'by' retreating. We lay a brief siege at Mictan, then when their reinforcements come to threaten us, but before they reach us, we begin to fall back. These will be the majority of their forces from Fortress Vyce and the Iron Fortress and probably most of Mictan's guards. We fall back to Yaksun, collect our soldiers there, and continue to draw them back, let them take it temporarily, then we fall back farther and farther toward the Forlorn Fortress..."

As he spoke, General Oma took on a predatory smile. "Oh, I see, so we begin to stretch out their supply lines while we shorten our own, in addition, we'll have the fortress to anchor our position and all those reinforcements from within our borders and the fortress itself."

"Exactly, we then cut off their supply lines with some of our superior cavalry and force them to attack on 'our' terms, and then we eliminate them in detail in one pitched battle, eliminating three of the four problem forces in one shot." General Musan said, running his finger over the map as he detailed his plans.

Queen Draudillon frowned. "If that fails, then it will not only have lost one hundred percent of our gains and failed our mission to the Sorcerer King, but we will have exposed our own country to Theocracy counter invasion and probably reinvigorated their campaign."

"If." General Musan asserted succinctly.

They sat silently as they thought it over. And finally, the Queen nodded. "Alright, see to it. I don't like it, it is a risk, but perhaps we can mitigate it by liberating more slaves and arming them to fight as we withdraw, a single grain of sand may tip the scale after all." She bit her lip hard as she spoke. She still didn't like it, none of them did, it was a risk, but if it worked, then the entire eastern half of the Slane Theocracy would fall in a matter of weeks.

"Be ready before the end of the week." The Queen's voice rang out with royal authority imbued within it as she stood up.

"It will be done." The two generals responded. They rose, saluted, and went out to carry out her orders, each one hoping for success against the odds, for their armies, their country, and their lives.


	126. White Eyes

**AN: Enjoy, of course, reviews feed authors, don't leave us to starve. :)**

 _...Fortress Alaf…_

Leinas was ecstatic and horrified at all that she had come to learn about the Sorcerer King's plans for the Slane Theocracy and the turning of the world. But even though the enemy's army drew close, she feared it not even slightly. Behind her was an invincible force and beside her an invincible general, and they had tens of thousands of reinforcements along the way.

She learned the truth of that in the evening when the messenger arrived, it was a dark elf on an undead horse, he knelt in front of her in her private office, well, semi-private, she shared it with Aureole Omega.

"I come from the north, I represent Chindai Khan of the Golden Horde." He began politely.

She and Aureole Omega looked him over, he was slender but ripped with lean muscle, everything about him screamed 'warrior'. His clothing was, much to her surprise, very soft cloth beneath rune crafted equipment, this spoke to the authenticity of his status. Nobody else used, or even had the stuff except the Sorcerer King's servants, and there was no way a servant would have issued it to a messenger unless the matter was of some importance.

"I accept your claim of station, what words do you bring?" Leinas acknowledged, formulating her speech as much as possible to conform to their normatives of expression.

His eyes widened briefly, but he was polite enough to make no comment, "Chindai, Khan of the plains, servant of the Great Khan, the Sorcerer King Ainz Ooal Gown, that he brings eighty thousand of his riders to the aid of General Leinas Rockbruise and Guardian Aureole Omega, with him comes one thousand of the Dark Dwarves of the Understone Empire. He brings word that he comes to aid your fight against the Slane Theocracy and all the walkers of the green lands of the South who stand in opposition to the master of the Everplains. Your enemies are his enemies, and your lives will be treated as those of brother or sister."

Leinas suppressed a sigh, it had been a long time since she'd been to the plains, not since her days as an adventurer, but the strict formalities of the dark elf people could be… trying still.

"I will receive the noble warriors of the north, both dwarf and elf, as brothers and sisters in turn. Together we will fight, together we will bleed, and together we will drink over the still warm bodies of our fallen enemies, or together we will ride the Everplains." Leinas replied in a sonorous and solemn tone.

The dark elf messenger was clearly abundantly pleased with her words, he could not or did not suppress his wide toothy smile. "He will be pleased to know your response." The messenger replied.

"When will my brothers of the north come?" Leinas inquired, "The siege is nearly upon us, those broken ones of your southern cousins and their fell master, along with his honorless and vile allies, will be here by morning." Her voice sounding not at all concerned.

"He rides with all speed, you should expect the thunder of the horse people on the horizon within three days." The messenger informed them.

Leinas thought for a moment, searching her memory for their customs. "Does he come with a wife?" She asked.

"He comes with both wives, Lady Khava and Lady Ryla, his warrior bride of the south and his warrior bride of the north." The messenger replied with great pride in his Khan.

"Tell him if he arrives within two days I will have a bottle of the best wine in the fortress waiting for him to present to his wives to celebrate another bead being added to his hair." She suggested with a clever smile.

"I have no doubt he will be pleased to hear this." The messenger said with a grin. "How do you know our customs so well, you are not one of us?" He asked.

Leinas had a cocky little smile, "I was an adventurer once, my journey took me to the plains many years ago. Your people are many things, but forgettable does not stand among them." She answered in an amused tone of voice.

"I will depart then, and tell him of your words, no doubt he will be greatly pleased to share your gift in turn with you." The messenger said, and stood up tall and proud, he inclined his head politely, and then departed.

When they were alone Leinas looked over to Aureole Omega, "What do you think?" She asked.

"They will make it, and it will be a terrible shock to the Theocracy and to the elves, but the elves will not long be a factor. The elf king will have another matter on his mind very soon." The Guardian said authoritatively with a mysterious smile on her face.

"I take it by your expression, you're not going to tell me?" Leinas asked.

"Correct." She replied with a smug look on her face.

"Because?" Leinas asked further.

"You have no need to know, it is enough for you to know that the advancing army is not the problem you think it to be, even as your expectation of victory is." She said happily.

Leinas had a little frown on her face, "I understand. I can live with it as long as you're right." She shrugged dismissively.

"You have no other choice." Aureole Omega stated matter-of-factly.

Leinas sighed, "Yes, I know. Look, I know you're not happy that I'm not thrilled about how things are going to play out, but understand that this does not shake my dedication even in the slightest, I believe this is the best of a bad situation. You can trust me."

"I know." Aureole Omega said in a genuinely sweet voice. "Your loyalty is not in question, I assure you if it were, you would not be sitting here now, His Majesty would never take chances like that, it is why he always wins, well, one reason anyway." She remarked casually.

"The other reason is what we're about to see too, hand me those inventory reports, we have to make sure we have a full complement of arrows, stones, and other materials at every point of advancement that we'll be facing off against. In preparation, lies victory." Leinas said in the hard voice of the experienced professional.

"Exactly." Aureole Omega said as she handed the documents over to her mortal counterpart.

 _...Southern Holy Kingdom…_

Inta wasn't happy. If the truth be told, he was still mourning Gustav. Hilda however, acted as a kind of motivator for him, and she helped to keep him focused as they swept through the outlands of the south seeking any other options for screwing up the supply lines running from south to north, They'd been very busy with that, until a hole in reality opened up and a buxom blonde girl with a wide smile wearing a maid outfit, stepped out of it and confronted them.

Inta did not even need to ask. "You're from the Sorcerer King." He said.

"Yes, and I'm here to take you all elsewhere, it is the view of His Majesty that your accomplishments are sufficient for all to receive pardons for past acts, and he said to make sure I told you that would include Gustav Montagnés." She stated in a sweet voice that lay over a thinly veiled sense of hunger.

"Gustav Montagnés is dead." Inta said with sadness saturating every syllable of the sentence.

"Oh. Too bad." She voiced indifferently. "Well, the rest of you are free to come with me, you will have one day's rest in Nazarick and then be reunited with the army marching south under Neia Baraja. Up until now you have been raiders more than anything else, now you will become conquerors." She spoke with the casual indifference of someone for whom the trials of war were as harsh as a stroll in the park.

"How many do you have left of your original number?" She asked curiously.

"A few hundred, Lady…" Inta began.

"Solution." She said, and her eyes widened with a hint of surprise. "You suffered so many casualties?"

"We did, our goal was to draw as many of the enemy soldiers south as possible, we were successful enough that we were almost exterminated. I suppose you could say we were just a little too good at our jobs." Inta gave a wry, sad smile to the maid.

She shrugged, "I suppose that happens. Now gather your people and follow me, you will be given your rest and your official pardons, for those whom that applies to. I am at your disposal for the evening in Nazarick, then you must rise early and be ready to join General Baraja after your morning meal."

"It will be done, with great… satisfaction." Inta said, trading a vengeful glance with his sister as they contemplated returning with an enormous army at their backs, suitable to utterly crush the south once and for all.

 _...Re-Estize Kingdom...City of Re-Estize…_

When Renner and her bodyguard left, General Nimble and King Zanac were alone save for a handful of guards. "Well, you've won back your country for all intents and purposes, Your Highness." General Nimble said politely. "Now you'll face a much more difficult challenge of actually ruling it."

"Well, there is still Re-Lobell… but I have dispatched a messenger there already offering amnesty and a retirement to those ruling it if they surrender immediately. I've included the information that we've already recaptured the capital city, so I should hear back from them any day now offering their total capitulation." King Zanac replied offhandedly.

"When did you do that?" General Nimble asked curiously. "This morning?"

"No, the night before we left to come and take the capital." King Zanac answered with a clever smile.

Nimble did a double take, then he thought it over. "Oh, I see. It was an inevitable victory and this will compel their submission that much sooner." He commented thoughtfully.

"Correct." King Zanac said succinctly.

"I would say, Your Highness, that you are well on your way to ruling quite adeptly." Nimble remarked generously.

"Thank you, General Nimble. I truly appreciate the support of the Baharuth Empire in these trying times, and while ruling here may be… a very different challenge, having the Sorcerer King behind me will make things much, much easier than they have ever been for any king in my country's past." King Zanac said enthusiastically.

He pondered for a moment and curiously asked the general, "Tell me, in the time since his submission to the Sorcerer King, how many nobles have posed a threat to your Emperor or his position?" Zanac's voice was curious as he asked the question.

"None, absolutely none." Nimble replied with finality in his voice. "Who would dare? If someone starts to complain, Emperor Jircniv just asks if they would like to complain directly to the Sorcerer King, and suddenly their issue with whatever it is, seems to vanish and they comply. In the years since his submission to the Sorcerous Kingdom, I have seen only one man, just one, take the emperor up on his offer."

"Oh?" King Zanac voiced his interest as he rested his head on his fist and his arm on the armrest of the throne. "Do tell." He prompted with a nod.

"It was a noble with a great love of the arts, proud of his craft and his artisans, it seems that a particular tax would have crippled them. So the emperor allowed him to argue directly to the Sorcerer King." Nimble's voice was dumbstruck with awe at the man's courage as he spoke of him.

"Was there enough of him left to bury afterwards?" King Zanac inquired with a snort.

"To the contrary, His Majesty heard him out, agreed, and even invested substantial funds in establishing both a school there and providing the necessary complex roadways and logistical support to make trading those goods farther away, possible at a lower cost." Nimble responded with surprise evident in his voice.

"So your academy for the arts…?" Zanac asked, impressed.

"Yes, it was the brainchild of a single meeting between one discontented but passionate noble, and the Sorcerer King." Nimble finished.

"Good to know. Good to know." Zanac softly replied, and then continued with greater emphasis, "I will have to see about establishing one in my capital as well, a means to celebrate our prosperous future, if I want to cement my legacy as a king worth remembering, then I will need to do so in some way other than war, and the way to do that must be to build up something worthy of remembrance." King Zanac spoke, but clearly he was only thinking out loud and not really addressing General Nimble.

Yet as Nimble listened to the young king, he had a vision of the future, wherein he foresaw the great cities of a mighty nation under the Sorcerer King. All competing to build the grandest monuments, to create the finest arts, and to raise their differing cultures to ever greater heights. He foresaw the great works traveling enchanted roads to awe and inspire people everywhere from the plains of the dark elves to the court of Arwintar. It seemed as if for a moment, he was seeing what the undead monarch had in mind for the world, with children growing up and living to grow old instead of dying in pointless battles against hunger, beasts, or each other.

"A world worth fighting for, a world worth dying for… By god, is it really so close…?" Nimble whispered so softly that even King Zanac couldn't hear him even if he had been listening. But to the knight of the Empire who had seen countless dangers and deaths, an inspiration was rising that it lit a fire in his heart that he did not think would ever go out.

 _...Private Quarters of Princess Renner…_

"M-My lady, what…?" Climb asked with disbelief as he looked down at the ground that was several inches away from his feet. His eyes widened in utter disbelief, his armor was a complete adamantite set, which meant it was the lightest and strongest material he knew of. Yet 'lightest' was a relative term, and he was still wearing at least thirteen kilograms of the stuff, not to mention his sword and the weight of his entire body.

"My Climb, my precious, wonderful, darling Climb, things are different now, in the most wonderful way." She articulated joyously in a voice that rang like a crystal bell. She gently set him down, then walked to the long side of the room and face its opposite end. "Stand over there." She directed, "Then look at me." The Golden Princess commanded gently.

He obeyed, but could not restrain the concerned look, it seemed glued to his face as he looked at the princess he served.

Princess Renner took a deep breath and continued, "Many things are a test, some of these are tests by life itself on whether or not we can endure or triumph, however with the Sorcerer King, these tests are more… deliberate. You know I have been working with him for quite some time, there was no other option." She left out that she would have done so even if there had been other options.

"I- Yes, I know this." He spoke cautiously.

"The box was a kind of final test of my worth in his eyes, passing it has resulted in me being given a kind of promotion." She said delicately.

"A promotion?" He asked gingerly.

"Yes," she replied. "I am now the Outer Guardian of the Re-Estize Kingdom. My task will be to ensure the competence and performance of the king over this country, as well as to ensure the compliance of the crown with the edicts of the Sorcerer King." She said simply.

"Will you rule?" He asked hopefully, "I have no doubt that with you on the throne, this kingdom could truly become a paradise."

She shook her head, "No, I will advise and support my brother, and his heirs, and their heirs, and their heirs, for as long as the line is worthy." She said, watching his eyes as the implications of that began to take shape in his mind.

Before he could ask, she continued, "I have been promoted 'beyond humanity' as well." She explained gently.

"Beyond… humanity?" He gasped in disbelief, allowing his jaw to drop. "What are you…?" He asked with wonder.

She closed her eyes and lowered her gaze. Her hands crossed together and were held outstretched, so that they were cupped as if to have a hand placed within them.

"I was your mistress, and the woman that you have loved since you were little. Am I still that now?" She asked, as her wings sprang out from her back and struck the wall hard enough to crack each end, and with a radiant white glow emanating from her body, she raised her face to meet his gaze with eyes as white as freshly poured milk.

Climb fell to one knee and lowered his gaze before the archangel princess. "Yes, no matter what, you will always be She." He said solemnly, his entire body shook within his armor.

'He's mine, all mine, and I'll kill anyone who tries to take him from me…' She thought wildly, glad her new eyes did not reveal what she wanted to conceal.

"I am an archangel now, the Sorcerer King has given me this new form to exert his will over this country, I will never grow old, I will never grow weaker, I will never die. I have been… elevated." She said in a powerful voice.

"I… have no words." Climb stammered, his mouth agape as he looked at her, she drew closer to him, her hands cupped his face and tilted it up to meet her own.

She smiled down at her truest worshiper and her most loyal servant, her precious puppy who looked at her with adoration that even seemed to surpass what he had held in his eyes before. "Say only that you will keep your word, that you will stay at my side, that you will give me a child, that you will give your life to me forever, that you will be mine and only mine, now and in every day to come." She said, her hands, though they were still soft and gentle, had a feel of unbridled strength to them that Climb would not have believed possible.

Though he blushed deeply at the mention of a child, Climb responded enthusiastically, "It will be so, my princess, until my body dies, it is yours. That is all the life I need." His voice was a gentle caress that warmed her heart, and as if by instinct, her wings closed in around him, their bright white feathers covering his body completely as they drew him, whether he would have had it so or not, closer into an embrace, which kept them both oblivious to everything, right up until the door to her room opened, and King Zanac entered and stood agape as he saw her milky white eyes and the enormous wings.


	127. Beyond the Bars & Behind the Walls

**AN: Just a quick note before I go. A recent guest reviewer complained about the length of chapters. In the first few chapters of this story I was kind of 'finding my feet' and so some of them were on the shorter side, however as a general rule my chapters run a minimum of 3,000 words which is about 8-11 pages depending on the amount of character speech versus narration at a size 12 Verdana font. When I promise a double release day in exchange for donations, I always mean that I will hit that minimum or greater, and the chapters he referred to were in excess of 3,000 for one, and well over 4,000 for the other.**

 **Now, on a related note, I realize my update schedule has slowed down. The reason was that I was sent to an army instructor course that was eating up an absurd amount of time, the 'class' didn't eat up the entire day, however the frequent testing and rehearsal time to present, DID. I have now completed the course and gotten my instructor certification, and here is an additional double release day, one for the Synod, one for God Rising. The Synod will be entering a hold status before long to avoid giving away spoilers, I don't mind giving 'hints' of past events in a future set story, but not outright spoilers. There is a lot left to cover still, and I'll be trying out some new things stylistically to see what works. In the meantime, enjoy this next chapter and have a nice day, expect my release schedule to pick back up, but it'll be awhile before I do more double releases. My tour of duty will be ending soon and I'll have to travel back home. Good thing to, I miss my dogs, my kids, and yeah, sometimes miss the wife. ;)**

 _...Inside Crossroad City…_

Moira looked at the fellows with whom she had escaped. "We don't have long." She told them in a hushed and hurried whisper, "People will be out and about soon, and I have no idea what the hell to do next."

"Totally improvising… it can only go so far." A man she vaguely knew by his nickname 'Rascal' for both his fondness for pranks and his fondness for flirtation, he was a boyishly handsome man in his own way, with a crooked little smile that could make even the most salacious statement go from seductive to drawing absurd laughter.

"Maybe so, but it got us this far, but now what?" Moira asked.

"Now we get out of this crap and get the hell out of sight. Ideally, we get out of the city and back to our own lines, but for now we need to get out of these clothes." He said and Moira stared at him in disbelief…

"Not what I mean." he said with a smirk, "I mean we're still looking like prisoners, 'c'mon, follow me!" he said and rushed out of the shadows.

"What did you have in mind?" Moira asked, following close behind him, for all his boyish looks and rakish attitude, Rascal was a quick and adaptive thinker who had more than once proved his versatility.

He laughed, "If this were a terrible book we'd conveniently find a set of clothing for each of us hanging from a laundry line, because residential areas are always right next to administrative centers and prisons."

"Uh huh, but we're not part of some stupid story, so what 'do' you have in mind?" She asked.

"We 'are' close to where a bunch of soldiers work, and what do soldiers and guards like to do?" He asked rhetorically.

"They like to visit whores." Moira said emphatically, "But if you think I'm going to be running around Crossroads with these bouncing around to distract you, you're out of your damn mind." Moira looked back at the rest of them, "And don't you lot say a damn thing." They laughed instead.

"OK, yes, that, but I mean 'drink'. Give me your sword." Rascal said softly, and she reluctantly gave it over as they followed him. It didn't take long to find a tavern, and when they found one, Rascal had them all conceal themselves across the street in the shadows, from a distance what they wore was indeterminant, but it was reason enough that they chose to head down a nearby alley instead. Rascal himself went into another alleyway and disguised himself as a 'passed out drunk'. The first to pass by didn't even notice him.

Moira watched, impressed as his plan unfolded, he simply stood up, covered the mouth of his target, and then pulled the head back and hit him with the pommel of the blade. The man crumpled. Rascal quickly changed clothes with him and stuffed the unconscious man in a barrel nearby.

Moira grinned and looked at her companions, she didn't need to see their faces to know they were grinning back at her. It was to her surprise though, that Rascal abandoned the alley and returned. "What… there are more of us, why are you back?" She asked.

"Can't hit the same place, nowhere else to hide bodies, just that one barrel, if there had been more options I'd stay, but we need somewhere else, but not to worry, this close to where we were held there will be several more places, I can promise you that." Rascal said, and then winked at Moira, "Can't promise we'll find something quite the right fit for you, but I can promise I'll try not to insult you by making it too tight."

Moira rubbed her temple and shook her head, "How the hell did I get saddled with you?" She grumbled in exasperation.

"Dumb luck?" He guessed with a shrug and a boyish grin.

"Dumbass." She said with a laugh, and then the lot of them started to shuffle after him as Rascal made his way further down the street, sticking to the shadows dragged things out, and was almost needless thanks to the now very late hour that was rapidly becoming 'very early' but chances were not something they were prepared to take.

Rascal found another location just as expected, and again he waited until someone suitably sized came out, then he beat the man over the head after playing 'fallen down drunk' as luck would have it, this place had several barrels, so he was able to outfit most of the rest of their party in the same way.

When they started to move to the next establishment Moira asked, "Why are you letting them live? Wouldn't killing them be easier?" She questioned further in a curious tone of voice. She knew Rascal didn't shy from violence.

"Because I want them to be captured, of course." Rascal replied. "They'll know we escaped, but if they find bodies they'll flood the city with guards to look for us, but if they capture these men by mistake, then the hunt will be over in hours, maybe a few days. Maybe they'll just kill them outright and our problems are solved."

"Makes sense." Mananak whispered and stroked his beard. He was relatively short compared to the rest of them, but sturdy of body at least.

"Yours might take a little longer, and I'd rather not attack a child if I can avoid it." Rascal said, looking down at Mananak with a grin.

"Come down here and say that!" He said with faux anger at the tall Rascal, shaking his fists in the air. There was a low round of laughter.

"Moira," Rascal asked, "Where's Melkan, last I saw he was with you?"

Moira lowered her gaze and told the story of his trading places with her. "Shit." He said, "That will complicate things." He said, and Moira looked at him curiously, she was about to ask what he meant, but did not get the chance.

When they found another place, Rascal rushed over to a favorable position and repeated the act, this was a part he didn't like. The last two men were easy, and they were all outfitted, but that still left Moira. She couldn't stay in her guard uniform, and the Slane Theocracy was a conservative place, women rarely dressed like men.

He stood up and waited until a woman passed by who looked roughly Moira's size, he reached out, snatched her by her hair and dragged her into the alley, she opened her mouth to scream only for him to cover it as he got his arm around her, he tilted her head back, and whispered, "I'm sorry." Then he lifted the blade and drew it across her throat.

His face was close, he could see the white terror of her eyes, she frantically tried to pull his arm away from her. She kicked and cried muffled cries, but as her life's blood fountained out away from her, her struggles started to fade to nothing, and Rascal let her fall limp. His comrades could scarcely believe their eyes, he waved them over to him, and looked over at Moira.

"Get dressed." He said bluntly. "We'll keep a look out, don't put your clothes on her." He said.

Moira was mute as they took position with their backs to her, she looked down at the woman, the two might have been cousins, if not sisters, the resemblance was eerie except for their hair color. Rascal's voice had been equally odd, most everything he'd ever said had been with a joke or a laugh, but just then it had been hard and gruff.

"Damn it all!" She cursed and stripped off both her clothing and that of the corpse, she then put the dead woman's clothes on herself, it was a near perfect fit, even if it was a little lower cut than Moira would have chosen for herself.

"Ready?" Rascal asked.

"Y-Yes." Moira said, looking at the backs presented to her.

"OK, good." Rascal said, then added, "This next part is going to be unpleasant."

"Unpleasant… how?" One of his comrades asked.

"Like 'disgusting' unpleasant." Rascal said, looking at the one who'd spoken, it was Romare, a gentle man by temperament with a face that was twice his actual age of twentysomething, a balding head and a perpetually sour expression that belied his energy in dire circumstances.

"Feel free to look away." Rascal said gently, He then went back to the corpse and quickly mutilated the dead woman's ears, he took the cut parts and wrapped him in a dirty cloth he found on the ground, and Moira went pale, as did her comrades.

"What are you doing…" Romare asked in a hushed voice of horror.

"She's blond, if the ears are mutilated, there is a slim chance they'll just assume someone had sex with an elf slave, killed her, and dumped her body rather than dispose of it properly. It happens sometimes, I'd imagine that nobody will look too closely at it, in a few days, she might get reported missing to someone, but it isn't likely anybody will draw a connection between whoever she was in life, and a dead elf slave dumped naked in an alley." Rascal's voice was grim and filled with loathing.

"How do you know that?" Moira asked as he wiped the blade on the hair of the 'elf woman' for added realism.

"No time now, we've got to move, one more thing though." He said, and he hit the body a few times to leave nasty marks in various places, "If we're lucky, nobody will look too closely at that and realize it was done after she was already dead." He said, then dragged the corpse farther into the alley and covered it with garbage that was scattered about to make it look like that was dumped with her.

Moira looked at Rascal with something between fascination and horror as he worked, she looked to the rest of their comrades, they had similar expressions on their own faces. "Come on." Rascal said, and rushed down the alley and out the other side of the street, the rest, reluctantly followed as Moira stuffed the prison guard clothing she wore into a moldy old sack she'd snatched up off the ground.

She bit her lip unhappily, Rascal would have a lot of explaining to do at the very first opportunity.

 _...Road to Kami Miyako…_

Melkan was tired. The carriage he was riding in was clearly intended expressly for prisoners, and he was alone inside it. Whoever had put it together did not have comfort in mind, there were plenty of chains, and they secured him in multiple points leaving him little room to move around. The walls were lined with metal and left nothing to look at, he didn't even have a guard inside with him to talk to, he was all alone.

He supposed that was good, the more isolated he was, the less likely anyone was to realize they'd gotten the wrong person. But still… he was bored. "Moira… please be alright…" He whispered to the empty stale air in his confinement.

He tried to adjust himself, the chains rattled a bit, but he couldn't quite manage to move the way he wanted. "Don't think about itching." He said out loud, just so there would be a voice in the blank and empty compartment. "Don't think about itching, don't think about itching… Goddamn it!" He groaned out, he had an itch. He tried to reach for it but he couldn't move enough, the itch got worse.

He struggled and writhed and tried to scratch the itch behind his knee against the bench he was sitting on, the iron chains however, were stronger than he was and scratching was not an option.

It was a relief when, hours later, the carriage finally stopped and the door opened. A burly looking man poked his head in, "What's with all this'ere racket? You can't be tryin to escape can yeh?" He asked with a snarl.

Melkan shook his head, "No! I've got an itch behind my knee and I can't scratch it and it is driving me crazy!" He said emphatically and continued to try to scratch.

The bald headed, bald faced driver looked stunned for a moment, but as he saw the movement and heard the noise he realized that Melkan was telling the truth, and he started to laugh. "Hold yer leg out there, far as you can."

Melkan looked dubious but desperate, he stuck his leg out, the driver drew his sword and put it behind Melkan's leg.

"No! No please! No! Don't cut it off! Please don't do that! I'll be quiet, I just…" He cried, looking at the driver in abject terror.

Only to feel a sudden relief as the sword edge scraped up and down the back of his leg, scratching the itch.

"Ah ain't a monster, jus a driver, but ah had a leg broke once, no priest, no money, so they wrapped it up for healin on its own, couldn't scratch fer weeks an it drove me crazy. Now you sit tight'n ah'll be gettin food for yah." The man's voice was rough as gravel and his face was so ugly it was one a mother might have second thoughts about, but… he seemed to Melkan to be genuinely kind.

He nodded gratefully, "Thank you." He said, and his stomach rumbled at the mention of food.

A few minutes later he had a bowl of stew in his lap, a skin of warm water next to him, and the driver had lengthened the amount of chain he had available to himself in order to let him move his hands, eat, and blessedly, scratch. "I'll be leavin you like that, you ain't goin anywhere all chained up, so I'll letcha have some extra chain so as yah can lie down and scratch itches. But don't go tryin anythin, you try to get out, an ah gotta get rough." The driver said.

"Thank you." Melkan said as he began to eat, when the journey resumed, he felt genuinely relieved, not just that he could move around and not starve, but also that not everyone in the Slane Theocracy was a heartless, monstrous slice of evil shaped like a human being.

 _...Yaksun...Early morning…_

Vanysa touched Queen Draudillon's cheek. The two were alone, that was how the Queen wished it, she didn't shrink from the touch or rebuke the blond girl, she still felt an abiding gnawing in her gut whenever she looked at the beauty. It was her conscience eating away at her, the former human peasant had come to represent, in the Queen's mind, every wrong and failure for which she'd been responsible. Vanysa's touch was not meant as a taunt or a cruelty, nor, as she looked into the beautiful eyes, did she see a glimmer of hatred, it seemed the girl actually wanted to comfort her, sensing the Queen's discomfort.

"You don't have to be afraid of me." Vanysa said softly as she came closer and her human form faded away and the demoness was present again. "I came because his highness, commanded it, at your request. I have come 'to help you' not 'for you'. Your small failure with the riot was just a learning opportunity." The talons the Queen felt on her cheek did not feel threatening, though she knew quite well how easily they could rip away her face.

"I know, but every time I see you…" The Queen looked down, "I feel the need to apologize again, if there is some living person my rule failed worse than you, I haven't seen them."

Vanysa shook her head, "If you'd known, you'd have helped me. My stubborn pride would not let me beg for aid, not even when I got a decent job and had my salary almost completely stolen."

The Queen smiled weakly, the corners of her mouth turned up in a very slight way and she covered the golden hand of the demoness with her own, allowing it to press into her cheek. "If I'd been competent, I'd have known, but your kindness in forgiving me will not be forgotten. Now, do you know why you've been requested?" She asked.

"Business then." Vanysa said and let her hand fall away, she started to pace and folded her hands behind her back, the change was palpable, and the demoness spoke with a casual professionalism that made it seem impossible that she'd ever been an illiterate peasant girl. "I would hazard a guess that you have people here who need their guilt uncovered and who require being made an example of."

"That is precisely it." Queen Draudillon said with surprise on her face, "How did you guess it that quickly?"

"You asked for me, I did this for you before, and I'm both good at what I do and have more or less finished my larger task with Astraka. Not that I'm finished 'with Astraka', but he is at least ruined and no longer party to the game of kingdoms. It seemed therefore reasonable to me that you'd want me back for something you knew I could do well." Vanysa explained with a monotone of casual competence.

"Well, you're right." Queen Draudillon said, and then explained what she'd seen in the building complex within the city. Vanysa frowned, the little corners of her mouth turned down and her fangs became visible as they came down over her teeth with the change in expression.

"I see." She said quietly. "Sounds bad, so how public do you want this to be?" The demoness asked.

"I want children's stories to tell of the demoness who rips away the guilty from their lives and carries them away to be punished, and I want those stories to be told for countless generations to warn children of the consequences of bad behavior." Queen Draudillon's statement sounded almost comical on its face, but her tone of voice was as serious as death itself.

"Fine. Seems unlikely that those who would do things like that would have any shame about it, so finding them should be as easy as flying above the city and looking around for it. Have your guards make the announcement and lock the gates, have them arrest anybody trying to get out, and I'll handle the rest. I doubt there are very many, but some very visible snatchings will see it done. Do you want me to kill them the way I did the nobles in the purges? Or take them away to Nazarick?" Vanysa asked indifferently.

"What is your preference?" The Queen asked.

"Well Demiurge needs more test subjects, and perhaps the unknown fate will serve better here than visible bloodshed." Vanysa said with a passing wave of her hand, "If it is all the same to you, I'll snatch them up, fly them away over the city, then toss them through a gate somewhere out of sight."

Queen Draudillon visibly swallowed. "That sounds very… effective."

"It is." Vanysa said bluntly.

"Then handle it as you see fit, I'll be riding out this afternoon, I'll send word immediately, I want everyone to see what happens and to know why it is, when it occurs. In the meantime, can I offer you a meal while you wait for your… is it 'work' or…?" The Queen trailed off uncomfortably.

Vanysa laughed, "It's not work, it's a passion, one of many." She licked her lips hungrily, "But I will take breakfast while I wait."

Their meeting had ended after that, word had been sent out, and by midafternoon everything was ready and the army set out.

Departing the city had been trivially easy, they moved out while leaving a small complement of soldiers behind, the shame of Yaksun kept the population passive, few upward looks could be seen as the Queen rode out with most of her army, she didn't look down at the spiritually broken people. Who they were and how they saw themselves had been utterly shattered.

In the distance, she heard a cry and a shattering of stone and glass. She could hear the distant screams, the protestations of innocence, the cackling of demonic laughter as a demoness rose into the air above the city, she carried a man in her talons, he cried out to those below, and people looked up at the gold skinned erinyes and her prey, but as he swept over the passing faces, hope turned to ashes. Hatred for him and fear of the demoness and those she served, that was all he saw.

Queen Draudillon watched them shrink in the distance as the vendetta in demon form carried him beyond sight, and felt, to her surprise, not a shred of pity for the man being carried away.

"Don't be surprised." General Musan said angrily, a sentiment echoed with a hard nod from General Oma. "Anyone who saw that place, would never feel pity for someone who went there for work or for pleasure."

"Pity may have its place," General Oma said over the steady clip clop noise of her walking horse, "but not with anyone associated with… that."

"You're right of course." Queen Draudillon said, ignoring the faint wailing that they could hear in the distance, the entire city of Yaksun had gone silent enough that even from far away, the wailing and the demonic laughter still carried to many ears.

"Though I surprise myself for my want of pity… I am also surprised by my sense of… satisfaction. After all, such an end could not happen to nicer people, could it?" She asked with a sarcastic voice and a grim smile that was quickly imitated by her generals.

"No, Your Majesty, no it could not." General Oma said, and then quietly turned her attention back to the gate they were approaching, trying not to wonder too hard if the next city would imitate Yaksun in the worst ways possible or not.


	128. Disappointment

God Rising

Chapter 128

Written by: AtheistBasementDragon

Edited by: The Usual Gang of Drunken Perverted Idiots

 _...North of Crossroads..._

Enri personally went to see each of the prisoners that had been returned to them, hoping to see Moira's face among them. She stood on a low rising grassy knoll with the breeze blowing her cloak behind her, a chill wind might have brought a shiver to her body, but her own feelings had done it first.

Beside her Lupusregina had a rare stern expression on her face, she didn't look over at General Enri, she just asked, "Are you alright?"

It was little things like that which reminded Enri that Lupu was actually a friend, and it felt good to have her here for this, even if the sadistic werewolf couldn't feel the same concern over strangers that she did for companions.

"I suppose so." Enri said softly, her lips barely moving as she watched the formation of prisoners, there were twenty two in total, of them there were only two women that she could see, neither of them were Moira. She wanted to bite her lip with concern, but she held the stone expression she'd learned to make, and kept her eyes hard. She looked to her advisor, the Goblin Strategist. "Sun," she said to him, "there are twenty two here, therefore please go see to it that forty-four are returned to General Boabdil immediately, I will address the troops."

He turned and bowed to her, "I will see to it at once, General Enri." He then turned and walked away from the formation, she didn't look to see him go.

Enri, for her part, kept the heartache for the little boy in Carne buried within her breast. Also, she did not bother to ask the gathered band about the missing woman. 'If she isn't there, then she's dead. Damn it Moira...' Enri thought with frustration, she kept her hands behind her back so that they could not see how she clenched her fists.

At last she spoke, "All of you are heroes! You did not defeat an army of eighty thousand, but you took eighty thousand out of the fight! You saved countless lives, you who survived will go down in history, you and your honored dead alike, will be remembered throughout the ages as legends of courage and duty and sacrifice! Every single one of you who survived will be recommended for the highest award that can be offered, a lifetime stipend when you return home, and land in any region under the Sorcerer King's control at the end of your service. Which as you know, will be almost everywhere." She smiled at them, the radiant smile that she knew could light up rooms and lift up hearts.

"Your fallen brothers and sisters who do not stand with you will not be forgotten either, all of them will be given similar accolades, and what rewards would have been theirs, will instead go to their families or any other they designated." Enri's voice rang like a silver bell to their ears, she was not still as a statue as she spoke, she moved about, pacing before them as she harangued them with her praises. Finally she paused and her gaze swept them over.

"Now, a moment of silence." She said, and turned her gaze to the grass at her feet, and every gaze turned down, just as hers, for a moment the stillness could have been broken by the sound of a twig, and then her eyes lifted to them once again.

When her gaze lifted, she me their own and said, "There is one final matter before I dismiss you to a well earned rest. I know I can ask nothing more of you than I already have, your matchless courage has already won us a great victory, and so many... many of you fell to achieve it. Yet for all that, I tell you that we are going into battle again, we are going to attack the city of Crossroads, it is a well defended place, with a large population ready to fight. If you wish to discharge back to your homes, your rewards will still fall to you. But if you have the will, I ask that you lend me your strength again, fight with us when the time comes, help us take that city, help us bring this war to a close. Will you follow me once again? Or will you go home?" Her voice was thick with emotion, the sorrow she felt as the five hundred who rode into death's maw had been reduced to a mere twenty two, was impossible not to see.

"Who will fight?" She asked, "Step forward."

As she'd been speaking, others of her army, seeing what was taking place, had gradually gathered, word swept the camp, and so focused had she been, that she did not realize that most of her force had descended on the area to see what was going on. Ordinarily this might have been of no great importance, however Enri was wearing her command armor, it was heavily enchanted, it gave her voice more power, more authority, charisma all but seeped out of her, she seemed 'more' than she was, which as Lupusregina had long since concluded, was already considerable, just on her own.

So her words carried far beyond her intended audience, thus she touched more ears, hearts, and minds than she planned. She held her hands out to them, as if offering to help carry a heavy burden, her elbows slightly bent, she saw nothing but those before her, her loyal soldiers who had survived the near impossible, and she felt a matchless guilt in asking for their strength again. But duty must be done, no matter the desire, and so ask she did.

Twenty two feet stepped forward as one, and thousands upon thousands upon thousands of soldiers cheered. Enri blinked away the sudden rush of wetness to her eyes and looked around, suddenly brought back to reality by the noise that was surely carrying all the way to the very walls of Crossroads.

She let her hand fall to her sword and drew it, lifting it above her head, "Tomorrow we attack! And we will bring that city down!"

The butts of spears and halberds struck the earth, fists pounded chests, and swords stabbed at the sky. Whatever tomorrow would bring, defeat did not seem like it was possible.

Enri dismissed the twenty two survivors after having all their names taken, that day her army was granted a day of rest, save for the outriding core meant to rush to seize areas and establish new camps that would surround the city. It was a rare move, but she wanted Crossroads to have its guards tired and on full alert, the Theocracy was on the defensive here, she wanted the stress ratcheted up to eleven. She'd move out at night to occupy the camps her advance parties would establish.

It didn't hurt that she wanted time to herself. And that was why twenty minutes later she was alone in her quarters, except for Lupusregina who refused to leave her be. "So... you're going to disobey my orders to leave me to my own company?" She asked the werewolf queen.

"Yes. I only 'have' to obey the Sorcerer King, and his orders are to protect you, I only listen to you when it suits me." She had a smug smile on her face when she said that, and all Enri could do was roll her eyes.

"Fine." She sighed, "Probably for the best anyway, having your company is always better than not having it."

Lupusregina gave Enri a salacious grin, "So next time you and Nfirea are at it, you want me to maybe... oh how scandalous!" She gave a mock shriek as Enri blushed.

"Damn it Lupu! Not then! Stay away from my bedroom window!" Enri laughed as she took up a bottle and poured two cups before sitting down at the table in her tent. "You might as well join me for a drink, it's decent wine, not Nazarick good, but what is?" She asked rhetorically.

"Still torn up about Moira?" Lupusregina asked.

Enri nodded. "Stupid decision, if I ever see her corpse I'll give her a piece of my mind."

"Worried about Goan too?" Lupusregina probed further. "I told you, he'll be taken care of, the Sorcerer King has put a lot of thought into all this, he'll want for nothing."

"He'll want for his mother, for the rest of his life." Enri said as she drank, her back ramrod straight against the chair.

Lupusregina leaned back and put her feet up on the table, crossing one ankle over the other as she took a sip. "You weren't kidding, this stuff isn't anywhere near Nazarick quality." She took another sip anyway. "Look, you've done your best, maybe she made the wrong decision, but it was 'her' decision, and isn't that the point of it all, for you who are born outside Nazarick to... you know, make decisions for yourselves? Isn't that something you all like doing?"

"Not the same, Lupu, honestly I'm thinking less about her and more about the one who pays the price for her choices. But you're right, I shouldn't dwell on one soldier, even if I do know her child and he's a friend of my little sister. I'll drive myself crazy if I try to take all the troubles of everyone on my own shoulders." She sighed heavily, "I'll just have to work hard and make sure there are as few Moiras in the army and as few Goans back home as possible."

She downed her cup and refilled it, Lupusregina did the same and offered her own out to be refilled, when both were topped off, Enri raised her cup and said, "To His Majesty's victory, and the peace thereafter."

"I'll drink to that." Lupusregina said and leaned over to touch her cup to Enri's, then they drank their cups empty in a single swift motion before slamming them down in unison and gasping.

"Another?" Enri asked.

"Please." Lupusregina said with a smile and held out her cup.

 _...Inside the City of Crossroads..._

"So what you're telling me is that several enemy soldiers escaped... escaped mind you, while under lock and key in the dungeon of our own headquarters?" General Boabdill asked in utter disbelief.

"Yes sir. We sent one prisoner South to Kami Miyako for special interrogation, apparently prisoner zero zero seven had a first hand encounter with the Sorcerer King during their time in the Draconic Kingdom. The other prisoner was left alone, when the guard came to feed prisoner..." The soldier flipped a document over and cleared his throat, "zero zero six, they had loosened their chains and used it to choke the guard to death. They then stole the keys, disguised themselves as a guard, and broke out several other prisoners under the pretense of punishing them for some infraction."

The soldier's voice was crisp and professional and devoid of any tone of contempt for the laxness those working below had shown in their tasks. Contempt that in Boabdil's view, was heartily deserved.

"Do we already have people looking for them?" He asked.

"Yes sir, one was caught just a few hours ago, but died while resisting capture. Apparently the first thing this one did was get drunk, then pass out in an alley. When confronted, they grew belligerent and slurred out some threats, one of the city watch put them down." The soldier's voice carried a bare hint of satisfaction at the report.

"I see, well one down, we'll find the rest, a shame though, prisoners are always useful, bodies... not so much unless you delve into necromancy." Boabdil said, marking something down on a sheet of paper on his desk.

"Do you have the report on General Enri's army?" He asked.

"We do sir, we estimate that they lost between five and fifteen thousand in the last engagement..." The soldier began, but Boabdil interrupted.

"Between five and fifteen thousand? That is a rather broad estimate, why is that?" He asked thoughtfully.

"Sir, I spoke with the scouts and with the survivors and it seems that some areas are overly inflated estimates, while in others the estimates are understated. So we can't get a reliable count, their casualties were not light, but our own..." The soldier swallowed hard and trailed off.

"Yes, they were bad, you don't have to tell me, Corporal." General Boabdil gently rapped the table in thought, "Tell me, from the point of view of the common soldier, how do you see the situation."

"You're asking me, sir?" He asked with wide eyed disbelief.

"Do you see anyone else here?" The general asked with some degree of sarcasm.

"Uh, no sir." The corporal looked flustered first time and looked around, prompting a mild laugh out of the general.

"Go on, speak your mind, I truly want to hear your thoughts." General Boabdil said in a kind tone of voice.

"Sir, if I may be blunt... we're scared." He said, lowering the document to his side and folding one hand behind his lower back.

"Please, tell me more." The General said patiently, folding his hands in front of him on the desk after setting aside his quill.

"Sir, we've never seen anything like this, it's confusing, it is chaotic. We've all fought before, we've all trained for fighting, but we've got dragons flying overhead and dropping armored trolls behind us, we've got humans in black armor fighting next to orcs, vampires, and elves, we've got goblins of impossible strength and discipline walking straight into our lines without gibbering or fear, I myself saw an honest to the gods werewolf, fighting beside a human woman riding an undead horse. This isn't a war we're fighting sir, we're in a story out of myth and legend, we're seeing impossible magics on top of all that, and we just don't know what to do."

General Boabdil listened as the corporal vented.

"Sir, we don't plan on losing, but we don't see how we can win either. The soldiers love you sir, we'll stand and die if you tell us to, but... we want to actually win." The corporal's stern demeanor collapsed in a shudder.

"I see. Thank you for telling me the truth Corporal. Leave the rest of your report here, you go ahead and get something to eat, unless I miss my guess we're in for a siege tonight, you'll want to be well fed and well rested."

"Sir." The soldier saluted, then placed the documents on the general's desk and walked out.

After he was gone, his vice commanders entered and sat at a small conference table, along with several nobles of the city. General Boabdil got up from his desk, and claimed a seat for himself. This table, unlike the more formal one in the office off of his own, was small and round, meant to illustrate the relative equality of those who sat at it. It was more intimate than the formal setting ready for use only a few steps away, and that suited him just fine.

"I'll be blunt, we don't have much time so I want to know everything, I want to know it yesterday, and I want us all to get back to work as fast as possible, so make this quick." General Boabdil said.

"Yes sir." Vice Commander Ira said, casually brushing aside a lock of brown hair from the side of her face. "Sir, the slaves are almost all ready to be taken out of the city to be sent south, however some nobles have been... well, putting it bluntly sire, they're holding out."

"Of course we're holding out, we don't want to just 'give up' our property you know." A slender, youthful looking woman said emphatically.

"Lady Keevara, I understand your concern, but please know that this is for the good of the Slane Theocracy, slaves inside the walls during a siege that is being waged by people who are known to 'free' every slave they find, particularly elves," General Boabdil looked at her with daggers in his eyes, "can only lead to our undoing. As long as you maintain an accurate record, you will get your property back when it is safe for them to be returned to you. Until then, every slave in the city is to be sent south to Wheaton, Kami Miyako, and other surrounding areas to be put to work for the good of the nation."

"You could at least offer us compensation for the loss!" She snapped out.

He wanted to slap the ditzy idiot. "Lady Keevara, you are not 'losing' your property, only relocating it, you can live without servants for a handful of days, until we defeat this siege. When Ikari fell, part of 'why' it fell was because the elf slaves within rose up, tell me something, would your slaves kill you if they had the chance?"

That brought her up short. She tried to speak several times. Then her gaze fell away. "I will... have mine joined with the rest as soon as we are finished here."

"Good. Next item?" He asked.

Vice Commander Heikeren was the next to speak up, "Sir, we have enough provisions to hold up for one month, two with the slaves all gone, three on half rations, and four on quarter rations. However I fear on quarter rations we would be too weak to fight. Is there any chance of reinforcements?"

"Some, but we're fighting on three fronts, not to mention the forces we dispatched to help Remedios that headed to Prart, I honestly don't know how much help we can count on getting from Kami Miyako." General Boabdil replied fatalistically.

"What about if we defeat General Rockbruise in the west?" The Vice Commander Ira asked hopefully.

"If we leave the elf king to move west then perhaps they'll move a part of the army to us, but we have to hold out for a long time for that possibility to be borne out. I wouldn't count on it." The general replied with some discomfort in his voice.

"So any reinforcements will come from the levies then." She said unhappily.

"Yes, so they'll be raw, untried troops going up against veterans of a general that now has a slew of victories and successes. Not an ideal situation." She said discontentedly.

"Agreed." Vice Commander Heikeran said, "But it would give us at least temporary local superiority over one segment of her army. We don't have to crush her, just force her away from the city, if we inflict that much of a defeat at least, her reputation will suffer, and our soldiers could really use a win about now."

"Couldn't we all?" General Boabdil said with a sigh, "Speaking of her, what did the prisoners say of how they were treated, were they abused, tortured, did she do anything to them?" He asked with evident care and concern in his voice.

A priest General Boabdil recognized as head of the largest church in the city, spoke up. "Nothing." He said in absolute disbelief even at his own words.

"I'm sorry?" He asked, "What do you mean?"

"I mean, she did nothing. In fact they spoke of how well they were treated, she had all their wounds healed, not a single coin was taken from their pockets, and..." He tapped his staff impatiently at the floor and shook his head again in further disbelief...

"They're calling her 'The Grand Matriarch'. Apparently she was seen tending to the dying as if they were her own children, and she did this for both sides. She's widely admired among the common soldiers." The priest said with marvel in his voice.

"Could they be charmed?" General Boabdil asked.

"Not a chance, we checked." The priest replied flatly.

"I suppose there are worse things to fight than a general who doesn't throw lives away like coppers." He said thoughtfully.

"Maybe so, but she must still be fought, we've got the scorpions ready and they've been enchanted as best we're able, we should be able to bring down smaller dragons with relative ease with concentrated fire from those, but if they send the father or the mothers of those things, we'll be in trouble. Which isn't to say it is hopeless, but..." Vice Commander Heikeran let the sentence hang, nothing more needed to be said on that matter.

"Anything else?" General Boabdil asked.

The next hour was taken up with the concerns of nobles, the store of food, ammunition, and the readiness of the population to fight, but in the end the same conclusion was reached that he'd expected. They'd prepared as best they could, and now there was nothing to do but wait for the onslaught of the general who might as well have been a daughter of the undead, the Grand Matriarch, Hard-Eyed General Enri Emmot-Bareare.

...City of Crossroads...Southern Gate...

Moira looked at the line of slaves, they wore a lot of different types of clothing, some were formal, some were barely clothed in rags, some were clearly dressed to show off their sexuality, still others were dressed in clothing that identified their trade skills. What united them was the blank, hopeless faces of the broken who had learned to survive by showing none of their real thoughts... and the fact that in addition to hopeless faces, they wore chains and all had ears mutilated exactly the way Rascal had done it on the blond girl he'd killed for her clothing, the clothing Moira now wore.

The line was long, even five abreast, there were clearly thousands of slaves.

"So you think we can get out of that gate?" Romare asked as they leaned casually against a wall, looking for all the world like just a group of friends hanging out on an off day.

Rascal was frowning, "That was my thought, but I doubt it now."

"Why?" Moira asked, "We'll just grab a few whips and walk beside them, people will think we're overseers and..."

Rascal was shaking his head, "It won't work."

"Why won't it work?" She asked.

"It just won't, trust me." He replied, the joking manner gone from his serious face.

Mananak looked up at the soldier he'd often thought of as a playful oaf and didn't recognize him. "You know something."

"Lots of things, none of which are your damn business, just trust me, we are not getting out that way." Rascal said both sharply and emphatically.

Moira wanted to say more, but as the slaves started their sullen trudging out the southern gate, she saw something altogether unexpected. Rascal was always a playful, flirtatious oaf, quick with a wink, a smile, a laugh, even when they'd been riding full tilt toward the Theocracy fully prepared to die, he'd preceded the charge by asking her for a date after they 'won'. He was never serious, never seemed to feel anything but a kind of heedless happiness.

But as the trudging started he stopped looking at his companions, the rattling of the thousands of chains seemed to dictate the very beating of his heart, and all he did was stare. Or rather, that was all he did, until his body started to shake and his fists held folded in front of his broad chest, clenched tight enough that Moira saw a drop of blood come from the space beyond his fingers.

 **AN: Well here you go, I hadn't planned on doing another double release day, but I finished two chapters yesterday so... fuck it? You get two this time. :) I will be briefly pausing for a bit while I work on two commissioned stories, but fear not, these won't be big slowdowns, I love to write so... it just means you'll get updates semidaily instead of daily while I wrap up those two. If your curious... the first commission is a rewrite from Taming of the Beasts as a lemon story. I've finished most of it already but the recent instructor training kept me busy. The second commission is a story featuring Climb and post change Renner. Whether they'll end up on FFN or not is up to the patrons, but at the very least you'll be able to find them in the discord exclusive content section.**

 **Oh and on a related note, if you're not reading the side stories...well you probably should, lots of things in the main story will seem unbelievable without the side story's events to explain them. The truth is, there are NO side stories, they're all part of God Rising, and all explain different events to develop the characters and show who they are and why they are in this main one. Blood in the Streets, aside from developing a new cast of characters, will explain some of the goings on in Kami Miyako and show things more from the Slane Theocracy perspective. I think you'll find it worth the read. Anyway, related note, if you want unique content and a great environment for writers and readers, join the Overlord Fanfiction Discord. That is all. Have a great day. :)**


	129. Sanguinity

God Rising: Cult of Ainz

Chapter 129: Sanguinity

Written by: AtheistBasementDragon

Edited by: The Usual Gang of Drunken Perverted Idiots

...Fortress Alaf…

Leinas was surprisingly happy being under siege. And why shouldn't she be? She had a very clear enemy in front of her, a very clear purpose, and a very clear objective at the end of it. As she walked through the former Theocracy Fortress, she was happily waving to her soldiers, stopping to chat with many of them. The forces of the Slane Theocracy had been the first to arrive, along with some advance parties from the Elf Kingdom.

What really stood out to her was the difference between the two. The elves seemed to have no fighting spirit, they had no wish to be there, they drew their bows as if their arms were weighted with lead, and did not even try to support the Theocracy armies by charging the walls with ladders.

By contrast, the Slane Theocracy soldiers were vigorous, their mages used up every bit of mana and only withdrew to restore themselves, their archers fired arrow after arrow in disciplined, determined ranks. And though they'd thrown back two charges from the walls, the Theocracy Soldiers proved their reputations were well earned.

As she turned this notion over in her head, her friend, comrade and liaison to the Sorcerer King, Aureole Omega, fell into step beside her. "What are you thinking about?" The cheerful woman asked Leinas.

"Just the difference between those two armies, I've always heard elves were fierce, they held off the Slane Theocracy for a really, really long time. But I'm just not seeing it here." Leinas said with a dismissive shake of her head.

"It's the difference between willing obedience and forced obedience." Aureole Omega remarked in a sage voice. "The Slane Theocracy soldiers are proud, they believe in what they're doing, and they want to be here. The same is not true of the elven army. They hate their king and they hate their ally. Many of those elf soldiers out there have families still serving as slaves in the Theocracy, and by now they know of our reputation for freeing elf slaves. So… why would they fight hard?" She asked, spreading her hands apart inquisitively as they walked.

"I see. Yes, they do work like slaves." Leinas said slowly. "While I was an adventurer in the Empire, I saw some farms where a handful of dark elf and human slaves were working. They did work, but it was obvious they hated it, hated their master, hated their lives. I'd say they even hated their tools. They moved sluggishly and did not move at all if they didn't have to."

"Precisely. For a slave, his tools are his enemies and he has no goals but either freedom or the consumption of his master's resources. He wants nothing more than to stop what he is doing and be somewhere else, anywhere else than there. You have seen by contrast, how our people work, and even how the soldiers of the Theocracy work. Our peoples' work is their pride, their identity, they long to do it well because it defines them right down to the moment of death." Aureole Omega said with a winning and confident smile and shining eyes.

"Well, that makes me feel bad about killing the elf soldiers though, the Theocracy's forces can die in a fire for all I care… and that reminds me, did you have the pitch moved up to the wall already so that we can make sure that they die in a fire?" Leinas asked in passing.

"I did, we will burn many who dare to put foot to rung and climb our walls." She said with a professional precision.

"Good, but do you think we can do anything about the elf army?" Leinas asked. "As I said, I'd rather not kill people we would otherwise set free."

"They won't be a problem for long." Aureole Omega said knowingly. "Zesshi Zetsumei has probably landed by now, once she makes it through the first forest, I think it is certain that word will reach the Elf King that his country has been invaded by his daughter. He himself is the only real threat, and he'll rush back to deal with her."

Leinas looked straight ahead as she walked to her destination and thought in silence as she was flanked by her companion. "Still, I'd like to go a step further. What if we dispatched a messenger in the night telling the elves to put on an 'act' and offer minimal support in exchange for minimal retaliation?"

"They hate humans quite a bit, do you think they'll listen?" Aureole Omega asked.

"They're already fighting half assed anyway, so maybe. I suppose I could send a vampire or an orc or some other race, do you think that would be a better choice?" Leinas asked in a hopeful voice.

"Yes, much better, and send them in a Black Justice uniform, it'll be recognized by the elves and they'll hesitate to take the messenger prisoner or harm them in any way." Aureole Omega endorsed, and warned, Leinas. Though she kept her voice optimistic.

"Where are you going at the moment though?" Aureole Omega asked innocently.

"I was looking at the reports we got from some of our prisoners, they feel incomplete. Were they interrogated by trained personnel?" Leinas asked.

"Yes, but I was actually going to the same place for the same reason." Aureole Omega said with a smile, "Great minds think alike."

Leinas walked beside the red and white clad Guardian in amiable silence until they reached the door leading to where the prisoners were held. "What do you think they're keeping back?"

"Nothing that we'd be glad to be ignorant of?" Aureole Omega gave a passive shrug and a winsome little wink.

Leinas didn't hold back a little laugh, it still felt good to do that, after so many years as an infected, pus-dripping mockery… with every breath bent on a cure she so often despaired of, there had been little time for laughter and none for happiness. So it was a warm feeling to let it come out every now and then, even at an inappropriate time such as during a terrible siege.

"Don't dizzy yourself with things you can't guess." Aureole advised, touching her companion's shoulder and looking at her with a momentary mask of seriousness. "You'll blind yourself to what you might otherwise see if you were not looking for things that are not there, go into this with an open mind."

"I see, you make a sound point." Leinas responded with a thoughtful expression as she internalized the advice given by the Guardian.

There were no more words spoken, just the echo of footfalls from sandals and armored boots bouncing off the walls as they descended into the bowels of the building. Shadows danced off both of them as glowing stone cast light into the dark.

When they reached bottom, they walked the remaining few steps over to a heavy oaken door that was rough cut, it had not been properly smoothed, let alone varnished. It was clearly made for utilitarian function only.

Leinas reached to her waist and took up a large ring with a number of keys, she flipped through two or three before she stopped and pushed the chosen one into the keyhole and gave it a turn. The telltale 'snick' of a tumbler being pushed into place could be heard. She turned the handle, opened the door, and they stepped into a long chamber with a number of cells, some of them held two prisoners, some four, some eight. They were a fairly clean lot, having been provided warm water to bathe with and the means to clean their own clothing.

All in all, as imprisonment went, Leinas had seen worse. While she was no paragon of virtue, overt cruelty to the helpless seemed equal parts pointless and even childish, reminding her of the way small children squashed insects when they were bored.

So while she felt no affection or pity as she looked at the glum faces of the Theocracy prisoners, she also did not hunger for their suffering. Killing them, or feeding and housing them, were both just 'chores', things which may or may not be required of her and either was fine.

So cold eyes fell to the first prisoner she approached, only to see his body tense up, so she moved to the next, so it was with each of them up and down the row. Aureole Omega had similar results as she looked them over. Though they often looked at her in a mystified but wary way.

After they paced the room and met back at the door, Aureole Omega leaned in close to the general and whispered, "Walk out."

Leinas was hesitant, but obliged, and a moment later was followed by Aureole Omega, when the door was closed behind her she turned to Leinas and said, "We have a problem."

"They have hope." Leinas said. "They expect a rescue, and soon."

"Precisely. They have to know how well fortified this fortress is, so why… why would they be so confident?" Aureole Omega asked.

"Under normal circumstances I would suspect a traitor, but from the last meeting, and the reports sent my way as well, I know that the intelligence army of the Slane Theocracy was wiped out months ago, there is no way they could have cultivated assets in our ranks." Leinas said confidently.

"Agreed, they also know our soldiers are not weak, so why?" Aureole Omega asked.

"A way in." Leinas proposed.

Aureole Omega nodded somberly.

"We need to find it, and we need to do so immediately." Leinas said.

"I'll get on it, you arrange for someone to visit the elf camp tonight before the rest of their army arrives. Then start getting others on the task as fast as possible." Aureole Omega said urgently.

"Right, I've got this." Leinas said, and rushed back up the stairs.

...Kami Miyako…

Another night, another kill. Raymond was starting to enjoy himself, though he hadn't quite figured out why killing had started to become a pleasure, rather than the chore it had been in his younger years. He wiped his knife clean on the bedsheet of a brothel owner and looked around the room again.

It was a clean, well appointed place, but the art the woman had kept on the walls was vile stuff, with lewd representations of her trade. She was a disgusting woman in Raymond's estimation. Pretty, as far as his estimation of women went, but not quite 'beautiful'.

She had braided brown hair when he scouted her, but had obviously let it down for her nightly rest. Brown eyes that matched her hair, an oval face that was fair enough, with small delicate lips that would, thanks to him, never form words again.

All in all, she looked like a fairly run of the mill, well to do but not wealthy citizen of the Slane Theocracy. He'd had a choice between her and another wealthy couple. In the end 'this one' had been his prey. The art on the walls spoke volumes about why, with depictions of elven chattel being cruelly degraded for 'entertainment' purposes. That by itself made her revolting, but her boast at a recent banquet about her art collection and that the subjects had been 'modeled' for the artist, with a salacious laugh to confirm any doubts, had tipped the scales in his eyes.

There was no one else in the house, so he relaxed and took a deep breath as he contemplated her corpse. Back at his home, Nua was probably awake still, she still shook when he got too close, but for some reason she didn't seem to like to sleep until she was sure he did. He liked to think it was a sweet gesture of gratitude, but something about that always felt 'off'.

He thought about Eos, the little half elf girl whose father owned her mother, and sold the woman when she tried to escape. Leaving Eos still in chains as the literal property of her own parent until she too had been sold off. And Boreas, the elf boy who had no idea if either of his parents still lived. They were sweet children and he'd done his best to see to them. Yet the woman he'd killed just now… if she'd seen them, she'd have seen only engines of profit. A swelling of rage grew in his breast and in a fit of fury he raised his knife and stabbed each of her eyes, wishing she'd been alive to feel it.

He withdrew the blade and cleaned it again, he was breathing hard, his chest going in and out as if he'd finished a terrible battle and not an easy extermination. The art on the walls seemed to mock him. He approached a painting, and slashed it, that felt good. So he did it again. And again. And again. Until her prize possessions were nothing but tatters and scraps hanging limply from the ornate frames that were still very nice.

He sheathed his blade and a grim smile formed, the corners of his mouth turning up in an almost sinister way. He glanced over at the body. "Don't worry, I don't plan on killing your sons, they're trash like you, so yes they deserve it, but I'm going to leave them to destroy each other in court fighting over your vile legacy. Between the one who likes to drink and the one who likes to buy nice things, neither will be willing to share the profit from the living hell where you turn humans into demons in the eyes of the helpless. They'll tear each other apart in court fighting over your property, and in the meantime… well I got a little bonus recently, so did all of the Cardinals, so I think I'll venture into a little 'money lending' maybe extend some credit to your sons on the side. I'm 'sure' they'll be wise enough to not borrow what they can't possibly pay back… right? Right?" He asked the corpse, somewhat expecting an answer from the dead.

He chortled as he imagined that she was cringing from the beyond. The excesses of her sons was no secret, and without the money from their mother, he doubted they could long afford their habits, and he doubted they'd be willing to change them either. They'd hire the best legal minds to fight one another, and borrow money to do it, they'd borrow to feed their habits, and before long the brothel would be closed for appraisal. By then, they'd be ordered by the judge to sell it and divide the wealth, the slaves would be on the market where they could be bought up, and when it came time to pay their debts, well loan after loan with interest piling up on deferred payments… "Yes, that's right, 'mommy dearest', your idiot sons will be rotting in the streets in abject poverty in a few months, there'll be nothing left of your family at all."

He laughed again and approached a bookshelf, he took one book off and laid it open on top of her chest. He then lit the candle by the bedside. He was enjoying this immensely now. He went to her liquor storage and poured a cup of high grade alcohol and tipped it over on the floor. Then he gave the candle stick a little tap, toppling it on its side, the flame began to spread.

Raymond walked away as the flames grew, it would take a few minutes for the entire place to light up like a bonfire. So he went downstairs and out the back door, he easily jumped the fence and disappeared into the night, humming happily as in what was now a great distance, cries of alarm spread. The fire hadn't really been part of the plan, but he had to cover up his excesses, with any luck they would conclude that she'd fallen asleep reading in bed, spilled her liquor and the candle had toppled. From there the narrative practically wrote itself. As long as nobody looked too closely on her 'crispy' form, then the damage he'd done after the fact, or before, would go unnoticed and it would be dismissed as a 'tragic accident'.

When he made it home, the house was silent and dark. There was a low light on in his room that seeped from under the closed door. Raymond mounted the steps slowly, but with a little 'kick' in his step with the lingering satisfaction of a good night's work. He came to the door to his bedroom, and quietly opened it. He found Eos and Boreas asleep on top of it, they weren't the only children in his house, but they'd taken to him most firmly.

They however, were not alone, Nua sat on a chair next to them. As soon as she saw him, she stood immediately. "Sir, you're home! Please wait a moment, let me get them out of here, they refused to leave until you'd returned so…" Her voice was swift and her eyes were nervous, Raymond smiled back at her reassuringly.

"It's OK, I don't mind, you obviously enjoy their company. They can…" He'd begun to speak, but Nua did something she rarely did next.

She interrupted, "Please, sir… let me take them out of here, back to their usual place of rest… please."

Raymond stopped speaking, "Alright, go ahead," he said. "I'm going to get a cup of tea before bed, I was just wondering who was up so late."

"As you say, Sir." She said and quickly shook the two little ones awake. They yawned and rubbed their eyes sleepily.

"So tired…" Eos said in her little girl voice.

Boreas only yawned.

"It's alright, I'll take you to bed." Nua said hastily. They tried objecting until she said, "Master Raymond is home and says you need to go straight to sleep, OK?"

"Yay…" Boreas managed to utter as Nua scooped them up, one at her chest and one partially draped on a shoulder, they hugged her instinctively as she sped them out of Raymond's bedroom.

Raymond sighed, he wondered when she'd stop being nervous around him. He unhappily reflected that such a day may never come as he put on his nightclothes and descended the stairs. Much to his surprise, Nua was at the base of the steps as if waiting for him.

"Please sir, go upstairs, let me bring you a cup, you needn't do a thing, let 'me' serve you." She said urgently.

Something felt off about the way she said that, something he didn't like, but nonetheless he nodded, "I am fairly tired, and you make excellent tea." He said, giving her a smile to show the sincerity of his praise.

She barely reciprocated with a little smile of her own, before he turned around and went back up to his bedroom.

Nua rushed to the kitchen as soon as she saw that he was not going to return down the steps and began to throw together what she needed for tea. With Raymond out of sight, she started shaking. "Monsters… playing such a game with mere children, how could anyone be so cruel?" Alone in the kitchen, the neutral mask dropped, and naked hatred swept across her face. "Who knows what he might have done if I had not stayed with them?" She said as she waited for the water to finish heating. "I won't let him hurt them, I won't…" She whispered to herself, a few tears of anger dropped into the hot water as she dunked the little tea bag over and over. She poured milk and a little bit of sugar worth more money than she'd ever seen, into the brew and stirred.

She washed and wiped her face as quickly as she could and ascended the stairs, she found him in bed reading a book. She moved a bedside table close to his reach and set the tray down, offering up the cup with a downcast gaze.

"Thank you, Nua." He said and took a sip. He looked at her curiously, "I like it as I always do, but… did you perhaps spill a little salt into the water?"

Nua shook her head frantically. "No Sir, I swear it." He shrugged dismissively and quickly finished the cup.

"Can I… do anything else for you tonight, Sir?" She asked anxiously.

"No, thank you, Nua, I think I'll just get a good night's sleep, why don't you go do the same, you don't need to stay up like this just for me." He reminded her in the kindest voice he could.

She nodded in nervous muteness and went to the door, she closed it behind her as she exited and rested her body against it, now enshrouded in utter darkness, she touched her hand to her forehead. 'No need?' She asked herself silently. 'With this vile game of yours, pretending to be so sweet here while you do gods alone know what out there at night? How long will I have to bear it? What will you do to the little ones when you tire of playing… what monstrous home have I found myself in this time?' She wondered in horror.

She descended to the basement to the bedroll she'd been given and which she'd tucked away in the relative safety to be found in staying hidden beneath the stairs. She closed her eyes and slept, and wished deeply for a dreamless sleep that was always denied her.

When Nua was gone, Raymond thought about tomorrow, a particularly vile couple would get to die, and that would make him feel very, very good. As he thought that matter over, his eyes widened, a 'gate' was opening right in his room, and through it stepped two beautiful maids, between them carrying a large chest.

All he could do was pull a stupid face with his mouth agape and his eyes wide. One wore glasses, had deep black hair tied up in a bun, a slender frame, and wore large spiked green bracers on her wrists. The other was a blue-eyed buxom blonde sporting spiral curls, with her long legs in thigh-high armored boots. They did not wait for him to speak. "I am Yuri Alpha, this is Solution Epsilon, we are maids of the Sorcerer King, here to deliver a chest of gold to you for your 'project'. We assume you know what he speaks of?" She asked perfunctorily.

Raymond nodded numbly. "Y-Yes, I do."

"Then do it, and don't disappoint him." Solution gave him a disturbing, twisted smile that all but paralyzed him for a moment.

"Yes. You must work hard." Yuri Alpha said in a deadpan fashion that spoke a thousand sentences within five words, adjusting her glasses that reflected the candle's light.

"I am and I will." He responded fervently.

"Good." They said in unison, and departed back the way they'd come, the gate closed as if it never were, and he went to look within the chest. When he did, his eyes went wide, forget the 'wealth' of gold therein, more shocking was the fact that the two of them could carry it so easily, it should have required a dozen strong men, yet to them it had been nothing. Neither had seemed to strain even slightly.

In the morning, he'd send word to Berenice and Ginedine to meet with him as soon as they could manage it. He did regret the lost sleep a little, he wondered how long he had until dawn. He swallowed hard as he gingerly closed the chest and returned to bed. Despite blowing the candle's light out, he would have a hard time sleeping after all.

But it was worth it.

 **AN: Well, let's hear it. What do you think? Oh, related note, the 'audio project' has saved up $111 for equipment to turn God Rising into an audio book (free) if you want to support the project then you can do so a reon dot com slash godrising. Every monthly donation gets it going a little faster. This same process will pay for illustrations to convert it into illustrated PDFs (again free) and possibly a manga project if enough support comes in.**


	130. Thoughts & Choices

**AN: I know, it's been awhile, I had two commissioned stories to write and a very busy period of work, I do have a 3rd commission cropping up which I'll be starting soon, but I want to get a few chapters of God Rising and Blood in the Streets out before I write that, I figure y'all have been patient, so you deserve some focus too before I turn to another project. Leave a review and let me know what you think. :)**

…Nazarick Bar...

"...So then Touch Me held the dragon's head over Ulbert's crotch until he apologized to Bukubukuchagama. I think if it hadn't looked like Peroroncino was going to get off on the whole thing… well she forgave him anyway, and they were still laughing about it two years later." Ainz said, laughing himself as he talked of his old friend's doings. "The dragon wasn't very happy, but... well he chose the wrong party to attack. Useful scales at least, I think we have some left in the treasury still, one of these days I'll have it made into some armor."

Neia and Skana gawked as the guardians laughed at the story. Gods horsing around with dragons and using them for pranks was… a bit much. An encounter with a dragon was a thing of legend… if you survived it, but to the Supreme Beings, they were like puppies or kittens.

"Neia, Skana, you should try this. It was a favorite beverage of one of my friends." Ainz said and raised his hand to call for a server. A mushroom headed female approached.

"Sire?" She asked and whipped out a pad and quill.

"Arrogant Bastard Ale, two of them for my…" Ainz paused and took a long look at Neia, her face was one of stone, blank as if it were skeletal itself, he thought of their encounter on the wall, when she carried his power into the world though it tore her flesh to ribbons to do so. He recalled standing before her at her wedding, and how much it meant to her, and the moment she was sure she was going to perish, her all but inaudible farewell. He could have said any one of a dozen titles, he could have said 'dragon rider' or, 'pope', or 'follower', but as he recalled her absolute devotion, and the look she gave to him as she was cradled in his arms, there was only one word to say, and it felt not just right, but even 'good' to say it, "...daughter, and her wife."

Neia was woman of duality, driven and professional, but personable and longing for affection seldom gotten, disciplined and cunning, but passionate and filled with rage when crossed. These dual natures warred within and kept her face unknowable save for a treasured few. But anyone but the blind could tell that she was deeply moved by what he'd said just at that moment. The guardians took it in stride, but more than one was shaken by the almost revelation-like casual statement.

Yet he was the master of the tomb, if he said white was black and black was white, then they would accept it. That did not mean it was less of a shock. Skana kept her face neutral, but clutched tight to the hand of her wife, restraining a wince as Neia's grip went tight enough with joy that it hurt even her.

She noticed that Demiurge's face seemed to be more than just relaxed, it seemed to be calculating, and in that instant, Skana understood the sort of person the tailed demon was, a creature of thought and calculation who saw everything in terms of plans and goals. In other circumstances, Skana might have felt unease, as it was, that was a relief. Easier to cope with a calm acceptance than anything else, and too, a thoughtful mind on their side was always for the good.

The attending servant returned a moment later and placed two glass bottles in front of the newly married couple and popped the caps off of them. Neia and Skana picked the bottles up and raised them in a toast, "To the Sorcerer King, and all who stand beneath him, may his will guide the whole of the world, now and forever!" Neia said enthusiastically, creating a toast that each of the guardians could get behind, they drank enthusiastically.

"This is… amazing." Skana said when she drained the bottle, "It's so intense, so rich and strong, but with a clean taste like water from melted snow. Sire, if you encounter another kingdom of dwarves, send them this as a sample, offer to give them some every year if they submit, and they'll surrender on the spot just to get more of it." She grinned and raised the empty bottle so that the server would know to bring her another.

"Truly, a marvel, and speaking as a soldier, I could not ask for better." Neia reiterated, and raised her own empty bottle to request another for herself.

"This is, and will continue to be… a truly marvelous day." Neia added enthusiastically. "It is a shame I've still got a war to fight tomorrow, but for now, let us eat, drink, and be merry, for tomorrow we may die!" She raised another bottle with an enthusiastic smile and a growing blush on her face.

...South of Prart…

Retreating. Suchala hated it. As she rode next to him, Yuri felt no better about it than he. But they were able to flee mostly unopposed save for a handful of vengeful raids. "So do you really think we can find support in the South for an independent kingdom? Or is this just some mad hope you've thrown out just to keep from falling into despair?" He asked Yuri curiously.

The clip clop noise of horses was all he heard in response for awhile, he didn't mind, she was clearly thinking about it. "You want my honest opinion?" She asked him with a serious expression on her face.

"I do." He responded gravely.

"The chances aren't great. Your best bet is to take over some small coastal city, strip it of any building materials you can, and take ship over the sea and land on your own coast. The saving grace here is that Queen Calca does not want to kill anyone, and everybody she 'had' to put down is dead. Remedios, Astraka, and most of his northern supporters are wiped out. When we get to Yanana we can talk to the priests and see what they think. It all depends on who we put at the head of a potential kingdom." Yuri said pragmatically.

"You've given this some thought." Suchala said suspiciously.

"I'm from the south, we tend to look down on the north, most of the wealth was with us, we had the greater part of the industry and the mining operations, and after Jaldabaoth, well it was often said that we should just cut the north off like the diseased limb it was." Yuri replied. "I'm a squire, I've attended a number of nobles over the years because I'm especially good at making sure they get home alive, southern independence came up a lot over the years." She shrugged passively.

"What do you make our odds of getting back?" Suchala asked further.

"Very good, I'd say most of Prart and its army will be dead drunk, with both happiness and beer, for the next few days, and even what isn't will be too exhausted to chase us. Even with those damnable undead mounts, the riders themselves will be worn out from the fighting. Ifw ee keep up the head start and do a long forced march south, we can make it with minimal risks. It won't be a walk in hell like it was to get north the first time." Yuri suggested optimistically.

"I guess that all we can do is make this as fast as we can, and see what waits for us." Suchala said with a voice full of frustration.

"When is that not true?" Yuri said fatalistically.

"Aren't you a ray of fucking sunshine?" Suchala asked with wry sarcasm.

Yuri smirked, "I'm a paid killer, it's why I do what I do, because I like killing, I like the look of desperation and fear on the faces of people just before I run my sword through them. I'm not Neia, loyal to the gods or her family honor, I have only one loyalty, and that is to whoever lets me use my sword most brutally. That happens to be you, like it happened to be Remedios before that idiot got herself killed. I don't have to be cheerful, I just have to be good at what I do."

Suchala raised an eyebrow at this, "Are you?"

Her hand darted out and was under his chin almost before he could blink. "What do you think?" She asked flatly.

"Fair enough." He replied with an approving nod, and onward south they rode.

...Crossroads…

Rascal watched the long line of slaves finally finish their sullen trudging out of the gate. If he blinked during the entire time, Moira and the rest had missed it. Questionings were rising but he was not looking like someone eager to start speaking.

When the groaning of the gate closing inward began, several of the rescued numbers looked antsy, twitching as if they wanted to run after the slaves and get out. Only the fact that Moira and Rascal were unmoving kept them from taking the chance their nerves were telling them they had to seize.

"Let's go." Rascal said, grim faced and sullen, he turned on his heel and walked away.

Mananak fell into step behind him, "What the hell was that?" He asked when they'd moved well away.

"Nothing." Rascal said slowly.

"That didn't look like nothing." Moira said from behind him in a concerned tone.

"In the Slane Theocracy, it's nothing. And unless you've forgotten, that is exactly where we are. Let. It. Go." He said forcefully.

One of his slender companions chose to change the subject, "Speaking of going, where exactly are we s'posed to go? Unless you've got a house here, we're stuck on the street for the time being."

Rascal looked back at him, "You know, now that we've got a minute, I guess I didn't get some of your names. I know Moira and Mananak, but not the rest of you. We'll find a place to stay in a bit, for now I guess we should make with the introductions, yeah?"

"Fine, I'm Nagi. Alpha company fourth squad, best damn halberdier in General Enri's army." The slender man said with smug confidence as he slapped his chest proudly.

"Maybe don't announce you're with General Enri, idiot." Moira sighed and slapped her palm to her face. He looked somewhat embarrassed as she pointed out his indiscretion.

"The name's Ham, same company as Nagi, but I usually use a hammer or a mace, I'm fair to middling with it technique wise but…" He paused and pulled a flex, thrusting his arms out and raising his forearms up to show powerful muscles, "they call me tree breaker for a reason."

"As for me," a middlingly sized young man said in a voice more befitting a teenage boy who was blooming late, than a man of the years he must surely have had, "doesn't matter what my name is, I never answer to it anyway, my friends just call me 'Owl' and I'll answer to that."

"Why do they call you that?" Moira asked.

"Who?" Owl asked in return, and winked.

"Ugh… never mind." Moira replied.

"And best for last, I'm Petyr, I was a smith back before coming south, pretty good at it too, but I figured I could do more holding weapons than making them. But, the job did leave its mark." He said and held out his hands, showing off the many small burn scars and marks from his hands to his forearms.

"Alright, enough of that, we need some place to stay tonight, anybody have any coins? We could probably survive outside but, it'll be cold," Rascal looked up at the sky, "and I think it'll rain soon."

The rest of his party looked up at the sky, there were no clouds to speak of.

"Why do you say that?" Owl asked curiously.

Rascal opened his hands to his sides and said passively, "Because it will, just trust me. Now do we have any money or don't we?"

The impromptu team of survivors rapidly went through the confiscated clothing and purses to see what their unfortunate victims had on them. "I've got a handful of Theocracy coppers." Moira said as she drew her hand from the coinpurse and held it open. "What will that get us?"

"Thrown the hell out." Rascal said bluntly. "Anyone else?"

"I've got… two coppers, and… " Owl bit his lip as he fished around in his pocket grabbing for something, "ah, a silver. Guess that drunk was a lightweight when it came to booze." He grinned.

As the rest pulled out bits of coin and dirt from their pockets, Rascal half regretted the lack of wealthy citizens to put down. He sighed, "This gets us two rooms, we'll have to share. Six faces turned to Moira.

"What?" She asked bluntly. "I slept with an army that was almost entirely men, you think I'm going to go faint at sharing a room with two or three of you? Please." She rolled her eyes, "Just remember that wandering body parts will get cut off, and it'll be fine." She snorted, and then laughed as they looked a little uncomfortable.

An hour or so later they found themselves following Rascal into what was little more than a two story woodshed, the doors were little better than splinters that had been glued back together, the floor was dirt and the first floor was mostly a tavern with the heavy stench of unwashed bodies.

"Two rooms, three beds each." Rascal said and dropped the coin purse down in front of him at the counter. The woman behind it was grimy, smelled as bad as the patrons, and wore clothing that had long ceased to be anything but the patches she'd sewn to the original. The color of her hair was 'grease', and the color of her skin was 'dirt'. She fit right in.

"Syte." She grumbled and poured the coins into her hands. " 'll do, c'mon." She said and trudged up the steps. They creaked like they were going to collapse, but if she was worried about it, or the small holes in the walls that termites had eaten through, she didn't show it.

"'Ere, an ere." She said in a voice that was clearly tired of living, and she gestured to two rooms on opposite sides of one another.

There were no handles, knobs, locks, or latches, it was simply 'pushed' open one way or the other.

"No locks?" Petyr asked.

She folded her arms and gave him a death stare. "'If'n yer scared, get out'n find another place. This's whatcha get othawise." She spat on the floor of the hallway and waited.

"It's fine, we'll take them." Rascal said hurriedly and went into the room on the right, followed by Moira and Owl, leaving the other room to their companions.

"So, anyone have a plan?" Owl said as he went to a nearby bed and flopped himself down on it. It collapsed underneath him, slamming him to the floor with a violent thud. They snapped their eyes over to him, but he didn't move, he simply put one foot over the other, folded his hands underneath his head and looked up like nothing had happened.

"Why the hell did you do that?" Moira said with annoyance.

"You who? Do what? No idea what you're talking about." Owl said with a completely serious expression on his face.

"Never mind." She said with a groan.

Owl smirked, then asked, "OK, the plan?"

"Wait until the others join us." Rascal said with some annoyance in his voice.

They did not wait long, soon the seven of them were in a room together, some odd looks went to Owl's bed, but he pretended it was all perfectly normal, so they said nothing.

"We've got three choices as I see it." Moira suggested. "We can hide until the city falls, we can try to break out, or we can try to help our friends outside to take it from within."

Petyr frowned, "The easy one is hiding, but I'm not much for that."

Nagi grumbled, "Me neither, but how much can we do, there's only seven of us in here. We're an undermanned squad at best, with one sword between us, no money, and we don't know where anything is or have any way to communicate with anyone beyond the walls."

Ham sat cross legged on the floor and held his hands folded together in his lap. "So what? We aren't without other weapons."

"Other weapons?" Mananak asked dubiously, "What other weapons?"

Ham grinned wolfishly, "Simple, the fact that nobody knows we're here. We're an unknown combat element, which means we have the element of surprise. If we're lucky the escape was covered up by the prison, or they've captured the ones we switched clothes with and have thrown those into a pit in the dungeon thinking they recaptured us. Or better, they've even killed them thinking they were us and tossed the bodies in a pit somewhere, any way you slice it, we may be an x factor that they can't predict or account for, and being unknown counts for a lot."

"How so? A sword is a sword, isn't it?" Moira asked curiously.

Ham smiled and looked away as if remembering something. "Long time ago when I was a boy, there was this kid, bigger'n all the rest, he used to like to take stuff from me an' all the others who were younger'n he was. So one day, I tried to fight im, didn't play out too well, truth be told he kicked my ass. So after I'd licked my wounds, I got to thinkin about why I lost, an the reason was on account of I went after him on his terms. See him being big'n all, an' me be'in still small, I didn't have much chance. So I got two or three other small kids that didn't like im, an' I paid them to charge him so he was all set to kick their little asses too. Well he was halfway there when he tripped over the rope I'd buried a little in the road. I pulled it tight just before he got there, and he fell on his face. Then I ran out, and kicked him there, and I kept doing it. Broke a bunch of his ribs, a wrist, his nose, and knocked out a few teeth. Told im if he didn't give back everythin he took, he was go'na be a lot worse off. He din't."

Ham 's predatory smile got wider. "First few days after he got better, he kept tryin to fight me, but I avoided im, but then I started ambushin him. He stepped in pits where he'd sprain his ankle, or I'd get a few kids to ambush im an I'd get im from behind and break somethin, few days later he stayed in'is house till his momma made him go out to work. He'd had enough, he gave everthing back." Ham laughed, "Good times. Anyway, point is, the little like us can fight the big, they got a lotta places we can hit, an they don't even know we're here, got me?"

Rascal chuckled, "You'd have made a helluva Scripture member."

Six faces looked at him, in askance.

"What?" Rascal said innocently. "You don't have to like them to admit that they're good at what they do."

"That is true… but I'd have thought you'd say a 'member of the hundred' or something? Little strange to praise the enemy." Moira said with a little frown.

Rascal coughed uncomfortably, "Talent is talent, you don't have to call it right, to call it competent." He cleared his throat and quickly changed the subject, "So, we're not regular army here, we're a rogue organization as it is, nobody is going to force anyone to any choice, each of you can decide for yourselves, no grudges, no criticisms. Who wants to fight?" He asked, all seven hands went up without hesitation.

Seven faces had very predatory looks, but on Rascal's face there was a bloodthirsty look like they'd never seen before on him. "They'll never know what hit them." He said happily.

-end chapter-


	131. Uncertainty

_...Slane Theocracy...Kami Miyako Council Chambers…_

Maximillian stood up and had a very deep frown on his face. "I have the full report of what happened at Prart."

"Good, is Calca dead? Did we capture Neia Baraja? What were the casualties? How long will it take to finish the North so we can invade the Abelion Hills from the west?" Dominic asked eagerly, then his smile melted as he took note of Maximillian's facial expression. The storm of temper was already gathering on the face of the de facto head of the Slane Theocracy.

Maximillian swallowed hard, but he began to read, focusing entirely on the paper so as to not look at Dominic's face in return.

"Almost the entire army was wiped out. Astraka is missing and his army deserted him anyway so he's of no use to us even if we had him. Calca's edict granting amnesty has won over most of the nobility of the north. Remedios Custodio is dead and they suffered serious losses fighting against the combined armies of Calcan Loyalists, Neia Baraja's Black Justice, and the turncoats from Astraka. And to top all of that off, somehow the heretic used the power of the undead and literally… not figuratively, literally, forced an army to the ground, injuring or killing many. She's also calling herself a 'Black Paladin' and has started using a hitherto unknown form of death magic…"

"Not possible!" Dominic bellowed, slamming his fist on the table, sending a crack from the point of impact, all the way to the other side. "Paladins use holy magic, not death magic!"

Maximillian nodded grimly. "You're preaching to the choir, but I'm reading what this says, and it has been widely corroborated by surviving eye-witnesses. She's a paladin using a strange form of death magic that seems almost tailor made to fight against us. They're divided on whether to call it 'holy death magic' or 'sacred death magic' but her martial arts and skills were clearly out of the ordinary, and she very definitely ripped Remedios apart before severing her head, she and her vice commander were seen by Holocaust scripture members, they saw the entire duel. Unless you're suggesting they're lying to us, this 'is' what happened." He said with firm conviction as he sat back down.

Dominic shuddered. He thought back to the gathering in the Draconic Kingdom, where he'd first beheld those eyes, he swore he could still feel her spit on his cheek, an affront he would neither forgive, nor forget, much like the horror of the darkness he beheld within that gaze. 'How could nobody see it like I did? How did the Draconic Queen, how did Calca, how did any of them miss the crackling torment resting there? The mad fools, those damn, mad fools!' Dominic thought with frustration.

"How many survivors?" Dominic asked grimly.

Yvon took up a document from the table in front of him and stood up. "Around twenty thousand are withdrawing to the south to link up with the remaining supporters there, together with the army that was raised to fight against Gustav, who at least we have confirmed is dead, along with most of his forces. If the survivors of the north combined with the army in the south, there are perhaps as many as eighty thousand, plus we have most of the Black Scripture there. Unless the Sorcerer King personally intervenes or sends a champion of his own to face them, well…" Yvon grinned, "Even Neia Baraja cannot contend against a Godkin."

"Maybe not." Raymond pointed out, "But the whole thing about the Sorcerer King not interfering? Pipe dream. Do you really think he'll just let us hold the South? General Baraja and her Vice Commander, Skana, have a special grudge against us. Remember it was our inquisitors that went out hunting their followers. General Baraja is violent, aggressive, fanatical." Raymond stood up and leaned on the table, balling up his fists in anger. "You all know what she did in Wenmark by now. And I read the report about Prart, her flesh was literally being ripped off her body doing whatever she did on that wall, and she didn't give a damn. She will not stop unless she is put to grass. She will invade, and she will request the support of the Sorcerer King, and when she's finished in the South, she'll come for us here."

"Impossible!" Yvon declared.

"Really?" Ginedine asked wryly. "Why is that impossible? We know they've got agents in our city already, Zesshi slipped out with all our treasures, a year ago Wenmark was a powerful metropolis and now it is a collapsing burned out ruin. A year ago we were just making real advances on the Elf Kingdom in a war of revenge for a rape he committed, only to reverse our policy completely a few months ago and give him the go ahead to do more of it in exchange for his help. A year ago demihumans were the enemies of all mankind, now we're facing multiple armies where they're fighting beside humans, along with the undead, heteromorphs, and even dragons. Nothing is 'impossible' Yvon." Ginedine said sharply, "What you really mean by 'impossible' is that you don't want it to be possible, but it is, and we have to deal with the very real threat to everything we've ever known. Raymond is right, General Bareare took Ikari, Zesshi is invading the Elf Kingdom, Neia Baraja is going to move south, now what do we 'do' about any of this?"

"Ginedine and Raymond are both right," Berenice said as Raymond sat back down. "Hoping something won't happen is not a plan, so, Dominic, what do you want to do?"

Dominic ground his teeth, "For starters we'll round up all the prisoners out of the dungeons and form a new army, they're violent thugs anyway, so it doesn't matter if we lose them, promise them a pardon and let them keep their equipment after the war and we should get at least two divisions. For another, the Agante have filled in the gaps in our intelligence networks, true they usually do field work in a different capacity, but they're competent enough for this. I've already ordered squads of them to act as go betweens and to slip into positions where they'll be able to look for potential threats and remove them. They're decentralized, so the same problem that saw to the destruction of our intelligence apparatus last time, will not occur again." Dominic's fingers were tapping on the table, he was trying very hard to restrain his temper as he spoke.

"The Black Scripture will have to be withdrawn, most of them at least, to go deal with the traitorous half-elf bitch in the south. There's no way we can beat her through ordinary means, so we'll have to use extraordinary ones." Dominic said thoughtfully.

"Will they really do it though?" Raymond asked. "You're telling them to go kill someone who was not only their comrade, but also helped train them in the first place, they came up under Zesshi, she's all but emblematic of the entire unit."

Dominic all but jumped to his feet to start roaring, but then he froze, his own time as a scripture member coming to mind. He started to relax, his hand rubbing his temple. "You're right. We'll just have to make sure that when the time comes, they do exactly what they're told to do, by any means necessary."

Raymond felt a terrible chill when he heard those words, and it followed him all the way home.

 _...South of Yaksun…_

Departing the city had been a relief to Queen Draudillon, of all the things that she had ever seen, the contents of that building were the worst. That people could do that even to a dog was unthinkable, but to another intelligent living person? She shuddered as she rode out. The city was silent. There were only a thousand or so soldiers still there, but she felt little concern that they would rise up.

She looked over her shoulder, back between the rows of spear and halberd points were the shrinking walls of the city. "Something the matter, majesty?" General Oma asked in passing.

"Just thinking is all." The Queen replied. She glanced over a few rows, the head of the messenger that Dominic had killed still sat firmly affixed to a pike, his dead eyes watching the march to his revenge go ever onward.

"May I ask about what? You seem unusually distracted." General Oma pressed gently.

"It's trivial, but if you wish to know, well… I read the stories about what they found in Wenmark, from what I hear the stories of the elf and even human slaves have been going around like wildfire through published tracts. It's become known as the city of evil." The Queen said conversationally.

"Yes?" General Oma asked, unsure of where that statement was going.

"Given what we just left, well, would that make Yaksun the city of shame? I don't imagine that what was in that little complex was better, but the population that saw it, most of them didn't know and when they found out, they were disgusted." The Queen explained, and General Oma caught on.

"I see." General Musan said from her opposite side, "So you're thinking that we won't have to really butcher our way to Kami Miyako to settle things and bring about the changes the Sorcerer King desires?"

"Something like that." Queen Draudillon replied, "I saw the tracts that were to be read on every street corner, detailing the horrors of the Theocracy's mistreatment of nonhumans. After seeing what was taking place in their own walls, I doubt many will find room to disbelieve the stories the Sorcerer King is having spread. It's hard to fight when you see your own side as the villain."

"Still, I wouldn't count on such widespread acceptance of these stories." General Oma said thoughtfully. "The Slane Theocracy has guided everything in their country towards a single set of beliefs for centuries, maybe real exposure to horror will jar some people who haven't seen it before, but many are so under the thumb of the priesthood that 'if' they believe it at all, well, the priests will just declare it to be the will of the gods and that will be that. The Sorcerer King may have a record of success, but I don't think this will work as well as he wants it to."

"Does it really have to, though?" General Musan replied curiously, "It just has to be disruptive enough that real resistance is scarce. After the war ends, he could keep the peace by putting a death knight in every city, town, and village. After all, he'll have won on the terms he declared he would, after that, he's not restricted himself from using even his most terrifying servants."

"When you put it that way…" the Queen said seriously, "that makes the leadership of the Theocracy even more desperate, if they don't win this fight on his terms, where he's actually given them a chance, then they will never get another."

"Then we'd better be prepared for a real fight when we get to Chasm City. Do you really think our withdrawal will be permitted?" General Musan asked as he thought the matter over further.

"I think so, if we keep our cavalry active and withdraw at night, they almost 'have' to take the bait, this war hasn't been going well for the Theocracy, and even if the population doesn't know it, the government does and they've got to be worried. They need a win, a significant one, and soon." General Oma answered confidently.

"Well I hope so, because we don't have the forces to take that city while the army is still there. What about the raiders we sent to liberate slaves to draw them to our ranks?" The Queen asked, looking quite the diligent queen as she did so.

"Progressing." The two generals said in unison, before General Musan elaborated with a mild chuckle of amusement. "We'll have most of the ones outside of Yaksun taken up and sent north to the Forlorn Fortress for training and equipment in a few days, they won't be great, most of them anyway, but an extra ten thousand or so will be a significant boost anyway."

"It'll have to do. And so will we." The Queen said, keeping her eyes firmly fixed on the road south, barely noticing as her generals shared a resolute expression between one another.

 _...Crossroads…_

The predatory look did not vanish from anyone's face, but Rascal brought up an important matter that gave them pause to think. "We have paid for one night's rooms, we don't have more." He looked around at their expectant faces, "Do you really think she'll be charitable about letting us stay for free?"

"Ah, no." Owl said, speaking all their thoughts for them.

"Robbery?" Moira suggested succinctly.

Rascal shook his head.

"Why not?" Mananak asked him bluntly. "We're behind enemy lines, anything goes."

"Because," Rascal said in a firm tone of voice, "any place guaranteed to have coins will be locked down during this siege, simply put, they're going to be on high alert, if you want to rob anyone, rob the guards we kill, but the rest of the time, we need honest jobs. We don't need much, we're not making lives here. We need food, we need shelter…" he was interrupted when thunder broke the stillness outside and rain began to fall, "and… well, I guess beer technically isn't something we 'need' but…" His face broke out into its usual playful grin.

A few laughs met his words, "Speak for yourself." Petyr got out through his laughter, "If I'm going to risk my life out there, damn it, I want one more drink in me before that."

"Alright, so we get jobs, what are our options?" Moira asked with concern.

"Day laborers I guess." Nagi shrugged his slender shoulders, "We just do what work we can and scrape up enough silver to pay for these rooms to sleep in, then handle other business the rest of the time."

"Then we need to get familiar with this city and how it works." Ham said matter of factly, he stroked his firm, squared chin as he thought it over. "Finding work that pays for two of these rooms shouldn't be hard, I say half of us do that, the rest start scouting locations we can hit and figure out what routines you can, we can start the day after that."

"That can work." Rascal said confidently, "Now if there's nothing else, I'd like to go take a look outside, divide it up as you see fit and just tell me which you'd like me to take care of in the morning. Either task is fine by me."

"It's raining though." Owl said.

"I know, I don't care." He said as he got up and walked out.

Things were quiet for a moment, then Moira stood up, "I'm going to talk to him, same as him also goes for me, I'll take either task, but if even one of you suggests a brothel I'll spank you!" She glared mock daggers at them as they laughed.

"That's the spirit! Specialize!" Owl said as a rejoinder.

She glared at him and tried to hold a stern expression, but he looked around in false urgency, "Who said that?"

Moira laughed again and walked out the door and down the dirty hallway, then down the stairs. She looked around the bar, Rascal was nowhere to be found, he'd spoken the truth when he said he was going out. The sound of thunder drowned out the room for a moment, she took a deep breath. "Damn it, I hate the rain." She said to herself and opened the door to the outside.

The rain was coming down in sheets, thick and fast. Its many drops fell and shattered against the cobblestone streets and wooden structures. She looked around from under the ragged awning at the door, and she found Rascal quickly enough, even through the sheets of water obscuring her vision she saw the big oaf sitting on a barrel a few feet away. He was heedless of the rain pouring down on him, he was just leaning back against the wall with his arms folded and his legs draped down as he watched the rain fall.

"What are you doing?" Moira asked. He looked at her blankly.

"What are you doing?!" Moira repeated, louder this time. He looked at her with a smirk and tilted his head as if to listen more closely.

"Damn it! What the hell are you doing out here?!" She shouted as loud as she could, he held his hand out to her, inviting her to approach. Moira looked around, everybody else was indoors. He started talking, or at least she thought as much, his lips were moving, but no sound could reach her over the pouring rain.

His hand was still outstretched, at last she sighed and slapped her hands against her sides and took a step out from shelter and into the downpour, her small hand fell into his, and he pulled her closer, not roughly, but in a compelling way that was matched by his boyish smile.

"What are you doing out here?" She asked now that she was close.

"Other than getting you wet?" He asked roguishly.

"Really?" She asked archly, "That's the best you can do? If I want flirting that bad there are a whole lot of smelly drunks in there that can manage that much." She laughed as he grasped at his heart as if she had struck him there.

"You wound me!" He laughed.

"Seriously, what the hell are you doing out here? What's going on with you?! You haven't been the same since we broke out?" She asked him with a concerned voice, his smile fled as if driven away.

"I don't want to talk about it." He said bluntly.

"But how do you know the things you do? You knew it would rain, you knew not to go out with the slaves, you…" She started to say, only for him to slap the wall, hard, and cut her off.

"I don't want to talk about it!" he shouted, her mouth shut tight.

He calmed down and his face relaxed, "Damn it Moira, it doesn't matter anyway! We're going to wreck as much as we can to help General Enri out there, and if we're lucky we'll survive to see it all through and rejoin her ranks and fight to the end of the war and go back to our homes and back to our lives and you go back to your son and everything will change for the better… but none of that other shit, not why I know the things I know, not any of it, will ever matter. Just listen when I give advice and we've got a chance at getting out of this." The rain hadn't slackened, but as he looked up at the cloudy sky, she could swear that the expression on his face was anything but tranquil.

"Just tell me this, you're really on our side, right?" Moira asked with a little frown as she folded her arms in front of her again.

He looked down slowly until his eyes were even with hers. "I am. I swear it."

"Everyone has a past, I guess. I didn't mean to pry." She replied.

"Yeah, yeah you did, but I don't blame you, I'd have questions too, maybe I'll explain, maybe I'll have to explain soon, but for now let me keep to myself and don't do anything stupid." He responded with a wry grin forming on his face again.

"Stupid like what?" She asked with a frown.

"Stepping out into the rain without an undergarment under your top for one." He replied with a randy smile, and Moira looked down, then gasped.

She covered her chest up and whirled back towards the entrance, "Damn it Rascal!" She said as she stormed off indignantly.

His laughter was at her back, but she sensed no malice in it, whatever was on his mind, her bosom wasn't the focus of it.

When he was alone again, Rascal closed his eyes and let the rain wash over him. "What a day, the weather was just like this back then too." He said to the empty air, "Never thought I'd be back here. Oh well, maybe I can get a little something done while I'm...visiting, take care of some old business."

He got up off the barrel and began to walk down the empty street, not even trying to keep the water from washing over his body, and barely looking where he was going, as memory guided him to where he wanted to go.


	132. Washout

...Outside of Crossroads…

General Enri was in a fairly good mood. The encirclement was proceeding nicely, only a few sorties had slowed her forces down, but they'd been half hearted measures conducted by people who knew they couldn't stop her. They were right.

She stretched out as she sat up from her field bed and scratched her side. "Good morning, Lupu." She said with an enthusiastic smile at her red headed bodyguard.

"G'mornin' -su." Lupu said with her customary wide smile on her face. "You slept well. -su" She said casually as she stepped back to let Enri have room to get up and out of her cot.

"Well, I've gotten used to you more or less staring at me while I sleep, but… still, when this is all over… stay away from my bedroom window." She laughed and pointed with faux harshness at the werewolf maid.

"No promises -su." Lupusregina said as General Enri stood and went to go brush her hair. She didn't need to see Enri's face to know her friend was rolling her eyes.

"Any problems last night?" Enri asked, confident there were none.

"None to speak of, a few sorties but it bought the city only a few hours, there was some movement near the south gate, but the scouts couldn't get a good look, most seem to agree it was just refugees getting out while the getting was good -su." Lupusregina shrugged it off as irrelevant, a sentiment that agreed with the Grand Matriarch.

"It's fine then, I'm not worried about noncombatants, granted it would have been better to trap them inside the city, they'd eat more food, the city would run out faster, they'd get hungry faster, they'd starve faster, and they'd surrender faster… but it's fine, I don't intend to let this drag on that long anyway." Enri said with shocking casualness.

Lupusregina Beta raised an eyebrow. "Did you just assert a preference for their quick starvation? Who are you and what did you do with Enri -su?"

Enri shook her head as she ran the brush through her golden strands, "It's not that I want them to suffer, I just want it over quickly with as few deaths as possible, and… well that would be one way to get there. I guess it did sound a little cold, but after the battle, seeing all those people, all those lives lost… I just want this to end."

"Still, kinda 'hard' for you, isn't it?" Lupusregina asked curiously.

"Maybe, but this is war, I fought my own country's prince, I ripped children away from their parents to throw the parents into captivity, I ordered people to their deaths. Maybe I'm not the same girl I was some years ago, and the Enri of that day couldn't do these things. But the Enri here and now 'can' and I'll do a whole lot more before all this is over." She set the brush down and turned around, Lupusregina was struck by the beauty of those hardened eyes, they were the eyes of a veteran, of a soldier. They didn't have the raw fury and terror that Neia inspired, but she judged them good nonetheless.

"Well ya know, I like this you. -su." Lupu tilted her head and smiled her sadistic smile.

"Well, we're not best friends for nothing." Enri said as she took off her night clothes and reached for a sponge that lay soaking in a basin.

"Oh no! Is my general going to command my services!" Lupusregina pretended to squeal as Enri tossed her clothing aside.

"Ah, no." Enri said flatly, having only a mild blush this time as she'd gotten accustomed to Lupusregina's incessant teasing. She started to scrub, wishing very much there was a creek or a lake or a damn bathtub to use, but grateful her position allowed at least this small luxury to keep the stink off.

"Anything else I should know, Lupu?" Enri asked, partially interested, partially just hoping to keep Lupusregina from critiquing her physicality.

"Nothing big, lots of movement on the walls, and it looks like they were telling the truth about those siege weapons meant to bring down dragons, it might not do much against say… the dragons of the Argland council, but against the younger ones we've got with us? Well, just be careful about using them -su." Lupusregina said as she went over what she'd learned while Enri slept, she then got up and approached her charge and snatched the sponge out of her hand.

Enri looked at her in surprise. "I'm a maid, let me do this for you -su." Lupusregina's tone was no-nonsense insistent.

For a moment Enri almost objected, but then she relaxed her body and allowed the red headed sadist to proceed. "It's funny, most humans would be at least a little hesitant about letting a werewolf this close to them -su." Lupusregina said in passing as she began to scrub the sponge over Enri's back.

"Well, most don't call one their best friend either. I'm used to your oddities by now. Gotta admit, I still think it's a little weird you'd have the best orgasm of your life if I died… but you didn't design yourself, and we've been together for awhile. I trust you." Enri said confidently.

Lupusregina let that sink in as she soaked the sponge and crouched down to scrub more of her charge. "Well, just as long as you keep me sexually frustrated -su." The maid laughed and Enri blushed furiously.

"Lupu, I know you're a degenerate perv, and god knows I love you, but could you maybe 'not' say that while you're scrubbing my ass?" Enri exclaimed as Lupusregina started to stand back up to soak the sponge again.

The werewolf queen could only laugh, "I'll never tire of your embarrassment -su."

Enri could only sigh, "I know, I know. Hey, did the supplies from my husband arrive yet?"

Lupusregina grinned as if she were going to say something salacious, "Not that kind of supply!" Enri exclaimed, preempting whatever her friend was going to say.

"Oh pooh, no fun at all. Yes, not as much as you wanted, those potions are tough to make, but what are they all for -su?" Lupusregina asked curiously.

"A new invention of mine." Enri said, "Based on the Sorcerer King's words in the Draconic Accords."

"Oh?" Lupusregina asked as she took Enri by the shoulder and turned her around and started to scrub her front. Mercifully in Enri's mind, she was spared any salacious commentary about Nfirea's good luck in a wife, by Lupusregina's own curiosity.

"Yes, the treaty referred to aid workers and healers being illegitimate targets, but there are a few problems inherent in this. First is that they can still be hurt accidentally. Second is the shortage of magic even with those they can get to, and third is the sheer size of the battlefield, they often don't know where to go and can get caught up in the fighting. So I thought, why not bring the wounded to them? We designate a small corps of our noncombatant priests and give them wagons and a few simple tools to keep the wounded alive, they grab the injured, provide immediate care, put the wounded on the carts, and rush the injured back to the rear for safe treatment." Enri explained with pride on her face as she went over the details.

"Clever, so the potions?" Lupusregina asked.

"Stamina mostly to keep the aid workers moving, but also low grade healing potions, cheap stuff mostly, like enough to seal a stump so a person doesn't bleed to death, but not enough to restore the limb, they can be provided better treatment in the rear echelon through magic, and that can be done more easily without the same urgent depletion of mana." Enri said proudly as Lupusregina put the sponge away and she reached for her clothing.

The maid of the Sorcerer King insisted on helping her with that as well, right up to and including putting on her armor and strapping her sword belt into place. Finally the battle maid stepped back and Enri reached back and pulled her hair out from under her clothing, letting it hang free behind her.

"There you go, you look like a General of the Sorcerer King should." Lupusregina said with a thumbs up and a flashy broad smile as she looked over the golden haired general, her hard eyes so at odds with her merciful innovation, her white armor with its intricate designs and inlaid runes would have been the envy of kings, yet it was upon the body of a peasant general, and it looked damn good there.

"Thanks, now let's get going, I'd like to ride through all four positions today before we start the bombardment, the rain last night probably slowed things down a lot too, and I want to be absolutely sure that everything is in place before we start to punish them for resisting His Majesty." Enri said with conviction.

"As you like, General Enri." Lupusregina said with a respectful voice as they walked out of the tent together.

...Crossroads…

Rascal's walk took him over a fair part of the city, he could never forget the way, not if he'd lived a dozen lifetimes. He went to the merchant district, and followed the familiar feel of the cobblestones beneath his feet, each one unique in its own right, each one held a memory for him. So as he walked, he remembered, and was grateful for the rain. Had it not been raining like this, he wouldn't have gone. He looked to the left and right, he could barely see six paces in front of his face.

He looked up at the sky, he'd long since abandoned the six gods of his childhood, but it was as if here, they were helping him. Windows would be shut and nobody was going to come out doors, therefore as it was, nobody would see him even though he walked down the middle of the street all by himself. Finally, deep within the merchant district, he reached his destination. For this at least, he had to be cautious. Also, he was curious. So he walked between his destination building and its neighbor, to the back. The pens were still there, just like he remembered them. Cheap iron cages tall enough to hold an adult… uncomfortably, a retractable top with a hole in it for the head of the captive, it could be raised and lowered by a handle, forcing the captive to crouch down and put their head through the hole.

The implements of the trade hung nearby, just where he remembered them, under covered awnings to protect them from the elements but clearly visible to anyone in the cages. Various posts sat embedded in the earth, and a long smooth iron pole ran secured from one side to the other. Walking the pole was the only exercise the captives got. There were no captives now, whoever ran things had been smart enough to order the slaves removed from the city, that much he'd seen himself.

He smiled, that too served his purposes, it was as if the one god he now followed had arranged all this for him personally. He went to the back of the house and touched the handle, it was unlocked, old habits die hard. He grinned and went back to where the implements were found, he looked them over to select a tool. It didn't take long, it was only a question of whether he preferred the shears or the knife. He chose the knife, it still had blood on it, that annoyed him on a professional basis.

"Hmpf, whoever they got to replace me is sloppy, always wipe your tools after every use." He repeated what he'd grown up learning, then took the blade and went to the back door. [Sound of Still Waters] He whispered, and the sound of his feet on the creaky old floor vanished. He looked around, some of the things he expected to see were gone, and there were indications of a dog now. He shrugged and went up the stairs. [Scent of Rivers] He whispered, and all trace of scent vanished from his body. He knew exactly where to go.

He saw the covers pulled over a body in the bed. He curled his lip in contempt. Thunder rolled outside, he saw the shaking of the blanket that told him the old man was as afraid of thunder as ever. He approached and stood beside it. "Should have been afraid of retribution old man, not thunder. Thunder doesn't care if you live or die, but death is all I wanted for you." He said coldly.

From beneath the blanket, two hands came out and grabbed the edge, they pushed the blanket back, exposing a face that was significantly aged. "Rascos? You're alive? They told us…" The wrinkled, careworn face started to speak, then turned to horror as he processed what he'd just heard.

"I go by 'Rascal' now. But you, you go by 'the not so dearly departed'. Now die." Rascal said and slapped a hand down over the old man's mouth and swung the knife down, it pierced the blanket and went hard and deep into the old man's guts, Rascal raised the knife and brought it down again, and again, and again. He didn't stop swinging until the old man had entirely stopped moving. After he was done, he left the knife lodged in the body, the blanket had taken care of most of the blood, leaving Rascal clean.

He looked down at his handiwork. "Rot in hell, dad." Rascal seethed, and he went to a drawer and snatched out a purse he knew would still be full of silver coins, then he walked out as thunder rolled overhead. The walk in the rain felt marvelous, and he had an enormous smile on his face that he wore all the way back to the cheap inn.

It wasn't until he was nearly to the entrance that he thought of something. "Hmm," he said aloud, "I hope somebody goes there and finds him before that dog gets too hungry, the old bastard might give the poor pup indigestion." He laughed at his sense of humor and walked in with a skip to his step.

...Fortress Alaf…

Leinas had been accused of many things, a lot of them she would openly acknowledge that she was quite guilty of. She could be cold, selfish, obsessive, disloyal, violent, and vain.

Though there were many faults she would honestly admit to having, there were a few things she knew she was not guilty of, and of which she had never been accused. Neither stupidity nor laziness were part of her character. As soon as she and her comrade understood that the prisoners were fully expecting a rescue, she went immediately to the highest point in the fortress and looked down around it.

The way they'd crept in over the aqueduct was now well and truly secured. Her own trick would not be used against her. She looked out over the walls and found nothing of note. Since the first bombardments had begun, she'd been a little off put by how half-hearted it seemed to be. So now, with the certainty that there was more afoot, she tried to identify some pattern of attack in the damage to the thick high walls.

"Damn it all, what are they doing?" She asked out loud, as if speaking to the mountain at her back.

As if at a loss, which she was, she turned and looked at it as if expecting it to answer. "If stone could talk, eh?" She said ruefully. As she watched the mountain however, a thought occurred. She looked at the mountain stone, and she looked at the stone walls, from one to the other and back again, over and over as she began to put the pieces together.

She rushed down from the tower and found Aureole Omega as fast as she could. She found the red and white clad beauty performing a ritual dance before a battalion of soldiers, even from where she stood watching, Leinas could sense the rising power in her people, orcs, humans, and elves alike were grinning like children as they experienced the rush of power she imbued into them.

When it was done, Aureole immediately went to Leinas, "What did you find?" She asked in her usual sweet voice.

"The mountain, the stones for this fortress were taken from that mountain." Leinas said confidently.

"And?" Aureole Omega prompted.

"And we didn't see any indication of mining, for this much they could have leveled a small peak down to knee height, yet we don't see any indication that this happened. So that means they didn't do it that way, they dug 'in'." Leinas explained.

"Tunnels." Aureole Omega completed the thought.

"Exactly, they created an escape or entry route, probably somewhere under here and leading to wherever the artificial cave might come out." Leinas explained confidently.

"Alright, then we need to find where it comes out inside these walls." Aureole Omega said simply.

"And we already have a pretty good idea where. It'll be 'inside' one of the buildings, probably deep into the interior." Leinas said smugly.

She went quiet as she saw that Aureole Omega was no longer looking at her, she was seeing the unfolding struggle, picturing where such an emergence would be most devastating, but also the easiest to guard against 'if' you knew it was there.

"The prison." Aureole said with absolute, ironclad certainty in her voice.

Leinas whirled on a nearby soldier who was passing by and pointed to him, "You! Come here!" She ordered, and the soldier quickly shuffled over.

"Ma'am?" He asked, standing in a ramrod straight position.

"Gather fifty men and fifty pots filled with water, and meet me at the entrance of the prison, this is top priority over literally anything else anybody is doing, if anyone takes issue with it, tell them I said they can bring it up to me, but they'd 'better' be coming with a pot of water themselves." Leinas said urgently, the soldier looked dazed and confused at the strange command, but he promptly rendered a salute and went off to carry it out.

"Aureole, are you going to come with me or mind the wall?" Leinas asked.

"I'll see to the wall, I think you've got this one." She replied proudly.

"Yeah, I do." Leinas responded, and rushed to the prison entrance, a few minutes later she had fifty very confused soldiers standing in formation in front of her holding pots of water.

"Soldiers, I'm going to file you in, and I want each of you to start slowly pouring water onto the floor in different places, space yourselves out, but I want thorough coverage. If you run out of water, go get more as often as you need to. As you pour, look for any indication of drainage, if you see the water 'stand' don't worry, but if you see it seep down between the stone, I want to know immediately. Don't skip a single square, am I understood?" Leinas asked.

The soldiers may have been confused, but they understood the directions well enough, and so despite the chill wind, they moved with purpose as she opened the door, and one by one they followed the front rank through.

When they had all filed in, the pouring began while Leinas waited outside for them to be done, a dozen soldiers came back out to refill their pots, and after a little while of this Leinas began to wonder anxiously if this were all a big mistake.

That is, until a soldier came out, saluted, and said, "Ma'am, I poured in a three by three area, and water seeped down along all four sides."

Leinas took out a platinum coin from her coin purse and handed it to him, "You may have just saved this fort, I trust that reward will do?" She asked confidently.

His eyes went wide as he held more money in his hand with that single coin, than he'd ever seen in his entire life. "Yes ma'am!" He snapped out excitedly.

"Alright, go and gather one thousand soldiers and have them brought here, this will be the highest priority. Have them bring a hundred barrels of oil with them." She ordered, and he quickly went to obey, as the soldiers one by one filed out, Leinas had them form up again.

"I'm sure you're all curious as to just what you've been doing that for, and I'll explain. There is a tunnel running underneath this fortress from somewhere in that mountain, and the Slane Theocracy has been filling it with their people while they pretend to try breaking in through the walls. However, we've found the tunnel exit thanks to your efforts, and we're going to turn the tables on them. In a short while, barrels of oil will arrive. When they do, I want you to begin 'painting, the interior with it, walls, floors, and so on. All the way up to the command area, whoever does my office… well clear out my stuff as you leave. We're going to turn their surprise attack on its head."

It wasn't long before her statement proved true, dozens and dozens of barrels were rolled into the area, and the soldiers who had just been pouring water, now refilled their empty pots with oil and walked in to begin coating floors and walls.

As they worked, Leinas took a handful of the thousand soldiers that had assembled and went down into the prison area, where the captives waited sullenly. She had them shackled and brought out and secured temporarily in another location, they eyed the activity around them with uncertainty and doubt, but they were compliant enough in that they gave no resistance. When she had them resecured in another building, Leinas chose to address them.

"You were expecting a rescue, what you'll get instead is a look at hell. We've figured out what was going to happen, and we're taking measures to prevent it. The only reason you are not being left down there is the danger that one of you might be smart enough to figure out what I was doing and alert your would-be rescuers before we can carry out our counter strategy. So just sit here, look out that window, and watch your hope die." Leinas said bluntly. Horror began to appear on the faces of captives, some of them began to curse her in futility and frustration. She didn't care, she walked out and stationed a few guards inside with them.

When she returned to her position outside the building, she gave orders to the remaining numbers. "Station yourselves at every exit, one hundred to each, spears and halberds at the ready, arrows nocked, nobody gets out, this isn't a battle, this is a massacre."

Leinas had a chair brought and took a seat at the main entry, she just sat with folded arms and watched the door with grim satisfaction, and the last soldier finished his work, 'painting' a nice path of oil just beyond the door. For good measure, Leinas had a torch brought and set beside her chair, in the distance, the sun began to set as the dusk of night stole away the day.

Her fingers twitched in anticipation of the darkness, every minute seemed a year, but if that were so, well, years passed like all other time, and the outside 'struggle' tapered off as both sides settled in to sleep.

Eventually she heard the inevitable. Shouts were filling the building as the 'surprise' attack lifted the hidden hatch and poured into the complex, the area had ten ways in and out, it was easily the most significant building in the fortress, most of those were minor, enough for one or two people to enter or exit at a time, and one major entry meant for six, and that was where Leinas sat watching with a hundred men at her back.

When she heard the first screams indicating that her counter ambush had been sprung at an exit, she stood up and took the torch in hand, she smiled, and thought to herself, 'I did say I'd make a lot of orphans.' She then tossed the torch underhand, with casual indifference.

It flew through the air in a low arc, and landed with a clatter in the puddle that ran to the outside from under the door. The flame picked up immediately, flaring to life as if it were a hungry living thing, and it raced under the door to chase down its prey.

The screams took a different note then, fire filled hallways and rooms, soldiers were cooked alive inside their armor and jam packed as they were, they could not coordinate a response. They were like rats trapped in a sinking ship, each scrambling against his fellows to escape the conflagration and none knowing what direction would mean life or death. None of them knew that there was no escape. The 'lucky ones' evaded the flame by rushing out a nearby exit, only to be impaled by arrows, spears, or halberds, the rush of oxygen through open doors increased the power of the flame and from various windows, gouts of fire erupted as if from a dragon's maw.

The screams were loud, but seldom long, the worst off endured the heat of the flame causing the fat to boil and rupture within their own still living bodies, a few had sense enough to end their own inescapable agony by ending their own lives, but most struggled in futility until they either burned to death or suffocated. The flame raced down every hall, on every wall, the bodies of the dead slain at the exit blocked further use of it from those still trapped within, turning the entire complex into an enormous tomb from which the living could not escape.

Leinas wondered idly how many had died with her little underhand toss. The clattering of metal on stone was like a thunderstorm, but it was a thunderstorm that passed soon after it began. None could live for long in such a hellish nightmare. Those deeper within, closer to the way they'd entered the complex tried to turn back, but those coming on could not know what was causing their fellows farther in, such distress, and so the push forward and the push back were in conflict, further increasing losses deep within the interior.

Brother trampled brother in desperation, and those pushing into the front who tried to turn tail and run themselves ended up either trampling others or being trampled in turn. Faces full of the flower of youth were turned to mush as foot after foot stomped down on the unfortunate fallen, any who tripped, died almost as painfully as those who burned within.

It was well past an hour before the heat inside the building diminished enough that it no longer warmed Leinas outside, and it was several minutes beyond that before she finally stood and ordered the doors of the main entryway opened, and started to lead a cadre of soldiers to go look for survivors and survey the damage within.

 **AN: Yeah I know it has been a few days, I was traveling and wrapping up a mobilization, just got home the other day, wrote a few chapters, enjoy the catch up on God Rising. I'll be doing several chapters of this, but then I've been given two more commissioned pieces that I'll be getting started on soon, I have a sneaking suspicion that they just want to delay the end of God Rising because I've said I'll be done with Overlord Fanfiction after this entire series is completed, but... I'm not complaining. :D**


	133. Ember and Spark

...Outside Fortress Alaf...

"No..." That was the one word everyone could agree on, but no one would agree with it so much as those few scouts who had climbed the mountain to look down on the fortress and signal the attackers beyond the walls. They watched with wide eyes as the complex took on a bright orange glow from the flames. Orgrem watched, transfixed with horror from his position as the screams peaked and his ears picked up the pleas for the help of gods that did not answer prayers.

"Have the gods no mercy…?" Wilhelm said beside him, equally horrified, they could see the ranks of soldiers lined up outside the complex, it wasn't hard to work out why they were there, as a few scattered figures rushed out screaming, some glowing orange themselves as they fled with fire clinging to their flesh, hair, or clothing, only to be instantly shot or cut down by the forces of General Leinas Rockbruise.

"I don't know." Orgrem said without breaking his gaze as he watched and listened to the carnage unfolding before him, fire was racing throughout the building under the feet of thousands, roasting them alive. If there was any divine mercy to be found, it was that some at least would die quickly as they rushed the doors and were put down. The sound of feet trampling through fire and splashing what he quickly concluded was burning oil onto flesh, echoed like thunder, the high winds of the mountainside carried every desperate cry to those poor scouts who could already feel the scars forming in their brains.

The blazing night was etched into their unfortunate minds, but they could neither cover their ears nor look away, the thudding cacophony of their stomping feet told them that many were trampling their brothers in desperation, how many had their faces pressed into combusting oil by those they had laughed and trained and fought beside? None could say, even one was too many, but it was clearly more than one.

Silence finally began to replace the screams of the damned, as the last of their brothers and sisters died within.

"Let's get out of here, we have to report this." Wilhelm said with grim resolve.

"You do it." Orgrem said, and before Wilhelm could ask for explanation, Orgrem flung himself over the mountainside, and went down silently to his doom.

Wilhelm reached out to grab at his flying comrade, a split second too late, and his hand caught only empty air. His face was one of mute horror as the burning night claimed one more victim, and then he pulled his hand back and looked to the other scouts he'd come with, mourning etched upon his face. "I'm going to make my report, unless you plan on following him," he jabbed his thumb over his shoulder to the edge Orgrem had lept from, "follow me." He said quietly, and began to walk back the way he'd come.

...Eastern Elf Kingdom…

Zesshi's scythe severed an elf in half, it was trivially easy for her, but she didn't enjoy it. The attack had come in the middle of the night, a hundred of her own had died in the first few minutes, five hundred of the attackers had died within the next few minutes after that. It was still a fierce struggle, or rather, a 'desperate' struggle for those who had made the mistake of attacking 'her' military command.

Desperation may make for strength of its own, but theirs was tainted by despair, it quickly became evident that these attackers did not 'want' to attack her or her column on their line of march. But it was not until she reached the town on the outskirts of the easternmost province that bordered the central lands that Zesshi found out the details of just 'why' they were risking themselves.

She reached the town of Highcrest on the third day after the last attack, there had been no survivors to question, and the town looked to have fortified itself in anticipation of her coming, as if they knew there was no chance that the resistance was going to be enough to stop her.

The walls she faced were unique, they weren't made of stone, they were made of polished wood, they had a beautiful sheen that reflected the light, it was beautiful to her eyes, and it was flanked by large forests on either side, it wasn't hard to determine that those forests made sieging the town from any other position all but impossible. It played to the traditional elven strength as archers and stealthy fighters.

Zesshi looked at Thirg and Tefl at her left and right sides, "What can you tell me about that?" She asked, pointing at the wall. "It clearly isn't stone, but who the hell would use simple ordinary wood and expect it to stop any damn thing?"

"Well it isn't ordinary wood, it's an unusual breed of ironwood. Strong stuff, it isn't quite as tough as 'actual' iron, but if there is a tougher wood out there, I don't know of it." Thirg said proudly, "Most of the trees in those woods are of that type, and the walls are treated to be flame resistant, you might break it down, but it won't be easy, towns like this have layered defenses, just beyond the hard wood is palmetto. Very soft stuff, it absorbs blows and cushions the impacts against the iron wood. It's a very good defense, all things considered." He said professionally.

Tefl scratched her head as her brother spoke, "True enough brother, but it's still not as good as stone."

"Well, it won't be a problem for me either way, but if we can take this town without violence, I'd like to. I don't much care for the notion of killing weaklings that aren't worth fighting." Zesshi said with annoyance.

"Fair enough." Thirg replied and the bannerman lowered his pole to have a white flag of truce attached. They rode forward to within fifty paces of the town, and a few minutes later a delegation rode out.

There were seven of them, large for a delegation, and Zesshi's eyes narrowed dangerously as they came near. They were dressed well enough, if not outfitted like nobles. They wore mottled green and brown clothing well suited to wilderness combat, with only golden broaches securing their green cloaks to their backs to show that they were anything more than common soldiers. All, Zesshi noticed, had their ears intact, but a few had minor scars on their faces indicating that they had not lived plush lives at the rear.

'Best not to waste time then.' Zesshi thought, and as soon as they were ten paces from her she said bluntly, "I demand that you surrender immediately."

That brought them up short. An older looking elf rode a few paces closer as the others stopped, he shook his head gravely, "I'm afraid I can't do that."

Zesshi cocked her head. "Can't?"

The old elf, the oldest Zesshi had ever seen, had white hair and a wrinkled face, his eyes still twinkled as if there was a young man within, but his body was past its prime. "You heard me. I said 'can't'. Not 'won't', I can't." He said firmly.

"Who can? Usually delegates have the authority to make such a call." She replied, already doubting her own words.

"None but the king. You see, we're a hostage town." He answered in a voice full of dejected misery.

"A what?" Zesshi asked, dumbfounded.

"You know not our ways then." The old elf sighed, "To keep a standing force willing to fight, the King takes hostages from among families, requiring them to fight for him, if they obey, the family member is allowed to live, if they don't, the family member is executed and fed to his hunting dogs. Entire armies are comprised of such units, nobody 'wants' to fight for that monster, but what choice is there?" He asked plaintively, holding his hands open as if to embrace a solution.

"To follow me so I can kill him." She answered curtly.

He looked at her like she'd grown a second head. "Word has reached me of how strong you are, General Zetsumei, but even if that were entirely true, even if you were a hundred times as strong as he, and could kill him with no greater difficulty than you have in lifting your scythe… the fact remains he has our people hostage, if you attack this place and we do not defend it to the death, our families will die long before you can go to kill the tyrant."

"I see. Are all the hostages kept in one place?" She asked curiously.

"Of course, everybody knows where they are, we're allowed to visit them." He said with some degree of sadness slipping through despite his stoic posture.

"If say… the hostages were to be released?" She asked, "Would I then face opposition to my advance?"

"None. One and all, we despise our king, he rules only because we haven't the power to kill him." The old elf's centuries of anger poured out, and he clenched the reins of his mount. "However, the hostage forces are plentiful here and will oppose you at every turn out of fear for the fates of their children, wives, husbands, parents, and more."

"Why didn't I encounter them on the outlands further east?" Zesshi asked dubiously.

"Simple, anyone that far away is going to be from the Theocracy, we already know what they'll do to us, this far into the interior, it is rebellion he wishes to prevent." The old elf shook his head, "As if we didn't know that we had no chance of defeating him."

"I see." Zesshi said and looked to her left and right.

"I don't have to be telepathic to read your mind right now." Thirg's red eyes met those of Zesshi, and his sister's face split in a grin that showed off her vampire fangs, the old elf looked deeply shocked as he realized that he was in the company of a pair of elven vampires, but he held his tongue.

"Here's the deal old man." Zesshi said abruptly, "We're going to 'besiege' your town, but we'll put no real effort into taking it, our archers will be just 'terrible shots' she raised her hands and created air quotes. "Yours will be similarly bad, in this way you can continue to keep your family safe from retribution, but while that is taking place, I and my companions will venture holding area, undertake a rescue, and get everyone out. After you've learned that they've escaped… then you can surrender and we can end all this madness. Or even better, I kill my scumbag father and then you surrender, either way works for me."

He looked at her, suspiciously, "What then?" He asked.

"Then I go north, take Kami Miyako, and give the head of Dominic to the Sorcerer King as a present, then buy the founder of Black Justice enough booze to keep her drinking every night for the rest of her life." Zesshi's voice was only mildly sarcastic, however she fully meant both statements, regardless of the amount of built in sarcasm.

"I won't argue the point, it is a bargain then, conduct your 'siege' a small number of you can slip through without being observed, you'll find the hostages are held in the capital city of Crescent Lake. There is a large underground sprawl only accessible from the palace itself, it's a city within a city. Impressive really, but…" He grimaced and clenched his fists, "We're not dwarves damn it! We were born for the green wood and the open sky, not cities of gray and a sky of stone!"

"There will be time enough to welcome them back to this world." Zesshi said solemnly.

"I hope you're right, but if you are killed, I will mourn your loss for the sake of your courage." The old man said sadly, already thinking he was speaking to a woman just waiting to die.

Zesshi's white and black hair bounced as she threw back her head and laughed. "When everything is done, we will celebrate, old man." She looked to her left and right, "Thirg, Tefl, do you want to go with me?"

"Wouldn't miss it for the world." The siblings said in unison. "Just give us enough time to pass the instructions to the rest of the army, and we'll be ready to go immediately." Thirg added.

"See to it then." Zesshi said, "I want to get going soon, this might be fun."

...Nazarick…

Ainz was pleased. As much so as his limiter allowed him to be anyway. He was looking down at a map of the conflict theater, and he was eating up ground left and right. Draudillon's plan for the controlled withdrawal and destruction of the eastern forces of the Theocracy were said by the guardians to have considerable merit, which meant that it was almost certain to work. In the west, Neia was marshalling her forces for a southern campaign to completely destroy the last remaining forces of the Slane Theocracy in the region of the Southern Holy Roble Kingdom. Her brief time in Nazarick had been well earned and she had achieved a unique place in the normally dismissive eyes of the guardians, Pandora's Actor had taken a rather unusual shine to her in particular, and had asked to help bring her campaign to a close.

That led to the only wrinkle. Queen Calca.

He sat back and looked at the document sitting at his right hand. The Southern Holy Roble Kingdom was declaring its independence. 'The South will not be ruled by the North!' That was the battle cry, and it was being taken up everywhere.

Queen Calca's note to him was filled with veritable heartbreak. So much so that she was due to meet with him shortly.

That was putting a damper on the pleasant mood, while he was pleased about everything, even this action of the Slane Theocracy was one of desperation, he got the sensation she was expecting he'd have some overwhelmingly brilliant solution to the problem as it stood in her eyes. 'I miss sighing for real.' he thought to himself.

A knock came at the door. "Enter." He said.

The door opened, and Solution walked ahead and said formally, "Announcing Queen Calca of the Roble Holy Kingdom."

Ainz waved her away, and Solution bowed before backing out of the room and closing the door.

Queen Calca approached and went to one knee with her eyes downcast. "My Lord." She said humbly.

"Raise your head." Ainz said sympathetically as he folded one skeletal hand over the other atop his desk.

When she did, he gestured to a chair opposite himself. "Please, be seated."

"Thank you, Your Majesty." She said in quiet frustration as she moved to the chair.

"I will be blunt, My Lord, I know what my response 'should be' to this, but I haven't the heart to bear giving the order." She said, somewhat shamefaced.

"What is it that you believe you 'should' do?" Ainz asked calmly.

She met his eyes and held within them the glistening of sadness, "I 'should' order a full invasion, back Pope Neia Baraja, exterminate every single lord who joins this rebellion, slaughter their armies, and burn my way all the way to the Southern coast. But to do that is just not in my nature." She folded her hands in front of her on the table in imitation of the posture of her lord.

"If I do that, I'll reunite my kingdom and then I can hand the whole of it over to you as a province as I promised." She had a hard edge to her voice, a bubbling resentment lay beneath the surface that was of one tired of being betrayed. "I promised Neia I would be stronger than I had been, that I would do what needed to be done, if I don't stop this, I will be breaking a promise to her, as well as to you. After having stood before her and beside you at her wedding, after having seen the unflappable nobility of your august self, I can't fall short of my aspirations to succeed in my role as a ruler." She had a conviction in her voice that Ainz was forced to acknowledge, though he had no idea what she meant in some of that, he chose to ignore the question he would have otherwise asked.

'Well, time to wing it again.' He thought, his mind rushing a mile a minute as to how to answer her.

"My good Governor Queen," he said proudly, "all of this is well within expectations, a few variations, true, I wasn't expecting them to go this route for a few more weeks, but I suppose Neia's awakening brought them to desperation faster than I thought. I believed them braver than that."

Her eyes went wide. "My Lord?" She asked. "Please explain."

"Tell me, Governor Queen, what will happen if the South is invaded? Give me your best estimation." He asked her patiently.

He could see her eyes drift away as she turned thoughtful, "They'll use a scorched earth policy to keep us at bay, throw tens of thousands of people into fights they can't win, hunger and destruction will sweep the south. The Slane Theocracy doesn't value their lives, so either they'll wreak havoc the whole time, or the Southerners will be so sick of it all that they'll fight the Theocracy themselves. If they were to win, the country would be a ruin for generations. If they were to lose, the province would be a ruin for generations, and it would cost the wealth of ten kingdoms to rebuild, and it would take at least fifty years if I'm being generous. The whole area would become a haven for bandits and lawlessness, and I'd have to ship most of my food south just to stave off starvation." She looked at him again and went silent, awaiting his response.

"Very good, almost my exact estimation." He said, impressed, as he had not in fact, considered most of that at all.

He turned his skeletal hands palms up, and did likewise with the question. "Now, suppose they are granted their independence?" He asked, and she looked at him with shock.

"Sire, you can't mean…" She started to ask, but he just looked at her.

"Go on, answer." He said encouragingly.

"Well, the province suffered heavy losses due to their northern ventures, so it will be weak for a long time, the destruction of Wenmark ruined their best exports for years, they'll be out of the war… but all the burden of rebuilding will be on them. The Theocracy won't be able to justify staying there, and will be forced to withdraw entirely. If they don't, or attempt to use the South as a place from which to raid the North, that will provide justification for us to invade if the south doesn't end the problem themselves. Either way, the southern independent kingdom will cut off all supplies to Slane Theocracy forces, and that is if they don't exterminate the Theocracy there themselves as part of an independence deal." She tapped her finger and her eyes went wider.

"The Southern state would be weak in every relevant way, and after the defeat of the Slane Theocracy when this war is over, they'll have no potential allies to turn to for a thousand miles in any direction. You can essentially dictate their policies in exchange for simply sending food shipments and keeping vital trade open. Their independence would be nominal in a generation or less, and barring some massive outside intervention, they're doomed to collapse from within or you can simply walk in and take over later at your convenience." She looked at him in shock as she finished her evaluation.

"And the casualties?" He asked.

"Except if they fight the Theocracy there, we can expect almost none." She replied.

"Exactly." He said knowingly.

"So… you'll grant them what they want?" She asked.

"I see no downside to doing so, I am undead, waiting twenty years for their complete collapse to take over means nothing to me, whether they kneel to me now, or whether they do so later in the span of a generation, is no more significant to me than whether they kneel today or tomorrow in the literal sense." Ainz explained, extremely grateful to Calca for coming up with such an excellent plan and handing him the credit.

"Truly you are the wisest of all kings." She said in breathless admiration.

He waved her praise aside, "I must strive to be so, to merit the loyalty of excellent subordinates." He answered, returning her praise in kind. "So think nothing of the matter, we'll grant them their independence on the condition that they expel foreign influences and withdraw from the war and turn over anyone within the country who partook in the burnings, the Slane Theocracy overplayed their hand, thinking that they would gain a new ally or at least retain what was left of one. Instead, they're handing us an expendable satellite state that we'll eventually take anyway, and throwing away their remaining forces in that region. If they want to work that hard for our victory, I say let them." He said calmly, in a tone that told her he'd calculated every possible eventuality.

"Thank you, Your Majesty, you have done much to set your servant's mind at ease, I pray I live long enough to see my kingdom reunited after their brief folly is 'entertained'." Calca said, but then added, "After this, how may my forces render aid to your cause?"

"By aiding in the invasion of the Slane Theocracy itself." He said, and he saw Calca's face take on a familiar look, as if she were imitating Neia's predatory grin.

 **AN: All caught up for now, doing a few more chapters this week and then I get started on my own original piece and the commissioned works.**


	134. Connections

God Rising: Cult of Ainz

Written by: AtheistBasementDragon

Edited by: The Usual Gang of Drunken Perverted Idiots

Chapter 134:

...Crossroads…

Rascal went to his room and removed his wet clothing. He went to a window at the back of the room and opened up the shutters, there, outside, a line ran between two rods jutting out crudely from the building. He draped his clothing over it, letting them hang under cover in the outdoor air to dry. With nothing else to wear, he went over to the nearest empty bed. The Owl and Moira were already asleep.

He was glad about that, his little venture had taken longer than he'd thought. He sighed with happiness as he got beneath the grimy old blanket and quickly nodded off, satisfied that the day had been, all things considered, a good one.

He woke the next morning to Moira standing over him with one hand on her hip and the little sack of silver coins in her hand. He blinked the sleep away until her frown of displeasure was clear.

"Care to explain this?" She asked.

Owl was standing up and stretching, but he looked similarly concerned.

"Not really." Rascal said as he stretched out in the bed.

"Will you anyway?" She asked in a tone that said she wasn't really asking.

"If I must. Call it… payment due for services rendered." He said as he swung his legs over the side of the termite-riddled bed and stood up.

Moira immediately turned away as she realized he was naked, hiding her blush as he strode purposefully to the window and opened it up. "Why are you naked?!" She exclaimed.

"You're full of questions, aren't you?" He asked wryly as the cheap half fallen off shutters swung open and he reached out to take his clothes off the line. "How did you dry your clothes after our little rendezvous yesterday evening?" He asked archly.

Turned away as she was, she saw Owl's salacious grin. "Don't put it like that!" She snapped out. "I swear… and Owl, don't you say a thing."

"Lips are sealed." Owl said, sliding two fingers over his lips for good measure before cracking a childish laugh.

"There was a line out there?" She asked as she looked over her shoulder and saw him putting on his pants, and the shirt still hanging free.

"Yes of course, even in dumps like this people need to dry their clothing." He explained as if it were obvious, before he reached out and took his shirt off the line and put it on as well.

"Damn it." Moira said with annoyance.

Rascal shrugged, "As far as the money goes, it was always mine, I just had to retrieve it, look…" he began to rub the back of his head and didn't meet Moira's eyes when she turned to look at him, holding the pouch of coins close to her body, "I once lived in the Theocracy, I was born here, not just in this country, but in this city. I still have family here… at least I think I might." He said unhappily. "I don't want to get into the details, but I have a history here in Crossroads that made me happy to come and take the damn place."

"And the money?" She pressed as her eyes narrowed with his explanation.

He folded his arms over his chest defensively after he tied the top of his shirt. "No. As I said, it is nothing more than payment long past due."

"Will its collection cause us any problem?" Moira asked doubtfully.

"None." He answered and held out one hand. "Now hand it over."

"This conversation isn't over." She said, and casually tossed it over to him.

"Maybe not, but that's all I'm saying for now. We've got a lot to do." He said in turn.

"Yes, we do." Nagi said as he and the others came through the door.

"I suppose you heard all that?" Rascal said with an amused smirk.

"Standing at the door and listening helped out quite a bit with that, if it matters." Nagi said with equal amusement, "Look, I don't care how you got here, you went on a suicide mission with us, and we all survived, to me, that lends you some credibility. If you know something of this city, then you can help us undermine it more effectively, that makes you an asset, not a danger."

"Fair enough." Rascal replied evenly as they took their places in the room. "We still need you all to get jobs to provide a cover in paying for these rooms, however you won't have to work as hard. Our first strike will be this evening, anyone good at stealing, lock picking, and so on?"

A few moments of silence filled the room before Nagi reluctantly raised his hand. "I'm… experienced." He said uncomfortably.

Romare was the next to speak up, but as he did so, he kept one eye turned towards Rascal. "We're in fairly dire straits here, we can't afford to hold back any of our skills out of embarrassment at how we got them. I've some skill at stealth from my time as a hunter, that should be sufficient to at least help with whatever Rascal has in mind."

"What 'do' you have in mind?" Moira asked curiously.

"Doing what we can to blunt some defenses. But the catch is, we can't kill anyone while we're at it. This requires a great deal of stealth and some thief skills." Rascal replied.

Owl spoke up, evidently moved by the words, if not the sour expression of Romare.

"I used to do a lot of work at night that required stealth, I can probably help. Not much use at a locked door, but I can manage simple work in that vein." Owl said supportively.

"How did you two acquire those skills, just out of idle curiosity?" Moira said with an intrigued and invitingly feminine smile.

"Well, if nobody cares, I used to be a thief, and a damn good one." Nagi said with some degree of pride.

"I had… some military training." Rascal said and abruptly closed his mouth.

"I was a hunter for a little hill tribe of people in the hinterlands of Re-Estize, you either caught your prey by stealth or you didn't eat." Romare said with a sour face and a flat tone of voice.

Moira looked at Owl, "So how about you?" She looked at the silent young man.

"Who?" He asked and looked around as if mystified as to whom she was speaking to.

"Damn it, no wonder you call yourself 'Owl'." She sighed, "Never mind, it doesn't matter now I guess. So, you four will handle whatever you have in mind, while Petyr, Mananak and I will go do some work for the day, we'll see you back here tonight."

"That's the plan." Rascal said, and his three companions followed him out.

An hour and a half later they were listening to the first evidence of a siege as the sound of rocks hammering at the thick high walls of Crossroads resounded throughout the city. "General Enri does not waste time." Rascal said approvingly.

"No, she clearly does not." Romare replied. "Now where are we going?" He asked glumly.

"I can't 'point' to it obviously, we don't want to attract attention, but I want you to see where we're going to be tonight." Rascal said patiently, and before long he made it clear with a long look, just what area he was taking them to.

"That large wooden building there." He said grimly, "It's a resupply area for archers, has arrows, bowstrings, and replacement bows."

"We're going to burn it down?" Owl asked with an equally grim voice.

"Oh goodness, no." Rascal said with a mock expression of distress on his face. "We're going to be a little more discreet than that."

"Discreet, how?" Nagi asked, intrigued.

Rascal took out two silver coins and handed them to Nagi. "Go buy a lathe, a whetstone, a few packs to keep them in, and a good razor for each of you, then meet us over at that cafe." He said with a broad and boyish smile on his face.

Nagi looked uncertain, but bolstered by Rascal's confidence, he obeyed and walked towards a nearby shop while Rascal and the others went in to a small cafe and took a table outside.

They were drinking tea and eating biscuits when Nagi returned a short while later and laid the items down beside the table.

"Well?" He asked as he flopped himself down in the seat, "Now what?"

"We wait." Rascal said, "Cafes like this one are known to have customers who linger for long periods of time, even all day, and since the siege is going on, a lot of people who aren't involved in the defense are suddenly free and willing to spend money, and no new entries are coming into the city."

"So?" Romare asked, mystified.

"So it'll have local customers to this area, including people who work there." Owl said appreciatively, giving Rascal a look of new respect.

"Precisely." Rascal said, "So just listen and take note of times, complaints, anything from anyone."

They did exactly that, ordering and drinking and idly talking as people came and went, by the end of the day they'd heard people complaining about their shifts, the extra hours, and more importantly, how understaffed they were in the warehouse now that so many had been called to the wall. The bombardments were frequent, but most of the city seemed to be relatively calm and confident, certain their walls would not be breached.

Finally Rascal was satisfied. He listened carefully, certain nobody was within easy hearing range, he looked at his comrades, "We're not going to burn anything, we're not going to destroy anything, we're going to 'damage'. We're going to break into the warehouse, and you're going to shave down the strings for the bows, shave down the bending points for the bows, pull feathers loose but not 'off' from the arrows themselves."

"Ah, so the strings will snap, the bows buckle and crack, the arrows fly wildly and hit anything but their target… yes, yes I see." Owl said cunningly.

"So we're going to wreak merry havoc over their supply and resupply, I get it. We spend hours at this, then lock back up as we leave and let 'nature' take its course when they try to use these things against our friends outside." Nagi said with a broad smile on his face.

"You got it." Rascal said and made a clicking noise with his tongue, pointing confidently at Nagi as he sat back in his chair.

Nagi frowned.

"Something wrong?" Rascal asked.

"Yes, how'd you come up with this?" Owl asked, guessing the cause of Nagi's frown.

"What do you mean?" Rascal asked innocently.

"Who?" Owl asked with a cheeky grin, "I'll be blunt, this is a cut above the normal sort of action, its clever, it's subtle but direct, most people would jump straight to burning shit down, but you didn't. You'll hurt the effort just as much without exposing that you're engaged in counter operations, this is unwholesomely clever."

Rascal shrugged and put on a calm expression, "So I'm unwholesomely clever, leave it at that, I could ask you just how you can make a comparison like that with such confidence."

"You could ask who that?" Owl said, looking around as if to say he had no idea who Rascal was talking to, it was disarmingly charming, and Rascal's expression turned similarly clever.

Nagi looked between the two and his expression went grave, "Guys, we're on the same side here, I don't think it matters what brings out these skills, only that we use them to common cause, now I'm in, how about the rest of you?"

Romare's face, always sour, went dark and he scratched his bald head. "I agree with Nagi, there isn't time to worry about this kind of thing now, after it's all over and the city falls, we can work the rest out and go from there, for now, there is work to be done."

"Agreed." Rascal said and folded his arms across his chest. "When the sun goes down, head this way, Nagi, break them in and the rest of you get to work. I want hundreds of these done per night, I don't know how long this siege is going to be, but I'll wager that the men on the walls will be replacing their strings on a regular basis."

"And what will you be doing exactly?" Owl asked.

"Staying busy." Rascal said in a tone that shut down further inquiry. "Just don't get caught, kill yourselves if you have to, if you are captured, the Theocracy 'will' break you to find out how many more of us there were. Fight to the death if that is what it takes. But trust me, you do not want to get caught."

The other three traded serious expressions, Rascal's face was grim, he spoke with absolute confidence, no hint of humor to be found.

"Fine by me, I didn't volunteer for a suicide mission out of a wish for long life." Romare said in a tranquil, accepting tone of voice, like one who considered himself already dead. They looked over at the face they expected to have the same sour expression it always did, but instead he looked content, even 'happy' with a small grin forming at his mouth.

Rascal clenched his fists, "Don't seek to die, seek to make your life matter, and if that means dying, then be comfortable learning to live with that until the end."

It was a somber note and it hung in the air for a long time until Rascal stood up, "Take up your equipment and hide yourselves somewhere, if you're not back at the inn two fingers after sunrise, I'll assume you're dead or captured and we're moving our base of operations. If you 'are' caught, try to hold out for that long at least."

The rest stood up as well, and took the packs that Nagi handed over to them. "We'll come back, don't worry about it." Nagi said confidently.

"I will worry about it, but I believe you, don't give me cause to start doubting." Rascal said, then he reached out and shook their hands one by one before he walked away.

When darkness fell, breaking in proved easy, Nagi worked the tumblers of the door lock like a master musician worked an instrument and they crept within, guards proved easy enough to distract with Owl playing a loud drunkard they had to shoo away, and when he'd 'gone' he went to the other side and climbed in through a window his comrades inside opened for him. They set to work without interruption for hours.

Apart from them, Rascal ventured into the warrens of the city, thugs, criminals, the poor and destitute, these were the dregs of the theocracy, humans that even humanity did not want. Clean streets became filthy, good construction became bad, good sewer drainage became washed up and clogged drains that were still flooded from the last rain. He knew this area very well, though many of the faces he saw now were unfamiliar, he felt confident about a few he'd see if he went deep enough.

He went down an alley with the confidence of a man who knew he wouldn't be disturbed. Confidence. That was the key to moving safely in the Warrens. Anyone who looked like they could handle themselves was generally avoided unless someone felt they had a particular advantage.

He stepped through puddles of muddy water, heedless of the filth. Bad as it was, the people here were worse. Worse… but useful. He went into a familiar alley, a large man who appeared quite drunk was leaning against a wall. He wasn't drunk, Rascal knew that much for sure. The face was unfamiliar, that wasn't surprising, life was hard in this part of the city.

"Hey, I'm here to see Kirak." Rascal said as he approached. As the large looking fellow turned towards him, Rascal got a better look, thick muscles under a tight shirt meant to show off his arm strength, square jaw, bald head, and his eyes were keen ones. 'An employed predator.' Rascal thought, it didn't matter, not to him.

"Ain't no Kirak here." The man responded, or rather 'grunted' out.

'Ah, an idiot, well he won't last then.' Rascal thought indifferently. In the Warrens of Crossroads, the weak died quick, the strong and stupid died slower, the smart lived longer, and only the strong and smart lived to the old age of forty or better.

"And I ain't taking no for an answer." Rascal said as he got closer, "I know you're guarding the entrance, and I'm going in whether you announce me or not. If it matters, he'll see me, just tell him Rascos is here and he'll call me in. Or don't, I'll pay for any damages I do to you and get in anyway." Rascal shrugged passively.

The large man looked angry, challenges in the Warrens, suggestions of weakness, those didn't fly. "You think you'cn get past me, little man?" The behemoth asked and folded his arms over his chest as he took out a large truncheon with a metal strip wrapped around it.

"No, I know I can. Now go get your boss or he gets to replace you." Rascal ordered bluntly as he came within reach. The lunkhead looked like he wanted a fight. "Your funeral," Rascal said then quietly added, [Confused Eyes] as he used a martial art.

The lunkhead grabbed at him, and looked confused as he grabbed a full foot away from where Rascal was actually standing. Rascal folded his arms and didn't move, the lunkhead tried twice more, and grabbed wide or high each time, Rascal didn't need to move.

"You could do this all day and never touch me." Rascal said to the confused oaf, "But I'm only going to let you try twice more before you either open that door or I put you down and go through anyway."

That made him angry, the truncheon swung several inches over Rascal's head, and then again right beside him, where it thudded into the ground.

"That's two." Rascal said and threw a punch to the side of the meat shield's head, sending him staggering into the wall of the building next to him, and then sagging down to the ground.

Rascal looked at his victim and observed the rise and fall of his chest. "Huh, alive, well I guess today is your lucky day, sort of, you're tough enough that if you grow some brains you might live another two years." He spoke to the unconscious meathead and walked over to the wall where the thug had been leaning.

He knocked on the stone several times, "It's Rascos, I'm here to see Kirak. I took care of the meat shield you stationed at the door, he's alive, but unless you want to hire a replacement, you'll probably need to treat him. Open up."

There wasn't a sound. "Look, I already know about the illusion, just tell Kirak it's me or I break the damn thing, I put it up in the first place, now let me in or I let myself in."

A moment later the 'wall' swung inwards and Rascal stepped in. He looked around, a crude bar on the left, a few tables with dangerous looking people playing games of chance with dice. In front of him stood a bald dark tanned figure with a permanent scowl on his face. "You know Kirak?" He asked gruffly.

"I set him up here, now quit wasting my time and take me to him." Rascal said as if he were bored. That got the fellow's attention, his eyes widened and he turned around. "This way." He said, suddenly respectful.

Rascal walked past a number of tables towards a back room concealed by a cheap dark blue curtain. No sooner than he'd walked past as the younger thug opened the way than a dagger came sailing towards his face.

Rascal tilted his head to the left and let it sail past. "Didn't think it was me?" He asked in an almost warm tone of voice as he straightened up.

A deep and hearty laugh greeted him as his eyes beheld the man he'd come to see. A very average looking man with a very average looking face and very average eyes with very average hair sat in a booth at the back.

"Yeah, had to be sure." He said in a very boring tone of voice. At his side there was a slender brunette dressed in whore's clothing.

She looked up at Rascal, "Rascos, as I live and breathe." She said in a dusky voice, "It's good to see you again, but if you want a twofer it'll still cost you." She winked at him and both men rolled their eyes.

"I swear Shanda, you never change." Rascos said with an almost affectionate annoyance.

"It's why I'm still alive." She said with a passive shrug.

"Ah, no it isn't, I'm why you're still alive, but maybe you had a 'little' to do with it." he said and held his thumb and forefinger close together in front of him to show what he meant.

"Uh huh, back atcha." She said as she got up and went to embrace him. "Did you go see your dad?"

"Yeah, I did, how could I come back to Crossroads and not?" Rascal asked.

"Any witnesses?" She asked happily.

"None. I learned better than that." He replied, almost offended at the question.

"I don't doubt that." Kirak said offhandedly, "But what brings you back here Rascos?"

"I need some help." He said with mild annoyance.

"You? Need help?" Kirak asked in disbelief. "Sit down, I want to hear this."

Shanda broke the embrace and returned to her seat, allowing Rascal to sit in turn. "I'll fill you in on what's happened since last we spoke…" He said in a serious tone of voice, and they sat in rapt attention as he relayed the events of the last few years.

Four hours later he'd said it all, and they were staring at him with disbelief. "So… what do you want from me?" Kirak asked.

"Between you and Shanda you have a handle on everything that goes on everywhere in this city outside the military command, I want to make sure this city falls, General Enri has four camps outside the walls by now and she is going to do her damndest to get in, and I am sure she will succeed, and what is more, I'm going to do my part to make sure she does. I want your help, and you're going to give it."

Kirak and Shanda traded a look. Her long brown hair was clean, unusual for the Warrens, but so was the rest of her body, and given that he could see most of it, there wasn't a question that she'd probably kept the rest immaculate too.

"I'm no fan of the Theocracy either, not after everything." Shanda said in a disgusted tone of voice, "But you're talking about taking treason to a whole other level."

"The Theocracy doesn't do degrees, you know that." Rascal said bluntly, "You abandoned everything the same as I did, that alone would be worth hanging just to keep you quiet."

Kirak frowned, "Look I'm grateful for all the help you gave getting me set up but…"

"But nothing," Rascal said, "I'm calling in the debt, your guild got its start because I helped you out, I gave you the rules that would keep you out of the eyes of the more important authorities and I set up your little hidey hole here, and there's one more thing you need to keep in mind." He said, letting his words hang in the air.

"Yes?" Kirak asked tentatively.

"When General Enri takes this city, and she will absolutely take this city, everything will change, and you can take my word on two things. First that you don't want to be on the wrong side of the Hard Eyes, the second is that even more importantly, you don't want to be on the wrong side of her master. You can't beat him, nobody can beat him. And if I'm telling you that, you can take that to the money changers and get unlimited credit."

His lips pursed tight as he spoke and he let the pair think it over.

"What are you offering?" Shanda asked tentatively.

"I'll write a letter, my entire team will sign it, after the city falls, you give that letter to General Enri detailing how you helped her from within, tell her I asked for a pardon for everybody who works with you and a chance to start their lives over with land, coin, education, whatever they need, and she will see it done." Rascal said confidently.

The pair of criminals shared a questioning look.

"Full pardons? For everything?" They asked.

"Everything. And no Shanda, I don't think they'll hold back just because you were a scripture member, their newest general was formerly a high placed Theocracy agent of some sort. I don't have the details, but they made a big deal around the cook fires about her being on our side now." Rascal said, keeping his voice upbeat and confident.

"What kind of help do you want for that?" Kirak asked.

"I want information, I want to arrange distractions, I want help breaking in places, I want honest work for my comrades to cover for their lives here. If any are captured alive, I want them rescued if possible and killed if it isn't. I'll want supplies, and possibly personnel for everybody. In short, full operational support. In exchange, you get your old lives, well something like them anyway, back. No more crime guild, no more information brokering, you both might even pull some noble titles out of this and enough to retire on. Yeah, it is a risk, but it is a much bigger risk to be on the wrong side of General Enri or the Sorcerer King." Rascal said persuasively, placing emphasis on the last two words.

"Deliver the letter tomorrow, and I'll help you." Kirak said resolutely.

"I'm in." Shanda said, "I'll have all my girls informed that they're to take special note of everything they learn, anything useful, I'll get it to you."

"Is there any way to get outside the walls?" Rascal asked hopefully, only to feel his face fall when the pair grimly shook their heads.

"I did have a way, but that got shut down." Kirak said unhappily.

"Damn! I guess you can't have everything you want. It's fine, I'll have the letter for you tomorrow, whether we survive or not, this'll get you a future other than… well, this." Rascal said and gestured to the area beyond the curtain behind him.

"Good luck out there." Shanda said sweetly.

"I could sure use some, thanks." Rascal said and stood up, "See you tomorrow."

He waved politely to his old colleagues and walked back out the way he'd come.

...Southern Holy Kingdom…

Reaching Yanana had been a welcome thing, the thick high walls were a great relief, not only to the soldiers and surviving scripture members, but also to the leaders, Yuri and Suchala. They shared a look of optimism as they drew ever closer. This didn't change when they got to the gate and announced themselves, the gates opened slowly and they began to ride through with their army, thousands of stomping feet marching together made the city silent in awe.

But the tranquility of the mixed forces was short lived, as they moved through the streets Yuri noticed the distinct lack of admirers, in the past, an army of the faithful of the six gods would have been an impromptu parade. Instead she beheld dislike on many faces, some were full of contempt, some were outright hate, others were just plain indifference.

"Your people are a dour lot." Suchala said to her in a passing criticism.

"This isn't how they normally are, or normally were… something is wrong here." Yuri said with concern filling her voice.

"What?" Suchala asked anxiously.

"I don't know, we aren't about to be attacked, we just aren't welcome, but they let us in. We'd better find out what's going on and fast, no soldiers go drinking tonight, are we agreed?" She asked in such a way that she was 'barely' asking.

"Yes." He said, he needed no prompting, this was all wrong.

They made their way to the billeting center of the main city, an official was already waiting for them there and the ranks began to form up. "Got this one?" Suchala asked.

"Sure thing." Yuri responded and as companies formed up, she quickly gave them instructions. "Follow the directions of city officials for your billeting, training will take place at one finger past sunrise, chow will follow after that, absolutely no alcohol and no leaving the billeting zone until after we've given clearance." She shouted her instructions, it took several hours and numerous sessions of such instructions to get the entire force into the hands of the local bureaucracy, when it was done, Yuri approached the senior official standing by.

"OK, spill it." She said as she dismounted from her horse and stalked over to him, her burning eyes filled with wrath and bloodlust that made him shrink in fear.

He was a quivering little toad of a man, a pock marked face and a pencil thin mustache that went just past his thin wormlike lips. He looked like a stiff breeze might blow him over, and he wore rich robes with deep blues and bright reds in swirling patterns that frankly didn't look like they were meant for people like him.

"Ah, wh-what do you mean?" He asked nervously as he looked around for help.

Yuri was not a massive woman like that ox, Gagaran that she'd fought before. But she was a solid woman with a deadly aura and ample experience who had no scruples whatsoever.

Suchala remained on his horse and rode up behind her. "I'd answer her if I were you. She's not as gentle as I am, we saw how the people regarded us, and I have no doubt that even if you weren't there you can guess what we mean. Answer her question or I'll ride away and leave you to her." The old general put on his most grandfatherly expression and used his most gentle tone of voice. It contrasted starkly with the furious looking Yuri.

Her armor was battle damaged and showed ample use. She was in a word, the worst nightmare for a weak kneed quill pushing desk manager.

"Ah, well… ah… it is hard to explain, about a year ago, 'she' passed through here." He said anxiously, looking around briefly, fearing that she might still be present.

"She?" Suchala asked, narrowing his eyes.

"Oh." Yuri said succinctly and looked over her shoulder. "He means Neia."

Suchala's face became twisted with hatred.

"Y-Yes, she railed against the temples, the priests, our practices of faith, her warriors, her hundred, they went to the adventurers guild and put on a display of their prowess, but we arrested Neia for her blasphemy, her heresy…" He bit his lip when Yuri's face looked even angrier.

"You had her… and you let her go?" She asked in angry disbelief. "Do you have any idea what you've done?" She asked in hushed anger.

"Well, sort of but… this was before the war and… well the trial didn't go how we thought it would." He said with an unhappy expression on his face.

"Explain." She said, tapping her hand on the hilt of her sword impatiently.

"We had her chained up to beat her, but after she'd spoken in her own defense, the crowd…" He touched his face with his hand, pressing hard as if he still couldn't believe what he was remembering.

"She won them over, didn't she?" Suchala asked grimly.

He nodded in small, rapid motion. "I swear I will cut out that bitch's tongue myself." He said angrily.

"What she said turned them on us, we tried to punish her anyway, but we had to arrest the people who were going to chain her up, they refused to do their jobs, then we tried to punish her and we failed, as if she were using some form of protection magic, the whips we tried to use just broke and did nothing to her, we couldn't touch her, we couldn't silence her, after one of the judges was injured, we…" The waif like man shook his head in annoyance.

"Well, we let her go, but while all that was happening, her own priests were out healing people left and right for nothing, her hundred stomped the pride of the adventurers guild into mush, among the poor laborers and the powerful fighters alike, her faith spread like a brushfire in a dry summer, they even got themselves a martyr when a priest used his own life force to keep healing the sick and injured until he collapsed and died. We've had trouble containing the problem ever since." He said with exasperation.

"This… is going to be a real problem." Yuri said as she looked over her shoulder at Suchala.

"Yes… it is." He said grimly.

...Outside of Crossroads…

Enri had been pleased by the efficiency of the siege establishment, and she said as much to her bodyguard and best friend when they completed the circuit and returned to the main encampment. "Those are some tough walls though." Enri remarked in a thoughtful tone. "I've never seen so much work put into establishing a secure city before, even E-Rantel didn't have that, unless you count the Death Knights, and that place was the central assembly point for the Kingdom's armies for over a hundred years."

Lupusregina looked over to her companion, "I can't argue that, but it won't matter in the end. We want to drain the Theocracy, we want them 'empty' after all, the fewer adults willing to fight, the better. If they send an army to reinforce this city, I'm sure you've got a plan." She gave her very wolfish grin to General Enri.

Enri smiled back in turn, the gentle eyes that Lupusregina remembered from their first meeting were gone, and a hard edged stare met hers, "I do." She said.

She then called for a soldier's attention and had him hand her an egg, she took it in the palm of her hand, then rode on with a curious Lupusregina beside her. "Something I remembered from a book, the terrain not far from here will work well for it, I've sent scouts out far and wide. If they try to bring an army to us, we'll know about it with plenty of time to break the surrounding camps and draw back into a body, after that we'll start a fighting retreat at the center, reinforce the wings, and then…" She closed her palm around the egg as if to represent what she was describing, her fingers wrapped around it, and she squeezed. The egg shattered in her hand, the messy innards dripped down as she held her hand out beside her horse, letting the image burn into Lupusregina's mind.

The werewolf queen's grin got wider. "The Sorcerer King was wise to keep you alive."

"Ah thanks, Lupu." Enri said pleasantly as Lupusregina reached into her own saddle bag and pulled out a cloth and handed it over to the human general.

Enri wiped her hand clean and gave the cloth back, overhead a large rock sailed and struck the wall, "Right on time." She said contentedly, "I wonder how long General Boabdil can hold out without relief."

"Well, if they really did expel nonessential noncombatants, probably for a few weeks." Lupusregina postulated thoughtfully, "But Sun might have a better idea than me, I'm a simple happy sadist, not a strategist."

"I can't argue that, I'll talk to him this morning, did you see to the dispatch of prisoners already?" Enri asked.

"Yes, they're going overland the long way, that way they get to actually 'see' the way things work in the Sorcerous Kingdom and aren't stuck with nothing but rumors." Lupusregina said with a firm nod. "I'll never forgive those bastards for lying about His Majesty."

"Me neither." Enri said angrily, "Had they only told the truth, fewer people would be marching to their deaths, well in the end they're just going to weaken themselves. In my last correspondence with the Sorcerer King, he indicated he'd be having the captives 're-educated' until the war ended, so maybe that will do some good."

"That'll be something at least. Well, if you don't need anything, I'll go talk with Olasird'arc Haylilal, he was saying something about wanting to propose a new use for him and his family when it came time for him to play his part, and I said I'd hear him out before he brings it to you." Lupusregina said as she casually scratched her back.

"That'll be fine." Enri said as a large boulder sailed overhead again, "I'm going to get breakfast and talk to Sun, if the dragons have an idea on how to better use them, I'm happy to listen." She smiled radiantly and her eyes danced like they did when she'd had a more peaceful, happy life. Lupusregina couldn't help but notice the difference between that and her earlier hard expression, and while she had to admit that this was beautiful, she much preferred 'Hard Eyes Enri'.

...Great Western Road…

General Zaryusu Sasha and Shalltear Bloodfallen had come to a most amicable working relationship as they continued the way south towards the last remaining Theocracy puppet state of Re-Lobell. Every night, Shalltear absorbed knowledge like a sponge as the lizardman chief-turned lizardman general taught her everything he had learned of administration under the aegis of the Sorcerer King.

She didn't much care for it, but her pride pushed her through her boredom, and he didn't fault her the sense of boredom, nobody sang songs of the glorious paper pushing or the battle against the desk, but without logistics and reports, armies died.

"I'm truly impressed, Lady Shalltear, you've mastered almost everything, I have no doubt that His Majesty will be truly proud of you for all the growth you've undergone on this journey for his glory." Zaryusu said, genuinely meaning every word.

"Nightly, you have made me eat my own words and my own thoughts with your diligent efforts." He said ruefully.

She smiled sweetly and put the back of her right hand to her left cheek and smiled a superior looking smile, "Of course, frankly while killing you for your insulting thoughts might have been entirely justifiable, this turned out to be far more satisfying, I never knew how good it felt to make other people realize they were wrong about me."

"Being underestimated and proving someone wrong does have its own satisfaction." Zaryusu conceded, politely ignoring the part about killing him, though he had little doubt she could have and under slightly different circumstances, would have, her loyalty to her master gave her a sense of predictability that made him more comfortable with more horrifying statements.

"How long till we reach Re-Lobell?" She asked disinterestedly as they got back on their horses after sending off the previous night's work before undertaking the march.

"A few hours at most, with the capital fallen, they'll probably surrender in exchange for their lives, the capital might even have sent word already telling them to do so, but even if they did, we still have to make it official, then we go south to the mountains. With any luck, they'll not pose a problem to speak of." Zaryusu replied.

"And if they do?" Shalltear asked, baring her fangs.

Zaryusu shrugged, "I've had enough of the obstinate stupidity of some of the rebels, we've negotiated peaceful surrender before, but those who remain have to know all is lost, if they attempt to extort a deal by holding the city hostage, I say kill them."

Shalltear looked at him with new respect. "All of them?" She asked in surprise and delight.

"Yes. Anyone bearing indications of a noble title, this isn't going to be negotiated, they get one chance to surrender without conditions, if they refuse, wipe them out." Zaryusu said with annoyance. "I realize you wanted to do that the whole time, and I don't blame you, sparing was more expedient than butchering however, but now that situation has changed. Not one more minute will be spent on haggling with idiots."

"Oh, how delightful." She chirped happily.

"Just make it quick, any time spent on slaughter is time not spent moving to our next objective." He pointed out impatiently.

Shalltear pouted, "True, but still…" She perked up a moment later, "Well, if it is for Lord Ainz, anything is acceptable."

As anticipated, several hours later they arrived at the gates of Re-Lobell. The gates were shut and guards were on the walls. Zaryusu was less than pleased. Thousands of feet stomping in unison shook the ground behind him. The soldiers atop the city walls were clearly less than happy about their circumstances.

At a glance, the standard bearer raised the flag and with two steps in place, the army halted in its tracks. Zaryusu traded a look with Shalltear and he rode forward until he was within reach of the walls, they were large and thick, obviously whoever was in charge was counting on the evident strength of the city's defenses to give them negotiating leverage.

Zaryusu knew how pointless those defenses really were.

He called out to the walls. "I am General Zaryusu Sasha of the Sorcerous Kingdom, I come with Lady Shalltear Bloodfallen of the Sorcerous Kingdom, we come together to support King Zanac and restore his kingdom to his rule, yours is the last pebble in the path of success. I command you in the name of those authorities, to surrender unconditionally and immediately. If you do not, everyone holding a weapon in hand will die, every noble will die, and you will have no second chance at giving way."

He took a deep breath and all but roared at them, drawing out his guttural voice, "Kneel now, or lie down forever!"

Shalltear looked over at him, "Nicely done, for a mortal."

He inclined his head politely, "Thank you, Lady Shalltear."

"How long do I wait before I start killing?" She asked in a more interested voice.

"Give it five minutes, enough time for them to get word that we're not negotiating and to make a decision. If they don't respond, you are... unleashed on them. Just remember the Sorcerer King's rules, combatants and leadership, spare the rest." General Zaryusu Shasha said pointedly.

"As if I would ever forget my Lord's commands." Shalltear said, somewhat offended.

"Of course not, Lady Shalltear, I didn't mean to imply that you'd forget his will."

"Good." She said, then looked back up at the top of the walls.

"Can you tell what they're doing?" he asked curiously.

"They're carrying word to the city officials in charge, lots of shouting farther away, there's a lot of fear beyond that stone." Shalltear said hungrily.

"They're right to be afraid." Zaryusu said coldly.

"Yes, yes they are." Shalltear replied happily.

"Time's up!" Zaryusu shouted, "What is your answer?" He asked.

Silence, and the gate didn't move. "OK, Lady Shalltear, please, be my guest, just open the gates after you're finished."

Shalltear cackled and rose into the air, arrows flew at her and did nothing, she raced along the walls with such speed that none saw their killer, she moved so fast that the spurting blood did not so much as grace her skin as her claws severed heads from bodies, when the gate side wall was cleared and bodies tumbled onto the stone walkway or down to the street and ground below, she dropped down and kicked the gate hard enough that it flew open and broke the hinges, falling down to the ground and sliding several feet away and opening the path to Zaryusu's army.

She wheeled about and rushed to the city interior, the homes and shops were of relatively poor quality in the standard way expected of what passed for the Kingdom's 'architecture' that no nobleman lived there was a given. Instead she raced inward, past the inner wall, which she paused at only to shatter the gate and send it flying into a building built to close and smash it to pieces. It wasn't long before she reached the manor that had to belong to the leader of the government of Re-Lobell.

The population scattered like a flock of birds on the beach avoiding a predator running towards them. They screamed in terror as the vampire scream shattered the relative tranquility of the people. She flew overhead until she reached the manor, and did not pause to even kick down a door, instead she followed the scent of life and smashed straight through the wall to where she'd find it. She howled happily as her terrifying monstrous face was put on full display, could hear, in the distance, the army of Zaryusu marching through the main street and taking control in a firm, uncompromising manner. Whether human or dwarf, no matter what was under his order, there was no compromise to be had, anyone who held a weapon after the first command to drop it, was put down like a mad dog.

Shalltear swept over the manner, seeking living flesh to rend apart, and before Zaryusu had made it one mile within the city, she seated herself on the throne, satisfied that there was no noble left alive within. She propped her feet up on a corpse and folded her hands over her lap, then hummed patiently until Zaryusu arrived and sent his command out to gather any other citizens of importance.

Within a few hours everyone dressed in any way that suggested wealth, authority, or importance, was dragged bodily to the manor of the city government and confronted with the unleashed carnage of Shalltear Bloodfallen. The rolling heads with horrified expressions and dead pale eyes caused more than one leading citizen to vomit on the floor and add to the stink of death and less than dignified bodily fluids. When they were dragged into the throne room, Zaryusu joined Shalltear at the throne, she sat looking at them with a mix of hunger an impatience, while the lizardman general beheld them with contempt. He looked to the guards that had dragged these men and women in to the cornucopia of carnage that had been the throne room, and they forced these wealthy pampered figures to kneel with the ease of putting the tip of a weapon to the base of their necks and pressing down firmly enough to get their 'point' across.

"I told your leaders I would not be negotiating, they thought I was bluffing. As you can see, I was not bluffing. Your city is fallen, your army is surrendering and every man still alive in armor is confiscated and will be joining us. You who still live will form a council to temporarily run this city until King Zanac sends a new leader, if the gates are not opened and they are not welcomed whole heartedly and with open arms, then your existence will be erased. There is no point in keeping the stupid alive. Am I understood?" Zaryusu asked, gently tapping his fingers on Frost Pain to illustrate his point.

Trembling bodies and terrified nods were given in response. "I didn't hear that, say it again." Zaryusu said.

"You are… understood, my lord." The defeated figures said anxiously.

"Good, normally I'd take more time to bring things to order, but everyone stupid enough to cause problems is probably dead, so we're going to round up your remaining soldiers and depart, do not force a return." He said, and Shalltear kicked the corpses over that she'd been propping her feet on, and the casual dismissal of the meat that had once been a man, sent fresh shudders down the spines of the kneeling leaders.

Zaryusu was confident of one thing at least, they'd been cowed enough that he would not have to come back again.

...Inside Crossroads…

General Boabdil was less than pleased. Boulders were striking his walls, his city, his country. And all he could do was sit and take it. The long range weapons of General Enri were better than his, though he'd tried to strike back, few shots had hit, and in the end he'd called a halt to it as he was just wasting shots he couldn't replenish. Still, the walls held, his soldiers held, and he was proud of them.

He walked along the top of the wall that morning talking to his people, praising their efforts and their bravery, and sending out his other aids to do likewise. But he always kept an eye to the sky as he thought about the dragons that might come sweeping down from anywhere to wreak havoc. He clapped a young man on the shoulder, "Have faith in the gods, they will give us victory, you know this, don't you?" He asked the shaking, beardless youth.

"Y-Yes my lord." The young man said in a voice full of false bravado. "The gods love humanity, and th-they will protect us now just as they did in the old times. We are their chosen ch-children."

'So young…' General Boabdil thought regretfully as the youngster repeated a phrase every youth learned in the Theocracy temples.

"That's right." General Boabdil said with a confident grin, "Only bear true faith, and our faith will give us victory."

He moved on to the next person, and so it went. It was good for morale, he wondered if General Enri had done something similar already, probably so, his impression of her was a positive one and the prisoners he'd gotten back from her all reported being well treated, even having seen her holding their dying so that they would not slip into death alone and afraid. He had a sense of admiration for her rise to power and the responsible way in which she handled it.

"If we had twenty such commanders, we would already rule the world." He said under his breath a hundred times before breakfast had ended. A boulder sailed over his head and smashed a building, most didn't make it over the walls, but every now and then… it happened. He listened carefully, there were no screams, either the occupants died immediately or there were no occupants within.

He looked farther away, his engineers were constructing mangonels of their own to strike back, they were working double time, when they were done, he'd have the means to hit back at his opposite number, and he'd use their own ammunition to do it. He walked the wall for another hour, before at last he withdrew and headed for his own office.

On arrival, he was greeted by an aide already waiting outside his door.

"Come in, what do you have for me?" The old general asked.

"My Lord, the latest reports are that we've killed two of the escapees and the remainder, save one, are all in custody." The young aide said, pleased.

"Oh?" General Boabdil asked as he moved behind his desk and sat down. "Why do I get the feeling that there is more to this?" He asked.

"Well my lord, all those we've captured insist that they're not only 'not' our prisoners, but all told the same story, that they were knocked out and woke up dressed the way they did. It's just… it seems unlikely that this would be the case, they all come up with the same story, all do the same thing, they all smelled of alcohol when they were caught, so I…" he looked uncomfortable giving an opinion of this nature to his senior, so Boabdil chose to step in.

"Relax man, I've never punished a messenger or a soldier for speaking his mind, I get where you're going with this, so let's do some checking then. Have them brought to the bar, ask if anyone recognizes them, if they're a regular and not a prisoner, they'll be known to the other patrons or the employees. If they can identify family or neighbors, they live here, if not, well hold them for further questioning. If we do have some loose ends in the city, we need to find them."

"My Lord, I'll have it done at once." He said, his face was not a mask 'yet', more experienced aides hid their thoughts and feelings. He hadn't yet learned how to do that, so he registered an impressed look as General Boabdil promptly proposed a means of exposing the truth.

"Oh, on your way out, send Ira and Heikeren to me, I don't plan on just huddling behind the walls and getting pounded, so we need to prepare for action immediately." General Boabdil added with an aggressive expression on his face.

"Of course, my lord!" The aide said eagerly as he departed the room, leaving the old warrior alone.

 **AN: Had some great suggestions by some of you, nicely done. I'll create a character appendix, and there actually already is a 'timeline' document available on the discord showing what takes place when if you're worried about what stories to read at what point, but honestly I don't consider that to be necessary, because so many of these take place concurrently, it is a big world, and people are working at the same time as other people, the world doesn't stop in Kami Miyako because of what is happening in Kedyn or Wenmark, etc. :) So you can read them in any order and rest assured that if something comes as a complete surprise, it will make more sense when you read something else, it's written in such a way that it just 'snaps into place' sotospeak, when you read everything. For example, Zesshi's joining the Sorcerer King will come to a complete surprise to anyone who hasn't read 'Enemy Mine' because it starts at one point of God Rising, then intersects again with it at the end, taking place as world events do. So you can view the timeline on the discord if you want, but you don't have to in order to appreciate the material.**

 **Just one more thing, I will be slowing down a bit on God Rising updates because I got two new commissions for Overlord stories, not huge works, but since I won't even put my pseudonym on garbage, well I'm going to do a solid job of it. Also, I'll be starting my own original work soon, so I'll keep you informed on that one. LOTS of creative projects in the offing, I know, I know... some of you really want me to just focus on one thing until it is done, but bear in mind... when the entire God Rising Saga is done, I don't plan to write more Overlord, so be careful what you wish for. I 'might' pick up a new Overlord Project with a tentative sequel, but don't count on it. It depends on what happens with this one, plus I have the audio project and illustrated ebook work to do with this one, it is a LOT to do.**


	135. Trust

God Rising: Cult of Ainz

Written by: AtheistBasementDragon

Edited by: The Usual Gang of Drunken Perverted Idiots

Chapter 135:

...South of Prart…

Neia could barely believe what she was hearing. "Let me see if I've got this straight." She said in disbelief. "We've killed Remedios, crushed the Theocracy, defeated Astraka, and we have the remains of their army fleeing south, where we've already dispatched Blue Rose, and we ourselves are on our way to launch a counter invasion… but Queen Calca wants us to 'stop' because the Southerners are petitioning for… and this is the part that confuses me, 'peacefully granted independence from the north?'"

"Yes." Skana said as she set aside the missive.

Neia paced her tent, folding her arms in front of her angrily. "After everything…"

"Yes, after everything." Skana echoed, clearly no less unhappy. "Inta and our survivors in the south are already pulled out."

"Damn it!" Neia cursed and slammed her fist on the table hard enough to break the corner off and send it flying down to the ground, her face twisted in anger, while Skana kept her face neutral.

"I know, but she feels she couldn't rule the south without wiping out most of the population and…" Skana started to say, only to close her mouth in surprise as raw fury overtook Neia's face.

"After what the South has already done, I pity them not a bit even if most of them die." Her voice was cold and her eyes turned black with wrath.

"Neia…" Skana said gently, "Don't…" She approached her wife and, setting the letter aside, she put her hands on Neia's shoulders. "Please." It was a statement, not a request, and the wrath fell away from Neia's face. Her eyes of terror became 'normal' relative to herself again, and she lowered her gaze away from that of her wife.

"Sorry, it's just… after what her volunteers did, they came from there, remember, they started by abandoning us all in the north, abandoned you, me, cut our country off like a diseased limb. Then they invade when there is hope for our future? They invade not to save us from horror, but to punish us for heresy against gods who did nothing to save us… I… I just can't." Neia's voice was full of anger and frustration as she spoke, while Skana responded by drawing closer and pulling her wife into an embrace.

"A half-victory after everything?" Neia gasped out in frustration. "No…" She shook her head and balled up her fists, "There's one place I want to see, and terms I will see imposed." Neia stepped back and took Skana's hands in hers. "Are you with me?"

"To whatever end." Skana said faithfully, her bright green eye shone affectionately in the whorling darkness of the Black Paladin's eyes.

"They want peace now? To bow out of the fight they started after burning our people as they marched north? In the name of His Majesty, I will ensure they learn another lesson that they will never forget, what happens when they march north." Neia seethed. "They may be given what Queen Calca wishes, but they will know it is her benevolence, not her weakness, her mercy, not her fear that gave them a peaceful end."

"What will you do?" Skana asked, deeply concerned.

Neia turned and walked out of her tent, Skana followed after as fast as her feet could carry her.

"Rally the soldiers for the march, we're going to do a forced march into the South, we're going back to Yanana, let's see if anyone dares to raise the whip to me a second time." Neia said with a laugh as she walked to her undead horse. "Bring all divisions to order, and have CZ join me, I want to make sure our Lord knows what we intend."

"Arise! Arise! Soldiers of the Holy Kingdom! Soldiers of the Sorcerous Kingdom! Arise, you people of the book and the sword! Arise, you who desire to avenge your fallen! We do not rest! We march to the south! To burn down the gates that guard the heart of darkness!" Neia shouted with her glorious evangelical voice, it carried the wind on its back and stoked the wrath of every soul in the army.

It didn't take long for such energetic bodies to get moving, not even in the darkness of the twilight, with a little magical light for assistance.

When they were on the road again and CZ rode beside the shadow eyed Neia and she heard everything Neia had to say, she responded with, "Are you serious?" Her face was neutral, but there was a hint of disapproval.

"I am." Neia said even more succinctly. "They will be punished, they will know what it is to face divine wrath, they burned our brothers and sisters, they made me kill my people to spare them torture, now they've lost their icon and their false king and they think to turn me aside by pleading with the Queen they rejected, coming for peace when I'm ready to open up their guts?!" Her grip tightened on the reins and she shook her head.

"They will not disgrace the Sorcerer King with such an insulting offer, there will be no white peace, perhaps the Queen will negotiate with them for a form of independence beyond father's rule, but I will make damn sure they know we don't have to give it to them. We'll hit them again, lay the south naked to my sword, and then her grace, his mercy, when it falls on them, will be known for what it is, a gift. They will win nothing, they will take pride in nothing, they will be shamed and forced to give up everything I damn well tell them to give up in the name of His Majesty."

Skana trembled a little within as she wondered just how far her wife was willing to go, the memory of her body being ripped apart on the wall was still raw, she understood how Neia felt, after everything that had happened, to just call it quits? So many dead, and for all that the Kingdom of their birth gets ripped in half? It grated.

"So you are serious." CZ said emphatically.

"I am." Neia said again. "Please notify Nazarick of my intentions, if possible I'd like to link up with Blue Rose again, I know they've got a head start, but frankly they'll probably come to me when they hear where we are so… I don't think I need to worry about searching for them or sending word through Nazarick that I want them to join me for the offensive."

"The Sorcerer King has given his approval for their independence though." Skana reminded her gently.

Neia shook her head, "No, he said he approved of negotiation for purposes granting their independence on favorable terms, but the Southern Holy Kingdom hasn't even chosen their representative yet. That means we don't have a truce, and that means we have time to make sure that the terms we negotiate are absolutely favorable to us. If I'm going live to see my country ripped in half after all this, then I'm going to make sure it is on mercilessly favorable terms that ensure we don't see 'another' southern invasion of the north ever again. Any questions?" Neia asked in a tone of some rebuke.

"None." Skana replied gravely.

"CZ, would you send the message?" Neia asked.

"I will." CZ said, agreeing in a tone that suggested more approval than she initially felt.

"What about Queen Calca? She won't like this." Skana asked unhappily, her lips turned down in unhappiness.

Neia shrugged. "I work for His Majesty, for the god that I call father, not for her. Her feelings on the matter are secondary to me." She said bluntly.

"Neia, she stood for us! She backed us! She's joining with His Majesty!" Skana rebuked her firmly and Neia's face softened.

"You're right, I'm sorry, I didn't mean for it to sound so harsh, I do respect Queen Calca, but her resolve to strength, no matter how real it was, will take time to build, and so we will act and crush one more city of the south, this will give her the firmest possible negotiating position to create a transition to peace. Favorable peace, peace that will ensure their independence is as short lived and humiliating as possible." Neia said emphatically.

"If that is what has to be done, well as I said, I'm with you come what may." Skana said, and reached beside her to take Neia's hand in hers. Mailed hand clenched mailed hand, but even through the metal, each one felt sure they could feel the warmth of the other.

"Thank you." Neia said, then looked behind her to the long column of soldiers, and it seemed in the early dawn that was just breaking over the horizon, that every spearpoint carried its own little sun, and the line stretched on forever.

…Crossroads…

Romare was in a good mood, despite the hours of work they'd put into things, he felt energetic and positive about his part in things. His companions were looking tired, but this was fine by him, hunting necessitated long periods of boredom. A little grinding at wood and shaving away at the draw point for a bow string was nothing by comparison, at least it was 'doing' something other than just sitting there.

So when his 'shift' finally ended he was indifferent to the end, while his comrades could only stand up and stretch. "That was productive." He said as he set aside a bow back into the place he'd gotten it from.

"Yes, but I wish I could see their faces when the feathers fly off and the arrow goes wild, or when the bows snap at the bend, or the strings break… ahh to be a fly on that crenelation when that happens." Owl laughed with amusement as he stretched out.

"Yeah, yeah, enough talk, for now we move." Nagi said, and rushed for the nearest window, he listened with care, then clambered out and one by one they followed him out, then into the street as if they'd just come from that direction.

The sun was rising when they reached their temporary residence in the rundown inn just as Moira was handing over payment for another day to the equally rundown innkeeper. The grimey hand folded over the coins like they might vanish in an instant if she didn't grab tight and fast, then she nodded indifferently and thumbed them towards the stairs.

They followed Moira up the stairs and into her room on the right side, finding the rest of their comrades waiting there except for Rascal. "Where's Rascal?" Nagi asked first.

"Right here." He said as he walked into the door without making a sound.

Nagi almost jumped out of his skin as his head shot over to the door at his back. "How did you do that…?" He asked in disbelief.

"Do what?" Rascal asked innocently.

"Nobody can sneak up on me." Nagi said with his eyes wide with disbelief.

"Obviously it isn't that hard." Rascal said with a passive shrug of his shoulders. "Here, I need you all to sign this." He said and took out a letter from his pocket and handed it to Moira.

"What is it?" Petyr asked.

"A letter, it's 'payment' for some help we're going to be getting while we're here, they won't throw their lives away, but it should give us information that we need to accomplish more, and if any of you are captured, well you won't live long enough to be interrogated." Rascal explained with a straight face as if he were describing the contents of his breakfast.

"Say what now?" Mananak demanded. "Who is this for exactly?"

"The local… well I guess you could call them a kind of 'underworld' they move in this city and a few others, I've got, well how do I put this?" He paused to think of how to put it.

"History with them?" Moira guessed neutrally.

"Yeah. That." Rascal said, pointing at her emphatically. "I helped them out a long time ago, now I'm calling in the favor, we'll have whatever we need, I just have to deliver it."

Moira read over it, "Pardons? For all actions taken prior to the delivery of this letter…" She lowered the letter and raised her eyes back to Rascal who looked back at her passively.

"Exactly why would this make it all the way up to General Enri? Exactly how much help are you expecting us to get? Exactly what are they getting pardons 'for' that is worth this much help?" Moira demanded fiercely.

"What the hell is going on here Rascal?" She questioned harshly and held the letter tight in her hands, they looked at each other with arms folded in front of their chests.

"Just sign it." Rascal insisted.

"No. I want to know what the hell is going on with this!" She said urgently. "I saw Nagi creep up on a fox while it was alert! It's how we caught on to those Theocracy scouts, and you walked in without him knowing you were there? You bring a letter telling us to let people off the hook for unknown crimes for assistance we haven't even gotten yet? Enough is enough! We're supposed to be on the same side, so why all the secrets?!" She growled out in uncharacteristic anger.

The rest of the team remained silent, but mistrust was etched on their faces.

"God damn it! I'm trying to make sure we succeed!" Rascal snapped and stomped his foot furiously, "It doesn't matter who I was or how I got here, it's a leap of faith, call it that if you want! But just sign the damn thing!"

"No." Owl said and folded his arms in front of himself with equal defiance, "Look, sneaking up on Nagi is tough, but… goddamn it, I…" He looked around to his fellow soldiers and let out a heavy sigh.

"OK, I used to be an assassin, had a little guild of us, I was good, damn good, distract, delay, and death, that's what I did for a living, before I walked away from all that over some… ethical concerns with the way my guild was going and a dispute over leadership that followed. So when you laid out your 'impromptu' plans for shitwrecking the Theocracy equipment without getting caught, I knew there was more at work than what you let on. That isn't the sort of thing a normal man thinks of, and now you want us to just sign something praising the value of help we haven't gotten, from people we haven't met, who will kill us if we get caught, meaning presumably they can GET to us if we're caught. I wanna trust you man, but you've got to trust us too, and we've done all the trusting so far, time for you to give a little back!"

"You were an assassin?" Rascal asked, his voice said it was rhetorical and his face said pieces were falling into place.

"Yes. Not without my standards, thank you very much." Owl said as faces turned to him in disbelief, "People who get contracts out on their lives are not innocent very often, and I was selective about it, some in the guild weren't, so I left that life. That's the short version, but we're not getting anywhere without your story too."

Rascal's face and arms fell, he let out an exasperated sigh. "God damn it." He looked around, "You all feel this way?"

There were nods around the room. "Look these are not people you just walk up to and say howdy."

"Neither are you. If you can move well enough to get by me." Nagi said pointedly.

Rascal shook his head, "This is different."

"Different how?" Petyr demanded. "Does it have anything to do with the way you knew how to mutilate that woman's ears on our first night out?"

Rascal tensed like he was about to start a fight, a chill swept the room, then vanished.

"I'll make you all a deal, sign this now and let me deliver it in exchange for help, and I'll tell you something I really didn't want to, and after they demonstrate their usefulness, I'll arrange a meeting and you can learn the rest, alright?" Rascal asked plaintively.

Moira searched his face for signs of deception, but all she saw there was regret and upset. "Alright. Good enough for me." She said and took up a quill and signed her name, then handed it to Owl, who did the same, and around the room it went till it came back to Rascal, who made his mark and put it away.

"Well?" She prompted, and Rascal took a seat.

"I told you all how I was born in the Theocracy and lived in this city?" He asked rhetorically, to a round of nods. "Well, I was born to a slave managing household, the reason I knew how to mutilate that woman's ears so she'd look like a dead elf slave, was because I was trained as a mutilis. A mutilis is the one responsible for doing that to captive elves."

Some ugly looks came his way, his shoulders slumped, "I'm not proud of it, but damn it, it was how I grew up! I didn't know anything else, my first memories are of the elf slaves in the back of the manor, in the crouch boxes keeping them in place, and the brief cries as they had those parts removed. I got my start doing it from the time I was old enough to hold a blade, it was all I knew. I know everything there is to know about how to manage a slave enterprise. That is how I knew none of you could pass for overseers escorting slaves out. They carry themselves a certain way, walk a certain pace, bear a certain expression, it was a hundred little things about how you act that would have given you away."

He didn't meet their eyes, "I left all that behind a long time ago. If it matters, I regret all that, I'd give em all back their ears if I could, but I can't, so when I turned on my country and left… eventually, as soon as the chance came for me to return and shall we say… settle accounts, I took it. Taking part in that suicide mission was supposed to be it but what can I say? Here I am. Satisfied?" He asked.

"Why'd you stop doing that and leave it?" Petyr asked in a still, small voice as he looked at Rascal with a mixture of disbelief and disgust as he realized he slept beside, fought beside, and lived beside a man that mutilated people for profit.

"Not something I'm comfortable talking about." Rascal said, "I think I've said enough now, so are we good… for now at least?" He asked.

"It's a start. This better be worth it." Moira said in a menacing sort of voice that the expressions of her peers imitated.

"It will be." Rascal answered, and walked back out the door.

 **AN: Another chapter, another small step forward. Enjoy. :)**


	136. Observations

God Rising: The Cult of Ainz

Written by: AtheistBasementDragon

Edited by: The Usual Gang of Drunken Perverted Idiots

Chapter 136: Observations

 **AN: Thanks again for reading yet another chapter, however some news… I've started writing my own original Isekai, it's based, ironically enough, off my old Role Playing days, and adapted from a story I wrote over 20 years ago before I knew what Isekai was. I can't post 'Scales of Trust' here on FFN, however if you want to read it, it IS on my discord, or you can gain access to it through m page, 'slash tellingstories'. If this goes well and becomes popular, writing will become my full time job. If 5,000 readers do $1 per (or 1,000 do $5 or 500 do $10… you get the idea) month, I'll keep providing you with material basically till I die. You think I world build a lot with Overlord? HA! I'm still staying mostly within canon for this, unrestrained by canon… I'll be crafting diverse religions, cultures, I've even built a whole new language just for my 'new world' that is fully functional just because I'm not going to use the standard 'everybody speaks the same no matter what' approach. I've done some readings of the language on my discord already, as well as constructed some basic maps, a unique magic system, and complete backstories.**

 **So if you enjoy my work, well... I'd love to produce it for you basically forever. Whether I can or not, falls to you. Regardless, thank you for reading!**

 **Oh, and to the guy who left a review on 'Enemy Mine' telling me to kill myself… really dude? THAT is your contribution? Here's a little trade secret for life: When you say that sort of thing, we know that you're really saying it not because you don't like the work, because you're dead inside and have given up on producing or contributing anything of your own. You want to change that, reach out to me and I'll help you. You want to act this way, well you're not even worthy of contempt.**

 _...Arwintar…_

Jircniv finished his meal with abundant satisfaction, the Platinum Plate had the best cheesecake in the Empire, that much he was sure of, but what really made the meal grand was the company. He was sitting with his good friend, Pe Riyuro. The lights for this segment of the restaurant had been dimmed expressly so that they could see one another with minimal effort from either party, and each enjoy the meal of their choice. "It is so good to see you again my friend, it's been what, three months? Five?" Jircniv asked warmly.

"No, six." The quagoa ruler corrected him casually as he took a bite out of a meal specially prepared for him at the emperor's behest. It had almost made the best chefs of the empire scream with frustration as they struggled to understand the palate of a creature so different from themselves, but judging by Pe Riyuro's expression, they had pulled it off.

"Well, whether it is six months or six days, either would be too long." Jircniv said pleasantly.

"I feel the same, and all praises to your chefs, they are the envy of anyone in the world I daresay." While his voice had a kind of roughness that seemed endemic to his species, to so close a friend, the emperor heard only sincerity.

"I thank you, like yourself I have worked hard to nurture talent where it could be found, to my surprise I have learned much from the Sorcerer King on this matter, but these, at least, I can take credit for myself." He smiled wryly. "How are your warriors doing in the west? Reports that come to me have only dealt with those of my own deserving of reward or elevation, I have seen nothing of your own."

"They have done admirably well, I'm proud of them, though… after what happened, they be few, a mere token force to dig and scout from below…" Pe Riyuro's gaze turned away, unlike humans, their go-to gesture for sorrow seemed more to turn away than to look down, at least among friends, "...it galls still. The undead had most of my people wiped out when we resisted his call to surrender. Now our numbers rebound, but still, we serve the one who broke us and it aches." The golden hue of his fur seemed to bear a hint of the gray of age, and Jircniv sympathized with him.

"I am fortunate, it cost me fewer than two hundred to learn that lesson, I cannot fathom the ache you must feel, my friend." Jircniv answered. "Just take heart, he is treating your people well now, isn't he?"

"That just makes it gall all the more, because had we known what the… what is that saying of yours, 'the carrot' was, he would never have needed to use the stick. Our people are near one hundred percent literacy, we have unprecedented access to ores that see our young grow stronger than we ever dreamed so many could, those top performers in battle are given high honors and the mountains in which our noncombatants now dwell are being made ever better by the use of his undead labor force. Had he abused us, I could at least have comforted myself with the thought that resistance was the best choice. As it is, I can only mourn my folly." Pe Riyuro said regretfully.

"Though," the quagoa ruler added with a pleasant tone, "I am glad I at least got a fine comrade out of the deal at the end, true camaraderie is rare for those in our position, yet under the same lord, it is the only possible outcome."

"True, and you know, it makes a meal taste all the better when it is shared in good company." Jircniv said and raised a goblet, Riyuro took up his own and said, "Come what may, I can drink to that."

 _...Re-Estize…_

Zanac could barely believe his eyes the day he saw his sister turn into an angel, and even now it was still hard to wrap his head around. Yet difficult or not, the fullness of the Sorcerer King's plans were now completely laid bare before him. "I never had a chance." He said to himself when he was alone. "But, I do have my kingdom back, my father will be avenged, and my rule may be more stable than any king in the last two hundred years." He turned the matter over in his head again and again.

He was still turning it over when the messenger's head was delivered to him from Re-Lobell, and he was about to send out the army for one more fight, when the heads of the nobles of Re-Lobell arrived not that long after along with congratulations signed by General Zaryusu Sasha and Lady Shalltear Bloodfallen on the complete and final restoration of his kingdom to it's proper borders… along with instructions to gather the host and send it to a place in the mountains where the impossible had taken place.

Nimble was always to be counted upon in moments like this one, and he asked a servant to bring the man to the private office of the king. When Nimble arrived, Zanac questioned him on his thoughts. "What do you think will happen next?"

"We will march south, meet up with the Dark Elves, Dark Dwarves, the Demihumans, Black Justice, and possibly Neia Baraja… then we will kill every Theocracy soldier from here to Kami Miyako and the war will end." Nimble said bluntly.

"That was a… succinct description." Zanac said, somewhat unsatisfied.

"That may be so, Sire, but it remains an accurate one." Nimble said, spreading his hands and shaking his head, "General Zetsumei will do her job, Draudillon will do hers, and we're going to see to the end of the Old World."

"You're awfully casual about it." Zanac said, almost accusingly.

"I'm on the winning side, should I be panicking?" He asked in a blase sort of way.

"Fine, I accept your point, but… may I ask, what advice would you give to your emperor if he were in my position?" King Zanac asked.

Nimble frowned deeply and thought a moment as he looked away. After a bit, he turned back and answered, "Surrender your independence, completely, totally, and as quickly as possible. I can only guess as to the minds of others, but if those rulers of these kingdoms do not have the brains to think of it themselves, if they have advisors worth anything, they'll give that advice the same as I am to you. Independence is a joke right now anyway, better to make the offer of total allegiance now while it is at its greatest value, rather than later when it is just the obvious end of a farce."

King Zanac nodded, "I already plan to do that, more or less, after the war is over. We already have an agreement in writing."

"Then… what are you truly asking?" Nimble asked, somewhat at a loss.

"How would you suggest I best exploit the post war peace to give my nation an advantage?" King Zanac asked.

Nimble looked at him cockeyed, "I am still a servant of the emperor, you know. Do you really trust me to tell you that?"

Zanac nodded gravely, "We rode together, we fought together, and I have yet to garner a suitable staff of advisors for myself, I trust you to be honest with me."

Nimble was humbled, "Very well, but know that I won't advise you in such a way that cripples my Emperor."

"You couldn't be trusted enough to ask this, if you would." Zanac said sagely, prompting Nimble to reflect that the Re-Estize 'province' would have good government for many years even without the Sorcerer King.

"My emperor has well established Arwintar as a place where the arts flourish, and as a result we have grown wealthy, our nations have in the past, been rivals, but it was a rivalry of violence, I advise that you turn that to the spirit of friendly rivalry, promote your own arts, culture, and development here, not in pale imitation of Baharuth, but its own. Make it unique and special and draw the praise of His Majesty, put your own coin behind it if you must. But show that you are earnest about making your people worth investing in, and the Sorcerer King will match your will."

Zanac stroked his growing blonde beard, "That is good advice, and it would be a pleasure to rival your emperor, as my father before me, but to see that rivalry grow a forest, rather than hale one down."

"Agreed, I could retire in peace, knowing that was taking place." Nimble said with a tranquil voice. "Not to change the subject sire, but… do you know what happened at Re-Lobell?" Nimble added the question curiously.

"The heads?" Zanac asked.

"Yes, the heads." Nimble repeated.

"Rebel holdouts, my guess is that they were greedy, deep in the Theocracy pockets, and not too bright, and it seems our fellows are no longer in the mood to negotiate. I don't mind, gives me a few free slots to appoint my own people too as rewards." Zanac said with a dismissive wave of his hand. "All things considered, I suppose I should be pleased, but I guess I won't truly feel at ease until I have my father's killers in hand."

"I doubt anyone would blame you for that." Nimble replied understandingly.

"No, who wouldn't feel that way about their parent's death?" King Zanac asked coldly.

"None. I think from this point forward, the rage of the Sorcerer King will see no quarter for resistance, they will remember in the south for ten thousand years, that to fight that being is to salt their own fields and slay their own children." Nimble said gravely.

"After all this, I am… very much at ease with that." King Zanac said with a grim and haunted voice.

"As am I, oh King, as am I." Nimble said with a face of stone.

 _...Nazarick…_

Ainz was utterly disgusted by some of the things he'd read. It made him glad about his emotional suppressor, and even more glad that he was, in an abstract sense, unable to feel much in the way of empathy for most living beings. However even for all that, the list of misdeeds perpetrated by the Elf King and by the Slane Theocracy were too many to readily count, and many of the discoveries his people had reported to him in certain areas that seemed to be divided between magic education, research, and simple places of torment for the jaded sadists of money, were unfortunately reminiscent of things he'd learned of in his own world.

So it was with grim satisfaction that he signed off on the order to dispatch the next batch of prisoners to the Argland Council State for trials post-war, along with arranging transportation for witnesses and survivors to testify. One place though, had seen some of the worst behavior, Yaksun, the City of Shame. Vanysa had spent the better part of a week doing nothing but hunting the guilty of that city. It was only now that she stood before him, ready to report her completion.

"...And that was what the last of them went and did, Sire." She finished her report, kneeling before the throne with her head bowed and the last of them, down on his belly, crushed under the weight of Lord Demiurge's command mantra.

"I see." Ainz said flatly, "Vile lot they are. You are sure you got them all?" Ainz asked.

She gave him a toothy demonic smile. "Ah did, this'n was eatin with'is wife an feedin his new babe when ah smashed thew is winda all shriekin with glee. The wife, she done knowed why ah was ther, on accounta ah'd been doin it fer a bit then an word went'n spread, she broke down cryin, an the little one, she cried, ah felt a lil bad bout that. This'n though…" Vanysa's eyes were wide with utter insanity and glee, she was salivating with hunger, as she grabbed his hair at the base of his skull and yanked his face up from the stone, "he didna even try ta argue, an is wife, well she couldnae look at im. Ah snatched im up by is neck an dragged im inta the sky, he didna make a sound."

"He will make many sounds soon enough. Does the City of Shame know your work is completed?" He asked.

She nodded rapidly, "Yah, ah came back'n tole em, lotsa happy folk." She paused, Ainz waited, such pauses were now something he was familiar with when it came to her as she struggled to realign her thoughts, the insanity faded away, it was less common after capturing Astraka, but periods when she had many victims, and some of them were particularly horrible in her eyes, it seemed to bring instability back out with the rise of her hunger.

When her eyes were clear and the glassy look was gone, she resumed speaking, "But happy or not that my hunt is over, they will not hold their heads up for a generation, they held no love for elves, but that building will haunt the lot of them for the rest of their lives." Vanysa shook her head, "Brutality with purpose I could understand, but brutality for brutality's sake or for the sake of lust... I will not."

"That sees to the worst of them then, we'll see them to the head project after trial, I want everything they did on record, every scrap of paper, every work of vile art, every witness statement and every confession, get everything, preserve every building of atrocity, because someday, somewhere, some bone-headed academic will say it never happened." Ainz said with the unshakable confidence of someone who, his subordinates could only conclude, could see the far future.

"Is that everything you have to report?" Ainz asked, profoundly hoping that was it, Vanysa always seemed to have the grimmest sort of news. She shook her head.

"No sire, there is a request from Cardinal Raymond asking for some 'personnel' to assist with his own work." She said with a certain amount of dubiousness in her voice, as if she could still barely believe that Ainz had one of 'the' cardinals on his side.

"I see. What sort?" Ainz asked with an undertone of distaste.

"He says that the Thousand Mile Astrologer is active in earnest again and he fears being observed." She read off the document with a flat monotone, the name meant little to her.

"Albedo, Demiurge, what would you suggest?" Ainz looked from one to the other.

"We could kill her. It is simple and direct." Albedo said pragmatically.

"Perhaps, but if we can, I would prefer to use her, perhaps we can use high level illusion magic to deceive her?" Demiurge proposed.

"I suppose we could simply hurt her, turn her powers against her." Albedo countered.

"What is known of her?" Ainz asked.

"She bears some kind of connection to Dominic, we're currently efforting that information, but it isn't evidently common knowledge as we can't find out just what that is yet." Albedo said with annoyance at the failure.

Ainz struck 'wise ancient pose four' which had him looking off to one side as if deep into his memory, eyes fell to him and silence covered the throne room like a blanket. 'I wonder if I'll ever not need to 'act' like this?' Ainz thought to himself, 'Damn it, they're all waiting for me to say something, I should have thought of something first, then struck the pose!'

His mind raced and he grasped desperately at the first thought to come to him, a random memory of Bukubukuchagama and Peroroncino. "Family." He said quietly.

Their keen ears picked it up and three pairs of eyes went enormous. He ran with it, "Check to see if they could be in any way related, she appeared only once before going back into a state of seclusion, Dominic goes to see her and she comes out of it? Find out if they could be family, if so, we can exploit the bond." Ainz dashed to the metaphorical finish line of the random thought, hoping he hadn't said something foolish.

"Marvelous! We will be on it at once!" Demiurge said with awe in his voice.

"Who should we send? We need someone on the ground there to investigate." Albedo asked.

"I've finished my work." Vanysa said with great humility, "I can look human, and sort of 'still am' so I should pass any magic inspections they have." She proposed.

"Not alone." Demiurge said with a small frown, "I suggest we send Pandora's Actor with you, he's intelligent and has the same potential appearance as yourself."

"Sensible, good to have a backup." Albedo agreed.

"Alright, go, meet with Raymond, act as an extra blade in the dark, and find out what you can." Ainz said, "And also, how we can exploit it as well as deceive her." He added in a sadistic voice that was greeted by three very dark, sharp toothed grins.

 _...Argland Council State…_

The Platinum Dragon Lord was watching as the first ranks of the prisoners trudged through the city. There certainly were a lot of them. "Surely all of these are not war criminals?" He asked his colleagues in disbelief.

"Judging by the documents we've seen, they surely are." The Worm Dragon Lord replied somewhat sarcastically.

"Some might be wrongly accused…" The Diamond Dragon Lord proposed tentatively.

"Feeling sorry for them?" The Obsidian Dragon Lord asked somewhat sarcastically.

"No," the Diamond Dragon Lord said bluntly, "but we're going to be on the hook for exterminating half the damn population of the Theocracy, we'll look like genocidal butchers even without ever going to war."

The Blue Sky Dragon Lord shook his head in dismay, "We fell right into his trap, it'll be centuries before we have neighbors other than him that don't mistrust or hate us, even if we record every crime in detail and render perfect justice, we'll look bloodthirsty."

"There's no sense rehashing that again now that they've started to arrive, we already mourned our folly last time." The Worm Dragon Lord pointed out.

"I can't help it, being outmaneuvered so handily is profoundly disturbing." The Blue Sky Dragon Lord replied morosely.

"Anyone have any ideas on what to do yet?" The Obsidian Dragon Lord asked.

"What about forced labor?" The Platinum Dragon Lord suggested. "Or lifelong imprisonment?"

"Well the former is profitable at least but we'll need to draw something up, perhaps we can sell their labor and donate part of the profits to the surviving victims, keeping a small 'administrative' fee for ourselves?" The Obsidian Dragon Lord built upon the idea.

They went quiet as they thought that over, the prisoners trudged by down the middle of the street, word had been spread of these 'special' prisoners, and as a result, crowds had lined the street to watch, creating a kind of impromptu parade, some boos and jeers came at the prisoners, though more because of their human supremacist ideology and the mixed crowd of races held that notion in abject contempt, than because of any innate favor towards the Sorcerous Kingdom.

The prisoners were marching in rows of five, chains hung from their wrists, and most of them hung their heads, they were dressed in crude cheap sacks and lacked footwear in imitation of the way their nation had taken to dressing their elven captives. The 'gesture' was not lost upon them, some had clear expressions of anger, wrath, outrage, or frustration on their faces. Most however, lacked such spirit and were hanging their heads and struggling to hold back tears and failing. They were also failing just as hard at holding back their fearful quaking when they beheld the dragon lords in all their glory, who were looking down on the long trudging ranks from on high atop large towering structures of stone that had been carved into solid rock. The great high arches of the Argland Council State's capital were awe inspiring to smaller creatures, as was the mixed company of races, some of which saw humans as food.

Perhaps in a formation, with weapons in hand, these had once been formidable fighters, but now? Now they were mostly shells of their former selves, being marched to holding areas pending trials, trials which could only end with most of them never having unchained wrists again, unless they were fortunate enough to die quickly.

If there were any who expected to go free, none of the council members could identify them.

 _...Outside of Crossroads…_

Enri finished touring the circuit with relative ease, there hadn't been a single attempt to sally out by General Boabdil or his aides, and the firing on her forces by his own was halted. "Conserving ammunition." Sun guessed.

"After our little probing attack and all those arrows went wild, bows broke, strings snapped, could be they're just worried about the quality of their equipment." Enri replied as she waved her hand dismissively and looked away.

"Maybe, but I'm surprised, General Boabdil did not seem the sort to let that happen." Sun responded with cautious optimism.

"Mhmm." Enri said indifferently as they came back to camp.

"Still thinking about the dragon?" Sun asked.

"Yeah." She said, more than a little disturbed.

"The wound was minor." He said. "You knew it was possible that General Boabdill wasn't bluffing."

"I know, but… I hoped he was." She said thoughtfully.

"Everybody did." Lupusregina said from her left.

"But he wasn't, we know that now, he's tipped his hand, he can hurt dragons, we're fortunate he let us know that now, rather than when they were carrying 'lunchboxes' to deposit into the city."

"True, it would have been very unpleasant to report to the Sorcerer King that the arena champion died in a lunchbox because a dragon got shot down." Enri replied with a grim laugh at the misfortune that had been avoided.

"No, he wouldn't like that." Lupusregina said passively.

"But now that we know, we can create countermeasures." Sun replied, "He was probably thinking this would cripple a part of our plans, but he didn't instruct his men well, they used the scorpion when it was against a single scouting target, instead of against our dragons in a body when they were carrying soldiers and on the attack. Had they delayed the usage, they could have caught us off guard at the worst possible time. Now instead of killing many, he killed none and has only created a problem we can overcome." Sun pointed out as he stroked at the thin beard hanging down from his chin.

"Armor?" Enri suggested, shooting a knowing smile.

"Armor." Sun replied, returning his own thin smile.

"Rune-crafted™." Lupusregina added her two bits.

"It'll take time." Enri replied.

Sun and Lupusregina shrugged indifferently, "What doesn't?"

"Fair enough, and we have it aplenty, while he does not." Enri said thoughtfully. "Alright, Sun, would you go to the craftsmen and get them started, I should at least pay a visit to Pael'disardarc."

"You know his name?" Lupusregina asked in surprise.

"No, I asked about it, but he'll think I knew it when I go talk to him, and even with a dragon, that is good for morale." Enri said with a smile that, sweet as it was, spoke volumes about her ability to understand and influence others.

It made Lupusregina quite pleased with her friend, and she slapped Enri on the back, hard enough that Enri pouted and rubbed the spot. "Not so hard Lupu!" She griped, and Lupusregina laughed.

"Hey, that was praise, you be grateful." She grinned widely as Enri guided them gradually over to where the injured were being treated. There was a very… relatively speaking, large frost dragon laying on the ground while several human mages treated the injury.

It had its eyes closed until Enri dismounted with her companions, then walked over and stood in front of its maw, the dragon was easily twenty five feet in length, not the size of his father, but a large one relative to a small human, and had the same pale scales and sharp claws. It opened its eyes when she touched him at the nose, those standing near looked at her with surprise, that she could approach such a being so close and not fear.

Enri was terrified, standing this close to such a being, it was one of those occasions she was profoundly grateful for the presence of Lupusregina, she was sure that the maid was more than capable of protecting her even from this, and so she buried her fear deep down in the pit of her stomach, and instead focused on the sense of awe at the sleak, noble, graceful form of the frost dragon prince. She gingerly touched him at the tip of his snout, and his eyes went open.

Pael'disardarc was unsurprised when he smelled a human coming close, the little beings were all over the place, several were treating his injuries, but it was quite a surprise when he realized that one… and two other beings, were standing so close to his mouth. Long lives were not to be found near the mouths of dragons. When his eyes opened and he looked down at her, he recognized her armor and his large eyes went larger. She looked at him without any sense of fear, and touched him with a kind of tenderness that he hadn't felt since he was a newly hatched young dragonling. He'd heard rumors from the goblins of her enormous strength, and given the disturbing strength some of them showed, that made her tender touch all the more remarkable. Her eyes were good ones, having a clear sharpness to them that reminded him of his father, yet now they looked at him with gentle concern.

"Are you alright, Pael'disardarc?" She asked, "I heard of your injury, you acquitted yourself well."

He snorted chill breath from his nostrils, "I withdrew." He said, "After they put a hole in my foreleg and one in my wing." He was a little sardonic as he spoke, "I do not count that as a victory, General Enri."

She smiled in her matronly way that had been endearing her to other beings, "Brave prince, you returned alive, and revealed valuable information by the risk you took, you will fight again, and we will be girded with invaluable knowledge. We now know, thanks to you, that we need armor for the dragon corps and increased armor for the lunchboxes, we also know that we need fire support and to give priority to their siege equipment, and to change the way you move in the air. All this we know, because 'you' flew out alone against an entire city. That was very brave, and I am very grateful."

That was unexpected praise, and it was enough to make him go quiet again.

"I'm recommending you for a commendation for your exceptional bravery in providing us this vital information." Enri said as she stroked the end of his snout. "The Sorcerer King, and your father, will both know of your courage and sacrifice."

Unsure of what else to say, he replied simply, "Thank you, General Enri. How soon will I be able to fight again?"

"From what I hear, the wound was made worse by enchantments, so it may take days for all the negative magic to be wiped away, but you will be able to fly against that city again when the time comes. Of that, you need have no fear." She replied calmly, continuing to stroke his scales.

"Good, I owe them another visit." He said eagerly.

"We all do. What is done to one of us, is done to all of us. For now, get your rest, let the mages work, our craftsmen will be creating new gear expressly to protect you and your kin for the next clash." She said confidently, he craned his neck back so he could look down at her more clearly.

"Good, I will not forget this." He said proudly.

"Or them." She said certainly.

"Or them." He confirmed as Enri moved on to speak to someone else as another large rock sailed towards the walls.

 _...Inside of Crossroads ..._

Mananak was in a good mood, not the usual mental state for somebody who was literally constantly under fire. He'd volunteered as a 'patriotic Theocracy citizen' to run food to the walls during the siege. It was considered a high risk assignment, and evidently 'the blessings and the divine protection of the six' were not as much an incentive as the administration hoped. So they'd offered high pay instead. Since he'd been an early volunteer, they offered to give him a safer post, but he replied, "No, I must do my duty, I will take the same risks as all the others." It got him the admiration of some Theocracy officers, much to his satisfaction, several had offered him other positions closer to the command staff for higher pay, which he promised to consider the following day 'after his duty and some time to rest'.

He smirked, all the way from the slop shop to the base of the stairs to get up to the wall, only there did he wipe the smirk from his face to conceal his feelings. The pot he was carrying was quite heavy, but that was no problem, short or not, he had powerful arms, often driving him to wonder if he had a dwarf ancestor somewhere in his past.

He climbed the stairs rapidly and got to the top, as luck would have it, the probing attack was coming, and he slopped stew into bowls only slowly, pretending to exercise care as he counted how many bows broke, arrows went wild, and strings snapped at the draw. Roughly ten percent of those he observed had some kind of problem, that made him happy.

What didn't, was when he was providing food to those manning a scorpion and he saw the strange etchings on some of the giant bolts it fired. He looked at them with curiosity, "What the hell are those?" He asked as he slowly laddled stew for the crew.

They laughed, "A little surprise for those damn dragons."

"Are those like, enchanted markings?" He asked curiously.

"No," the crew chief chuckled, he was a big, barrel chested burly man with a thick brown beard and tree trunks for arms. "Those are just to mark them 'as' enchanted, makes em good and sharp, good'nuff to put a hole in a young dragon's chest."

"Oh wow, that'll make things ugly, but I don't see mages anywhere. Ain'tcha gonna run out?" Mananak asked, putting fear into his voice as he dug for more information and handed out the stew.

"Nah, I don't rightly know how they make em, but they're done somewhere else an it's a little odd. I went and asked the same thing though, counta I don't want to run out either, an it seems that won't be a problem." He said with relief in his voice as he took the bowl.

"Oh, well that's a great relief." Mananak said with a big smile and a dramatic wiping away of worry sweat from his brow. "Give em hell. I've got to deliver this to everybody else."

"Thanks again." The crew chief replied and waved him away as he began to take out a loaf of bread from his satchel and dip it into the stew.

'OK this might be a problem.' Mananak thought to himself as he finished his shift.


	137. Bloodfrenzy

God Rising: The Cult of Ainz

Written by: AtheistBasementDragon

Edited by: The Usual Gang of Drunken Perverted Idiots

 **AN: Saved enough in the pat-reon to buy the equipment I need to start turning God Rising into an audiobook. All future contributions there will go to paying for illustrations for turning it into a free illustrated E-book. Equipment will be ordered next week and I'll get started producing audio readings then. I may do it in a You Toob format as well, so if you want to submit fan art to transition across that, send it in or post it to my discord.**

God Rising: The Cult of Ainz

Written by: AtheistBasementDragon

Edited by: The Usual Gang of Drunken Perverted Idiots

 _...Southern Holy Kingdom..._

The still of the forest on either side of the road was broken by the stamping of thousands of feet and the thundering hooves of countless horses. This was for the best, as were it not for the sounds of the vengeful host, they would be listening to the sounds of birds tearing apart the hanging dead. The 'fruit trees' were a gruesome reminder of the brutality leading to the fourth and final Battle of Prart. If Neia noticed or cared, she gave no sign. She rode with her eyes fixed firmly ahead. Skana rode beside her uncomfortably at her right hand, while CZ rode at Neia's left hand.

Skana found it hard to look at her wife, so she looked away, the rage on Neia's face was clear and obvious. Behind them marched tens of thousands of angry veterans. A long, long line of soldiers snaked over the road, undead, humans, elves, orcs, and a handful of other races.

The silence, save for the pounding feet and the noise of horses or armor, was making Skana's discomfort worse by the hour. She shifted on her horse and made a point of looking away as if to check the terrain.

"Something wrong?" Neia asked without averting her gaze.

"No." Skana said sharply.

"Skana?" Neia asked firmly, her gaze still on the path.

"No. How long till we get there?" Skana asked as if to cover her discomfort.

"We made them drag out their march for some time by constant raids and barriers, we're not dealing with that, so if we do repeated forced marches, a few days." Neia replied.

"Repeated forced marches?" Skana asked in disbelief.

"Yes. We sleep, we march, repeat until Wenmark seems like a tourist destination compared to Yanana." Neia replied patiently.

"They can't handle that." She hissed softly.

"They will handle that." Neia replied dismissively.

"They can't." Skana replied.

"They will." Neia retorted firmly, clenching her fists tight around the reins of her horse and gritting her teeth.

"Neia, what's going on? Skana asked gently.

"A lot of things, but for now just this is all I'm worried about." Neia replied calmly as she watched the road vanish beneath her mount.

The breeze blew lightly and with a gentle chill that was only going to get worse, but it did not appear to bother Neia. Neia's face might as well have been etched out of stone. The cool wind whipped lightly at their cloaks, but it was not the reason Skana shuddered. 'She is not. Look closer.' The words of CZ Delta echoed in her mind, when the subject of Neia's wellbeing had come up before the conclusion of the siege.

'It'll be fine, she's just agitated because of this news about Calca, we get her through this, and she'll be herself again.' Skana told herself, and she repeated that statement every time a hint of doubt crept into her mind. A look at her from CZ said that the maid demon had her own thoughts on the matter. Yet despite this, Skana held fast to her hope for a return to calm and comfort in the mind of her wife.

The first opposition came on the second morning. The trio rode again at the head of the column when the screaming fanatics came out of the woods. They held swords and axes, and from the trees a dozen arrows launched into the advancing ranks. CZ batted several arrows clean out of the air with minimal effort, protecting Neia, who was already on the attack at the first sign of motion, her bow came out and she sent several arrows back along the flight paths of those that had been launched at her, this was quickly followed by several loud shots from CZ's spellgun, and screams echoed from the woods. Those who came on screaming for melee combat, Skana charged ahead to face, kicking her mount into a full gallop, followed fast by others on their own undead mounts like hers. She jumped from the undead horse sending her sword out in a deadly arc that decapitated two men before she landed, spun on her heel, and let the momentum carry the tip of her sword into the chest of a third, penetrating his heart.

A banshee-like scream of bloodlust in their throats was echoed by thunder from the soldiers at their backs and the fight was joined in earnest before the rest of the army truly knew what was happening. Neia was quick to bark her orders, "Column one! fifty meter sweep, left flank! Column four, fifty meter sweep, right flank! Column two and three, road security!" She put power into her voice that echoed to the standard bearers who gave their signals all along the line of march. In this the training of Nazarick and Ashurbanipal demonstrated its superiority again over the more crude maneuvers of the other nations as soldiers acting in step moved as a single organism. Then the hundred hit the massed ranks of the initial strike.

Chaos ensued as swords rose and fell, undead horses fought with hooves and bites, and did not fall or flee from pain. While the hundred swept around the attackers like water flowing around a rock in its downward path, the maneuverability and flexibility, combined with the constant rain of arrows, quickly began to take a toll.

However, it was during this time, after killing her fourth victim, that Neia noticed something different. Embedded among these numbers were a few uniquely dressed figures in brown cloaks who fought with exceptional skill. One she saw kick off the thigh of one of the hundred and use the momentum to slam a mailed fist into the face of another before bringing his sword up to finish both. He might have slain them had Neia not put an arrow into his neck when she did.

She got angry. 'Theocracy... they have to be theocracy... a scripture... Scriptures took Skana's eye, scriptures killed Gustav... the only paladin to treat me well... pay... they have to pay, they have to pay, they have to pay, they have to pay, they have to pay...' The thought ran through her mind on a loop and her eyes went black enough that night itself would crave the dawn. She went from her position somewhat removed from the thick of the conflict, to the midst of it almost before she realized what she was doing.

"I will have your heads!" She shouted in a voice that thrummed with rage and quailed the hearts of brave warriors, who faltered in the face of the daughter of the undead. Death's child could not contain herself as fury took form. Blood splashed to her face and soaked her hair as she ran her sword clean through the neck of a brown cloaked fighter. [Endurance of Unlife], [Death's Grip], [Speed of Death], she activated three of her unique martial arts and her body moved as light as a feather blown in a storm, and fast as an arrow loosed from a fully drawn bow.

Skana watched with horror and awe as her wife became the incarnation of an unhinged nightmare. "CZ! Catch her!" She shouted and pointed her sword at the back of Neia Baraja. "I'll handle things here!" Skana felt her voice crack with fear, but the urgency was not lost on the maid demon who began to pop off shots that turned heads to red mist as Neia, followed by several other Black Justice elites began to tear into the center.

Vargas couldn't believe what he was seeing. It was supposed to be so simple. Ambush the column at the head, everybody knew Neia Baraja was always at the head of a marching column, so was CZ Delta and so was Skana the Bold. Kill those three and the army should fall into chaos. A simple guerilla attack from a prepared position with some skilled southern soldiers and a core of his fellow Holocaust Scripture bretheren, and the heretic would die, perhaps even her faith with her.

But as he learned with grim certainty as he'd seen CZ bat away arrows and Neia send back arrows of her own, no battle plan survives contact with the enemy. 'Damn it all, this was supposed to be so much easier!' He thought. His hope was briefly renewed when the general took the initiative to charge the center on her own with only her two elites accompanying her, only to find before his eyes just how they had built up their reputation. 'It wasn't supposed to go this way!' He shouted in his head as he found that Neia Baraja had come within a few feet of himself, he heard her activate several unknown martial arts, and then her black eyes fell on him. Vargas was no coward, but this was a new kind of fear.

He had a moment for memory, and he remembered the day he became a Holocaust scipture member, how proud he'd been of his elite status. He remembered the day he'd been given the order to go advance the campaign against the Elf Kingdom, and how proud he'd been at the way he and his compatriots had turned the situation around there. He thought of how proud he was the day he'd been given the mission to join with the forces here and advance the cause of the gods.

Lastly he thought of the previous night, making love to one of the women of the army, her warm embrace, she kind of liked him, he promised that when he came back after killing the heretic general, he'd bring her a lock of Neia's hair as a trophy. Now the target was within three longsword's reach from him, and he met her eyes.

Pride was a memory. Hope was a memory. Training took over and he attacked, only to find that his wrist was in her grip as he raised his sword and tried to bring it down as soon as he'd gotten in reach. She squeezed, he screamed. "I see you." She hissed through clenched teeth. The thrumming terrible voice told the story of his end, the eyes engulfed him as if to swallow his very soul as his wrist became powder in her hand and sword fell from nerveless fingers. Her own blade pushed up into his ribs and came out his back. Then he fell and saw her step past his dying body to kill another of his comrades. As the light fled from his eyes, as if she herself were feeding from it, all his next thought was, 'Why did I think this was going to be easy?' Then he thought about the girl he'd been with so recently, her smile, then it all faded to black, and Vargas thought no more.

It was all over in a few minutes. A few sought to flee when at last their will broke. Neia snatched her bow from off her back again and sent the remainder of her arrows into the backs of those she could. Skana looked on at the cold and calculated action, then down at the red-soaked sword in her hand and shook her head. She wiped it clean and sheathed it before approaching the place where Neia and CZ were standing amidst a group of corpses.

"Find me a living brown cloak! Search the bodies for any intelligence and have it brought to me immediately! Send word to Prart for a retrieval group to come and collect the dead." Neia shouted out her orders as she stowed her bow and cleaned her sword. The shout of victory came shortly after, and the signals went out for the ranks to reform and resume the march.

As Skana came close they clasped hands and embraced. "I'm glad you're alright." Skana said happily as they looked at one another's bloodstained faces.

"The same." Neia said, the black already fading from her eyes as she returned to herself, much to Skana's relief. She sighed with relief as she saw her Neia return to form.

"What happened to you out here?" Skana asked cautiously as she reached out and began to wipe the blood from Neia's cheeks.

"The brown cloaks, they have to be scripture members, the way they fight, the way they move, the unnatural skill..." Neia cupped her wife's face in both bloody hands and, trembling, she whispered, "Scriptures killed the only kind paladin I ever met. Scriptures took your eye, they almost stole you from me before I knew to love you... they came here to kill you, this wasn't to destroy the army, this was an assassination attempt... if anything had happened to you... I couldn't, I couldn't bear it. When I realized what they were... I just... I had to kill them, I had to kill them all." Neia's voice trembled, as did her lower lip, and Skana put her hands on Neia's hips and drew her close into an embrace around the corpses they had made.

"I'm alright, I think everybody is alright. Besides, I don't mind the missing eye, it's a good look for me. Like a pirate out of those silly books." She winked with her good one and whispered 'Arrr!' Neia laughed, and Skana smiled at that.

"Plus, if they hadn't taken the eye, then I might never have been able to drag you to the tent in the first place, the way I see it, I owe the scriptures a favor." She grinned widely and swatted Neia on the butt teasingly, Neia jumped a little and stepped back.

"Fine, but not too much of a favor. Like 'quick death' favor." Neia said emphatically.

"Of course." Skana said, "Assuming they cooperate." She added.

"Speaking of." CZ said as she approached while dragging a sandy haired man along the ground by his ankle before throwing him at their feet.

Neia looked down at the brown cloak. She smiled again, but it was not a beautiful smile, it was terrible. He tried to rise, and managed to get up to his knees before Neia's knee connected to his temple. There was a grim crunch as he fell backwards.

Skana took out her sword and, as much for his protection as for theirs, she put the tip to his throat as his eyes slowly regained focus.

CZ's spellgun was put to his temple for good measure. The stench of death around them made focus on his own mortality much, much easier as he regained his sense of awareness.

"Hi. You know, if you'd wanted to meet with me, I'd have been happy to have you for tea." Neia said sarcastically. He was looking around as he came back to himself, but her voice brought his eyes to her face.

"The heretic... gods preserve me." He whispered.

"They won't, we know they won't, because they didn't preserve 'us' remember?" Neia asked mercilessly. "Yes, I'm your 'heretic' and 'you' are my prisoner. As luck would have it, I don't like killing prisoners, I like questioning them."

"I won't say a thing." He answered, his pride warring with a fear that he'd forgotten he was capable of, but which was now clearly expressed by the slight quavering in his voice.

Neia's retort was cold as ice and her eyes looked down at the captured scripture member with the utmost loathing and contempt. "Yes, you will, either to me or to my god, I 'will' send you to face my god or those servants of his who can extract every ounce of knowledge from your skull, one way or another."

"No." He replied, trying to sound resolute and not doing very well at it.

"I want to know how many more of you there are, and if there are any other positions ahead like yours. How many survivors there are, and..." She started to say, and the prisoner looked up at her and tried to spit at her face, he failed, the arc went up and landed on the top of her boot near the toe.

She froze in mid sentence, she looked down at the spit, then looked at his face, and she laughed. "When I did that to Dominic, I was on my feet, and I got him on the cheek. If we weren't enemies, I'd praise you, as it is..." Neia shrugged and gave a look to CZ. She understood that look and a few moments later a whorling gate opened in the air.

"CZ, please throw him through that, let them question him in Nazarick. If there's anything left of him after that, then I guess it doesn't matter if he goes free at the end of the war or not." Neia said sweetly and stepped back.

As CZ reached down to grab him by the hair Neia added, "I hope you haven't been responsible for any of the atrocities we've seen or heard about in the last few years, otherwise your existence will be what you wish you had the power to inflict, and you'll beg to die and be denied that precious luxury." Neia waved with just her fingers as a resolute face twisted in pain before being thrown through the gate with a cry that was immediately cut off.

"Thanks for the help." Neia said to the pair, then walked back to the waiting undead horse and mounted it again. The ranks of her army had begun to reform as a handful of volunteers sorted through the dead looking for any bodies of import or any correspondence or other information there might be.

"Always yours without ever asking, my love." Skana said as she strode to her own horse and remounted it as well.

"My job, and my friend." CZ said in her customary monotone as she did the same.

As they got the column moving again, Skana decided not to let the silence rule again. "What do you think our casualties are going to turn out to have been?" She asked thoughtfully.

"Minimal. If those were who I think they were, they were relying heavily on the element of surprise, but this is our country and we've been here before, there was very little chance of that. I'm guessing they thought they could kill us before the rest of the army could respond, and the rest were just to be sure they got the chance still if the first strike failed. Sensible in other conditions, but a bad idea on this one." Neia answered.

"What should they have done?" Skana asked thoughtfully.

Neia stroked her chin and thought it over, it was a comfortable silence as she thought it over. "Strike the rear with a sizable force, use a small one on either side of the road then a surgical strike here when we turn to go deal with that. I'd have chosen a faux envelopment."

"Why?" CZ asked, only the slight variation in her flat voice told Neia that she was curious.

"Individually our soldiers are considerably better, with the exception of their scriptures. Plus our morale is running high after our victories. This failed because they underestimated the strength of our lead element and were counting on surprise with a temporary local superiority." Neia casually broke down the failures of the assassination attempt in a clinical sort of way, and it left Skana with an abiding sense of relief to hear her do so in such a professional manner.

'Good.' She thought, 'If she can still think of things this way, she's fine.' Skana told herself with relief. Her eyes sparkled as she listened, but as she did, she thought of the black eyed wrath, the murderous bloodlust and she interrupted.

"Neia, I want you to stay back from the next battle." Skana suddenly said, stopping Neia's breakdown in mid-sentence.

"Back... like back to Prart?" Neia asked with disbelief at what she thought she'd just heard.

"No, not that far, I mean just back from the front line." Skana said placatingly. "You're the commanding general, you shouldn't be here, you should be staying back and giving orders."

An oppressive sense of anger began to build from where Neia sat on the center horse. Neia did not say a word, but that her temper was steadily rising, was evident with even just the smallest shift and tension.

"Neia." Skana prompted.

"Why?" Neia asked calmly. "Do you not trust me, wife?"

"With my life, I do." Skana said with the surest affection.

"Then explain." Neia kept her voice calm and clipped, but every word was like a chip of ice broken from a larger whole.

"You've become prone to taking risks that you shouldn't, you're the commander, and you're relying on your skills to carry you safely though, or on CZ or I or the hundred to watch your back. I understand you want to lead from the front, it's what you've always done, it is what made me fall in love with you, but a part of yourself is getting lost out there. And also, speaking as your Vice Commander... General... you're making finding you profoundly predictable." Skana laid out her reasons calmly, but could not restrain herself at the end when she added, in imitation of the voice of a Theocracy commander, 'Let's target Neia, bring down the command and we'll win.' then imitating his subordinate, 'Uh sir where will we find her?' then back to the commander again in a voice strongly imitative of a thick headed moron, 'Where we always find her, front and center.' Skana finished her little three line performance and looked hard at her commander. "That's how easy it is, and your death would hurt the cause badly. So in the next battle, I want you to stay back."

Neia was still and looking ahead, the edge was gone from her anger, but before she could speak, CZ interjected herself, "She is right. You will stay back."

Neia snapped her head over to CZ and looked at her in surprise. "You too, CZ?" She sighed heavily and slumped slightly on her undead horse. "Fine, I guess it is a bit predictable."

"Just a bit." Skana said sarcastically while in her mind all she could do was exhale a deep sigh of relief that Neia had responded to the professional critique.

"Think we'll see more of these ambush and assassination attempts before we reach Yanana?" Neia asked as she scanned the line of march ahead.

"I doubt it, they don't have the manpower to waste, and expect us to be on our guard after the first one. They can't do what we did to them, we had the villages support, they don't, anyone they try to send out will start getting ambushed by vengeful peasants and militia very quickly." Skana replied, then let a twisted grin form on her face. "Be nice if they tried, it would make this easier."

"Agreed." CZ added shortly.

 _...Crossroads..._

When Rascal returned to the warrens there was a new guard on shift, also something of a meat headed look, bald, muscles aplenty, but a little better armed, bearing a short sword instead of a truncheon. "Here to see Kirak."

The thug looked at him for a long moment, sizing him up, then nodded. "Fine." He grunted out and stepped aside, knocking on the door. "Let'm in."

The door opened and Rascal walked straight to the back without issue.

He was pulling out the letter before he even got to the back. He held it in his left hand and shook Kirak's hand with his right, firm grip still as it had been on first meeting, they met each other's eyes and Rascal held out the promised letter. "As I said, here it is, signed by the whole... squad I guess we are."

"Fantastic." Kirak replied, "I'll make sure all your companions have honest work, but not long hours, also if anyone 'new' shows up or 'special' shows up in the prisons, I'll make sure they're handled."

"No leaks." Rascal said firmly.

"Needs of the many, got it." Kirak confirmed.

Shanda wrapped her arms around Rascal's waist from behind as she approached and leaned in to whisper, "If you've got many needs, I'm sure I can handle them." She whispered in her dusky voice that had driven many a faithful husband into faltering.

Rascal however, only rolled his eyes. "I just gave the letter to Kirak, we're set."

"Great. Here's my first piece of help." She said sweetly and trailed her fingers long his torso, up to his shoulder, and down his arm, all the way to the tips of his fingers as she moved to face him from the front. "One of my girls tells me that they're aware of your 'escape' at least most of you. The one drunk was misidentified, and I gather the dead girl was your work?" She asked with a raised eyebrow.

"It was." Rascal confessed.

Shanda frowned at him.

"This is a war, we're behind enemy lines, you know how this goes, Shanda." Rascal said unhappily and folded his arms in front of his chest defiantly.

She blinked first, "I know, doesn't mean I like it."

"Doesn't mean I do either." Rascal reminded her.

"Well in any case," she said as she moved on, "that one wasn't connected to you, they think one is dead, but they're sure there are six of you out there still."

"I guess it was too much to hope for that we go completely undetected this whole time." Rascal replied, "Thank you for the information at least." Rascal rubbed his temple unhappily.

"On that note, Kirak do you think you could get us some weapons, good ones? Nothing that stands out too much, but something better than iron daggers?"

"Short swords and chainmail do?" Kirak asked smugly then added. "Military grade."

"Fantastic." Rascal grinned, "You're a lifesaver."

"Nah, I'm a life taker, but you're an exception." Kirak replied with a grim chuckle.

"Good enough for me, listen, they... my people, they want to meet with you. Do you think you'd be OK with that?" Rascal asked a little more dubiously.

Shanda and Kirak traded a look. "Yes, but I'd rather not do it here. I have another place, two blocks over, same street, little faded sign with a horseshoe over it. Upper floor. Have them meet me there tomorrow." Kirak replied, "I'll have some weapons and armor ready for you upon arrival, and you can store it there during your operations, nobody will bother it, I promise you."

"Great. We'll see you tomorrow then." Rascal replied.

Mananak found Petyr easily enough. The smith had taken to working at a young boy's smithy whose father was at the wall, work he'd found himself conveniently enough. He approached the stall and, true to form there was the beefy smith pounding hammer over metal while humming joyfully to himself. Wanting to appear casual, Mananak approached with a wave and asked, "Watcha workin on there?"

Petyr grinned, "Sword, or it will be when I'm done if that lazy lad would keep the fire hot!" He yelled in jest over his shoulder, and a freckle-faced boy turned beet red.

"I got it!" The boy said in his cracked voice.

Petyr laughed and hefted the hammer over his shoulder. "What brings you here today, you need somethin, neighbor?"

"Just hoping you had something capable of maybe... hurting a dragon?" He asked in passing. Petyr's eyes narrowed. Mananak started scratching at his arm, "Don't mind my scratching, got stung by a scorpion earlier. So... do you have... anything?"

Petyr shook his head as the meaning of Mananak's words sank in. "I'll look into it. But for now, I can't help you."

"Thanks anyway." Mananak said, "I should get going."

As Mananak departed Petyr slung his hammer over his shoulder, "Hey 'boss'" he said sarcastically, prompting the boy to blush at the senior's bestowing of a title, "I'm wrapping up here, you can handle the shutdown right? Easy as wipin yer ass id'n it?" He asked gruffly.

"S-Sure thing, thanks again Petyr! Couldn't do it 'thout you!" Cormeum replied with a half smile on his face.

"Yer damn right, I'll come by for my pay tomorrow." Petyr replied with a semi-smug look on his face before he set the hammer down and walked off back to the inn.

Mananak was quick to move on to his next volunteer position. He didn't much mind the boulders that occasionally came sailing over the wall. He looked up at the sky as a shadow swept over his body. "Big one." He said casually as it went past. "Amazing what you get used to." He shrugged as it smashed into the street not but a quarter bowshot in front of him.

He reached the place where the stone landed and touched it gingerly. "Close one?" A passerby asked him.

Mananak shook his head, "Not really, shadow overhead. Quite a sight though." Beside him stood a man in chainmail armor with a bow on his back and a short sword at his side. 'Archer.' Mananak thought immediately.

"No kidding, I've seen lots of those when up on the wall, but their general out there doesn't seem interested in coming up to play, it's like they expect we'll give in because we lost one measly fight." He snorted.

Mananak chuckled. "Yeah, crazy, right?" He asked.

"Right. I mean we butchered that army of tens of thousands just recently, sure we lost one fight, but so did they." the Archer said proudly, "We'll break that heretic bitch and her monster army and send them scurrying back over the border before the moon's cycle ends." He said brashly.

'Oh, so that's how they've been selling our little diversion, my suicide mission has been sold as some grand Theocracy victory. Oh, that is funny." Mananak almost laughed, but he kept it to a broad grin that matched that of the soldier speaking to him.

"Everybody who deserves punishment, will get it in time." Mananak said as he patted the boulder confidently.

"Yes, they will." The archer replied.

"Off to work for me, may the god keep you." Mananak replied and started to walk away.

The archer was two steps away when he turned around.

"What did you say?" He asked curiously and cautiously.

Mananak froze. "Nothing, excuse me, I've got to get going."

"No, I think you need to come with me." The archer replied as he reached for his sword and took it by the hilt.

"What for?" Mananak started to panic, his eyes darted around.

"Just don't resist. Come along quietly and you won't get hurt." The soldier's voice was tense, the sword was slowly coming out of it's leather sheath.

Mananak turned on his heel and took off running as fast as he could. The archer started to chase him. "Stop! Stop!" He shouted.

"Does anyone ever do that?" Mananak laughed with bitter irony as his legs and arms pumped hard, he ran and ran, people saw him running down the street, but it wasn't until they saw he was being pursued by one of their soldiers that anyone did anything.

"Stop him!" The archer shouted, an arrow sailed past Mananak's body and clattered off the side of a building.

'Shit, he's serious, lousy shot, even for being on the run, must have put up his sword, goddamnit! Sloppy, very sloppy!" Mananak thought as he took off down an alley as a group of citizens tried to interfere and tackle him.

He pulled down barrels and stacked crates in the filthy alley, slowing down his pursuers. Water from the last rain formed puddles in the shelter of the shadows and in the unrepaired and neglected alley, he splashed through them, sending echoes off the walls.

He looked behind him, he'd slowed them down some, a few more twists and turns, he ducked around a corner as fast as he could, only to find himself landing flat on his back at a sudden impact.

He had only an instant to realize what he'd crashed into. An enormous man in platemail armor. "Ah shit." He said and tried to get up. "Sorry, being chased by some thugs, could use some help!" He said as he breathed hard and put as much fear into his voice as he could manage.

The sound of running feet lent credence to his claim and the armored man… and the bevy of similarly armored companions lowered halberds. "Wait here." The behemoth of a man said in a deep command voice.

"But…" Before Mananak could complete that sentence the first of his pursuers came into view.

"Get on your knees or your heads will roll." The behemoth said sharply.

Mananak had just enough time to look smug when, to his surprise, the archer emerged.

'OK, their soldiers are more physically fit than I expected, thought he'd be much farther behind.' Mananak thought.

"Take him!" The archer snapped out, "He's a spy."

The sight of a theocracy soldier emerging from the alley was a surprise, but the behemoth was clearly no fool.

"The thing is…" Mananak started to say, just before he was tackled to the ground by four soldiers. A blow to the back of his head, and it was done, he was unconscious before he could complete his protest or even shout.

-End chapter-

 **AN: Yeah I know, you want to say it is short, it's almost 20 pages at font size 12, be happy. I know, it has also been about 20 days, but I 'remind' you that I pumped out 100,000 words in sixty days to complete 'Blood in the Streets' plus pumped out a Halloween Special with 'The Telltale Spot' started and finished 'The Undiscovered Country' a 14,000 word story, released 'The War Game' and 'The Birthday Party' as well as the first chapters of 'Tales out of Crossroads' and 'Acting in Good Faith', and both started and finished 'A Heart for a King' at just shy of 49,000 words. Between all of that AND what I released of God Rising, I've pumped out almost 200,000 words in the last 60 days even without considering that I have started my own original work. I 'realize' you're used to me pumping out daily chapters and all… but it's not 'my fault' if you're not reading what I happen to release, or you're not visiting the discord for the exclusives I reward those visitors with, or you're not reading what is on my pat-reon. :) I can only do so much. Now I'm back down to just '3' stories to do. God Rising, Acting in Good Faith, and Scales of Trust, all of which will have chapters out over the next few days.**

 **So if you're going to complain about 'short chapters' or tell me to kill myself 'again' or complain that I 'should have spent that time on God Rising' well… save it. It's still one of the fastest release schedules on the entirety of FFN for what is now one of the ten longest single continuous fanfiction stories in the world with more total material than the original author completed, at over ten times the speed. Pop a ritalin or an adderall and be patient. :)**

 **Also...I was going to do chapter 138 today and do a double release, but had an emergency vet appointment and had to put one of my dogs to sleep so… that's pretty much out now. I'll write tomorrow.**


	138. Misfortune

**AN: Well here we are, chapter 138. Just a few things in brief... Thanks for your patience while I've been sick. Still sick, wrote a lot of this while in bed and hacking up a lung. But hey, can't keep a driven author down. :) Also, little something for yah, somebody said sarcastically in a review that since I've been away from this one for 'so long' (a very relative term given my update speed) that I should drop ten chapters at once.**

 **So... I'll see your sarcasm and raise you 10 actual chapters dropped on the same day. Also, this 'bomb' will close out the Crossroads arc, I know it hasn't been everybody's favorite, I hear you. But... I have to finish what I start, and even if it wasn't everything I hoped for, well I hope it came out reasonably well. If naught else, I think you'll approve of the ending to it. I put it in the same place on every chapter, so if you do want to skip it, no hard feelings. :) Well, that's all, enjoy!**

 _...Fortress Alaf..._

The aftermath of the burning within the fortress sent shockwaves through the Theocracy army's chain of command. Particularly when Leinas ordered the burned up corpses to be loaded into mangonels and launched over the walls. Blackened limbs flopped through the air like ragdolls thrown by an angry child. The shock of the burned corpses landing among them, causing a few injuries along the way, would create a spectre of nightmare that would haunt the survivors for the rest of their lives. The flailing corpses sailing through the air like drunken birds, the sound of bones breaking within lifeless bodies, even in these most disciplined of Theocracy ranks, it was enough to chill their bones. Those who recognized the warped faces of comrades let out howls of rage, pain, and loss when they held corpses in their laps and had to bid farewell to trusted brother or sister.

It took hours to fling the bodies out of the fortress, so many were there that the ropes of the mangonels had to be replaced, giving the Theocracy a brief hope that the rain of limbs and bodies had found an end, only for it to resume again and continue into the night.

In the end the Theocracy command was left with one choice. "We have to pull back." General Felix said as he leaned on the command table with his fists.

"Why? Because your soldiers are so weak and pathetic that a few burned up weaklings make them shit themselves?" The Elf King derided the general with arrogant amusement in his voice. He sat back in his chair, which today happened to be two naked female elves, one on all fours, the other upright as a backrest.

When they'd followed him into the Theocracy tent and assumed that position, it had garnered an array of looks, from disgust to envy, but no matter which, their mouths dropped open until they could compose themselves. First because of the sight, second because of the many bruises that had pock marked their flesh. It was with a sinister laugh that he simply said, "These two weaklings displeased me. This is their penance so that their pathetic lives are spared."

It shut up the Theocracy command... at least at that moment.

"Our soldiers are not weak. There were many among the attackers however, who had comrades here to whom they were closely bonded after having spent years fighting your people. It isn't just the physical injuries, it is the mental ones." General Felix said coldly.

"Sounds like 'weak and pathetic' to me." The Elf King replied with a sneer.

"You-" One of General Felix's aides took a step forward and drew the Elf King's interested eye, only for the General himself to place a hand on his aide's chest and whisper to him.

"Step outside, catch your breath. That is an order." He said through gritted teeth.

The aide relaxed and marched out of the tent.

"So you want to abandon the siege?" The Elf King asked with a laugh clearly coming on fast.

"No, just pull back some so that the bodies don't land so close or among my own. You can adjust your position as you see fit." General Felix replied.

Underneath him, one of the elf females started to shake from the pressure of her king's weight.

He couldn't see her face, but the face of the one serving as his backrest looked at General Felix with a desperate, pitiable terror, and she mouthed 'please' hopelessly. The commanding general of the Slane Theocracy's western expeditionary force was unusual among his peers, chiefly because he was a relatively young man of thirty two. Similarly, he was one of only two generals to never suffer defeat. Lastly, he had a sympathetic streak, a streak that came out when he turned his face away from the fearful 'backrest' and the shaking woman barely holding on to her position on all fours beneath their king.

"Moving would be inconvenient for me, they'll just have to get stronger or die." The Elf King replied coldly.

"Alright then, I'll have a bottle of brandy sent to you as my way of apologizing to our ally for the inconvenience of our own movement. I have nothing else, so unless you wish to stay...?" he said in a leading voice that provoked a look of disgust from the elf King.

"As if that were desirable? No." The Elf King said, then stood up, the poor elf girl under him let out a visible sigh of relief as she stood and took position beside her companion.

"Move." He said to the women, who turned to follow him out, a grateful look was cast General Felix's way from the one that had mouthed her silent plea, but she dared say nothing and he did not do anything to suggest that there was anything to be said.

General Felix ignored them and went back to the map. 'I cannot believe I've had to 'work' with that monster. Praise to the Six that we've got Dominic instead.' He thought with relief.

 _...Crossroads..._

Mananak woke up in chains several hours later in a familiar place. In front of him stood an unfamiliar man with a scar down his right cheek, calm brown eyes, and strawberry blond, his head rested on a body of medium but firm build, clothed in the uniform of the Slane Theocracy. "Hey, you, you're finally awake." He said in an indifferent voice. "This is the fourth time I've checked on you in the last few hours. I was starting to wonder."

"Yeah well, I'm awake now." Mananak said, looking up at him with some annoyance. "Not that it'll do you any good, just because I'm short of height does not mean I'm short of guts." He smirked at his sarcasm, and the man in front of him actually laughed.

"Oh, that's a good one, I'll remember you, kind of makes this a shame." He replied.

Mananak smirked with a twinkle in his eyes, "When you're this short, you develop a big sense of humor about it or a big sense of insecurity, I went the former way."

"Clearly." The man said dryly. "Well, I guess I should get to the point. You're probably expecting to be interrogated."

"Yes." Mananak replied with a slow drawl, as if it were obvious, and rolled his eyes condescendingly.

"Rolling your eyes 'up' won't make you taller." The man said with a return smirk.

"Hey, it's only funny if 'I' do it." Mananak replied a little gruffly.

"Alright, I'll remember that, but on to the point, I'm not here to interrogate you, I'm here to offer you a choice. I can kill you, or you can take your own life, which will it be? And make it quick, I need to get back on patrol before I'm missed." He asked casually, folding his arms in front of his chest and tapping his foot impatiently.

"No escape this time, eh?" Mananak asked regretfully.

"No, since the last escape the guard has been doubled. There is no 'out', not this time, so what will it be?" He asked calmly.

"Whichever one hurts less, I guess." Mananak replied regretfully, his eyes downcast. "Didn't think I'd be the first to go."

"Well, it is what it is. Here, drink this." He said and took out a small vial of orange liquid, popped the cork and put it to Mananak's lips.

Mananak tilted his head back and let the liquid pour down his throat, he swallowed to the last drop and then audibly smacked his lips. "Hey that wasn't half bad, what was it, poison?" He asked.

"No, it was a sleeping potion, once you're unconscious I'll slam the back of your head against the wall until you die, thus giving the appearance of suicide." The man replied in a low, hushed voice. "This way you won't be in any pain."

"Thank you. Can I ask your name, and one small favor?" Mananak said in return.

"Sure thing, the name is Korvak, now make your request, you've got about a minute." His killer responded, opening his arms invitingly. "Lay it on me."

"Tell them I died after cracking one more short joke, and got the last laugh." He said with a rueful smile.

"But... you didn't tell one last joke." Korvak said with a bemused expression.

"I know, the time is even shorter than I am." Mananak said with a wink, then he laughed until his head slumped forward.

"Good one, really is unfortunate." Korvak said after sharing the laugh. He grabbed Mananak's head at the sides and bashed it hard back against the stone wall to which he was chained, it only took three or four, and then it was done. The only noise was the dripping of blood as it ran down and dropped onto the dank stone floor.

Korvak left the chamber then, and returned to work with none the wiser.

Moira waited patiently for Rascal to return, so did the rest of the team, save for one. They fidgeted impatiently, attempts at conversation fizzled out like a failed campfire in a rainstorm. Something was off, they could all feel it, attempts at jokes were met with forced laughter, even the unflappable Owl held a grim expression on his face.

The tension held until Rascal entered the room. "Everybody ready?" He asked as he pushed the door open. His face was gravely serious, a far cry from his common carefree expression and gentle, playful face. No 'hello', no questions about their wellbeing... he was a man carved of stone with squared shoulders and cold, deadly eyes that seemed far apart from who he was before.

Moira swallowed hard, "We are. Anything we need to know before we go?" She asked in a somewhat shaky voice.

"Yeah. You're going to the warrens. The Slane Theocracy likes to pretend there is no criminal element in their country, but there is. I know there is, because I helped get some of it established. You would normally encounter people who would be inclined to try to start a fight, do not take anyone up on that. By now word should be spread that you're with me. That should eliminate most problems, but if you 'act out' do not expect me to step in. Another thing, the people you're going to meet are some of the most dangerous ones you could have the chance to encounter. Don't piss them off. I'm calling in debts for this, don't screw it up. You follow my lead, you do what I say, when I say, and we walk out fine."

This drew expressions of distrust to pass from one to the other, but Rascal simply stood there with his feet apart in the doorway, barring exit until they agreed. Moira gave in first, "Alright, we'll abide by what you've said. But we're still waiting on Mananak."

"No time for that." He said, "This time is set aside for us, he'll have to be briefed later. Now are you coming or what?" He demanded bluntly.

Moira closed her eyes and took a deep breath, and then she stood up, the rest followed suit as Rascal led the way. Rascal was not his jovial self for the entire walk there, but per his instructions the group stuck close to him. It was bizarre to see the way the city changed as they drew closer to the warrens, residences shrank almost inch by inch until they were little more than wooden boxes nailed together and rotting side by side and stacked atop one another.

People grew progressively dirtier, it was like sliding down a grassy hill that gradually became mud until one landed into a pile of pig excrement. The streets were wet to the point of near flooding in some places due to improper drainage, the waste of the wealthier washed down to the warrens and there it sat, largely untended. "How often is that cleaned out?" Moira asked as she closed her fingers over her nose.

Rascal laughed, "Once every... time the smell gets far enough for people outside the warrens to notice it. So, in a word, rarely. Stay here long enough and you stop noticing it."

"Don't think I want to do that." Owl said with revulsion.

"Who would?" Petyr asked with a shudder, "Sulfur stinks less."

"Yeah, well I'm not telling you to live here. Just don't mention it to the folks who are stuck in this place, they're a little sensitive about being looked down on. Got me?" Rascal asked rhetorically.

Taking the hint, Moira sheepishly removed her fingers from her nose with a mild blush. "Sorry." She said tentatively.

Rascal grunted and shrugged. Up and down the street, various shabbily dressed and frequently armed people sized them up, but nobody approached. He looked over his left shoulder and said gently, "If you weren't with me right now, you'd already have had a fight on your hands, keep that in mind."

The group of five behind him tensed up briefly, only to find their thoughts interrupted when Rascal pointed to a building with a horseshoe hanging outside of it. "This way." He said, and led them to a door that was half rotted away. He reached for the handle, a rusted hunk of metal that was obviously once a meat hook. He twisted, the door creaked open, leading into a large dark room.

Light from the outside allowed them to see that this floor was empty, but a set of stairs not far in front of them leading to a second floor was bathed in shadows.

"Up the stairs." Rascal said in a low voice as Romare shut the door behind them. The stairs creaked and Rascal took them slowly until he reached an upper floor. He rapped his knuckles on the door in a brief pattern that imitated a hymn to the gods, and a moment later it opened.

This room was anything but dark, light stones along the wall cast a faint blue into every corner, as if to bathe those present in the light of sadness. Along the wall there were various chairs where men and women sat with crossed arms and stern expressions. A few tables were scattered about, but what stood out most was the pair at the back center of the room, and the seven chairs seated in front of them.

Tension leaped in their throats, the pair exuded danger without even moving. "Kirak, Shanda, good to see you." Rascal said as he inclined his head politely and walked up to the chairs arrayed in front of them. As he and his party sat he looked to either side of the room.

"Isn't this a bit much for just us?" Rascal asked.

"Under the circumstances, no." Kirak replied with a deep frown on his face.

"What circumstances?" Rascal asked in surprise.

"That empty chair there." Shanda said, pointing straight to the empty seat. "Know where that one is?" She asked in a voice that said she was not really asking.

"Mananak didn't come back in time, so..." Nagi began to reply, only to be cut off sharply.

"He's dead." Kirak said in a hard voice. "One of mine sent word about him, we put him down to keep any leaks from springing, we got to him before he could be interrogated, but now we have a problem."

Stunned silence fell over the six. Finally Owl asked, "How was he caught?"

"In the simplest terms, he didn't fit in. He was sloppy, now he's dead. Made it look like a suicide though." Shanda answered, distressed expressions formed on the faces of the six, Moira bit her lip to keep any sound from escaping her lips.

Shanda's expression did not show sympathy, her unblinking eyes raked over them all, "We're taking a big risk on you lot, and not one day after we get started, one of you gets caught and we have to clean up the mess. A pardon doesn't mean a damn thing if we're dead before the siege ends." She said as she clenched her hands into tight fists and clenched her teeth.

Rascal shot to his feet. "Stow it, Shanda." He growled at her, a few at the side walls looked to stand and a wave of killing intent shot off him that made them freeze in place. "Do not. Even. Think about it." He seethed savagely.

Kirak and Shanda unleashed killing intent of their own, both of which rivalled what Rascal had unleashed. "He was our comrade, damn it!" Rascal said harshly.

That reached them. The killing intent of both Shanda and Kirak began to taper off until it was nothing, Rascal's went with it.

"I'm sorry for your loss." Kirak said placatingly in a sympathetic tone.

"Thanks." Moira said quietly.

"Oh, he did leave a message, he said he got one more short joke in, and got the last laugh." Shanda added, and when she explained the 'last joke' it got a round of laughter from the room, the remaining tension faded away.

"Listen, I know you're concerned, but let me be clear about something." Rascal said with his arms folded defiantly in front of himself as he sat back down. "We all faced a suicidal end once already, we're prepared to die, I'm sure Mananak did not surrender, and I'm sure he died bravely. You can expect that out of all of us if it comes down to it. If you wanted a risk-free existence, then you shouldn't have come to me years ago to get all 'this' going."

Shanda twirled a finger through her hair as she thought that over, "I acknowledge that. But 'we' are not suicidal. We want to get out of this in one piece, you want to die for your cause, fine. I won't stop you, but you don't get to drag us into the fire with you. Pardons mean less to the dead than a flacid dick to a whore. Sure it's there, but there's no use to it."

"Nonetheless, we made a deal, the debt stands and unless you want to make a fight over it, I expect you to uphold your end. We won't implicate any of you, and you can kill any of us who get caught, you want more than that, find us a way out of this city and we'll go. If you don't have that, then we have work to do." Rascal replied sharply.

"Damn it, Rascos! You know I don't want it to come to that..." Kirak retorted as he rubbed his hand over his forehead. "Alright, alright. We've got weapons and armor for you all, and... I guess a spare set as well. We've also arranged for some simple day jobs to pay for your stay at the inn and some food, you'll blend in well enough as long as nobody does anything stupid to give themselves away. So, what did the rest of you want? This is a bit unusual after all."

Moira spoke up, her lip quivered faintly, but she kept her voice clear in spite of the emotions running through her. "Frankly it was just to get a read on you. You asked for a lot in exchange for unspecified, undelivered help. I suppose you've managed to give us some of it already..." She said as a crate was brought out, which Romare and Nagi got up to assist in opening. They pulled out suits of chainmail and some military grade weaponry. They grinned like children being given grand presents.

Moira continued, "But everything about this has been strange in the extreme. Rascal... Rascos, has been very tight-lipped about it. But if we're going to work together, at least some trust should come with a trade in goods, pardons, and so on."

Shanda and Kirak traded serious looks, and then nodded quietly to one another. "Clear the room." Kirak said, and the people arrayed along the walls and at various small tables got up and began to file out. When the room had only the eight of them remaining, Shanda spoke up.

"So you want to know more... well to make this easier, tell me this first... what do you know about the Scriptures of the Slane Theocracy?" She asked with an intense look on her face raking over all of them.


	139. Information

**AN: Just so you know, if you look carefully throughout these chapters, you'll find plenty of references to historical events, some are more obvious than others, but to the history nerds among you, go nuts. :)**

 _...Yanana..._

The city was bustling like crazy as Yuri walked steadily through the streets. She moved at a steady clip, so between the grim expression on her face and her military uniform, she went unmolested and people gave her a wide berth. Not an easy task in such a busy place, but she did not have to so much as go around someone, the aura of death hung over her like a cloud. Despite her grim expression, she was overwhelmed with happiness. 'So many... I can almost smell the heresy, I wonder what games I'll get to play here before that bitch arrives to ruin the fun.' She thought to herself, an almost sexual bliss consumed her thoughts as she turned eyes towards one individual after another. She would look upon one, a man, a woman, the young, the old, it didn't matter, and imagine what they'd look like twisting in her grip.

She sniffed a little dismissively, 'Still better with demihumans, tougher bodies, they hold out longer, makes me miss Jaldabaoth. He gave me so many beautiful toys... even if he didn't mean to.' She giggled a little under her breath and tore her thoughts away from her favorite pastime and focused on the job at hand.

She made her way to the temple and paused to look around, it was a truly impressive pavillion, the court of justice. Though it was colder now and the soldiers wore warmer equipment, the place looked much like what she'd imagined it did. She paused at the temple steps and turned around, descending the long amphitheater seating. There were no trials going on at the moment so except for a few people pausing to relax, it was empty. When she got to the bottom she approached the Pillars of Justice. Yuri smiled when she passed the spot of dried blood where, as the story went, one of the judges had been injured.

The low pillar with the chain on it that had secured Neia's wrists, and the two large pillars where she'd had her back stripped and her wrists secured. "What must it have been like for you... gods, if only I could have done it... how long would it have taken for me to break you... ten lashes? Fifty? A hundred? And those fools could not even manage one? Pathetic." Yuri laughed in a low and pretty tone and touched the chain. "Capturing you might be hard... but oh by the gods... if only..." Yuri's face broke into a mad smile and she fairly hugged the chain to her breast as she trembled at the enjoyment of what horrors she longed for.

She then dropped the chain and looked around some more, a few had noticed her, but none approached, she ascended the stairs again and returned to the temple, pausing suddenly when a beggar crawled over to her and looked up with spittle flying from his lips. "Divine wrath! Divine wrath! Divine wrath!" He shouted over and over again from his doglike position, fear had him shaking with horror and she could not even be sure he was seeing 'her' in front of him.

Yuri grinned and touched his cheek as she looked down at him, "Oh you poor little fool... I am divine 'pain', I fear no wrath." She laughed, then curved her fingers into a clawlike position and raked them over his face. If he registered the pain from the now bloody streaks, he didn't show it.

She pursed her lips in a tiny frown, "Boring." She huffed unhappily, and went the rest of the way into the temple. The decor was par for the course, an open area, a single wall that created a corridor to go to a priest's private offices, the open area filled with seating and a place for someone to speak. The unusual thing was that, despite this being a day for worship, the temple was half empty.

Nobody was in the back at the speaking position. That was curious. Yuri approached someone who was praying and put her hand on his shoulder. "Hey, where's the priest shouldn't he be here for services?" She asked with a raised eyebrow.

The person she was speaking to looked up in surprise. "Are you new here?" He asked. "Oh, of course you are." He said when he tore his eyes away from her face and saw her uniform. He stood up, he was a middle aged man with a stocky body that was slowly going to fat, but the reason for that was obvious, when he stood, he was in obvious pain from his right leg.

"Come, step away from the worship area and I'll explain." He said with a whisper that barely carried.

She moved aside and let him lead her to the wall that made the private hallway. Once on the other side of it, he leaned heavily against it so that he didn't have to rely on his leg. "Yes, the priest 'should' be here, but there aren't enough priests left. They're having to work in shifts and cut services."

"What happened, did they die?" She asked with genuine curiosity in her voice as she scratched her head.

"No, their faith did. After Neia's trial and her departure things got... hectic." He said as he thought about it.

"So... would you say it got 'heretic' pretty quickly?" Yuri grinned at the evil pun.

He shuddered. "Puns... no, just... no." He slapped his palm to his face, then relaxed and continued, "But also kind of yes, some Red Paladins took up residence, along with a few priests, they started undermining the temples, they went to the work sites and just waited for people to be injured... then they'd use their magic without even being asked. The temples where it was supposed to happen started losing money. So then they started restricting healing to certain 'areas' and issuing licenses that only official priests could get. People ignored the rules, even the guards. Official priests, the young ones usually, the idealists, some of them started leaving."

He slumped lower, as if he couldn't believe what he was saying. "So then the temples started charging people 'in advance' on the promise that they wouldn't charge people anything when they needed it, that helped for a little while, but then... well they started using the money to push back against the newcomers, making laws that kept them from helping anyone who was a member of the six or the four. So... people left both and joined the new religion. Stupid move really." He added in a gruff voice.

"Why are you still here then?" Yuri asked.

"I grew up under the gods, I'll be damned if I follow an undead." He said grimly. "Not that I don't appreciate what their 'people' are doing, but the temples guide us under the will of the gods, they wouldn't mislead us over something as petty as coin, not with their souls at stake." He said confidently.

"So... when will the priest be here then?" Yuri asked, shifting the subject to keep back her laughter.

"By noon I guess. I'm just here early to pray for healing, most of the people out there are doing the same. Either for themselves or their children." He said in passing, "Now, excuse me... I must get back to it. The gods do not reward idle faith. I must show my devotion to receive their blessing." He said with a pleasant expression that showed his optimism, and walked away when Yuri nodded in acceptance.

She went back to the priest's office and reached down to open the door. It didn't open. "Locked?" She said in disbelief. "No, it's not locked." She grinned and wrenched the knob, breaking the lock, then walking through to take a seat and wait.

She folded one leg over the other and waited, as it turned out the idiot in the temple proper was just about right, an old, wrinkled man in rich robes showed up and looked aghast at his office door, and then almost as surprised at the armored woman waiting impatiently tapping her foot.

"Get in, close the door, sit down, shut up, and wait to speak until I ask you a question." Yuri said without a hint of mercy in her brutal voice, killing intent oozed out of her flesh like sap down a cut tree or blood from an open wound.

He blinked in disbelief, but did as she said and moved to his desk. As an extra measure, she sat staring at him, stretching out the silence while he shifted uncomfortably. When he was thoroughly uncomfortable, only then did Yuri speak. "Explain why you have living heretics in the South. Are they not flammable or something?" Her voice was cold and demanding, and her eyes narrowed as if she was staring at an ugly carcass.

"Ah," he started to say, then swallowed even more uncomfortably, when she asked about the 'flammability' of heretics, she detected a faint smell of ammonia in the air, and he drew back with his hands gesturing up and down placatingly, a fearful smile on his face, "it's... well... did you see the man outside?" He asked.

"The crazy beggar guy? Pretty pathetic, but what about him?" She asked.

"He wasn't always a crazy beggar guy. "He was once a priest, a significant one, then Neia's trial happened, now he's a raving lunatic, 'Divine Wrath' is almost the only thing he says." The priest slumped forward, dejected.

"So?" Yuri asked.

"So now everybody who isn't a heretic, is absolutely terrified of heretics. Nobody will testify against heretics, nobody will accuse people of heresy, nobody will even take a whip to the heretics when they're open about it." The old priest grumbled unhappily.

"Well, your solution has arrived. You know the situation by now, don't you?" Yuri asked coldly.

"The Queen of Heresy, the daughter of the undead, the unliving child, the voice of the skeleton, the dark herald... is coming, yes." He said with equal coldness, which Yuri found refreshing. But that struck her as odd.

"What's with all the titles?" She inquired in bafflement.

"Oh, when she was on trial, she used a multitude of titles to name herself, after she left, people started making up their own to describe her, some more mocking than others, some meant to terrify... some guards even got bored and turned it into, if you can believe it... a drinking game." He said with a measure of annoyance.

"A drinking game. How do you play that?" Yuri asked, suddenly intrigued.

"Apparently you come up with a title and if you do, you drink, if you don't, everybody else drinks. You've got the timespan of a feather drop and... well most of the time they were all getting drunk very, very quickly. We banned the game but... well the titles remain." He rolled his eyes.

"Hmmph! Irregardless of that, yes, she's coming this way with an army at her back and if you want to fend her off, the heretics are a fifth column, an enemy within the walls. They have to be broken. I've already spoken with the commanding General, he's authorized any and all measures necessary to put down the heresy of this city and ensure it is kept secure."

"Now that... should both alleviate, and create, some fears in all the right places." The old priest said happily.

...Crossroads...

Owl was the first to speak up to Shanda's question. "Dangerous, dirty, and absurdly powerful for humans." He said in his childlike voice.

"Thank you, that's quite right." Kirak replied. "Anyone else?" He asked.

"They're butchers." Ham grunted out unhappily, he folded his arms over his chest in distaste. "My village was wiped out by a scripture a long time ago, b'fore the Sorcerer King came along. Call em'selves the saviors of humanity, but they're killers with uniforms an' nothin more." He spat in disgust.

"Also correct." Shanda said with a regretful smile on her face and a minor tremble to her hands that she barely stilled. "Anyone else?" She asked.

No one spoke. "Alright then. Well you're looking at three of them." Kirak said bluntly. He touched his hand to his chest, "I was a Windflower Scripture."

Shanda touched her hand to her chest, "I was Clearwater Scripture."

"You said three, but there are two of you." Petyr pointed out, trying to stay ahead of the sense of surprise that had clearly caught his friends and made them silent.

"Ahem, ahem." Kirak and Shanda said in unison and centered on Rascal. He lowered his eyes.

"Fuck it." He groused and announced, "I was also Clearwater Scripture. That's how I know them. That's why I can plan things out the way I do, and that's why I survived our suicide mission."

The rest could only gape.

"Why... why are you helping us?" Moira asked in disbelief, "Why are you 'here' at all?!" All she could do was blink as she breathlessly voiced her questions, nor was she alone in her dumbfounded look.

Rascos was the first to answer. "I told you about my time as a mutilis, but that wasn't all. I joined the Theocracy army when I was old enough, they had me 'tested' I guess you could say, turned out I had a talent for stealth based operations, top of my class actually. I was routed into the scripture ranks and hand picked for the Clearwater. We act as scouts and information gatherers, assassins, we can fight but... that isn't our main purpose. This is the thing that got me... the abject hypocrisy. Out in the field, we mantained friendly relations with various tribes, demihumans, elves, and so on, it was the only way to operate out there, you couldn't fight everyone. So we would sometimes help one against the other and negotiate peacefully for help or resources. Here we were, supposed to be the chosen people of the gods, everybody else... worm food or slaves." He clenched his fists and shook with rage.

"I was OK with that for awhile, but you spend time out there long enough, you find out how you're not that different from many of the others we're supposed to hate. I got on well with some demihumans, some isolated elf tribes in the Dark Elf country, that kind of thing. So this one time I was out on an assignment and I got separated, I got hurt, and a couple of elves found me."

He looked around at his comrades, "They... treated me, took care of me, nursed me back from the edge of death until they could get me to one of their tribe's healers. I stayed with them a few days, went hunting with some of their men... then one day we came back and the tribe was... it was dead. The Agante had incited a fight that got that little tribe exterminated. I just couldn't do it after that, I couldn't say we were 'good'. I couldn't believe in our cause anymore. They'd saved me and we'd killed them in return. That was the end of my loyalty to the Theocracy, and to our beliefs, and to our gods. I hunted down and killed the relevant Agante members, soaked some of my things in blood and left them somewhere they would be found by the rest of our people and..." he closed his fist, then opened it and blew over his palm as if scattering dust, "poof, I was gone and presumed dead."

"I took on a new name, then left for the Sorcerous Kingdom as soon as it began. When this war broke out, I joined up as soon as I could. I've got a lot to make up for, killing the right people this time, that's all I want to do." He said in a hollow, empty voice. "Anything else?"

Shanda looked them over, "If you must know... then me, I used to work with Rascos, but the kicker for me was when we went heretic hunting in a village in our own country. There was this family that was accused of heresy by the local mayor, it was a big enough deal to call us in because the father was one of the largest landowners in the area. Of course we found what we sought, he was tried and executed, his property was confiscated and his wife turned out onto the street with their two children."

She let out a bitter laugh, "Of course we found the evidence the mayor wanted us to find, the land was resold and he bought most of it up, the wife ended up in a brothel to survive, and she didn't last a year, she was this little spring foal of a girl, delicate, wholly unprepared for that life. The brothel owner gave 'contracts' to her children, and the mayor approved them, the contracts were disgustingly one sided, and so these two naive little ones, not even ten, ended up getting worked to death in the fields that used to belong to their father. I didn't know all this at the time, I'd done my job and moved on. I found out when I went back, I returned the day the children died, passed where they were being disposed of just at the moment they were being thrown into a hole in the field by the road. I recognized the little boy's flaming red hair, it was still vibrant even in death... I..." Shanda clutched her hands together as if in prayer and squeezed them tight enough that they shook.

"I... I did that to them, even if I didn't mean to. So I started checking and found out what happened after I left. That was what opened my eyes, I started realizing all our 'heresy hunting' was a sham! A sham! We were being used to crush political enemies, steal land and lives and goods and... I hadn't signed up for that. So I killed the mayor and ran off, I faked my death by throwing some of my equipment into an area known to be occupied by monsters, after smearing the mayor's blood on it of course. I heard rumors about a killer outside this city and recognized Rascos's work. I tracked him down and he hooked me up with Kirak. Now I run the whores and the information brokerage in this city."

Kirak rolled his eyes, "You're both long winded. Short version is that my story is a lot like theirs. Look you want to know the truth, Scriptures seem as crazy devoted as they do because some people out there... they're like us. They quit, they take off and can't do that shit anymore. Sometimes some poor sap falls in love with an elf, sometimes they start to identify with the people they're supposed to hate, but either way we all go one or two ways... we get sick of the crap our country makes us do and realize we're on the wrong side, or we go full fanatic to the point where nothing matters but their orders." He pointed to Ham, "The ones who visited 'you' would be the latter." Kirak said grimly. "I hooked up with Rascos and he hooked me up with Shanda, he used his unique skills with deception and illusion magic, among other things, along with some money he'd put aside, and got us set up as the ones who run the underground here. You'll find an ex scripture or two in most of the cities of the Theocracy if you look into the criminal elements. We're hunted, of course, not everybody fakes their death effectively. But we exist. Satisfied?"

"Do we really have a choice but to be?" Petyr asked.

"No." The trio of ex-scriptures replied bluntly.

"Then yes." Owl said reluctantly.

"Well, if we've got... all that out of the way, then this is what I got from Mananak before he was captured." Petyr said anxiously and explained about the enchanted scorpion ammunition.

"Yeah, that'd be a problem. Every problem can be solved, you can't do much about what they've already got, but how about if you keep more from being made?" Kirak suggested confidently.

"Yes, that'll do. But how, we don't know where they're being made." Moira pointed out unhappily, her lips contorted into a frown.

"But I can tell you who makes them." Shanda said with a wicked smile. "There's only one magic user in this city who can handle that, he favors one of my more expensive whores. I can get you into his residence and you can kill him, if he dies, well with the city under siege, they won't be able to get anyone else in who can make those."

"Tonight then." Rascos said. "Who will handle it?"

Nagi and Romare traded a look, "We've already worked together once on sneaking in somewhere, I think we can pull this off." Nagi said with a confidence he wasn't entirely certain he felt, but faked well enough.

"Alright." Shanda said, "I'll send someone for you an hour before she's scheduled to tire the lecher out. He always dismisses his guards during that time because he's embarrassed to be seen naked, and from what my girl tells me, he should be." She giggled salaciously. "You can sneak in with relative ease, wait till he's asleep, and finish him off... pun intended of course." She said with another wicked laugh, one that brought unexpected laughs in return before, after a few more minutes of discussion, they all got up to part ways.


	140. Reunion

**AN: If you haven't guessed, shit is going to start getting a fuckton darker as this story progresses towards the end. Reviews welcome, discord invite is in the author page, or just search discordbee for 'Overlord Fanfiction'.**

...South of Prart...

"Neia!" Lakyus shouted from a distance well beyond the army. Though it was a distance, in the half light of the setting sun as it cast it's rays through the great trees, even if Lakyus had not said a thing, Neia couldn't have failed to recognize her. Lakyus waved enthusiastically and the call to halt the line of march was made as the three women at the head of the column rode over the distance to meet their companion. Lakyus trotted over with a welcome expression on her face, followed quickly by her sisters who stepped from out of the woods once they were sure there was no trap or illusion at work.

"Lakyus, good to see you." Neia said, embracing the woman. "Have you all been... busy?" She asked enthusiastically.

"Very, very busy. One group got past us, but we took out two others before that, I hope they didn't give you any trouble." Evileye asked with a small measure of aplomb. "That one had scripture members so..."

"Had." Neia said. "It 'had' scripture members, they're corpses now."

"Oh, well good." Gagaran said gruffly, raising her thumb up.

"Yes." Tia said.

"Agreed." Tina added.

"But wait... why are you... here?" Lakyus asked, taking Neia's hands in hers, "Is everything alright?" Her eyes shone with concern as she asked the question, but Skana only laughed beside her wife.

"The only thing wrong is that my wife is very, very pissed off." She said proudly. She put her left hand on her hip and rolled her right hand casually as she explained, "See, it turns out Calca doesn't really have the will to butcher half the country for her crown... I guess there are worse things but... well, she's following some kind of plan from his Majesty to let the South go free and independent. My wife though... wants to give them a good hard kick to the crotch before they walk away."

CZ punched one fist into her own open palm for emphasis.

"Oh... yes, Yanana is where they..." Lakyus started to say, then snapped her mouth closed. "No, sorry, I shouldn't have said anything." She corrected herself as she saw a moment of distress on Neia's face, even with the visor there, the way her lips twitched for a moment spoke volumes.

Neia covered for it quickly, painting a smile back into place. "It's fine, everything's fine, don't worry about it, all that is behind me now. Well... though I'll admit I'll enjoy seeing what they have to say now with an army at my back." She let out a laugh that might as well have been ripped out of the mouth of shadows, and then it was gone, cut off when her mouth closed.

"So, you want to come with us or keep up with all the little raids and scouting you've been doing? I promise the food is better with us." Skana asked with a pleasant and welcoming tone.

Blue Rose required only a glance, and they were in agreement. "Absolutely. We're with you." Lakyus replied.

"Alright, then fall in, can't keep this army standing around all day. Draw some unused horses from the back, then come and ride up front with us." Neia said and pointed her thumb over her shoulder to the line of march on the road behind her.

"Yes, ma'am." Lakyus said with a smart salute, bringing her fist over her chest.

After Blue Rose had all received undead horses, they planted themselves confidently at the head of the column while Neia gave them the rundown of events that had transpired since their departure. Blue Rose listened attentively, inserting the occasional question along the way, and apologizing profusely for letting the scripture backed assassination get around them.

"Don't sweat it." Neia shrugged it off, "I enjoyed handling them myself, I owe the scriptures pain." She was oblivious to the way it chilled the blood of 'most' of her companions to hear the icy way in which the Black Paladin spoke.

"Now how about you, what else have you been up to, did you reach as far as Yanana?" Neia asked, her voice changing rapidly as she shifted the topic away from herself.

"Ehr, yes, we did. Tia and Tina slipped in easily enough to check out the underbelly, while Evileye walked around and scouted out the common environments of the public sphere. Gagaran and I... well... we stand out a bit too much, so we waited outside the city." Lakyus explained.

"What did you find?" Neia asked in a tone that was all business. Her lips pursed tight below her visor.

"A city divided against itself." Evileye said breathlessly. "Your religion spread like wildfire there after what happened, but the older ones, and the ones in power, remain loyal to the temples and the old gods. Tensions were high, and that was 'before' the army under Suchala and Yuri entered the place. I very much doubt things are better there now. Probably worse."

"Well, at least that means we'll have people inside we can count on to help us from within." Neia said hopefully, "Of course, there is the question of how to face the place but... I think I have an idea about how to handle that."

...Crossroads...

Evening came on fast, with the remaining six gathered in a single room. "I still can't believe you were a scripture member." Moira said to Rascal in wide eyed disbelief.

"That's why I was good at it." He explained with a cocky grin as he sat on the bed with one leg up on the frame as he passed out bottles of liquor. "One drink for the dead, may he be the last." He said, and they uncorked their bottles, raised them in toast, and took a heavy swig.

Moira started hacking immediately, much to the laughter of her peers. "Not used to the hard stuff?"

She grinned, "Not really, but no better time to try it." She said with a progressively sillier expression forming on her face as she went cross-eyed and giggled.

A knock came at the door and the room tensed, it pushed open slightly and a small girl, not even a teenager poked her head in. "Shanda says it's time."

Nagi and Romare recorked their bottles and put them into their shirt pockets. "Alright. Wish us luck." Romare said with his customarily sour expression on his face. He scratched his bald head and hesitated, then spat out, "Just in case... Moira... thanks." He said reluctantly.

"Yeah... thanks." Nagi echoed, she rose to her feet and rendered a sharp salute.

"It's been an honor, men." She replied. The rest of the party stood, and rendered salutes in turn.

The two then walked out of the room, following the girl's lead.

"That was serious enough that... I don't think one bottle will do. You'll excuse me?" Ham asked those of the group remaining in the room.

"If I can join you." Owl replied.

"You two go ahead, there's a pretty girl I'd like to visit. I'll come back in the morning." Petyr said, rising to his feet like the others.

"You joining us Moira, Rascal... Rascos?" Owl asked invitingly.

"No, I'm not much for crowds tonight." Moira said with a wan smile.

"Suit yourself." Ham said, "Rascos?" He asked, turning his eye to the former scripture member.

"Just Rascal now." Rascal replied, "But no, I don't think so, you have fun though, and... here." He said, taking out his coin purse, he removed six silver and handed it to Owl. "You two have some extras on me."

"Thanks!" Ham said and eagerly headed out the door, followed hot on his heels by Owl.

Alone in the room together, Rascal popped the cork and took a swig.

Moira did the same. "Do you think we made the right call?" She asked seriously.

"I think we made the call we had to, but if you're asking if I think we'll get through this alive?" He shrugged dismissively. "Don't know, but I know we didn't make the call that would ensure our survival at least."

"Any regrets?" She asked as she took another drink.

"Lots, but about this?" He shook his head. "None."

"Thanks, that makes me feel better." She replied appreciatively.

"Is it really wise of you to do this, you could still pull out, don't you have a son to go home to?" He asked considerately.

Moira's eyes welled with tears, "Yes, but that is why I do this. He's alive because of our king, this is a life debt, one I can't repay by playing it safe."

"I can respect that. You're one helluva woman, Moira." Rascos said admiringly.

"Well, that's a first." She said with a wry grin.

"What?" He asked uncertainly.

"Usually when a man says that, he's checking out my boobs." She replied with a laugh. "God, you men latch onto 'em as babes for awhile, get a little older, and then spend your lives trying to find another pair." She rolled her eyes melodramatically.

Rascos laughed uproariously. "Well, it's going to rain again tonight if you want to go stand out there and give me another look at them like last time."

Moira set the bottle aside and gave him a lecherous look, "I'd rather not get 'em all chilly again like last time, this way'll be easier." She said and peeled off her shirt. Within a few minutes, they were too distracted to hear or care about the crash of a boulder smashing a nearby building as another bombardment began.

Scripture or no, Rascal barely had time to realize what she was doing before she was up and pressing her lips to his, pressing him into the bed.

It didn't take long for Nagi and Romare to reach the residence of their target. Though it was early evening still, that just meant they had time to scout the area. "When the window opens, that will be your chance." The child said, and then she was gone after pointing out which window she meant.

The two men traded a look. "Imposing, isn't it?" Nagi asked.

"A little." Romare said as they looked the building over. It was several stories tall and the window the girl pointed out was very high. The building was baked brick rather than stone, but it was a large, wide building and even from where they stood they could see that it was a fairly secure place. They walked around the outside wall that kept the residence private, looking for any gaps or holes, and finding none.

"I can get us up there pretty easily, in spite of..." He waved his hand out in front of himself as if to encompass the area, "all this. However, can you keep up?"

Romare thought it over. His sour expression did not waver, his lips stayed pursed and wrinkled together and he stroked his chin thoughtfully. "Yes, as far as it goes, I mean I can't scale that, but if you can get up to the roof and lower a rope, I can climb up easily enough."

"That'll have to do. We don't have a big window here." Nagi replied.

Romare looked up at the window and then back to Nagi. "Looks big enough to me." He said, tilting his head to one side in confusion.

Nagi slapped his own palm to his face. "Of time, man, a big window of time."

"Oh. OK, no, we don't." Romare replied sheepishly as he rubbed his bald head in embarrassment.

After watching the area discreetly for awhile longer until the darkness set in, they finally saw the window open. They scaled the wall easily enough, it was more to mark the property off than to secure it, and they moved through the shadows to the wall, sweeping stealthily over the grass with low profiles moving along the ground.

When they reached the wall, Nagi began to scale the heights. His fingers carefully found purchase, and brick by brick he ascended as easily as an insect might, and with no less speed.

"Wow, fast." Romare muttered with wide-eyed disbelief. When Nagi reached the roof, he secured and lowered a rope down to where Romare stood. Romare began to ascend, walking himself up the side going as quickly and quietly as he could until Nagi held out his hand. Romare clasped the offered forearm and grunted as Nagi hauled him up. He quickly reeled up the rope and then they laid themselves flat on the roof to avoid giving a silhouette against the sky. The moon was bright in the sky that night as they lay there and looked up.

The first drops of rain began to fall. Down below, they could hear the sound of moaning through the roof. Fake, clearly fake, even obvious to them through the roof 'fake'.

"Great, he gets laid, but 'we' are the ones who get wet." Nagi laughed at the joke.

Romare turned his head to look at his companion, "Well, we're in the rain though..."

Nagi sighed with exasperation, "Never mind. At least it won't take long."

A few minutes later, the noise stopped. Nagi lowered the rope again and eased himself over the side. Romare followed. Nagi then began to kick his legs back and forth, swaying the rope until he came close enough to the wall to push off of it with more force, then when it swayed much harder, much closer to the window, he let go of the rope and flew quietly through.

Romare followed his lead, and Nagi caught him gently and quietly, helping him to land silently within the room.

They crept to the door to the bedroom from the antechamber into which they'd landed, the guards had yet to return. 'Pathetic, he doesn't want anyone to know how little time it takes him to finish either.' Nagi laughed in his own mind.

The pair pressed their heads against the door, there was silence within.

Romare took his bow from off his back and nocked an arrow, Nagi nodded as Romare positioned himself so that they would not be an impediment, he crouched down and gently turned the knob, then pushed it open slowly.

Two unfortunate things happened just then. The first was that the bed was positioned against the side wall, and the whore was in the way of a clean shot, laying on her side next to their target. The second unfortunate thing was that the door creaked and the mage heard it.

'Shit.' Nagi and Romare thought in unison as he leaned up from the mattress and saw them. He was an older man, and somewhat waifish, with a long white beard and a great many wrinkles. However despite his evident age and his... lack of skill with women, he was not unfit, and he was not inexperienced in combat. He immediately shouted [Fireball] and sent a blast of flame hurtling toward the entryway to his room.

The whore screamed and tried to scramble out of the bed, Romare dove in to one side of the room and loosed his arrow, [Protection] however, had already been cast even as he was rolling in, and the arrow skittered away.

Nagi rushed in with a knife and a short sword as he dove inward to the left to avoid the flame, but he had not gone five feet when the mage snapped [Lightning] and Nagi froze in place, screaming as the electricity ripped through him.

Romare drew another arrow and fired, it too bounced away, however he was already rushing in with a short sword, just as his instructors taught him. The magic caster snarled and grabbed the screaming whore by her hair and flung her bodily in Romare's direction, so that she staggered into his path and fell, forcing him to avoid her and slowing him down.

Nagi hurt, everything hurt, his limbs, his legs, his eyes, his fingers. But at least the lightning had stopped when the caster turned to deal with Romare. He took his knife and drew it back to his ear and threw it forward as hard as he could. The old magic caster's spell protected him from the tip penetrating his flesh, but not from the force of impact, and it had struck him square in the temple, he snapped back, and his next [Fireball] went wild, the room was on fire, the guards could now be clearly heard rushing back to the rescue, the whore ran screaming from the room as soon as she'd disentangled herself from Romare.

Romare sent another arrow at him, staggering the magic caster farther. 'Shit, how the hell are we supposed to kill this guy?" He asked himself.

The old magic caster was still naked and laughing, as if his nudity was a mockery, he'd begun to relax in the process of killing the two would-be assassins.

'Damn fools, did they think I could be so easily subdued?' The old man thought to himself, 'I, who once studied under Fluder Paradyne himself? No, I am not so easily beaten!'

His arrogance proved a fatal mistake. [Poison Cloud] He said, pointing it at Nagi, and he turned to look at Romare as Nagi began to die within the cloud. It was because he'd turned away that he did not see the bottle come flying out of the cloud until it shattered against his body, soaking him thoroughly.

Romare saw the way it soaked the caster and realized what Nagi had thought of. He grinned with teeth bared and popped the cork from his bottle just as he pulled it. The caster was distracted for a moment as his skin was drenched in the pungent alcohol. It was the only moment Romare needed, the bottle flew from his hand straight and true, trailing alcohol through the air, just as the flame of yet another fireball flew out, the fire caught the liquid and raced along the trail and burst the bottle just as it struck the magic caster. The burning liquid soaked his skin and the fire raced over the parts already drenched, just as the last fireball struck Romare full in the chest and the explosion flung him back against the wall.

The magic caster screamed like a madman as he tried to bat the flames out, rolling desperately as it the fat popped beneath his skin and his eyes melted in his head, and his hair caught fire and the flames tore apart his scalp as if it were a living thing desperate to consume him.

"Maybe not! But you will be by mine!" He shouted and stumbled forward in a desperate rush.

Burning or not, Romare was young, strong, and determined that he and Nagi should not fail their mission and pass into death by themselves. But all he could do with that determination was lay there against the wall and watch.

The magic caster's desperate rolling sent fire everywhere, the bed caught, the curtains caught, the rug caught, flame was spreading with every mad and desperate gesture.

As Nagi lost himself to the poison, he made out the faint shapes beyond the killing cloud, and saw that their frantic motions were slowing down to nothing. 'So it ends, but my job is done.' He thought, and then the blackness took him.

Romare felt his flesh burn to nothing, but even as he died, he saw that he did not die alone, the magic caster perished just as the guards entered, some ran himself and Nagi through with their spears, while a few desperately tried to save the life of their charge by pulling him from the room as it filled with smoke and the stench of burning flesh.

As the light faded from his eyes, Romare could only think, 'A fitting, final end. Namila, I come home to you...' He tried to whisper to people only he could see, only for the words to come out in a spray of blood, then his body relaxed, and he joined Nagi and their target in darkness.


	141. The Long Road Home

**AN: Thanks for reading this far, hope you've enjoyed yourself, just a reminder that if you want to see me write full time, you can support that effort at patr-eon dot com slash tellingstories where my first original work is available and unfolding for your reading pleasure. :)**

 _...Elf Kingdom..._

Zesshi rode like a woman possessed, at her left and right were her chief aides. Replacing their undead mounts with living ones to avoid any chance of standing out had seemed like a good idea. Then they rode until their horses collapsed and died from exhaustion and after that, they were compelled to run on foot. No time was wasted, no moment spared. Were they not vampire elves, neither Thirg nor Tefl would have had a prayer to any gods of keeping up with the rapidity of Zesshi's pace. As they moved over path and road, beneath and through the trees, bypassing villages and populated areas, it became more and more apparent to even the normally oblivious Zesshi Zetsumei that her aides were increasingly on edge.

Still, it was three days of riding and running before she bothered to ask, when her curiosity finally got to her and they made camp. They'd hidden themselves deep within the woods. A great high canopy rose above her, one so thick that they didn't really need to move along the ground. They could have run from limb to limb in the heights of the trees and never even needed to jump.

"The green wood is just like I remember." Thirg said as he looked around.

"Exactly the same." Tefl said as she squeezed a honeycomb in hand, drizzling some honey over meat that had started to roast.

"How long since you last saw it?" Zesshi asked as she moved a log into place to serve as a seat.

The fraternal twins shared a look and thought it over. "About a hundred and ninety years I guess." Thirg replied with a shrug of his massive shoulders.

"Long time, even by elven reckoning." Tefl added as she sliced up some carrots into a stew.

"I guess so, I've never seen it, I have to admit... this place... it speaks to me." Zesshi reluctantly acknowledged.

"So it does for all of us, like mountains to the dwarves, this is where we are supposed to be." Tefl said as she wiped her knife clean and put it back into one of her many pouches.

"I guess that explains why I never much cared for Kami Miyako." Zesshi replied thoughtfully.

"Do you think so… maybe?" Thirg grumbled out with mild sarcasm as he tossed aside the honeycomb and began adding herbs to the meat.

"Crescent Lake is something very different." Tefl said proudly as she made herself comfortable on a log of her own.

"Different how? A city is a city, isn't it?" Zesshi asked in passing. "Damn, Thirg! Whatever it is you're doing to that meat... it's a work of art, I've never smelled something so good in a camp before." She inhaled the scent and held it in as if unwilling to let it escape.

"Wild turkey, I don't think they have these in human lands, or if they do, they must be rare because I never saw them." He replied with a grin that prominently displayed his fangs. "I may not need to eat anymore, but I still enjoy the smell and I still know how to make it." He had a proud, even cocky expression on his face as he turned the flesh over and over. "And to answer your question, no. It's the only truly elven city in the world as far as I know, I mean we've got other big towns, plenty of villages, but Crescent Lake is unlike anything else."

"OK, for that buildup, it had better be." Zesshi replied archly, "Now thanks for cooking and all, but cut me a piece of that, I can't stand the wait any longer."

A moment later she was chewing enthusiastically while Tefl scooped stew and handed it over to Zesshi. "I'm not the cook my brother is, but hey, it's edible and it beats going hungry."

"I'm guessing you know a little about that?" Zesshi said archly.

"Yeah, we do." Tefl replied unhappily as she looked down into the remnants of the meal she'd prepared.

"It's part of why we enjoy our vampiric state, even when we were hunted beings, it was better that than 'hungry' beings." Thirg added with a sad curl to his lip that was a sort of ironic smile.

"How'd that happen anyway? I never heard any reports of vampires living in the Elf Kingdom." Zesshi asked as she dipped her bread into the stew.

Thirg picked up his maul and twirled the two handed weapon idly in one hand. "Simple really, before the war broke out, we were sold to the humans as slaves, but back then security wasn't exactly fantastic. We were eventually able to escape. I guess the war broke out about then, that was probably why, though we didn't exactly have a calendar to confirm that for us." Thirg smirked a little at the humor, and Tefl picked up.

"We got lost, and ended up in a vampire's hands, if we'd been human, I'm sure he'd have killed us, but I guess the novelty of having some elves serve him was enough, so he turned us. We were his slaves for awhile, we learned from him. But then something strange happened."

"Strange?" Zesshi asked, suddenly intrigued, she leaned forward a bit as she finished her bread, stew, and set the bowl aside.

"Yeah," Thirg said, "See, we'd been living in a cave preying on travelers, and then a traveler shows up and pays my master to turn him. Never seen that happen before, paid enough that we even got some trips in disguise to a human city. Life got better... for him, but then one day some adventurers showed up and killed him, and we were masterless again. Masterless... but still very, very strong."

"Well, looks like you got lucky." Zesshi replied.

"Very." The siblings agreed sharply.

"Still, it was an edgy existence until the Sorcerer King got started and his pope began to follow suit." Thirg added.

"Anyone in Crescent Lake you need to rescue personally?" Zesshi asked as she thought it over.

"I doubt it." Tefl said sadly as she looked down into the flames. "We weren't from a hostage town."

"Well, if everything works out after we get to Kami Miyako, 'nobody' will be from a hostage town." Zesshi said with a savage grin.

Two very fangy smiles greeted that statement.

...Crossroads...

Moira's eyes fluttered open slowly, low murmurs came past her lips that were 'not quite' words. 'Warm. I feel warm.' She thought with a dawning awareness. Everything was still dark as pitch in the room. There was a faint sound of water falling outside. Normally, the thin walls of the cheap building did little to keep out the cold weather that was taking hold over the city, so the warmth she felt was a welcome relief.

That was when she realized her hands were touching flesh. The fluttering of her eyes flew open and she realized it wasn't just her hands, she felt skin against the entire front of her body. She reached up and touched her head. Memory came flooding back.

"Oh... right." She whispered in the dark. "Rascal... Rascos and I..." She blushed as she remembered the lewdity of the night before, it had been fun, reckless and enthusiastic, an impulsive decision she made as the warmth of the liquor they shared and the heated, urgent desperation of their conditions hit home and caught fire in them both.

He was breathing heavily, deeply in his sleep. Slowly her eyes adjusted to the dark and she made out the shadowy outline of his face. The grim fury of his killing intent returned to mind, how different he seemed when asleep to when awake. She slipped out from under the blanket and got out of the bed. She gently replaced the blanket over him when she felt his body shiver with the cold. He sighed and rolled over onto his side. She looked around the room. They were alone, she got dressed in the dark as best she could and let herself out.

Down the hall, down the stairs, and out the door she went. The rain was drizzling slowly, but that was steadily picking up. The hours were predawn, the sun still hid from the world. "I wonder where that goes every night." Moira mused with idle indifference as she sat down on a small stack of crates that sat by the door. She watched as the lifeless streets began to waken with the footsteps of people going off to their own tasks. Women going to the public fountains to draw water, soldiers yawning as they went to their patrol duties. Industrious merchants who could not suffer idleness. But the most noticeable to her were the people heading in the direction of the wall where the main gate lay.

The night had been relatively quiet, only the occasional impact before darkness set in. She looked down the street to the right, she vaguely recalled the sound of an impact about the time she'd taken her shirt off. Now she could see where it had hit. There were some red stains on the street, along with a scattering of rubble, a large rock was embedded where a decent sized building had been. Curiously, she found herself looking at the minor carnage with indifference. 'Wow, a lifetime ago that would have been upsetting.' She thought, and then shrugged and walked over, most were giving the place a wide berth as if afraid to come close to the ruin of a building and the dead within, and no soldiers had secured the scene, which presented an opportunity. She climbed over some of the wreckage that blocked the way into what remained of the interior, and began poking around looking for anything useful.

General Boabdill was used to being given unpleasant news. So it was almost routine now when he shot up out of bed when the bell in his room started clanging. He flung his armor on as fast as he could, secured his boots and his sword, and rushed out of his private quarters. Commander Heikeren and Vice Commander Ira were waiting for him. "What is it? What's happening?!" He asked with his eyes already wide and alert.

"Sir, there's been a development." Heikeren replied after they exchanged quick salutes. His aged face looked even older when delivering bad news, but in spite of the years on his face, his strong, powerful body said that he was dismissive of the idea that he was past his prime. "There's been a raid, Chuban Vakti is dead."

"Who?" General Boabdill asked, his narrowed eyes darting around in search of his memories.

"Our best magic caster." Vice Commander Ira said, suppressing a yawn with one hand over her mouth, telling him that at least he wasn't the 'only' one to be yanked out of bed. "He was the one making the bolts we were going to use to take down General Enri's dragon corps, we wounded one recently, you may recall?"

"And let me guess, he was the 'only' one that could cast those spells." General Boabdill asked anxiously.

The two gave him unhappy nods. "Yes Sir." Vice Commander Ira replied, "He was 'it'. We have other casters, but none like him. We have enough rounds already made to fire twelve shots. General Enri does not have twelve dragons."

"She doesn't need twelve dragons. She just needs to make us fire twelve shots." General Boabdill cut off her attempt at mitigating the bad news. "We can't afford to let those things hit the walls or fly over them, look is there anything distinctive about those rounds?" He asked hopefully.

"Yes, Sir." Commander Heikeren said thoughtfully, "They glow very faintly. Not much, but they stand out."

"Alright, light spells are easy, get some continual light stones made to glow the same color as the real bolts and attach them to ordinary bolts, we might not have limitless rounds, but they don't need to know that. If they think there is a threat, that might be some kind of deterrent." General Boabdill said in a rapidfire voice.

"What do we know about the attack?" He asked, quickly changing gears as he went to a nearby table and gestured for them to be seated opposite him.

Heikeren's face turned dour, "Two assassins, we don't know their names, and one of them had his face too badly burned to be recognized, but the other one who died of poison, well... my Vice Commander here had a hunch, we had his head taken and brought to the dungeon..."

"Let me guess, one of the escapees?" General Boabdill asked.

"Yes, Sir." Vice Commander Ira replied abruptly.

"And the one who took his own life?" The general probed further.

"Also one." Commander Heikeren responded immediately.

"So that settles it, not only are they at large in the city, but they're not just hiding out, they're actively trying to fight us from within. Striking our magic caster down was a heavy blow, I'm actually more impressed than angry. Bold, willful, suicidally brave. If all humanity were like that, we'd have been the dominant race centuries ago." General Boabdill said in a reflective voice.

"Sir? Is that really appropriate?" Commander Heikeren asked unhappily.

"Very. We should recognize the strengths of our enemies, their virtues, and their vices. Only in foolish stories are the villains and monsters all unredeemable idiots. The villains under the undead are often brave, clever, decisive, and devoted. It is what makes them dangerous to us." General Boabdill replied with a confident voice as he rested his elbows on the table and folded his fingers together. He tapped his thumbs rhythmically against one another and thought the matter over.

Finally he said, "Take both heads and start asking around. They left the dungeon with nothing, they managed to rob a few drunkards, but how much money do you think they had on them to take? Not much I'd wager. They've got to be sustaining themselves somehow. They're either working honest jobs or they're doing dishonest ones. Check the lower class areas and find out if there has been any kind of a burst in the number of crimes lately. Check the cheap inns, someone has to have seen these people. Anyone in their company is suspect. Arrest anyone they're found with. We can sort it out after and compensate anyone wrongly arrested, 'after' we've worked out that they're innocent."

"It will be done, Sir. But do we take prisoners otherwise if someone resists, I mean?" The Vice Commander asked.

"No. They'll have no useful intelligence on our enemies out there, and these are a rogue element, they're not protected by the customs of war or by treaty of any kind. Put them down with prejudice." General Boabdill said firmly.

"Anything else, or is that the only shitty thing to have taken place today?" He asked ruefully.

"No, nothing else. After we hurt their dragon, General Enri has been keeping back from more than probing attacks, though we've seen parts of her army depart, it appears she's seizing villages and towns around the city, probably to augment her supplies." Commander Heikeren replied evenly.

"Not unexpected, other than the occasional boulder sent this way, we won't see much for a bit. Taking the surrounding communities is fairly standard, and at least I can be confident she won't be slaughtering our people. They're rather lucky, really." He said with a grim voice.

"Lucky, Sir?" The Vice Commander said with surprise.

"Yes, lucky. She's fairly merciful. The fighting farther west, over in the Roble Holy Kingdom, that is the stuff of nightmares and atrocity. I never liked Suchala or his methods, and I'm glad I don't have to work over there..." He sighed heavily and went to a cabinet to draw out a bottle of wine and three goblets. He brought it to the table and laid a cup in front of each of them.

"You never met General Suchala, did you?" He asked his subordinates as he poured into each cup.

They traded a glance, then each shook their heads. "No, Sir." They replied together.

"He's very talented, very efficient, he's proactive, he's brave, he's got twice the experience I do... but he's a monster wrapped in human skin. I knew him when we were at the academy together, he was an instructor. He was very firm about the value of scorched earth and terror as a weapon. That is why he was sent to where he was in the first place." General Boabdill explained unhappily.

"I don't understand." The Vice Commander said with an eye cocked at him.

"Because she would be there. That was going to be 'her' theater of operations, or so everybody guessed, and they guessed right." He replied.

"Ohhhh." Commander Heikeren said as understanding dawned. "The traitor to humanity."

"Yes, the Black Pope, the heretic of heretics, she plays with terror like small children do with blocks. So he was the one seen as best fit to oppose her and to support Remedios. I was considered for it, but Cardinal Dominic prevailed on the others to send me this way instead. It was probably the right call." He took a long drink as they sank into thought.

"Sir, if it matters..." Vice Commander Ira took a sip, and then continued, "we think you would have performed well there. Enri has won because of her advantages here, for you to still be able to fight her at all, let alone stall her at the walls is a testament to your skills."

Heikeren nodded his head vigorously, "Quite right, if you went against Neia, on equal terms, I'm confident you could have beaten her already."

Boabdill chuckled, "Your praise is welcome, but we don't get to choose these things, they're chosen for us, unfortunately. And that puts me here, now. I admit I'd have liked to test my mettle against General Neia. But if General Suchala was right about the best way to break her, then I was the wrong man to go."

He poured another cup for himself and slid the bottle across the table. "Tenva's surrender came as a surprise, I thought he'd at least call for more resistance rather than give in. Were it not for that, we could have had more soldiers ready to face against Enri's deeper incursion, or she'd have had to leave a larger garrison behind." He laughed bitterly, "Hopefully we get the reinforcements we were promised, but... I suppose we're probably on our own. How are the citizen levies coming?"

Heikeren grinned, "Sir, I've been overseeing the instruction of the militia since the get go of this operation, and I have to say I'm proud of them. Constant reminders about demihumans, vampires, and more flooding into the streets has kept their motivation as great as their fear. They are fighting for their homes, their families, their city... they may not be the bricks of our wall of soldiers, but they are the mortar and they will stick!" Heikeren spoke with unabashed pride as he poured the last of the bottle for himself and his Vice Commander.

"Good, I want them in the rotation as soon as possible, when General Enri looks at these walls I want her to see row upon row of gleaming steel that reflects so brightly off the sun that it all but blinds her. I'm going to go get at least a little more rest now, go give the orders you need to, then get some rest yourselves." General Boabdill said and stood up. They stood in return and rendered quick salutes, before departing and leaving him alone.

"Ugh, what I wouldn't give for just one good night's rest."


	142. Closing the Gap

**AN: On we go, thanks for all the reviews! :)**

...South of Yaksun...

The march to the place colloquially known as 'Chasm City', wasn't a hard one. The road had been all but emptied as citizens fled villages ahead of the rumored advance of nightmarishly brutal soldiers. "Convenient." General Musan said, sitting on his horse at the Queen's left hand.

"Agreed, but they're just trying to draw us deeper into the interior, they've got various fortifications there and plenty of soldiers, they know we're going in outnumbered." General Oma said from the Queen's right hand.

Draudillon herself was quiet during this exchange, she'd been quiet for the last few days, barely saying anything except giving the occasional order. The horses clip clop noise of hooves and the rhythmic sound of clinking armor over marching feet allowed her to enter an almost trance like state.

She looked up atop the banner that was carried nearby, the severed head was still there, preservation magic had been used to keep it 'fresh' for when they made their way to Kami Miyako.

"Majesty?" General Musan asked reluctantly.

She heard her title and snapped out of her thoughts to look at the old general. "Oh, yes?" She inquired, blinking away her surprise at the disturbance to her thoughts.

"Something wrong?" He asked with concern.

"Just thinking." Queen Draudillon replied wistfully.

"Thinking what?" General Oma asked curiously, nudging her horse a few inches closer to the Queen.

"About Dominic actually." She said with a casual tone as she focused her eyes ahead of her again.

"About what he'll do next?" General Musan probed.

Queen Draudillon shook her head, "Maybe just a little bit. I was actually just wondering if he was... how do I put this... stronger than I am."

"Well, he was a scripture but..." General Oma began to say, only to stop when the Queen closed her eyes as she looked down and shook her head.

"Not what I mean. Think back to the Beastman Invasion. Do I need to remind you who I was, how I was?" The Queen asked archly. The pair looked hesitant.

"Fine, I'll say it, I was a drunk. My citizens were being eaten by an advancing horde and all I could do was pay a pedophile and beg for help. My nobles were robbing the treasury blind, and I just kept drinking. My nation was a feast, and rather than face it, I climbed into a bottle. I did... try to find other solutions but... all that drinking got in the way." The Queen explained.

"I don't see the connection." General Musan replied in a lost tone of voice.

"Think about it. Dominic is 'the' chief architect of this war, more than any of the others, this was 'his' way to stop the Sorcerer King. The result, is that his country has been losing territory left and right. The Holy Kingdom won't last another week, the Re-Estize Kingdom is defeated and has switched sides, we've invaded, the Elf King is all that's left. Dominic's people are being slaughtered faster than ours were by the Beastmen." The Queen fidgeted with the reins of her horse as she spoke, but neither of her generals seemed to understand her point.

"But he's not descended to drink. Whatever the reports say, he works hard, he is focused and driven. He actively pursues solutions to his problems... with not much success, but still... he's not descended into personal debauchery." Queen Draudillon replied.

"I did." She added hatefully.

"He has his own 'drink'." General Oma said comfortingly.

The Queen looked at her quizzically, "What do you mean?" She asked.

"Majesty, you descended into a bottle because you understood the reality in front of you, that pain and loss, that sense of impending defeat. It was understanding the stark reality in front of you that brought you to that point. Dominic is not doing that, he's in denial, he refuses to believe he can't win. Everything we read about him says to me that he's convinced that the gods will show back up to save his nation. We could be at the very gates of Kami Miyako, break them down, and be charging towards his capital building... and he would still be shouting that the gods would give him victory." General Musan's words were thick with contempt and his face filled with bitterness.

"We know that isn't true. We, better than any humans now living, except maybe for those who lived through Jaldabaoth, know that no gods were going to save us." General Oma said with a stark shudder.

"One did." Queen Draudillon said fervently.

"You believe as Neia believes, then?" General Oma asked thoughtfully.

"I have come to see it so. Even more than I did. He creates life from the dead, he overturns whatever aspect of the world that displeases him and reshapes the very concept of justice and proper rule. If he is not a god, what is?" She asked her generals rhetorically. "When next I meet the pope, I will ask that she conducts a public ceremony drawing me into her faith." The Queen added with renewed confidence.

"Assuming this works and we live." General Musan raised a finger as he added that pair of conditions.

"Yes, assuming that." Queen Draudillon smirked a little.

The Queen's mood picked up considerably, and it held a positive outlook well into the next day when they found themselves approaching their target.

The walls were thick, but not exceedingly high. A glance told them why. "So... that is a very big canyon." Queen Draudillon said dryly.

At the left and running behind the city was just what she said, a very large, very wide canyon, too large for a normal person to throw a stone from one side to the other. The rock was a pale tan and dust blew along the top and down into the bottom below. It clearly ran all the way to the mountain range to the south "I've never seen anything like it..." The Queen said in a hushed voice.

"The world is an impressive place, Your Majesty." General Musan said thoughtfully, clearly awestruck himself.

"A thought occurs, but first... I want to see something." The Queen said, then turned behind her to their aides, "Get the line of attack ready. General Musan, General Oma, you're with me."

"Majesty." They said crisply, and she immediately kicked her horse into a gallop, the city was responding to their arrival, soldiers lined the walls, but when they saw what she was doing, they clearly relaxed. She and her pair of generals approached the opposite side of the canyon to look down. It was a common sight for the dwellers of the city named for this feature. Nobody could resist it.

When they reached the edge she looked down, it was a steep drop, as if some great giant had ripped the rock away in a long distant age, multicolored stones painted the sides, and great pillars of stone rose at various heights, far down below, there was a large river coming from under the rock and sweeping along the base of the gorge like an arrow in flight. Queen Draudillon's inner child emerged and she shouted down into the great open beauty, "Hellooooo!" And laughed as her voice was carried back to her.

As if to tease her in return, those who stood along the wall and shouted 'Helloooo!' in return, with enough noise that it too hit the canyon walls and rebounded around, until silence fell between the two sides again.

She looked across the great gorge and with her superior eyes, beheld the faces of the soldiers along the wall, they were obviously frightened, their spears moving with the shaking of their bodies, the moment of childlike common ground at her passionate embrace of the great beauty of nature in front of her, had faded away. She felt her shoulders slump. "I don't want to kill them all."

"Majesty...?" General Musan said quietly.

"No, I have a better way. The Sorcerer King sent a message to us before remember, saying that 'the gloves were off'. I've withheld asking for his help out of pride, but I will not let my pride cost people their lives!" She said with sharp passion in her voice as she wheeled her horse around and trotted back to their lines.

"You have an idea then?" General Oma asked.

"Yes, one that grants immortal fame to the courage of our nation, and sees to minimal losses. The last plan was a good one, but now I believe sterner, but also more merciful measures are called for." The Queen replied.

"General Musan, go and gather the following scrolls given to us by his majesty and meet me in my tent." The Queen said and she wrote off a quick list with the quill and paper she perpetually carried.

"General Oma, find one hundred volunteers ready to die. We will quell this city with terror and awe." The Queen replied confidently.

"Majesty!" They said and dashed off to undertake their given tasks.

A few minutes later, General Oma had one hundred infantry in two ranks fifty deep.

And a message to the Sorcerer King saw, to her delight, an immediate response.

The gate opened, and the Queen stepped through, awed as she ever was, and found herself at the base of the steps leading up to his throne. She knelt immediately and cast her eyes down.

"You request my aid, Queen Draudillon?" He asked curiously, striking Undead Pose number three with his hand outstretched and palm turned up.

"I do, Your Majesty. I seek to break the city without destroying it. Wars are won in the will, and I have a means to break their will to resist, it involves two steps, the first I can do on my own, the other... requires the use of potent and extremely powerful earth magic." She explained.

Ainz laughed... 'Was that the right response?' He wondered, 'It is so damned bothersome that they turn their faces to the floor, how am I supposed to read them if I can't see them?!' He thought with annoyance, fortunately her need was an easy one.

"I will send Mare to you with instructions to carry out your request to the letter." Ainz said, glad he could meet one request with ease.

"Thank you, Your Majesty." She said, which should have meant she would stand and bow to go, especially as the gate opened behind her, but she did not move.

"Is there something else, Queen of the Draconic Kingdom?" He asked.

Her face snapped up to meet his own, "Yes, my Lord. I wanted to tell you... after this is all over, I want to request a public ceremony to induct me into your faith!" The other guardians around the room let out low murmurs of approval as Mare strolled away from his place in the hall. Her voice was loud enough to echo, but no sooner than the sound faded than she said more.

"I am the descendant of a powerful dragon lord... as such I never much cared about gods, I only knew what worked and what didn't, and the old gods did not save my people. You did. If saving humanity is why the old gods were called gods... then I must acknowledge you as well. With your permission, I will commission a temple to you in my capital that would rival any in the world, and there I will kneel to your pope, and her faith will become mine, before the eyes of all my people." Draudillon said all that with an almost urgent voice, one filled with pride and with humility, her noble feminine voice carried to every ear and every wall, and only when it too faded as her previous words, did Ainz reply.

"I doubt Neia will care to have you kneel to her, it is not her way, but I am sure she will embrace the rest as I do, you have my permission, now go and see your task completed." Ainz replied with patient, almost paternal understanding.

"Yes, your majesty!" The Queen replied and shot to her feet, she bowed low, and went through the gate.

When she returned with the little elf boy, her generals looked at her with silent curiosity.

"Did you take down all the names of the hundred?" She asked General Oma.

"Yes, Your Majesty." She said uncertainly.

"Good, come with me." She said to them, then got onto her horse. She hesitated, then looked down at the nervous looking little elf boy in a skirt. "Ah, would you like to ride with me?" She asked.

Mare's face shifted as he bit his lip, "Ah, well, if-if you don't mind. I-I think L-Lord Ainz would get mad if I walked while you rode, lady." He said in his anxious voice.

She held her hand down and he clasped it with strength that belied his form, and pulled him up into the horse so that he was riding in front of her.

"S-So what do you want to do?" Mare asked as he fidgeted with his staff.

Draudillon smiled, the little elf was so diminutive, small, nervous sounding, it was easy to forget what she'd heard he was capable of.

She leaned forward and whispered to him. "Uh-Uh huh, I can do that." He nodded nervously as they rode in front of the hundred volunteers.

"Forward, March!" rang out, and the hundred moved in lockstep, the city was keeping a close eye on the goings on. True to form, the massed ranks on the wall, increased further in response to the movement of the small force. 'Good, I want as many of them as possible to see this.' She thought resolutely.

Finally she was in front of the great gorge, "I am Queen Draudillon of the Draconic Kingdom! I command you to open your gates, that I may give you the gift of mercy!" The words echoed loud over the gorge, it was impossible not to have heard her.

"I know that you believe you must fight, but I tell you that if you do, you will die to no purpose and no cause! I can feel your fear, you do not wish to die, and I do not wish to kill you! But if I must, know that no power can save you from that end! Behold the courage of my kingdom!" She spoke slowly, allowing time for every echo to fade before the next, and the ranks on the wall looked at her doubtfully.

When the last word faded, she shouted, to their abject horror, "Forward, March!" And the two ranks of fifty men, with halberds pointed up ramrod straight and shining with the light of the sun being cast down on them, stepped forward. They did not break step, they did not make a sound, they only walked forward, and two by two they walked straight over the side to fall to their deaths.

One hundred men had ended their lives in a grand display of discipline that quailed the hearts of the defenders. "Now that you have seen how far my soldiers will go, behold the futility of your walls!" She called out, and looked down at Mare in front of her. "OK, Lord Mare. Please do your work."

"Oh-Okay!" He said and got down from the horse, he stepped in front, and for a moment nothing happened as he raised his staff, doubt would take hold in a moment more, but doubt did not have that moment to form. A rumbling began that became a terrible roar, the entire city shook and both on the wall and beyond, people screamed in fear.

But none screamed more than those who looked on in horror as the canyon itself began to close up over the entire length of that side of the wall. Earth tore and rocks broke, as if the stone itself longed to protect the city, but had not the power to do it. Inch by terrible inch the gap faded away, buildings and segments of the wall began to collapse, denial sprang from countless lips, but denial did not change the truth.

Rumble and roar did not fade, though those who managed to control their fear enough to watch, prayed fervently to the gods of their fathers and mothers that each inch forward was the last, each one instead only laid the foundation for the next to be eaten up by the encroaching ground. A few stable minds called for soldiers to regain sense and form up to receive an attack, but over the roar of the canyon, the collapses within, and the screams of fear, nothing seemed sufficient to bring order to the madness that consumed the countless minds.

Pillars of stone that had stood for thousands of years at the base of the canyon, snapped like toothpicks as the wall of stone on the opposite side continued to close in. Finally the great canyon was left, on that side of the wall, as nothing more than one very long crack no wider than the finger of a newborn baby.

The wall there, carefully constructed by the forethought of a mind that left nothing to chance, centuries ago, was now reduced to a pile of rubble.

Both armies stood aghast at what they saw, though to her dying day Draudillon would always insist that... while neither side's response to the miraculous power was 'wrong', her side was always the most appropriate, as they went down to their knees and bowed their heads in reverence to the power His Majesty had extended, that they not die needlessly.

"Now we march forward! Anyone still bearing arms will be assumed to be hostile. If you yield, kneel!" She shouted, there was no echo this time, the echo of her actions was enough, her army began to march, wheeling their line to march to the utterly shattered side.

Weapons were cast down in such numbers that for one brief moment, the echo of steel on stone was greater than the roar of the closing canyon itself. Then the only sound was the clip clop noise and marching feet. Draudillon waited as her army entered the city, she listened carefully for the sound of combat, the telltale screams of the angry or dying. She heard none.

She smiled sweetly down at Mare. "Thank you, My Lord. Is there any way I can show my thanks to you?"

Mare thought it over, "I like plants, if-if you have any r-rare ones, when you come back next time, b-bring me those." He said hopefully.

"I will send a letter to see it done for you by the time I return home." She said happily.

The next few hours were busy ones as they secured the city, despite there being no battle, there were many casualties as homes and buildings collapsed on their occupants, defenders on the walls fell to their deaths when the stone crumbled under them, the chain of command was completely disrupted, and left to their own minds that had already given over to fear, there was nothing to do but surrender or flee, and with surrender an option, most chose to do that. A few took off running out a gate, and those perished in short order as they lost all reason, driven mad by the impossible, none of those crazed deserters saw their city again since, as a general rule, the mad do not take proper care of themselves.

Draudillon rode into the city immediately after Mare's departure, mass ranks of soldiers were brought to the remains of the city center, a great pavillion, and there under the watchful eyes of her soldiers, they knelt when she entered and ascended a set of stairs from the central government building. She looked out over them all, they had eyes downcast, many were shaking, not a few were openly weeping at the utter loss of courage. At either side of her, her trusted generals took position, she swept her cloak back and threw her shoulders back. Gazing down on them all, she said in a loud, commanding voice, "Raise your heads!"

They did, slowly, hesitantly, but they did. "I am now in command, this city is claimed in the name of the Draconic Kingdom. Your lives, those of you who still have them, will be preserved. Be grateful, were I 'some' of my allies, you might not be given such a gift. But I am merciful, and will give mercy where I can. Your city will be inspected, and we will seek the dark places, to see if there are any houses like those of Wenmark or Yaksun here. If there are, 'only' those responsible will be punished. For the rest of you, your lives will go on as normal, save the priests of the new god will be permitted to speak on all corners, and a building will be set aside for them to worship. Any slaves are to be brought to the administration building immediately. Any who try to withhold their slaves from being turned in will be found, arrested, and..." She paused for a moment, she had been planning to say 'punished' but a glimpse at a propaganda poster showing a demonic-like representation of Neia Baraja, gave her new inspiration.

"...Will be turned over to Neia Baraja." She finished her sentence, just barely restraining her laugh when gasps of abject horror met her statement.

"If I have trouble here, I will call for the aid of the Black Paladin, if I have peace, I will grant peace. Now, will I have trouble... or peace?" She asked gently, folding her hands in front of her in a motherly sort of way and putting a hopeful inflection into her voice.

"Peace." Was the only word she heard, and that was when she allowed herself to smile. But as she did, and she looked more closely at the soldiers and those citizens she could see clearly, she noticed something unexpected. Though they should have been hale, hearty, and well fed, as she cast her eyes around, she saw many a sallow cheeked face, the sort one sees on someone who has not eaten a full meal in some time.

'By god, even if they hadn't surrendered, how long could they have lasted?' She thought sadly. 'Well, nothing a full meal won't cure, and that'll do wonders for keeping order I should think.' She made a mental note to inquire about the supply situation, and turned to General Oma. "General, see to the disposition here, General Musan and I will see to the rest."

"As you wish, Your Majesty." She said proudly, "It will be as you say."

"Yes, it will." Queen Draudillon replied with a little laugh as she went up the stairs and opened the door.

...Crossroads...

Petyr woke up in Eire's bed quite happily. He'd found his way to her the night before and after drinking at her bar for awhile they'd pawed each other into nakedness as one of the enormous rocks of General Enri's mangonels landed somewhere outside. Thrust into passion by the proximity of death, they entwined themselves into passionate embrace with such vigor that they did not sleep until their bodies had become slick with sweat and they were too exhausted both mentally and physically to do more than moan before they fell into a restful sleep. When dawn broke and Petyr slipped out of bed and stretched out, he heard Eire whisper something behind him.

"What was that?" He asked as he dressed and looked back over his shoulder.

To his surprise, the pale, carefree face of the reckless redhead had an expression of fear in place of the sultry smile and bawdy humor he'd come to know. She sat up in bed and looked at him, then said more clearly, "Will you come back tonight?"

"Ah, yes, of course, if you like. Why do you say it like that?" He asked as he put his shirt on over his head.

"Because... you've heard the bombardments, they're getting worse at this wall lately... if... if those monsters, and the heretics break through..." Eire said with a quivering voice and pulled her knees up to her chest.

"What, that's what you're worried about?" Petyr asked in surprise.

She nodded furtively. "The priests tell us all about their atrocities... what they do to prisoners... to women, to... well monsters have to come from somewhere. I don't want to let them take me but if they break through the wall, I don't know that I can... go through with it. If you're with me though, when they do, please... don't let me get taken. Please."

Petyr sighed and sat down on the bed next to her. "Eire, we barely know one another, but... can you trust me with what I say next, no matter how crazy it sounds?"

She looked at him quizzically as he sat with his back to her. "I... get a good feeling about you, you're a good one, you remind me of my dah. So... yes, if you're asking me to believe you, I will."

"Whatever atrocity you're afraid of, you don't have to fear. Nothing bad will happen to you, I promise." Petyr reached out with his meaty, scarred up hand and covered her small one completely over the mattress. "I've... seen what is out there, and the stories you're hearing are just to scare you, you don't have to be afraid of anything."

She sniffled a little, "You're right, that is crazy. We can always trust the priests, they serve the gods, they'd never lie to us." She gave him a crooked smile. "Thank you for trying to make me feel better... but if you really want to... then tell me... tell me you won't let me be taken, alright?"

He turned his body and leaned over to her, touching her cheek with his left hand as his right hand still covered hers on the mattress, he kissed her gently on the lips. "Alright, alright, if that will make you feel better. I promise, I will not let anything befall you, no matter what happens here. No... captive's chains, will ever grace your wrists while I live." He said boldly.

She smiled when the kiss broke and pressed her forehead to his, "So very valiant you are, but can you raise your sword one more time for me?" She smiled wickedly at him, the bold and bawdy redhead was herself again as she reached down and took his 'sword' in hand.

"Woman, you will slay me." He said as her hands deftly undid the pants he'd just put on.

"Isn't this how every man would want to go?" She smugly asked.

"Can't argue with that." He said and let her work as he pulled his shirt back off with a roll of his eyes.

In the end, when he did finally show up at the blacksmith shop to collect his pay and see if Cormeum needed any additional assistance, he was much, much later than he'd planned to be. He was laughing to himself as he fairly strutted toward the place, preparing to wow the lad with another story of his enjoyable evening with the pretty redheaded bar owner, when he froze in midstep.

Several guards were holding a very, very familiar head and speaking to Cormeum. 'Why do they have Mananak's head... oh shit, Cormeum would have seen me speaking with him, no, no... this is bad...' He thought furtively and spun on his heel to walk back the way he came.

He rushed as much as he could without running and drawing attention to himself, he went straight back to the inn. He went upstairs and saw Owl, Moira, and Rascal in conversation.

"We have a problem." Petyr announced bluntly. "Where are the others?"

"Ham hasn't come back, I don't know where he is, but as for our other two colleagues... "Dead." Rascal said with utter finality. "Romare and Nagi were killed last night, they got the target, but didn't escape."

Petyr sat in stunned silence on the bed. "Three out of the eight of us gone in... god, no time." He shook his head vigorously, "Ugh, no time, listen, we've gotta get out of here."

"Why?" Moira asked with surprise at the sudden statement.

"Because I just saw guards holding Mananak's head, and they were at the blacksmith shop I've been helping at. Cormeum saw Mananak stop to talk to me. They'll trace us back to this place, and we've all been seen here. They'll know all our faces soon, we've got to get somewhere safe." Petyr said with a voice thick with urgency.

It was not lost on the others.

"What about Ham... He's not back yet." Moira asked, her eyes wide with concern.

"We leave word for him to meet us in the warrens, but we've got a good chance of us all being caught if we stay here." Rascal said confidently, "It's like when you got us out before, some you just couldn't get to."

"You're right, OK, leave word for him when we go." She said with resignation. They quickly threw their few goods together and filed out of the inn. Owl pausing at the desk to request that their companion be informed of the need to meet in the same place as the previous evening.

A silver coin atop the cost of the room ensured the delivery of the message, and then they were gone.

An hour later Ham swaggered through, thick muscles and all, and went to the bar to buy a bottle. He felt a chill sweep over him when he saw guards enter holding Nagi's head. He swallowed hard, it wasn't difficult to understand why they were there. He covered his face with a hood and bought several more bottles, then moved surreptitiously around the room as the guards asked if anyone recognized the head or knew who he spent time with. He managed to slip around them the long way and almost went out the door, when he heard the sound of guards outside acknowledging orders.

'So this is how it is.' He thought as he rushed up the stairs. He heard the grimy woman at the desk talking to a guard, it wouldn't be long before they had a good description of everyone. 'Only one real option to 'maybe' prevent that.' He thought as he popped a cork and began to pour the contents over the filthy floor.

He then tossed that bottle against the wall, shattering it and scattering the last few drops, after that he repeated the process all the way to where their rooms had been. He checked both, his comrades were gone. 'I guess you got out when you got word... well damn.' He thought with annoyance as he emptied the bottles along the walls and the floor, when they were all empty, save one, he went to where his pack was kept and took out a candle, some flint, and a mace. He swiftly lit the flame, and let the candle burn while he tore a shred of fabric from his shirt and stuck it into the bottle. He took the soaked tip out, and then pulled it free and reversed it.

He then lit the candle to the soaked tip, and waited.

"Well, someone talked." He said with resigned sarcasm as he thought about the greedy grimy bitch downstairs and the sound of rapidly stomping feet reached his ears. A door was kicked in, he smirked. "Come and get me you sons of bitches." He said quietly to himself and took a battle stance.

Even though they hadn't heard the challenge, they responded to it, kicking in the door and forcing their way in, seeing him there, ready to fight, they wasted no effort, and neither did he. He threw the bottle, hard, and it shattered against the face of one of the soldiers.

He screamed, and Ham charged in with his mace, swinging wildly and cursing all the while, the burning soldier then, unfortunately fell, and fire leapt up from the floor. The guard's screams were echoed by his companions. Ham swung his mace over and over again as cuts and stab wounds piled up, he did not last long, but the fire spread rapidly along the path he laid, it spread to the walls, to the beds, to the cheap mattresses stuffed with stale hay, the dry untreated wood went up in smoke, and other residents rushed out of their rooms, the soldiers and citizens all got in the way of each other and their colleagues, down below, the shouting was heard before the danger was recognized.

Finally someone shouted, 'fire' but by then it was too late, part of the floor above collapsed and crashed into the bar, with alcohol everywhere, bottles broke, tipped, smashed, and only a single spark was needed where a conflagration already was.

People screamed and stormed for the crowded exit as the smoke filled the building, those who fell were trampled while the flames went wild. As if to aid the invaders outside, it spread to nearby buildings, and the panic became worse.


	143. Buildup

**AN: And here we go again, like fingers closing into a fist.**

...The New Road...

Shalltear and Zaryusu waited for several days at the base of the mountain pass. The sun passed overhead and then set, that was all. There was little to do. Zaryusu could be at ease with this, Shalltear... not so much. "I'm soooo bored!" She exclaimed to him when alone in the command tent. She held her hands up beside her head with her fingers up and shaking with annoyance.

Zaryusu leaned back in his chair and put his feet up on the field desk. "I sympathize, Lady Shalltear." He lied, "but bringing order to the capital took time."

"It shouldn't. The one who rules commands, the rest obey and perfectly so." She said somewhat snarkily.

"This is true," he said, but raised one green finger to show he had a caveat, "but it only applies to the mortal races in two conditions. Either the first, where the king or queen is so absolutely loved that the power of their reputation compels instant compliance... or the second, where their power and the fear they create is so total that nobody can consider any other option. The supreme one's power is widely known, yet it takes time for people to accept a new ruler and understand what has changed."

Shalltear snorted, crossed her arms, and put her back to him.

'Pouting eh, you must be even more bored than you said.' He thought.

"I'm truly amazed by Gargantua's work." Zaryusu said, changing the subject. He wasn't lying, for his first two days there, all he could do was stare at the hole where the mountain 'used' to be, and the road that had been 'punched' through it by the massive golem. Rubble still lined the thing, and on arrival his first task had been to send his army to remove the rocks in the way, the Dark Dwarves of the Understone Empire had been quick to offer assistance and trade began between the army and the new vassal state.

"Well you should be. Gargantua is a very useful and valuable servant of Nazarick." She said dismissively waving her hand in front of her and closing her eyes smugly.

"Is he going to be with us while we... work?" Zaryusu asked hopefully.

"Oh yes, he's going to be used on that other fortress... what was it called..." She stroked her chin and thought for a moment.

"Fortress Cross?" Zaryusu suggested.

"Yes, that one." She snapped her fingers smartly and pointed at him.

"So... let me see if I'm clear on this. Fortress Alaf is a focal point to draw the rest of the Theocracy's manpower into place, and then we force them to collapse under the weight of one single defeat?" Zaryusu asked.

"Well, that's what I'm told." Shalltear said when her shoulders slumped, she took on a pouty look to her face and sighed beautifully, with so much grace it was easy to forget that she was the consummate sadistic predator. "I've got no head for strategy though. I'd much rather just kill everything and get it over with."

Zaryusu didn't laugh, because she was definitely neither joking nor exaggerating.

Before he could respond, a messenger rushed into the tent, he immediately knelt and yanked a paper out of his satchel, then held it up for Shalltear to take it.

He didn't say anything, messengers seldom did when they beheld the odd pair, just kneel, hand their documents over, and get away as fast as possible. Zaryusu rolled his eyes. "Humans." He said dismissively as Shalltear tore open the seal and started to read.

"What about them?" She asked as she started to read.

"They're a nervous lot." Zaryusu said, his mouth falling open in something of a laugh. "I guess it makes sense, so many more powerful beings, even I am stronger in body than the average human. So many must just walk the world from birth to death wondering when they'll be preyed on like I do on fish and you do on... well... everything."

Shalltear handed over the document the way she'd done a hundred times, his hand reached out automatically to take it, their working relationship had fallen into a kind of dance like synchronization.

"But then you've got exceptions, Leinas Rockbruise, Blue Rose, and of course the one I trained and trained with most closely, Neia Baraja." Zaryusu relaxed as he read the paper over. "I hear she's become a real embodiment of nightmare now. I haven't seen her for what feels like forever."

"Whatever, a human is a human, as long as they please the Supreme One, that's all that matters. Though..." She touched a finger to her lips and thought for a moment, "she did try to kill herself immediately when ordered, I guess some servants are better than others at least."

Zaryusu took the document and set it aside, "Maybe." He said with an edge to his voice, "Those fools at the last city certainly didn't know how to make themselves valuable at least, now, shall we go, Lady Shalltear, looks like King Zanac and General Nimble will be here shortly, I'd like to get the march started as soon as possible."

"Of course, 'General' Zaryusu." She said with what passed for terrifying sweetness when she seemed to be paying him a kind of compliment. He brushed off the condescension since she seemed unable to not use it, and went out to get to work.

...Yanana...

"Fear is so very powerful, isn't it?" Suchala asked in his somewhat creaky voice as he handed a cup to Yuri. "The undead, he understands this, Dominic... he understands this... and as much as I'm loathe to admit it, Neia understands this, and both you and I do. But so few... and I'll never understand why. It is so obvious after all." He said as Yuri took the cup and drank from it. "Give people something to fear, you can make them do anything."

"I don't really care about power." Yuri said indifferently. "All I want is... proper release. Only one way to get that." She said archly.

Suchala looked at her with a mix of distaste and intrigue.

"Don't give me that look... Suchy." She said with a playful smile, "You need people like me, ones without compunction who will do anything to anyone. And who are you really kidding." She whispered duskily as she drew close to him. "Nasty old man, I've seen you watch people go up in flames, your face... like mine... but with wrinkles." She put her hand to his cheek and started to laugh.

He growled and slapped her hand away. "I do everything for the gods! For the Theocracy! I'm not like you, and don't call me Suchy!"

She reared back and giggled, "Unless you worship the three and that includes your cock and both balls, you're lying to me old Suchy. I've been around enough like me to know one on sight. You don't do those things 'for' the Theocracy or the gods... you serve the Theocracy and those gods, 'because' it lets you do all those things you really like." She brought her face close to his and curled one finger underneath his chin.

His hand darted up to grab her throat, she didn't move, she looked into his eyes and whispered, "Do it... do it... you want to, you know you do... I see it in you." She whispered. "This is how things end for people like me, and you know what..." She gasped out as he started to squeeze, "I like it."

He squeezed tighter, she didn't pull away, she just kept looking at him, faint groans coming out of her lips, suddenly she thrust herself forward against him, for a moment he thought it was an attack. In a way, it was, but she wasn't tearing at flesh, rather she tore at clothing. She was in a frenzy, one that was rising in him as well. 'What have I gotten myself into?' He wondered as she tore away his pants, neither noticed when the wine spilled and the bottle rolled away off the table, to smash and spill the remainder of the red liquid, and staining the stones red around it in a large splash.

He woke up in the morning with a kick to the ribs. He reacted immediately, darting his hand out, grabbing behind the foot, and lifting it up, and pushing off, sending Yuri staggering back. "Relax, 'Suchala'." She said teasingly, "Just a little foreplay." She grinned, she still wasn't dressed.

"We've got a lot to do today." She said enthusiastically.

"You have something in mind." He said with a grunt as he got up and rubbed one of the many bruises she'd left on him.

"Yes. Now, you know how much I'd like to just light the way to the city for that bitch of a paladin, but I don't think it is the best idea. Instead, we get to play an all new game." She clapped her hands together and her face lit with the joy of a child given a new toy on her birthday.

"What?" The General asked as he put his clothes on.

"We get to do an inquisition, we start getting people to turn in their neighbors, their friends, their own family members. Oh, the look of betrayal on their faces... it'll be so... so wonderful. We can come up with all kinds of ways to ask them questions. All the water in this city, we can try holding people under, lots of smiths work here, we can make all kinds of implements. And then..." She held her insane smile as she looked over at him, the only change to her expression was that she blinked.

"Yes?" He asked indifferently.

"Yuri's twisted expression grew even more pronounced as she curled her fingers tight and she added, "We throw them out. We make them all start walking to Neia's army. We can keep a few to screw with her if she besieges the place, but most of them, yeah, we send them out without even the clothes on their backs. They can walk to her, naked and with nothing. I wonder how many will freeze, or get sick or... if she's far enough away, will they go mad, will they turn on each other... oh, how I wish I could see..."

Suchala's indifferent expression little changed as he responded. "I see, she takes them in, she has a food problem, she doesn't, she looks bad, her god looks bad, and she can't go very far."

Yuri's expression went curious as she asked, "By the way, find someone suitable to take power in the South?"

"I don't know what they're playing at with the whole 'OK you can go' crap, but I know Neia's army is coming this way, someone should probably be in power before final negotiations." Yuri added as she put her clothes back on.

"A Baron, named Kailen." He replied as he strapped on his sword belt.

"I know that one, hard nosed, efficient, brave. The nobles will accept him." She replied as she put on her breastplate.

"Doesn't matter, as long as he's willing to work with us." General Suchala replied patiently.

Why Yuri started laughing when she walked out the door, he did not know. "I'll get the inquisition started, we can probably round up most of them well before Neia gets here, but I'd like to slow her down just a little if we can."

He didn't get a chance to answer before she shut the door.

...Holy Kingdom...Neia's Line of March...

"Another one?" Neia asked.

A sad expression was her only answer from the scout.

Neia's jaw was clenched with anger. "Neia, calm down." Skana said gently.

"I am calm." Neia said with a voice of ice.

"No, you're angry." Lakyus pointed out abruptly, "Not that I blame you, but you can't be surprised about the fate of these villages close to the border."

"I'm not surprised..." Neia said as she dismissed the scout, "I'm just... I had hope. I mean, we're supposed to be the same kingdom, how could they? Did we really lose so much to demihumans and demons, just to rip each other apart?"

She looked to her companions and to her wife, "It was one thing for it to be demihumans and demons, hell, it was even another thing for it to be Astraka and the Slane Theocracy. But... but peasants, ordinary peasants would have done those things. To people literally just like themselves, dressed like themselves, living the same lives... farther north it was mostly outcasting, or if there was barbarism, it was incited by Theocracy priests... but these had to be done by scouts, outriders foraging. They made... well... they made a conscious 'choice' to do those things."

"Maybe it makes it worse, maybe not, but dead is dead." Skana said practically, "It's sad but..." She shook her head, "What can you do?"

"Avenge them of course." Neia said, suddenly laughing, "Send a rider with a message, tell the city of Yanana that if their army stays there, I'll leave them alone, I'm just going to visit some of 'their' villages with the same thing in mind as what they did to ours in the north."

"Neia, you can't mean..." Lakyus paled.

"No, but this'll draw them away from the city, and that is all we need." Neia replied with fury in her voice. "Just one thing, and remember this, I do not plan on offering surrender, when I'm done, Yanana will cease to exist."

"Neia..." Skana whispered softly. "Come back..."

...Crossroads...

"I don't think he'll be joining us." Rascal said grimly.

"Why is that?" Moira said when he stopped in front of them and looked back.

He pointed to the rising column of smoke. "Because we were staying right about 'there' and I'm guessing he didn't get the message in time... but... I doubt he was captured either."

"That ought to slow pursuit some, at least for a little while." Owl remarked, "But then it'll get worse."

"Worse?" Petyr looked at him in disbelief as they resumed their hurried stride. "How could things possibly get worse?"

"Because now they're going to flood the streets looking for us, and depending on what they've managed to learn, they could flood the streets with soldiers knowing exactly what we look like." Rascal remarked critically.

When they reached the warrens they followed Rascal all the way to an alley. A thug was leaning against the wall, a busted up but familiar face to Rascal. "Going to let me in this time, or do we have to go again?" He asked.

The ugly mug let out a grunt and got out of the way with an obedient nod. Rascal knocked, "It's me, I'm here to see Kirak."

The door opened quickly and they wasted no time rushing to the back room.

"Well, you all fucked that one up pretty quick, didn't you?" Shanda said immediately, waving them to a seat from where she sat next to Kirak.

"No, definitely not. Well, that depends on how you define that." Rascal said as he took a seat. "The target died, and... I guess you probably heard about the fire before we got halfway here, thanks to our little roundabout route."

"We did, I'm assuming that your comrade didn't make it. So that is good at least, no captives. Probably a fair number of casualties too, but let's get down to business." Kirak said coldly and put his feet up on the table, he crossed his ankles and folded his hands in his lap.

"You've got two choices, you can run another mission or you can hide out until the siege ends. What'll it be?" He asked bluntly.

"What did you have in mind if we want to keep at it?" Owl asked curiously.

"A weapons shortage." Kirak replied with a pleasant smile curling up on his face. "Simply put, you were able to do some damage to a fair amount of their equipment, and they still don't realize it since your General has not seen fit to assault the walls in earnest yet. However you can do a lot of 'obvious' harm by say... burning down a warehouse or stealing a weapon shipment. There are a few smiths in town who have had extra work lately. You steal a few loads, I hide them away, the Theocracy lacks enough weapons for their new recruits... as good as killing a soldier is depriving him of the means to 'be' a soldier. Savvy?"

"You've got our attention." Rascal said intensely, leaning forward with fists firmly held to the table surface.

Petyr felt a growing discomfort in his stomach. "What about the warehouses instead?" He asked hopefully.

"I was being sarcastic about that, you don't have a chance of getting in there, even with all of you together, there are scriptures watching those. No, the best you can do is rob the smiths directly, get a few loads out, and..." Kirak started to explain.

"You'll take the equipment and sell it off after the siege is over and make a very hefty profit." Petyr guessed cynically.

"He's a smart one." Shanda said with a playful smile.

"Exactly right." Kirak replied with an affirmative nod.

"What about the smiths?" Petyr asked, "They're just tradesmen doing their jobs, what happens to them?"

"My guess, they'll be imprisoned, lose their shops, lose their contracts, lose their goods, what we haven't stolen anyway... that kind of thing." Kirak replied disinterestedly. "This bothers you?" He asked Petyr.

"I'm a smith, damn it! There's a... a boy I've been helping, his father is at the wall and he's trying to do his father's work and..." Petyr started to explain, only to close his mouth when Shanda covered her mouth and laughed.

"I take it back, you're not smart. This is a war, you don't get to play nice 'and' win." Shanda's seductive eyes turned hard and cold and she clenched her jaw tight, "You kill him, or rob from him, or burn down his shop, or I don't care what or how, but get this through your head, mister 'smith'. There's a war out there and it is going to come in here. Every sword you helped make is going to be used to kill your friends outside those walls, now what'll it be? You can go to ground or you can save some lives. Whatever you want to do, decide on it quick before the decision is taken away from you."

Petyr looked down, shame-faced. "No, you're right. You're right. We don't really have a choice about this."

"No, you don't." Rascal said unhappily. "I get how you feel, but you can't be on both sides."

"Damn it!" Petyr exclaimed unhappily.

"I take it you have a plan then?" Owl asked.

"Yup, just a little switching things up. I had some crates prepared, they're full of rocks, nice of General Enri to give us all that rubble to work with, you sneak over at night, a few whores will be keeping the patrols busy, you swap out the crates so that the delivery on the following day is ruined, put the ones full of equipment onto one cart, and when they load the others tomorrow, well you get it." Kirak remarked with a sly grin.

"After that, well... assuming you survive, there's one more thing you can do." Kirak said optimistically.

"Which is?" Moira asked, her lips pursed thin and her eyes focused on Kirak.

"Bring down the gate, and make sure this city falls." He said, and he started to laugh, as did Shanda, when their mouths dropped open in disbelief.


	144. Breaking Nightmares

**AN: For the careful history nerds, you might see some American Civil war & WWII references in here. I take no responsibility for any equipment damaged due to nerdgasms. :D Reviews welcome.**

...Chasm City...

A latifundium owner stood in the plaza before the chief administrative building. Behind him was row after row of elf slaves. Draudillon accepted his surrender patiently and with courtesy. Though General Oma seemed less kindly inclined. They sat in a row of chairs that had been placed outside for this purpose, some surrenders had gone well, others not so well. This one... went well. The slaves did not bear copious marks from the lash or show terror from their master, they also appeared reasonably well fed, even relative to the hungry population.

"You're one of the lucky ones." The Queen said to him, only her lips moved as she stared down at him. "The way in which the captives are treated bears on what you will be offered for peaceful yielding of your living property." She explained in a vaguely threatening voice.

"Yours are well cared for, therefore you will be granted a one time amnesty, your land will be confiscated and sold to compensate your forced labor, but you will be immune from prosecution and you will be allotted a place to live where you can... rebuild your life, such as it is. Assuming of course, you are not holding anyone back and are not guilty of any special violations or abuses."

"I am not, I swear." He said urgently, his brown beard was relatively new, obviously he was a young man, probably newly inherited. But Queen Draudillon had developed a very suspicious nature since the purges proved necessary.

"Elves, from this day you are now 'free'. If you wish to fight the Slane Theocracy, we will arm you and you will fight as one of us, with full pay, training, and fair treatment. If you wish to go, you may go, if you wish to stay, you may stay and work for wages. However before your chains are cut, will any of you speak against this man here who called himself your master?"

Silence ruled the plaza.

General Musan drew a knife and descended the steps, he yanked the young man's beard up, baring his neck, he flailed, but he was weak, he cried out, but Musan was unmoved. "A single complaint, and I will end his life here and now!" General Musan shouted out.

Silence continued. Musan released his grip on the young man's beard, stepped back, and sheathed the dagger. "Alright, I guess he's innocent." The plantation owner fell to his knees, then forward to stop himself with one hand. He grabbed his chest with the other hand and gasped with horror at how close he'd come to death.

"Be grateful to the Queen. Then get out." General Oma said peremptorily and chopped her hand across the front of her body and pointing to the exit.

He managed a desperate bow, then dashed out as fast as he could.

"How many more of these?" Queen Draudillon asked as the soldiers started to go through to cut chains and ropes.

General Oma flipped a sheet of paper up and looked at the one beneath, "Six more."

Draudillon suppressed an unhappy expression and forced herself to bask in the relative happiness of the elves who were being set free. "Incidentally, when are you going to use 'the hundred'?" General Musan asked as he returned to her side.

The Queen looked up at him in surprise. He gave a sly smile. "I've been a General for quite some time now, Your Majesty. I remember your magic at Yaksun, and I remember what we talked about before, about using wild magic. If people thought you were just using them for materials, they'd balk, but dead is dead. So a display of noble courage and iron discipline, will yield the same result as if you just had them kill themselves at the gate."

"You're unwholesomely clever, General Musan." Queen Draudillon said with pride in her voice as she turned her eyes up to meet his.

He inclined his head in a minor bow, "I thank you for the praise, My Queen." He said politely.

"To answer your question, there's a fortress nearby, several thousand soldiers, they have a slothful command, I'd thought they would come face us, but evidently they aren't going to do that, so we'll go to them, I'll take down the gate, you all do the rest."

"Clever." General Oma said admiringly.

Queen Draudillon touched their hands with hers, "I am not the Sorcerer King, to have a dozen aims and a hundred plans for everything, but... I am still a Queen, born and raised to that role, and I will fulfill it accordingly. We move out tonight, I want to hit that fortress in the morning, cavalry and ladders, this will be a light raid and we will bring them down by surprise. Pick your best, and we will see it done."

She was not wrong, the busy day gave way to evening, there were many slave volunteers eager for a little payback, so for an extra boost to their combat power, they hitched wagons to the horses, gave the elves simple weapons and armor, what was available among the Theocracy's armory, and brought them along as infantry support.

It was several hours prior to dawn when they reached the fortress. "I don't like this." Queen Draudillon said quietly in the darkness.

"What?" General Oma asked.

"We marched on their city and they didn't move, we attacked and captured their city and they didn't move, we've been there all day and they have not moved even a bit. The Slane Theocracy is a lot of things," Draudillon said as she looked out into the darkness, "but slothful isn't one of them."

"I agree, but we've been very careful, there was some noise inside the fortress while we were on our way here, but nothing since. It just doesn't make sense." General Oma said with a rising sense of caution.

"Well there's nothing to do about it. We'll question the survivors afterward... Which reminds me, tell the elves that we 'need' survivors. They might not realize that." The Queen said pointedly.

"Ah, yes, I will, Your Majesty." General Oma said as she went back to the lines and began relaying instructions.

She had no sooner finished going up and down the line giving hushed orders, when a beautiful sight occurred. Draudillon's maw opened, her jaw dropping as if detached like that of a dragon or a serpent swallowing prey, and from her maw poured the power of one hundred souls, white light raked and wrecked the walls of the fortress, the gate flew in by twenty feet before coming to rest, stone fell and dust filled the air. The few guards on the wall screamed out their deaths as they fell, and General Oma raised, then lowered her hand in the direction of the partially ruined fortification. "Charge!" She shouted, and the cavalry rushed in through the gaps, soldiers asleep in their beds shot up in alarm and rushed to gather weapons and armor.

Commands were shouted that contradicted one another, all was chaos in the night, and elves with a vendetta rushed into the building, stabbing half dressed men and women along the way, it was not a battle, it was more like a brawl as tired and hate filled elves surprised their human oppressors. But to Draudillon's shock, despite all their advantages, it was over far faster than it should have been.

"Scour the fortress, ensure there is no exit out of here that they might have concealed!" General Oma shouted as she slowly rode into the open ground of the fallen fortress.

The sun was up before they were finished gathering the prisoners and searching the area, a handful of Theocracy soldiers survived to curse their captors, but curiously, as Draudillon rode in front of them as they knelt while bound at wrists and ankles, there was little cursing.

Instead there was only one question. "Do you... have any food?" A callow faced soldier asked.

That caused her to blink uncontrollably.

The sun beat down on them gently in the cold morning air, but she felt for sure that their shivering was not due to the weather. "When was the last time you... ate a full meal, soldier?" Queen Draudillon asked, choosing to give her voice a hint of empathy and concern to induce him to speak.

"We've been on... half rations for two weeks." He said, "No noon meal, and only half at breakfast and dinner."

"Is that why you resisted so little?" She asked, "And also, where are the rest of you?"

The soldier's eyes looked haunted, "The long knives made them go."

...Crossroads...

Nightfall came faster than Petyr expected, he sat agitated in the private 'club' such as it was. He'd fidgeted silently at a table, lost in his own thoughts. 'I wonder if they found Eire, if they know I've been there, if she knows which side I'm really on. Would she inform on me? Probably... we've only known each other for a little while. And... damn it, hopefully Cormeum is a deep sleeper...'

A hand slapped him on the shoulder, startling him out of his reverie. "Hey," Owl said in a gentle, concerned voice, "you sure you're OK with this?"

"No. But I have to be anyway." Petyr replied harshly.

"No, you don't, you're out." Rascal said sharply.

"What?" Petyr asked.

"I said, you're out. You're staying behind. I'm not having anybody go out on this kind of thing who isn't at a hundred percent." Rascal said emphatically.

"I'm fine!" Petyr snapped.

"No Petyr... you're not." Moira's voice was filled with touching concern as she approached and touched his cheek. "Listen to him, I've been sitting here watching you the same as everybody else as you twisted yourself into knots. I know you're attached to the kid, and that has tainted your outlook. You can't do this, even if you could, you shouldn't. Just trust me." Moira said softly, "Please." She asked.

"But..." Petyr began only for her to cut him off.

"But nothing, sit this one out." She said, her harsh voice quickly became soft as a mother's touch, and Petyr slumped in his seat.

"Alright, alright. Maybe you've got a point. Just... just try not to hurt him. Get what you've got to get, but then get out. And... Kirak?" Petyr said, turning his attention to the city's underground crime boss.

"Yeah?" Kirak asked.

"When the smiths get out, do me a favor if you don't mind, help the kid get back on his feet again, he's a good one, got promise as a smith, be a shame to see it go to waste." Petyr implored, and after a moment's contemplation, Kirak nodded ever so slightly.

"Alright, I guess it wouldn't hurt to lend a hand, his stolen work will make me a bundle after all." He answered cynically.

Rascal and the others departed quickly under the cover of night, they had carts waiting outside, so getting to their destinations was easy enough. The streets were nearly empty except for the occasional patrol, and with some dummied up military markings and military looking cloaks, they looked to any observer like a unit conducting a midnight transfer, and as such would draw no notice.

One by one they quietly deposited crates of rocks and took crates of weapons from the few locations they'd scouted out. The bright moonlight threatened to expose them, but the careful selection of targets served them well, only those smiths who were of smaller station and could ill afford proper security and with readily accessible storage had their stores 'hit' by the insurrectionist team.

"So you used to do this kind of thing a lot?" Moire asked curiously as they loaded another box.

"Yes, they're big and strong, we're few and weak, but that means we have lots of options to hit them, they get weaker, we get stronger. This may just be a pinprick, but we're literally taking away soldiers right now without shedding any blood." Rascal said with a hint of professional pride.

"Clever, very clever, but we'd best move, I don't want to be here long." Owl said in a hushed voice.

"Agreed, pick up the pace." Rascal said as they cleaned out their first target.

Petyr stood up from his seat, "I'm going out." He said glumly. He didn't need to say anything, he looked up, and both Kirak and Shanda had already gone. 'Wow, I really have been out of it.' He thought, and headed for the door.

He made his way to the bar where he'd first met Eire, it was easy enough to do without worry, the city slept, there wasn't even any bombardment at this hour. One could forget that there was a siege. When he reached the bar, it was closed. He looked around by moonlight until he found a few pebbles, he then moved to her window and threw them one by one at the shutters. A few minutes later, he saw the faint glow of candle light emerge from the gap between the two shutter halves. "Eire!" he whispered hoarsely, "It's me!"

The shutters flew open and she poked her head out and looked down, surprise was etched on her face. "Wait there!" She whispered back, he heard the rush of her feet away from the window, they faded away, then grew louder as she came to the door and opened it up. "Come in." She said hurriedly. She closed and locked it behind her and then rushed to the stairs, taking him up to her room again.

"What's going on?" She asked him. She abruptly demanded as he closed the door to her room behind him.

He let out a heavy sigh.

"Don't play stupid, there were soldiers here, someone said you knew one of the escapees, one of the ones that has been... doing things. Setting fires, killing people... fighting for the monsters outside our walls... it isn't true... is it?" She whispered as she looked down anxiously and played with her hands as they hung down in front of her.

"Eire I... I wasn't trying to lie to you but..." He bit his lip.

"Yeah, you were, but... were you just... using me, was I just a tool to you? I thought you liked me?" She asked.

"I do, I do, and... I... it's true, I'm one of Enri's soldiers, but I'm not a monster, they're not bad, I promise, I promise you. You believe me, don't you?" He asked hopefully.

"But, does that mean you're... you're a heretic... an apostate of the gods?" She asked in a pained voice.

Petyr let out a reluctant deep breath, he reached out and took her hands in his, "I don't know anything about gods or their business, I'm a smith, that's what I know, but I also know when I'm being treated fairly by those who rule over me. They're good rulers, whether you call the one at the top a god or not, he's given us good lives. I don't ask for more than that, I let the gods handle their own affairs, let them argue it out with him if they care to."

"And me... where do you stand with me?" She asked hesitantly.

"Maybe it is because of all the things going on, but... I like you, a lot, after it's all over, I'd like to get to know you in peacetime, maybe... start smithing again, I could settle here, who knows where things could go after that? There's going to be life after war, for all of us." He said and squeezed her hand.

"That... sounds nice." She whispered and leaned closer to him, he kissed her, and she pressed her lips into his in return, their tongues dueled as they disrobed one another, and she pulled him once more into her bed. She drew him into herself and arched her back with kittenish mewlings and pressed her breasts to his chest, every roll her hips drew audible desire from his lips until they shared in common release, and collapsed into her bed, naked and exhausted.

He caressed her cheek and drew her in for a passionate kiss, before allowing himself to fall back down. "Don't worry Eire, everything will be fine, I won't let anything happen to you, just like I promised." He whispered softly and closed his eyes.

"I know." She whispered sweetly as he started to drift off, "Everything will be better tomorrow."

As soon as she was sure he was asleep, she got carefully up out of the bed and put her clothes on, she looked down where he rested. She wanted to whimper, her heart pounded and shrank. 'So... human. I've never seen a heretic before... but he's... he's so much like my dah... the way he smiles, laughs, the way he holds me and makes me feel safe. The way he wants to reassure me. Six gods, if you please... hear my prayer, I don't see the evil I should. He looks, acts, talks... just like us. The way he made the whole bar laugh when I met him, the way he kissed me... and he's here to destroy us? That's his army out there?' She blinked back tears of disbelief, the warmth of his desire still clutched within her body's depths, desire that she too, shared. The guards told her to keep him here by any means necessary... she hadn't thought she'd go this far but...

'Was that seduction part of your dark powers, are you more than a human, an incubus, a demon... why are the gods not answering...' She wondered as she tried hard as she could to listen to the voice that the priests promised the faithful would hear when in conflicted states.

'Punishment, they hold back their voice to punish me over my ambiguity, the faithful must act to protect the faithful... I know what must be done... I know it...' She shook within her boots as she forced herself to acknowledge what had to be done, yet he looked so wonderful lying there, trusting after swearing his protection to her, that she'd be safe, and sure that he was also... 'Must conscience make cowards of us all?' She asked herself, and forced her body to turn against a will not her own, and out the door she went. Down the stairs again and out the door, she only had to wait, patrols were common, it only took a few minutes. A half a dozen Theocracy soldiers were approaching fast, she rushed to them as fast as her feet could carry her.

"The heretic..." She whispered, "One of the heretics is in my home... he is asleep, he's unarmed, he's... helpless." She said, feeling sick to her stomach as she informed on her lover. The soldiers took only one moment to decide to act, they followed her to her bar, she opened the door and led them quietly up the dark stairs, when she reached the door, she put one finger to her lips and whispered "Shhhhh."

The door opened, and then misfortune happened, one of the soldiers drawing his sword accidentally banged his weapon against the armor of one too close to him.

Petyr's eyes popped open with a start, in the dim candlelight he saw the armor of the Theocracy and he flung himself out of bed. He knew quite well he was no match for the hundred, he was not an elite, but he had the strength of a smith and training in the combat arts of Black Justice, and he was also a veteran. He rushed the first soldier he could reach, catching them off guard because he, naked and unarmed, had taken the fight to them.

The guard hastily thrust out his sword intending to skewer him, but he stepped to the outside of the thrust, grabbed the wrist and pulled him forward off balance, twisting his wrist in the process, and stealing the guard's weapon. He took his 'prize' and slashed madly with it, cutting another across the throat before the other four could respond.

Eire shrieked as she watched the fight unfold, wounds began to appear on Petyr's body as, in the enclosed space, he could not do all that he sought. In addition, he was unarmored, with every inch of flesh given by the gods laid bare to their weapons, while they were armored and outnumbered him. Petyr kicked one, hard in his chest and sent him flailing back down the stairs with a terrible cacophony of noise, but before he could recover, a sword found its mark and pierced his kidney through and through. The powerful blacksmith fell with a cry of agony.

Eire watched in horror as he continued to struggle in agony as the guard whose weapon he'd taken, kicked Petyr in the back of the head and sent him sprawling forward to land at Eire's feet. She shrieked again and thrust herself back into a corner of her bedroom. He got up to his hands and knees, intending to rise, then lifted his face, and caught her expression.

She saw his face, the shock and pain of her betrayal etched on every inch, the open mouthed and disbelieving look stayed etched on his face as a sword came down from beside him, and cut into the back of his neck, ending his disbelief forever.

Eire crouched down and turned her face away from the horrible sight, but though she shut her eyes, the vision would not leave her. She could only cry in fear and whisper futile apologies to Petyr, to the gods, to herself... she lost all sense of which she was speaking to, right up until one of the Theocracy guards came up and offered a hand out to her. He helped her rise to her feet, and took a document from his pouch.

"Miss, you've done a great thing for the Slane Theocracy today... now... we don't carry reward money around with us, obviously. But..." he paused and quickly scrawled out his name, a signature, the service she'd performed, and an amount on the document. "This is a reward receipt, take this to any Theocracy treasury office and you'll receive a reward of fifty gold coins for your help in bringing this man down. We'll take the rest of his body out of here now, and our dead and injured comrades. Please, try to get what rest you can, I know this must have been a terrifying, trying experience for you." He said and pressed the paper into her hand, then folded her numb fingers over it as she looked almost catatonically back at him.

Her silent gaze followed them all the way out of her room, but she never saw them for a moment of it, instead she was frantically praying, 'Gods whom I serve, please... did I do the right thing? Please give me an answer... please...' She begged for them to respond, the silence she was granted in turn, was almost as bad as the memory of his face staring at her as his head had been removed from his body.


	145. Damned If You Do

**AN: I did say shit was going to start getting dark.**

...Yanana...

Twenty thousand Slane Theocracy soldiers, and the thousands of surviving fanatics of Remedios Custodio, tipped the political scales within the city. Yuri deputised hundreds of inquisitors. "Here are your guidelines. If they admit their guilt, they are by definition... guilty. If they run, then they must be 'guilty' because only the guilty would run away. If they admit their guilt under intense questioning, they are 'guilty'. If they level accusations against you, they level them against the gods, and are therefore, guilty. If they resist, they are guilty. If they cannot prove their loyalty to the six or the four, they are 'guilty', and if they assert their loyalty to the proper gods, well the followers of the undead will lie, therefore you should think them 'guilty' for lying to you. Do not let them look you in the eyes, they will attempt to elicit sympathy from you, that is their dark magic at work, if they attempt this, they are by definition 'guilty'."

Yuri stood center stage with her hands behind her back as she looked down at her white robed deputy inquisitors, they raised their voices to the heavens and praised the gods with arms outstretched. "To your laws, we commend our souls!" They intoned.

"Any questions?" She asked archly.

Given the hours of briefing, there were none, and so she said with a joyful smile of absolute bliss, "Go then, and for the gods, purge the wicked."

When she rejoined General Suchala, she had a smug smile on her face. "Well, that should make it easy to get rid of the fifth column within the city. And we'll burden Neia's supply lines as well. Assuming she doesn't just decide to massacre everybody because they're inconvenient!" She threw her head back and laughed long and laughed loud as she imagined death's child slaughtering the naked civilians they were sending to her.

"It's a start, I don't care how we get them out, death or exile, but we can't have people inside the walls who will open the gates." Suchala said fervently. "Sending them out, no matter what Neia does, is probably for the best, even killing them like she did the hostages would take time. She's bloodthirsty enough that she might go that route." He rapped his knuckles the desk in front of him, "Try to be quick about whatever you're doing though, we don't have abundant time."

"It'll be easy." She said maliciously as she leaned over his desk and slammed her hands down on it, palms flat, she had a wild smile on her face, "Many of her supporters started living openly as such, we'll get those first."

"Whatever, just do it, you can talk yourself into bliss later, I'm busy." Suchala said pointedly and rubbed his temple as he tried to focus on the task at hand.

Yuri was not wrong. One thousand. That was how many they managed to find within the first day without even trying. She looked out over the thousand crowded into the court of justice, the place where Neia had nearly been martyred, she hugged her body to restrain her enjoyment. When she regained control over herself, she rapped the gavel several times, there were numerous conversations and discussions among the captives, who clung together in family groupings under the smug, hateful, or vengeful eyes of inquisitors and soldiers.

"You are all apostates to the true gods!" Yuri opened with a shout. "Normally, you would all be killed for that! Because the gods require that we enforce their rule. However!" She pointed the gavel at them dramatically as they stared at her in open mouthed disbelief, mothers clutched to children, husbands to wives, some looked at her with fury, clenching fists with anger while others looked at her with horror or fear, she drank it all up with joy.

"On this occasion we have chosen to be merciful!" She clutched the gavel to the cleft between her breasts and closed her eyes, she looked down and away, enjoying the dramatic effect, "For mercy too, is the way of the gods!" Relief swept over the gathering. Even with her eyes closed, she could feel it.

She straightened herself and put her hands on the edge of her podium, "Therefore you will all be exiled... naked. You will go north, out of the lands of the gods, let them decide what to do with you from there." She said as silent disbelief swept the prisoners.

Tears and struggles were the response as inquisitors and soldiers came down and began tearing clothing from those who would not willingly disrobe, more than one father or mother was struck by truncheons or held at halberd point as daughter or son was deprived of the dignity and warmth of their very own clothing. Regardless of their efforts, bound as they were, there was no real chance to resist, and as a result, there soon stood a thousand naked humans trembling as much from the cold as from their anxiety.

"Walk them to the gate! Cast them out and let the gods decree their fate!" Yuri said in a powerful, commanding voice.

The shouts renewed as halberds lowered in unison and the sharp points forced people to trudge up the stairs and out into the streets, people watched in wide eyed fascination at the naked parade, some laughed, a few bolder ones threw rotted vegetables, priests of the old gods proclaimed divine justice and exhorted any whose faith was flagging or who had slipped from the fold to come to the temples and see it renewed, lest they suffer the fate of those unfortunates.

The sound of trudging feet and cries of indignation, the wailing of children, from little ones at the breast to the younglings who were able to walk on their own, broke the hearts of their parents. But if it moved any hearts among the observers, then it did not move anyone enough to do anything.

When they were forced out of the city and the gates slammed shut behind them, only one guard remained, he marched them a bowshot from the city before he took out a key and released them from their chains. "Go. Stick to the road, perhaps you will run into General Baraja and... good luck to you." He said sympathetically.

"Good luck?" A prisoner asked with disbelief as he rubbed his sore wrists. "After that, you wish us luck?"

"Never in my life have I performed as sad a duty as this one, but I'm only following orders, and this is what the gods have commanded." He said somewhat sadly.

"Fine then." The former prisoner said and turned on his heel in disgust, he started to walk north, "Come on, it's a long way north and it isn't getting any warmer!" He shouted to his fellows, and as if galvanized by the order and by his anger, they began to walk away, and the guard returned to the city.

...Elf Kingdom...

"By all the gods..." Zesshi said, falling back on habit when they crested the hill and found herself looking over Crescent Lake to the city beyond it. Her customary unflappable indifference was shaken deeply as she looked at what she would have thought impossible.

"Welcome home... Princess Zesshi." Thirg said with a wide mouthed grin that exposed his fangs, his maul was over one shoulder and his red vampire eyes fixed firmly on the sight of his homeland's capital.

"What... am I seeing?" Zesshi asked in abject disbelief.

"You are looking at what happens when elves decide to 'grow' a city." Tefl said proudly, "There is none other like it." As she looked at it, even from across the lake, Zesshi was not inclined to dispute the claim. A single enormous tree was in the center, its branches turned up into towers, even from there, she could see people walking along the wooden paths with rails grown straight out of the branch. Tree connected to tree and branch to branch, birds made nests alongside the homes of the elf inhabitants. Down below the great tree were many smaller ones, these had complex interconnecting lines that, at a guess, suggested familial relationships, where down below, streets of stone provided common access to various buildings.

"I've got to see this up close." Zesshi said breathlessly, her blood was up and telling her to go, not in this moment, for hostages or for her revenge, but because she felt drawn to the place as if by some invisible force of nature itself.

"You will, but wait for nightfall. I doubt you'll face any real opposition, at least until you get to the palace." Thirg said thoughtfully as he rubbed his jaw, "It isn't that the guards there are more loyal to the king, everyone hates him, even I remember that much. But if they work in the palace, then odds are their families are constantly with him, he went with the Slane Theocracy. That means that he's got some hostages with him now and so people will fight to keep you at bay."

"That is unfortunate." Zesshi said calmly. "So, do you know the way down to where they are?"

"That we don't." Tefl answered, shaking her head as she twirled one of her knives in one hand. "But before we were sold, we did hear things about it."

"What did you learn?" Zesshi asked intently, tearing her face away from the stunning sight of Crescent Lake only with the greatest effort.

"Gah," Thirg began, rubbing the back of his head unhappily, he didn't really meet her gaze, "crazy stuff mostly, rumors and stories. Underground writing in a weird script nobody has ever seen before, unbreakable stone, and it runs several levels deep. Nobody knows who built it, and one of the stories said that it just 'appeared' there beneath the palace and the king emerged from it and... well, it's all just crazy stuff. The place exists, but the rest of that?" He took the maul off his shoulder and rested the head of it on the ground, then leaned on the handle and said, "Well, you know how stories can just spring up sometimes. I don't buy it. It's enough to know that the place exists and can be accessed from the palace. We can find our way in from there."

"I think, brother mine, that it is very unlikely that anyone 'in' the palace, will actually help with that." Tefl pointed out sarcastically.

"Agreed, but there are hostages from here in Crescent Lake, you can count on it, and that means there will be someone who can tell us how to get there." Thirg pointed out with an equally caustic voice.

"An interesting thought but... I'm afraid we can't let you do that." A voice from the forest said in passing.

Zesshi whirled to face it, as did her comrades.

"Get out here." She said in a voice of ice,

"Really Zesshi, after all this time, you don't know me by my voice alone?" The hidden speaker said with a laugh.

"Of course I do! But I want to look you in your eyes, and I want you to see into mine!" She shouted.

There was silence for a moment, and then a rustling from beyond, that last only until the Captain of the Black Scripture stepped fully into view, along with the rest of the surviving seats.

"Hello again Zesshi, or should I say... traitor?" The Captain said unhappily, looking slightly away from her.

"Look at me, Captain." She said coldly. "Notice anything different?" She asked.

He did as she asked, "Your hair is pulled back." He said, stating the obvious.

"That's right. You can look at them now." She said calmly.

"Hey cappy, we were supposed to read Raymond's note before confronting her, r'member?" The second seat said with annoyance.

"Ugh, you're right." The Captain said with exasperation, "Well Zesshi, since you weren't planning on anything until tonight anyway, can we maybe wait two minutes before killing each other? Raymond left us all a letter when we were in Kami Miyako, with strict instructions to read it before confronting you."

Zesshi looked at him in surprise, "A letter? From Raymond?" She was brought up short by that, and to the Captain's surprise, she nodded emphatically.

"Yes, read it, I'll wait." She said and stood her scythe up beside her.

The sound of multiple envelopes being torn open and cast aside, broke the stillness of the moment and a multitude of eyes scanned the script in front of them. Finally the captain lowered the document and simply said, "What the hell is this shit?"

...Crossroads...

Missing. Such a simple word, but even as a sentence it led to endless questions. Questions which, as far as the trio of Owl, Moira, and Rascal could tell, had no answers. That was why they were sitting across from Kirak and Shanda once again.

"We got your goods, now where the hell is Petyr?" Moira asked passionately.

"Asking me for the sixth time in two hours will not change my answer. We don't know, we didn't know, and maybe we won't know. He could have gone to ground, or been caught, or be dead in an alley from a random encounter with an unexpected robber." Kirak took a swig of wine and slammed his cup down.

"Perhaps you should worry more about yourselves. You're dropping like flies lately and now there are only three of you. They've got your faces most likely, and after the robbery last night, you think the guards were out in force before? They'll be several times worse now." Shanda said, narrowing her eyes and staring at them as if they were imbeciles.

"Well, what do you plan to do?" Owl asked.

"We plan to hide you out, you're not going to see the outside for a bit, because while you're in hiding, you're going to be working." Kirak said confidently.

"Working on 'what' exactly?" Rascal asked skeptically as he tapped his fingers over and over again on the table in front of him.

"Tell me, what do you know about the way gates are rigged?" Kirak asked with a clever smile on his face.

The trio looked at one another and collectively shrugged. "Not much, why?" Rascal asked, narrowing his eyes and staring at them with suspicion.

The two smirked. "Because if you want to make sure this city falls, you're going to need to know something about it. We promised help, we've given plenty, but there's one more thing you'll need to do. Succeed, and the city is yours, but it will take lots of practice." Shanda replied.

"We're having a replica of a mechanism made for you, you're going to learn how to break it. Get the gate open, screw that mechanism up so that it can't close, and General Enri gets to drink with General Boabdill in his private office. You get me?" Kirak asked.

"But what about Petyr?" Owl asked flatly.

"We're putting out feelers, any hint of him, and it'll turn up, in the meantime there is nothing more you can do about it, so just be productive. You'll be eating, sleeping, and drinking gears until you can do it under any conditions, then when you're ready, we'll present the opportunity to strike. If we get word about your companion, we'll let you know. If we don't, then nobody knows where he is and it is no problem, at least, not that sort of problem." Kirak retorted smartly and he called a server bearing wine over, she poured some for everyone at the table. Shanda smiled in her most broad, charming fashion and raised her cup. "To life, to victory, and freedom from the past." She said. It was echoed by all, albeit with some small reluctance from those concerned for Petyr's life... but echoed it was, and they drank deeply till their cups were empty.

...Crossroads...Theocracy Headquarters...

General Boabdill was of mixed emotions as he sat at the table with his staff. "So, we've killed several of these, there are only three left now, right?" He asked.

"Yes, Sir." Commander Heikeren replied as he read off a document.

"How much did it cost us?" General Boabdill asked flatly.

"Well thirty soldiers burned to death in the fire, along with twenty civilians... in that building. Twenty five more citizens burned to death when the fire spread, until it could be contained and put out. Five buildings went up all in all, it could have been a lot worse, but we got lucky, sort of. It had rained before that, so the damp helped contain the flames." Heikeren replied unhappily.

"In addition, the one cornered at the bar killed two and injured two more. The remaining three are still at large, and the night the one at the bar was killed, there was a robbery. This morning when the shipment of weapons and armor were delivered and the crates opened, there was nothing in there but rocks We've arrested the relevant blacksmiths for failing to properly secure their goods, terminated their contracts, and their shops have been confiscated. It's a hollow gesture really, but... well, that is the law." Vice Commander Ira said unhappily as she gently set her own document down and smoothed the cheap paper out over the desk.

"Any more movement out of General Enri?" General Boabdill asked gravely.

"Little, her dragons seem to probe our defenses, checking out our deployments and where we concentrate our soldiers, and we've noticed that their mangonels seem to adjust their fire afterwards, the damage to the city has been rather light, and they've given up on taking the walls down with rocks. I don't get it." Commander Heikeren said glumly.

"I get it." The Vice Commander replied, "Our injury to the dragon spooked her and she saw we could hurt them. She relied heavily on the use of her dragons to deliver soldiers who could outflank or surround us, to strike from within and sow chaos. Now she doesn't think they'll get through and she's trying to find a way to make sure they do."

"I agree, that seems the most probable thing, have we gotten any word about the new divisions coming from Kami Miyako?" General Boabdill asked hopefully.

"Yes, Sir. Three weeks, and they'll be here with another seventy-five thousand soldiers, infantry and cavalry... no siege weapons, too slow, but with that many we'll have a significant numerical advantage and the city to anchor us." Commander Heikeren said with a smile growing on his face.

"That may be enough, but really, three weeks?" He asked.

"Yes, Thousand Mile Astrologer reported a massed army of twenty thousand elsewhere that they had to go and deal with, it isn't a large divergence, but it adds a week." Heikeren added. "Unfortunate, but they can handle it." He shrugged, "We've held out for awhile now, we can hold out a while longer."

"I suppose we'll have to, but if she knows they're on the way, she may attack before then, I want triple the soldiers on shift and a thousand in reserve at the center point beyond each wall by twenty yards, take down buildings to make space for them if you have to, but I want them able to respond to any assault on the walls at any position within a matter of minutes." Boabdill said thoughtfully.

"It will be done, Sir. Anything else?" The Vice Commander asked with a predatory smile.

"Nothing for now, keep me informed." The General replied and stood up, signalling the meeting's end.


	146. Damned If You Don't

**AN: Just a question, where do you rank Neia's overall Karma 'prewar' versus 'present'?**

Chapter 146:

...North of Yanana…

Neia never imagined it would be so hard to do nothing. Two raids had come her way, and both times she'd had to stay back and simply 'direct'. Both had been quickly dispatched, but nonetheless, it rankled.

"You're cross, my love." Skana said patiently.

"You're observant, my love." Neia quipped as they rode together.

"Want to tell me why?" Skana asked, fixing her one good eye on her wife.

"I'm used to fighting, leading from the front is second nature. Staying back… it just feels wrong, like cowardice. Like I'm asking people to do what I'm not going to do myself." Neia answered in a tired sort of voice.

"I can understand that, but you've already been a front liner, you've proven yourself in every way, nobody will accuse you of lack of courage." Skana said gently, reaching from where she sat on her horse, to take Neia's hand in hers.

Neia allowed the touch and then gave her a crooked smile, "One person would."

Skana looked outraged, her jaw clenched and teeth were bared and her one good eye narrowed dangerously. "Who, name them and I'll tear them a new asshole."

"Vivid, but… that person is me. I'd accuse myself, and when we accuse ourselves, we're always guilty, even when we're not." Neia whispered and gave a gentle smile in return for Skana's misdirected outrage.

"You don't have to spend your life proving yourself, you know." Lakyus said reluctantly.

"Maybe not, but I don't feel right being anywhere but the front." Neia said fervently.

"Neia… can I ask you something?" Lakyus gently asked.

Neia nodded, "Of course."

"Are you…" she began, then struggled to find a word that wouldn't offend her, "alright?" she finished.

"Of course I am. I'm fine, everything is fine, I'm alright." Neia repeated herself several ways and several times in rapid succession.

"Neia, you're talking about wiping out a city, a city that…" Lakyus began to answer, only for Neia to interrupt.

"That is hosting the fanatics who burned my followers alive, that hosts the Slane Theocracy, who helped them do it, that stripped me to the waist so I could be beaten for questioning their priests. They chose to go the route of war, I'm just making sure that they really know they've lost it." Neia's voice was dark as she answered, and Lakyus might have questioned her further, except for the return of a scout who rode up in a desperate hurry to the head of the column.

"General, we have a problem!" He said urgently.

"Well, what is it? An army? An ambush? A disaster?" Neia pushed urgently for an answer, leaning forward on her horse and reaching instinctively for her bow.

"Not an army really but… the city of Yanana has expelled our people, all your followers and… they're naked." He said as if he could barely believe his own words.

"Naked? What do you mean, naked?" Neia asked in disbelief.

"No clothes, nothing but their skin and hair." He said firmly.

The chill wind became much more obvious in that moment to the warrior pope, but it had nothing on her sense of rage. She turned to her Vice Commander. "Skana, ride to the rear and have wagons reshuffled, empty as many as you can and rush those ahead of us, have them packed full of people and bring them here."

"Got it." Skana said and wheeled her horse around to head back to the supply train.

"CZ, we'll need blankets, clothes, have a dozen wagons loaded with those." Neia added.

"I will." CZ replied, and went down the line of march.

"This bring back memories?" Neia asked that evening as she and her companions sat around the flame and waited for the stew to be ready.

"It does." Skana said in a voice frostier than the chill night air.

"What?" Lakyus asked curiously as she stirred the pot.

"Before things got to this point, we saw occasional expulsions, well… a lot of expulsions. Sometimes inquisitor led, sometimes spontaneous, but whatever the cause, yeah, people would sometimes get cast out by their community." Skana said unhappily.

"We saved the ones we could but… who knows how many died alone in the wilderness?" Neia said in a shallow voice as Lakyus held out her hand to accept a bowl.

"Or were cut down by either their own neighbors, or by bandits, or by overzealous inquisitors or…" Skana shivered with rage.

Lakyus was quiet, a sense of shame washed over her as she recalled the faith she'd followed, and all it had caused her to do, taught her to believe. She wordlessly laddled stew into bowls for them all, then herself, then took a seat in the circle.

As if sensing her distress, Neia looked over to her. "You're not responsible for everyone who shared your faith. Maybe you've done a few wrongs, but if they're yours, just do what you can to fix them."

"You sound like a priest." Lakyus managed to crack a smile at that, which broke into a laugh when Neia was taken aback by the statement and let her mouth fall open in surprise.

She relaxed a moment later and started to laugh, "I'm the pope of a new religion, I suppose that makes me kind of like a priest."

"How long did you spend with the refugees?" Lakyus asked.

Neia blushed, "A few hours."

"Yup, priest." Lakyus pointedly and smugly replied.

"You keep wearing new hats my love, you'll need to grow another head to fit them all." Skana said as she dipped her bread into the stew.

Her sense of humor lightened the mood for a bit, but it couldn't last. "H-How many did they say we should expect?" Skana asked hesitantly.

"Thousands." Neia replied calmly. "We can't handle that kind of increase on our supplies. They can't stay with us."

"They need to be sent to Prart. They can make that journey easily enough with some carts and some food, but then we're in a bad way after we finish." Lakyus said what they were all thinking, but then added a suggestion. "The Sorcerer King's ability to simply move from place to place, does it have a limit?"

"A limit?" Neia asked. "What kind of limit?"

"I mean, does it only work for him or can he move groups, large ones, like an army?" Lakyus further explained.

"I honestly don't know but… I can ask. I was going to request to visit Nazarick soon anyway, I wanted to borrow the Dagger of Paradox from Lord Demiurge. So… I suppose I can ask then." She replied optimistically.

"The dagger of what now?" Lakyus asked in a quizzical voice.

"Dagger of Paradox. It was used to… test me." Neia shuddered at the memory, "I passed." She might have shuddered, but her voice was full of pride.

"What makes it so special?" Lakyus asked as she set aside her empty bowl.

"You can't do what you want with it. If you try to hurt yourself, you'll fail, try to hurt someone else, you'll only hurt yourself." Neia's voice was very quiet as she explained, and this gave both Skana and Lakyus all the information they needed about just what kind of 'test' Neia had passed.

'No… they couldn't… they didn't… wait… it was Lord Demiurge. He could, he would. Did Lord Ainz know? Was he behind it? No, couldn't be, he's never shown anything but confidence in her. My god…' Skana wanted to clutch her head and close her eyes as she pictured the scene, Demiurge handing her the dagger, telling her she had to die… nobody knew better than Skana what that would do to Neia, what she would do, what failure would do to her… 'Neia… why didn't you tell me, what must it have been like for you, to hear that order, to follow it, to try desperately to cut into your own breast or slash your own wrists. I can't even…' She forced herself away from those thoughts, ripping them away like a scab over a wound and made herself ask a more 'practical' question in the most even tone that she could manage.

"But what will you do with it?" Skana inquired.

"Career soldiers value their reputation, their legacy, and their honor, well, as they see it anyway… above all other things. General Suchala was undefeated, now his back is to the wall, his soldiers will look to him for courage and strength of will. So…" Neia's eyes went to a shiny black that reflected the fire before them as she finished her answer, "with this, I will destroy everything General Suchala values in himself."

...Nazarick…

"So, they're really that far gone are they?" Ainz asked as he listened to Demiurge's report on the current state of the Slane Theocracy.

"Yes, My Lord. They've scraped the bottom of every barrel in their attempt to continue the fight. Their magic schools are almost completely shut down, the food is down to half rations in the areas they consider threatened and impossible to hold, and they're now using criminals as soldiers." Demiurge replied. "My Lord… may I make a humble request?"

"Ask." Ainz said politely, holding his hand out as if to accept an offering.

"Their criminal division, I know it would be trivial to let them simply be defeated on the field, but may I instead ask to have them for my use?" Demiurge asked hopefully.

"Do you have room enough to store them?" Ainz asked curiously.

"I would require Mare's assistance to create a large enough containment area… but I promise, My Lord, it would only take a few days, and we'll have subjects enough for our experiments to last for years." Demiurge explained enthusiastically.

Ainz thought it over… "The humans of this world are very bad at determining who is truly deserving of punishment, more than once we've been sent a murderer and found out they were framed or falsely accused. Or we've been sent the petty or the desperate who would not have been criminals but for the need for food or potions…. Yes, you may have them Demiurge, but have your assistant winnow the ones deserving of it, from those not."

"And what of those 'not', My Lord?" Demiurge asked.

"Deliver them to a prison camp as prisoners of war. Accord them all rights that other prisoners get. No more, no less. We will have a use for all of these people when the war ends after all, it is insensible to destroy our own subjects, even if they don't recognize themselves as such." Ainz said as he leaned back on his throne.

"How are the legions of Jircniv performing?" Ainz asked, eager to move the subject before he could be asked any questions.

Demiurge flipped to another document without missing a beat and said, "Very well, as humans go, order was restored in the capital under Zanac, and the purges of the old nobility are under way. They and the army of Re-Estize are marching south with Shalltear and Zaryusu. Also, Hilma has remained in residence in the capital, and has reported that she's finished training her replacement, and will move into an advisory role to transition the new one until the war ends."

"Very well, now what about… (*AN: Events referenced here feature material from 'Blood in the Streets) our replacement Thousand Mile Astrologer, and our little 'resistance' within Kami Miyako?" Ainz asked.

"Enlaith has been providing steady lists of names and other personal information on the people who may create problems when the final engagement takes place, and Doppel One has provided misinformation to Dominic at every turn. His trust in 'her' has led him to mistrust members of his command that should have been trusted. As a result, when his Agante took their long knives out to do purges of the ranks of potential dissidents, he accidentally eliminated some committed allies." Demiurge was about to continue further, when at Ainz's side, Albedo lost her decorum.

"Oh my Lord… you're so amazing, only you could so make your enemy dance in the palm of your hand that they kill their own!" Albedo fairly cried out, she clutched her body tightly, her eyes burned bright with absolute fanaticism. "I…I...I Oh My Lord just…!" She paused and reached for him.

"Albedo containment protocol one!" Ainz shouted in alarm, prompting Cocytus, Sebas, and the Eight Edge Assassins to rush to tackle her and drag her from clawing at her lord's robe.

"Three days confinement, as usual." Ainz said with a frustrated sigh as he brushed off his royal robes and reseated himself in the Throne of Kings. Her wail of unhappiness and desire cut deep as the guilt for his actions welled up in him again, only for it to be gratefully suppressed and leaving him frustrated instead.

"I wonder if anyone else ever has to put up with this?" He asked himself now that he was, for the moment at least, blessedly alone as Demiurge assisted in dragging Albedo away.

...Crossroads…

Rascal tasted copper in his mouth, which is what you usually tasted when you had blood in it. He kicked, hard, and knocked the attacker backward down the stairs. "Are you done over there?!" He shouted to Moira, who was fumbling desperately in the dark with the mechanism.

"Almost! Give me a few more seconds!" She shouted back.

"We don't have a few more seconds!" Owl snapped, "Screw it!" he shouted and flung himself bodily down the stairs, toppling the entire series of attackers down to the bottom.

"Got it!" Moire shouted and flung the removed components away.

"Alright, halt!" Kirak said from where he was sitting in the corner of the room. Everybody gradually disentangled themselves, some with groans, some with laughs, some with apologies of one sort or another, but back to their feet they got, sore and tired though they were.

"Not bad, not bad at all." Kirak said with a laugh, "You've cut time considerably even in the dark.

"We ought to have, it's been two weeks, day after day, hour after hour fending off mock assaults and all of us just taking turns disassembling your damned replica. Ugh, I swear if I live through this I'll have nightmares about gears for the rest of my life." Rascal said with a roll of his eyes.

"Same here." Owl added.

"Still, nice move flinging yourself down the stairs, not exactly lethal, but it buys time, and time will buy you this city." Kirak said with enthusiasm. "Wait till you see her move, and then strike."

"Remember, you must hit the gate house, and hit it hard, you won't be able to 'damage' the equipment since most of it is adamantite, goodness knows what it cost to make, but it is 'meant' to work together. So you can, from the inside, disassemble some of it. Do that long enough to throw the parts beyond the wall, and…" Shanda smirked as she spoke, "well if this city were a woman, she wouldn't be a virgin for much longer after that."

"Any chance we'll get any help on this?" Rascal asked hopefully.

"None." Shanda and Kirak replied.

"I'm sorry, really I am, but I'm done with all that, we both are. We fought our fights and we're repaying our debt to you, but we're not throwing our lives away." Kirak replied with some small guilt tinging his voice.

"Is that what we're doing?" Moira asked softly.

"Probably." Rascal said with resignation.

"For what it's worth… sorry." Owl said sadly.

"You, you're sorry?" Moira said with disbelief.

"Who?" Owl asked with a smirk and he pretended to look around for the source of the sympathetic expression.

"Uh huh. Well, if we're all done with that, we need to check out the gate house, I'm sure it is heavily defended." Moira rolled her eyes at Owl's absurdities as she got down to practical matters.

"Sure, just schedule a tour at your noon meal." Shanda said, closing her eyes and waving her hand as if it were a trivially easy matter.

"Wait, really?" Moira looked at her suspiciously.

"No, she's screwing with you." Rascal said dryly. "So I remember something of the gatehouse from my time here years ago, any chance anything has changed since then?"

"None at all." Kirak responded with a shake of his head, "Those are some of the best defenses in the Slane Theocracy outside of Kami Miyako, how can you upgrade to 'better than the best'?"

"True enough, are they still keeping a solid fifty soldiers there?" Rascal inquired as he looked away, running the numbers through his head.

"No, it's up to a hundred now, General Boabdill is a cautious one." Kirak answered in an admiring tone.

"Those were always trouble…" Rascal's words trickled off as he pondered further.

"Yeah, but I see that look on your face, I've seen that before, what do you plan on doing?" Shanda asked as a cunning smile formed on her face and a twinkle appeared in her eyes.

"I was a scripture once…" Rascal said with a quiet, deadly voice. He then began to laugh uproariously, to the bewilderment of his friends, he clutched his belly with both hands and laughed so hard that he cried.

"What, what's so funny?" Moira asked with a smile creeping over her face at the sight.

"I was just thinking… we're about to show the Sorcerer King's armies just why scriptures are the champions of humanity… while on his side… taking a city from the humans who taught me." Rascal tried to wipe his tears of laughter clear, only to see that where he left off, Shanda and Kirak picked up, when they too had finally stopped laughing, they traded a look between one another.

"Hell, after that, I guess we have to help you. Don't plan on any last stands from us but… alright, one last mission together." Shanda said and stuck out her hand. Rascal took it and shook it hard.

"Like old times." He said with a wink.

"Not quite, you're not getting laid this time." She said with a salacious wink.

"Oh yes he is!" Moira interjected. "Damned if I'm going out there without one more good time."

"Oh good god, what a squad I got myself into." Owl said with an exasperated sigh.

"So, what did you have in mind?" Kirak asked with an interrogative cough, trying to draw them back to the important matters.


	147. Crash

**AN: So ends the Crossroads Arc, the fine points of the battle will be in the next chapter, which may be a day or two away, I want to work on 'Scales of Trust' and 'Acting in Good Faith' next. Being sick, SUCKS. Anyway, you can support turning God Rising into an illustrated ebook (free) by donating to patr3on dot com slash godrising or you can support turning me into a full time author at patr-eon dot com slash tellingstories where I write original work. Original stuff and exclusive Overlord content is available for free on my Discord server, the invite code is on my FFN author page. Read on and enjoy.**

...Outside of Crossroads...

"They're beautiful, aren't they?" Enri asked as she rode next to her best friend and her closest adviser.

"They are." Sun said as he stroked his long thin white beard.

"Impressive, I suppose." Lupusregina commented from Enri's left hand.

They were riding the length of the line, tens of thousands arrayed in battle formation, rank upon rank of spears stood ramrod straight, no wavering, no movement, no nervous gestures. Just tens of thousands like a forest of unmoving trees without even a breeze to disrupt them. Shining points would reflect the sun when it was high in the sky... if they were not blooded by then. Black armor marked those who identified themselves with General Baraja's order, and that was most of them. Humans stood beside elves, interspersed among them were a handful of vampires, but these two made up the bulk and the center of the army. On either side stood the thousands of goblins, Enri's summons, her elite and unstoppable goblin army. She waved to her soldiers, who whooped and cheered, and the spears moved to stab the sky in salute.

Centaurs stomped their feet from behind those, unable to climb ladders or towers, they had to wait until the gate was breached, wolves of the wolf riders howled to chill the blood of those who stood defiant on the walls, and as she came near, and as if to compete with the howls and cheers, a few dragons let loose with an unbridled roar that woke the entire city beyond the walls.

Enri came near to Pael'disardarc, and nudged her mount close to him. "You're looking well, magnificent even." She said politely.

He lowered his head to be at eye level with her. "I feel it. Time to pay them another visit, and I don't think their bolts will be a problem this time." He replied confidently, stretching his neck up so that the blue armor was clearly visible. It was truly magnificent work, a solid breastplate that covered his underbelly, and connected to overlapping scalemail that ran over much of his neck, it glowed faintly with a few runecrafted enchantments.

"What enchantments did they end up giving you?" She asked curiously.

"A luck boost, piercing resistance, and a speed enhancement." He replied in his rough, deep voice.

"Good choices." She replied as she reached out and touched the faint blue material, smooth as a rock polished by a river, she felt as if she were looking at something invulnerable. "Still, don't take any risks you don't have to, your family has done well by us, don't make me sad by having to tell your father of your passing."

"I will not." He replied with pride and confidence to her sincere and affectionate tone.

She spurred her horse onward, down the line, the grassy smell of the open field reached her nose and she breathed it deep, morning dew gleamed as the sun peaked over the horizon, it was a beautiful day. She rode past the halberdiers, mostly demihumans, orcs and other exceptionally strong races that had resettled after the debacle in the Holy Kingdom years before, they were perfectly suited to anchoring positions, and so held the far flanks.

Finally she reached the end of the line, as she did so and turned her horse around to head back to the center, she caught a glimpse of herself in a puddle that had formed from the previous night's rain. The reflection showed a woman she barely recognized. Atop her massive undead mount, pure white armor over her torso, hair hanging down her back wild and free, a sword at her side that experienced adventurers would envy her for owning. Her eyes hard, fixed, calculating. "How... how did I become this... when... when did I become this?" She whispered softly to the reflection as her memory flew back to the day she fled from her dying father with her little sister.

She looked away from the reflection as she rode past it back the way she'd come, her eyes turned to the heavens, "My lord, if you can see this, know that I thank you for your gifts, this is truly... beyond my ability to ever repay. Now please, give me strength to bear the terrible losses that will surely come from this."

She'd spoken her prayer in a low voice, but not so low that Lupusregina had not heard it.

The werewolf grinned broadly in approval. "Just do your job, everything will..." She paused in mid sentence.

"What is it?" Enri asked as they neared the center.

"Something's wrong... or... is something right?" Lupusregina asked as she sniffed the air further.

Her attention turned to the city, and she pointed in shock. "What the hell are they doing? Are they insane?" Lupusregina asked in disbelief.

The main gate was opening, slowly, but opening.

Enri whirled behind her, "Cavalry to the fore!" She shouted, "Prepare to charge!"

For a moment there was hesitant disbelief, but when she shouted it again, a very confused cavalry did exactly as she'd ordered and rode between the infantry ranks to mass at the front.

"It could be a trap." Sun said cautiously.

"I can't rule it out but... it seems so obvious that I don't believe it." Enri said firmly.

The gate continued to creep open. "Wait here." Lupusregina said and rode forward as fast as she could on her undead horse, as she drew closer, she heard the sound of terrible fighting and dying within the gatehouse. As the gate opened all the way, she saw something unbelievable. Gleaming metal parts flew out a window and landed beyond the wall.

She wheeled about and started shouting. "It's real! Go!" She shouted several times as she drew closer, cursing the limitations of human hearing until Enri responded.

"Cavalry! Advance! Seize the gate!" Enri called out, and this time there was no hesitation, wolf riders, centaurs, human and elven horsemen galloped past, letting loose thunder from the ground beneath their stamping advance.

...Within the Wall...The Night Before...

The little group crowded around a small table with a crude overhead drawing of the gatehouse and surrounding buildings. Rascal put little stones around to indicate where various positions were protected.

"Take what they have to defend, and they'll weaken themselves to take it back. Therein lies opportunity." Rascal said. "Remember, we do not have to 'hold' the gatehouse, we don't have a chance at that, all we need is ninety seconds, enough time to get the gate open and remove some key components. After that, well it is up to General Enri. Shanda, you handle the drum, Owl, you 'alert' them to the threat, that'll draw some of them away. Kirak, you plant the flags. Moira and I will take care of the rest."

Moira gave a grim laugh, "I half expected you to tell me to stay safe somewhere."

"Would you if I asked?" He arched an eyebrow and looked up from the shoddy improvised map.

"No." She replied. "It'd be nice to live, but..." She tapped the table with her hand, "I've got a job to do and a debt to repay, and tomorrow I'll do both."

Rascal snorted, "The Theocracy never knew just what they were poking when they started this mess. Well, they'll find out soon enough, if they haven't worked it out already. Alright, everybody knows what to do, sleep now, and we move out in six hours."

Affirming nods greeted him and they broke apart to go to their private quarters within their de facto hideout in Kirak's den. But Rascal and Moira did not walk away from the table just yet.

He was about to, then she took him by the hand, "Years and years ago," she began before he could ask the question, "I was married, I loved him, I thought he loved me. But while I could barely walk when heavy with his child... he ran away, took our only horse and fled the beastman invasion. He left me and our child to be devoured, with no more care for us than he showed for the furniture in that pathetic house."

"I'm... sorry." Rascal said, genuinely meaning it.

She smiled weakly, "You probably guessed that the Sorcerer King saved us both, it's why I'm here, that's my debt to him."

"Why are you telling me this, now of all times?" Rascal asked as he looked down into her eyes.

"Because..." She said, "I was thinking about all that we've done, since everything began, all the way up to now... and I wanted to say... well first, thank you. But also, I wish my husband had been a lot more like you. You're the kind of man I thought he was. Just something I thought you should hear once."

Rascal drew her into his embrace, "I hope you make it tomorrow." He said in an affectionate voice.

"Me too." She said with a sniffle, "Now come on, let's get to bed." She added, and stepped back, he fell into step beside her and opened the door to her chamber. It was two hours before they managed to get their rest.

When they woke up, it was in tandem, they threw on their disguises and left the room together, their friends were already ready outside in the main room.

"Thought we'd have to come get you." Shanda said with a chuckle.

"Nope, not this time. Maybe next time." Rascal said with a wink. They went outside and got into the wagon and rode down the streets until they came near to their destination.

Kirak got out first and unloaded several covered poles, which he lugged all the way up to the upper floor of a building near the wall. For the former scripture member, punching a hole through the flimsy wooden ceiling was relatively easy, and in short order he was on top. The moon was still bright in the sky, but nobody was looking 'inward' everybody knew Enri would attack the following day, the entire city was tense. This would play into that feeling.

As a precaution, he put the flagpoles upright atop each building first without uncovering them. Once he was finished, he gave a low whistle down below. Shanda got out of the wagon carrying a large drum and went into a nearby building and went up to the upper floor. She then gave a low whistle of her own.

Owl then parked the little wagon and took a deep breath, then he ran full tilt toward the gate, "Alarm! Alarm! Infiltrators! Infiltrators!" He shouted at the shocked guards. The gatehouse was well defended, and they snapped their eyes to him. As soon as Kirak heard the shouting, he rushed from building to building along the rooftops to each position, and yanked off the covers of the flagpoles bearing the emblem of the Sorcerous Kingdom. In the whipping wind above, they caught easily and stood proudly.

Owl rushed to the nearest man he could reach and pointed, "You've got to take those buildings, there are hundreds there! You can't let them get out!" He shouted, and Shanda grinned in her position, and beat the war drum. The 'Boom' might not reach far away as it was, but it was still thunder to the little segment of the wall they wanted.

Panemba was yawning when the civilian came up and grabbed him, shouting about the infiltration and inevitable attack, from where he stood he couldn't see the banners, but those higher up on the wall could, and both shock and fear took hold of the gatehouse.

"No!" he shouted in absolute disbelief, his people were still running around in a panic to take up defensive positions when the two officers came running up.

"Listen soldier!" The man shouted, he exuded authority and power as he spoke, "Do not panic! They were caught early, they're throwing their armor on now, just send ten men per building and they'll be trapped!"

His voice carried like light through the darkness, and soldiers of the Theocracy, trained to follow, to fight, and to die if they had to, rushed down the steps to seize back the captive buildings.

Panemba was about to do the same when the imposing officer and his aid stopped him, "No, take us to your commander, he needs to know what's going on!" Panemba almost froze, but the urgency in the senior officer's eyes told him it was vital, so he rushed in and led the way up the stairs to a thick, solid door.

"Sir, it's important!" Panemba said urgently, "An attack! You need to know what's going on!"

The door flew open and Panemba entered, followed by the two officers. "I heard! I heard! What's happening?" The commander asked. "Where are they coming from? How many are there?"

His voice was full of urgency, and from outside they could hear the shouts of anger and battle fury become cries of confusion as the buildings were obviously empty.

The confusion outside became confusion on the commanding officer's face when Rascal said, "Three, and through the door." And then his sword was out and buried in the commander's neck.

Moira drew out her sword and ran it into Panemba's stunned face with a banshee shriek, he fell, twitching, the room had only a handful of others within, and Rascal was on them before their swords were half drawn.

Moira didn't even try to fight, she went for the door and shut it tight, she threw the bolts over into place without even looking behind her to see how Rascal was doing, she didn't need to see in order to know.

[Agility Boost] [Lesser Strength] [Greater Agility Boost] He muttered, activating three martial arts and straining his body to its limits, the command staff controlling this office were not the finest soldiers, but they didn't need to be, most of the time. They just had to be the best administrative staff, and if they were good at that, well it did not help them now. Rascal's sword opened guts and throats and blood founted out like a hot spring. The soldiers outside began to realize there was a problem within when they heard the shouting and dying from inside.

Owl, for his part, took up a position at the stairs leading up to the gate. As stunned and horrified Theocracy soldiers looked at him, he pointed a confiscated spear in their direction and said simply, "Gotcha!" Beside him, the gate began to open as the sun peeked over the horizon.

Their rage turned on him in earnest and he backed his way into the stairs, they could only approach one at a time, and his spear, useless in that space for slashing, was good enough at thrusting. And thrust, he did. He managed to kill one before he got his first wound on his leg, and a second before he lost three fingers to a lucky slash. He shouted in pain, and redoubled his desperate delaying action. But as he came nearer to the top, he did not ask that they open the door.

Behind him he could hear the banging as Moira and Rascal frantically turned the mechanism to open the door all the way. It was slow going. 'Time... I need time!' He thought, then remembered his almost playful flinging of his body down the stairs during practice. 'Didn't expect to actually do that...' He thought, and then he flung himself back against the door, and pushed off with his legs so that he flung headlong into their bodies, it was a cascade of falling and clattering armor. He flailed desperately to buy a few more precious seconds, before the stab wounds ended his life.

Inside the gate, they finished turning just as they heard the clattering. Moira and Rascal did not take the time to even look at one another in relief at that success, there was no time, they frantically tore under their garments for the little tool sets they'd hidden, nothing much, enough to turn some bolts and extract a few parts, they worked frantically as the pounding at the door grew ever more powerful.

"Shit, they've got a hand ram!" Rascal snarled as he tore a part loose and flung it out the arrow slot.

"What the hell is a hand ram?!" Moira asked as if to distract herself from fear and focus on her task as she managed to spin a gear loose until it came off.

"Short log, metal cap, has two handles on top, used to bash down doors in confined areas." He said urgently as if to distract himself as she handed him the part and he flung it too out the front down in front of the wall.

"Clever." She replied as a nut came off and joined the other parts outside.

"I know, I invented it. Oh the irony." He said as the door began to crack. He got the wheel crank loose and flung it out the arrow slit, he heard shouting outside, a ray of light was poking through the slit, he looked out front where he saw the shouting and saw a woman with flaming red hair riding toward General Enri's army and shouting for her to go.

"We did it." He said as he shoved the crank through the slot when it got stuck.

"We did." Moira said as she extracted one more piece and handed it to him, holes were in the door. She had a smug, satisfied expression on her face. "It was a good run." She said, "And an honor to fight with a man like you."

As he tossed the last part and they took up swords again, they could hear the thundering charge of cavalry towards the open gate, the Theocracy was nothing if not efficient, they would have already gotten word somewhere that there was an unexpected breach, the reserves would come in force, that much Rascal was sure of. But he was also sure, as he saw weapons poke through the door and a hand reach for the bolts, that it didn't matter.

"It's been an honor to fight with you too, and thanks for the rescue, if I didn't say that before." He added. The cracking intensified, the bolts were flying open fast.

"You're welcome." She said with a tranquil face.

 _'Goan... I'm sorry... mommy's not coming home... I did my best but... this had to be done. Forgive me.'_ She thought wistfully, and as the door flew open the pair charged like demons possessed, swords rose and fell, spears thrust like mad, the power of a scripture was not to be understated, Rascal bowled nine ranks deep as they flooded the room before his momentum was finally expended, he used every avoidance martial art he knew to dodge their blows, but against so many, it only slowed the inevitable. He didn't feel the headwound when it happened, but the blood that blinded his vision was quite noticeable. He heard a woman scream and suddenly stop, as he swept the blood from his eye, he saw Moira twitching on the ground with a half a dozen spears through her belly and three more in her face, and her sword in one more unfortunate soldier's thigh, and then a spear embedded itself in his eye, all the way to the back of his brain, and he never saw anything else again.


	148. Crushing

God Rising: The Cult of Ainz

Written by: AtheistBasementDragon

Edited by: The Usual Gang of Drunken Perverted Idiots

Chapter 148: The Fall of Crossroads

...Crossroads...Previous Day...

"So... we've been right screwed now, haven't we?" General Boabdill asked his staff and the city's representatives. Around the table sat nobles of the city, the governor, lower officers beneath his chief aides. The faces of soldiers were stone, but those of the citizen leadership, were animated, anxious, and angry.

The governor sputtered furiously in answer, "It's because of your incompetence that we're..." He did not get far into his statement before Vice Commander Ira smashed her fist down on the table, rattling everything and spilling large quantities of tea. Through gritted teeth the young vice commander snarled at the governor.

"Our soldiers cannot do everything, 'you' were supposed to have guards enough for everything we couldn't do, your 'watch' managed to accomplish exactly nothing. Your watch was supposed to handle curfews, the only thing I could count on them to handle was their beer! We do not secure the public streets against thieves, that is 'your' job. We do not patrol the streets against murderers, that is 'your' job. We do not know this city, that is 'your' job! Not ours!"

The sputtering was about to begin again, and from the corner of his eye General Boabdill saw that Commander Heikeren was gearing up to interrupt just as Ira had before him, and so, the General raised a hand to preempt it.

"This is a problem, but it is not the end, however we do need to make some contingency plans." The General said patiently.

"What sort?" One of the noble ladies at the table asked suspiciously.

"I believe all of this is gearing up to something, I want every soldier up early and ready to fight, governor, I'm exercising my authority given from the government in Kami Miyako to take over command of all soldiers and guards under your command, all your militia are to be activated for immediate use." He said without a hint of compromise in his voice. "As of right now you are entirely stripped of your authority." Sputtering began around the table as the high citizens of Crossroad City went wide eyed with disbelief as their authority was taken from them.

"Understand that arguing with me on this matter constitutes mutiny, and mutiny is a death penalty offense under martial law." He said sternly, and that cut off the sputtering quite firmly.

He folded his hands in front of him and spoke in a calm, even voice, clipped and professional, his penetrating eyes finding each person at the table one by one, and holding that gaze until they looked down or away in deference. "Now, what's more, we need to ensure we have a way 'out' of this city, I will do my best to hold it, but I'm not foolish enough to think that our victory is now as certain as it once was. Without enough bolts to take down dragons, they control the skies, our mages can fight them, but I doubt they can defeat them. Our scriptures are better than their best, but our scriptures are few. If they break that gate, this city is done, we can fight house to house, we can fight street by street, we might even inflict large casualties, but we will lose. I don't like losing. However there is one truth of war that General Enri might not know."

"Sir?" Commander Heikeren asked with an eyebrow raised.

General Boabdill smiled sagely as he answered. "Retreat. Is not. Defeat. As long as we have an army, we have a means to resist, or as these rather troublesome rogue elements have shown us, as long as we 'live' resistance is possible. I want to make General Enri pay a price 'if' she breaks through, to that end, we will set up 'juncture' fortifications, nothing dramatic, but we'll want to be able to fight at every intersection point and slow them down. Therefore Vice Commander Ira, you will designate units to delay our enemies, use as much as fifty percent of our scripture forces, I want this to 'hurt' her when she comes on, the entirety of the militia will also be used. These are their homes, it is proper that they fight for them, and up to twenty percent of our remaining army."

"Commander Heikeren, you designate two areas at the weakest area of the siege, we've mapped them extensively now. There you will create some break out tunnels, as they pour in, I want you to be able to pour out. We will punish them for every cobblestone they step over, but they will not destroy us." General Boabdill finished his statement with an edge to his voice and grim determination on his stoney face, his lips were pursed and the table was silent.

Finally the governor raised his hand.

"Yes?" The General asked with some annoyance.

"What about us?" He asked with fear in his voice, "We all know how these undead worshipers behave, we have it straight from Kami Miyako!" His voice was shrill with fear, and though the rest of the table was quiet, they were obviously just as anxious.

"I don't know how the rest of the undead worshipers behave, but I have it straight from our own soldiers which she took captive, that they were treated fairly, moreover we've seen no evidence of wanton slaughter at Ikari. The worst she's done is free the slaves and punish those masters who held out against her amnesty offer." General Boabdill said, keeping his voice even as he explained. "If I had any reason to suspect your mistreatment, I would take you with me in the event of a withdrawal, but as it is, I can't do that. If you're truly concerned then hire some private citizens for impromptu bodyguards for yourselves." He was almost bored as he finished the statement, and outrage formed on multiple faces.

"General Boabdill, I will be lodging a formal complaint in Kami Miyako over this. You can't just abandon us! The priests, the nobles! The Cardinals wouldn't stand for it, and I'll have you know Cardinal Dominic is an old friend of mine!" The Governor said with barely suppressed rage.

Boabdill's response was wholly unexpected, he laughed, he laughed hard enough that he actually had to wipe tears from his eyes and he slapped the table. His reaction was so unexpected that there were only dumb stares in response, from both his aides and from the nobles. "Governor, please be my guest and try. If we defend the city successfully, Kami Miyako will not care. If we lose and I am killed, your complaint will be irrelevant. If we retreat and I survive and this city is captured, then you won't be sending any complaints anywhere."

The governor began to twitch with barely suppressed outrage, his round belly heaved with fury and his large eyes bulged out of his head, yet he feared to press his anger too far as Commander Heikeren kept a hand wrapping and unwrapping around the hilt of his sword without ever breaking contact with it.

"Now, if that is everything, get to work, then get some sleep, it'll be a busy day tomorrow." The general said and quickly stood, the table stood with him and his aides saluted promptly to carry out his will, while the nobles saw to themselves.

As officers, Heikeren and Ira were second to none and saw to their tasks with great alacrity, if not without difficulty. So though they finished their tasks, they each fell to their beds exhausted.

But for all that preparation, nothing prepared General Boabdill, Commander Heikeren, or Vice Commander Ira for the events of the following morning.

General Boabdill was up early and getting ready to go to the gate when the soldier burst in, no salute, no knocking, just pounding feet and fearful face. "General! The gate! The main gate!"

"What about it?" General Boabdill asked as he moved swiftly toward the door, gesturing for the soldier to follow.

"Something happened! It's opened and we can't close it!" The soldier shouted, though he was but a foot away.

"Oh those clever bastards. The last few escapees, they did it, I don't know how... but they did it." He said with admiration and dread alike. "And Vice Commander Ira?" He asked.

"She sent me, they're already fighting at the entrance, and I passed fallback positions on my way here, Sir. Everyone is ready." He said, his fear giving way to a moment of pride.

"Good. Let's go do our jobs then, and let the gods sort it out." General Boabdill said as the pair rushed for the outside.

Enri couldn't believe what she was hearing, let alone what she was seeing as Lupusregina rushed back telling her to attack, but within a moment she'd gained control of herself and given the order. Wolf Riders, Centaurs, heavy human cavalry, stormed the open gate of Crossroad City with whoops and hollers of glee.

She waited until they hit the gate and the sounds of fighting hit her ears, she could feel the anticipation of the dragons behind her. "General Enri, the dragons?" Sun reminded her.

She smiled a sweet little smile that, pursed as it was, was also somehow predatory and had a definite edge to it, much like the hard unblinking watchfulness of her gaze. "Not yet, good Sun. Not yet. Wait for it." She whispered.

"Wait fer what?" Lupusregina asked as she got back to where Enri sat on her mount. Enormous booms sounded from within the city.

"That." Enri replied quietly, then after the third enormous boom, she looked over her shoulder. "Dragons, go bring them your lunchboxes, oh and then, go have fun!" She shouted.

Dragon roars deafened the field as they launched in unison wearing their shining armor and bearing their deadly cargo. A 'lunchbox' full of soldiers did not carry many, but the few it carried were terrors on the battlefield and could wreak havoc when dropped at key positions.

They took to the air like fish to the water and soared towards the city, the scorpions fired as fast as they could, but with the runic armor to deflect the blows and now the knowledge of the need to be cautious of human artillery, they neatly avoided most shots and the few that struck, skewed away instead of penetrating. That did not keep them from revenge for the injury done to their family member however, and they raked the walls and towers with sheets of ice, locking the dead upright, frozen in ice still trying to reload. The famous lunch boxes were loosed, crashing hard into the city at ground level behind those who were trying and failing to stop the cavalry from penetrating the gate.

The gate itself was a desperate melee, wolves bit hard and threw the hapless defenders into their brethren, goblins gutted human warriors as easily as a farmer broke up soft soil, blood soaked dark fur and green skin enough that both turned red as Theocracy reinforcements poured into the position to buy time for the rest. Vice Commander Ira took up a position atop a building nearby and oversaw the fight as best she could. Their archers poured arrows into the dense knot, centaurs fell hard, when they fell at all. Shouts and curses and calls for aid were on the lips of friend and foe alike. From atop the wall the Vice Commander saw the impossible, an elf dragged a human free from under his fallen mount, a human defended a wounded centaur as he lay bleeding in the street where a knot of combatants had formed around them.

As she saw this unfold, an inkling of understanding cracked its way through the lifetime of contrary teachings. But nothing so shattered her illusions as the iron discipline of the goblin warriors, they fought as a unit, not as gibbering animals as she had always seen of the wild ones that occasionally had to be put down in the forest and mountain regions of the Theocracy. They carried themselves with discipline that would have been commended in the finest of human armies. Even more disconcerting on a more… individual level, she felt as if she was being watched. She trembled for a moment and looked around with uncharacteristic anxiousness. 'You're being paranoid, Ira. It's just the battle getting to you, stay focused on command, and stay mobile. Nobody is coming to get you. You are not being watched.' She thought to herself, and shouted directions down at one group to make a left turn and reinforce another position.

"March!" Enri shouted, and the boom of her drums echoed her command. Behind her the thousands of stomping feet warned the city that her infantry was coming, not that such a warning mattered anymore. "Lupu, what do you think?" Enri asked.

"I'm proud of you, that's what I think." Lupusregina said in a rare moment of seriousness. "This city is done for, whatever happened in there, it was your preparation that made us ready to act on the opportunity. You've served the Sorcerer King well."

The sound of fighting grew more distant. "Thanks Lupu, I try." Enri said seriously, "Shall we go?"

"Yes, I think we should." Sun said, stroking his beard as he always did. They spurred their horses forward in a low trot, and as they drew closer, Enri could see that the gate had well and truly fallen, her soldiers were advancing along the walls, the crash of weapons and armor was growing loud again.

When they reached the gate Lupusregina dismounted, and a moment later it was not a combat maid, rather it was a werewolf queen who stood in front of her. "I'll keep you safe, never fear." The rough and hungry voice that replaced that of the beautiful red headed girl, promised her.

"Don't even need to say it Lupu. My life is in your hands." Enri smiled warmly as they passed through the shadow of the gate. She glanced at the walls, the murder holes there would have wrought a terrible toll, if she'd had to fight her way through them but... as it was, hardly any casualties from those.

The city was in an uproar, the screams of citizens fleeing the advancing army drowned out commands, the fleeing bodies of those terrified citizens got in the way of troop movements, however Vice Commander Ira's strategic use of obstacles quickly became a thorn in the side of the Sorcerer King's forces. In the distance, three booms went off. "I don't like the sound of that." Enri said unhappily as her horse moved forward one step at a time.

Overhead, a dragon swept down and annihilated a defensive position. Enri saw it down a side street as it happened, it was ringed with the bodies of her soldiers. "The price of a last stand." She said in a relaxed voice, at ease with the death sweeping the area around her.

Street by street and block they moved. From up ahead, a cadre of Slane Theocracy soldiers burst out of hiding and charged screaming for blood, straight at General Enri. She looked at them calmly, and watched with hard eyes as Lupusregina rushed in and tore them to pieces, her claws ripped through armor like a knife through wet paper, her teeth bit into flesh as if it were tenderized meat, armor crunched in her grip, and just like that, a half a dozen died, their blood blending into her fur as if it were a part of her body.

"My Theocracy counterpart has done an admirable job." Enri acknowledged reluctantly. "Without the dragons and high level goblins... and that help from whoever raised the gate, I doubt we would be doing this well."

"That may be, but do not sell yourself short, General Enri." Sun said as he looked around. Sweeps were taking place in quick, professional manners as office buildings and administrative centers were occupied and flags of the Sorcerer King were raised.

"How long do you think the city will hold out?" Enri asked thoughtfully.

"They've prepared well so... most of the day, barring any truces for prisoner exchange or gathering the wounded." He said and looked at her pointedly.

"No." She said simply.

"No?" Sun asked with surprise.

"No. No more of that, we will move forward until the last of this city falls. No truces, no negotiations. My ambulance corps will take the wounded of both sides, but we won't be pausing a damn thing. I want this over, by whatever means necessary." Enri said in a voice so cold she shocked herself.

But she did not relent in what she'd had to say. Sun nodded in approval, and Lupusregina beamed at her with pride, and Enri rode on in silence as cobblestone by cobblestone, the mighty Crossroads fell.

Eire ran. As soon as she saw people run past her building shouting that the apostates, the heretics, the undead worshippers were coming, she ran. Where she thought she was going, she had no idea, but her animal instinct had kicked in and she ran like nightmare was on her heels, and as far as she knew, it was.

Some part of her however, retained its senses, and when she saw a stable, she rushed in and found a large pile of hay, she buried herself under it, curling up deep within like an unborn child safe in its mother's womb. She shut her eyes and shut her ears and tried to pretend it wasn't happening, that the monsters weren't coming for her. 'Petyr... gods forgive me, I don't know if I want you to have told the truth so that I don't die... or for you have lied so that I did not get you killed for nothing...' She thought to herself, and passed the hours away like that, tormenting herself with an abiding fear of what the day would bring.

Go Gin was ecstatic, he actually smiled as he approached the little fortification. There were a number of dead Black Justice soldiers around it. He should have pitied them, he knew that. But he didn't. This was war after all. "Ho! You beyond the barrier! I am Go Gin, war troll and arena ch- former arena champion of the empire! Come out and announce yourselves so we can fight properly!" He shouted enthusiastically.

Silence greeted him. "You're strong, right? You killed these, didn't you? Come out!" He shouted further.

Silence ruled the space between them.

"I know you're there, I'm just going to break the barrier if you don't comply!" He warned them patiently.

[Ability Boost] [Greater Hardening] [Penetrate Up] [Quick Recovery] [Dull Pain] [Lesser Strength] [Agility Boost] [Fortress] He heard all these martial arts as a flurry of voices spoke, then as if born from the wind and with the beauty of spring flowers, as if those were the causes of their name, the Windflower Scripture members tore out from behind their barrier to attack the War Troll. There were six of them, and even at a glance they were strong and proud and the latter was easily justified by the former. They came for him with death on their minds, quiet voices and deadly resolve etched on their faces.

A sword stabbed out, and Go Gin avoided it, a dagger turned backwards was snapped back at his kidney, throwing knives flew at him and a fireball was hurled his way. That was the moment when he knew disappointment again. 'Will I never again find an opponent like my master? This is vexing. I am vexed, I am terribly vexed.' He thought unhappily as he smashed his warclub into the head of the scripture member bearing the sword. The one bearing the knife had only a moment of horror to realize it was over for him, as Go Gin spun on his heel and brought the club up into his jaw, shattering it and the rest of his head for good measure. 'I don't even need to use my martial arts.' He thought with annoyance.

Go Gin counted himself even tempered, but faced with a scripture, even part of one, people who should have been champions in their own right, and not even having to try? It got the better of him, all he wanted to do was finish them off so he could try to find 'someone' strong. He let the fireball burst against his armor and charged in to finish the most distant opponents, the dagger thrower and the magic user fell quickly, and he demolished the barrier with a few swings. He then brought his club down on two who had been using the barrier to hide themselves as if intending to use archery, and moved on to find somebody better. 'I wonder if my master would let me fight one of his guardians… might be worth asking at least, when all this is over, that is.' With that hopeful thought coming to mind, he had a spring in his step for the rest of the slaughter.

Commander Heikeren waited while the drums sounded at his direction. The three booms called the bulk of the army together. As Vice Commander Ira did her duty and bought time, the rest of the army moved to make its escape. He looked out in the distance, flags were starting to go up for the Sorcerer King. He clenched his fists and gritted his teeth in fury as he saw the inevitable unfold.

"Angry?" General Boabdill asked quietly. "Me too." He said without waiting for confirmation of his guess. "I didn't expect her to adapt this much, but they're paying a butcher's bill for it, taking stock afterward will buy us ample time, we'll move south, link up with another army and prepare to fight again. Take heart, we are not finished yet."

"Sir. What about the Vice Commander?" Commander Heikeren asked as evenly as he could.

"All we can do is hope she makes it." General Boabdill replied sadly as he shook his head. "I've lost many good officers over the years, but that is war. We learn to live with loss, the silence where a joke would be, the occasional empty chair... but this, I know, is different. We may lose everyone and everything. But just like all those other times... all you can do is hope they make it and prepare everything as best we can. Come on, we have enough now to take on the skeleton force besieging the southern gate, we break through that, we're safe for some time before she knows we've gone."

"Sir, as you say." He said and they descended from their position and led their soldiers out. Between the gate and their unexpected 'bolt holes' the mass of soldiers took the southern gate's forces by relative surprise, and after a short and brutal melee, broke through the thin line and began to make their way south, while within the city, step by step, the city continued to collapse.

Enri had one primary destination, the main administrative building. She moved past the dead and the dying with grim purpose on her face, the undead mount and her perfect armor, along with her straight rigid posture and beautiful, hard appearance, made her appear as an angel of the battlefield come to summon the honored dead to their reward. But she did not stop to speak to anyone, there was no time for that.

But as they drew closer, the resistance grew ever more fierce as people struggled to get in her way. Sometimes Lupusregina tore them to pieces, sometimes one of her approaching units attacked from a side street and all she had to do was wait for the melee to end.

She moved to wipe some of the blood from off of her face and swept it down to the ground dismissively. "Ugh, I'm going to need another bath after this." She said with annoyance.

"This is a problem?" Sun asked with surprise.

"No. That is." Enri said, gesturing to Lupusregina. "It is her unstated goal to make me blush in as many compromising positions as she possibly can. She's the lewdest virgin I've ever seen." Enri sighed heavily as her horse stepped over a corpse.

"I-I see." Sun said, awkward for the first time since she'd known him.

Enri smirked a little, suddenly understanding a little bit of Lupusregina's motivations.

Entering the administrative center required dismounting from her horse, but much to her surprise, the guards were already dead and none of her own were among the casualties. This surprise redoubled as she walked within the well decorated center and continued to find only Slane Theocracy casualties, the dead littered the halls or slumped against the walls, blood streaks were everywhere, but not a single corpse bore any of the armor varieties of her soldiers. "This is strange." Enri said slowly, "Lupusregina, anything?"

Lupusregina listened and sniffed the air. "There are a few living people here. There's so much death it's hard to say but... not many, maybe two or three, no more than five."

Enri nodded, "Well if they're anywhere, they're in the head office. So let's get going."

When they reached the large dark wooden doors that led to the administrative center's head office, Lupusregina approached the door, at a look in her direction, Enri stepped back by several paces, only then when Lupusregina nodded her approval again, did she open the door.

Much to their surprise, there sat a man at a desk with his feet propped up... a slew of bodies around the room, a woman leaning back against the wall with her arms folded indifferently in front of her, and one little fat man tied up and trying to shout or squeal or something Enri couldn't quite work out.

"Hi there." He said with a pleasant wave.

"Um... Hello." General Enri said politely, "I'm here to take the surrender of this city."

"Well good luck with that and all, but I can't help you. He can though." The man at the desk jabbed his thumb at the man tied up on the floor, who was now wiggling like a worm on a hot rock.

"OK but... who are you exactly, what is happening here?" Enri asked, slowly reaching for her sword.

"Relax hon, we're not your enemies." The woman said with a charming smile and a wave. "He's Kirak, I'm Shanda."

"Well, those are names... but... more details please, as you can see, my bodyguard is getting antsy." Enri cautioned them, and Lupusregina responded with a growl and a flex of her claws.

"Ah, yes of course, that's fair. Here you go, this should explain everything." Kirak said and took up a letter from the desk and held it out.

Enri went to take the letter, only for the heavy grip of her body guard to stop her. She sighed but relented, and allowed the werewolf queen to reach out and take the letter in two claws, she then handed it to Enri, keeping her charge behind her at all times.

Enri opened it and read the contents. Tears welled up, "Moira... Moira lived?" She asked in a hushed voice.

"She was alive last I saw her, she and Rascal were going to do something about the gate. Looks like they succeeded, don't know anything more after that." Kirak informed her patiently, and then relayed the story as he'd heard it from Rascal, and a stunned General Enri was forced to sit down to listen to it all. When it finally concluded, she could only say, "That explains this morning… but still, if she hadn't escaped, she'd have been free that day." She clenched the letter tight in her fingers and looked up from it.

Her voice took on a hopeful note and she asked, "Do you think… she might still be alive?"

The pair traded a look, and Shanda spoke up, "Hard to say, the three of them were brave, had the element of surprise, and at least one of them made it into the tower to open the gate. Whether any of them are alive or dead though, you'll find them there."

"Thank you… I'll honor your pardon before the Sorcerer King, even staking my life on it if I must." Enri replied, confident it would not come to that.

Finally she turned her attention to the tied up figure on the floor, she approached him and removed his gag. "You're the governor I assume." It was a statement, not a question.

"I'll accept your surrender now." Enri said sharply.

"I no longer can offer my surrender, the city was placed under martial law." He added with a downcast look.

"So? Do it anyway, enough people will believe you that I won't have to kill you all." Enri said calmly, and as if to underscore her point, the rock of a mangonel crashed somewhere outside, and a dragon's roar split the sky again.

That was all the convincing it took. He could not sign fast enough.

Vice Commander Ira was frustrated, tired, and if she was being honest about it, scared. After repeatedly changing her location to stay one step ahead of the advance and trying to retain control of her units, three quarters of the city was lost. "General Boabdill, Commander Heikeren... please be OK." She whispered quietly to herself as she moved again. Stubborn resistance was being stubbornly attacked, she'd seen more of her country's soldiers die so far than in all her life previously.

Suddenly she saw the unexpected, a hand atop the roof where she stood. "No..." She said in disbelief, but denial did not erase it, the hand pulled up a body, and red eyes stared into hers.

"Yes." The vampire replied calmly.

She drew her sword. "Alright then." She answered, and wasted no time on the attack, her sword thrust out, it spun in, forward past her lunge, and struck her hard in the back of the head, she stumbled forward and fell. The vampire was on her faster than she could move. She tried to roll over, but it pinned her wrists and though she struggled, it was massively stronger than she was.

"Kuh! Kill me!" She screamed, desperately praying she would not be turned.

"No." He replied with the voice that she had only a moment to think of as 'seductive', before he struck her again, and darkness enveloped her and her body went limp.

 **AN: OK full disclosure... I've been really sick the last five days and I wrote this while mostly delirious, soooo... thankfully the editors were just drunk enough to help me out when I remembered I'd written it. I really don't remember much of the other day. Has 'Crossroads' been my best work in general? Nah I don't think so, holds up pretty well, frankly I could have easily done a 200,000 word story detailing 2-3 weeks behind enemy lines like that. If I were doing it over again, I'd have written it as a side story instead of part of the main GR plot. OR I'd have cut it dramatically, but I wanted to try something different. But now with the fall of the city, one of the four major events has taken place which will kickstart the CURBSTOMP to follow.**

 **Anyway, reviews are welcome so... yes please. :) Also... here's a little teaser. An excerpt from my original work, "Scales of Trust" found for free on my discord, or you can support the work on patr3-on at slash tellingstories:**

Ayente followed, as did, with no welcome to be had for them, the handful of other shame children.

"You received one of these?" Archos guessed as they entered his new residence together.

"I did." She said bitterly.

"It was not to your liking." He guessed again.

She shook her head as they went with Archos into the hut that had been made for him. "It was not. It said that unless I was redeemed to the voice of the gods, I would destroy our tribe." She fell to her knees and clutched her body, hugging herself, "I rejected the prophecy, I rejected the gods, I refused my mother's plea to honor their will. Our chief, he was like an uncle to me. He did not press me to obey. Now he has been punished by the gods, and the prophecy is nearly fulfilled."

Archos looked to the others as Ayente fell to weeping.


	149. The Scourge of God

**AN: Just a shoutout to reviewer 'Crit' EXCELLENT feedback, just saw it, gives me a lot to work with, and just so you know, I do actually read books/watch videos on learning to write. Knocking the suck off of my work has been quite a process, and... I doubt I'll ever really be done, but you know what they say, the journey IS the destination, so thank you for taking the time to provide the feedback you did. If you're interested, I'd definitely welcome you as a beta reader on discord. No pressure, but that kind of feedback is worth my labrador's weight in gold!**

 _...Just North of Yanana..._

Neia stood between two prisoners who were bound at their wrists and ankles, forced to their knees, heads over a pair of 'borrowed' tree trunk execution blocks. One prisoner stood by to bear silent witness, while a formation of Black Justice soldiers observed. "Skana, have you confirmed that the marks upon these men are parole brands?" The Pope asked calmly.

Reluctantly, Skana nodded. "I have. They were released upon conditional withdrawal from all conflict, and now they bear arms again against an oath on their lives not to do so."

The prisoners were shaking and blubbering behind their gags. They desperately shook their heads in denial of the charge. "You gave your word to cease fighting, to live peaceful lives and never bear arms against us again. Yet you joined a raid against us, seeking to kill those who graciously spared you. You were bound by trust—marked by fire and steel—and you betrayed that trust. Therefore your lives are forfeit." Neia said solemnly, "You will be buried in accordance with the will of the gods you worship, I do not know how they receive oathbreakers, but may they have mercy upon your treacherous souls."

Nea took up her sword, and then, ignoring the muffled cries emanating from the gags, swung the sword down in one swift motion on one exposed neck. She spun and repeated the process with the second. She wiped the sword down with the long hair of one of the newly slain, then sheathed it and turned to the prisoner bearing witness. "You will be marked as they were and released. Tell the soldiers there that if they are caught fighting again, they will not get a third chance." The prisoner nodded mutely, and a waiting attendant lightly touched a heated steel sword to his wrist. The prisoner screamed for a moment, then the flat of the sword was withdrawn and a cool cloth was wrapped around the burn. "Go, take one of the horses that survived your raid, return to your city, and do not get caught in uniform a second time." Neia said quietly, her black-coated eyes boring into his heart and inflicting him with soul-consuming fear.

The prisoner shook his head quickly, clutching his stinging wrist, and bolted for a horse as soon as he was released. He was gone in minutes.

Neia approached Skana and touched her wife's shoulder gently. Skana was staring at the pair of bodies, but the touch snapped her out of her thoughts. "My love, come, don't think of them further. They knew the risks. Let's go to bed."

Skana looked past Neia. Everyone was now dispersing, save for the few whose feet crunched on the hard ground as they hauled the corpses away for burial. "You're right." Skana said, touching Neia's cheek. Her thoughts weighed heavily upon her, but when Neia led her away, she followed.

The message came the next morning. The dew was fresh on the grass and the leaves, and the wind was crisp. Neia woke to Skana's arm over her chest. Their night had been... intense. Skana may have only one eye, but that single green orb seemed to see into Neia's very soul. The pope lay beneath the furs and shook her head in confusion. 'What had Skana so... intent on me last night?' She wondered idly. From the moment the tent flap had closed, the taller auburn-haired woman had her in a tight embrace. Her kisses and her expressions of love had been fervent to the point of near desperate longing, with every look seemingly filled with tenderness, as though some fresh horror had been thrust like a dagger into Neia's heart. The Black Paladin sighed, it had been pleasurable at least, but troubling that Skana had given so much of herself in the act of love, but would take nothing in return.

Removing the arm draped over her, Neia sat up and leaned over to kiss Skana on her forehead with the greatest tenderness. "Next time it will be you, my beloved." She stroked the auburn hair delicately and then stood up to stretch. It was a predawn hour and the dim light of a candle left burning nearby was the only light to see by. However, curiously enough, Neia found less and less need for the light as time had gone on. She turned that oddity over in her head as she dressed and reached for a message scroll, when she heard from her lord. The pope immediately dropped to her knees.

"Neia, There is a special request for you." Ainz said to her through the message spell.

"Father, name your will and I will grind myself to worms' meat to see it done!" She answered rapidly.

"I will not order you to do this, Neia. This is a request from Cardinal Raymond. He desires that you meet with him at a neutral location." Ainz said indifferently.

Neia thought it over for a moment. "Raymond... that is unexpected. What could he want?' She began to wonder, only to recall the current situation as he might see it. "Sire, I will meet with him at Illyana's grave, but if I may ask one humble thing, may I visit Nazarick first? I wish to borrow the weapon lord Demiurge used to test me, the Dagger of Paradox."

'Test? What test? Dagger of Paradox?' Ainz wondered, then rushed to cover the silence. "Of course Neia. Come to Nazarick and explain your intent, I'm sure it will pose no problem." Ainz replied. "Are you ready now?"

"I am Sire, but... I was letting my wife sleep in a little, forgive her unreadiness for departure, I will awaken her at once and-" She started to apologize profusely.

"No, no, this can wait, take an hour and see to it." Ainz answered, and then the message cut off.

Neia finished dressing and immediately awoke her wife. Skana woke up slowly, that was fairly normal, and as she sat up and stretched her arms out over her head and yawned, Neia felt her eyes immediately drawn to the woman, and the sudden impulse to pounce upon and ravish her beloved sprang to the fore. The desire in her eyes was not lost even on the sleepy woman, and she winked at Neia. "Want to go again?" She asked archly.

"Yes! No! Yes! Goddamnit yes but not now is what I mean to say." Neia replied, suddenly flustered and blushing a deep beet red. "You need to get ready to go, we're going to meet Raymond in a little while. I just have to make a brief stopover in Nazarick to pick up the dagger and then we can leave." Neia explained, putting on her sword and taking up her bow.

Skana quickly got herself ready, and before they knew it, the dagger was retrieved and they were sitting across from one of the leaders of the Slane Theocracy. Skana watched carefully as Neia almost immediately went for violence at the sight of the elf with Raymond, and though she shared the impulse, her wife's raw fury of her wife struck her to her core. 'Neia, Neia please... don't lose yourself." The way she spoke so casually about killing everyone, even to Skana, chilled her blood and she shook in her armor. The broken hearted look in Neia's eyes as her wife touched Illyana's grave, the look of surprise when the little elf, Nua, spoke for the Theocracy and all but accused Neia of planning atrocities... it all hurt so much that Skana was barely able to maintain her composure. *

But of all of it, what ached the most, what caused her face to shake as she struggled to maintain her neutral expression, was when Neia told Cardinal that she understood that the actions she was about to take would haunt her forever. 'No... how much more is she going to have to do?' Skana wondered. The wondering didn't stop even after they departed the meeting with Raymond and returned to their own encampment.

"Get everyone ready to move, I want us at Yanana in an hour." Neia ordered crisply as she walked away from Skana.

"Yes, Ma'am." Skana promptly replied, moving to see to the rest of the camp.

"What was all that about?" Lakyus asked Neia curiously.

"Nothing of importance, just a hopeless request that the raindrops not strike the ones who chose to stand in the storm." Neia brusquely replied as she mounted her horse.

"I... see." Lakyus looked at her dubiously and got into the saddle at the same moment as CZ did.

A gentle rain began to fall, it was cold, Lakyus felt a wave of relief come over her when she saw concern on Neia's face as the Black Paladin looked over her shoulder back down the road that led to Prart. "I hope the refugees make it back before it gets too cold."

"I'm sure they'll be fine." Lakyus smiled with warm encouragement and Neia turned her attention to the road ahead of her rather than behind.

"You're right, I'm worried over nothing. Everything will be fine." Neia smiled so radiantly in that moment as she spoke that when Skana saw it as she approached and took her place on the horse beside her wife that it was possible to forget everything she'd said.

"Yes, everything will be fine." Skana smiled warmly and a single beating of the drum signalled the start of the march.

So it was a complete surprise to them all when Neia stopped beside the great river that cut through the city, but before getting to the city itself. "Neia... ah... Ma'am..." Skana said, hesitantly as she saw the beautiful blue green eyes of her wife disappear in a whorling darkness of inky black.

"Begin to fill bags with sand, and have soldiers begin to dig a course in that direction, use as many as you need to get it done." Neia said as she pointed to the terrain and traced a line in front of them. "We'll need... a few thousand bags of earth I think, take it from the area you're digging for greatest efficiency. CZ, come with me, Skana, take command of everything while I'm gone." Neia did not answer her question, she only gave the order, leaving her wife behind her as she spurred her mount forward.

CZ and Skana traded a silent expression of neutrality that disguised their uncertainty, but as soon as the pair was gone, Skana set the Sons of Iontariil to the task due to their experience with digging. She added the undead skeletons and horses from their army to augment the labor force and speed up the work. They fell to it with a vengeance, and slowly a wide trench as broad as twenty people standing abreast with arms extended, and as tall as Gagaran, began to take shape along the course Neia laid.

Neia rode silently forward with CZ beside her, trotting at a steady pace until they neared the city, CZ was a silent companion, and for that the Pope was grateful, she was in no mood to converse. She arrived in time to hear the shouts of the city dwellers and the fortifications tightening up, soldiers lined the walls of the city. Neia raised a banner of truce as she came close enough to be heard, and the city grew quiet near the gate. It didn't need to be, not for this. [Voice of God] [Echo of the Underworld] [Fear of Death] [Wrath of God] She whispered the arts quietly, and then spoke. Her voice boomed like thunder and shattered the sky. "I am Neia Baraja! General of the Sorcerer King's Armies in the West, Pope of Black Justice, Bane of Paladins of the Six, Destroyer of Cities, The Black Paladin, Hope of the Slaves, and Child of the Unliving God. I come to you today to tell you that you have committed the gravest of sins! You have shown weakness of loyalty, weakness of integrity, weakness of justice. Because you have committed these grave sins, I, scourge of the one god left in this world, have come to punish you! Anyone remaining in this city in the morning, will be subject to the flood of my wrath! Flee now while you can, and I will not pursue you. I will be more merciful than you have been to my followers and to me, when you had power over us. You may leave with what food and clothing you can carry, and go South to where your 'new nation' can provide for you, and your children will live."

Neia's voice carried from one end of the city to the other, so that there were none who did not hear her, Whether they were inside or underground, her voice reached their hearts and caused them to tremble. But she was not finished.

"Moreover, I hereby challenge General Suchala to single combat, if he has the courage to face me as a man and as a soldier, I will present myself here before the city in the morning, if he should triumph, my wrath will not fall upon you, but if he should fall, then generations will speak of his end with terror in their hearts! Do not disappoint me, General Suchala!" She shouted, sure he would hear her wherever he was.

"Alright CZ, we're going back, that should do it." Neia said, and turned her horse around.

"Yes." CZ said simply.

It was clear that it was indeed sufficient, chaos reigned in the city as the terror of the voice drove people to rush to grab their things and hastily pack up. Merchants were quick to raise their prices for traveling gear to ten or twenty times the usual cost, and people were paying it. Suchala however, was quick to give the order to lock down the gates. An order Yuri ruthlessly enforced.

"Double rows of guards at every exit, lock this place down! Anyone who gets within a halberd's length of the gate gets cut down!" She snapped out as she and the senior officers of both commands moved about the city ensuring that the orders were understood. "Double row of archers on the walls, shoot to kill anyone who looks like they might be trying to get out!" Yuri said ruthlessly.

The number of guards needed for the task nearly tripled within the first hour of giving the order.

Such was the state of affairs when the local administration and priesthood sat down with Suchala and Yuri to discuss what Neia had said. "Letting people leave says that we plan to lose. That can't be tolerated." Suchala said firmly.

"Do you plan to fight her?" The governor asked hesitantly, sweat beaded on his face as the fear had not loosed its grip on his heart.

Suchala's entire body shook of its own accord. 'It's just an effect, it isn't real damnit!' He told himself as the very notion rocked him to the core, 'The bitch targeted me so that I would feel fear, but fear does not rule General Suchala!' He thought with confidence he didn't really feel.

"Yes, I will fight, and I will win." He answered, unable to keep the terror entirely out of his voice.

"On another note," Yuri interjected, "Perhaps we should get some out, the elderly, the pregnant, the children, that sort of thing, they're useless trash in a fight, all they'll do is eat up resources for a siege, and remember we don't have to win, just last until the Secession treaty is signed, then we'll have peace and Neia will have to withdraw. It will be a real victory for the South and help solidify the new king's legitimacy."

"A reasonable point." Suchala said thoughtfully and rubbed his chin, "Alright, allow those to evacuate, but everybody of fighting age stays."

"We can sort them out among our flock, that will be easy enough, summon the people to the temples around the city, we can organize the exit." The head priest said confidently.

"I'll have the word put out immediately." Yuri said, "Why don't the rest of you work out supply distribution plans, we'll take care of the rest tomorrow, and Suchala, good luck with that bitch tomorrow." She said with a sadistic smile on her face.

Suchala did his best to keep the fear off his face when he nodded, but he was sure he was not entirely successful.

Within a few hours the pregnant, elderly, and young children with one parent each, began to be evicted from the city. They carried with them one days food and water, a little clothing, and the few artisans who could, kept some of the tools of their trade with them. It was a grim and terrified departure, some got into boats to take the river, but without enough boats for all, others had to trudge overland with both knowing they would spend the night in the deepening cold.

That night, Suchala was alone in his quarters kneeling in prayer beside his bed. "Gods, all the gods, give me courage for tomorrow, give me victory that I may serve my nation and yourselves as I always have, give me the wisdom to see the way to victory over that demon in human skin and the will to see that way through, let me be the instrument of your righteous wrath upon the wicked."

When he heard the slow clap, behind him, he looked behind him with a sudden start. There was the demon herself in full battle kit in front of a whorling void in the air. "Interesting prayer, figured I had a reputation like that with you people by now, but I've never heard it first hand." Neia said with amusement.

The shadow of her eyes fell on him and he leaped to his feet and reached to his side to grab a sword.

It wasn't there, he looked behind where she stood, where he'd laid the weapon into its rack after coming into his room.

"Relax." Neia said in a soothing voice, "I know, you want to kill me." She said sweetly as she took out a dagger. She threw it at his feet.

"I know you helped Remedios to perpetrate her atrocities." Neia said coldly, "What she did on her own, she 'might' have accomplished anyway, but it was you who made sure she was successful. You were chosen by your masters precisely because of me, weren't you?" Neia asked in a professional voice.

Suchala looked at her warily, but took up the knife. "Yes, I was." He replied.

"Why?" She asked in the tone one might use with a peer of some equal standing who did not understand a comrades decision.

"Because I am relentless, because you are relentless, because it was decided that only exterminating you all was going to end the heresy, and some of my colleagues didn't have the guts for that." Suchala answered as he drew the dagger from its sheath.

"I see, so you were sent to my country to aid it in destroying itself, if that was what it took to destroy me. I'll remember that when I visit Kami Miyako." Neia said with ice in her voice.

Suchala looked down at the dagger uncertainly. "Tell you what," Neia said casually, "You manage to place one cut on my skin with that, I'll spare your army and I'll skip my little work visit to your capital." As she spoke, Neia removed the gauntlet from her arm and held it out.

"Why?" Suchala asked suspiciously.

"Because you won't succeed, you can't, you're a failure, your nation is doomed and your army is nothing but dead men walking. I want you to know that before the end." Neia said, she harangued him hard, using the power of her voice to cut into his ego and his pride and his every belief until he was almost frothing with the rage of denial. Neia held out her arm and smirked at him. "Go ahead... cut me." Neia said with utter tranquility.

Driven by the taunting power of her influential voice, he snarled and tried to slash the dagger at her naked throat, ignoring the offered arm, only to his shock, this arm bent inward towards his body, and the blade drew across his own throat.

He looked at the dagger in bafflement, then to Neia with equal confusion. "Looks like your gods didn't listen to your prayer." She said snidely as he staggered and fell backwards onto his bed. He tried to speak, but the blood in his throat closed that option off.

"If you'd tried to wound me, you'd have only wounded yourself a little, the fact that you tried to end me, has ended you. Tomorrow they'll find your body, you'll be the general who committed suicide out of fear, the story will spread among those who 'survive' my wrath. All your years of reputation and honor will be..." she held out her palm close to her lips and blew over it, as if scattering dust to the wind, "poof, wiped away as if it never were. A fitting end for someone like you." Neia remarked coldly.

He looked up at her in horror and denial.

Neia held his gaze. Looking down at him in contempt, letting the fear fill his soul so that he died in terror, and she held that look long after his eyes went blank and his body stopped moving. When she was satisfied, she took the dagger back and went to where his gear was resting and picked up his own. She then took his blade and drew it over the same spot in his throat, coating it with blood, after which she placed it in his cold, dead hand. 'It wouldn't do to leave one of Nazarick's treasures behind.' She thought with a smile, as she departed through the gate, leaving his body behind like the trash it was to her.

The camp was pitch dark when she returned, not that it mattered to her, she went to her command tent and found Skana was already asleep, she stripped off her clothing and laid herself down next to her wife, spooned her slowly and let her arm drape over Skana's side, and drifted off with a tranquil, satisfied expression on her face.

When she awoke it was dawn and the sun was rising, this time she was awakened by her wife. "Good morning." Skana said sweetly as they stretched out almost in unison.

"Yes, it is." Neia said happily.

"Are you really going to fight General Suchala this morning, remember we talked about you staying off the front lines?" Skana asked with a bit of mild, anxious reproach in her voice.

"No, he's dead." Neia said sweetly. "He killed himself last night."

Skana looked at her, open mouthed. "That was... fast." She said with surprise.

Neia shrugged, "It needed to be, that treaty might be signed at any time, there's always a chance we could be recalled before I can finish."

"Neia... is this... really necessary?" Skana asked gently as she dressed.

"Yes. Else we'll face bigger problems down the road, I will not deliver His Majesty a conflict twenty years from now because I left some unjustly proud traitors alone. They want to go, fine, but they will not go proudly, they'll go as the whipped dogs who fled fearing the lash, they'll go remembering that we do not forget and we do not leave scores unsettled, they'll go fearing us until they collapse from within and we reclaim the land for the Sorcerer King." Neia said with brutal pragmatism as she put her bow back on.

Skana looked at her with doubt, her face somewhat downcast, "If you say so... I'll trust you, but I don't like this. I want the ones who... Who tried to hurt you, I want to defeat the Theocracy, but this is different somehow." She said as she took Neia's hands and folded them in hers. "Nobody has ever 'done' anything like this before..."

Neia reached up and put her hand behind Skana's neck, she gently pulled so that their foreheads touched and those beautiful, human eyes of Neia's were on Skana's face. "I know, and that is why it will leave an indelible mark on their collective memory for generations to come. I do what has to be done, for tomorrow, not just for today, everything has a price, they're paying theirs, and I... I'll pay mine." Her voice choked briefly and she cleared her throat, "Just... please understand... even if no other in the world does... please..." Neia begged her with an aching heart.

Skana clasped Neia's cheeks in her hands impulsively so that their gazes could not break, "I don't, it's true... but for you, I'll try, and wherever that takes you, I'll go too." She kissed her wife tenderly upon her lips, and their touch broke apart.

"Then let's be off, go bring Blue Rose, lets ride out there together and see who they scrape up for a fight." Neia smirked confidently at that, and Skana could not hold back a smirk of her own at the awkwardness the city would face.

Within a short span of time the group was on horseback with the cheers of their army behind them, and with a white flag planted in front of the city, they waited.

Inside Yanana, Yuri couldn't believe it. She was staring down at the dead body of Suchala. "Damn, I didn't think you were that scared of her." The squire said with a shaking of her head. "I mean I guess a dagger across the throat beats whatever she had in mind for you, but still, way to bring down morale." She said flippantly.

Behind her, one of the priests looked at her in disbelief, "Could you be more dismissive! Don't you see the problem here?!" He asked her fervently.

Yuri looked over her shoulder, "Yeah, this is really going to be an administrative pain." She said with a sadistic laugh.

The priest went purple in the face, "No! He was the chance to fend off a siege!"

Yuri looked down at the corpse of the old man. "Seriously? If he could kill himself over this, he wasn't a real chance in the first place."

That drew unhappy murmurs from the holy men, and Yuri rubbed the back of her head with annoyance, "Well, I suppose I'll have to fight somebody, but at least it won't be Neia. With Suchala dead and me a substitute, they'll pick someone else too. Hopefully not someone better."

Relief was on their faces as she said that, their shoulders slumped as breath they hadn't noticed they were holding, escaped their lungs.

"Well, assuming they're out there, send them word, and I'll get ready." Yuri said with an easy shrug.

'OK so... how do I escape from this one? Guess it depends on who they pick.' She thought with annoyance as she went to her quarters to pick up her sword.

The city's panic was averted when it was announced that Yuri was taking the place of the deceased Suchala, her reputation within the ranks of both armies as a combatant who had survived uninjured against Blue Rose and multiple engagements against Black Justice elites, as well as her reputation for unbridled joyful and fearless brutality in battle, made her a popular figure within the remnants of the city. People lined the streets to cheer her on as she made her way to the gate.

'Heh, so this is what it feels like to be people's hero? Not bad. No wonder people do it.' She thought to herself as she waved and smiled to the people who raised their weapons in cheers and salutes. The gate opened slowly, and out she stepped. Her eyes narrowed as she readied herself for a fight. She removed the small round shield from her side as she got within the customary distance.

"Where is Suchala? Unless the world has changed in the last few hours, you're not an old man." Neia said teasingly.

Yuri shrugged as if she hadn't a care in the world. She stroked her shining blonde hair and twirled a lock around one finger, her voice took on a sing song quality and she turned her dancing brown eyes on the party in front of her. "Dead, coward killed himself, I'm not a coward, but... under the circumstances, I suppose you'll need a substitute." She folded her arms in front of her small breasts and rhythmically tapped her fingers on opposing biceps and tapped her foot impatiently.

"It's unfortunate really, I'm sure you'd wanted to get your hands on him in person but..." She giggled and a monstrous smile split her face, "I guess he won that one. Sort of!" She cackled at the lot of them as they looked on at the rather short woman who had terrorized so much of the north for so long.

"I volunteer." Gagaran said happily. "I want to squash this bug." Her voice was gruff and hungry, and Yuri looked at her in surprise.

"I remember you. You're that big ox from our little meeting, the one that improved Calca's pretty face!" She smiled at the behemoth of a woman, "You're the one who couldn't beat a nail into wood with her hammer."

Gagaran's face turned red. "We'll see about that you bitch!" She snapped out sharply.

"Fine, fine!" Yuri laughed, "I've got to admit, I wonder what killing you will do to the rest of your friends here. I can't wait to find out."

"Some things you have to live with never knowing." Lakyus said in a tranquil tone and looked over at her enormous companion. "Go, show her the thorns of the rose."

"You got it boss." Gagaran said enthusiastically. The walls were packed with spectators waiting with bated breath for their salvation.

Gagaran took out her hammer as her comrades stepped out of reach of the fight, and Neia shouted a loud 'begin!' when the two combatants looked at her to acknowledge their readiness.

First they began to circle one another, watching for the way they moved. Yuri took note of the cross legged motion of Gagaran, one leg crossing over the other to propel the next step, different from her own crab like motion of one leg coming close to the other and then pushing off.

Her sword was out and shield at the ready as they activated their martial arts. Yuri darted in first, her sword flashing in a rapid thrust, Gagaran's motion made it easy for her to step aside, her hammer came up and then came down at Yuri's body, but the woman was already past her, spinning, and leaping in again. The hammer hit the ground and an explosion of dirt clods filled the air.

For a moment Yuri believed she had the lummox, only to be shocked by the way Gagaran spun and kicked her in the side, sending her rolling along the ground.

She got up, much to Gagaran's surprise. "That felt...great." Yuri grinned, and moved in again, the two began to swing their weapons wildly at one another, or rather, wildly from an amateur perspective. The veterans of many battles could see that in fact they were attempting precise strikes, Yuri's sword darting for chinks in the armor and attempting to force Gagaran on the defensive, while Gagaran's heavy weapon forced Yuri to dodge and dip and move in acrobatic ways that also were intended to offer opportunities of their own.

"She's a sword dancer... a good one." Skana said with surprise.

"And a masochist, apparently. Never seen a human take a kick from Gagaran and smile about it." Lakyus said calmly.

"If she thinks she'll wear Gagaran down, she doesn't know Gagaran." Evileye said confidently.

"No." Tia said in a banal voice.

"She doesn't." Tina agreed.

Gagaran's hammer was hitting air more than anything else, but Yuri seemed willing to take the kicks and punches and happily smiled through them all. However, it was clear she was more than a little unhinged as the fight unfolded, though her sword and shield work continued to batter against the behemoth, it was like chopping at a castle wall with a hand ax.

Gagaran had a bloody nose, bloody ears, bloody cheeks, and a grin on her face. Holes were appearing everywhere as with every overhand strike, dirt clods were flung around. Yuri used these more than once, flinging one into Gagaran's face as a distraction before launching a strike to a chink in the armor. Sometimes it worked, most times it didn't.

'Okay, this is starting to hurt, and not in the fun way.' Yuri thought, and she saw her opportunity. The hammer came around in a wide arc across Gagaran's body, so she ducked to avoid it, spun in, used her momentum to get her hand behind the crook in the behemoth of Blue Rose's knee, and shot up to her feet, forcing Gagaran to fall backwards onto the ground with a crash that could be heard all the way to the city walls. They cheered when the giantess went down and Yuri jumped on her to thrust her sword through Gagaran's eye to finish the woman off.

Only to freeze in a moment of shock when her sword stopped in mid thrust, once she saw through the dust, she recognized that the reason for the sudden stop was that Gagaran had grabbed the blade with her hand.

Her deadly narrow eyes had only one instant to understand this when Gagaran said, "Hop around now, you annoying bouncy bitch!" She then swung her hammer up from the ground and smashed it straight into Yuri's torso, sending her flying over the ground. Gagaran used the momentum of her own swing to rise, rush to the fallen woman, roll her onto her back, and while she was stunned, punch her in the head until Yuri went limp.

She stood, dusted herself off, flipped Yuri over, picked her up by the back of the neck, and held her unconscious body up to display to the watching army. They wailed in horror and despair as their champion was utterly defeated.

"Well done, Gagaran." Lakyus said proudly, and the behemoth grinned at the praise.

"Agreed, fantastic fight." Neia said enthusiastically.

Gagaran nodded at Neia in turn and grunted her agreement.

"Go ahead and take her, we'll bring her back to camp, she's going to the Sorcerer King. That's both of them now, so we've only got one more tiny thing to do." Neia said enthusiastically.

Gagaran threw the defeated Yuri over one shoulder and headed back to her horse.

As they were riding back, Lakyus asked, "That one more tiny thing to do, is it what I think it is?"

"Yes." Neia said coldly.

"Oh." Lakyus replied. "They're your countrymen. Are you sure...?"

"Not anymore they're not. Come on, I've got work to do." She said, and they rode in silence back to their camp. Behind them they could hear the city preparing for the inevitable attack.

Neia was laughing as she listened to all the different orders being shouted behind her, she couldn't be sure of what they were saying as she left, but it sounded like chaos.

When they returned to camp, she went and checked the long trench and called the Sons of Iontariil to formation. She looked over the enormous piles of bags of earth that had been assembled, thousands of them, far more than were needed. "Marvelous." Neia said happily. "Alright, dam that river to hell!" She shouted, and Skana rolled her eyes at the terrible joke as Neia pointed from the bags to the place in the river to deposit them so that the river course would be diverted through the long wide channel they'd prepared.

Skana paled as she suddenly saw what was happening, it was even worse than the destruction she thought her wife had planned. The bags at first seemed to do nothing, but as the numbers began to rise higher and they began to pile up, a trickle over the top of the last few inches of the long trench became a stream, and the stream became the new path of the river.

The Vice Commander was so surprised by this action and fascinated by the literal reshaping of nature as a weapon of war, an unprecedented act, that she almost missed Neia riding away alone to follow the course of it. "Neia, wait!" Skana shouted and she jumped back on her horse to chase after her wife. Neia hesitated as Skana caught up, and still longer when CZ rode up, having been briefly distracted by the sight herself.

"Where are you going?" Skana asked anxiously as she brought her mount up next to her wife's.

"I gave the order, I can bear to see the result." Neia said numbly.

"Then I'll go too. Where you go, I go, we do not ride alone." Skana said boldly, bringing a faint cracking smile to her face.

"Never alone." CZ said in her usual monotone, and she put a sticker on Neia's cheek.

Neia bit her lip and gave a hesitant nod as they followed the new river course.

The city of Yanana had been built around this feature more than any other, boats would routinely travel to the great lake at Wenmark and pass by numerous towns and villages that sprung up to take advantage of the river traffic. However one thing it had not been built with was the idea that its walls had to be proofed against it. The people atop the walls were prepared for a siege, they were prepared for a flood of steel and war cries, they were prepared for magic or whatever horrors of war that they had ever seen, even in their fear, they were prepared to fight.

But when they saw the river stop flowing, their first thought was confusion, they could after all, still hear it, their second thought was horror, because that thought was prompted by understanding born of sight. The river crashing full tilt along the lay of the low land and heading toward their walls with more force than any siege weapon.

Belgis was a proud man, Yanana was his city, his wife had fled the place with their son and daughter, but he felt it his duty to defend it from the heretics. Sending them packing was the right call, he was smugly sure of that. So he'd volunteered for duty at the wall. "Let them come, I'll give them steel!" he'd boasted over and over again between drinks with his friends. That was why he was on the wall and among the first to see the wall of water approaching his position. "Noooo!" He shouted in understanding as the water smashed against the stone, it cracked, he tried to run for the tower, but was slow in his heavy armor, the water was faster in its work than he was in his effort to save himself. The stone gave way with him on top of it, he fell screaming into the water and sank straight to the bottom, his last thought was wondering whether he would drown or be battered to death by debris. He never found out which it was that killed him.

The wall of water followed the course of the city streets, the pressure destroyed buildings with people inside them, it picked up carts and carried them, people desperately clung to any debris, but most of the time all that did was ensure that they were battered to death by other objects, walls, or drowned by someone else clinging desperately to them to stay afloat.

Those in armor had no prayer, though that did not stop them from trying as they cried out to the six gods to save them, and were answered with silence, like the soldiers of the Holy Kingdom before them who prayed for salvation from the demihumans and Jaldabaoth, and got only silence in return.

Those who drowned quickly were lucky, those who drowned more slowly were less lucky, those who were battered to death were among the most unlucky. Some were swept into the former river channel that had cut into the city and so were carried downstream, but the locked gates and the many buildings eased the pressure of the flow enough to slowly fill the city like a bucket, and debris swept into the river gradually created an additional dam that at least temporarily would ensure that the water would continue to pile up.

The trio of women could hear the screams from where they sat by the tide, and though Skana tried her best not to flinch, she could scarcely help herself, but Neia never did, she never looked away, and she did not make a sound, not until there were no screams left to hear. "That is the wrath of god's scourge." She whispered.

Only then did she wheel her horse around and start to head back. "OK, we can stop now." Was all she said, though she displayed no urgency on the return to camp. Skana could not think of anything to say, not the entire ride back.

Neia passively ordered the Sons of Iontariil to cut open the bags of earth and allow the river to flow naturally again, but as she did so she added a caveat. "When you send soldiers into the river bed to cut those bags, ensure you tie the soldiers securely to ropes and have those ropes secured to fixed positions, deeply buried poles ideally, so that they will not be pulled away and drowned by the rushing waters, I will lose no soldiers that I do not have to."

They saluted proudly and carried out her orders, and though ten of them were swept up by the rushing waters, they were each pulled by their comrades to safety as a result of the precaution.

It was by then, early evening, and Neia was sitting silently, barely eating a bowl of stew. Skana didn't say anything, Lakyus didn't say anything, Gagaran only approached to inform them of the delivery of Yuri to Nazarick, and then went off on her own.

They all went to sleep silently that night, Neia did not try to reach for her wife, and Skana turned away as she slept with her thoughts in turmoil. "A battle is one thing... this was... I never imagined... I don't even know what to call it.' She thought with dismay.

Neia woke up first in the morning as she usually did, dressed and ate without a word, and waited for Skana to be up in her own time to join her. She felt only numbness, hollowness, emptiness inside. "This war will end, once, and for all, one way or the other, no matter what it takes." She said quietly as she watched the sun slowly rise. She did not watch for long before Skana joined her.

"What next?" Skana asked abruptly.

"Now we finish this, the water should be drained by now." Neia explained, and as soon as the army was formed up and camp was broken, she ordered the march to begin. It was not a long one, the army drew an enormous collective gasp at the sheer scale of the destruction. Few bricks stood atop one another, everything was overturned or completely shattered, gates had given way and been torn from their positions and ended up far from where they'd been as if thrown away by an angry child. Bodies lay everywhere.

Skana swallowed hard and could not turn her eye away again. Neia looked over her shoulder at the officers behind her. "Priority one, search for survivors, anyone who lived, take them prisoner, treat them, but do not hurt them. Second, start dismantling everything, break brick away from brick, smash them to pieces so that they are pebbles, throw those and the bodies into the river, everything goes in there, let it be swept to the Great Lake of Wenmark. Leave not one stone on another to show that anything was ever here, uproot the roads, destroy any remnant of the Court of Justice. No trace survives. Questions?"

There were none. With the army descended on the dead zone, work was extremely fast, twelve people were found alive amongst the rubble, and as the army worked, and after they were treated and fully healed, they were brought before Neia Baraja. They were forced to their knees as she sat atop her undead mount, looking down at them. "Raise your heads. You will live." She said calmly.

One by one they raised their heads, and to her surprise, she recognized one of them. "Do you remember me?" Neia asked in the quiet voice of death. "I hope so, because you were one of those who sentenced me to be whipped for challenging your priests."

"P-Please... I... I..." He wet himself as he tried to talk, the smell of ammonia was thick in the air as he had obviously had... lots of water to drink. His chubby body had evidently helped him float, or so she guessed.

Neia raised her hand, "No need. I promised life to those who survived. I will release you, all of you. But when you go south, tell them what happened here. Black Justice does not forget, and injustice will be avenged. You harbored the burners, you harbored the persecutors, you cast my own people out naked to die of cold because you feared your own neighbors. Tell the south when you travel there, what happens when you wrong the north, and we come for you."

She looked over the remainder, and a dark grin formed on her face. "Inquisitor, you are a lucky one, do you know that?"

"The six preserved me!" He said proudly, even defiantly as he looked up at her.

Neia's grim visage gave him cause to hesitate as he sensed she had something to say about that. He was right.

"Perhaps they did." She said in a voice that was almost kind. "But I will tell you what they did not, I will tell you 'why' you have been spared my wrath this day."

His eyes went wide as Neia held her arms open as if to embrace him, a black aura seemed to surround her that made her seem like some sort of dark angel in his eyes, "You were spared for purpose, inquisitor. You will be sent east, specifically, you will be sent to the Slane Theocracy, you will travel to its cities, its towns, its villages, and you will tell them my words."

He swallowed, or tried to, it caught in his throat, he looked up at her with awe, "What words will I give to them?" He asked as her evangelist voice pounded into his terrified heart.

"Tell them that General Neia Baraja is coming for them. Any breaker I capture will be broken. Every hand holding a whip, I will cut off. For every mutilated ear on an elven slave, I will remove the ears of slave masters. Any city, town, or village that holds out against me for one hour after my arrival, will suffer the fate of Wenmark and Yanana, it will cease to be. I am the child of the unliving, the Black Paladin, the scourge of god, and I will punish you who have sinned against him if you do not yield. Your cities will be fire, your fields will be salt, your hopes will be ashes and your lives, like your pride, will be crushed under my undead horses. Yet those who yield, will be spared, save for those who are unjust, then only they who are the worst, will feel my wrath. Do you understand?" She asked him in a horrifically angelic voice.

"I... I do." He whispered, regretting that his gods answered his prayer.

"Good. This once I will spare you to perform this duty, but should I catch you in inquisitors robes again, it will go worse for you." She said with her angelic smile still on her face, when the gate opened, he could scarcely believe what he saw, and had to be thrown through it, finding to his shock that he was in front of a sign reading 'Welcome to Wheaton'.

When this was complete, Neia ordered food and water provided to the few survivors, and allowed them to go on their way.

It took two full days of work in rotating shifts, but brick by brick her will was done, the remnants of the Court of Justice, the pride of Yanana, was erased entirely, right down to the pillars that had held her to await the beating they had ordered, right down to the last stick of wooden furniture where she'd sat when meeting Sudaj. Nothing was left.

Yanana, was dead. Only then, after the army was formed up again, did Neia send a message to the Sorcerer King. "My Lord, if it is your will, the West is finished, your servant is ready to march upon the Slane Theocracy. If you will send us a gate, we will send you victory."

 ***This shows the meeting through Skana's observations and reflections, for the more overarching view, see 'Blood in the Streets' Chapter 21.**


	150. Revelations

God Rising: The Cult of Ainz

Written by: AtheistBasementDragon

Edited by: The Usual Gang of Drunken Perverted Idiots

Chapter 150: Revelations

 _...Nazarick..._

The skeletal hand of Ainz struck his permanently neutral face. "Why?! Why is she behaving like Pandora's Actor?!" He asked himself, aghast as he watched Neia rip the pride of the South asunder. He let his hand fall back to his side. "Still, I suppose I should praise her, she destroyed the reputation of a Theocracy general and destroyed their twenty thousand man remaining army. But... what test did she mean?" He wondered out loud.

He shut off the mirror of remote viewing and went to his private office where he summoned Demiurge to join him. He was just getting settled into his seat when the demon arrived. The archdevil bowed deeply and said with head low, "How may I serve you, My Lord?" His voice filled with deep and abiding respect and a hint of unrestrained enthusiasm.

"Demiurge, did you recently put Neia Baraja through some sort of test?" Ainz asked with mild curiosity as he busied himself sorting through documents.

"No, My Lord." Demiurge answered with surprise.

Ainz went quiet and he began to wonder if he'd misunderstood what Neia had said to him.

"I did put her through a test some time ago, near the time the war began." He straightened himself and cocked his head as if doubtful, "We saw the degree of loyalty she was showing and we debated its actual depth, therefore to be sure of it, during a visit to Nazarick, I presented her with the Dagger of Paradox, and told her that you had ordered her to take her own life, that you required it for your use." His face went gleeful, with a wide smile beneath his crystalline eyes, his hands practically shook with a near orgasmic bliss, "She tried, she tried so hard to kill herself, she thrust the dagger at her heart, tried to slash her throat, stab herself through her eyes, she went nearly mad before she begged forgiveness for failing to die. It was... beautiful, on so many levels. Beautiful in the way she was tormented yes, but to my astonishment, and to the astonishment of Albedo, the greatest beauty in that moment was how like us she was. She reminded us of Shalltear and Cocytus, eager to atone for the sin of failing you. But... that was the only test to which I have subjected her to."

Ainz listened in quiet contemplation as Demiurge explained what had taken place, when he was done, the Sorcerer King asked quietly, "Demiurge... is she aware that this test was not of my design?"

"She is, My Lord. I informed her immediately that you had not given such a command." He inclined his head as he spoke, affirming the truth of his statement, but then bit his lip nervously. "My Lord, did I do something... wrong?"

Ainz did not answer right away, "How did she respond, after you told her everything?" He asked, setting aside the documents and giving Demiurge his full attention with a very long stare.

"She... hugged me. I have never seen a human so full of joy." Demiurge chuckled with amusement.

Ainz's jaw dropped at the image of Neia hugging the archdevil. "So she responded well," he coughed into his skeletal hand to cover his surprise and continued, "I'm glad of that but, is it possible that she sustained any lasting trauma as a result?"

That gave Demiurge pause. "My Lord, I honestly don't know." He began to sweat bullets, "Ah, if I damaged your servant, please allow me to atone! Perhaps I can fix her, or should I simply end my life for the oversight?!" He began to fidget uncomfortably under the Sorcerer King's stare.

Ainz let out a sigh and gestured to the chair in front of his desk. "Please sit, Demiurge."

Uncomfortable with such an informal approach, the archdevil nonetheless obeyed, if slower than his usual hup to.

"Tell me, how is Vanysa?" Ainz asked. The blankness of the expression on Demiurge's face and his sudden silence told the Sorcerer King that the question was unexpected.

"I-I do not understand." Demiurge said as he shifted in his chair.

"You have observed her at rest have you not?" Ainz asked patiently. "What does she do?"

"She thrashes, sometimes she wakes up screaming." Demiurge answered succinctly in a clinically disinterested voice, his face neutral as if describing lunch.

"Do you know 'why' that is, Demiurge?" Ainz asked with genuine curiosity. 'I wonder if perhaps the NPCs are capable of understanding something of this sort. True they are 'alive' now, but they are still unique as living beings, can they grasp the complexities of the mind?' Ainz asked the question in his own head as he looked the archdevil over.

"I do not." Demiurge answered, lowering his head and then grabbing it in frustration, "Forgive me for not knowing the answer, My Lord!" He exclaimed and he shook with frustration.

"It's quite alright, Demiurge." Ainz began to explain patiently, "You and the other guardians are creations of my friends and I, we did not imbue you with this knowledge. It wasn't necessary before. The simple answer is that her past haunts her. If you were to be tortured, I suspect that as much as it would hurt at the time, afterward you would return to just being yourself. But the suffering of those outside of this place, is carried with them all their lives, it shapes who they are so that they are beings in constant flux, their personalities reshaped by their experiences over the course of life. Tell me, Demiurge, what did you think of what Neia did at Yanana yesterday?"

Demiurge's face split in an enormous smile, "Worthy of a guardian in its brutality and efficiency, maximum destruction, minimum cost, that she did it without magic was even more impressive."

"Would you have thought her capable of it five years ago?" Ainz asked, extending his hand as if offering, or asking to be given, an answer.

Demiurge thought it over, he stroked his chin and evaluated her choices over that time. "No. No, My Lord. I don't think she would have done that."

Ainz nodded sharply, "Precisely. She has changed, all of them have. When you tested Neia, you imposed a change on her by presenting her with a choice that was brutal in its nature. I will not censure you for this because I know why it was done, but you must come to learn more about the minds of our subjects, lest you unintentionally damage their greatest abilities."

"I see, your wisdom and ability to understand these creatures is... truly unfathomable, My Lord. I will bear your instruction in mind at all times." Demiurge replied with a grave voice, his hands folded tight on his lap.

"Good, you are among my best, Demiurge, don't take this as a rebuke, it worked out, but in all tests there may be unintended consequences, understanding those is also necessary to achieve our goals." Ainz said patiently and then waved Demiurge to the door.

"You are gracious in educating your ignorant servant. Thank you, My Lord." Demiurge replied as he stood, bowed, and departed, leaving Ainz alone to sigh in relief and in concern.

...Hoburns...

"She did what?" Calca went pale as a cotton sheet.

Robel read the document again. "She erased the city of Yanana from existence. As far as we know, only a squad's worth of people survived. Beyond that, single rebel soldier, resident, and every single theocracy soldier was killed, she then destroyed the city down to its foundations and had her cavalry ride over the site so there would be no evidence it ever existed. The few who survived her destruction were allowed to go south to bear the story of her visit." Robel stood with back straight and eyes fixed firmly on the document, his youthful face was flushed red and sweat beaded on his skin as he read the report that Neia sent to him.

"Even... the demihumans under Jaldabaoth were not so complete in their destruction." Calca said from her throne, dismay visible on that part of her face still visible, as she covered her mouth loosely with one hand, her wide eyes fixed on Robel, and she listened as he went on.

"She further informs us that she is abandoning the west and intends to go to face the Slane Theocracy on their own ground. As she puts it, Your Majesty... 'Our war is over, but hers has only begun."

He lowered the paper and only slowly raised his eyes to meet her gaze.

"Has the South responded?" Calca asked, blinking repeatedly as she tried to process what she'd just heard.

"This came in shortly after... I can only assume a message spell was used for the copyist, because it was literally hours difference only." Robel said as he reached into his satchel and took out another piece of paper.

"Their terms of independence are as follows, mining rights in the old Wenmark region will be doled out to guilds from our country and operated through guilds in theirs, essentially forming 'partnerships' they will supply us with unfinished goods in exchange for finished ones for twenty years, they will build no fortress or city where Yanana once stood, and Wenmark will not be rebuilt. They will limit themselves to defense forces only..." As he read through the list, Calca could only marvel.

'By the bones... those are dream terms, their independence is barely real at all.' She thought to herself until finally Robel got to the end.

"In exchange..." he said, and coughed into his hand several times.

"Yes? What do they want for this?" She asked, leaning forward intently.

"In exchange, they want an oath that no Pope or army of Black Justice will ever visit their lands again, as long as the family of the new King has one of its own on the throne." Robel's voice went quiet before he added his own thoughts with great confidence. "She really did a number on them, didn't she?"

"Yes. It would seem that she did." Calca replied numbly. She looked to a nearby servant, "Fetch me my seal, I will affix it immediately, the south is... 'free' insomuch as it can call itself that."

She sat there, pale and quiet on her throne, the rest of the court was as silent as she. Robel did not move from his position, it was so silent that they could hear the sound of the seal being affixed to the document from one end of the court to the other.

When the treaty was taken away, Robel spoke. "My Queen, may we speak privately?"

Calca inclined her head slightly and stood up. She walked as if in a trance to the door that led to her private workspace, and then sat down behind her desk. Robel closed the door behind them and put his hands behind his back in front of where she sat.

"How... how many of my people did the Black Paladin kill, do you think?" Calca asked him in a shaking, trembling voice.

"None, Your Majesty. They were no longer your people." He said calmly.

"Are you saying that as one of my nobles, or are you saying that because, like Gustav before you, your loyalty to your former commander is greater than your loyalty to who sits on the throne?" She asked in a bitter, angry voice, she lowered her head and put her hands to the side, her fingers running through her hair, she clenched it tight to the base, indifferent to the fact that it hurt.

Robel shook his head, "No, Your Majesty. I... I know what she did. But more importantly I know 'why' she did it."

The Queen just stared at him, so he continued. "So you wouldn't have to, so 'we' wouldn't have to. She told me something, back before we went our separate ways, may I tell it to you?"

Calca's eyes were a tremble, 'How much more must my people endure...' She wondered as her heart pounded in her breast. "Go on." She managed to get past her lips.

"She told me that when she was speaking with His Majesty, he was saying how he wanted this to be the last war these lands ever know, that he wanted to win it in such a way that it wouldn't happen again, the war to end all wars forever. To prevent the tragedies of First World. It took some time to understand what he was talking about, I didn't really see it myself until I began to see elves, humans, and demihumans have common cause in earnest. But she, sometimes she would look away, not really paying attention to us, and it was like she was seeing his vision. And I remember something else, she said 'everything has a price, and there are a lot of ways to pay it.' Do you understand?"

"Not at all." She said dryly.

"Her destruction of Yanana put terror into the south in such a way that their terms will keep them very weak, they may have their independence for now, but in twenty years? Thirty? Fifty? One Hundred? They can't last, they'll collapse from within, or they'll seek to reunify of their own volition. Yes, Neia will be hated in the Southern Holy Kingdom, maybe forever. But it is 'she', not the royal house in Hoburns, who will bear that hatred, meaning they can come home again one day, rejoin with us. And she bears all the blame."

Calca turned her thoughts back to the time she shared with Neia in Prart. "She's a human sacrifice. By the bones... I almost prefer she be a second Remedios..."

Robel gave a gentle nod of agreement. "The Theocracy propaganda about her worked well because she was far away, now that she'll be on their ground, it may well provoke many surrenders, she'll play the role they've given her, no matter what it costs."

"I hope there's something left of the girl I stood for, when everything is said and done, and that her wife keeps a close eye on her, because this is going to get much, much worse." Calca added prophetically.

"Agreed, if it pleases your majesty, I beg your permission to withdraw for the day, I wish to go get very, very drunk." Robel said as his shoulders slumped and his eyes turned down.

"Permission denied, you can do it here. In that, I will join you." The Queen replied, her hand shaking as she drew a bottle from a rack seated behind her.

...Elf Kingdom...

The Captain of the Black Scripture snatched the letter out of the hands of the second seat and read it. It was identical to his own, so it was with all of them. "What?" Zesshi asked as she planted the butt of her scythe on the ground and spun it impatiently, as she looked at her former colleagues, anger began to rise. 'You're my comrades! I helped 'train' most of you back when you were little better than fumbling toddlers! I was serving that country for generations before the night your mothers even decided they didn't want to swallow anything and you were conceived instead!' She thought to herself, her grip tightened on her scythe.

When the captain finally turned to her, he held his letter out and stepped back.

Zesshi took it, "Oh this is interesting." She said, a glow of warmth coming to her cheeks. "Raymond... Raymond thank you..." She said warmly. She tossed the letter aside and held her scythe in the combat position across her body.

"I'll tell you what that 'shit' is, Captain. It's exactly what it says, you either believe what we tell you and join me like he has, or you die where you stand." Her anger was starting to get the better of her, she'd never been angry enough to cry before, not really, but this was pushing her to her limits, and that alone shocked them to their cores.

The Zesshi they knew was unflappable, cold, indifferent. Her welling eyes and furious snarl with her lip curled up was almost a different person, they traded expressions and began to fan out around the trio.

"What are you supposed to tell us?" The Captain asked pragmatically.

"They tortured my family!" She exclaimed as she tightened her grip on her scythe enough that her knuckles turned white. They froze in mid step.

"That's why I'm here! That's why all this is happening! Don't you get it?! How could you all be here without questioning why I am?! I trained most of you, I was serving the Theocracy before most of your grandparents were learning to wipe their own asses!"

"I found my sister in Kami Miyako! I found out I had little brothers and little sisters out there! And the Theocracy was profiting off their abuse! What would they have done with me if I had not the power I did, or if my mother had rejected me?!" She growled angrily and began to pace back and forth in front of her former scripture.

"Don't you 'dare' to say I am a traitor to the Theocracy, when the Theocracy betrayed me first! Long before this war began, they first whispered lies into the ears I hated! They kept the truth from me for all my life, but I learned the facts for myself when I was guarding the boy they kidnapped. Still I might have forgiven it as ignorance leading to inaction, but when I confronted the cardinals, I sought to end what was happening, they voted me DOWN. They tore up the accords, called it trash, I was their trump card, and they said half of me was nothing but garbage."

She snarled at her former black scripture comrades. "Now they send you to kill me, so fine, you want it to end that way, you choose them over me, that is your decision to make, but before you strike, before you come to take my head and give it to Dominic... IF you can do it... you tell me in one word... who is the REAL traitor... them... or ME?"

They stood frozen, unable to move at the revelation.

"Is that... true?" The second seat asked in disbelief.

"Would I be here if it weren't?!" Zesshi said in a biting tone. "I joined the undead because he does what the Slane Theocracy only promised to do, I joined him because he gave my sister her freedom when all they'd have given her is... to someone else. I joined him because whatever he is, he's doing what needs to be done to end this nightmare. Our country has DAMNED itself, it has betrayed me, and if comradeship ever meant anything to you... then betraying me means they betrayed you as well. They tell us it is for the good of humanity... but since when is the good of humanity found in someone screaming for help in a brothel?! Or dying in a fire?! Or being thrown into mass graves?! Or being tortured?! Good of humanity, my half elven _ass_!"

"I don't 'want' to kill you, but if you take one step closer, this fight begins and it doesn't end until your heads are on the ground, or mine is." Zesshi said softly. "Let this be the last betrayal they ever get to hand to me. Make your choice, and make it quick, we've got a busy day ahead of us."


	151. Cracks

**AN: Well, we're getting closer to the END of God Rising, for 'once' I think my remaining chapter estimate is right, and there are fewer than 50 chapters to go. All the side stories will be finished, and the largest Overlord Fanfiction Universe will end at roughly 2.5 million words, making it one of the longest fanfictions in the world. Let me tell you, this story has been an overwhelming joy to write, and every chapter going forward, will bring with it a little twinge of sadness because it brings me a little closer to the final curtain. That said, I will be slowing down my release schedule a bit to spend more time on revisions and improve the final product along the way.**

 **But even ending this series, well it won't be completely over yet... I'll be doing audio readings of the chapters and putting them on YouTube as well as compiling readings for an audiobook (the equipment is on the way) I'll be getting illustrations done for a free ebook that compiles the entire thing into one pdf. And I've had two different parties tell me they're interested in getting the story animated. There's still a lot to do, but if you'd like to know more, stop by my discord (invite code is on my author page). Till the next chapter... which you'll get...** ** _100 reviews from now_** **, this is ABD saying... READ ON! :)**

 _...Crescent Lake..._

The scriptures were unique among the human nations. Unique because of their collective power, unique because of their record of success against nonhumans, unique because of their raw fanaticism. This was true of all save one. The Black Scripture. Elites among elites, not only did they not officially exist, they were chosen for one reason. Power. Anything else was secondary at best. This included loyalty to the Theocracy. Zesshi, the oldest of the Black Scripture members, typified them all in that she had her own ideas and desires, and cared little for their beliefs or goals otherwise. Loyalty was conditional. As far as she was concerned, they'd broken faith with her, so she had no reason to stay loyal to them. This was why she wondered as she looked at her comrades, 'So, what will it be?'

"Ah, man..." The Captain said and slammed the butt of his spear into the dirt, he rubbed his forehead, closed his eyes, and shook his head. "Damn it, Raymond! You really made this difficult."

"Difficult how?" Thirg spoke up as the rest of the black looked similarly conflicted.

"And you are... who, exactly?" Time Turbulence asked in his almost childish voice. He turned up his nose arrogantly, though given his short height, it was also necessary to see up into Thirg's face. He drew his clock spiral painted rapier and tapped the tip impatiently in the dirt. "I don't know you."

"Because you never read the things I send you." The Captain said, in a long suffering tone. Time Turbulence blushed a little at that. "That, unless I miss my guess, is Thirg Dahn."

"Pleased to meet you." Thirg said with a mocking bow that was low enough to put him at eye level with the diminutive warrior. "Seems to me a pretty simple thing, isn'it? You obey Raymond, presumably you trust him, he's telling you he's taken her side and to believe what she tells you, now you got a choice. Fight your comrade for Dominic, maybe win, go back, and kill or report Raymond. Fight your comrade, lose, and never rise again. Abandon your mission, or... join Zesshi."

That snapped all eyes to him, and then to her. "Go ahead, tell them." Tefl said with a cocky smirk.

"Since I'm... the daughter of that bastard, that makes me royalty here, if I kill him, the Elf Kingdom is technically mine to inherit. I can pull them out of the war, not only with the Sorcerer King, but I can pull them out of the war with the Slane Theocracy, it can 'all' end. All of it, with one swing of my scythe." She looked at them one by one. "You came here because you were ordered by Dominic, but I know you stopped in Kami Miyako, I know you know what's going on there, what's in that letter... is only half of what Dominic has been doing. It's much worse and it goes back years. You tell me, is Dominic serving humanity, the Theocracy, or himself?"

It was an incisive question, an uncomfortable one, one they didn't answer. "Captain, did you know about the deal with the Elf King?" Zesshi probed further.

"The treaty of alliance?" He asked with surprise, "Everybody knows."

"No, what induced him to go along with it." Zesshi's black and white eyes went narrow and focused. She saw ignorance in his blank stare, so she answered her own question, "He was to be authorized the use of any female he wanted. If their army made it through the Abelion Hills, then the Elf King would be raping his way through human women across the Holy Kingdom."

Zesshi's eyes filled with tears of rage. "They wanted more like me! Dominic wanted more like me! Don't you understand! They were supposed to let me kill the one who ruined my life! Instead they throw more people like my mother at him as if we're all just toys!"

She blinked away all signs of emotion and spoke coldly, "Trust Raymond and join me. Abandon Dominic. Our nation was wrong, and you are not the servants of humanity anymore, if you ever were. The Slane Theocracy is already dead, and the only way to save its people is to bring this war to an end as fast as possible. I've been to the home of the Sorcerer King, I faced one of his number in single combat, do you want to know how it ended?" She asked as shock built upon shock on their faces, their mouths open, their eyes wide with disbelief and incomprehension.

Zesshi laughed, "I ended up eating dirt several times and then he threw me in a lake. He, by the way, was just a child. Nor was he anywhere near as powerful as their master, and by the way, that 'master' was in Kami Miyako the day I left. He could have wiped out the entire city if he wished, he can come and go as he pleases, he could simply walk into a city, exterminate it, then go to another city on the other side of the country a minute later. We've lasted this long only because he's been holding back, and he's only holding back because he wants this war to be what unifies his empire. We're not the glorious defenders of humanity... we're a goddamn team building exercise!" She shouted the last words while looking straight at the captain, who knew better than any through his position, how unity was formed through trial.

"You're asking us to disobey orders... to betray humanity, the Theocracy..." One Man Army gasped out in horror.

Tefl laughed so hard she had to grab her stomach. "Not the brightest one of that lot are you?" She asked, and his blonde hair bounced lightly as he turned angry pink eyes on her.

One Man Army kept his calm demeanor and held one hand out with fingers spread. "Explain that laugh before I call out a beast to tear the answer from your tongue."

Tefl waved her hand as if that were a joke and turned her red eyes on him. "I'd welcome you trying, human, but there's no need. She's not asking you to do that at all. Well, except for disobeying orders, that she's asking. But I've seen humans working together with other races. I'm a vampire, but I teach humans how to fight, rather than prey on them. You're not betraying humanity, you're helping it on the only path that ensures its survival and prosperity. And from where I'm sitting, you can side with Dominic or you can side with the population. You want the people to survive, you want the religion of the six gods to survive, you're on the wrong side of the fight. It really doesn't matter to me which choice you make, you can't win now anyway. But... I've been with Zesshi for awhile now and I'd not like to see her have to put down her own unit."

"What do you know?" The muscle-bound half-naked tenth seat grunted out as he tapped the handle of an ax on his shoulder impatiently. "You've been with her what, a few months? We came up with her, we've known her for years!"

"Yet we are here, and you're there." Thirg grunted back out as he picked up his maul.

The Black Scripture members thought that over long and hard, their eyes traveling to their former member and to each other as if searching for answers they could not find. Finally the captain spoke in a very tired voice, "Zesshi, I know this is... unorthodox, given that we were sent to kill you and all but... can you give us a minute to talk this over amongst ourselves?"

Zesshi answered with fire in her eyes as she looked at them long and hard before lowering her guard and stepping back away from them as they started to withdraw. "Fine, we have some hours yet, but remember this, anyone who is 'not' on my side for this, has to die, I won't let anyone go back to Kami Miyako and expose Raymond, this is a do-or-die moment."

"Is that wise?" Thirg asked her when the three were alone.

"Yes, brother, it is. If they all side against her, nothing changes. If they all side with her, a little extra help can't be a bad thing. If they split over it, we either have a little extra help or much weaker opponents." Tefl responded somewhat smugly.

"Never thought I'd see this though, we're tearing ourselves apart." Zesshi said as the sound of heated voices rose from where her former unit spoke in private. She kept her eyes focused on that even though she couldn't see them, goosebumps rose on her skin.

"You think there's a chance you won't have to kill them?" Thirg asked with surprise in his voice.

"I think so, for some at least." Zesshi replied calmly, "The Black is like no other unit, we're chosen for our exceptional strength, we're in a class like no other, and because of that, our seats are most loyal to one another. Besides, Raymond was our leader, and everyone, including me, would walk into the mouth of a Dragon Lord if he said it was necessary. He might have commanded 'all' the scriptures, but it was us that he came from. He bled with them, helped train them, selected them, he's like a father. If there is any unit in the Slane Theocracy that would disobey the order to kill me, it's them."

The voices that had been loud, became shouts, the shouts became calls of martial arts, she could tell that people were taking sides. "I guess they can't agree on what to do." Zesshi said with quiet regret.

"Do we... wait here or...?" Tefl looked somewhat uncomfortable, her eyes going between the sound of fighting and the road leading the rest of the way to the city.

"We wait. I don't know who is on my side and who isn't." Zesshi took up a guard position with her scythe crossed at an angle in front of her body. Thirg hefted his maul for use, and Tefl drew a pair of knives from her pouches.

The fighting intensified as magic started getting hurled around, but it did not last. The shouts began to die down, and she counted the casualties by whose voices she ceased to hear. One by one the Black tore itself apart, until finally only three voices could be heard. Zesshi felt her fingers tense around her weapon, as the first, second, and fourth seats emerged into view again, looking much the worse for wear, bleeding from numerous wounds, bodies shaking from pain, and faces numb with disbelief. Their eyes glassed over and downcast, they barely met one another's eyes, let alone Zesshi's.

"Well, what'll it be?" Zesshi asked as she slid one foot behind her so that she faced them from the side, ready to launch herself in to finish what the others had begun, if that was what it took.

 _...Neia's Army..._

Neia stood with her command staff at her back atop a low, elevated platform of quickly assembled wood. CZ, Skana, Inta and his sister, Lakyus and her Roses, along with some of her other aides responsible for various larger unit groups. In front of her stood her army, arrayed in their tens of thousands. The memory of the destruction of Yanana was still fresh, the screams of the dying, the pleas of the drowning, the prayers unanswered as the flood... her flood, swept them away from life forever. She looked over her shoulder, her wife was smiling at her. Neia swallowed, nodded, and smiled back as her face became a mask.

She turned her gaze back to the assembled host. "The war in the west is won!" She shouted to them all, holding her arms out and open before her as if to embrace her soldiers as her children. The cheers were as thunder, they were as waves crashing upon her, the rock who received them. "There is no further cause for war, as the Theocracy soldiers and the fanatics of Remedios are now completely exterminated, as are those who would host them! The South has learned a lesson it will never forget!" The cheers redoubled. But she bobbed her hands up and down to calm their cheers.

When they quieted down, she spoke further, her voice full of confidence as her words carried to every corner of her army. "However... the war itself still rages in the east. The Slane Theocracy sent their soldiers to snuff you out, to douse out the fire that following the Sorcerer King has lit within you! They would have snuffed out your lives and your inner light as if it were a candle in the dawn. They failed. They failed because they did not see you as 'I' see you, as Her Majesty sees you, as our divine God sees you! You are not a candle in the dawn! You are a torch blazing in the night! A raging flame that will spread to all the world to burn away terror, weakness, and injustice! The Slane Theocracy underestimated you, and scarcely two of their number survived to learn how badly they have erred. So now... now I march east, I go into their heartlands, I go to punish them for their affront to our Queen, to punish them for their oppression! To punish them for their destruction of our villages, our temples, our lives!" Cheers resounded again, and she allowed them to carry on for some time.

When they faded on their own, she continued, "I, however, will not command that you go so far from home. You have done more than anyone could ever ask of you, and I can ask no more." She halted her speech to let her words sink in, she saw confusion on many faces. "Those of you who wish to go home, are free to go. I will bless you all to my dying day, I will thank you all for your service every day until my passing, and you may go if you wish, without shame or loss of honor. Return to Prart and the temples will see you home safely." The confusion on their faces deepened to disbelief, many a mouth was open, many a pair of eyes were wide and staring.

"But if you want... you can follow me still! Follow me into the maw of the dragon, into the heart of darkness, the Slane Theocracy is weakened, and the wounded dog may yet bare its teeth! They will fight to the last, and not all those who follow me will return alive." A 'gate' suddenly appeared at the side of the platform. "The choice, as with all things, is yours, and you will live with it until you face your own end, whether as an elder in your bed many years from now or as a soldier in battle against the Theocracy on the other side of that gate! No matter your choice, even if I go alone, I am proud of you all!"

Neia walked down the small steps of the platform, and her closest aides followed her. Silence ruled over the army, and they watched with mute fascination as she walked to the gate and without even a backward glance or a moment's pause, stepped through it.

So too did her other leadership, and silent disbelief held, until the first man moved. "Fuck the Theocracy!" He shouted, and headed for the gate. As if shaken out of their disbelieving moment they then began to move. Thousands upon thousands marched in massed ranks four abreast, directly through the gate, abandoning the platform to the elements as they launched their counter invasion.

Neia's face was stoic on the other side as she and her peers gathered together. "So, where are we, exactly?" Inta asked as they waited to see if her army would join her.

Neia took out a map from her pack, marked an 'X' on a spot, and tossed it to him. "There." She said succinctly.

He unrolled it and looked the map over. "So... just a little south of this fortress." He said thoughtfully, "I'm guessing we take this and march on Wheaton?"

"Yes." Neia said calmly, "There is little left of the Theocracy now, a few large towns, a few cities, they're desperate. Or rather, they 'think' they're desperate. I'm going to show them what 'desperate' really means." Her eyes went dark as she looked over at her companions and a terrible reverberation filled her voice.

The first soldiers began to cross over, it took what felt like forever for them to form up, and both Inta and his sister went to see to the ordering of soldiers for an attack on the next position.

As they filtered through, Skana approached her wife and drew her aside. "Neia, are you alright?" She asked, leaning in close, holding her wife's shoulders as she spoke.

"Why wouldn't I be?" Neia asked with surprise, "I'm just doing what needs to be done." She reached up and touched her wife's cheek and smiled weakly, "I'm fine, I'm not tired or anything, everything is alright. We'll do this and bring an end to everything. There's only a little bit left."

"Neia, you killed over fifty thousand people at that city, are you sure you're alright?" Skana asked tenderly.

"They made their choice." Neia said starkly, she shook her head, her lovely straw blonde hair bounced side to side, "They made their choice and I made mine, this is what war is. If you can't handle it, then I don't need you here." Neia looked calmly at Skana as she replied, and her wife reared back as if slapped. She looked with shock, and Neia immediately covered her mouth as if to keep the words from coming out, but they already had, and it was too late. They could not be unsaid.

"I'm sorry!" Neia said rapidly and clasped Skana's hand, "I'm sorry. I didn't... I didn't mean it. You didn't deserve that." Neia said and bowed her head in shame, coincidentally hiding the welling of tears in her eyes..

Skana was still, and as if seeking distraction she looked away, she saw that the others had already begun forming battalions into ready positions. "I have work to do." She said in a small voice, and stepped away. "Tell us when you're ready to go, General."

Neia gritted her teeth without looking up as Skana stepped away, breaking Neia's grip, "As you say, Vice Commander." Neia did not try to hold on, letting her hands fall at her sides.

 _...Nazarick..._

Yuri's eyes fluttered open, she looked around. "Well shit, so much for that." She said unhappily. She looked at her wrists, there were chains on them, that was the only thing she was wearing. "OK, so this just went from bad to worse." She mused idly to herself, then laughed a bit, "Or maybe not, maybe I can have some fun here. Maybe take a chunk out of whoever tries anything."

She tensed her muscles, nothing was broken, her injuries were all healed, there weren't even any bruises. "Tip-top shape before torture, eh? Well whatever, at least they're not amateurs." She said as she looked around, there was an empty chair a few feet in front of her, and a wall and table held numerous tools of pain. She looked with care at the horrific implements. "I suppose those are left out to terrify the victim." She thought out loud, then shrugged with further indifference.

"You're right." A voice said from the other side of the door at the far end of the room. It was bouncy, feminine, very cheerful. The door opened and she got a look at the owner of the voice.

"So. You're this 'Yuri' I've heard soooo much about." A 'creature' of some sort said as it sort of waddled in. It was obese, it was slimey, it was a greenish gray monster with dangling tentacles and long strange fingers.

Yuri was many things, but 'coward' was not among them. She smiled at the creature, "I suppose I am." She said bravely, giving the monster a cocky little smile, "I didn't know I was famous among monsters."

The being came closer and placed its slime coated, long fingers, over Yuri's breasts, trailing them slowly over her skin, the creature spoke. "Oh everybody here who is anybody; knows about you, my dear. You're a brave one too, how wonderful. You're everything I hoped for. Now for introductions, my name is Neuronist Painkill." Though the creature couldn't smile, Yuri felt that it would have, if it were possible.

"There was quite a bit of discussion held about what to do with you. I wanted you as my plaything, Lord Demiurge wanted you for his farm, and my dear friend Vanysa wanted you for her personal service. Would you like to know how the argument came out?" Neuronist asked, a long wormlike tongue emerged from the round mouth and began to tickle over Yuri's cheek.

"I suspect you're going to tell me no matter what, so... why not?" Yuri asked. The sensations of these intimate touches was 'unpleasant' but not intolerable, no worse than other viscera she'd been coated with before, so she simply kept her body relaxed.

Neuronist stepped back a pace and placed her hand over her chest, "A compromise, you see, first you will spend time with me until I have deemed you properly broken. Then you will spend a few years with Lord Demiurge on his farm assisting with his many experiments. Finally after your baptism, you will be a present for my demoness friend, you should be quite grateful, most do not earn such high honors as drawing the attention of all three of us!" Neuronist laughed gleefully, her body shaking and giggling, tentacles bouncing like a maiden's hair around her.

"So... what did I do to earn this... honor?" Yuri asked as calmly as could be, her eyes not taken away from the one addressing her even for a moment.

"You showed resourcefulness, talent, manipulative ability to handle Remedios Custodio and combat skills good enough to hurt what passes for 'dangerous' adventurers. That drew the demoness's eyes, you defied Nazarick, that drew Lord Demiurge's eyes, and you showed bravery in the face of pain, that drew my eyes... because I love to hurt those like you best of all." Neuronist giggled again.

"I've been a busy little bee, haven't I?" Yuri asked with a winsome smile at the monster.

"Oh yes, very much so, you've got a number of hard years ahead, but be grateful, you first fall into the hands of Nazarick's most beautiful servant." Neuronist said, preening slightly and tapping her webbed long fingers on her chest to ensure Yuri knew that she meant herself.

"I see." Yuri said patiently, "So you're saying I'm going to live then, but probably spend most of that time wishing I wasn't?"

Neuronist slapped her slimy hands together, splashing some onto Yuri's belly from the force of her physically expressed happiness. "That's it exactly! Oh you are a sharp one! There is just one problem."

"A problem?" Yuri asked, mystified, she tilted her head to one side and raised an eyebrow, "I don't understand."

"We already have a 'Yuri', so we're going to have to give you a new name. What shall it be, what shall it be…" Neuronist tapped one finger on her own cheek as she thought it over. "I know! Your name will be 'Myne'. Now say it for me." Neuronist said with glee.

"Make me." Yuri challenged as she stared at Neuronist defiantly, her jaw locked tight and her eyes hard and unblinking.

"I'll be happy to!" Neuronist chirped as she danced over to a small pear shaped object and began to twist a cap on one end of it. "Want to guess where this goes?" She asked playfully, and a slight widening of Yuri's eyes as it was held up, told Neuronist that the brave captive had just felt the first twinge of fear that would fill years of her existence henceforth.


	152. Crossing a Line

God Rising: The Cult of Ainz

Written by: AtheistBasementDragon

Edited by: The Usual Gang of Drunken Perverted Idiots

Chapter 152: Crossing a Line

 **AN: Well somebody donated to charity so... here you are, chapter 152 delivered early. OK so 'now' I'll hold off on chapter 153 until it reaches 2900. :) Anyway, as we come down to the final stages you'll get some additional perspectives, a closer look at the Agante, there's a lot to pack in to the last 48 chapters and... yes it may be 'slightly' over the 200 mark, but not by a lot, I've cut out a lot of the material that would have taken this out to 300 chapters. I may, near the end just to draw things out so I don't have to post the last chapter, do some of those materials as one shots and shorts just to build on the world a bit before the end, but we'll see how that goes. Today I'm doing Chapter 5 of 'Scales of Trust' but I'm still a bit sick so it is slow going. Thank you all for reading for so long, every review has made my day, you're an amazing community and don't you forget it! :)**

 **OH, obligatory plugs: Join my discord for early looks at both Overlord and original work, or help turn me into a full time writer through my patr3-on at slash tellingstories.**

 _...Golden Fortress...South of Wheaton..._

They had assembled one hour south of the fortress, but it took three hours for the army to be completely reassembled into their companies and battalions. Neia watched the glorious sight from atop her undead horse. "Do you think anyone stayed behind?" She asked quietly, then looked to her left in surprise, Skana wasn't there. "Oh, right." Neia whispered to herself and bit her tongue, anger with herself was rising in her breast. "How the hell could I say that to my wife? What the fuck was I thinking?" She berated herself as she watched the ranks form up.

Inta rode up to her and eased his horse to stand beside hers. "General Baraja." He said formally and inclined his head to her.

Neia looked over to him, her eyes suddenly gentle and somewhat downcast to go with her sympathetic tone. "Vice Commander Inta, or... should I say 'General Inta' now? I heard about Gustav's passing, I'm sorry you bore that loss, he was a good man, and died like a hero. I will remember him well."

"Hardly 'General' when you have only a few hundred survivors, I'll happily stay on as one of your Vice Commanders, let Gustav keep the title instead. And by the way, thank you for your sympathy, he was a good friend. You knew him pretty well, before all this, I mean." He said in passing, looking away for a moment as he thought of his time with the paladin.

"I did, he was the only paladin to speak up for me, the only one to acknowledge my contributions, the only one out of all my so-called comrades to give a damn if I lived or died. He was a superior, but he was also a friend. If he'd lived through the war, I'd have begged father on my knees to show him some leniency for his part in what Remedios eventually did." Neia's fingers tensed for a moment and she rubbed her face on her sleeve, wiping away tears before they could form.

"He was the first human friend I ever had, he'll be dearly missed in the years to come. But before then there is one more thing that must be done." Inta said, his voice going from mournful to hard as steel.

"He must be avenged." Neia guessed with a voice that matched that of Inta's own.

"Yes, there's a blood price to be paid." Inta said, baring his vampire fangs with his red eyes flashing bright in the light of day.

"Then let's exact it together." Neia said and stuck out her arm, Inta grasped her forearm as she grabbed his in turn, he squeezed, tight, and to his surprise, the child of the unliving did not even flinch from his vampire strength, he felt the pressure of her own grip coming down on his own, and watched as the darkness began to fill her eyes.

"With pride, may I ask for the right of the first charge, assuming they don't surrender?" Inta asked as their mutual grip broke.

"You've earned it." Neia said sharply, "It's yours."

"Thank you, General." Inta said sincerely as Lakyus, CZ, and finally, far later than she should have taken position, Skana.

The march to the Golden Fortress was loud, units called out cadence proudly, filled with confidence and a bounce in their step.

"War! War! It's what we come for!

Blood! Blood! We want some more!

Gore! Gore! In buckets by the score!

An all we want is more, more, more!"

They talked themselves up with such overwhelming spirit that the fortress knew they were coming by the thunder in the air that was the voice of a single living thing, the Army of the Sorcerer King's most fanatical follower.

Ulial had always counted himself a brave man, but it was easy to be brave behind stone walls. Or so he'd often said to the new recruits, but when the thunder of thousands of voices and stamping, marching feet hit his position atop the wall, his doubts about that expression began to grow. Gradually the advancing army came into view, he saw the black and red banner of Black Justice, the banner of Neia Baraja, and he narrowly kept from pissing himself. His comrades were frozen in shock. "What is she doing here?!" He shouted in a voice that was more of a 'squeak'. He turned his back on the advance and back into the fortress, "We have an attack! Battle positions! Battle positions! It's the herald! The demon! Get to your positions!" He shrieked and it snapped the others out of their stupor. Bells rang to alarm the entire facility, and the peaceful stillness was broken utterly.

Armor clattered as thousands upon thousands of soldiers ran around like mad men. Ulial looked down and watched them scurry around as the shouting cadence of bloodthirsty undead worshipers drew closer and louder. As Ulial watched the way his own were running, he remembered his childhood, kicking over an anthill and watching the way the little things ran like mad. He'd thought it was funny at the time. He felt no urge to laugh now, color ran away from his face and those whose faces he could see were etched with the same terror he felt. He thought of the stories that had been spread among them, "Neia Baraja bathes in the blood of the worshippers of the six! She dips her bread in a broth of human blood over dinner! She forces parents to slay their children or see them tortured!" The stories spread around grew worse and worse with every telling, along with exhortations to be brave to protect the Theocracy from the terror that came with her. Ulial's body trembled against his will, but well drilled, he took out his bow and, like his comrades that were lining the walls, prepared for action.

The gate was closing and barriers were being put up against it to keep it from being battered down easily. He was breathing hard and fast, his chest rose and fell as his heart all but leapt into his throat. His blue eyes were clouded with fear, he was sure others were feeling the same as he.

The banner of nightmare flapped in the wind with horrifying nobility, he turned and looked at the banners of the Slane Theocracy, they didn't flap at all, they lay limp along the poles on which they sat, as if already bowing in submission to the herald of the dark new god that was rising in the north, west, and east. "You've got to be kidding me." Ulial said as he rested a hand on the crenelations of his fortress.

"What?" A soldier next to him asked, barely looking at him as he watched the advancing army march in lockstep.

"They've enchanted their goddamn banners to fly even when there's no wind!" Ulial said and grabbed his own bushy brown beard and pulled on it as if to waken himself from a terrible dream.

"Such a use of magic for something so... minor..." The soldier next to him said in a hushed and disbelieving voice.

They watched the long line snake its way up the road until it was within range of the fortress. Only then did a white banner come up.

When Neia had the banner raised, she was about to spur her horse forward, a hand clapped hard on her shoulder, she looked to her right, Skana's hand gripped her tightly. "No."

Neia looked at the hand, then at her wife and Vice Commander. "What do you mean, 'no'?" She asked in a quiet voice. Her voice had a low and grim reverberation to it, and when Skana met the eyes of her wife, she saw an endless empty shadow in place of the sparkle that she'd seen not so long before.

"We wait until they send a delegation, and you do not go alone." Skana retorted angrily. "I will not lose you. I can't lose you." As she said that, she felt her eye mist over, and the shadow began to fade from Neia's eyes, a tender smile formed and she laid her free hand gently on the one Skana used to grip her shoulder.

"You will never lose me." She gave her wife a crooked, winsome smile, "As long as you want to be where I am, I want you with me, even if I'm dumb enough to say something I shouldn't."

The fortress gate ahead of them opened up part of the way and two people rode out. Neia refocused her attention on them and waited patiently until they reached the halfway point between the army and the fortress. [Voice of God] [Echo of the Underworld] [Fear of Death] [Wrath of God] Neia activated her evangelical arts as they halted, then she whispered to her companions, "Come on, let's go pick a fight."

Without waiting for their confirmation, she spurred her horse into a gentle trot, along with her companions and rode to within a few feet of her Theocracy counterparts.

"What do you want?" The commander of the fortress asked coldly. He was an older man, balding and wrinkled, with a white beard seemingly there to compensate for its loss up top. He had a thin, wiry frame that seemed to retain some of his once youthful vigor. The soldier in Neia approved, but with some regret.

Neia closed her eyes briefly, then opened them to let him see the infinite dark. Her voice reverberated violently with every word. "I want your walls, your buildings, and the life of every man and woman here, then I want to destroy Wheaten, then Feron, then C'teon, and Kami Miyako. I want to salt your fields so that they never bring forth life again, to see your women and children flee my advance as your soldiers sing to me their death screams while I crush their bodies under the hooves of my undead horses. I want to destroy your temples and cast down your failed gods, and I want to sever the heads of your cardinals and gift them to my god as a tribute to his greatness. That... is what I want... Commander of the Golden Fortress. But I will settle for your unconditional surrender."

The power of her voice ran through their veins as if it was their own blood, the commander could neither move nor speak as he saw the nightmare she painted, pass before his eyes.

"You heard from my 'herald' didn't you, the inquisitor who survived Yanana's destruction?" She asked with horrific calmness.

All he could do was nod.

Neia went on, keeping the midnight dark eyes on the enemy commander as she did so. "Then you know my rule, your fortress has one hour to surrender, if it does not, I will exterminate it to the last man and erase it from existence." Her tone of voice did not shift even in the slightest as she spoke, and her words carried up to the top of the fortress, as well as to those within the walls. "Those who surrender now will be spared, they need only have their faces in the dirt. Anyone still standing is a combatant, and I will kill them."

Skana spoke up with a sudden urgency in her voice, her eyes darted beside her to her wife as her tone spiked "Anyone who wishes to surrender after... have them on their knees at the north wall. They'll be spared."

Neia tensed, but did not dispute the matter.

The little assembly was quiet, and the Commander reached up to the back of his head and scratched, uncomfortably, while his compatriot, seemingly without thinking, looked up over his shoulder at the walls behind him.

Archers atop the wall suddenly drew and loosed in one practiced motion, sending numerous arrows directly against the Black Paladin. Neia saw it coming the instant the men atop the wall began to move, and swiftly knocked her wife off of her horse with a sudden shove. Skana fell to the ground, and the undead mount moved in front of her. Neia however, did not attempt to dodge, she opened her arms out from her body as wide as they could be, then arched her back and looked to the sky as if offering to embrace the rain of death that came toward her.

 _...Crossroads..._

Without the means to compel the city's surrender, the fighting went on block by arduous block, leaving Enri making a slow, terrible trot beside her bodyguard and chief advisor as her army captured or destroyed one building at a time. "General Enri, when they fortify a building, should we strive to take it or...?" One of her soldiers asked, but did not complete the question.

Enri looked over the soldier and answered abruptly, "Burn it, destroy it, do what needs to be done, but clear it out of the way. Offer one chance to surrender, then eliminate it if they don't accept. I will not spend weeks on this city, we will have it by dawn." She kept her eyes clear and hard, but inside, she felt saddened by the absurdity of the losses that were being taken. Her elite squad of goblins was an unstoppable protection, and with Lupusregina at her side, it was easy to be confident. A dragon flew over head, its breath came down and froze an entire building with archers on the roof. They were moving back and forth in a zig-zag pattern just before the army, identifying or eliminating hazards. It made the work relatively quick.

A few hours later, captives began to pour in, her lines of march halted as dribs and drabs of small groups knelt in the road or walked over and simply threw down their swords in frustration, or kowtowed in terror. The handful of mages and the surviving scriptures presented the clearest obstacles, but one by one those too fell before vastly superior numbers and in some cases, decidedly superior quality.

Leywan was distraught in the extreme, the dragons, the goblins, the gods-be-damned vampires! Even though he had only a moderate build, he was one of the elites of the Windflower scripture, capable of taking on most of humanity's enemies. Or so he thought. He looked through clear green eyes and shook with a rare moment of fear as another squad came on against his improvised intersectional barrier. He looked to his left and right, his group of scripture members and common soldiers was down to three elites and twelve common militia. In front of his barrier lay dozens and dozens of dead, yet still Enri's armies came on.

He gripped his enchanted spear as a rank of goblins advanced. His breathing became heavy, "Damn it! This isn't supposed to be the way things are! If humanity really is chosen by the gods... why are things turning out like this?!" He hissed out to his companions. 'Gods who stand above and watch over humanity, give me the strength to endure the trials you have given me in this, the hour of your servant's sinful doubts…' He thought the prayer and forced himself to relax.

Before they could answer, around the corner behind the goblins came three riders, a goblin, a red haired woman in a maid's outfit of all things, and a pretty blonde woman in white armor.

Leywan looked at his companions, "It's her. This is our chance, she has only a squad and that funny pair with her, we can still turn this around." He said with a smile, 'The gods are finally giving us their blessing!' He thought happily, the tension gone, he relaxed, as did the rest, he looked around and pantomimed going over the wall. There were looks of acknowledgement, he watched, he waited, and then as they drew near, he gave the signal, he planted his hand on the barrier and leaped over. He charged straight for Enri with his spear level, his eyes wide with determination. 'The gods deliver you into my hands, servant of evil, nothing can save you now...' He thought, and a tranquil kind of peace settled over him that was so profound that he did not even utter a battlecry.

His comrades, and the gods themselves, were with him, and all would work out... or so he was convinced it would be, which was why he was so very confused when his head started rolling over the pavement. As his head rolled, he saw that the red headed maid's hand had gone out in a chopping motion. His body was falling and his eyes beheld the complete massacre of the common soldiers and his fellow scripture members. He wanted to speak, but while his lips could move, he could not say words aloud.

'How... How could this happen?' Was all he managed to think, before his eyes closed forever, making the sight of General Enri Emmot-Bareare and her party moving on without even breaking their stride, the last thing he ever saw.

"Good job, Lupu." Enri said with a smile as the body toppled over and the head went rolling past her.

"Thanks." Lupusregina said with a wide mouthed grin as she brought her hand up and licked the blood clean.

"He was a weird one, didn't make a sound, and he didn't seem to care what happened to himself." Enri said with idle curiosity as the last scripture member and the last militia soldier fell.

Lupusregina shrugged indifferently, "Just desperate I guess, resigned to his own death. At least he was brave, I'll give him that, a damn slight braver than that Barbro was when I tortured him to death. That coward pissed himself in the first minute and didn't even have the guts to fight back, just kept trying to surrender, it was pathetic."

Enri brushed off the casual reference to her former prince's fate, she knew quite well that in the past, such a thing would have made her turn green or shudder at the thought, but now she was an angel of war carved from stone. It meant nothing to her.

"How much longer before the entire city falls to us, master Sun?" Enri asked of the goblin to her right hand.

"It will fall by dawn, though we could simply destroy the rest of it by sunset if that is your will. However, that would exterminate the rest of the population." The goblin strategist stroked his beard and looked at Enri thoughtfully.

She went quiet for a moment as if contemplating it in seriousness. "No, these are to be the Sorcerer King's people too, they're resisting out of fear born of lies, you've seen the posters, we've heard from other captives, we know they're lying, and I won't make a word of it true. The belief in what horrors we'll inflict is almost certainly why that bureaucrat's 'surrender' was so ineffective. If I torch the entire city I'll confirm everything they say. I won't do that." Enri said with absolute conviction in every fiber of her being.

"Then may I suggest we establish ourselves somewhere and allow the rest of the soldiers to do their work?" He said reasonably.

"Somewhere with alcohol." Lupu said with a great deal of enthusiastic nodding.

"There's a bar right there, I sort of doubt the owner is at home." Enri said, pointing to a sign.

"That will serve our purposes for command and for rest." Sun agreed as he looked for something better among the many nearby buildings, and did not find it.

"I suppose, if we must, and of course... I will stay up all night guarding the ah, entrance, I must stay ready to face all threats, and limber, in case my General demands my services 'again'." Lupus winked at Enri, who blushed a deep cherry red while Sun laughed at them both.

"I have 'never' demanded your services Lupu! Don't say that in front of my goblin friends, do you know how long it took to dispel the 'last' rumor that started after one of your little jokes!" She covered her face with both hands to hide the look of horror on her face.

"Fear not, General Enri, your secret affair with the Lady Lupusregina will remain my secret. I will not tell your husband. Though you really should not harass those under your command in such a way..."

"Damn it, Lupuuuuuu!" Enri shouted as they went through the street entrance, oblivious to the cries of the dying as the city fell into their hands, one street, one building, one forever ended life at a time.


	153. A Matter of Perspective

God Rising: The Cult of Ainz

Written by: AtheistBasementDragon

Edited by: The Usual Gang of Drunken Perverted Idiots

Chapter 153: A Matter of Perspective

 **AN: Is this a bit of filler? Well maybe, honestly I CUT like a hundred chapters worth of material that show many different perspectives, other characters, and so on, I'll still have some 'perspective' chapters as we move along to show reactions to the war at large, but they won't become stories unto themselves the way Crossroads did. I've got a lot left to write and revise, but just to answer two questions:**

 **Q1. Will I write similar stories?**

 **A. Yes! Scales of Trust is my own original Isekei series, I'm releasing chapter 5 today on my Patr30n site. You don't 'have' to subscribe to read it though. I also release it for free on my discord. I only ask those who can spare a dollar (or more), to support my effort to become a full time writer. I'm not greedy, and I've been left in 'want' before, so I know what it is to just want to read something as an escape. I won't deprive people of that over something as petty as money... but if you can contribute, well then I'll write for you all till I die of old age in 200 years. ;) I will also be writing other stories, pitch concepts directly to readers and see what works and try out new things.**

 **Q2. Will you write more Overlord fanfiction after this?**

 **A. Not going to lie, I might not. I believe that after this is done, I'll have written all I need to for Overlord, yes I have a sequel outline in the classic 'heroes journey' model, and some other side story notes. And yes I'd still take commissions for charity, but I doubt this will be my focus. Of course when Volume 14 comes out I may create a whole new Author Universe to split from that, we'll see. But if I do that, it'd be under a whole new FFN account just to avoid confusion with the GRAU. (Also, kinda cheated to get to 2900 but... I'm not mad. :D Thought I'd buy myself a few days with that. I was wrong, clearly.)**

 _...Argland Council State..._

"Go to hell, you damn monsters!" The man shouted with the noose around his neck, right as the chair was kicked out from under him. The others didn't have the same spirit, they were either broken to silence or broken down crying. It didn't matter, they were all just as dead. Another five were being led up to the scaffold when the dragon lords stopped paying attention.

"How many does that make now?" The Worm Dragon Lord asked with some exasperation.

The Dragon Lords were attending this particular event in their human forms, which made it easy for them to sit on a high dais overlooking the great city square where the hangings took place. Large crowds had been watching at first, but after seeing the five hundredth man hang, people had generally lost interest and the observing crowds were now much, much smaller.

"I don't know, I've lost count, and to be perfectly honest I don't care." The Diamond Dragon Lord replied, "It doesn't matter, what matters is how our people see this."

The Obsidian Dragon Lord let out a deep sigh, "I'm inclined to agree, the Sorcerer King got us to make himself into the defender of all nonhumans, and thanks to the reopening of trade, goods are now flowing into our marketplace, the merchants keep their prices low thanks to the undead labor, and our own merchants are demanding we open up one of their religion's temples here so they can start leasing it as well."

The Platinum Dragon Lord fidgeted uncomfortably, his 'Sir Armoreth' avatar shifting in his seat as another five humans were hanged in the square down below, unnoticed by himself or any of his compatriots. "How many of ours do you think have converted?" He asked thoughtfully.

"Hard to say, we'd need a temple to open and start seeing how popular it is, but our merchants carry word of the economic reforms they've been seeing, the emphasis on education, on fair lending laws that kept people from borrowing more than they could pay back, on the support for the healing arts, two of our merchants were healed at no cost to themselves when they and their escorts were injured during a monster attack on the way through Re-Estize. They've railed against the high costs of doing so here ever since. One has even started demanding that the merchants guilds either start covering the cost as a risk of doing business or he's leaving the country." The Worm Dragon Lord reported unhappily. "He hasn't converted as far as I know but... well, he's the brother of our finance minister and his sister is married to the guildmaster for our entire northern region, he's making waves."

The Diamond Dragon Lord broke the tension by pulling out a set of toy soldiers and setting them on the table between them all. "Not all change is bad, you know. The flourishing trade is enriching our people. OK, yes, he's outmaneuvered us politically. But every time he touches something, the Sorcerer King has improved it, is there one of us who doesn't love this game?" He asked as he started distributing the pieces so they could start playing.

The way they reached eagerly for the pieces gave him all the answer he needed, and that might have been it for conversation, save for the sudden arrival of an orc messenger. "My Lords," the messenger knelt and reached into the bag at his side, he drew out a letter and offered it up with his head bowed, "a message from the Sorcerer King has arrived."

The usual niceties did not apply in that instant as the Blue Sky Dragon Lord tore the document out of the messenger's hands and ripped the document open. He read it for a moment. His peers stared at him expectant eyes.

"A conference." He said abruptly as he lowered the letter and placed it on the table, sliding it over to the Obsidian Dragon Lord.

"A conference?" Several voices asked in a chorus.

"Yes, according to the Sorcerer King, the war is all but over, and we are invited to observe and to participate in a limited capacity as the post war future is settled upon. It will take place in two weeks time, and what is more, he will be drawing his major commands together to discuss the strategy for the final engagement." The Blue Sky Dragon Lord could scarcely believe his own words, only the expressionlessness of his armor avatar kept the others from seeing his dumbfounded face.

"Where will it be? In his home?" The Worm Dragon Lord asked curiously.

"No, a city in the east of the Draconic Kingdom, or what 'was' the Draconic Kingdom, a place called "Forton" it was one of the places that was overrun by the Beastmen some years ago." The Obsidian Dragon Lord said casually as he slid the letter over to the Worm Dragon Lord.

"We're going, I assume?" The Platinum Dragon Lord added without a second thought. A chorus of 'Aye!' Greeted him, and dropped off just in time for him to hear the sound of a human's plea for his life get cut off as a rope snapped taut.

 _...Kami Miyako..._

Raymond sat in his office, severely depressed. "So many..." He whispered as he looked at the recent casualty lists. It was early morning, birds sang outside his window, in the past that had been one of the pleasures of his day, now it felt like every bird sang a death song. He looked away from the cursed document and out the window behind him. He stood, folded his hands behind the small of his back and looked out. He saw his neighbors leave their homes one by one, but they were moving with less vigor than before.

He was so focused on his own thoughts he barely registered when Nua walked in without knocking. As if she read his thoughts she said, "Hunger will do that to you." Her voice was not all that sympathetic, he didn't expect it to be.

"Still thinking about what happened?" She asked as she set a tray down on his desk. He didn't need to look to know what was there, two biscuits, a bit of gravy, some tea, and a glass of wine he pretended to not know she'd watered down.

He gave a barely perceptible nod. "I don't expect you to care, Nua. Why would any elf care for the lives of twenty thousand Theocracy soldiers. But... whatever they were, they were still my people, I had a responsibility to them, and I failed." His voice went hushed as he spoke, he didn't look over at her.

"You say that like there was a chance of success, you saw the same person I did. I thought my hate for your kind ran deeper than the sea, but hers?" Nua shuddered, "She takes rage to a whole other world. But you can't get hung up on it anyway. A lot of people who are still living, elf and human alike, are counting on you." Nua cracked a little smile as she touched his shoulder.

"Aalon is here to see you by the way, the investigation into the murder of Hodge has officially ended and the one he framed has been convicted and will hang today." Nua smiled happily at the extermination of the house of her former owner. Her toes curled in her shoes and her entire body shivered with joy.

"Who did he choose?" Raymond asked in idle curiosity, "and why would he stop by here over that?"

"The last living son of that madam you killed what, about two months ago or so... his brother was found beaten to death in an alley, so Aalon figured since they both fell in with the wrong crowd, it would be easy to set Hodge's death up as a robbery gone wrong. Planting a ring in the right pocket was all it took, well that and a little help from Lady Solution to steal some of the evidence. As to why he's here, he's dropping off the list of slaves and when they're to be auctioned so you can get to buying early. Also, on that note, here." Nua said and took a document out of her pocket and handed it to him.

Raymond took it quickly, glad of these distractions from his current thoughts, "What is this?" He asked as he looked at the untitled document with its undefined list of names.

"That is from Enlaith, slave or not, she's an effective operative, that list is of people she's identified as expressing an antiwar sentiment. 'Our' Thousand Mile Astrologer has been provided a copy, and has gathered them at her mother's home for a meeting. Resistance to Dominic is starting to grow."

"That is something at least, but if he catches them..." Raymond said, he didn't finish that sentence, he didn't need to.

"Then our duplicate will provide cover for them to escape the Agante, and take the fall instead, don't worry, Raymond. Things are always darkest before the dawn." Nua said in a rare tender voice, and she reached out and clasped his hand, "You'll get through this, I have faith in you." She said softly, and then let go and asked professionally, "Shall I send Aalon up, or would you like to eat first?"

"I'm famished so, I'll eat, see him to the dining area and eat with him if you like, I wouldn't want to intrude, and then send him up. I'll be ready before he is." Raymond replied and forced a smile before he sat himself at his desk.

"Alright..." Nua said gently and with a polite inclining of her head, she turned and left the room. Aalon was waiting in the parlor downstairs still, and when he saw her, she could never have missed the lighting up of his eyes, they shone when they looked at her, the way they had over a century ago when she could let herself get lost in his look and she could forget that he was the master of the house, and she could never be other than a slave, no matter what they wanted. She almost tripped as she got lost in the thought, and that little clumsy instant was enough to send him shooting to his feet and to reach out to catch her if she fell.

She caught herself and held up a hand, "No." She said firmly, stopping him in midstep. "I don't need you, I'm fine." His face fell, but he nodded quietly.

"Come with me, we'll eat together and then you can go see Raymond, he likes to... eat alone most of the time, unless he's with myself or one of the children." She said over her shoulder, he didn't say anything to acknowledge her guidance, he just followed quietly a step behind her until she gestured to an expensive table.

"Please, sit." She said, it was not a request, and he did comply. Aalon or 'Dolorem' was quiet at his seat until she returned with a tray of food for them both.

"Have you forgotten, I don't need food, I can still eat it but... it is blood that does me good." He said calmly.

"Here then." She said sharply, and as soon as she'd set the tray down, she stuck out her wrist.

"You offer me your blood? But..." he looked at her with not just surprise and affection, but genuine concern, his eyes sought hers and she held her arm out still, stiff and resolute.

"Yes. Understand Aalon, I can never, ever forgive you. But... even if I can't, I know what you've been doing and as an ally on the same side I can... I can show some trust. That is all this is." She spoke hurriedly as if fearing the power of speech would flee from her, but her arm did not waver.

As if to accept her offer of trust, he gently cradled her upturned wrist in one hand, and placed his other hand beneath her elbow, bracing her, then after a final pause to give her a chance to withdraw, his fangs sank into the vein of her forearm. "Ahhh..." She winced as if she were wiping an alcohol soaked cloth over a wound, she bit her lip against the pain and felt her body growing slightly weaker as he drained her of some of her blood. It lasted for only a minute, perhaps two, and then it was done.

His fangs withdrew and he released her arm. She put her hand over the wound, but it wasn't necessary, the pain was already fading into memory.

"Thank you." He said sincerely. She didn't respond, she only moved to her seat opposite himself and let the soundlessness of the room rule them for a time.

"Things are not looking good for the Theocracy." He said as he tried to put cheer into his voice.

"No, but it's worse than Dominic believes, or even Raymond." She replied, there was little happiness there, much to his surprise.

"How do you know?" He asked as he held his cup out and she reached for the tea.

"Because I met the demon destroyer you see painted on the walls and pictures and whatnot. Raymond took me to attend a meeting with her." Nua shuddered.

"And?" He asked curiously as he took a sip from the teacup.

"You've heard that the undead hate the living?" She asked rhetorically as she drank some herself.

"I have." he answered, raising an eyebrow dubiously. "What of it?"

"She's like that, only for the Theocracy, she talked about exterminating tens of thousands as if she were describing the weather. If it comes down to it, you might have to protect the people you're conquering, from your own side. Speaking of conquering, are your...'mountain elves' ready to go?" She asked, eager to turn the subject away from the recent encounter.

"They are. And the tunnel is almost finished, I bought some of the old mines on the other side too, just to make it easy, and the Sorcerer King sent me some dwarves and quagoa to help out. Between the tunnel doctors and the quagoa diggers, we'll be ready to take Feron in a few days, then that'll be the end for the Theocracy's iron supplies. There is... one other thing." He said, dropping the illusion to reveal the red eyes of a vampire.

"What?" She asked, her muscles tensed and her shoulders tightened, she instinctively felt a welling fear in her breast causing her heart to beat faster.

"I tracked down the Trisk family in Wheaton, planted some evidence and paid for a few rumors, they've 'disappeared' and I bought the estate where you used to... to live." Aalon felt his voice almost disappear as her face went pale.

She shook her head, bouncing her blond hair behind her, "Don't, please don't say it, I don't want to... talk about those times..."

Aalon snatched her hand from across the table and held it tight, "You deserve to know. I had the area dug up, I... I found his body."

She yanked her hand away and covered her mouth as she gasped, she leaned back in horror.

"Our... little boy, you found him, you found him... why, how...?" She asked as tears poured down her cheeks like waterfalls. "Wasn't it enough that I had to mourn him the first time, why are you telling me this now?"

"Because, I wanted you to know that he'll get a proper burial, I'm going to reacquire my old family estate, I'll inter him there, in the place where his parents loved one another. That's how it should be. I wanted... I mean I didn't want to say something to hurt you but... after you're finally free, when all of this is truly over, I wanted you to be able to go and visit him properly. It isn't much, even a luxurious tomb is still a tomb. But it is... something. I can never make up for what I did to you, what you went through! But I can begin to! I can begin to every day until I die!" He exclaimed loudly enough that several heads poked into the room, the pair went quiet, unable to speak or look at one another until they were well and truly alone again.

Nua was shaking and could not stop herself, she tried to wipe her tears away with her sleeves, but they were too many, "I understand, and I should thank you, I know you did the right thing... this time. But, it's still a bit much, excuse me." She stood and rushed out of the room, down the stairs, to the safety of her sleeping space in the dark, where she lay wailing as she mourned the loss a second time.

Aalon sat alone in the room, barely touching his food or his tea, until Lady Solution came and called for him when Raymond was ready.

 _...Nazarick..._

Berenice sat in her room and looked around. "I wonder how long I've been here now? A month, two months? It has to be a few weeks at least." She asked herself as she picked up another book and started to read. "At least it is comfortable, overwhelmingly so." She commented as she lay back down. The meals brought to her had been sumptuous and filling, the drinks of otherworldly quality, the temperature was always just right, the bath never ran out of hot water and the mysterious bubbly liquid was a guilty pleasure, much like the carpet that she'd developed a deep love for as she scrunched her wrinkled but well-cared for toes into the fabric whenever she walked barefoot around the room for one reason or another.

She thought back to her first moment in the tomb, when the nature of things had been explained to her. With nothing else to do, she'd knelt before the head of state that was the Sorcerer King.

"Welcome to my home. You are a fortunate one, you will be my guest here until the end of the war. You will be treated with the honors given to a head of state, until such time as what to do with you must be decided." Ainz had said in an impossibly noble voice.

Grim looks from others in the room told her what fate they favored for her. All of them were the sort her nation would exterminate as a matter of course, so she felt at ease with the understanding of bloodlust in return, yet the knowledge that she was not to die, made her bold enough to speak. "I... will thank you for hosting me." She said as formally as she could, "Under the circumstances, I could be much worse off."

That had actually made some around her laugh, and the Sorcerer King had an air of amusement about him at her words.

"Indeed you could be, for now, you will be given quarters, and I will have books, meals, and drinks delivered to you by one of my maids. Please follow Entoma, she will be responsible for your care for so long as you remain here." He said, and she stood, bowed, and turned around to see a young girl with purple hair and a warm smile in a long, flowing maid outfit standing behind her and waving a hand cheerfully beneath the sleeve.

"How long ago was that... and how has the war been going since?" She wondered aloud again, "And when the hell did I start talking to myself?! Gods above, I need to get out for a bit or I'll go stir crazy." She said to the four walls.

She did some more reading, the book was fascinating at least, this one a fiction about a young girl thrust into a terrible war but gifted with overwhelming power, trying to survive as a god sought to punish her for failing to properly worship or revere him. She lost herself in its wonderful pages before the door opened and she saw Entoma standing there holding a tray.

"Entoma, hello again." Berenice said politely, the maid seemed to like that Berenice made an effort to address her by name, and had repeatedly praised her skills as a maid in the thoroughness of her services. It hadn't been false praise either, it was obvious that the maids of Nazarick were at the peak of their profession.

"Berenice, I've brought you a meal, this one is lobster with butter, a small potato soup, and a gold coated scoop of chocolate ice cream for dessert." Entoma said politely as she carried the tray over to a table and laid the meal out for her.

"Thank you very much, Entoma, but... may I ask a favor?" Berenice asked hesitantly.

"You can always ask, but I can't promise anything." The maid replied in her usual winsome voice.

"I'd... like to go out for a bit, I realize I'm a prisoner and all, but people are... how do I put this...? Ah, we need to converse and socialize with others to remain of sound mind. I'm afraid I'm going a little crazy being all by myself all the time." Berenice asked the question with her eyes downcast, "I don't want to sound ungrateful for my rescue, truly I do not! I realize that as a prisoner I could be far worse treated. But..." She held her hands out with longing, "It gets lonely being like this."

Entoma laughed, she actually covered her mouth with her hand within the sleeve of her outfit and tittered. "Cardinal Berenice, you are not 'that' kind of prisoner. If you want to go out, you can, I just need to let Lord Ainz know and I can take you somewhere, as long as it is within reason. All you'll need is a disguise so you're not recognized as a Cardinal. Or you can tour other places within Nazarick, as long as you don't try to go places that are off limits to others due to safety or military reasons, it'll be alright."

Berenice's mouth fell open. "I could have gone out at any time?" She slapped her hand over her face. "Serves me right for not asking. Yes, I'd like to go out, and if it isn't too much trouble, could I see... E-Rantel?"

"I'll let His Majesty know immediately, enjoy your meal for now. I'll have everything ready to go soon." Entoma said sweetly and exited the room.

"Thank you, Entoma. I'm grateful." Berenice replied as she went to sit down and tried a bite of the lobster. "How... how can anything taste this good?! What have I been eating my whole life?!" She wondered aloud for what felt like the thousandth time, she tore into it like she had every meal in Nazarick...as if she'd just discovered the sense of taste for the first time.


	154. Family Reunion

God Rising: The Cult of Ainz

Written by: AtheistBasementDragon

Edited by: The Usual Gang of Drunken Perverted Idiots

Chapter 154: Family Reunion

...Outskirts of Crescent Lake...

The Captain of the Black Scripture looked at Zesshi with deep regret in his eyes. "We're with you, but before we do anything else, we need to bury our comrades. I'm not leaving them here to be eaten by animals, they deserved better than that, even the ones on the wrong side." His tone was bitter, and Zesshi did not begrudge him that.

"Agreed, but... who sided against me?" She asked reluctantly, only to be surprised when all three of the survivors shook their heads. "No. We're never going to tell you that."

"Why not?" Zesshi asked, her eyes widening with surprise.

"Because you should remember them all the same way, as your comrades. Bury them, remember them the way you should, I don't want this one bad choice to color your memories of them. Remember them all well, that is how it should be." He said solemnly as he put away his weapon.

Zesshi let that sink in for a moment as she traded looks with her aides, "Alright, we'll do it your way, we'll bury them and go into the city at night. I'll ask the Supreme Being for aid, there can't be too many down there, all we have to do is find them. Once we've gotten them out, I'll ask for his help drawing my father out, he's far away at Fortress Alaf, but I get the feeling he'll come right back here if he knows where I am."

"Alright." The Captain said calmly, "Let's go do this then." His voice was barely more than a whisper as the six of them returned to where the fallen lay. It had obviously been a brutal fight. Wounds were numerous and burns on flesh and vegetation were everywhere. The landscape was blasted straight to hell, shards of ice and rock had pierced trees and torn beasts to shreds, and scattered throughout this miniature hellscape were the bodies of elite Black Scripture members.

One by one the six people still standing, dug graves. They didn't rush the process, nor did they speak as it was done, with their vastly superior strength and stamina, it was an easy thing to do physically, but it was a mentally grim task. When the last grave was dug, Zesshi lowered her face to the empty hole and said, "Bury them with their equipment and everything for now, it will have to be retrieved, but don't leave them as naked, dishonored corpses, they can be properly wrapped and reburied later, with due honors. But this will have to suffice for the present."

It was an unasked question when she answered it, and the others complied, gently the bodies of their brethren were laid to rest, and then the dirt was piled back on top of them. They stood before the graves and bowed their heads in silence, and as they did so, Thirg and Tefl traded a look, and stepped away from the others, they tore some of the larger rocks that had been embedded into trees, out of the places they'd lodged themselves and brought them over to where the graves lay. One by one they put heavy rocks down to both mark and protect those spots.

"There, now they will lie at ease until they can be retrieved." Thirg said with a respectful voice. Time Turbulence looked over at him in surprise.

"Why would you do that?" He asked.

"They were great warriors, whatever else they were. Enemies or not, even an enemy can be respected. Die for the right side, die for the wrong side... you're dead either way, and the ones who die for the wrong side, can at least be remembered for having died bravely." He grunted and shrugged after he answered and then looked up to the sky, "How long before we move?" He asked, shifting the subject away from the dead and onto the living.

Zesshi thought it over, "We need to get into the palace, but we also need to find the way down to the space below. That won't be as hard as it sounds, we'll just need to find someone important in the city, and I can all but guarantee my bastard father has one of their family members hostage down there. They'll show us the way, whether they want to or not. So... give it a few hours more, then we move."

"Any special considerations?" Divine Chant asked curiously, "We don't need to like… cut off our ears or anything do we, I like my ears, they're pretty and I want to keep them as they are." She said in her songbird like voice as she touched her ears.

Zesshi thought that over for a moment. "Will you all trust me?" She asked gravely, "I mean really, because this isn't going to be pleasant for you, I promise."

They looked at her blankly, then at each other, "Yes." The Captain said, speaking for them all.

"Then hold still." Zesshi said and took up her scythe, she brought the tip of it to the back of the Captain's left ear, then as he braced himself, she gave a very dark laugh, lifted her scythe up away from his ear and slapped the butt of it down against the ground again. "You didn't think I was serious, did you?" She asked when he looked at her in blank confusion and touched his ears as if to be sure that they were still there.

She looked at him with a poker face, "Don't be absurd. As long as your hoods are up it shouldn't be a problem, I think the city is fairly depleted anyway. I doubt we'll see any guards, and none of them will care about a handful of people just minding their own business anyway." Zesshi said indifferently, and then narrowed her eyes and looked at her three comrades. "Just remember what it felt like to believe you were about to be mutilated, next time you look at someone who shares my heritage."

That brought a round of quiet reflection broken only by the sounds of chirping insects and leaves rustling in the winter breeze. Risking injury was one thing, standing still for mutilation was another. They quietly covered their heads with the hoods of their cloaks.

"The Theocracy does this to thousands of my race every year, my little sister, a girl who in human terms is barely more than a child, went through this, you've seen little elf and half-elf children like this, think long and hard about how unpleasant that moment was for you, stoic champions of humanity. Now imagine little ones standing in chains and waiting their turn for that to be done to them, turn a thought in their direction, and ask what you really want to defend. The one to be mutilated, or the mutilis?"

It was a mild rebuke, but it might as well have been a heavy one. They did not have the wherewithal to argue with her. A few minutes later, they were a group of elves as far as the casual observer was concerned, unusual looking, but nothing otherwise noteworthy.

Night came and the cloaks went on, "It really is beautiful." Zesshi said as they crested the hill again and looked out over the magnificent city, "To think it is ruled over by such an inept monster... well not for much longer." She said with a savage smile as they drew closer to the lake.

When they reached it, finding a dock was easy, the road led right to one. Boats, even at night, were making regular traffic back and forth, so it was trivial to hand over a few coins. The boat was of a small round shape that curved upward, a simple corracle with seats for passengers to sit around, while a small platform split it in two and a pilot or a captain would stand and paddle it in the desired direction.

The moon was bright overhead and the shining light danced over the waters. The lake was still as glass save for the places it was broken by paddle and vessel. The little brown craft, curiously enough, was obviously one solid piece, it had not been 'built' from cut wood. Thirg and Tefl looked smugly self satisfied at the barely restrained looks of awe from their fellow passengers. "Amazing what you can get a tree to grow when you're willing to put the work in to it." Tefl said as she leaned back and relaxed.

"Yes... very impressive." The Captain of the Black Scripture said mutely, his eyes widening as he took in more and more of the seemingly impossible city. The many branches and roots were only the most obvious feature, it was equally clear that canals, creeks, and waterfalls were no less common, the entire city seemed to exist as part of an idyllic natural landscape.

When they finally reached the other side, Zesshi got up, handed the boat captain a few coins, and they disembarked.

The boat rocked only lightly as they moved off, but they hadn't walked far before Thirg looked over at the other members of the Black Scripture, "Quit gawking like tourists. I know, my city makes Kami Miyako look like an unkempt horse barn, but pull your head from your fourth point of contact and try not to be so damned obvious." His words were a hushed correction said through gritted teeth, and the three surviving members had the decency to look a little embarrassed at the mistake.

"Sorry, we're not the Holocaust or Windflower scriptures, we're not used to having to do anything undercover. We go in, we hammer things until they die, we leave." Time Turbulence said with aplomb.

"Uh huh, well just treat this like any normal day and like you're not seeing anything unusual, we're going to one of the civil buildings here where the city's mayor lives, my guess is that he's still running things, or even if not, that his replacement still lives here, so we should have no problem getting who we need." Tefl retorted, "I'd like to keep this covert until we don't have to anymore."

"Alright, alright." Divine Chant said in a flustered voice with her face just a little bit flushed, "You don't have to be that way about it."

Tefl shrugged dismissively and kept walking.

Eventually they found themselves outside of a large wooden building that had grown out of the ground itself, the bark was still intact but had been polished to a shine, the smooth skin of the tree was almost reflective, and would have been, had it not been for the varying hues of green and brown and milky white that made up this unusual plant.

"Wait here, it doesn't take all of us for this." Thirg said and went to the door, he didn't bother with niceties, he simply ripped it open.

"Guess crime isn't much of a problem here, is it?" The Captain of the Black Scripture asked Tefl as he moved to stand next to her.

"It wasn't the last time we were here, and not much changes in this place." She smirked a little, "Except for our vile king, we generally don't have that many issues with each other, partly because there just aren't that many of us, partly because we live for so long, there's no reason to rush to get things when you know you'll be able to get it eventually if you just put a little effort in over time." She explained, as if showing off her race's 'superior' way of life.

"So... what makes the Elf King different?" Divine Chant asked as she touched her left ear as if relieved it were still intact.

Tefl frowned as her brother went inside. "We honestly don't know, nobody ever identified his parents, or family, or where he grew up, we don't really know anything about him, all we know is that hundreds of years ago he killed anybody who wouldn't obey, and set himself up as king, our women have been his dolls ever since, and our men, little better. Some have tried to kill him over the years... poison, magic, ambushes, a knife in the night while he sleeps, but nothing has ever worked... Zesshi is the first real chance we've gotten."

There was the brief sound of a scuffle within the house, a bitter refusal, and a little squeak of fear. "So... what's his name even, I've never met anyone who ever knew it." Time Turbulence asked curiously.

Tefl laughed at the question and waved it away with her hand. "He's only ever announced himself as the Elf King or the king of the elves, we don't think he has another name."

"Very strange." The Captain added.

"Very." Tefl agreed, "But it isn't like we have any say over it." She added just as her brother emerged from the house dragging an unhappy elf by the hand.

"This gentleman is going to show us the way below, aren't you?" He looked down over his shoulder at the wincing elf. He was slight and somewhat underfed, his blond hair was in bad shape and he looked to be in generally poor health but he nodded submissively and winced a little when Thirg's hand squeezed tight over his fingers.

"Yes!" He squeaked out, "But it won't do you any good."

"Sure it will." Zesshi said with a smile as she leaned down and cupped his face in her hands, "I have enough power to kill the bastard, and he's going to come right to me, one way or the other, it'll be a nice family reunion, and when it's all over, the age of sorrows for the elves will finally be past."

Her black and white eyes fairly danced with joy, so much so that even though their prisoner doubted she could win as she promised, he did not doubt that she believed that she could.

She straightened up, "Thirg, Tefl, the rest of you, let's move, I want this done before dawn."

"Right!" The five snapped crisply, and they made their way to the palace.

Every step sent Zesshi's blood boiling ever more, they could feel her anger crackling off of her like lightning arcing from the clouds and lighting up the night. It took everything she had to keep her killing intent in check when they finally reached the outer wall, a large root that grew from the great tree at the center.

"Hey, prisoner guy, where do we go, do we have to go all the way in or what?" Zesshi asked with a radiant smile on her face as she caressed her scythe.

He pointed to a part of the great tree palace. "Those branches include hollow paths, next to it is the throne room, pass through that, and that branch leads to a spot that teleports you down below."

"A permanent teleport site?! Come on now old man, you're kidding me?" The Captain said in denial, "That's impossible." He snorted, "You're trying to trick us aren't you?" He asked as he folded his arms in front of his chest.

"No! I swear! I didn't believe it either until... until they let me use it to go see my daughter after... after he was done with her on her first day there..." He clutched his head with his hands and his eyes went dead and hollow, as if numb from long suffering, "It's real, damn you…. All the hostages from all the hostage towns are under it and that is the only way in or out…." He said in a broken, tired voice.

"Alright, alright, I believe you, so... are we going to skip the tour?" The captain asked as he looked over at Divine Chant.

"Yes, definitely." She answered.

"Oh... shit. I hate flying." Zesshi said with an unhappy sigh, "But if it gets this done quicker... Just do it."

[Mass Fly] [Speed of Arrow] [Ball of Protection] [Weight of Mountain] She cast the four spells one right after the other, first they began to rise into the air, then shot towards their target, then a translucent vaguely blue ball formed around them, and finally by the time they hit the wall of the wood, they had enormous penetrating power, it sent them crashing in as if a mountain had struck the wooden wall. [Dispel] She said, and they dropped back down to their feet. The throne room was ornate, simple, and empty.

"Well, now what?" Time Turbulence asked.

"Now you do something for me." Zesshi said seriously and reached into her pack, she pulled out a series of scrolls, which she handed to Divine Chant. "Follow the path down the way he said, try not to kill too many, remember nobody here has a choice about fighting. When you're secure and down where the slaves are, use the message scroll, it will connect directly to the Sorcerer King. Tell him where you are and what you're doing and... who you are, and tell him I am in my father's throne room, that I am ready for the promise to be kept. He will do the rest."

"Wait, we're rescuing the elves? Are you joking?!" The Captain asked, more than a little disturbed by the prospect.

"No." Zesshi said abruptly, "One thing I've learned about all this is that in order to make one people, we have to work together. Remember what I said about a team building exercise? You and the undead monarch will be the ones who set the hostages free, it'll always be remembered here that 'humans' of the north, from among our enemy, helped save our people, and that will alleviate a lot of the bad blood that would otherwise endure for another age. I'll take care of my father, you just do this for me and... thank you again for staying by my side." She finished with a depth of sincerity in her voice that they'd never heard from her before.

"Alright, you got it. We'll go." Time Turbulence said and they took off running for the hall that opened up behind the throne.

Divine Chant looked back once and added, "Good luck, Zesshi!" Giving the woman a generous smile before she resumed dashing after her faster companions.

Thirg and Tefl threw off their cloaks and took their places at the right and left hands of Zesshi Zetsumei. "Looks like our big entrance got some attention, we've got company coming, why don't you take a seat and, 'welcome' them, Your Majesty?" Thirg said with a grin and pointed to the throne.

Zesshi looked at him as if he were absolutely mad before she remembered, "Oh... right, I'm technically a princess. Damn, that is still near impossible to get through my own head. I've never felt 'princesslike'."

"Well, get used to it, Your Majesty." Tefl added, "Please, sit down in 'your' chair." She mimicked her brother's gesture with a wide vampire smile, and Zesshi laughed at them both.

"Don't mind if I do." She said and sauntered cockily over and flopped herself down with seeming indifference as her two aides took up positions at her side just like loyal guards.

When guards and nobles and servants began to enter after having followed the noise, it created a bottleneck, in centuries nobody had ever dared to so much as touch the throne of the Elf King, let alone sit in it as if it were their own. Gawking people stopped in their tracks only to be forced forward by others who quickly froze to gawk in turn.

Zesshi chose to put a halt to it, "Come on in!" She shouted gleefully and waved them forward, "It'll be a pain to say this twice, so I'd rather have you all in here at once."

Elves began to shake themselves out of their disbelieving, frozen states and approached the throne.

She spoke clearly, crisply, and loudly to the elves who stood nearby, projecting her voice all the way to the rear. She sat with her back straight and eyes forward, doing her best to imitate the posture of the Sorcerer King on his throne. "My name is Zesshi Zetsumei, I am the daughter of the Elf King, by the human woman he raped over a hundred years ago, the one whose abuse started our war with the Slane Theocracy. I am also a General in the armies of the Sorcerer King, who fights against the Theocracy which abused so many for so long. In a few minutes, I expect my father will return from Fortress Alaf, he will come here, and I will kill him. When this is done, I will withdraw our people from the alliance with the Theocracy and we will instead join the side that has freed so many of our numbers. When my father arrives, I advise you to be out of this room, things will get very, very ugly, at least for a little while. Any questions?"

Of all the responses she might have expected, laughter was the last one, though in retrospect it shouldn't have been at all surprising. It started small, she sat and watched, then it was picked up by others, then others, then others, until the entire room was laughing as if she'd just told the funniest joke in the world. Thirg leaned over to her and whispered, "My Queen... a demonstration might be in order."

"Good idea." Zesshi said, and she tapped the butt of her scythe onto the floor by her foot, then when that did not get their attention she curled her lip dismissively and said softly, "Fine, the hard way." And she unleashed her killing intent, it swept over them so powerfully that their heads bowed in abject submission, many fell to one knee, a few fainted, but none was able to meet her gaze.

"I 'can' kill my father, and I 'will' kill my father. If you don't believe me, stick around and watch, it shouldn't be long." She let her black and white eyes sweep the room full of broken people, "Otherwise, get out, I'll send my servants out to retrieve you when it is over so that you can give me your loyalty."

It did not take long to clear the room. Zesshi scratched her left ear and looked up over at Tefl, "Say, do you think that was a vote of confidence, or do they just not want to risk getting caught in the middle of it?"

"I have no idea, one for some, the other for some, both for most, doesn't matter. But you've got a free hand and that's all that matters." She replied.

"I suppose you're right." Zesshi said happily, her heart was racing in her breast and she clenched her scythe tightly in her hand.

A gate opened in the middle of the throne room, "I guess they were successful, that looks like the Sorcerer King's work." Zesshi said joyfully. Any doubts about that were dispelled, when the muscular body of the Elf King flew through as if he'd been tossed like a bale of hay. He landed face first to the floor and as he rose to his hands and knees to stand up, he looked over his shoulder in outrage, but the gate was already fading away to nothing.

"Hello father, welcome home." Zesshi said happily, a broad smile spread over her face and her fingers twitched in anticipation. Her duelist armor black as the dark half of her hair, but etched with little red markings of runecraft, was like a second skin. It moved and rippled with her muscles and the little marks glowed the shade of blood as if it sensed she was readying herself for a fight. "I've been waiting to meet you for a long time now, and it's time for you to pay for what you've done."

 **AN: Just some news... I did the audio reading of the first chapter of 'God Rising' and uploaded it to YouTube. Urls are censored so... y00toob dot com slash channel slash UCzY5dLZitYen7LiNkW1mmgQ**

 **I've also posted it to the 'God Rising' projects channel of my discord if that'll be easier. I plan on doing a chapter reading about once a week, and I'm told my voice is fairly good for this, take that as you will. Thank you to everyone who supported it. Next up is illustrations for an ebook. Once that is completed, aside being given away to everyone for free, I'll be sending a copy to the original creator of Overlord as a kind of 'thank you' for making something so fucking awesome. I'm told he likes fanfiction, so this seems appropriate. Big steps will follow in the chapters ahead as the last four cities of the Theocracy come under attack and the great leaders under Ainz Ooal Gown and those from beyond his borders, come together for a conference to settle how the post war world will be (I've been fondly referring to it as: The New World Yalta, a reference which history buffs and those with Wikipedia access will understand). Neia's character as you'll note up to now, has gotten a fuckton darker since the story began and she was a character who tried to talk Remedios down without violence, but... this probably puts the Neia of the Synod into context, her evolution is far from over, with some good and some bad along the way for her before the end. But having already written the final ending for God Rising... you're going to love it, I can say that with certainty.**

 **And yes, there IS a sequel in mind but... I may not end up writing it, that remains to be seen, I was actually thinking I might dabble in the Tanyaverse after all this is overwith. Thanks for reading of course, and obligatory plug: patr30n dot com slash tellingstories has my original Isekei work on it. :)**


	155. Cracked and Broken

God Rising: The Cult of Ainz

Written by: AtheistBasementDragon

Edited by: The Usual Gang of Drunken Perverted Idiots

Chapter 155: Cracked and Broken

 _...Fortress Cross...Dark Elf Borderlands..._

Commander Lomon Bela always counted himself a lucky man. Born with a powerful body that he hardly had to work with to improve, he easily dominated the children of other nobles. Born with a clever mind, he never had to study to reach the top of his class. Born with swiftness and a keen eye, he was faster and more accurate than his peers to such a degree that he hardly had to practice with his sword or bow to outperform them. He was the height of competence.

But the height of his luck as he thought about it over breakfast at just that moment, was his current station. He sat in his tower office looking out the small window that faced the Dark Elf territory and its seemingly endless plains. "By the gods, what a view." He remarked happily. He stroked his perfect black beard and smiled contentedly as he took a bite of his eggs. "I still can't believe I was born with perfect luck too, to get stationed here, far, far away from Neia, to not have to march all over the place after Enri, to not have to face off against crazy elves or wild magic part dragon Queens, just a nice easy 'vital' position to ride out the war in." He said to himself before letting out a deep breath of contentment.

He tugged on a small rope that hung near the desk where he was eating and a servant entered. "Have a horse prepared for me, I'd like to go hunting this morning."

"At once my lord." The servant said with a bow, they both froze, there was a low rumble.

"Did you hear that?" Lomon asked hesitantly, doubting his own ears for a moment. He glanced out the window again, in the direction that the sound had come from.

"Sir, I did." The servant replied. The rumbling was just a little bit louder this time.

Lomon didn't ask again, instead he went over to the window and poked his head out, he squinted, there seemed to be a small dot in the distance that hadn't been there before.

He stared for a very long time, or so it felt like he had until a thought occurred to him. 'No, that can't be a small moving dot, if I can see it from here... what in the name of the Six Gods could it be...?'

He tried to discern more about it, but he couldn't, only to realize too late that it didn't matter 'what' it was, it was coming in his direction. He whirled on the servant and pointed at him. "Go! Go raise the alarm, get everyone to defensive positions, order the scouts to ride out and check to see what the hell that thing is!"

He ran from the room, leaving his food to grow cold and not caring worth a damn, he rushed to his quarters and started throwing on his armor as the rumbling began to sound more and more like thunder. When his armor was on, he rushed out and grabbed a servant, "Quickly! Send a rider south and tell them we're about to face a siege!"

"My lord! At once!" The servant shouted in terror, instantly volunteering himself for the duty without saying so.

Lomon ran down the stairs, his feet echoing off the walls as he moved faster than he ever had in his life, normally the echo of those steps was practically deafening, which was why he'd always taken them with care in the past, but in this moment the sound of them was lost beneath the growing rumbling.

He threw the door open to the courtyard and found his soldiers assembled along the walls and in front of the gate in battle position. A sense of great pride swelled within his chest. Their perfect discipline was the result of countless hours of drilling until his was the finest force of guardsmen he knew of in the entire Slane Theocracy.

"Soldiers, I don't know what that is out there, but I have absolute faith in your ability to do your jobs and triumph!" Lomon shouted, and was met with cheers of confidence. "They want a fight, you'll give them one to remember! Now make... ready!" He shouted again and drew his sword, he held it aloft and struck a very noble figure to the eye, his soldiers tensed and readied themselves.

Lomon moved quickly to the tower at the gate house and moved up to the top of the wall. 'With ten thousand soldiers here, this place will not fall easy, all I have to do is hold out, and a relief force will come. Then we'll break the siege and I can rise on the back of my victory to some other position. Might even get my pick and get something nice and safe again.' He thought and smiled to himself, a soldier saw the smile and returned it. Lomon clapped him on the shoulder, "That's right, spirits up, this is what we trained for, and we're the best at it."

He emerged from the top of the stairs and stood over the gate. The dot was larger now. "Gods preserve us... how far away was it?" He asked nobody in particular. "Where the hell are my scouts? It shouldn't have taken that long!"

An hour later he had his answer, at least about how large 'that thing' was. Behind it he saw the marching ranks of the Baharuth Empire's soldiers, but they were of trivial concern. "That thing is gargantuan..." He commented in a slightly nervous tone as the two legged behemoth of stone continued to advance.

He let out a sigh of resignation, "Guess I'm not as lucky as I thought." He said to himself as he drew out his sword. "Fire everything we've got at it! We'll chip it down to pebbles if we have to!" Scorpions and small catapults launched their projectiles from the walls, the enormous golem shook off those projectiles with no more difficulty than a horse did flies. Still Lomon Bela did not withdraw, "You want this fortress! You want our lives! Well, come and get them!" He shouted and let loose a warcry from the bottom of his soul as the enormous fist rose up high enough that it cast a shadow over the gate where he stood. "[Lesser Strength] [Ability Boost] [Greater Ability Boost] [Limit Breaker] [Stone Flesh]" He swallowed hard as he used his martial arts. 'By all heaven, that thing is big.' He thought, and then silently prayed. 'Gods of my fathers, six lords on high who have preserved us, lend me the strength to protect my lands, my friends, my family, my fortress, and my soldiers. I, your faithful servant repent of whatever failings I may ever have had, but please, do not let them pay the price for my sins!' He sent his prayer to the gods and the fist of the golem hovered up above, he held his sword overhead with both hands, the tip low behind his back, ready to make a swing to shake the gods up in the heavens out of their slumber.

Then the fist of the golem descended, it felt like it was in slow motion, and Lomon Bela brought his sword forward. He could smell the sweat and courage and fear in the air around him, hear the sounds of his soldiers, the firing scorpions, and the desperate orders to reload. He could see the arrows and bolts careening off the stone of the impossible being that stood over him, and he felt his strength within him more clearly and keenly than he ever had before in his life, just before his sword and the golem's fist connected.

Then they connected, and Lomon Bela was turned into red paste as the fist powered through his guard, crushed his skull, shattered his chest into fragments, and drove what was left of his body along with the stone and metal of the gate, all the way down into the ground, flattening the entrance. He felt nothing after that.

Nimble was duly impressed as he watched Gargantua work, he kept his army back as the servant of Nazarick utterly exterminated the stone of the fortress. It simply kept punching the walls and battering them down to nothing, he never saw it have to punch the same place twice.

"Ah, is it supposed to be just... you know... smashing the walls?" Nimble asked King Zanac with an uncomfortable quiver in his voice and the corner of his lower lip held painfully tight between his teeth at the sight before him.

"I'm sure I have no idea." Zanac replied, "You did tell it to destroy the whole thing so I suppose it will, if I were to guess it is treating the whole wall as one piece, then when that is flat, it'll target the interior. Do you want to demand a surrender? Or...?"

Zanac might not have been an impressive looking man, but his demeanor was calm and relaxed in spite of the danger. 'A good king,' Nimble thought, not for the first time, of the man he'd come to respect. "Give it a minute or two more, they haven't started running and I don't see any surrender flags, they're not broken. You have to time these things just right." Nimble said sagely and nodded at his own words, his eyes closed briefly in satisfaction as his discomfort and underlying fear were buried beneath long professional training and experience, and he took in the battlefield with his other senses.

"As you say, you're the expert." King Zanac remarked as the army watched in mute horror and fascination as the colossal golem did the impossible.

It felt like a day, but it was scant minutes before half the fortress was demolished completely, and soldiers, once proud and brave, became sheep fleeing the wolves in all directions.

"Gargantua, hold!" King Zanac shouted, and the fist of the being froze above a group of huddling soldiers that lay prone on the ground and quaking in fear with their weapons cast aside.

"Everyone who surrenders now will be spared!" General Nimble shouted with urgency in his voice, "Anyone still bearing arms will be immediately eliminated!"

The sound of weapons falling was almost as loud as Gargantua's punches for just an instant.

Nimble looked behind him, "Go in, take every prisoner you can, treat the wounded, mistreat none in accordance with the will of our lord!" Soldiers began to march in a crisp, ordered fashion to seize positions, prisoners, and to break down doors to go look for anyone wounded or concealed.

"Even with all this, it'll still take a few hours at least to secure everyone and everything, if we include the search for intelligence and then demolishing whatever is left of this place." General Nimble commented to King Zanac.

The King of Re-Estize waved the matter off, "It doesn't matter, this was their last northern position, assuming General Enri took Crossroads. That leaves only C'teon, Wheaton, Feron, and Kami Miyako, then the war is over and we can win the peace." King Zanac said happily, "I expect the men responsible for killing my father are in Kami Miyako. It's just a guess, but they're probably Agante. I can sort that out later, but no matter what, this won't last a whole lot longer."

In front of them, beyond the rubble and destruction, they watched as Baharuth Empire soldiers bound by rope or chains, soldier after soldier from among the Slane Theocracy. There were wounded ones as well who were not bound, some were carried out, some were helped by their peers to hobble into place where they could surrender properly. All of them, however, or at least all those who still had awareness of their surroundings and were neither catatonic nor unconscious, wore masks of unimaginable horror on their faces as they looked up at the monster that had come to destroy them.

"I sort of pity them." General Nimble said with some sentimentality in his voice.

"Not I. The Slane Theocracy was a thorn in my nation's side for far too long. We should have been allies, instead they were nothing but a hindrance in the best of times. Especially after their last round of actions with that bastard Philip, not to mention having had my father killed... and I suppose I should hold it against them for kidnapping Climb as well. No, this is well earned retribution from where I am in the saddle." Zanac said through gritted teeth.

"I guess I'd feel the same in your shoes but... as I look at their broken faces filled with despair, I can't help but feel it anyway." General Nimble responded.

"Ask me again in a few years, maybe I'll feel the same." King Zanac added, and then spurred his horse forward, "Now, let's go take a look around, I'd like to see how many prisoners we took."

"As you like, My Lord." General Nimble replied politely and spurred his horse forward to catch up with the King.

 _...Nazarick..._

Ainz sat reading at his desk, it was a pleasant experience to do so in peace and quiet. Tuare and Sebas stood ready at hand in the event he needed anything, but, as it happened in that moment, there was nothing. Tuare had proven herself adept at cleaning his inner office and did so with great alacrity, and so he rewarded her by allowing her to remain rather than go tend other tasks, and simply enjoy waiting with her husband for a chance to be useful.

That chance came unexpectedly in the form of an unfamiliar voice over message. "Oh boy, I hope this works, ah, listen, Zesshi Zetsumei told me that this would connect to the Sorcerer King. My name is Cenna Tachoni, I'm the Captain of the Black Scripture. This may sound unbelievable, but... we're siding with Zesshi, those of us still alive that is, and we're currently underneath the palace of the Elf King, it's a very weird place down here, but there are 'lots' of captives, some of them in pretty bad shape. She says she's in her father's throne room ready for you to keep a promise with her. Does this make any sense?"

Ainz held back the urge to laugh, the voice seemed boyish and confused, but at least he felt no deception coming from it, he chose to respond in his noble voice, "Yes, I am the Sorcerer King, I will identify your location and..." he hesitated, a strange location, that was what got his attention, "I will come and see you and the prisoners removed to the safety of my home. I trust I needn't relay that any attempt at betrayal will be painful for a long time before it is lethal?" He asked in the most straightforward manner he could.

"Yes, we understand, our weapons will be sheathed so that you may rest assured that we have no hostile intentions." Cenna replied amicably.

Ainz terminated the connection and traced it back to its source location with a minor detect magic origin scroll. He then turned to the Butler of Steel, "Sebas, I want you and Mare to visit the elf encampment where the Elf King resides, you should have little trouble finding him, just... listen for the sound of a woman wailing in pain, and he will be where it is. Also, have Yuri Alpha and Pestonya follow behind me, I want them to assist in getting the captives out, I want to see this 'unusual location' for myself. Tuare, you will join me as an attendant again."

"At once, My Lord!" They said with a swift bow.

Ainz opened a gate just as Sebas went out the door of the office. "Tuare, let's go." He said, and stepped through as the human maid fell into step behind him.

 _...Elf Army Encampment..._

When Sebas and Mare stepped through the gate, they found themselves immediately consumed by a miasma of shame and loathing. It was like a fog over the camp, an aura of despair found in the worst of all conditions. They emerged behind a tent that was nothing but a patchwork of rags that had, once upon a time at least, been of fine workmanship.

There was nobody around them, the cover of night's blanket had sent most to bed, the few who weren't, were busy with tasks of their own. "Th-This place feels s-sick, like the ground has b-been poisoned." Mare said, sticking out his tongue with disgust. "And it s-stinks." He added, pinching his nose.

"We will not be here long, Lord Mare. Please bear with it. This is not a place I wish to linger either. Tell me, do you hear anything that sounds like a woman's cries?" He asked as he folded his hands behind his back. They were quiet for several moments, then Mare pointed. "Th-That way." He said distastefully, "It stinks worse over there too, but… i-if it is for Lord Ainz…" He let out an unhappy sigh.

Sebas strode purposefully as Mare shuffled along nervously beside him, clutching his staff with one hand and pinching his nose with the other. As they drew closer, Sebas detected the smell and sounds that Mare spoke of from this direction. It was the stink of unwashed sex mixed with fear and blood, and heralded by cries of misery and pain.

As they drew closer, they noticed two things, first it was a much larger and more luxurious tent. Not a patch to be had, the second was the cries and stink were louder, and the miasma of misery that the elf encampment seemed steeped in like a little bag of tea in hot water, was much greater and much darker. Sebas was accustomed to being around those he knew to be 'evil' even though they were loyal, even Demiurge, in all his warped and twisted ways though, was a comrade, a fellow creation of the supreme beings. And also, he was cruel with purpose, he was like a barrel, containing evil sealed up save when it was opened to draw from. Yet here, it was like a barrel tipped over and spilling everywhere.

In front of the tent stood two broken looking elves, their faces drawn with sadness and flinching with every cry behind them within the tent. They were so caught up in the sound and travesty behind them, that Sebas and Mare got far closer than they had any right to, before the guards noticed them.

The first emotion other than misery crossed their faces when they saw Sebas, that was hatred, burning and raw at the sight of a human face. This was quickly followed by confusion, with eyes that had been narrow and teeth bared a moment before, becoming wide and even fearful as if concerned for a little girl come to close to a predator.

Pity swept their faces as they thought they understood why Mare was here. "Has he… called for a little girl this time?" The guard asked with resigned and hopeless disgust.

Sebas looked down at Mare, and Mare looked back up in turn as they processed the question, but only Sebas understood it fully. Mare for his part asserted, "I. Am. A. Boy."

Before their confusion could grow, Sebas, who struggled to keep his face neutral through his disgust at the implied carnal desire for little Mare, asserted himself. "I am here to see your king, see me in."

"Ah, he's… he's busy." The elf guard said with a swallow that showed a lump of misery in his throat.

"Not to busy for a matter between royalty. See me in or I will see myself in." Sebas said sharply.

His killing intent grew slightly, and such was the broken spirit of these wretches that Sebas felt as much pity for them as he did for the female whose cries were growing weaker by the moment, and the elf guard looked at the royal eyes of Mare, then did as he was bade.

He stepped in and opened the tent, "Majesty, you have an urgent visitor."

The elf king grunted and dropped the woman with disgust. "Why do you interrupt me, insect?!" He snarled, "I wasn't done with this one yet."

"Yes you are." Sebas said, and he walked swiftly to the Elf King and raised his hand, then brought it down in a slap, his fist cracked across the cheek of the elf king and the impact was like the clap of thunder. It was the slap heard round the world. Only it was heard twice, then thrice, then four and five times, his open hand sending the invincible Elf King's head reeling back and forth like a fish flopping on a hook. He could scarcely grasp what was happening, his mind raced to understand that this being… this old looking human, was 'hurting' him.

The guard looked at the trio with his mouth agape and almost shaking with both disbelief and joy. The woman who the elf king had dropped scrambled backward on all fours, her neck craned to look at the unbelievable moment of deliverance as the unheard prayers of an age were answered with an open hand.

The Elf King's noble features twisted with rage and he reared back as the slapping stopped and threw a punch that had devastated mountains, or so the stories said, only for it to be caught at the wrist by Mare, who squeezed, and when he squeezed the wrist, he squeezed out a scream from the Elf King as surely as if he were squeezing juice from an orange.

"Th-This is the one? R-Right?" He asked anxiously, and Sebas gave him a nod and a pleased smile.

"I-I thought he w-was supposed t-to be strong, he-he's so weak." Mare said, shaking the wrist around and drawing more cries from the king, who desperately pulled away as if he really were a fish on a hook trying to dislodge itself. "A-Are you s-sure?" Mare asked.

"Yes Mare, he is the one." Sebas answered.

He looked down at the angry, agonized, naked brute, "You are going home now, and you will be facing someone who has waited to see you for quite some time, your life belongs to her, as per her agreement with the Sorcerer King." Sebas said calmly.

He didn't ask if the Elf King had any questions, it didn't matter, he didn't care, the gate opened behind the Elf King and Mare simply tossed him through like an undignified sack of potatoes.


	156. When It Rains

God Rising: The Cult of Ainz

Written by: AtheistBasementDragon

Edited by: The Usual Gang of Drunken Perverted Idiots

Chapter 156: When It Rains

 _...Chasm City..._

If there was one thing Queen Draudillon had developed a distaste for, it was the interminable 'waiting' that dominated her duties. Most of all within this city there lay the anxiety that came from it. Her soldiers tore through every public building and private business with the zeal of man hunters pursuing criminals, and that was how they saw themselves. The horrors of the City of Shame had not left their minds and if it lay here also, it would be found.

The Queen therefore, prevailed upon by her staff, waited in the governor's office that she had commandeered for her own use. "At least we've seen to the release of the slaves." General Musan said with an ache in his voice that told her he was aging even beyond his years. "They weren't even that badly off compared to some places, from what we've heard from Neia and from the operatives in Kami Miyako." His voice sounded weary, but at least it carried with it some sense of relief.

General Oma however, sounded harder, like a blade newly sharpened. "I would still have liked to give them over to General Baraja. Or call for that demon girl to come back and create nightmare stories to be handed down for an age." She shuddered, as the first to see the blood guilt of Yaksun, it had hit her hardest and she had not forgotten even a little.

Queen Draudillon rested her head in her hands. "God, I want a drink." She said tiredly, "No, don't even think of bringing me one. I want one, that doesn't mean I get one." She said without looking up, before either could move to carry out the wish she'd just expressed. "I don't disagree with either of you, but other than the two or three we're going to hang when we leave, we're leaving the rest in peace, their amnesty is granted. Are there any slaves willing to join the army to augment our numbers?" She asked hopefully.

"Around seven thousand from the surrounding estates and around a thousand from within the city itself." General Musan answered calmly, "If we leave four thousand of our more experienced soldiers here, we can take say... six thousand elves, and leave the rest to help support the garrison, I don't think we have to worry about rebellion after that little display with the chasm, and with the nearby fortress occupied, a minimal force can hold it as a fallback position." He answered calmly, speaking as if by rote as he looked straight into her eyes from where he stood opposite her desk.

"Workable, but what do we know about the fortress itself, that was strange, so few, and so hungry? Did we get anything else from the captives?" Draudillon asked optimistically as she sat back in her chair and drummed her fingers impatiently.

"My Queen, all we really know is that the Theocracy didn't seem to think they could hold this place, and from what we've seen in the city, hunger has started to be a real problem, honestly we could probably keep the peace most easily by just leaving sufficient extra food behind to augment diets. The Theocracy's central government is confiscating large food supplies now and hoarding it at or near the capital then distributing it out from there, it's created chaos in their ability to support the cities, which may be the point. Any place we take, we can't forage from, and we actually have to help support." General Oma put forth her theory with frustration and anger in her voice, she clenched her teeth and had to bite her tongue to keep from cursing.

"Well, we can't stay long then, but... maybe just maybe, we should stay another day or two." The Queen said thoughtfully.

Her Generals looked at her with doubtful faces. "My Queen, with all due respect, every delay keeps us here longer and draws this out for that much longer, I know there are those who would wish it so, but the sooner we end all this, the more lives we save from all sides." General Oma said unhappily, a small frown forming on her face.

"I agree with my colleague, my Queen. The longer we wait, the harder this will be." General Musan said with grave intensity, the luster in his eyes with which he'd begun the campaign was slowly starting to fade, and Queen Draudillon privately resolved that this was his last war before retirement.

"I would agree, save for this." The Queen said and took a letter from out of the top drawer of her desk. She placed it gently on the desk just beneath where their eyes could see.

"A new assembly? In Forton?" General Musan asked rhetorically, "To what end?"

"To settle the question of the postwar world, the Slane Theocracy is doomed, unless they have some way to kill His Majesty himself and render the entire matter moot, they are done for. Perhaps using this city as a headquarters until then would be wisest." The Queen proposed tentatively.

To her surprise, both generals shook their heads. "Majesty," General Oma said emphatically, "with due respect, we can manage the Army for a time without you, let us march west, let us march tomorrow, when the assembly comes, let the Sorcerer King's magic call you away, and return you to us the same way, we will carry ourselves closer to Kami Miyako, and believe me, the other generals will not be stopping, if we appear indolent..."

She did not have to finish the sentence. Draudillon swallowed, "You're right, of course, I can trust the two of you to handle this without me, but there is no reason for me to stay behind. As you said, he can have me come or go as needed. I'll go with you, and entrust the management of our army to you both when he summons me away, then return to camp wherever you are, after we've finished discussing things in Forton. So if there is nothing more... have our soldiers make ready to go day after tomorrow then, we'll take an extra day, get the elf slaves armed with the weapons of the former Theocracy soldiers. Select a number of human guards to stay here as well, everyone else will go west as fast as possible." The Queen gave her instructions, and her generals rendered prompt salutes in response.

The next morning, that is exactly what happened, and for the first time in the history of the city, elves began to patrol the streets with swords and bows, clad in armor that 'had' borne the insignias of the Theocracy. Now they were painted over and the emblem of the Draconic Kingdom was painted large over the center. Each elf was assigned a human soldier to work with him to offer some measure of comfort to the human occupants, and other than ordering that prices be frozen, and moving all rations to military control in order to keep the population in check, little change occurred within the city walls. The population, too afraid of the demon being unleashed, and afraid of retribution lest they provide an excuse for it, focused on trying to live as normally as they could.

Thus on the second day after their discussion, Draudillon gave the order to march, the head of their dead messenger was raised at the head of the column, his vacant eyes facing toward Kami Miyako as they exited the city, behind them, three ropes snapped down and three abusive slave owners were hanged from the gate under the watchful eyes of her garrisoned soldiers.

The sound of marching feet as a long line of steel marched out, drowned out any pleas for mercy, and none were to be answered generously anyway, her eyes were fixed forward as her army began to move west. "I'm coming for you Dominic, you forgot that I bear dragon's blood, and there is little more wrathful in this world than a dragon under threat." She said quietly under her breath.

"I... can think of one thing." General Musan quipped with a shudder as he remembered watching the nobles literally crushed into paste by the Sorcerer King's aura, and the way he had a demon cut others to pieces for the entertainment of the crowd, and the wave of terror that swept through the borders of nations like the wind.

"Me too." General Oma added as she recalled the report of Neia exterminating a city and letting her body be ripped apart just for the 'chance' to slay a hundred thousand even if her life ended because of it. And of her master, and his wave of terror.

Queen Draudillon blushed slightly, "Point taken." She responded with a nervous shiver, remembering how the force of the wave had struck like a storm at sea.

 _...Fortress Alaf...Morning..._

The fighting had gone on longer than anyone believed possible, even for this massive fortress, the burning ambush and the cast off corpses had slowed things to a crawl, briefly at least. As the Slane Theocracy was forced to spend time burying the dead with due honors to maintain morale, but the unwillingness of the elves to take aggressive action and the increasing supply problem was taking its toll.

Leinas walked the ramparts in front of the fortress with Aureole Omega beside her, it was a slow walk, behind them was a flag bearer holding aloft the banner of the Sorcerer King. It ensured that the Slane Theocracy knew she was there, it made them angry, and anger made them stupid.

"What do you think?" Leinas asked calmly as she looked over the side for the ten thousandth time.

"About what?" The shrine maiden asked coyly.

"The chance of a major attack today?" Leinas asked, also for the ten thousandth time, or so it felt like.

"Low, the same as every day, but diligence is still needed. But it won't matter for long." She said and touched Leinas's arm affectionately.

"Why is that?" Leinas asked, but even as the question was being asked, Aureole Omega was holding up a letter.

"This arrived this morning while you were visiting the infirmary. It is from Chindai Khan, he'll be here before nightfall." She said warmly as Leinas took and read the letter over several times.

"Took him long enough, so much for 'three days'." Leinas responded with a roll of her eyes.

"Perhaps, but it is perfect timing, the Theocracy is weakened by increasing problems with their supplies, they're tired from this long and fruitless struggle, Chindai will arrive with his dwarven allies and we will have them outnumbered badly." Aureole Omega said in the distant voice that told Leinas that her friend was beset by another vision.

"Not really, there are still the elves." Leinas responded. "They may not be enthusiastic allies, but... they are allies of the Theocracy still."

"Not after tonight they won't be." Aureole Omega replied. "By noon tomorrow that entire army will be captured, dead, or fled."

Leinas savored the feeling of both eyes going wide, even after all that time since her curse was removed, the feeling of having her eye back and working properly was still as sweet as honey cake. "I..." She began, only to stop when Aureole Omega raised her hand to interrupt.

"Only watch and listen. If all my calculations are correct, then the Elf King will cease to be a factor very soon." Aureole Omega said with a joyful expression, "After this, we move east toward C'Teon, unless His Majesty demands our immediate presence." She sighed happily, "Such a brilliant lord is a joy to serve."

"He's always been right so far, I'm not going to start doubting him now." Leinas said as they reached the end of the ramparts and began to descend the stairs.

"That is very wise of you, my friend." Aureole Omega took slow, deliberate steps, there was no rush so Leinas matched her pace. The fortress was alive, her soldiers' faces looked enthusiastic and flush with health, the victories they'd won kept them motivated, vigorous exercise every morning and Leinas's habit of eating the same food they did, and physically outperforming them to show that her reputation was well earned, filled them with confidence.

"After this is all over, what's next for you?" Leinas asked idly.

"Return to my normal duties within Nazarick, to my home, to my sisters." Aureole Omega said with a glowing smile that lit up her face.

"Well, after this is over and done, I expect I'll return to E-Rantel, and spend my days running the city for His Majesty, assuming he has nothing else for me to do. After I've settled in, you're welcome to come visit me any time you like." Leinas proposed with a neutral expression that disguised the underlying optimism for Aureole Omega's acceptance.

"I'd like that, it has been satisfying and pleasant to work with you." Aureole Omega said with the warmth Leinas did not have the wherewithal to reveal herself.

 _...Crossroads..._

The prediction turned out to be correct. The city fell handily into Enri's hands over the next few hours, by dawn, her soldiers were the only ones patrolling the streets. Blood, bodies, and fire were everywhere, but the flames were being put out steadily.

Enri got up early as was her habit and threw on her armor quickly, not out of fear of battle or threat, but because she 'knew' that if she was getting dressed when Lupu entered, there would be another lewd joke. She looked around the room now that light streamed into the place through a window and she was no longer exhausted. The presence of a number of bloodstains was an uncomfortable sight, but she shrugged it off as she cinched her sword belt on and swept her long blonde hair back. Then it was downstairs to where she was sure Lupusregina would be waiting with breakfast and some absurd joke.

It was for that reason that she was surprised to find a third option. Lupusregina… with breakfast on the table, sitting on top of a wiggling and pleading peasant girl.

"Lupu, don't play with your food." Enri remarked with a laugh as she walked to a table and sat down in front of the plate that was set there.

Lupusregina's smile was big and broad, the peasant under her, hearing the joke and not recognizing it for what it was, wailed, kicked, and thrashed all the more desperately and with equal futility. "Nah, not this one, she says she owned the place, figured her for a killer at first, one come to getcha -su."

She giggled and pinched the woman's cheeks, "But if she's an assassin then I'm Cardinal Dominic. She didn't bring any knives or anything -su. So I thought I'd leave her up to you, and she makes a comfortable seat. Want me to get rid of her -su?" Lupusregina asked and darted her hand under the woman's throat, a sharp claw on the left side of her jugular, one quick motion and it would be over.

Enri thought it over, the woman was frozen but looked up at Enri with pleading eyes. The Grand Matriarch thought it over, "Tell me what your liquor stock is." She said.

"Fourteen bottles of red, seventeen of white, and twenty casks of ale in the basement, no fewer than twelve total varieties and three bottles each of the remaining varieties." Enri took a closer look at her, red hair, pale skin, common clothing with an apron the sort you'd expect a barmaid to or tavern keeper to wear, and she had lots of bits of straw caught in her hair and on her clothing.

"Let her up, Lupu, she's honest." Enri said and took a bite of biscuit.

Lupusregina got up off the woman and moved to the side of her friend.

"So, want to tell us why you were sneaking in here?" Enri asked.

The woman didn't look up, she shook fearfully with every word, she was barely able to stand up at all. "I… I got hungry an, well, I ran out and hid'n a stable. But I can't eat straw and I can't drink horse piss, soooo… I came back here, thinkin nobody was home, since it's mine and all, thought I could sneak in, get some food an drink an hide again." Her eyes snapped up, "Please don't kill me! Please don't throw me to the soldiers! Please don't sacrifice me! Please don't…!" The litany of horrors she was begging Enri not to subject her to grew more and more bizarre, it would have been utterly laughable if the woman hadn't shot her hands together and gone to her knees sobbing as she lost control. "I just want to live… I just want to live…" The woman went on until she was blubbering so much her sounds no longer formed words.

Lupusregina and Enri traded a look of cocked eyes and and cocked heads. 'The hell is this crazy bitch going on about -su?' Lupusregina thought, and read the same thought in her companion.

Enri propped her arms up on her elbows, resting them on the table, and brought her hands together so that one fist was in the palm of her hand. She looked at the sobbing mess of a woman from over the triangle she'd formed with her arms, and finally spoke after a tense minute.

Her eyes were very hard as she spoke. "We. Do. Not. Do. Those. Things." Enri said one word at a time, barely keeping her outrage at bay.

"But General Enri is an undead worshipper, the priests tell us that the leaders of the undead armies take baths in virgin blood and eat the flesh of young women, that human women are the night time playthings of her goblins, and that her prisoners are often kept alive to be harvested for blood to give to her vampire soldiers! They're priests! Servants of the gods! They wouldn't lie to us!" She said with wide eyes that said very clearly that she did not believe the denial she'd just heard.

"Have you ever 'met' General Enri miss… sorry what is your name?" Enri asked.

"Eire, the name is Eire, and no but… they're priests of the true gods!" She said piously, Enri could see the glassy eyed look of the devout of the six, and sighed heavily. "Please… please don't turn me over to her! I'll bet she's bathed in so much blood now that she's grown demon horns and has a long pointed demon tail, I can barely keep it together now… please… I'm scared… please… I just don't want to die like… like that." She whimpered and broke down crying again. "You caught me, alright, didn't mean any harm, just wanted some food but… I'll leave, let me go hide in the stable or somethin, please… I don't… don't want to get thrown to the goblins or anythin like that…" She stammered out and prostrated herself as subserviently as she could.

Enri looked up and over at Lupusregina. "See anything back there?" She asked and jerked her thumb to her lower back.

"Asking me to check out your ass, you know you're getting more bold all the time -su!" Lupusregina giggled uncontrollably.

Enri felt around the top of her head, the curious question brought Eire's eyes up, and she saw Enri touching the top of her head.

"Huh, nothing." Enri said in a half disappointed tone of voice. She then looked down at the terrified and now confused peasant woman. "Well I've got neither horns nor tail apparently, maybe those come with a promotion?" Enri said with a chuckle.

"I… don't understand?" Eire gave a tone of hesitation to her question.

"Well, I'm General Enri Emmot-Bareare, commander of the Army of Carne under His Majesty the Sorcerer King, conqueror of Ikari and of Crossroads, and leader of the Northern Offensive." Enri said in serene voice, then she added, "And you are safe, nothing the priests have said is true."

Enri did not for the life of her understand why that made Eire start to cry even harder, nor why she was asking hysterically to particularly no one, "What have I done?! What have I done?! What have I done?!"


	157. The End of All Hope

God Rising: The Cult of Ainz

Written by: AtheistBasementDragon

Edited by: The Usual Gang of Drunken Perverted Idiots

 **AN: Another one closer to the end, and I want to say again how truly moved I am by the sheer breadth of enjoyment so many have drawn from this story so far. There are, it is true, some especially dark chapters ahead, as we bring the story of war to a final conclusion, the truth is, every chapter brings me closer to the realization that, when these are finished, it'll be time to move on to new projects. But you know something? Overlord is for everyone, and that means 'God Rising' is for everyone. So if you enjoy this story so well, then by whatever gods there are or are not, take it up and write for it yourself! If there is something I did not do but could have, then do it, if there is a different ending you wanted to see, then write it! Go forth, create, and be happy in doing so. :) This story may be of my making, but it does not belong to me once written, it is a gift, and once a gift is given, it isn't right to tell people what to do with it. So it belongs to you, as much as it does to me. Alright, on with the story.**

Chapter 157: The End of All Hope

 _...Golden Fortress..._

CZ was moving even before Neia, whipping her spellgun out and up to the threat from the very first twitch. Thus she was firing on full automatic before the strings could even be released. Her rounds were not targeted expressly to the archers, though a number were struck anyway and went down like a bag of rocks to the bottom of a lake. Her target was instead to hit the arrows themselves, her rounds went out and her targeting eye let her instantly lock on to the relatively slow projectiles as if they were tree sap sliding down instead of deadly projectiles flying faster than the birds that provided their feathers.

Wooden shafts cracked in mid-air and the deadly objects dropped down with the sudden loss of momentum, others went wild as the spellgun's impacts struck metal arrowheads meant to rip flesh apart. "Neia!" Skana shouted in desperation as she realized the danger and tried to rush from the ground to her feet. Neia opened her mouth and let out a gentle laugh that only grew louder from second to second.

The tasks to which Neia had set them had kept Blue Rose away from their usual position near to her command. It was uncomfortable for all of them, but tasked as 'symbols of courage' at the forefront of several units, there was nothing to be done but bear with it. But seeing what they did, they immediately regretted their distance, save for Evileye, who was just within reach, and saw more than mere arrows moving.

As if things were meant by nature to go from bad to worse, a trio of scorpions mounted on the walls launched their man sized projectiles, because if you're going to kill, overkill is the rule. This however, was met by a shout of [Crystal Wall] by Evileye, whose now maskless face lay bare and glaring as the enormous shots bounced off her hastily made barrier.

Many things can happen in an instant when there are many players upon a stage, and what else happened was that the vision of the Black Pope, with arms out and back arched and face tilted to the heavens as if to embrace the death flying at her after casting her wife to safety, burned itself forever into every watching eye.

From their place in front of a series of companies of soldiers, the members of Blue Rose had watched incomprehensibly as Neia seemed ready to embrace the sharp points racing toward her. It had all been in slow motion, like some cruel magic meant to make them watch a fellow soldier perish. Lakyus in particular, had been appalled by the breach of the white flag and even more so at what had briefly looked to be the loss of the one who had been targeted by such treachery.

It was only seconds in time, but it felt like an eternity, and as that moment passed, a new era dawned in its place that was scarcely longer. An age of disbelief as the horde that followed her and the betrayers who had tried to assassinate her, each looked in disbelief at the Black Paladin. When the last 'crack' sound faded into silence, the crystal wall was dispelled, and Neia's laughter faded away as she realized she was not to be struck. She opened her eyes, straightened up, and lowered her arms back down to the reins of her horse. Skana managed to recover and was just getting back onto her mount, ready to call an attack all on her own, but Neia chose to break the silence and speak.

"That was bad form." She spoke with the calmness one usually reserves for describing the failure to catch something casually tossed over. "Not only for attempting to assassinate me under a flag of truce, not only for putting my wife at risk... but also for failing. Your sinful weakness in both strength and integrity has cost you your lives." Her reverberating voice thrummed like a stringed instrument through their blood. "This is what you will do. Send one man out of your fortress, tell him to run to Wheaton, he can tell them I have arrived, I want them to know it, and I want them to start to dread it. Once you have chosen that one man among you to survive, make peace with your six dead gods, and when the hour passes, well, you are all going to meet those gods and find out what they really think of treachery under a flag of truce."

"W-We still get the hour?" The commander asked as he reared back in his saddle.

"I gave my word, didn't I? I am the servant of His Majesty, your dishonor is not a flaw I will share. Besides, you are no threat to me. The force of my contempt alone could bat your arrows away like so many flies. Do you think the scourge of god could be brought low so easily? How pathetic." She said scathingly, spitting upon the ground in front of the hooves of his horse, and looked at him with the disdain usually reserved for a dog barking from behind the safety of a fence.

"Now, go within your walls, choose your one, make your peace as I have said, pray for deliverance if you like, but it is much too late for that, my god has delivered you into my hands, and from them there is no escape, no matter how you plead for the six to descend and fight for you." Neia's voice hit them like a landslide, and her words made them worse. Fear pounded into every heart that heard her, and thanks to her evangelical arts, everyone did. She wheeled her undead mount around, and Skana drew her sword and cut the few shafts of arrows that stuck into the flank of her own unflinching mount, then CZ stowed her weapon, and they turned to follow their general.

"Establish a tent for me to work in, we don't need a full camp, destroying this place will not take long, and make sure they notify me when the 'survivor' runs away." Neia said formally as she went back behind the ranks of her lines. Tens of thousands of eyes watched her with reverential awe, and behind her one swift acting volunteer rushed to have her commands carried out.

Neia was silent as the grave, staring blankly at the fortress as her orders were carried out and a tent was erected right behind her.

When it was done, she dismounted and went inside. Skana did not wait for an invitation, she dismounted and walked purposefully and briskly into the tent, closing it behind her. As soon as it was shut she turned to face Neia who stood not two feet in front of her. "Neia what the h-" Her attempted complaint was cut off.

It was cut off by the sudden bone crushing embrace of her wife who pulled her tight with one arm around her waist and another at the back of her head and brought Skana's lips fiercely to her own. Her lips parted and her tongue sought its way past the lips of her beloved, it was so sudden and so ferocious that Skana did not respond for a moment. She let her arms come up after that and hold the one she loved, and let herself melt into the kiss until Neia herself chose to break it.

"I thought for a moment I was going to lose you... it was all I could do... I've never been so frightened in all my life..." Neia's voice was like stained silk, beautiful even in its imperfection. She pressed the side of her face into Skana's chest, "I'm so happy, happy that you're alive, if they'd struck you, if they'd killed you..." Neia could not finish the words, and all Skana could do was stroke her lover's back, from its lowest point all the way up to the top of her neck.

"Well give a care to your own life, please. If I lose you, I'll be no better off than you if you lost me. We're a 'team', we work together for both our sakes, and 'neither' of us is expendable to the other." Skana's rebuke was mild, gentle, and held none of the anger that had been present before the tight embrace.

Neia accepted the rebuke with a blush of embarrassment. "That was pretty stupid, wasn't it?"

"Yes, it was." Skana said softly as she touched the straw colored hair of her wife, "Maybe I can't keep you off the front lines, but damn it! If you die up there..." She bit her lower lip, and Neia put one finger over them and shook her head.

"Don't say that, it's fine. I'm alright and so are you... but they on the other hand... they've damned themselves." Neia's voice went from tender to terrifying in the span of a syllable.

"Yes, they have, they can all die... all of them... all of them... you were right, I was wrong. Giving mercy to the Theocracy is like giving mercy to a snake sleeping beneath your bed, it will just bite you while you sleep." Skana's voice was as gentle as the wind, her one green eye was hard as the emerald its color was named for.

They might have gone on, but CZ stepped through brusquely and spoke, "Their one is gone. Riding North." Her flat voice sounded indifferent, and it was, but when Neia detected a very slight twitch to her eyes, and noticed that she came just a little bit closer to her charge than she normally did.

Neia gave her a winning smile and replied, "Thank you CZ, for the report, but also for your protection, I knew you could do it. Oh, and could I ask one more thing of you?"

CZ cocked her head, "What?" She asked.

"Suppress the parapets, I want to ask Fluder to do this part. He's been bored lately and should have no problem demolishing those pathetic walls, they're probably not a threat to him, but I don't take chances, only lives." Neia explained, flashing her pretty, pearl white smile and giving as happy an expression as she could.

"Of course. I will tell him." CZ said succinctly, then with a snapped salute that Neia promptly returned, she left the pair alone.

Skana was about to say something, Neia could tell, but an instant later, just before the words could form, a crash sounded outside. The two looked at one another with surprise, the hour wasn't up, eyes full of affection suddenly turned hard as they exited the tent. "It looks like they don't want the full hour." Skana growled.

"Guess not!" Neia exclaimed with glee as a scorpion bolt slammed into the dirt a few feet in front of their ranks. She grinned maliciously and snatched the reins of her undead steed, flinging her leg up over the side and herself into the saddle in one smooth, practiced motion. She could see Skana's back riding away to her position, for just a moment before she turned away herself and began riding to the front. "I will make these brief, since they did as well! You are on Theocracy ground! They're willing to die for their country, your job is to help them do so! Make them like their gods! Dead and forgotten! And remember also this!" Her voice became as thunder in the sky as she reached the front of her formation and began riding along the line. "Who sheds their blood with you is your family! As long as one of you stands, your family will never die, you will never be forgotten, and if you are never forgotten, then you are more immortal than their gods! Make... Ready!"

Lakyus was troubled, Neia had nearly died and she seemed, from where she stood in front of a rank of soldiers to bolster courage in their first real fight on Theocracy ground, as if the Black Paladin did not give a damn. It troubled the veteran adventurer because she'd seen battle mania before, come upon those so drunk with blood that nothing but fighting made sense anymore, such persons typically came to hard, painful ends. 'I have to do something. Maybe not right this moment, but soon. If it weren't for her... well hell, it's enough that she's a friend, but this can't go on for long.' She thought, then shook the brief contemplation away and focused on the task about to befall her.

Weapons rose and fell and cheers alone threatened to topple the stone of the Golden Fortress. Neia raised her bow horizontally over her head and looked to the crenelations. No more scorpion bolts came down, and she could hear the crack of CZ's weapon, she was probably responsible for that. Or so she was thinking when Fluder arrived at her position.

"Are you ready, 'student' of magic?" Neia asked with a smile of pure bloody joy on her face, the grin split from ear to ear as if the desperately thirsty had found water.

"Of course, Neia Baraja." Fluder said as he stroked his long thin white beard.

"If you take the gate down in one blow, I'll ask my lord to reward you somehow, I want the last survivor to know what terror looks like." Neia said with a hungrily disconcerting smile.

Fluder watched the fading away of her natural eyes and the forming of the dark, had she the red orbs within the center, it would have been the spit and image of his master, but to him, curious as the change was, all that mattered was the possibility of reward of new knowledge.

He gave a nearly toothless grin and turned to face the gate. "[Fly]." He cast, and slowly ascended to the air. When he'd moved to the central position that gave him the best view of the gate, raised a hand up. He could see the fearful scurrying of the people below, a few caught sight of him and looked up with eyes pleading for mercy that he would not give. "A shame, but you are a sacrifice to my pursuit of knowledge, a sacrifice to my god. So... goodbye." He said with an uncaring shrug. [Maximize Magic - Napalm] he cast, and a ball of white hot flame not much larger than a fist formed just inches above the upturned palm of his hand, he lowered his arm and pointing to the gate, the white ball moved with sickening slowness, but Fluder did not stay to watch. To him, it was enough that this was done. He returned to the ground where Neia Baraja waited.

"Is that really enough, those are big gates after all?" She asked with surprise.

Fluder threw back his head and laughed so hard that she could see the back molars of his few remaining teeth. He slapped his chest as if to beat the laughter out of himself, and when he finally regained control and caught her quizzical, cockeyed look, he shook his head. "Yes, my dear General, that was the seventh tier spell I successfully cast some time ago, those gates are done, it just takes a few moments or so before the destruction begins. Just wait, you'll get your offering of blood to our god." He said with confidence that went beyond smug, but Neia was in no mood to doubt.

"I will take you at your word." She said and looked up at the wall again, CZ was wreaking merry hell on anyone who attempted to use a bow or man a scorpion. "I guess she's still a little sore about their assassination attempt." Neia said with sarcasm dripping from her tongue like syrup over pancakes.

"I suppose she is." Fluder remarked as he watched an archer bravely draw a bow, die, only to be replaced by someone else who took it up and tried again, only to die just as quickly as his comrade.

"She might not say much, but she means every word she says, and I couldn't ask for a better friend or bodyguard." Neia said confidently as she held her eyes on the gate. The instant the final word was said, a horrendous boom resounded and a flash of white blinded everyone, and a wave of heat swept over the army, only to disappear beyond them.

Everything was a blur, at least to most of them. But the black eyes of the general were unaffected, as if they had swallowed up the light itself, so Neia was among the first to see that the gate was well and truly shattered. Stone blocks were still flying through the air in a terrible arc, a few bodies sailed with them, and the gate became nothing but splinters and shrapnel. Numerous cries could be heard from within as those who had the misfortune to be too close to the burst were either killed by the force, the localized high temperature, or impaled by lethal shrapnel. The rest were blinded.

"Well done, Fluder! Attack!" Neia shouted with a reverberating voice that ripped through the air like the arrows that had so recently threatened her life, and it demanded she be obeyed.

Farthest from the burst, Neia's soldiers recovered more easily, and Inta's soldiers were quick to heed the call, charging like screaming fanatics. The few hundred survivors of Gustav's forces had a bone to pick with the Theocracy that had slain their general, and they showed it by shouting his name as a battle cry when they came within a few feet of the gate. Neia gave them a minute on their own, allowing them the chance to create the breach, and then she shouted again, "All units! Seize... that... place! Burn it down!"

The entire army began to move as one. The sound of stomping boots, the lowered halberds created a wall of sharp points, the third and fourth ranks drew their swords and prepared to advance. Neia rode her horse in between the marching ranks, her bow out, she picked targets and saw them fall, her actions devoid of any feeling, any thought, arrow... after arrow... after arrow... as they drew ever closer and then joined the mass of soldiers, filling in the gaps where some of Inta's men had fallen. Neia saw him fighting beside his sister not with sword, but with vampiric claws, as if he wanted the Theocracy to know what was killing them. As her soldiers spread out within the fortress and rushed to closed doors to batter them down, the battle became a brawl.

Neia felt her fingers grasp for arrows she no longer had, and put away her bow. Without thinking, she drew her sword and prepared to join the fray, when she felt a hand on her shoulder, the owner of that hand was shouting something, but it was as if it was across a great divide, barely heard and not understood. All Neia could hear was the sound of death screams and the clash of weapons, she picked a man, and the friendly hand on her shoulder pulled harder.

"No!" She finally heard the voice then and whirled on it to find Skana, "You will NOT endanger yourself! Not again!" The tone of her words struck home but Neia only stared at her in blank disbelief, as if she had not really understood. She moved as if to go into the fight again, only to be yanked back even more forcefully.

"General!" Skana shouted over the din of battle, her face wild. Skana's eye was wide with anxiety and her fingers shook as she held the shoulder of her wife, it was her expression most of all that drew Neia back to reality, the hollow blank stare began to fade away, and the inky darkness within the general's eyes faded away, returning them to their natural sky blue shade.

She did not make to return to the rear, but she did grab Skana's shaking hand as if to reassure her, and she did not move to advance within the fortress. "Vampires, seize the walls! Soldiers, bring up ladders! Move to the upper floors, ropes and hooks to take the top of the administration building!"

Her voice boomed out far louder than a woman her size had any right to be capable of, "Orcs to the flanks, surround the remainder! Halberds to the fore, pin them down!" Orders flew fast and hard as she took complete control of the flow of the open ground. Knot after knot began to form as soldiers of the Theocracy were isolated and cut off from support.

Screams of men and women filled the air like water did a vessel, and as if the world had overflowed with them and had no more space for pain, they began to little by little, die out with those who bore them. Neia did not resume her personal advance on horseback until her wife did, and the defenders died by inches, until the entirety of the open ground had only a handful of wounded still struggling to draw themselves away to the relative security of the closed doors of the administrative building where a last stand was in the offing.

Neia rode her horse close to where some of her soldiers, angry, furious, and filled with hate, were making to kill one badly wounded man, and to call him a man would be a stretch, because he was barely old enough to shave. She wondered idly if it was cruelty or mercy to kill someone in that state. He had a spear broken off in his mouth, it pierced through one cheek and out the other before it had been snapped, he had two arrows in his thighs that had somehow missed the arteries that would have given him a quick death, he had a stab wound to his eye that looked similar to Skana's. His helmet was long gone and he was bleeding copiously from several wounds on his head. His guts had the head of a halberd sticking out, and he was writhing and shaking in agony on the ground, his sword was gone, along with the hand that had held it.

He was a sorry, valiant sight. The weapons of her soldiers came up, but before they could stab down and end his pain, she shouted, "Hold!" It froze them in mid strike. The clip clop of her horse was the only sound but for the cries of the wounded, and such had been the power of her voice that many others halted in mid task until they saw to whom she'd spoken.

Neia looked down at the pathetic figure, and he looked up at her with one piteous eye. The Black Paladin did not leave him that way for long, she reached into her pack and pulled out a healing potion. "Remove the implements of war from his body, then use this." She ordered, and cast it to the nearest soldier.

Mystified but obedient, four men held the boy soldier down at the limbs, and extracted the spear from his cheek, the halberd from his guts, the arrows from his thigh by pushing them out the other end, he wailed and screamed and struggled as the already great pain was made worse, but when it was done, they did not hold back on the use of the potion.

"You don't get to die today, boy. I have a use for you." Neia said calmly as the wounds and pain faded, but the grip of those holding him down did not. She let her eyes go black and the terror hit him. "I will give you a task, and you will carry it out. Do you understand?" She asked as her voice reverberated as low as a demon plucked from hell.

"W-What task?" He asked hesitantly, his eyes still wide as he stared up, unable to look away, though he desperately longed to do so.

Not far away, soldiers scaled the outside of the administrative building, walking themselves up the wall as the last defenders of the outer walls died where they stood under the claws of angry vampire siblings.

"General?" Skana asked. Neia ignored her for the present.

Neia looked over her shoulder, "Lakyus! I want you and Blue Rose to take point on the main floor, the rest will descend from above! I don't care about most of those inside, but if you can I want the ones who tried to assassinate me... alive."

Lakyus approached on foot, and her team fell into step behind her. "That we can do, breaking a flag of truce is a very grave offense."

The boy trapped on his back was breathing harder and harder as he went unanswered, Neia watched as the door was smashed in, and the thorns of the rose began to end the lives of the last Theocracy holdouts.

Only when the sounds began to fade did Neia look back to the captive. "We already dispatched one to tell Wheaton that I'm coming for them, but I fear they may still have hope of your victory here." His lips pursed and his breathing slowed as he started to understand, but this immediately changed when the green armored pope got down off of her undead mount and she put herself directly over him with one foot on either side of the soldier's torso, she squatted down and put her hands on his cheek, and she smiled a small, cold smile. "I want you to go and tell them that you've lost, that you alone survived. I want you to be the messenger that makes them see the truth, that I am unstoppable. I am the end of all hope, I am the end of your lives, the end of your nation, the end of your gods, the tip of the divine spear thrust into the heart of your kingdom. The scourge of god is come, and anything and anyone in my way, will perish utterly from this world. Do you understand me, boy." Her voice was as if someone had taken silk and turned it into a garrott. He couldn't look away, he couldn't stop listening, and he couldn't help but piss himself.

He gave a small and rapid series of nods. His dull brown pupils shook within the whites trapped in the reflection given to them by the inky darkness on the Black Paladin.

When she was satisfied, Neia stood up and looked at the soldiers holding him fast. "Let him up, give him a horse and send him out of here. Give him some food and water as well, I don't want him to fail this mission, and he doesn't want to fail either. Do you lad?" Neia asked gently, he could only shake his head as rapidly no as he had nodded rapidly yes before.

A water skin was given to him, and two loaves of bread, and someone brought over a horse. The sound of fighting had vanished completely from within the administrative building.

As soon as he had the horse, he was on it and riding as fast as he could away from the dead fortress. Skana looked at Neia in silence as her wife watched the boy ride away, and felt a swelling of relief. 'She is still capable of mercy, she's not gone... I shouldn't worry so much.' She thought to herself,letting out a deep, audible sigh.

The Black Paladin had a tranquil smile on her face as the boy soldier fled like the demons of Jaldabaoth were at his back, his arrival in Wheaton, Neia felt certain, would bring a panic on the Slane Theocracy like nothing else had. She saw her wife looking over in her direction.

Neia looked over to her, "Are you alright, Skana?" She asked as her sky blue eyes restored themselves.

"Yes, just... you had me worried... I thought... no, never mind what I thought." Skana gave a sweet smile and got down off her horse, approached Neia, and embraced her tightly.

Neia returned the embrace and held it. Soldiers around them were seeing to the end of battle tasks, looking for wounded, tending their own, and inspecting any crates and barrels for any useful supplies, and they were all still doing these things when Lakyus emerged from the administrative building, behind her came Gagaran, and behind them came Tia and Tina, each dragging one of the pair that had been present for the assassination attempt during the truce.

The twins tossed the pair unceremoniously at the feet of General Baraja and Vice Commander Skana. They crashed hard into the bloodstained dirt, and rose to all fours spitting out the foul, copper flavored muck, but they'd barely gotten to their knees when as if they had read one another's minds, Skana and Neia drew their swords out, turned, and ran both men through at the neck.

The two looked up in disbelief at their killers, they grabbed in futility at the blades as if removing the metal would save their lives. All they did was cost themselves a few fingers, the blades held them up, twitching and dying as blood poured down their armor and flesh, until the first drops joined the blood already on the ground. Only then did the vengeful couple withdraw their blades and clean them off, allowing the two fortress leaders to topple into the dirt.

Neia was quick to shout an order, "Gather all the bodies of the enemy dead together and burn them, then dispose of what remains with a proper burial, but these two, do not touch!" She gestured with her blade to the two still twitching corpses. "These violated the laws of peace under the white flag! Strip their bodies and leave them as nothing but naked, dishonored corpses, oathbreakers are fit as nothing but food for the crows and rats!"

It was not a sentiment anyone was willing to argue with, such a violation was completely unprecedented. When Neia put her sword away, she looked over to where the members of Blue Rose were standing. "Thank you all, you did good work today, probably saved a lot of lives."

Lakyus wiped some blood from her cheek and nodded somberly with a neutral face. "It had to be done, we were glad to help."

"And I was glad to have it." Neia responded.

"How long do we stay here, General?" Skana asked as her own sword was returned to its place in her scabbard.

Neia tapped her chin and looked up as she thought it over, "Not long, give the soldiers time to finish their orders, we'll give them a half day's rest after that, and we'll set out in the morning, I want Wheaton to be good and terrified all day tomorrow. As soon as they're ready though, I want the hundred ready to go out and start hitting the farming estates, there are probably a lot here, I want breakers and overseers taken and the farms inspected for indications of brutality."

"And what do we do with them?" Skana asked, already sure she knew the answer, and a tiny part of her that would not stop gnawing at her mind, dreading it.

"Why my love, I should think that would be obvious. Bring them... to me." Neia said, and the blue of her eyes vanished as her instruction reverberated down to Skana's very bones.


	158. Unfurling a Tapestry of Horror

God Rising: The Cult of Ainz

Written by: AtheistBasementDragon

Edited by: The Usual Gang of Drunken Perverted Idiots

Chapter 158: Unfurling a Tapestry of Horror

 **AN: Another chapter down, I'll do maybe two more today, but the pace will slow some soon, however I still shall not be surprised if I have finished this near the start of the New Year, though which side of it, I still cannot say.**

 _...Kami Miyako..._

Enlaith was very good at her work. She rocked her slender body back and forth on top of the human guest that rented the room to which she was assigned. His hands roamed over her and she gave out the moans of pleasure that she and others like her had practiced to the point of perfecting. His face was flushed as he neared his release, he might have felt like a god in that moment, but she thought he looked downright goofy. Were it not for the slender collar around her neck, and the lead attached to it which he suddenly grabbed to pull her down into an embrace, she would have found it almost a mockery. He released the lead, grabbed her mutilated half ears, and twisted them. It didn't hurt as much as he probably thought it did. But she knew better than to let him know that, she let out a little wail of pain that was cut off when he forced his lips to hers in a kiss that she returned with artificial urgency as she felt his body achieve the release he sought.

When it was over, she knew well what to do. In the past, what she did was to massage egos or temper anger or delay further obligations. But now, now she had another purpose altogether. What she did was talk. She rolled off of him and lay at his side. "You were amazing, you did that like it was your last day in this world." She 'sounded' exhausted, like he'd worn her out completely, she let her head hit the pillow, and then traced her delicate fingers over his bare chest, she practically felt his ego swelling. 'I swear, how can anyone be gullible enough to buy these lines?' She wondered.

He was a fit, strong looking man with a number of scars on his flesh. He walked like a soldier, and quickly revealed that was what he was.

"It might be. Or at least my last chance for it." He said resignedly, "I managed to get a few days off before going, but my unit is moving out, we're going to go stop General Baraja."

"Oh?" Enlaith said, anxiously and sat up, she drew her knees to her chest, this was a dangerous moment, his eyes met hers, if he saw hope, who knew how he might react. Some who she'd had were almost... Pitying, toward her, others, brutes who took out their hatred of the Black Paladin's freeing elves, on her, as if the elf assigned to their room was somehow at fault.

"You know of her... I suppose?" He asked as he stretched out and put his hands under his head.

She gave a small nod, no point in denying it, it wasn't believable.

"She goes against the natural order, you know." He said patiently, as if talking to a slow child. "The gods chose humanity, they set us over you, so serving us is what you are meant for."

Enlaith seethed within, whispered out a meek, "Yes sir." She wanted more information though, so rather than stop there as she formerly had, she pushed, "When... you and your hundred thousand go and fight Neia, are you... going to come back after she's beaten, you felt... so good I'd like to see you again."

He smiled proudly as the submissive little elf praised his skills and acknowledged her place, "I wish it were a hundred thousand, there are only forty-five thousand though, but that'll be good enough. After I've killed her, I'll shear her hair and distribute a locke of it to every breaker academy to hang above the entrances." His voice was casual and calm, and he idly reached up and stroked Enlaith's breasts. She started to breath faster, as if he were exciting her.

She began to writhe sensuously, cutting off his ability to engage in 'higher thought' as his own desires were rekindled. "Surely you don't have time to idle with me, she must be far away." She let her hand trail over the length of his torso, down where she knew he wanted it.

"It's no trouble, we got enough horses and wagons that we'll cover twice or three times the distance, we even had our wagons enchanted to make them lighter, before she gets halfway here from Wheaton, we'll catch the bitch off guard and kill her, then... maybe I'll come back here, I could buy you, you know. Maybe bring you to my estate as a concubine..." He made the promise idly, it was, he thought, an appealing carrot to dangle in front of her, everyone knew private concubines lived better lives than even those who worked at expensive inns.

He sighed as all words vanished and they began again. Enlaith mentally filed away every piece of information she was able to glean from him, that afternoon one of her 'regulars' would visit, and pass that information along to another handler, and in the end... she moaned in real excitement as she rocked back and forth atop the man beneath her, excitement born from knowing that she was delivering him to his death. She wondered if it was fair to count him on her list of kills, since he was going to die against the Black Paladin. She was lost in her own vengeful and exciting thoughts as she weighed how to count him, and ultimately concluded just as he finished a second time that... yes, she could, his life, belonged in her tally.

"Amazing." She said with a genuine smile that hid her own savage glee as she put her hand over his chest and felt the heart beat within. As he grinned cockily up to his plaything, she thought with great satisfaction, 'So few beats left, and then... nothing.' She giggled in a kind of empty headed way that always made foolish males happy and let him hand over even more information about his unit, equipment, and more. Between herself and the other elves in their little underground network, the higher ups would know everything short of the average boot size per unit. 'And all because they don't know what their tongues are really for.' She barely restrained another laugh, and kept making mental notes.

 _...Raymond's Home..._

Nua awoke, stretching out her limbs and enjoying a tranquil hour in the darkness, she liked it there, she knew humans couldn't see as well as she could in the dark, so even though she knew she was safe, it still felt good. She winced and touched a sore spot. Solution hit like a brick made of adamantite. "Getting out of the way is the best way for the weak to block. Your speed is your best armor." She'd said indifferently, demonstrating how true it was by way of 'hands on' demonstration. The merciless maid with the sadistic eyes was anything but friendly, but she was thorough and patient.

As a result, Nua learned much, but... she knew very well that she didn't have the instincts of a killer. She stood up from her mat and went upstairs, unsurprisingly she found the children awake and working on their reading. They were smiling a lot now. She walked past the children and ruffled Boreas's hair playfully as she set about the task of preparing a meal for Raymond. She barely noticed when he pressed his hair back down so it was neat again and looked at her with childish annoyance. She smirked as she set herself to her usual routine. Solution might be strong, powerful, deadly, and a disturbingly good maid, but one thing Nua knew how to do was ensure that Raymond not only 'had' a good meal ready for him, but that he actually 'ate' it rather than let it sit.

The work was brisk to the point that she barely gave it a thought, and soon a tray was prepared and off she went up the stairs with the little dish, a small plate of eggs and a little bacon, with a cup of juice and a small pot of tea and two cups. She did not eat with him, but at his insistence, as she would not leave till he had eaten, she at least prepared a cup to have tea for herself while she lingered.

She went to his private office and, true to form, there he was, his face haggard and long, looking more like a human in his eighties than a man of his forties. No trace of sympathy stirred within her breast for the soldiers the Black Paladin had robbed of life, yet she understood why it was so for him, and for him, she felt a swelling sadness. Dominic had raged about the deaths and ordered twenty elves hanged. It was one to mark every thousand, for no other purpose than the hope that word would reach the heretic and wound her.

Raymond though, a part of him broke at the weight of it all, so many in one moment was unheard of for his country. Yet out of his heartache and the age that had suddenly attacked him, came a renewed vigor to bring an end to everything and he worked insanely long hours going through every report, every document, every piece of intelligence he came across and putting it together in such a way that it was most useful to the Sorcerer King's armies.

She set the tray in front of him, he barely noticed, or didn't at all. She touched his shoulder, "Raymond... please." She said softly, bending down and whispering it into his ear.

"Eat something." She whispered further.

He didn't look up from what he was reading, and scrawled a notation on a document next to it. She stamped her foot in frustration, then lightly slapped him across the face. "Stop!" She snapped. "You can't keep doing this to yourself!"

He looked up at her in surprise. His expression went blank, "Just stop it! You won't end the war a day earlier by skipping meals! You won't save my people or save me or anyone else by forgetting to take care of yourself! You're not one of those monsters that doesn't need to sleep, you're not an undead! You need food, you need to drink, you need to sleep!" Her vision went blurry as emotion got to her.

"I... I know that." He whispered, "But..." He let out a sigh and put the document aside, whatever he was going to say, he didn't say it. Instead he slid the tray closer to himself and said simply, "Thank you." To her ears, he sounded like a broken slave grateful for some pathetic small kindness like fresh straw to sleep on.

Nua poured the tea with graceful ease, first his, then her own, and sat down opposite Raymond. He ate quietly, the usual conversations that had once been a kind of highlight for her day were all but gone. Now it was silence, and not the amicable sort between companions, but like standing over an open grave.

She decided to try to start one herself, "Is the tea to your liking?" She asked as he took a sip.

"Yes, it is marvelous as always." He said in a voice more dulled than a spoon.

"Liar. You don't even taste it, do you?" She replied as she looked at him with downcast eyes.

"I guess not, things have lost their savor lately, it isn't you." Raymond replied.

"What is it then? I understand about the thousands Neia killed, but all total there have been many more than that lost in the war so far, so why is this so hard on you, please..." She spontaneously reached out across the desk and touched his hand, "Raymond?"

He looked down, the way her little hand touched his. 'I owe her an answer...' He thought resolutely, and looked at her face again. "I realized something then."

"What?" She asked in a tender voice.

Raymond spoke slowly, as if every word had the weight of a mountain to it, and it was hard to push it past his lips, but little by little, he spoke them nonetheless. "That my country truly has no future, for six hundred years, we've called ourselves the defenders of humanity, we've helped all the surrounding human nations at one time or another, one way or another, we were even once allied with the elves themselves. And now we're going to cease to exist. When this war ends, I'm probably going to hang for my part in this country's ways, and you know what, I can live with that. At least right up to the moment the rope snaps taut. But my kingdom is simply going to cease to exist as if we never were, and that hits hard. Maybe it does deserve to disappear after what we let ourselves become, but... still, it is a hard thing to see a home burn."

Nua didn't know what to say to that. 'OK, what do I say to that? At least I always knew I had a country out there, a place that, if I got away from here, I could go back to.' She thought and scrambled for something to say. She came up with nothing.

She drank slowly as he finished his food, tea, and thanked her. "Forgive me, Nua, but I'd... like to be alone, I have to finish this document and get it to Solution, this one..." he gestured to it, "contains the phony report of Thousand Mile Astrologer that will prompt Dominic to pull forces from Feron to stop a nonexistent army from coming up from the South behind Fortress Alaf. It should make it easy for Aalon to take Feron in a few days, with minimal losses. Oh, and... could you have this run over to the counting house and put into my storage box today?" He added as he took out another document from his desk drawer and slid it over to her.

She took it up and answered, "Of course but, what is it, Raymond?" She asked gingerly.

He gave a smile that was crooked and quivering, but genuine and even happy, in a twisted sort of way as he answered. "It's my will. I can't legally, under current Slane Theocracy law, leave anything to an elf, since under our laws you're livestock. But as long as I don't identify you by name, after the war is over, it should be no problem. It leaves almost everything to, 'The girl who brought me breakfast every morning.' There are a few other things there set aside for life long servants here, but the sale of this estate, even if there is nothing left on it but the land, will be enormously valuable. Not to mention the various works of art or other objects. You'll be able to distribute enough money for every former slave and human inhabitant of this house to live comfortably for several human lifetimes if they're sensible with it. There are also a few things set aside for Zesshi, but the lion's share... goes to you. I don't expect you to forgive us for what we've done, but at least you can rest easy thereafter."

She looked down at the document. She wiped her eyes fiercely, roughly with her sleeve. "Why?" She asked abruptly.

"Why what?" He responded as he picked up the document he'd been working on before.

"Why are you so sure you're going to die, why do you sound like you want to? Why do you think you deserve it? You're one of the good ones, I'm sure you are now, maybe it was hard to accept in the past but... but you've proven it, how can a just ruler, a just god, hang you?" She demanded furtively.

"Because I wasn't always this." He said flatly, "I spent a lifetime believing different things, doing different things, being something close to the human being that haunted your nightmares, no I wasn't a patron of brothels, true I didn't beat elves for the fun of it, but I ignored what we were becoming as a people. I supported human supremacy and worked for the eradication or subjugation of other races, including yours, I might add. I can't overturn that, not by a few months of kindness and decency! I could save ten thousand slaves, a hundred thousand, a million, and it would never change the past. And because of that, I don't have a future!" He said with a sharp, judgemental voice as he pronounced his own guilt.

Nua's mouth closed slowly and she rubbed her eyes clean of tears again, "But... I don't want you to die. Other than... well I guess I can call Aalon 'good' now... ah, you're one of the only humans I've ever met who was decent, who wasn't a monster, I don't want you to... go." She whimpered out in a childlike plea.

Raymond flashed a wry, tender smile. "Neia and Skana were right, you are a gentle one. Just... after all this is over, light a candle for me or something."

Nua took up the tray and walked out of his office, she barely noticed performing her tasks for the rest of the day.

 _...Dominic's Home Office..._

"This doesn't make a damn bit of sense." Dominic said angrily and slammed his fist on his desk.

"What doesn't, master?" Yarvin asked with infinite patience as he laid a tray down at the desk.

"These reports." He slapped a hand down on the document to his left. "I send out the prison divisions to stop an army, only to find that no army is anywhere in the vicinity and there's no indication that they ever were. I send out the caster brigade to deal with an incoming monster, only to find no monster. I send out workers to repair damage to a bridge running over the river that passes close to here, only to find the bridge is intact and the laborers are wasting their time. But all of these reports come from Meidhall..."

Yarvin looked long and hard at his master. "Master, may I speak freely?" He asked gravely.

Dominic looked up at the elf slave that had served his house for generations. In all the time he'd known Yarvin, that question had never passed his lips. "Yes." He answered honestly, searching his face with an attentive gaze.

"Master, if she cannot be wrong, then she can only be lying. Perhaps she is deceived by some dread magic, but you have spoken of the Sorcerer King and his minions often, and never mentioned grand illusions being among their skills, I believe you should test the Lady Meidhall to see if she is as loyal as you believe. If she is, then there is no problem, if she is not..." Yarvin let the sentence hang and opened his hands as if the answer were obvious, and it was.

Dominic slumped, sullen more than angry now. Yarvin reached out and touched the Cardinal's shoulder, "Master, please, eat something, you can't continue to work these hours endlessly, the chosen of humanity need you at your best, and it wounds me deeply to see you seeming so frail in these difficult times."

Dominic gave a tired look at his food and then up to his family's slave. "You're right, Yarvin, thank you. You know, I don't think I ever could have come this far without you."

"Master is too kind, shall I send a she to your bed tonight?" Yarvin asked in a serene, crisp voice as Dominic began to eat.

"Yes, I think so, I have some stress to ease." Dominic replied.

"As you wish, master." Yarvin replied, and waited patiently in front of the desk until the food and drink were completely consumed, before taking the tray and its now empty dishes and removing both them and himself from the room to see to his remaining tasks, and to select one of the females to send to Dominic's bed that night.

 _...E-Rantel..._

Berenice looked down at her body and touched it. Her hand passed through smoothly, but the illusion was otherwise 'perfect'. "So this is what I'd look like if I were a man, huh?" She asked Entoma in a voice that was, in a word, 'deep'. The little bug on her throat itched a little at first, but now she didn't notice it at all.

"Something like that." Entoma said as she stroked her chin thoughtfully. "You'd probably be taller but... it's best if the illusion is as close to what you're used to moving around as possible, I hate to be the bearer of bad news but... you make a very ugly man."

Berenice laughed, it was booming and loud, so strange that it was now 'her' voice for the present. "I won't argue the point." She said with a vigorous nod, "I definitely agree, but we can say for sure nobody would possibly recognize me now."

"No, definitely not." Entoma agreed, "Now, where would you like to go?" She asked as she clapped her hands together enthusiastically.

"Where should I go?" Berenice asked doubtfully, "I only ever heard of this city as either a nightmare or an impossibility, obviously I know it is neither, but that leaves me knowing nothing at all."

"Well, would you like to try the food, or would you like to visit some of the shops? Or try some of the local entertainment? Living chess has become a popular spectator sport, and there are athletic competitions, or perhaps you'd like to see the public buildings or the gardens?" Entoma ticked off the options on one hand, overwhelming Berenice with the degree of possibilities available to her.

"Ah, well I don't have any money for shopping so, I guess that is out, and I wouldn't know what to buy anyway." She said with a shrug.

Entoma laughed like a silver bell and drew a small pouched, "A gift from His Majesty, a little pocket money to be spent at your discretion, a token of 'goodwill' for your good behavior." She tossed it to Berenice, who opened it to find a mix of gold and silver coins.

"I will... be sure to thank him properly later." She said, stunned at the hospitality of her... 'captor/host'.

"That wouldn't be a bad idea." Entoma nodded sagely, "But now, where would you like to go?"

"Well, I suppose I'd like to shop a bit, the room I've been given is luxurious but... I assume I'll be there for awhile, so I'd like to personalize it a little." Berenice said thoughtfully as she strapped the coin purse to her side.

"I... don't have to worry about it being stolen, do I?" She asked uncertainly, "I'd be ashamed beyond measure if the gift of the Sorcerer King were stolen from me."

Entoma shook her head vigorously, "Absolutely not, a city ruled by His Majesty is the safest place in the world for any honest person."

Berenice found it hard to accept but was unwilling to argue. So she simply gestured down the road and requested, "Then please, lead the way."

Entoma obliged, while a dumbfounded Berenice began to look more closely at the surroundings, a death knight crossed the street in front of her a great lumbering behemoth twice to three times the height of a normal man, it exuded dread from its wilted skin like a warm cherry pie exuding the scent of delicious sweetness. Yet to her astonishment, nobody seemed to give a damn that this legendary monster was walking somewhere.

Berenice was so dumbfounded in fact, that she did not even have it in her to ask about what she just saw. She simply followed as if she were a child following a parent with no idea where she was actually being taken.

A soul eater ran past, this one pulling a cart, an even more impossible sight than the death knight, and it was a donkey or a horse as far as practical matters were concerned. She gawked at that, and stopped to watch it pass behind her. Just like the death knight, nobody seemed to notice. "What's the matter?" Entoma asked.

"I've heard of this, but seeing it? That's another matter." Berenice remarked, still scarcely believing the male voice she was stuck using, was for the moment 'hers'.

"Common feeling for newcomers." Entoma said with a sage inclination of her head, "But come along now. There are things available in E-Rantel that are like nothing else you've ever seen, they still haven't spread beyond here and Carne, except for a few shipments that have begun to make it into Argland to be used by their wealthy."

Berenice obeyed her guide and guard, and soon found herself in a large open air shopping district. For a solid minute, all she could do was stand and just... gawk.

 _...Wheaton..._

Wesda had never thought much about the gods, despite his upbringing. "The gods don't need me much, and they don't seem to do much either, but people, people seem to do a whole lot." That was what he'd always said, anyway. But when he rode out the gate of the Golden Fortress, it wasn't people he was praising. He rode like the demon emperor was on his heels, and the truth was, it might as well have been. He rode his horse till it would ride no more, then he ran to the entrance of the city of Wheaton and demanded a horse be given to him.

"Who are you to demand a horse?" The guard asked, sneering at his clearly lower rank, then going silent as he saw that on the face of the common soldier, was fear and trembling.

"I'm a soldier from the Golden Fortress, and I tell you I have got to get to the high command of the city 'now' or all is lost!" he pleaded and grabbed the shoulders of the sergeant in front of him.

The sergeant nodded urgently, and drew a horse from the common stable and slapped it on the rump as soon as Wesda had mounted it.

Wesda rode through the city as fast as he could, he paid no mind to the safety of the people in the thoroughfare, more than one person in fine clothing dove out of the way, shocked at his breach of public etiquette, only for him to keep going, leaving them shouting curses and waving a fist at him as he left them behind.

He got to the manor that held the city government and blew past the guards so fast that they feared him an assassin. They chased after him as he jumped off the horse and ran through the double doors. He ran down the halls, through more doors, past dismayed and confused citizens who could not understand why this young man who was covered in road dust and sweat so thick it had mixed with the dust to turn him brown as a dark elf, was doing what he was doing.

The guards at his back were dismayed that any one of their number could move so quick in armor, and it was only with the greatest difficulty that they caught up to him just as he burst through the entrance of the main hall and shouted, "Neia is coming!" He got the words out just as the two pursuers managed to jump and tackle him to the ground with a great clang and clash of metal on metal.

They heard his words at once and got off of him, but so too had the administrators, nobles, and the few attending military leaders.

"What was that?" An officer said with doubt thick in his voice.

"Neia is all the way over in the Roble Holy Kingdom, she can't possibly be here! Don't spout such nonsense!" He snorted and stroked the breast of his fine dress uniform.

The two pursuers helped him rise and he gave them brief nods of thank you, "I don't know where she was, sir, but I know where she 'is' I saw her myself. Her army is 'here' she is besieging the Golden Fortress." Wesda said urgently.

"If that is true, how do you come to be here?" The officer asked as if he were a lawyer finding a sharp question to 'catch' a witness in a lie.

"The Black Paladin let me go, she 'wanted' you to know that she was here!" Wesda shouted, hoping that a loud voice had greater penetrating power through what he increasingly saw as a very thick head.

It wasn't his voice that got through, it was the fear on his face. The officers and leaders of the city looked at one another quietly and one phrase ran through all their minds in various forms. 'He's serious.'

"Raise the alarm! Call the guards to the walls! Send word to the settlements to bring horses and supplies, do it!" A junior officer shouted, taking an impromptu command when his senior commander stood frozen and pale white.

As if snapped out of a trance, people began to move wildly about the tasks to carry out the order. "You, soldier, come with me and tell me everything you can about what you saw."

Wesda could only fall into step behind the junior that had acted as a senior. "Yessir... Captain..."

"Graff." He said, and Wesda took another look at the man beside him. He wasn't extremely large, if anything he was relatively short, but his uniform was tight and unlike the rest, he wore a breastplate and sword despite the informal setting he'd been in. He had a thin brown mustache and piercing blue eyes.

"I want to know what she's got and how long we have before she gets here, every piece of information you can think of, no matter how trivial." Captain Graff said with a voice as calm as the waters of a pond on a windless day. He exuded confidence, and Wesda began to relax.

Wesda began to detail everything he knew, and he was still telling him all he saw and answering questions after they'd left the building and were in the midst of the street when they heard the screaming begin.

They whirled to look behind them in dismay as they saw what, to Wesda, was a familiar face. This one however, was broken. "Neia is coming! Neia is coming! Neia is coming! Run for your lives!"

"Oh, that clever bitch." Graff said with anger and admiration in his voice.

"What, sir?" Wesda asked as the broken soldier rode on without stopping, heedless of all attempts to stop him.

Graff gestured around, "The soldiers running to positions were a curiosity to the citizens, drills aren't uncommon, but now she sends this one to tell everybody. The city will panic. They might have ignored you, but combined with obvious military actions, they will consider it true and... ugh. If we're lucky, it will only be a riot."

"I... I see." Wesda said sadly, "That means it's over. She killed all my friends, 'cept him. Not much of him left now though. The Golden Fortress has fallen."

Graff did not go pale, but a faint twitch of his eye would give away his concern to the most observant, he ran through what he knew of the place, a few thousand soldiers, nothing enormous, but it shouldn't have fallen that fast. It was meant to hold out for weeks, not hours.

But the situation was now well beyond his control, the civilians were starting to panic, people were fleeing through the streets. The soldier who came in in a panic had lost himself, and as if Neia's voice were his, he shouted her final words to him. "The end of hope..."

Graff held himself together and began barking orders to soldiers, senior, junior, it didn't matter, [Command Presence] he whispered, and activated his own martial art. The civilians were a problem, but a mere inconvenience, he had to take control of the defence of the city and do it fast.

That, fortunately, was what he was best at.

Wesda, not knowing what else to do, remained with him as they gathered units and gave orders, slowly order began to take shape, but the streets began to empty, and he had no idea why, but he had a very unpleasant thought, 'I... don't think the reason why is going to turn out to be good for us.'


	159. The Beginning of All Hope

God Rising: The Cult of Ainz

Written by: AtheistBasementDragon

Edited by: The Usual Gang of Drunken Perverted Idiots

Chapter 159: The Beginning of All Hope

...Elf Kingdom Palace...

"Get up! Get up you piece of shit!" Zesshi shouted to her father, he was of such a contrary nature that he actually hesitated to do so, as if to stay down on the floor simply to deny the wish of someone else. Zesshi did not hold back on her words, "You ruined my life! You ruined my mother's life! You ruined the lives of my brothers and sisters! Now it's time to ruin yours!" Her hate was as thick as a bog and as sharp as an obsidian edge. She was moving toward him step by step with deadly purpose. Her scythe rose and fell at the head, as if it were nodding in agreement with her every word.

As he stood up, he could only sneer at her. "You're welcome to try, bitch, but I put your mother on her back and got you out of it, wonder what I'll get out of you, and unlike the last time with that bitch, I won't leave anyone around to rescue you or steal away what belongs to me."

Zesshi looked him over, he'd been thrown through naked, and after he spoke, she knew exactly how to insult him best, "I'm not worried, if that's the best you've got there, I doubt I'd even notice. Such a tiny little 'sword'." She laughed at him and stroked her scythe's long handle lovingly.

"This is much... much better, so strong and firm, and with a marvelous head... but then, you'll find that out first hand... bitch." Zesshi's lips curled up in a sneer that mirrored his, her black and white eyes flashed with deadly intent. In his rage, the Elf King's killing intent poured out and swept over her.

She tossed her scythe up into the air and opened her arms as if to embrace his wrath, and unleashed her own, it blasted back at him with every ounce of the same raw bloodlust he was capable of, and more besides.

The scythe spun as it arched into the air and it came down to be caught in her other hand.

[Steel skin] [Painless] [Beast Rage] [Mountain Fist] [Phalanx] [Greater Strength] [Focus] [Greater Focus] [Speed of Arrow] [Body of Anvil] He rattled off the skills he knew with practiced ease, but his voice was not alone.

[Berserker Rage] [Dull Pain] [Greater Penetration] [Tireless Warrior] [Greater Agility Boost] [Ability Boost] [Greater Ability Boost] [Harden] [Greater Harden] Zesshi spouted off her martial arts just as fast, but as she did, she wondered at the strange and unfamiliar skills he used, and his evident lack of martial arts... but then they moved and she set that aside, his fist flashed forward and Zesshi took it in the chest, her scythe moving past her, she felt nothing and spun on her heel, as he continued forward, she pulled the scythe back, drawing the blade against his bare chest.

He stopped, for an instant, smiling, there wasn't any pain and it hadn't torn him in half, it occurred for him for a lightning instant to turn and laugh, only for something wholly unexpected to happen, she continued to turn and caught in the hold of the scythe head, she hefted him bodily and flung him across the room to blast straight through that wall and then through two consecutive rooms, bouncing and rolling along the ground until he finally stopped dead.

"Gah! Insolent whelp!" He shouted from where he landed, he punched the ground and charged again, roaring like a bull. Zesshi could feel her armor's power coursing through her body, everything it was telling her about the way he moved, like it was remembering every step and how he took it, she gave a berserker's shout and ran at him with her scythe up high.

He moved under it and expecting her to do the same thing again, he chose to grab her by the throat instead, he started to squeeze, and held her up. "You'll fall asleep in a few seconds, when you wake up, you'll wake up with another heir already taking hold within you." He looked at her with fury and wrath, expecting to see fear and panic, expecting her to flail and curse and spit.

He did not get what he expected, she dropped her scythe and grabbed his wrist with both hands, and squeezed. He didn't understand it at first, he felt the pressure, but 'painless' eliminated almost all sensation unless the limb itself was at risk. So when the pain hit, he realized the danger and let go. Zesshi did not, however, collapse and choke and cough, instead she landed in a crouch, and launched herself with her legs, her black and white hair flying behind her and hatred burning in her eyes, she now had him by the throat. But she did not speak, she did not taunt, nor did she hold him aloft and do nothing.

She brought him down, hard.

The floor cracked underneath the force, he grabbed her wrist and started to squeeze. She lifted his entire body with one hand again, and screamed her fury as she brought him down again. He kept squeezing, she used him like a hammer she was driving against a nail. Again, and again, and again, until she rose and spun backwards, flinging him across the room back towards his undeserved throne.

Thirg and Tefl watched with mute fascination as he hit the throne between them, bowled it over, and sailed down the passage like a tumbleweed in the wind. "Think that did it?" Thirg asked his sister.

"Nope, not a chance. Not if he's like she is." Tefl said and jabbed her thumb toward Zesshi.

She turned out to be correct, he came down the hall as fast as he could, a flash of naked flesh, a behemoth of muscle that made Thirg's enormous body look small and waifish by comparison.

But if muscle mattered to Zesshi, she gave no sign, she grabbed his wrist and pulled it out and punched hard right at the elbow, snapping at the joint where it was most vulnerable.

He whirled with a kick and caught her in the kidney, sending her flying into the wall through two more rooms as if to mock her previous feat. He stood smug and confident, until he heard her laughter.

When Zesshi sailed through the air at the kick, and saw that she was going to hit the wall, she protected her face and head with her arms, went through one great wooden barrier, through another empty room, hit that wall, then the next, and finally came to rest, but she did not land clumsily, she hit the ground and rolled smoothly to her feet to slap the wall with her back. It was far more graceful than what it sounded like when her bastard father had landed. She laughed and touched her duelist armor. It was such marvelous stuff, she dusted it off and let him hear her laugh, came at him again, laughing the whole time.

Her hair was lifted by the breeze, her movement made of the air, as if a cape, she came on and this time slid under a punch, went behind him, jumped onto his back, her arm went around his neck in a choke hold, and her teeth came down hard, biting him on the ear.

That had clearly hurt him, he flailed around to try to grab her, and paused to howl when she tore his ear halfway off. She spat it onto the ground where it slid along the floor. "You don't deserve to be an elf! I'm taking everything from you!" She shouted wildly as she moved her head to the other side, and tore that ear clean off at the halfway point as well. That half joined the first before he managed to grab her arm and pull her slowly away from her choke hold.

"Fucking bitch!" He shouted when he gulped in air and managed to fling her over his shoulder to roll over to the ground, she landed near her scythe and took it up.

The Elf King was approaching again, she took up her blade and wiped the blood from her lips. "You look like a slave, bitch." She sneered as she rose from the floor with her scythe in hand. "You're so weak, you're pathetic, you're nothing, all this time, you were this big bad monster, but all you really are is a needle dicked tyrant just a little more powerful than those around you."

That set him off, he rushed at her again, his remaining good arm and his kicks came hard and fast, Zesshi blocked some, but landed her own blows with much greater precision and his blows were only mildly painful.

Thirg and Tefl watched from where they stood, knowing full well that it was only their vampire senses that allowed them to keep up with the fight even as much as they were. The combatants were a blur, they hit so hard that the floor cracked under them and threatened to give way, the walls shook and the echo of their strikes sent noise out beyond the palace.

Finally Zesshi managed a blow with an open palm so hard that it sent him sailing through the outer wall of the palace in an arc over the city he ruled, he fell with a roar all the way down to the stone street, and he broke several stones into an outline of his body.

The population, seeing their invincible king, naked, bleeding, bruised, and missing his ears, were too frightened even to run away, they were frozen as he roared like a dragon, they followed his expression up to the hole in the palace where a single figure stood holding a scythe and cackling into the dark.

Zesshi didn't wait for him to come back, she jumped out of the hole in the wall and landed a few feet away from where he was starting to get to his feet. His heterochromatic eyes were filled with wrath, but he was hurting.

The half elf daughter of the king of sorrows moved slower, holding her scythe over her shoulder as she came close to him, she didn't tell him to get up this time, she kicked him full in the face, sending him back down onto his back, he snapped back, hard enough that a great boom echoed from where he lay, prone below her.

"Get up." She finally said, and he tried to rise, pushing himself off the ground, she kicked him in the face again. "I said, get up! By order of the Elf Queen, I said get up!"

That angered him, and he moved faster, but not fast enough, she kicked him in the side of his head, sending him rolling thirty feet down the street.

"What's the matter?! Aren't you strong?!" Zesshi mocked him, his body was covered with cuts and bruises, it was obvious that several ribs were snapped, the arm she broke now had a bone sticking clear out of the skin.

He tried to get up anyway, but she flashed close and stomped on his crotch, drawing a squeal of agony from him.

"You've been a 'very' bad little bitch. I'm afraid if you can't play nice with your toys, you're going to have them taken away from you." She stomped again, he squealed again to match, gawkers gathered in ever greater numbers as this impossible deliverance unfolded.

She brought her scythe up, and spun it over head so he could see it, finally it appeared in his eyes, the look she longed for. Fear. She was not the only one to see it, faces of shock and disbelief changed to exultant smiles.

"Stop her!" The Elf King shouted. Nobody moved. "Don't you get it you fools?! I have your families, stop her or they die like the worthless dogs they are!" He shouted the threat with a joyful expression on his face as he saw the agonized looks on their resigned faces, the way eyes glassed over as they were obliged to snuff out the glimmer of hope they just bore witness to.

Zesshi laughed down at him, "No, they won't! Even as we speak, my comrades, assisted by the most powerful monarch in the world, are setting everyone free! You have no leverage now, scum. I've taken everything from you, except for your favorite toys, and you're going to lose those in just a minute."

He looked around, and shouted the order again, refusing to believe what his daughter was telling him, still nobody moved, the glass eyed look of hopelessness however, was fading from the faces of the observers. They, quite clearly, believed, or at least desperately enough wanted to, that they ignored the order. Zesshi kicked him square in the balls, he grabbed the injured place and the scythe came down, taking off his right hand.

He flung his arm out, sending blood spatter out into the crowd, Zesshi's scythe went up above her again, and came down from the other direction, cutting the other hand off at the wrist.

Zesshi began to laugh as his arms flailed worthlessly. "Hold still, I want this to hurt." She said and brought her foot up, then spun so that she was in line with him, and brought her foot down hard just above his pelvic bone, the behemoth of an elf gasped out and lost all breath to even scream. Zesshi brought her scythe down between his legs. "This is for my mother, and the rest of us, bitch." She said cooly, and gelded him entirely, letting his favorite toys fall uselessly to the ground from between his legs.

The Elf King cried out then, in gasps choked off by agony and shock took over his body. Zesshi walked over his body like he was a carpet, until she stood with a foot over either side of his torso and put her scythe behind his neck. "You think this is the end for you?" She looked down into his accusing and hateful eyes, blood was choking off any words he might have uttered, "It isn't. This is just the beginning, for me, for all my people, and for you. But for your part, you have to die first." She said, and lifted her scythe, it separated the flesh of his neck and his vertebrae, and left him in two pieces.

Zesshi picked up the head by his golden hair and held it aloft. "The King is dead! Long live the Queen!" She shouted to a confused crowd that was rapidly spiralling toward overwhelming joy, they might have knelt to her then, but instead she went back into the palace that could now be called 'hers' and made her way back to the throne room with relative ease.

Thirg and Tefl had set the throne upright again. When she returned, they gestured to the seat from either side of it. "Your Majesty, please take a seat, we'll go tell everyone it is over, though..." cheers began to echo throughout the city as word began to spread from ear to ear, "they might find that out before we can tell them." Thirg said with a satisfied grin on his face.

Zesshi did as he suggested, and took a seat on her throne. "Tefl, go tell His Majesty that the Elf King has been beheaded, and when he's finished, I would be forever grateful if I could kneel before him as he sits in my father's throne and give my loyalty to him a second time. Thirg, it might not be necessary as I'm sure word will spread, but... go ahead and do as you suggest, go tell everyone that my father is dead at the hands of his daughter, and that they may come and give their loyalty as soon as they are ready, and see his head in my hands for themselves."

The pair moved from her side and stood in front of her, then bowed, and split up to carry out their respective tasks.

She all but collapsed in that moment, it all hit her, the head, silent, staring hatefully through empty eyes, the pain slammed home against her her like a ton of bricks, she coughed up blood into her hand and wiped it on the armrest of the throne, he really had hit hard. Her claim of his weakness had been more bluff to anger him than accurate description. Her entire body started to shake and tremble as it never had before. She touched her ribs, three were broken for sure, but pained or not, she didn't care, she had only one thought. 'He's dead, he's really dead, a lifetime ambition... and it is done... how... I can hardly believe it.' Her breathing came hard and fast in and out of her lungs, he'd been the strongest being she'd ever fought other than Mare himself, the object of hatred for an entire population, by himself he was an army, by himself he could command a nation's obedience, and now he was no more.

'But... now what?' She wondered as the stunning realization hit her, and she thought of the centuries of tomorrows yet to come.

...Elf Kingdom...The Dungeon...

Down below, Ainz, accompanied by Tuare, Yuri, and Pestonya, was glad of his faceless nature. 'Nobody in this world built this place.' He thought as he touched the walls, they looked all too familiar.

He moved silently through familiar halls as if his feet knew where to go without ever being directed by his mind, but he was yanked out of that reverie when he heard voices from nearby rooms with very familiar doors. A good looking young man of dark hair and moderate build, who carried a long spear that, at Ainz's estimation, was definitely of Yggdrasil and was used by players around level fifty to sixty-five, approached and knelt. The weapon, as promised, was carried on his back so as to not appear threatening.

"You are without question, the Sorcerer King." He said formally, he did not bow his head, and Yuri looked far less than pleased at that, biting her lip to keep back the urge to rebuke him for his impudence. Her fury spat out in an instant, "Lower your head, you insolent human!" She snapped out.

Ainz raised a hand up to stop her, but did not look behind him as he spoke."It's alright, Yuri, he's not one of my subjects... I can forgive a measure of rudeness this once, as he's aided me, however remotely, in keeping a promise to a servant."

The Black Scripture member kept quiet at the exchange, but he did not obey Yuri either. "Sorcerer King, I pray you take no offense, for... the moment, I am still of the Slane Theocracy, it would be unseemly of me to lower my head as long as that condition persists."

Ainz cocked his head, "Did you not betray them for the sake of your comrade, and carry out this task for her?"

"I did, mighty King, but I have yet to tender a formal resignation, and renounce them as my comrade did." He replied calmly, "I know little of you beyond rumors and reports, but if Zesshi trusts you, then I am compelled to do the same, but... what use would you have for me anyway?" His voice became curious at the end, and Ainz thought it over.

"Stay with your comrade, I think. You crossed battle lines for her, why not stay with her? Having a few humans loyal to her to help rebuild the shattered elven nation after the war might help ease some prejudices that might come up in the future otherwise." Ainz replied in a lordly voice. "But there are more than just you, are there not? Where are the rest?" He asked as he looked around, in the distance he could hear faint cries and shattering metal.

"Time Turbulence and Divine Chant are cutting the chains that bind the captives, I was going to do the same, but... I thought it best to greet you personally as Captain of the Black." He answered cooly. "May I ask, what you will do with Zesshi after she has accomplished her goal?"

Far up above, the sound of thundering blows and the feel of shaking began in earnest. "I believe she's busy doing that right now, unless I miss my guess." The Captain said, craning his neck upward as if he expected to see the fight.

"Agreed," Ainz replied matter of factly. "And after she wins, well, she is a princess of this kingdom by birth, they will need a new ruler, it would be simplest to accept her as the ruler here and let her take a vassalage oath to me."

"Astute." The captain said succinctly. "If she becomes the Queen, I can speak for my surviving companions and myself that we will serve loyally."

"You are not troubled by my being undead?" Ainz asked with surprise. "That seems to be a persistent sticking point among the Slane Theocracy command structure."

The Captain sighed, "I won't tell you it doesn't bother me 'at all' because it does, but Zesshi does not trust 'anyone' lightly, and she's sworn fealty to you completely, and you've kept your promise to her, a promise our cardinals never kept, and Raymond trusts you, that much was clear in the letter, and Raymond is in his own way, even less trusting than Zesshi. Also... we have access to every piece of information there is on surrounding nations and targets. I know as much as it is possible for anyone in my country to know of you."

"And what is your judgement?" Ainz asked with genuine curiosity.

"Whatever you are or appear to be, you are not a normal undead, we don't recognize your... species, but if you're playing some game on us, I don't see it. Best I can tell, you just want to be a good king. You might be evil, but I've never met a good king that wasn't. Good people, make for shit kings and queens. So... what else can I do? If Raymond and Zesshi are telling the truth, and neither has ever lied to me, my country is done, and I'm not throwing what's left away for nothing." He explained practically.

Ainz thought that answer over, it was a treasonous answer similar to Fluder's, but for far more noble reasoning, leaving the Sorcerer King unsure as to how to mark him down in his heart's ledger.

"And what of your gods?" Ainz asked.

"We're the descendants of our gods, obedience to the past is just peer pressure from the dead, and we of the Black forge our own destiny with our own strength, we serve the nation because we believe in it, but if my ancestors don't like what decisions I've made, let them come and tell me themselves." He said with a noble bearing and confidence that Ainz could not help but admire.

Then he let loose a laugh, "Peer pressure from the dead, I will remember that one."

"Very well, go, help your comrades, my own will follow you, I want to look around here for a bit, after they've been healed, those who require it, they can be released." Ainz said and waved his hand ahead of him to the shadowed corridors beyond where cries of joy and relief and the clang of metal continued to echo.

"As you wish, Sorcerer King." The captain said, then stood, bowed, and retreated.

"Tuare, come with me. Yuri and Pestonya, go and assist the Captain and his other teammates with the freed captives. And be nice, remember that they are not yet my subjects, so overlook any breach of manners for now." Ainz said to the pair at his back, and began to take long purposeful steps that Tuare had to jog to keep up with.

"As you say, Your Majesty -woof." Pestonya replied, and carried herself with grace and poise into the nearest room, drawing momentary cries of alarm before her careful attempts at help calmed the captives down.

 **AN: Yes, the contrast between Zesshi and Neia is deliberate. Hope you found the fight satisfying.**


	160. Long Live the Queen

**AN: Well here we go again, hope you're enjoying the ride as we race toward the conclusion. I AM starting a new job though, so update speed will slow down a bit. That said, I still plan to upload audio chapters every weekend, and you can still support the illustrations for the ebook compilation on patr30n at /GodRising. Or if you prefer, I will on the side, be working on my original piece at patr30n /tellingstories. Alternatively, invite code is on my discord and you can read everything there. Once this story is concluded, I'll be starting one more short project for it that'll only be available on YouTube since there is no video option on FFN. Stay tuned. :) Is all this a bit much? Maybe. But so what? Do you think I'd be capable of doing a 2 million word, 300+ chapter arc with a cast of characters roughly the size of Game of Thrones, if I weren't ALSO the sort of person who could go far enough to illustrate, voice, and learn how to do video compilations? No, I think not. And besides, aren't YOU worth going the extra mile to create something awesome for? :)**

God Rising: The Cult of Ainz

Written by: AtheistBasementDragon

Edited by: The Usual Gang of Drunken Perverted Idiots

Chapter 160: Long Live the Queen

 _...Dungeon of the Elf King..._

Ainz spoke briskly, crisply, and swiftly as he moved deeper into the underground base, it made him sound even more authoritative than he normally did, and Zesshi listened raptly. "This we may do, Zesshi, Queen of the elves, but first... you have an army to reclaim, before it is destroyed. I will have a gate opened for you, show the head of your father to the elven army at Fortress Alaf, and turn them on the Slane Theocracy's last remaining army in the North. You needn't pursue them, I have another ready to exterminate any who escape you, instead, make camp for the day and await a gate from me to bring you to Forton."

"It will be done, Your Majesty and... thank you for keeping your word with me, I will never forget it." Zesshi replied with a catch in her tone as she took the healing potion from Tefl at her left and drank it down.

Zesshi then turned to Tefl and asked her, "How come this healing potion does NOT taste like shit? It is actually quite tasty."

Tefl then answered, "It seems that this potion was made by the Bareare Family in Carne Village after the Sorcerer King made a casual comment about adding flavoring to potions to remove the horrible taste that they have always had."

And back in Nazarick, Demiurge, watching this on the Mirror of Remote Viewing, was once again exclaiming, "Hail, Lord Ainz, we can expect nothing less!"

The message cut off, and a few moments later, a gate opened. Zesshi stood up from where she sat and looked at her two advisors, "Wait here, and tell all others who enter, to wait as well, explain things if you like, but make them wait, I'll be back in a few hours, time to turn the world on its head again." She said with vigor and energy in her voice and an eager grin that was like a child getting a much longed for present.

She picked up the head of her father as her companions nodded and grinned with equal enthusiasm behind her. "As you like, my Queen." They replied proudly, and she stepped through the gate.

 _...Outside Fortress Alaf..._

Zesshi found herself in the camp of the elven army, inside what she immediately knew was the tent of her father. The luxury allowed it to belong to no other. Too, there were familiar faces not far away. An old man was comforting two naked, weeping elf girls. And a few feet away sitting at a table drinking from a cup, the dark elf boy who made her eat dirt. "Sebas, good to see you." Zesshi said happily, before he could answer, she looked to the women. "Look at me." She ordered, and tight shut eyes slowly opened on her orders.

Zesshi held the severed head up and out away from her body, her arm straight and locked, it dangled and swayed from the hair held in her grip. "The nightmare is over. It is time for the elves to wake up from it and take back our place in the world." She said confidently as she tried to mimic the voice of the Sorcerer King, so that she'd sound like a proper monarch.

Ecstatic happiness filled their faces as the dangling head confirmed the words they heard.

"H-Hi, dirt eater lady." Mare said in his usual nervous little voice.

Zesshi let her arm fall as the dramatic moment was all but ruined by his casual nickname. She turned to face him, 'By god he's pretty.' She mentally sighed with anticipation for his adulthood, and let herself laugh a little at the nickname he'd given to her.

"A pleasure to see you, Mare, but you don't have to call me 'dirt eater lady', just call me by my name, it's Zesshi." She flashed a smile at him, and brushed her hair at the side of her face with her free hand.

Mare turned red with embarrassment. "O-OK then. Guess w-we're done here?" He asked Sebas.

"Yes, General Zetsumei can handle the rest from here." He said with a noble confidence and a look at the half elf that said he meant every word of it and expected nothing less.

"Yes, I can. The Elven Army will be... reevaluating our priorities." She said with a casual sort of flair to her tone, "I think our alliance with the Slane Theocracy needs to be drastically rethought."

She tapped her cheek three times with one finger. "OK, done thinking about it, alliance over, we're going to join the Sorcerous Kingdom, and when I'm crowned officially, I'll become His Majesty's vassal, after all his followers have done for my people, our loyalty to death is the least we can offer." She said, her voice going from a playful jest as if she had to think about the obvious, to one of iron resolve. Sebas nodded in approval.

"You two, stay in this tent, get dressed, and wait for me." Zesshi said, pointing at the two females that had been the elf king's concubines not but a short while ago.

They nodded with shining eyes, their lips moved as if to sing her praises, but no words could escape their tongues.

She didn't wait to see the others leave or the elf women dress, instead she drew herself up to her most imposing stature and walked out of the tent holding his head. When she was out, she held it aloft, "The king is dead! Long live the Queen!" She shouted it again, and again, and again, and again. For a moment. she envied the human woman who could cast her voice to all she wished, but her own thunder was not small. At first there was laughter as if someone was joking, but when she continued to shout and hold aloft the severed head of the face of the devil of their living hell... more and more came, and saw, and believed. Word spread like wildfire throughout the camp as the tens of thousands of elves in the army began to rush to where she stood. Some sensible fellow brought a crate and placed it in front of her for her to stand on, so that anyone and everyone could see the object of their hatred as well as the face and body of their savior.

She looked out over the sea of faces, she pointed to a nearby elf in armor, "You, go and free any remaining concubines and bring them here." Zesshi said sharply, he did not even nod, let alone salute, he turned and ran to carry out her orders.

She kept shouting the phrase over and over, until she stopped seeing her people drift in, and at last a number of elf women, her fathers 'playthings' all of them battered, bruised, barely able to stand, were helped to the fore. "I am Zesshi Zetsumei, daughter of the Elf King, and daughter of the human warrior woman that he kidnapped and raped so long ago. I was born from his atrocity! But I have also ended him! Therefore as princess of this kingdom and slayer of the monster, I claim his throne. Who accepts me as the rightful Queen, bend the knee. Who disputes my right to rule, step forward!"

She spoke with confidence and certainty, as if all that she'd said was indisputable, and as she held the head of the tyrant aloft, it was not. The army did not kneel as one, yet kneel they did, first one and then another, then two and three more, and that number grew until there was not one man or woman on their feet.

"The King is Dead!" Zesshi shouted.

"Long live the Queen!" The army echoed in enthusiasm. "Long live the Queen! Long live the Queen!"

 _...Inside Fortress Alaf..._

The thunderous shouting of the elves did not confine itself to the camp, the voices of the thousands breached the walls of the fortress and carried all the way to where Leinas slept, she awoke with a start as the sound hit her ear and leapt from her bed. The covers flew off and she dashed out the door calling for her soldiers to raise the alarm, she had barely made it outside as the entire fortress awoke, when a calm and contented Aureole Omega greeted her.

"Something is happening!" Leinas said with alarm, only to freeze as Aureole Omega placed a confident hand on her shoulder and held her fast with impossible strength.

"It's alright, this was what I've been waiting for, Chindai's soldiers will be here soon, and we just got our other reinforcements anyway." The guardian said with a voice as sweet as honey.

"Other... reinforcements?" Leinas asked with her lips pursed, waiting for an explanation.

"The elves are on our side now." Aureole Omega said happily, "All has unfolded as our master wills it, when Chindai arrives, because of who he is, he will immediately attack, your army will follow suit, and the elves will do the same, beset on all sides... the Theocracy is finished." She pronounced it with the same confidence one might offer if they said the sun would rise in the morning.

"Alright, then what do we do?" Leinas asked bluntly, placing a hand over her sword hilt as if she were eager to draw it... which she was.

"Let's go up to the parapets and wait. The view will be spectacular, and I can prepare one of my dances to boost our army before it sally's out." Aureole Omega suggested with playful patience and a mischievous smile that curled up slightly more at one corner of her mouth.

"That is an excellent idea. It will be good to end this nonsense once and for all." She said optimistically, and they strode confidently to the top of the wall.

 _...Theocracy Camp outside of Fortress Alaf..._

Zamma wasn't the most enthusiastic soldier in the world, he'd admit that to anyone who asked, but he was acceptably competent, which is why even if he wasn't the most attentive either, he hadn't dozed off or found someone else to cover for him so he could visit one of the camp whores. He did his job, took his pay, and was always content to just 'get by' while being reasonably responsible.

So while he was on shift that night, he heard the shouting from the elf camp. "What the hell is going on over there?" He asked the watch next to him.

"Hell if I know and damned if I care." The guard replied and took his wineskin out and drank from it. "All I know is that it is cold out here, this has lasted forever and gone nowhere. If the damned unchained slaves want to shout a little bit about queens and kings and fuck knows what else, let em, long as they shut up by the time I get a chance to sleep."

He yawned heavily and for awhile the two were quiet and listening to the growing shouting. They didn't think anything of it when Fortress Alaf raised the alarm for themselves, Zamma did have a brief moment of concern until his companion pointedly said, "They're just responding to those stupid subhumans gibbering over there. If the elves want to do something on their own, I say let em, saves us the trouble of dying." He yawned again, utterly bored and tired, a state that Zamma shared in both respects, and so they relaxed to wait out the end of their shift.

They were still waiting for the end, when the end came for them. They heard it long before they saw it, thunder, the thunder of four hundred thousand hooves on one hundred thousand horses, hundreds of Dark Dwarf Outriders atop great direwolves, all with magicine augmentations, were fast approaching.

Zamma swiftly lit the little pot holding the red burning oil, drew an arrow, dipped it, spun, and fired into the sky, alerting the entire camp to the danger as the inner guards saw the red arc in the sky. He lived long enough to hear the alarm bells and his comrades begin to run to order and rise to fight. His comrade... ran for his life. The howling dark elves cut them both down, but as he fell into the dirt and the undead horses began to trample him to death, one thought passed through his head before his skull was caved in, 'At least I was exceptional, just this once.'

The Theocracy command was alarmed beyond all measure, in all the time of this cursed siege, through all the horror, the repeated failed assaults and attempts to breach the wall, the red arrow had never gone up, not once had the fortress sallied out.

Yet now it was up and the sounds in the distance spoke of a large cavalry force.

Captain Shale was one of many that night to have shot up out of his bedroll, but he was one of the few that slept in full kit save for his helmet and boots. So he was ready quickly when the alarm went up. He was however, proud of the alacrity with which his fellow soldiers moved, not for nothing did the Slane Theocracy military gain a steadfast reputation for overwhelming military might. "Dark elves! It's dark elves!" Someone shouted somewhere, arrows flew into their massed ranks, here and there a human fell and cried out.

"Elves! Someone call for the elves!" Someone else shouted.

Captain Shale felt his body shake and sweat begin to pour down his face as that phrase gave him a moment's hope, until he saw the arrows come from the direction of the elven encampment.

"The elves are against us!" He shouted, as the man next to him fell with an elven arrow in his neck. The shouting intensified as eighty thousand Slane Theocracy soldiers rushed into their positions with halberds, spears, swords and bows, struggled to fight in the darkness. Only one blessing came to them from the enemy, and that was the dubious blessing of the use of fire arrows, flames rose up everywhere and gave the humans light by which to fight.

It was a desperate and chaotic melee as the dark elf infantry closed in hatefully on the Theocracy's left flank, while dark elven cavalry rode through the right and began to circle and fire arrows into the formation of humans who could not move. Shields went up with discipline as hard as the armor itself and most of the arrows began to bounce away. The right was stabilizing as more and more poured into position and held their shields up to cover their brothers and sisters in arms.

The center went back and forth as dwarven Outriders on enormous direwolves began to tear into the ranks with heavy weapons and limbs that Theocracy weapons could not wound.

The left too, began to stabilize for a time, and human mages began to cast light enchantments to give them light to see by everywhere, at last allowing order to form on the battlefield.

For a time, Captain Shale thought all was going to be well, 'Treacherous subhuman animals... they're all going to die, I'm going to kill them myself...' he thought as he shoved his sword into a dark elf throat and drew it out, he smashed a face with a shield bash and held his position in line while the man next to him stabbed down into the dark elf's belly.

The fortress however, was not idle, their gate opened and out of it began to march rank after rank with a horrifying banner at the front. They marched in a steady unbroken rhythm that held as they stretched their line out long over the left flank, someone, somewhere behind where Shale was fighting, was calling ranks back to receive an envelopment.

He never knew who, because a dark elf smiling with unrestrained joy did the unthinkable. He charged his horse directly toward the massed ranks and jumped off, landing atop the shields overhead, Shale saw him draw two swords in mid air, he landed violently hard on the man just behind where Captain Shale was standing and collapsed the man to the ground. With howling laughter he shoved his sword into Shale's back before he could turn in response, and had just as quickly killed the man in front of where he'd landed, who had no time to lower his shield. This single dark elf with phenomenal armor was tearing into the formation around him in a whirlwind of death, those humans who tried to respond found that he avoided them as easily as a fly dodged a casual back handed wave. Still they might have brought him down, but as Captain Shale lay there bleeding to death, he saw two women, one a southern elf, one clearly a dark elf, come flying overhead behind him and with banshee howls open the breach. It wouldn't last long, but it didn't need to. Dark elves began to pour in, their undead horses fearing no pain or wounds, and the line began to give, though Shale's eyes closed before it could fall.

Viktin hated soldiering, but conscription was not without its benefits, regular meals, clothing for free, a place to sleep, even healing for minor wounds, but he hated the fighting. For the longest time of this war however, he'd counted it a blessing of the gods that he'd been on standby, besieging a fortress that seemingly did not wish to engage any more than he did. Now he found himself desperately swinging his halberd, the elf in front of him fell, his confidence grew, but he was no more relieved, he could see the number growing, arrows kept falling, two bounced off his breastplate. The idiot officer behind them was shouting orders, 'Like we can hear you, twit, get up here and fight and stop pretending to be useful from a place of safety!' He thought to himself as he stabbed another elf.

The line kept stretching though, he kept having to step to one side as the ranks began to spread thin as those who could hear orders, conveyed them to those who couldn't. Finally he was far from his original position, and he knew why, as orcs began to charge while dual wielding axes. They hacked his halberd off at the wooden shaft, he dropped it and drew his sword and unslung his shield from his back. Viktin fought with the courage of a trapped rat. Nobody would sing songs of his courage, that was sure, but he fought nonetheless and followed every measure of his training, and as a result he put down two orcs before the ax of the third took him in the groin and he fell screaming to the blood soaked ground that had quickly become mud. His screaming did not last as the orc that hit him brought his other ax down on Viktin's face and cut off his screams forever.

Leinas Rockbruise gave her orders smoothly and crisply, their magic casters were dueling those of the Theocracy, neutralizing that threat at least, but it was rapidly becoming clear who was going to win this fight. Predictably, the Slane Theocracy was trying to extend their lines to fend her off, but she just kept going and when they had thinned themselves out, only then did she call for the charge. Aureole Omega ran with her, and that was when she had the first real indication that the maiden was even stronger than Leinas had first believed... chiefly because she stopped a sword with one hand, bent it, then grabbed the one holding it, and flung him by his arm as if he were a mere weapon himself. She flung him like a flail, his screaming body whirling around as she waded into the fray, sending men flying as the rest of the fortress cut down their enemies as if they were but paper tigers.

The forces of the Slane Theocracy began to waver, the return fire of their magic casters was wearing out, the buff provided by Aureole Omega had significantly boosted their forces, and as a result they were far and away the better force even if they were outnumbered.

Zesshi was overjoyed as she led her army straight into the flank of the nation that had betrayed her, her black and white hair flew behind her as if it were a battle standard all its own, and she reaped a harvest of death with her scythe, she felt more like a farmer harvesting wheat than she felt like a soldier taking lives. She quickly created a breach, and elves poured in to fill the gap, all the way to the rear of the position.

The left flank caved completely, those on the left closed in to encircle the front, those who had already enveloped the left, began to charge into the rear themselves, the front began to fall, the cavalry breach widened, the screaming of war cries became screams of terror. The right flank was the last to cave, but seeing their brethren run, the spirit of fear took them as well. A trickle of soldiers cast aside their shields and ran, the trickle became a flood, and the cavalry of wolves and undead horses ripped into the ranks ever harder. The demihumans Leinas had brought with her were having a field day and with all Theocracy discipline lost, those few commanders still living took to horse themselves. The camp was being overrun and the rising sun greeted a day in which no Theocracy soldier was alive within ten miles of Fortress Alaf, as the various armies halted their actions and began to take an accounting of prisoners.

The great flags of the commanders went up like the sun, and they began to close in on the one carried by the general of the Sorcerer King's army, Leinas Rockbruise, there in the center of the former encampment. As they stepped over the dead and their soldiers worked, they came together. "Chindai Khan, I presume?" Leinas asked.

"I am." The slender, muscular dark elf said happily, seemingly undisturbed by his mud and blood covered body. He stuck his hand out and Leinas grasped his forearm, he did the same with her and they clasped tight. After a brief shake, they released the grip.

He gestured behind him, "These are my wives, Khava, and Ryla." The two women inclined their heads politely, Leinas was struck with surprise at seeing the southern elf woman among the dark elves, let alone seeing her as the wife of the Khan of the plains, but Khava politely ignored the slight widening of Leinas's eyes which gave that away.

"And you would be... Zesshi Zetsumei?" Leinas asked, as the half elf approached and jabbed the butt of her scythe into the dirt and stuck her hand out, which Leinas gratefully took.

"I am. And unless you didn't hear the shouting from last night, I'm the new Queen of the Elven Kingdom. The Elf King is dead. His army is my army, his nation is my nation, and his people, my people." Zesshi said proudly.

"They fight well. I wish not to insult, but I have not heard of such skill from your people before." Chindai said formally.

Zesshi shook her head and smiled wryly, "Before they had nothing worth fighting for, now they do." She replied simply as she clapped her hands together.

"Yes, that makes sense, a life despised is a life half ended already, their spirits restored, so also is their strength." Khava said sagely, "I was once a slave among the Theocracy ilk, slew my master then and escaped, I made my way north, and found myself a husband of merit, but I am a fortunate one, I saw the broken lives of my fellow elves, restoring their souls to themselves, their pride and dignity, will make them vigorous again, as they should be."

"It is a heavy thing, to suffer so, and we will lift that burden from our cousins of the south." Ryla said fiercely and held fast to her sword, her fingers tightening audibly on the hilt.

"How many do you think survived?" Aureole Omega asked thoughtfully as she surveyed the battlefield.

"Less than half." Leinas guessed as she looked at the stream of bodies away from the 'piles' of bodies where the lines had been.

"Many less, are my thoughts, but it does not matter." Chindai said with a grin, "If they wish to die weary, so be it."

Aureole Omega tittered, "They needn't be pursued, they run to slaughter when they run South, as most of them are likely to do, don't worry, you won't see those men again, now, give your soldiers a rest, let's open up the food stores and feast, day after tomorrow we march for C'teon and then Kami Miyako."

"I can't wait." Zesshi replied happily, "I want to pay a visit to an old _friend_."


	161. Bottom of the Bottle

God Rising: The Cult of Ainz

Written by: AtheistBasementDragon

Edited by: The Usual Gang of Drunken Perverted Idiots

Chapter 161: Bottom of the Bottle

 **AN: Ten days of writing ahead, enjoy.**

 _...Crossroads..._

"Listen... Eire, isn't it?" Enri asked, leaning forward slightly in her chair as she looked down at the woman whose wailing was only finally tapering off after several minutes more uncomfortable for Enri than any of Lupu's jokes. "I don't know what's bothering you, but if this is your place... then the food here is yours, get food, get something to drink... I 'am' going to be using this as a headquarters for now, till they've cleared the bodies out of the main administrative building, but I promise I'll return everything to you... or..." She looked over her shoulder, Lupusregina had tilted a bottle to her lips and started chugging, "...ah... compensate you with a fair price for anything that is... used."

As if to underscore the statement, Lupusregina slammed the bottle down, wiped her pretty mouth on her sleeve and said a resounding "Aaahhhh!" followed by, "That's good stuff, not Nazarick good, but real top shelf -su!"

Eire managed to feel a bit of pride and let that show on her face, "Th-thank you, I do stock some of the best."

"Sure we can't stay here, General Enri?" Lupusregina asked with a grin.

Enri looked back at her again, "No, absolutely not, last time I left you alone in a place with this much hard liquor I woke up to you at my husband's side of the bed whispering that you wanted to see what all the fuss was about."

Lupusregina grinned and tugged her left eye down and stuck out her tongue. "Just wanted to know how to best service my general when she calls for me!"

"Such sexual harassment is tolerated among the undead worshippers?" Eire asked with wide and horrified eyes.

"Nooooo!" Enri exclaimed and covered the blush on her face, "Damn it, Lupu!"

Eire actually managed to choke out some weepy laughter as she realized the scary commander of the terrifying undead's armies, was blushing deeply, and that the scary woman that had pinned her down earlier when Enri came down the stairs, was joking.

Enri rubbed her forehead as those who have suffered the same trial for a very long time, often did. "Look Eire, I'm not going to keep you out of here for long, suffice it to say you're not going to be a plaything for one of my goblins, you're not going to be thrown as a concubine to any of my soldiers, I'm not going to turn you into a concubine for 'me' or for Lupu back there," she jerked her thumb over her shoulder to Lupusregina, who gave her a thumbs up and a wink as she popped the cork off another bottle and started to chug even more liquor, "and you're not going to be sacrificed, killed, tortured, or anything else. We don't do that."

"What about General Baraja! She does all that! She burns cities and drowns cities and guts people like fish and does all kindsa terrible things! How do I know you aren't all like her?!" Eire asked emphatically, but it was fairly clear from her tone that she was starting to relax.

Enri sighed, "I've... heard some things about my counterpart, and... we will be having words, I'm sure. But you are not wherever she is, you are where I am, and 'I' will not let any of that happen to you or to this city. My enemy is the government of the Slane Theocracy, not the people of it. Now please, go grab some food, take something to drink, I'll be out of here by the end of the day and this place will be yours again, I'll leave some coins on the shelf behind the counter for you." Her voice was doubtful, calm, but firm, and it was clear to the red headed peasant that the general was done talking. She rushed out of the room just in time for someone to burst into the door.

Enri looked over to the open door and a soldier dashed in, they traded brief salutes and the soldier stood stock still waiting for her permission to speak.

"Report." Enri said abruptly.

"General Enri... we've been unable to locate General Boabdill, but... we have captured one of his Vice Commanders. She's waiting in the dungeon. Would you like to see her?" He asked.

Enri thought it over for a moment, "Yes, but not there, have her brought to the headquarters building, the governor's manor in a few hours, I'll question her in the office there. A nice, informal setting might do more good than chaining her up and asking her... hard." She said, suppressing a shudder.

"And... about the other thing... have you cleared the main gate of bodies?" Enri asked as she broached a subject she dreaded.

"We did, ma'am." The soldier reported.

"And... in the gate house area, were there any... women?" Enri pushed further.

"Yes, ma'am. Just one."

"Could you describe her? Hair color, eye color, build?" Enri asked.

The soldier did so, save for the eyes, which he reported had been stabbed out, and Enri suppressed a great welling of sadness. She kept her eyes hard and face neutral. "I see, thank you, when you go to the manor, have the man and woman named Kirak and Shanda brought to the place where they're held to identify the bodies."

"Ma'am." He said, and saluted, before departing promptly. Enri waited until Eire had made her exit, then when they were alone again, the peasant general went to the bar that Lupusregina was rummaging behind, sat down in front of her best friend and said, "Pour me one too, Lupu, this is going to be a really long day." Allowing some of the sadness to slip into her voice. Her friend didn't say anything, merely opening another bottle and handing it to her.

 _...Wheaton..._

It didn't take long to find out where the citizens were going. People were running towards the northern and western gates, those with horses took them, people loaded wagons with supplies and passengers, both the loved and the merely profitable alike. The city was in a panic the likes of which no living resident had ever seen.

Shops were smashed as people simply grabbed the supplies they needed and ran for it, guards attempting to keep order were ignored, or stabbed if they got in the way, more than one citizen fell bleeding or dead when a guard had to use lethal force to protect himself.

Graff grabbed Wesda's arm and said roughly, "Come with me, I have more questions, but we've got to get a hold of this situation."

Wesda wasn't sure what else to do, so he ran with the captain as the man pounded his way up the stairs, the echo of his footfalls dominated Wesda's mind even more than the shouts outside.

As soon as he got to the wall he shouted, "People of Wheaton! You must not panic!"

"Yes we must! We've got to get the hell out of here!" Someone shrieked and threw a pack over a horse, got in the saddle, and rode off for dear life.

"Gods damn civilians for their cowardice!" He snapped and began to run along the length of the wall.

"Sir, what does it matter, if they leave, they'll be out of the way, right?" Wesda asked as he followed.

"No, Neia will ignore the city and exterminate them, and that is if they're lucky, if they're not lucky, she'll ignore them, and they'll die, look out there!" Captain Graff said forcefully and waved his hand out over the city.

Wesda obeyed, and over the large city he saw fires start to spring up, he saw people rioting like mad below, some were dead or trampled already. But those who weren't were streaming towards the gates in all directions.

"They'll realize a few hours too late that they have not enough food, or warm enough clothing, or firewood, or anything they need, they'll try to get it from the farms and villages, but those will turn them away or exploit them, or panic themselves, they'll turn on each other, to take each other's supplies, fathers will kill the families of others to take food to feed their own children, many of the young will outright freeze to death before dawn if we have a cold snap tonight. If there are no people, this city no longer matters. That bitch has really stuck it to us." Graff explained patiently.

"So that was why..." Wesda began to reply.

"Yes, you were her tool, you worked her will, you were the means by which we destroy ourselves." Graff said calmly.

"I- no... I didn't mean to..." Wesda said as he looked down, he saw two men struggle over a horse, one stabbed the other in the neck, but before he could get into the saddle, a guard ran over and ran him through with a spear.

"I... I didn't mean to..." Wesda said with a choked sob as he realized how he'd been used by the demon of the undead, and flung himself from the wall, head first to the stone below. Graff could not move fast enough, and he saw the boy soldier go down and hit with a sickening crunch that, though it wasn't possible over the din of the city, he could have sworn he could hear.

"Gods be damned... foolish boy." Graff said frustratedly and ran off along the wall alone to try to shut the gates and bring order to those he could still save.

 _...Golden Fortress..._

"When you have them, what do you do with them?" Lakyus asked as she fell in beside Neia in the tent at last as they discussed the matter of the battle's aftermath.

Neia looked down at the crude table and the map of the city laid out before them. She looked over at her friend and gave a laugh that might have been yanked out of a demon's throat.

"I show them what breaking someone really means." Neia replied.

Her companions traded uncomfortable looks. "Neia... you need to stop this." Lakyus said gently.

"You can't kill the whole country." Skana said softly.

Neia looked around at the three of them, CZ was just shaking her head.

"They'll do that for me." Neia replied calmly as she began laying out tokens on the map to represent the two sides.

"Who will?" Lakyus asked with surprise, "Is there another army?"

Neia laughed, "No, I mean the Theocracy will."

Three blank stares met her, but anxious shifting of their bodies began.

Neia put a hand on her hip and another on her forehead, which she rubbed slowly. "OK, I guess I'll need to explain. In the simplest terms, we can't take Wheaton, not without heavy losses as it is, but if that army is in the field, we can crush them easily and then the city will fall. Those two boys I let go will be carrying two messages, the first got the army into a tizzy, they'll be preparing to meet us, but the second one, do you know what benefit he was?"

The blank stares continued.

Neia slammed her hands down on the table with a loud clap, "Terror!" She said enthusiastically. "I saw it myself, the power of terror through Jaldabaoth, the way he sent people fleeing just by existing, he could empty a town, even a city, or make an army of hardened veterans run like hell by walking. I destroyed Yanana utterly, Fortress Cross is a ruined husk, the second messenger is going to ride in there screaming with terror and coated with blood. The soft citizens in Wheaton can't handle that. The activity of the soldiery will inflame them as well, and they'll run in a panic."

Skana went pale. "Neia... you can't mean what I think you mean."

"I can, and I do." Neia said calmly.

Lakyus looked at them both, "I'm still lost, mean what?"

Skana swallowed with wide eyes and a chilling shiver running up and down her spine. "The cold, it might even snow soon, all those... people. They'll run from the city, but they don't have time to pack or anything. I promise they won't have enough warm clothing, I promise they won't have enough food, or a means to make fires, and even with the little river, well most won't dare follow that, so no water either, or not much. They'll turn to banditry or steal from villages, lots of them will freeze, others will go hungry, or get sick or..." She stopped talking when she saw Lakyus understood the thousand ways the terrified thousands would die.

"They turned my people out, naked and cold to live or die. They sent their inquisitors to drive us out to starve in the wilderness, they raised Remedios against us and helped her try to kill us all in our sleep, they tore my country apart for a second time. It is as I said. I am coming for them, if they want to die in the wilds instead, it makes no difference to me. I didn't make them flee, I'm happy to accept their surrender if they want to stay and offer it. But..." Neia's laughter was half mad as she shrugged, "They decided to paint me as a demon, it isn't my fault if they believe it."

"No. No. No. No. No. No. NO." Skana said on a loop and shook her head, "I won't let you do this." Skana said with a vigorous shaking of her head.

"They're doing it to themselves." Neia said blandly. "The irony is beautiful. They turn us out by force to die, and now they turn themselves out by their own volition. When we pursue and ignore the city, the soldiers will come after us, and when they do..." Neia punched a fist into her open hand and flashed a predatory grin that made it easy to see why the children of her village had thought her such a terrible sight, and why in that most noble hour that Skana had witnessed when she was a frightened peasant girl... even demihumans shrank in terror of the mad eyed archer. "All we need to do then is ignore them all, we can take the outlying little towns and villages with ease after that, if there is anything left of them and move on toward Kami Miyako."

"I agree with Skana, that is madness, that is monstrous, what you did in Yanana was one thing, this is something else again! There are children in that city still, there are more non-combatants than combatants. They'll die before they get to a city that can care for them. There'll be so many dead that we could make a road out of their bones from there to the gates of Kami Miyako. You can't do this." Lakyus said with urgency.

"Not for long." Neia said simply, "Besides, it's a little late to say 'no'. The messenger has already been dispatched, he'll arrive soon if he hasn't already, the panic will set in, the population will flee, and…" She tapped her finger rhythmically on the table and looked away as she calculated out a set of numbers… "If I were to guess, about one in every ten of them will die, every day, for the better part of the next week. More if the weather turns bad, fewer if it turns good." She opened her hands to her side, "What did you think was going to happen exactly? This is a war, the worst this world has ever seen, and I'm including Jaldabaoth's demihuman invasion. I will fight this to the end, everything and anything and anyone in the way, will bend a knee or break as our army rolls over them."

"No… we can't let this happen." Lakyus said as she saw what Neia must have been seeing, the line of streaming refugees, desperately trying to escape east, west, and north, a spiral of flight as villages fled in all direction into a countryside that couldn't possibly support them all.

Skana was meeting her expression one equally shocked as she heard the voice of her beloved speak as if all the humanity had been hollowed out from within it. "No." Was all she managed to utter.

Neia was still then, quiet, as if she could not understand the words they'd just spoken to her. She looked to CZ in confusion, with her head cocking curious and an eyebrow raised as if to ask, "Did you hear what I just did?" But to her surprise, the very small movement of CZ's eyes, undetectable to almost anyone, indicated that CZ was in agreement with the other two.

Neia straightened up sharply, her dark cloak bounced behind her with the sudden motion, her lips pursed tight, but her sky blue eyes remained as if what darkness they feared might come upon her, was crushed not by their denial of her stated will, but by the deep compassion she found within the faces of those she'd come to love, one as wife, the others as dear friends, even sisters in a fashion, or so she reckoned it must be like, having had no siblings of her own.

"I... will take your views under advisement. For now then, send out the cavalry, I will not see within reach of my army, a single breaker standing proud or a whip hand still attached to arm before I sleep. On that I will not compromise." Neia crossed her arms in front of her breasts defensively and stared at them one by one, ice blue eyes did not waver even by blinking.

"That is... acceptable." Skana replied hesitantly.

"Good, but remember this. War is the cruelest thing in all the world, and the crueler it is, the sooner it will be over. It cannot be reformed, and even if we could, we shouldn't, because we don't want to grow too fond of it. The terror they know today, will keep their children in line tomorrow, and our children will not have to come back to fight again." Neia said resolutely.

There was no thrum of the evangelist in her voice that they could feel. She had refrained from using the power of her profession on those dearly cherished. It was obvious to each of Neia's comrades that she did not wish to manipulate or intimidate those closest to her, and that filled them with great relief that even as she was, such considerations were not far from her mind.

"Can I... have a minute?" Skana asked of her companions, looking at them with pleading, glistening eyes, there was only one possible answer, and it required no words.

Lakyus and CZ hesitated for a moment, then left the tent.

"Neia, when did you last sleep?" Skana asked when they were alone.

"L-Last night." Neia answered hesitantly. Her posture instantly changed, it went from resolute and even defiant, to a downcast gaze and her fingers danced nervously.

Skana locked her one green eye deeply on Neia's blue. "The truth." Skana demanded, as she struck the posture that had been Neia's not a moment before.

"It... is but... it wasn't for long. An hour, maybe two." She answered in a voice that was almost timid.

"Neia, you're not yourself, how many hours do you think you've really slept?" Skana asked fervently, moving closer to her wife and putting her hand over Neia's heart, she could feel it race beneath her fingers, even through Busar's armor.

"I... don't know." Neia said quietly. "I've started to... you know... remember after Wenmark?" She asked, her voice now well and truly small.

"Nightmares?" Skana asked.

Neia nodded numbly.

"I'm saying this as your Vice Commander and as your wife. I want you to go to sleep, you're far too much on edge, it'll take hours for the cavalry to hit all the farms and villages this side of the city, and we can lock the captives up in the stockade here for the night, get some rest in here, let me take over for awhile." Skana said passionately. "We're close to the end, and you need a clearer head now than ever before."

Neia did not speak an answer, she didn't even nod, but when Skana took her hand and led her over to the cot at the back of the tent, the same memory came to both of them, of their first night together, after a victory that, small as it was, told the world that the Hundred were not to be taken lightly. Both thought often of that night, those first tentative explorations of one another, where the veteran lover Skana, taught something of love to the veteran soldier, Neia.

But now in this hour, when the dead burned in heaps not fifty yards away and soldiers set about establishing themselves before the next great battle of the war, this was a different lesson in love, recognizing a moment of vulnerability, exhaustion, and even weakness... and giving to the one who endures it, the tenderness that they need when they need it most. Neia did not move as Skana removed the armor of the Grand King Busar, and with a gentle press to Neia's shoulders, got the Black Paladin to sit herself on their little cot. When her wife was seated, Skana lifted Neia's leg by the foot and drew off one boot, then the other, and helped her to lie down.

As Neia laid there and Skana stood back up, she looked up to her wife and said, "Skana?"

"Yes?" The auburn haired warrior woman asked after covering her wife up and starting to leave.

"Thanks a lot." Neia said, and smiled weakly and forced herself to close her eyes. When she was alone, she reached under the cot for her pack, pulled out a bottle, and took a very long drink before setting it back and finally trying to drift off in earnest.

When she left the tent, Skana immediately sought out the cavalry, gathered them together, and gave them their orders. "You are to ride out from here, hit every village, hit every farm, hit every estate that you can. Rescue any slaves and send them this way, destroy all food supplies you can't take, but allow the farmers time to gather grain and whatever else they need to start running. Tell them that Neia is coming and if they want a chance at not facing her, they need to go that hour."

"Ma'am," a younger man with dark hair and dark eyes began to ask, "are you saying we're trying to 'not' fight the Theocracy?"

Skana shook her head, bouncing her auburn hair. "No, not at all, anyone resists, cut them down immediately and don't bother asking twice, but get them running, then and only then should you start setting fires, but after that, set fire to everything." Her voice was hard and calm, and brooked no argument.

"Yes ma'am, anything else?" He asked with a serious expression, rather than the one of glee she expected.

"Yes, if you find overseers or breakers, capture them and send them here." Skana said fervently, "They belong to the Pope."

"As you say." The young man said and saluted sharply. He put a foot in the stirrup, then flung himself bodily into the saddle, his peers did likewise, and drove their undead horses onward.

Skana watched as they rode away from the camp, quietly, so that nobody else could hear, she said, "Please... please let those few be enough to satisfy her..."


	162. Open Questions

God Rising: The Cult of Ainz

Written by: AtheistBasementDragon

Edited by: The Usual Gang of Drunken Perverted Idiots

Chapter 162: Open Questions

 **AN: Well I assume the Neia of the Synod is probably making a lot more sense now. Sadly FFN isn't showing reviews at the moment, but I assume somebody will have something to say about that. Yeah, she's gotten dark, especially compared to Enri. Of course Enri's kindness has a drawback all its own, but that will become clear soon too. The confrontation between those two will challenge both person's assumptions and methods, and the price of victory will show that it must be paid by not just the dead, but by the living.**

...Beyond Crossroads...

General Boabdill marched his men relentlessly, Vice Commander Heikeren moved up and down the line checking in with every commander of every battalion, ostensibly looking after their remaining forces but... the truth, General Boabdill thought, was to distract himself from the loss of Vice Commander Ira. He let out a sigh and didn't bother about it, if it helped, it helped, and he was working after all. He marched his army for three days and sent scouts out in all directions but the one he'd come from, finally finding one of the two Penitent forces.

The forced marches with only three to five hours sleep had been rough, all but impossible, but at long last, he found himself sitting in front of his opposite number. "I'm glad you could make it, we sure could have used you at Crossroads." Boabdill said unhappily as he took a sip from the cup of wine he was offered.

"Well, couldn't be helped, we've had troubles of our own, and at least this way you have some reinforcements now and we weren't lost when the city fell." The general said with a tone of mild rebuke.

General Boabdill bit his tongue to keep his temper back at the criticism of a general that was his junior in experience and in command, instead he kept his smile tight and his words clipped and professional. "True, but now that I have your army to combine with my own, we can do something we couldn't before."

"What's that?" He asked curiously, "How will you defend Kami Miyako?"

General Boabdill gave a hard eyed look at his opposite number, "I will do so by threatening the city of Carne itself. General Enri's husband lives there, her little sister and all her friends live there. We'll march well around her line and invade the Sorcerous Kingdom with a hundred thousand soldiers."

His opposite paled as if he'd seen a ghost, and a new respect came over his face, "You are not the commander of the north for your timidity, that is for sure."

"No, no I'm not." General Boabdill agreed, with a very strongly satisfied expression on his face, and his chin tilted slightly up with pride as he spoke.

"General, may I... suggest something else?" Vice Commander Heikeren said as he fell in behind General Boabdil.

"I'm listening." Boabdil said hesitantly as he gestured to a stump that was serving as a possible chair.

Heikeren sat, took a deep breath, and began. "I don't believe General Enri will respond the way you think she will. But even if she does, we don't want her to."

"Even with her friends and family threatened?" Boabdil asked doubtfully.

"Correct, because they are not threatened even if you had a hundred times the number you already have." Heikeren said hesitantly, he bit his lip and his eyes darted around anxiously, he felt the pressure of their judgement on him, but he pressed forward.

"That is land protected personally by Ainz Ooal Gown, the Sorcerer King, true, she might have the impulse, but she has nothing to fear, if you want to draw her away from Kami Miyako you need to keep her engaged, we can retreat east instead, as long as we keep raiding, we keep her from moving, and she 'has' to fight us. She has every advantage over us, except for one, that this is 'our' land and we know it better than she does. We can hit her, we can hurt her, she's taken hard losses even though she's won, but it's a terrible idea." Heikeren said as a shadow came over his face.

They saw the change in his demeanor, as if some black shadow was pressing down on the strong looking officer, the slumped and haggard look, he pressed still further on before they could ask what he meant.

"Whatever we can say about General Enri, she's not a monster, even if she sides with them, can we agree on that?" He asked hopefully, folding his hands together and resting his forearms on his knees.

"Yes... why?" Boabdil asked as an uncomfortable thought came over him.

"Because if we have to see our people fall into anyone's hands it has to be hers. She might not be a monster, but there are monsters coming. We got the messages about Leinas burning an entire batallion alive just because it was easy and they were dumb enough to make it possible. Zesshi hates our country with a fiery passion, Queen Draudillon is sacrificing her own to give herself the power to destroy walls. But worst of all, the war in the west is over, and you know who that means is coming. Tell me... the truth, while it is just the three of us. Are the stories about her true?" Heikeren asked, hoping against hope that they were not.

The two generals shared a look, and Boabdil spoke, "They're... mostly accurate, she's had barbaric executions, she's destroyed cities, and she hates us worse than any demon I've ever heard of."

"Then who do you want closing in on Kami Miyako?" Heikeren asked boldly. "Her? One of the others? Or General Enri? Because we've got nothing left. It's this army, and one other in the east made up of green soldiers that, frankly will definitely be recalled soon if Dominic is not off his nut. C'teon, Feron, the fortresses, they can't hold without reinforcements and we've got nothing left. Say we do defeat General Enri, against impossible odds, we kill her dragons, scatter her forces, and capture or kill her. Or even let's say we pull off a miracle and delay her for six months? All that means is that the rest of that coalition closes in on Kami Miyako and we're cut off in the field."

Heikeren clenched his fingers tight as if squashing something within his palm, it was an... illustrative point, and his superiors looked very grave, with lips parted slightly as they tried to imagine the scenario.

The silence was cold as the highest mountains, and the winds of those great frozen heights blew through all their hearts. "General Boabdil, it has been my honor and my privilege to fight for you, you've done better than any man in history ever could have, but it's time to face facts, even if we gathered all the soldiers left into one body under the aegis of the most powerful spells and items... our nation, quite simply... is finished. They outnumber us, they out power us, their armies swarm our lands, and if the message you got about Neia wasn't faked, then she's going to go straight for Dominic. Save what you can, do your job, do your duty, send a message to Kami Miyako, have your wife beg Dominic to sue for peace, if we fight just to buy time... maybe we can save something of our people!" Vice Commander Heikeren did next what none had ever seen him do since he took his oath as an officer before the gods.

Stood, kicked the loose stump out of the way, and went down to a knee and lowered his gaze to his general. "I have never been a man of abiding faith in the gods, I put my faith in the actions of men, please... please... if you invade the Sorcerous Kingdom, we'll all die, worse, we'll die for nothing and change nothing. If you must fight, then let us fend Enri off as we try to make our way South, we have to stop what's coming from there, or the stones of the streets of our capital will be stained red for ten thousand years."

There were long hard looks at Heikeren, who could not see them as he did not raise his gaze, and the whole lot of them were quiet for a long, long time.

...Fortress Alaf...

The morning brought nothing less than absolute happiness to the three armies, and it was quickly decided that the entire body of plundered alcohol and other stores of the Slane Theocracy and Elf King would be opened to the common soldiers, creating for an even larger celebration than had been anticipated. Bonfires made of the bodies of the Theocracy soldiers and of all the equipment that could not be easily transported, raged in a number of areas over the open ground, soldiers of the many races celebrated with dances and songs and trading beers and wine and stories. Friendships were forged in those hours, that would last a lifetime.

But none partied harder than the elves, urged on by their new Queen to "Be as happy today as you had been miserable in the previous centuries." It was a fine first order, and they did their best to carry it out. Zesshi however, had somewhere to be, and so while the other commanders drank among one another, she called for a Gate to take her some place she'd never really thought of herself as having before. To take her 'home'.

She stepped through the gate when it appeared, and there she was, again holding the head of her father and the scythe that had claimed his life. Thirg saw her first, and looked at her with real awe in his expression, she was not the tallest person he'd ever seen, but she bore herself straight and true, her piercing black and white eyes seemed to drink in everything, her hair danced like a dangling snake of black and white behind her, she bore herself like the royal she'd never thought herself to be, standing in front of the throne, it was obvious to him, if not to her, that she belonged exactly where she was.

She held the head of the hated monarch in front of her, a crowd of elven nobles who had lived for centuries whose only distinction as nobles was that they had the misfortune of being closer to the monster that used their women as playthings, stood looking in silent contemplation.

Zesshi repeated herself as she had before to others, "I am the daughter of the man whose head I hold, that made me a princess of the royal family, he was a monster who ruined all our lives, and I have killed him. I now claim the throne in his stead. The army south of Fortress Alaf has sworn its loyalty to me, and together with our allies of the Sorcerous Kingdom we have crushed the Theocracy. I give you freedom from terror, and a victory against our enemies, will you now give me your loyalty?" She asked, but it was a rhetorical question, in her mind there was no other possible outcome but acceptance.

Yet questions lingered, about the Gate she'd used, the battle she'd fought, and much more, all answers striking them mute as the dead when she explained the Sorcerer King's magic, and how he had overseen, with humans of her old unit, the rescue of the hostages. She told them of her intention to swear her fealty to him as Queen of the Elf Kingdom, and dared them to defy his divine power when he arrived among them.

...Kami Miyako...

"No... not her too." Dominic muttered as he read over the document provided by the Agante observer.

"It's so, my lord." The agent said in a deep, firm voice. "The lady Meidhall of the Black Scripture, otherwise known as Thousand Mile Astrologer, has been working with the resistance. The same is true of her mother. The anti-war faction that has been growing among the artisans has met at her own home, they are responsible for defacing your noble image and even for beating up some of your heralds in their homes at night. Just as you ordered, we asked her to report on a location we knew enemies to be, and she reported them absent, and we asked her to report on a position we knew enemies were not, and she reported that they were."

"Can you guess how long she might have been working against us?" Dominic asked as he flung himself back in his chair, letting his hands fall at his side, he clutched the document in one hand so tight it was as if he wanted to crush it, like doing so would crush the names it bore. His eyes looked utterly lost, betrayed, they glassed over with tears, and he looked up at the ceiling so as to keep his tears there, and not let them fall where another could see them.

"Months, weeks, it is difficult to say, I would suggest from her first failed vision. But it would be mere guesswork." The agent said tranquilly.

"Shall we bring the long knives?" He asked.

"No... Meidhall and her mother... they're different." Dominic said slowly as he gained control over his breathing, though his heart pounded in his chest as if to tear itself free.

"You wish them spared?" The agent asked with doubt in his voice.

Dominic shook his head, "No, arrest them, they will both be hanged. Publicly. For treason. Because of who they are and who they were, and let that be the fate of anyone you take from now on, bodies hanging high will make for the banner of the treasonous. When they've hanged, leave their bodies out to be picked at by the crows but... do this one thing, do not hang them on my usual travel route, I... don't want to see them myself."

"My lord, she is still a scripture..." He said cautiously.

"Bring a half a dozen of you, she's one of the black, but she's not the finest, she simply has some very unique skills, you can take her down if you catch her by surprise, or if you use her mother against her, I don't care how you do it... but nobody... nobody can be permitted to live after betraying me... betraying the gods." Dominic responded with a sudden iron in his voice and crunching the paper in his hand into a ball, he cast it contemptibly to one side where it bounced off the wall and rolled to his feet, stopping against his boot, he lifted his foot and stomped down upon it, as if to put the guilty pair under his heel where they belonged.

His lip curled in a furious snarl that overrode his grief and hurt at the betrayal of his former lover and his daughter. The Agante saluted promptly, "It will be done, my lord. Also, one more thing, what shall we do about those openly proposing we seek peace?"

"Make them disappear, hang the loudest publicly, but simply end the rest in the night." Dominic replied sharply.

"As you say, it will be, my lord." He replied, saluted, and departed.

Dominic ground his teeth and his eyes flashed with fury, his fists were tight enough that it turned his fingers white. "Damn them, damn them all, damn the traitors one and all..." He whispered to the empty office for hours, as tears of sadness and anger ran from his eyes as if to escape his wrath. He thrust his chair back and fell to his knees and raised his eyes up, folding his hands together, he prayed. 'Gods, long have I served you, long have I loved you, and you have given a nation into my hands that I might make its people strong. Yet now I am faced with a great trial, surrounded by my enemies within and without, the enemies include the members of my own family, and a great monster, a beast, has risen to threaten all your chosen ones. Please, grant me wisdom, grant me strength, that I might meet this challenge and see it through. And if you see fit to refuse me that, then come to us, come to us as you did in our darkest hour when we were on the brink of dying out. Come, save your children lest we lose everything...' He prayed desperately, urgently, but only silence answered him.

...E-Rantel...

All she could do was gawk like a damn fool peasant that had never seen anything bigger than a hut and a pig pen.

"I've heard of this kind of thing but... seeing it is another matter." Berenice said, flabbergasted at the dizzying variety of goods, many of which she could not identify at all.

"My master is truly supreme." Entoma said serenely as she walked next to Berenice. On either side were not just stalls, but large buildings with an array of signs and people hawking wares in a dozen different accents that spoke of the breadth of trade between the nations closest to the Sorcerer King.

"Is this what he meant?" Berenice asked in a voice full of wonder.

"What who meant?" Entoma asked as she strolled along with a tranquil expression on her face.

"Your... master. He said something to me about this when we spoke." She looked away as she tried to recall his exact words. "I... wish I could recall exactly, but it was... something about how places at international crossroads draw a wealth not only of goods, but of peoples and abilities."

"That sounds like him." Entoma said as she looked around more or less indifferent to the surroundings.

Berenice picked up a trinket from a stall, nothing more than a simple pendant, but it was skillfully and wonderfully made. "What do you have there?" Entoma asked.

Berenice held it out to her, it was a broken heart of gold with a tiny ruby set within as a drop of blood. "This is beautiful but... I don't understand, why would someone buy something that is inherently so... tragic? A whole one makes sense, but one broken and bleeding?"

Entoma took it in hand and looked at it, she then held it up, letting it dangle on the intricate golden chain to which it was attached. She flicked it lightly, causing it to wind and unwind rapidly between their faces. "I know what this is, it's got a meaning behind it, do you really want to know?" Entoma inquired.

Berenice had a momentary flash of instinct that told her to say no, that she didn't want to know, that there was no reason this one would ask her that question except if there was a reason she was better off not knowing, but in spite of herself, she nodded. "I would."

"As you like." Entoma said, and flicked the little broken heart again, "It was actually designed by the wife of the demon you're all so terrified of. She had it made in Nazarick, then brought the design here and gave it away when somebody liked it."

"Well... that's interesting, but..." Berenice looked at her as if to ask more, but Entoma shook her head.

"That isn't all, she had it made as a reminder." Entoma added.

"O-Of what?" Berenice asked, suddenly hesitant, she felt her heart skip a beat.

Entoma took the little pendant in hand and forced the golden shape to close, and then asked, "Tell me, what do you see?"

"The damage is still there. There's a jagged line, and the ruby is closer to the center, what of it?" Berenice probed further.

"Exactly, she made it to remind herself of what happened, of all the things the person she loved best in the world had endured, that would never go away, never heal without leaving scars, and that the blood that came from her wounded heart could never be unshed. Either the wound remains open forever, or it is closed, with great difficulty and great strength, but even if it is... well, you said it yourself, didn't you? The scars are still there, and the blood is still lost." Entoma replied, then removed and handed a coin to the merchant who stood patiently watching the exchange... even if he was a little fidgety at seeing his property 'damaged' by the maid.

Berenice held her palm out and Entoma let it drop, it fell into the center, and the chain with it, not making a sound. She didn't do anything with it, she just looked. They started walking again eventually, and the hand of the cardinal closed tightly around the little trinket.

"You say Skana designed it?" She asked as if to distract herself.

"I did." Entoma replied succinctly.

Berenice ran through the stories in her head, the many reports she read of everything that had gone on since long before the war began. "She actually loves that... demoness?"

Entoma nodded as they walked, Berenice tried to focus on the marketplace, but kept returning to the little trinket in her hand.

"Yes, but she's not a demoness to the elves. To them, she's a savior, one step removed from a god. To her followers, she's the herald of justice. To His Majesty, she's... something else, I heard he called her a daughter, but she's a lot of things to a lot of people. If she's a demoness to you... well, what did you do to her to make her one?" Entoma asked with an uncaring shrug.

That made Berenice go silent for awhile, "Can we... get a bite to eat, then... I think I'd like to go rest. This has been a lot to take in." The cardinal replied uncomfortably.

"As you like." Entoma said with another indifferent shrug. "The food is better in Nazarick but... well, this is your little visit." She pointed to a small cafe, and lead the cardinal over to an outdoor table.


	163. Reap What you Sow

God Rising: The Cult of Ainz

Written by: AtheistBasementDragon

Edited by: The Usual Gang of Drunken Perverted Idiots

Chapter 163: Reap What You Sow

AN: And the end marches on. Only 37 chapters to the end.

...Mountains West of Feron...South of Fortress Alaf...

Aalon stood before the assembly of elves, elven vampires, and the handful of quagoa. "For centuries the Slane Theocracy has done a terrible wrong. Today we do our part to right that wrong and break their power forever. We will take Feron and cut off the survivors of the fight at Fortress Alaf from all retreat. They haven't but five thousand soldiers, militia, and city guards to stop you, you outnumber them two to one! You are stronger than they are! You are better armed they are! You are better trained by the order of over a century, many of you! You are ready to take your rightful revenge on those who have wronged you! Wronged your children! Wronged your fathers and mothers and siblings! Today is the beginning of the end! Who is ready to see it through?!" Aalon shouted, and his voice echoed off the stone as if the mountains themselves agreed with him. Swords and spears rose and fell as if to strike the sky itself.

"Then follow me! Follow me to the tomorrow you deserve!" Aalon shouted, and he headed through the tunnel. It was a long, long passage, so long and winding that it took the better part of four hours to make it through to the other side.

"Father, when we come out, what will happen then?" Tula asked, her bright red eyes flashing with anticipation.

"The quagoa will burn the timbers beneath the wall, and then we charge. Raymond's report to Dominic from the Thousand Mile Astrologer will have seen a chunk of the city's guard gone, leaving them much diminished, with complete surprise, the city should fall in an hour." Aalon said happily and took out his sword. The army of freed elves and Aalon's handful of human and vampire supporters waited in the shadows of the caves, ready to spring from a half a dozen abandoned mining paths along the western wall... all they needed was the collapse.

They waited, and waited... and waited. Aalon began to feel agitated, he looked over his shoulder as if for reassurance, they were anxious too, he smiled at them, as if to reassure them instead of gaining the reassurance he wanted for himself. He turned back and sighed deeply. 'Is there something wrong? Were the quagoa caught? If they're caught, this'll get a whole lot bloodier and we won't get another chance like this...' He thought, his heart, unbeating for well over a century, felt like it was about to leap through his throat.

Then he heard it, a rumbling, a shaking, and then... he saw what he was waiting for, most of the western wall completely collapsed. The sound rebounded off the mountain side, but even if it hadn't, there was nobody in the city who did not know what had just happened.

"GO!" Aalon shouted, and waved his sword forward in front of him, he ran, he didn't look back to see if anyone followed, he simply ran, his fists pumped and his legs pumped and he charged like a maniac out of the cave, down the slope and over open ground toward the city. How many died when the western wall collapsed was a guess at best, but possibly hundreds depending on how many were left there when part of the guard was moved away. The sky was bright blue and only a few clouds floated overhead, it was a beautiful day for bloodshed.

He heard the sound of roars behind him, the battlecries of a people who would be slaves no more, hit the city as if the mountain itself were shouting its rage out to the people. The collapse of the wall had been cause for surprise and dismay, but the sound of a charging horde was cause for terrified alarm.

By the thousands they came, a single wave of swords and gleaming armor, the cries of hate and longing for revenge echoed through the air and the sight of hate filled faces, a golden horde of elven hair flew behind ten thousand heads, such that a bird flying overhead could be forgiven for thinking a field of glorious wheat was on the move against those who had harvested it for generations. Mutilated ears and wrath filled gazes told the tale of an age of oppression ended in a single act and with the accompanying rising and falling of ten thousand swords held aloft.

The city guard struggled to respond as the alarm rang out, but they were scattered, few, and disorganized, prepared for petty crimes or to respond in the event of a siege. But there was no siege, they may as well have been on open ground.

'I haven't a prayer of controlling them...' Aalon thought to himself as his adoptive daughter ran beside him, she did not bear a sword, she chose to go with vampire claws. Tula shrieked like a demoness as they reached the first human and she leaped onto his body, feet first into his upper chest, bearing him down with a terrible thud to the ground. Her two hands went to his trachea, her fingers pierced, then tore out in opposite directions, ripping open his throat.

Aalon had no time to consider the barbarism as he met the first actual combatant, a terrified young guard barely old enough to hold a sword. He did not hold it long, Aalon grabbed the wrist and snapped it, the boy cried out and dropped his weapon, he did not cry out for long, Aalon shoved his sword through the boy's face and drew it out with a sickening crunch.

Elves were running rampant through the streets, those few who could use magic or who found a source of flame, started setting fires, the city was ablaze within minutes, desperate humans fled the tide, but it was just as useless as if they themselves were the sea flooding inland, and they swept all before them. Humans fell like raindrops to the ground, and just as unmourned as a drop of water by those who made them fall. Elves charged into homes and dragged people screaming outside to cut their throats, some did not even go that far, killing old and young alike as centuries of hate were given absolute freedom to indulge itself in revenge drawn by the deepest pits of hell itself.

A piece of Aalon hated what was happening, but bloodlust was drowning everything else. He tore his fangs into an unfortunate throat and ripped it open. His daughter's talons gutted those who came too close and she easily flung them through the brick buildings to be crushed or destroy their internal organs or to simply bleed to death by the open wounds. Casualties were mounting higher and higher with every passing second as guards and soldiers desperately struggled to hold on to some semblance of order. Heroes were born among the humans who fought a battle they could not win against an enemy that hated them to the bones.

Yet even the worst of slaughters must end, and determined last stands can buy time, seconds, minutes, something, anything, everything they could manage... clever and clear headed soldiers erected temporary barriers, nobody knew what was happening or why, where this horrible force from the underworld had come from, but it didn't matter, because they were 'there' among them in the present. So those with clearest minds created minor strongholds that could hold out against scattered and uncoordinated assaults for a short period, it bought vital time for defenders to organize themselves in the northeastern part of the city, and for some citizens to flee out the eastern gate and run or ride for their lives away from pursuit and toward the relative safety of C'teon or Kami Miyako, if they could make it.

The battle began with the rising dawn, before midday half the city had completely fallen, and within two hours of that, only the northeast quadrant of the city remained in human hands, and the bloodlust of the attacking army was finally and slowly being quenched, or at the very least their bodies were too tired to easily continue the butchery.

The desperate defenders had improvised impressively. The northeast quadrant was a warehouse district, as Aalon looked at it from atop a building, he could see that some intelligent and cunning soul had seized the goods therein, found some construction materials, and had many improvised barriers created, likewise he had stationed the best armored of his soldiers along the walls, many of them with arrows. From where Aalon stood, he could see that his elves had paid a steep price for underestimating the hopeless courage of the human defenders, and ignoring that humans too, knew how to use a bow. Tula approached behind him, her clothing, her hair, and her face were blood soaked, but she paid it no mind, and neither did he, Aalon was sure he looked no different.

"Father, what is it?" She asked.

He pointed out the place he was observing. "It's clear that we'll win, but we'll pay a nasty price for it, there are probably a few thousand humans left in that area, at a guess mostly civilians, and not all combat effective but... it'll be a terrible price if we try to take it."

"Can it be taken?" Tula asked, casually spitting some blood out of her mouth to splatter down on the rooftop where they stood.

"It can be, but I'd rather not trade more of our lives, we have the city, we'll let them surrender and leave, or surrender into chains, frankly I'd rather let them leave." Aalon answered, folding his hands behind the small of his back.

"Really? Sympathy, father, for the Theocracy?" She asked incredulously.

"No, none." He said calmly, "But whether they die here or die in Kami Miyako makes no difference to me, this city is ours, and that cuts off all hope for the north, the west belongs to our side now, and nothing can change that." He flashed a charming fang filled smile at his daughter, and she returned it as she understood.

"Yes, father. I'll go deliver the 'opportunity' to leave, myself. I'm sure they'll take it rather than perish pointlessly here and now." Tula replied happily, and then jumped from the building down the the blood soaked street. She practically skipped her way to the space between the two sides, fighting was stilled for the moment, she chose this, the moment of their greatest fear and the understanding of their doom, to make her approach, openly with hands up and empty, as if they themselves were not weapons.

Aalon watched from his position, his keen hearing caught the sounds of shouting from within the human lines when his daughter presented the offer. The sound of a struggle, clearly some wanted to take it, others did not. It was obvious fairly quickly who won the argument, as he saw his forces begin to part away, withdrawing to the west quadrant, and a long line of survivors, wailing women and children, hollow faced men, weeping men, shaking soldiers, blood soaked victims, wounded and hearty alike, all began to trudge toward the eastern gate. Where they were going, Aalon did not care.

He sat down on the edge of the building and watched them go, and when at last the eastern gate closed, indicating the last survivors had exited the city of Feron, he looked to the skies and laughed with unutterable glee. "Nua! I have begun to take vengeance for you, and for us! Your old life will never be lived again, not by anyone, I swear it!" He shouted to the blue above him, as if she could hear what he was saying. He laughed that way for quite some time before his daughter returned to him, and told Aalon that the soldiers were assembling in the central square and ready for him to give a formal address.

It was one duty he was more than happy to perform.

...Beneath the Elf King's Palace...

Ainz moved so quickly that the cries of the hostages were left far behind him in a matter of minutes as he proceeded deeper and deeper into the underground passages. Tuare was breathing hard as she tried desperately to keep up, it was several more minutes before he realized she was struggling, and stopped. She scurried up to him as fast as she could, leaning over and breathing hard, she put a hand over her chest as her breasts rose and fell with every gasp. "My lord, forgive your servant her weakness, you move so quickly... I... I have never moved like this before." She gasped out.

Ainz mentally cursed himself, 'It's a bad boss that does not take the limitations of his subordinates into account.' He let her breathe for a little while and then spoke to her. "Of course, we will move more slowly, I let my eagerness get the better of me. I will not forget again."

She blushed and looked deeply moved by his consideration, her eyes looked at him joyfully. "I'm ready again, My Lord. Please proceed as you see fit, your servant will do her best to keep up." She put as much force into her voice as she could, trying her best to hide her shortness of breath. 'Such a lord, who thinks of his smallest and most insignifcant servants' wellbeing... comes along once in a lifetime, no, once in a hundred, once in a thousand years... I must not fail him.' Tuare thought as she cursed her weakness, she privately resolved to ask Cocytus for some tips on improving her physical fitness.

Ainz did not answer, he didn't need to. He resumed his walk as he looked around, but this time his pace was much, much slower. "My Lord, may your servant beg a question?" She asked.

"Ask." He said succinctly, not really looking at her, focusing instead on the markings that could not be anything but that of a guild of Yggdrasil.

"Do you... know where you are going? You seem to have a destination in mind." She inquired as she matched her step to his as if she were a soldier keeping time with the rhythm of her lord's pace.

"I do. And I hope to find what I expect, the only question remaining to me is how the mechanics of this place will differ from the world that birthed this location." Ainz replied thoughtfully.

"My Lord... this comes from your world?" She asked, agog at the impossibility he seemed to be presenting.

"No, this comes from the second world, the world in which I and my companions created our children, including Sebas, as you recall. This place once belonged to beings... something like myself. Lesser ones, far, far weaker, but still they might as well have been gods by your reckoning." He replied in a tossed off sort of way as they came to a gate site.

As they stepped onto it, Tuare felt everything go dark for an instant, and then she opened her eyes and found herself in a large open space. Great walls and a red sky with black clouds moving overhead. "Garish, they had no taste." Ainz said dismissively.

"They, my lord?" Tuare asked, thinking she already knew the answer.

"You have seen the realm of my friends and I, this would have been designed by the lessers who ruled here in the same way, we are close now, so keep by me, when I tell you to touch something, do so, but then step away quickly." Ainz instructed her, and though she looked at him with a neutral expression, a very slight tremor told him she was afraid, but resolute in her willingness to obey.

"As you say, My Lord." She answered, and continued to follow him deeper into the realm of what she now thought of as 'lesser gods'.

Eventually they came to a great door carved with intricate designs of the most evil looking elves that Tuare had ever seen, they had sneers of smugness on their faces, they had cruel eyes painted purple and red, they had dangerous looking bows and weapons beyond any she'd seen outside of Nazarick's own productions. Even now, though they were but carvings engraved onto the enormous door, she felt them looking down on her with contempt.

"Now, touch the door, and repeat after me, "I, Tuareninya Veyron, challenge for the right to rule." Ainz said calmly as he began readying his skills 'just in case'.

She did not hesitate, she approached with greater boldness than she knew she had within her, touched the place where the doors met, and said proudly, "I, Tuareninya Veyron, challenge for the right to rule!"

She then stepped back, behind her master, and waited. The doors began to open slowly, very, very slowly, but open they did. "My Lord, why... did you need me to do this?" She asked fearfully, her body still shaking behind him.

"I am too powerful, it would have rejected me. In the second world, some places were reserved for... well, let us call them 'lesser gods' and it was considered unsporting for the more powerful to contend against them, therefore certain places could not be ruled by those who were too strong. If I am right, and I am now certain that I am, the one you call the Elf King, was the inner treasury guardian for this place. At a guess, the one Chindai Khan referred to as the founder of his people, once lived here, or perhaps he was trying to take this place as one final adventure before the second world ended. But whatever the reason, he left it. Perhaps the Elf King was too strong, perhaps he ruled and abandoned it, alone deciding to venture into the wide world."

Ainz laughed a little bit, "Had I not come to this world with the children of my dear friends, then I would have done the same, I think. This is a beautiful world, like no other I have ever seen, my friends... they would have loved it, I think. And had I come alone, I would have walked out of Nazarick to pursue the greatest adventure of my life... but duty bound me there, an obligation to the loved ones I lost, and the loved ones who still remained. Those treasures bind me to my course... but for the one who came here, who knows how many centuries ago, he was almost certainly alone. I do not gamble often, but I would wager the last coin of Nazarick that he arrived here from this place."

Tuare's mouth fell open and then closed, then fell open, then closed again, she'd never heard her master speak like this, and she decided it must be his excitement over discovering this place that made him relax so. She vowed in the quietness of her heart to never speak a word of it, but also to keep it close and never forget it. "My... lord..." Tuare began, and pointed to the door, drawing his attention back to the matter at hand as he seemed to lose focus and drift off in thought.

"Oh, yes. Wait here." Ainz said and resumed his walk forward, there in front of them was a large platform, the walls were decorated with various vines and trees that seemed to writhe, still living, and between the walls and the platform was a large open gap, Tuare remained where she was, but she peeked, and gasped, down within the pit were countless bodies impaled on impossibly terrifying thorns. And to her shock, the plants that writhed along the walls darted out their vines and thorns to strike at the Sorcerer King.

"Your Majesty!" She screamed and clutched her hands to her cheeks, but she didn't need to fear.

"[Radiant Death]." He said, and raised his finger, he pointed at each wall, and the plants withered and died, their vibrant greens turned brown, their healthy smoothness and thickness wrinkled and shrank, and fell away before their attempted attack could strike home, it spread from the point of impact, until each wall went brown as dirt with dead plant matter.

Tuare felt her heart sink back down into her chest from where it had leaped into her throat, and the Sorcerer King turned to face Tuare, he was about to call her over, but she didn't wait, she ran over to him as fast as she could and flung herself at his feet. "Majesty, please! Please don't do that." She whimpered and clutched at his robe.

"I thought... I felt such malice from that, such power... forgive me for doubting your own strength was equal but... but what if something had gone wrong, what if you had been hurt?! To lose a lord like you... please, please summon a guardian, or call up a summon, please don't do that, your servant would be lost if you had been taken away!" She cried out, half word by half word through her anxious tears.

Ainz touched the top of her head and she did not shrink away, she lowered her gaze, and as if realizing what she was doing, she dropped her grip on his robe, "F-Forgive this unworthy one for daring to touch your sacred robes... she lost sense of herself for a moment." Tuare said and wiped her nose, face, and eyes.

"It's alright, Tuare. You were moved by loyalty and fear for my wellbeing, any of the guardians would have done exactly the same in your place, they would be pleased by your loyalty, and so am I." He replied, "But you needn't fear, I know what lies within, and there is nothing here capable of threatening me. This would have been where the... late Elf King, would have been waiting to face you, as he is dead, all that remains is the treasury beyond. As Chindai did not speak of this treasure existing in the hands of their founder, it is unlikely that he ruled here, though... but I can't say so with absolute certainty, not until we venture within. Now go." He said, and pointed to the opposite wall, a bridge of stone extended out to the far wall, and another door shimmered into existence, this one white and carved like the first, but with elves who appeared far less malicious, far kinder, and they seemed to meet her with approving eyes, their arms open as if to embrace her.

She touched the door gingerly, the same as she had before. These doors opened far more quickly, and within lay more coins than she'd ever seen before, but for all that wealth of gold, her eyes fell to one object. A set of gauntlets, seemingly ordinary iron, yet with many intricate inlaid designs that covered them, Glowing with an eerie red light.

"Go, Tuare, pick those up, and then give them to me." Ainz said reassuringly.

She did as her master bade her, approaching the mount which held them. She reached out and touched them with her own two hands. To her surprise, they weighed almost nothing. She could feel the power coursing through them as she turned and brought them to her lord. "As you commanded, My Lord." She said, contented in her obedient fulfillment of his will.

"The Iron Gauntlets of Járnglófar. Another world item. Marvelous." Ainz remarked excitedly as he stored them in his pocket dimension. "Lesser... but... still. I can't wait to try them out." He said enthusiastically as Tuare looked at him with puzzlement.

"My Lord... what were those... if this humble servant may dare to ask?" She inquired as she started fidgeting anxiously.

"Those were an item of power from second world, great power, a reward to a being who captured this hall. The treasury is very... poor, compared to my own, so I believe I'll leave the coins for Zesshi to claim, that should pay for much of the rebuilding of her shattered country. But these... these are unique. It allows their bearer to double the strength of their subordinates for a day, with a twenty-four hour recharge time." Ainz answered with glee rising in his voice as the implications of that hit him.

'Wait... the maximum size of a guild was a few hundred people, these worked on 'all' subordinates of the bearer, usually a guildmaster. But it also worked on summoned servants, and 'hired' mercenaries and lower level allies. I'm... a king, so does that mean I could strengthen an entire army, my entire kingdom? Or will it only work on my specific guild members? I'll have to test this item out and see what happens. But if it works at its most extreme possibility... talk about game breaking.' He thought to himself as the dizzying possibility ran like wild horses through his mind.

"We need to get going, Tuare, I wish to see Zesshi to accept her oath of vassalage. But there is one more thing to do first. Go to where the gauntlets were resting, lay your hand upon that mount, and say 'Revive Guardian'." Ainz instructed, and went to the center of the room just beyond the treasury. "Close the door, and come out when I call you." He said, as she moved to obey.

When the door was closed, Ainz quietly uttered, [Perfect Warrior]. Within minutes, he saw the form of the one known as the Elf King start to take shape, it started to move, but Ainz did not give the figure time to react. Several swift hacks with his sword, and he was an armless, legless stump. After turning off his [Perfect Warrior] form, he took out a few simple treatment items and tourniqueted the stumps of limbs so that the NPC would not bleed to death, then as the Elf King swore vengeance and that he would make Ainz kneel and beg for death, the Sorcerer King opened a gate and tossed him through.

He then used a message spell to connect to Demiurge. 'I'm sending you a special prisoner, see what kind of scrolls his skin makes. Give no consideration for his pain, if anything, make it hurt as much as possible. Also, find out if his natural healing can allow for skinning to be done twice without making the first scroll disappear. Oh, and don't waste the limbs I just threw in there, give those to Entoma as a reward for so patiently minding Cardinal Berenice.'

'As you wish, My Lord, while we're speaking, I should inform you, Dominic has ordered the death of what he believes to be his former lover and his daughter, something might be made of this, thanks to the results of our corpse experiments. If you are interested, we might make a nice, loyal 'Thousand Mile Astrologer' as a result.' Demiurge replied, and Ainz's interest was piqued.

'Very well, I have one more task to accomplish here with Zesshi. In the meantime, ensure that Pestonya, Yuri, and the humans who may pass into Nazarick with them, have all the assistance they need with the rescued elven hostages.' Ainz replied.

'At once, My Lord.' Demiurge replied joyfully. Ainz canceled the message spell and waited for Tuare to emerge.

As the door opened and Tuare came into view, still looking somewhat nervous, "My lord…. I don't know what I did but… a lot of gold just… vanished. I swear I didn't…" She started to shiver uncontrollably wondering if she'd done something horribly wrong.

"No, that was what is supposed to happen, think nothing of it, Tuare." He said and then had a Gate opened for them both. "Come along, my subordinates can handle the wellbeing of the captives, we will go see Zesshi and I will accept her vassalage. She has probably finished 'explaining' things by now and I'm sure word has spread of the demise of the king. We will then be done here and... why don't you and Sebas take a day or two off together, as a show of appreciation on my part for the service you rendered down here, and for the loyalty and concern you showed for me."

Tuare went from nervous, to beaming. "My Lord, it is only natural to be loyal and worry for you... but... I would be overjoyed to take some time for Sebas and I."

"Then it is my pleasure to give it to you." Ainz replied, and then they stepped through the Gate, and left the room empty of people behind them, and Tuare barely even noticed the nasty bloodstains she passed through to follow her lord.


	164. Punishment

God Rising: The Cult of Ainz

Written by: AtheistBasementDragon

Edited by: The Usual Gang of Drunken Perverted Idiots

Chapter 164: Punishment

...Farming Estate near Wheaton...

Belki was happy, he was usually happy, because while the elves labored half-naked harvesting wheat, all he had to do was watch them work. 'Always better to watch work than to do work.' He thought to himself for the thousandth time as he walked up and down the wheat fields. He looked away for a brief moment as a blast of cold hit him in the face. He brought his hands together and blew hot air into them. Even with gloves, it was cold and getting colder.

"Hurry up, you lazy fucks! The longer you take, the colder I'll get. The colder I get, the more it'll hurt when you finally do finish!" He snapped out at them. They bent to the task, threshing the wheat as fast as they could with tools not sharpened often enough.

Their blonde hair was much like the wheat itself, and Belki enjoyed swaggering along behind them as they worked, lingering far longer than he needed to behind an especially shapely elf woman.

She was doing her best to pretend he wasn't there. But she knew he was, and he knew she knew he was. He made his stare obvious, but she just continued to work.

'I hate this... I hate this... I hate this I hate this I hate this... I hate him, I hate this place...' Meeka thought to herself as she felt the overseer's eyes on her behind. Eventually he'd move on and stare at some other girl, every one of them would hope they weren't the last one he looked at, because that was usually the one he'd remember well enough to ask for private time with. Every now and then one of the women would offer themselves up and trade for extra food, or rest time, or other small things. Meeka however, hated the overseer so much that she'd never done so.

The wind bit at her skin, and as she bundled some of the wheat together to carry away, she snuck a glance at the sky. 'Please don't get colder.' She begged the gods who had always ignored her.

The sound of thunder hit her mutilated ears and for a moment she thought it was the sky daring to rain on her, but it wasn't, she looked around, others were doing the same, including overseers. When her eyes beheld the impossible sight, all she could do was fall to her knees and praise the heavens.

Belki whirled to the sound of hooves and went straight for his short sword, the other overseers were doing the same. 'Bandits? Here?!' He thought, then thought better of it as he saw worse. Black armor, the banner, the undead mounts. He went pale and screamed as he saw piercing red eyes lock onto him from horseback. There were only a dozen riders, but those who rode on undead horses did not even consider another possible outcome, nor did they have reason to, and before the thunder closed in, Belki knew all too well that he didn't have a reason to either.

The fight was over with laughable ease. Mixis flashed his charming smile down at a group of elves that had been made to assemble in a formation, not far away, the overseers and their supervisor were in chains. There were perhaps three hundred slaves in front of him, and about thirty overseers behind him, and a family of six who owned the estate, standing behind the overseers.

Most of the field wasn't harvested. He rode his undead horse back and forth between the two groups while the remaining members of the hundred that had come with him, kept bows drawn and pointed down at the Theocracy overlords of the estate.

The wheat was blowing in the wind and as he looked down at the scarcely clad elves, Mixis felt a boiling rage. It reminded him of his own lord's contemptible neglect of the peasants, of the way his parents had barely anything to wear in winter and froze so often that it was a disgustingly often told joke that parents had more children just to have more body heat to share when the snows came.

"I have good news, and I have bad news!" Mixis shouted so that everyone could hear him. "The good news is, you slaves are free. According to the will of General Neia Baraja, who has invaded these lands in the name of His Majesty, the Sorcerer King!"

The overseers and the owners of the estate all turned pale and began to shake for reasons entirely independent of the wind.

"The bad news is..." he turned to look down at the captive humans, "you're all going to visit my General, and she's very... very anxious to see you."

The smell of ammonia filled the air a moment later.

He got down off his horse and began to cut the manacles from every slave that wore them, the chains fell with an almost insultingly small 'clinking' noise, as if they were bound by nothing very strong at all. "You all go into the estate, gather blankets, food, anything you require, Neia's not far. It may take some time on foot, but you'll be there in no time, I promise."

"As to this though..." Mixis said as the slaves went to the estate with an almost disbelieving trudge that grew lighter with every step... he could practically feel smiles start to form even without seeing their faces. "I don't think we can let the rest of this stand now, can we?" He asked over his shoulder as he walked over to the field of golden misery.

He took out a set of flint and quicklight fabric and swiftly created a spark, it caught the fabric and burst into flame. He blew a few times so that it grew large, then stood, turned away from the field. He then walked back to his horse and cast the burning fabric over his shoulder into the tall dry wheat. It went up like a bottle of hundred proof bourbon and the fire spread madly behind him. "Drag the family over, I want them to see!" he shouted, and two of his companions did as he bade, they struggled only weakly against the massively more powerful veterans, the middle aged couple and their teenage children looked on in consternation as the fire spread.

Mixis held his arms out wide as the fire lit up their field of vision and sent smoke up to kiss the sky. "Welcome to the new world, motherfuckers!" He shouted with furious hatred at the wealthy who looked... disgustingly like the faces he remembered lording over his village. His long dark hair bounced behind him as he laughed joyfully at the fear that began to grow on their faces, the two wealthy children began to weep as the world they knew was burned to ash.

"Let's get them out of here." Mixis said with disgust as they began to drag the 'surviving' overseers away and the slaves began to fall in behind them.

Nobody saw that in the distance, a stray spark picked up and made it to the estate, which quickly caught and began to burn like the field of wheat around it. There wasn't a slave that looked back, and there was neither overseer nor owner who could keep themselves from doing so.

...Golden Fortress...

When the riders left, Skana immediately went to seek out her companions. As it happened, she found them atop the tower at the main administrative building for the Golden Fortress. As soon as she found them, Skana held her hands together in front of her and bowed very deeply to both Lakyus and CZ. "Please! Forgive her!" She said urgently.

Whatever Lakyus was expecting, it wasn't that, nor, evidently, was CZ, if the miniscule widening of her eyes was any indicator.

"You have to understand... all she wants is for this to be over... CZ, you were right, something's wrong, it's been wrong for awhile but... but I know if this war ends, it'll be alright again! She's... I don't know... I don't know..." Skana started to stammer, but did not look up, she held her deep bow until she felt Lakyus's touch on her shoulder.

"Skana... stop." Lakyus said gently.

"It isn't her... it isn't her..." Skana cried out and fell into the arms of the apostate priestess.

"You are surprised?" CZ asked succinctly.

Skana could not pull herself away from the embrace of the priestess, and she couldn't meet anyone's eyes even if she wanted to. "Did you forget? She shot children. Her friends, her soldiers. This surprises you now?" CZ asked in short, clipped sentences.

"She did what she had to, I swear she's not a monster... but... its not her down there in that tent..." Skana tried to whisper out, but it was anything other than convincing.

Lakyus stroked Skana's auburn hair patiently, not saying anything as the veteran of countless fights wept for the sleeping General.

"I don't know what to do... I can't... we're so close, but she's..." Skana started and stopped several times, unable to articulate what she wanted to. "Maybe... maybe if I give her the kinds of targets that she hates the most... but then... the city might already be fleeing, maybe they are Theocracy... maybe I'm making a mistake, maybe she's right and we do have to do this, or let them do this to themselves but... what'll be left of my wife... I can't let her go down this road... but I'm not strong enough to stop her on my own... this isn't who she is, I swear... I swear it isn't..."

"Skana... Skana... she's who she is, and who she makes herself... I know..." Lakyus began, only for Skana to dart a finger up and cover Lakyus's lips, she shook her head fervently, her green eye boring into Lakyus's blue.

"No, I talked to others, I heard something of it belatedly but... before all this began, between the last war and this one, she wasn't like this. She tried to resolve things peacefully, to save lives. Even at the cost of terrible pain, I asked a few of the hundred who were there, she tried so hard to be peaceful... to show her strength without violence to someone she admired, for all the good it did. That person... is not the one who can laugh as an entire population runs to its death. I have to stop this, maybe if I... let her have the lives of the overseers, breakers, slave owners... maybe I can talk her down from the rest." Skana said with urgent hopefulness.

CZ shook her head. "No."

"No?" Lakyus asked.

CZ nodded. "No." Her voice was neutral as usual, but... to the attentive, the emphasis was greater, if only slightly.

"Why no?" Lakyus asked as she stroked Skana's back.

"Necessity. She sees a need, she does it." CZ explained with a hint of sadness.

"But it'll kill her. I know monsters, I've killed monsters, I've fought monsters, if she really thinks it is necessary to wipe out so many, even if she's successful, well... it would be better for her if she were a monster." Lakyus explained.

"She knows." CZ said succinctly. "She'll do it anyway."

"No. No. Please no..." Skana whimpered at CZ's merciless explanation and clutched a hand at the little pendant that hung down between her breasts as she slipped slowly down to her knees and tried to get control over herself, and failed, badly. Lakyus had counseled many over the years who were in dire need of support, but as Skana seemed about to fall into despair, all Lakyus could do, was hold her.

...Crossroads...

Enri sat behind the desk reviewing the numbers given to her. "This doesn't seem possible." She said with a furrowed brow as Lupusregina leaned against the wall behind her with her arms folded in front of her chest looking very, very bored.

"What?" Lupusregina asked.

"As the bodies were being cleared, I had them counted, even including the captives, there are far too few from what there should have been. I'm pretty sure we got rid of the entire Windflower Scripture in that fight, and probably a few others, but... there are still just not enough bodies, I even had our soldiers venture into the sewers, open up warehouses, everything I could think of to find where they could be hiding more people and... they're just gone!" Enri slapped the table in frustration.

"Well, at least they identified Moira's body and you got that boxed up and sent home for proper burial, along with a nice commendation and some amazing honors to go with it, Goan will be the son of a great hero for the rest of his life, it's something at least." Lupusregina said consolingly.

"Yes..." Enri said sadly, "She and the rest of that corps of glorious bastards did one helluva job making a right mess of things in here for us, probably saved a lot of lives by killing that caster, destroying or stealing weapons, and opening the gate, to name some of it. They'll get monuments for sure at the least. But... I don't want martyrs, I want an end to all this." She rubbed her forehead, she was doing that far too much lately, that much she was sure of.

She looked over to Lupusregina, "Where is the captured Vice Commander, Ira, she should be here by now." Enri's voice had a twinge of anger to it, though clearly it was not directed at her companion.

"Waiting outside for the last thirty minutes, I assume." Lupusregina said with a smirk.

"Oh." Enri said sheepishly, "Would you?" She asked.

"Of course." Lupusregina replied and went to the door, she opened it and said bluntly, "Alright, bring the prisoner in."

A few minutes later a youngish looking woman with brown hair and hazel eyes that were as sharp as Enri remembered, was staring at her silently. "Lupu, let's be good hosts, help her to a seat." Enri said politely as the door to the office closed.

Vice Commander Ira stood with manacles on her wrists and ankles that allowed her to only take the smallest of steps. She still wore her official armor, but her sword and all other weapons were gone.

"Pleasant to see you again, Vice Commander." Enri said as she folded her hands together on the desk in front of her, her tone was informal, even friendly, and she cracked a smile, "I'd be lying if I said I wasn't pleased that these are the circumstances under which we meet again.

The captive officer rolled her eyes, "You'll forgive me if I preferred our places reversed, but..." She held up her wrists at chest level and snapped them apart, the chain went taut but did not snap open. "Well, it is what it is, I'm assuming I'm not here for tea." She said bluntly.

"You're right, I have questions, and I want answers." Enri said in a kind, even tone. "You're going to give them to me, one way or another." Her eyes went hard and they drilled into Vice Commander Ira.

The Vice Commander laughed, it was an unexpected reaction, but she quickly explained, "General Enri, I truly respect your acumen as a commander but... you and I both know you're not going to ask me 'hard'. You don't have it in you, you're hard from dealing with loss, not from inflicting it, I know torturers, I know butchers, I know sadists, and you're not one."

Enri looked stumped for a moment, then smiled kindly, "You're right about me, I just... I don't want people to get hurt, and yes, what's made me harder is learning to deal with the loss of my soldiers... I'm not fond of hurting anyone, I just want to go home, back to my sister, my husband, my village... well, city. You're in the way of that but, as you say, I don't have it in me to hurt you. She, on the other hand..." Enri jerked her thumb to her bodyguard.

"That's my best friend, I asked her what she'd do if I suffered a horrible death, and you know what she said?" Enri asked with a smirk beginning to form against her will as Vice Commander Ira shook her head no.

"That she'd miss me, and look after my family, but that my death would give her the best orgasm of her life." Enri rolled her eyes as Lupusregina nodded and gave an enormous, face splitting grin and put her hands on her hips, she nodded fervently, equal parts proud of herself and amused at Enri.

"She's a sadist, all I have to do is walk out of here and leave you alone with her, she'll do the rest." Enri said smugly, Ira's face went pale.

Enri stood.

"Just a moment now." Vice Commander Ira said abruptly, "I didn't say I wasn't willing to talk."

"I'm listening." Enri said, but did not reseat herself.

"I'm 'supposed' to tell you this, after he's gotten a head start of course." The captive said, now looking smug herself.

"What?" Enri asked with a sense of dread at the smirk.

"Well, General Boabdill is gone, along with my comrade, Vice Commander Heikeren. They left when it was obvious the city would fall. All those losses you took from the southern area, that wasn't from some people running for it, that was his organized retreat with a large part of some of his best soldiers. He 'got' you if you will." Vice Commander Ira looked very, very proud, even preening as Enri looked at her, aghast.

"By now he'll have linked up with one or more of the remainder, I don't know where he is, of course, he'd never reveal that unless he had to. But he's well away from here and he's not going to make this easy for you.

Enri raised her gloved fist and slammed it down on the table. "Damn it all!" She shouted as she realized how she'd been duped. "How far am I going to have to chase that wiley bastard?!"

"All the way to Kami Miyako, if I know him." Vice Commander Ira said with an uproarious laugh.

Enri was just letting out a long, loud sigh when a soldier burst in. "What's the meaning of this?!" Enri shouted, and then saw the soldier's face.

"A riot! General Enri, there's a riot! The people of the city are rising up!" He said urgently. Panic etched on his face, his breathing was hard and his entire body shaking with a mix of fear, anger, and disbelief.

Enri was just about to respond to this, when she felt a message spell connect. She listened for a moment and her face went pale.

Lupusregina looked at her inquisitively.

When the message cut off, Enri looked over to her bodyguard, "A riot... in Ikari City... and in a lot of the captured villages."

"Oh. Shit." Lupusregina said succinctly, as Vice Commander Ira started laughing even harder.


	165. Laughter and Screams

God Rising: The Cult of Ainz

Written by: AtheistBasementDragon

Edited by: The Usual Gang of Drunken Perverted Idiots

Chapter 165: Bombing at the Comedy Club

...Palace of the Elf King...Elf Queen...

Zesshi spent a great deal of time elaborating on everything that had happened, not the least of which 'who' she was, as few in the Elf Kingdom knew the story of her making or how the war had come to be. The crowd of elven royals stared at the face of their oppressor and marveled that the nightmare was finally over, within the first hour, their oaths of fealty had been given, by the second, they were confirming her as Queen, by the third, the whole city was in an uproar of celebration the likes of which their kingdom had never known in all its long history.

When the head 'crumbled' into motes of light that vanished into the air, at first, there had been terrible fear. "Is he... reviving? Can he not be killed?" The questions were passed around, and 'Queen' Zesshi was quick to calm them.

"I would surmise that it is My Lord who is responsible for this." She said as she sat comfortably on the throne. She drummed her fingers on the armrest as her chief aids stood by. More than a few glances turned to the openly non-elven aides, but their imposing demeanor and trusted position to the left and right of the throne left no doubt about their position in the mind of their savior.

Questions were running through their minds, all had 'heard' of the mysterious undead, most even had a favorable view of him as it was his acolyte that was rampaging across the human kingdoms and slaying slavers and arming their kin to strike down every human who got in her way. But he was still undead.

That anxiety did not dissipate when the gate opened, and the Sorcerer King stepped through behind the throne, with a human maid accompanying him. An aura of command seemed to come from him that made it impossible to be unaware of his presence.

He stepped from around the throne and moved in front of Zesshi Zetsumei. "Have they declared you their Queen?" He asked.

She stood from her throne and knelt before her lord. Her head bowed in deference to the savior of her family, she replied solemnly, "There can be no doubt."

"Have you given your oath to them, then?" He asked.

She shook her head, "A royal giving an oath to their subjects?" She asked with surprise.

"A King who has no faith with his people can expect none to be given in turn, I am not a woman... but I should think it would be the same for Queens." He said thoughtfully, while he wondered why nobody got that he was joking. 'Does nobody in this world get JOKES?' he wondered with some small annoyance.

"I-I see." Zesshi replied, and Ainz stood aside so that she could be seen by all. "As Queen over the elves, I promise you that so long as I rule, you will be given justice and dignity, that I will not allow you to suffer a danger that I will not shoulder myself, and that I will not have a full belly while you go hungry." She improvised as best she could, and frankly thought she sounded a bit silly, but she was clearly sincere, and that counted for far more.

"Long Live the Queen!" They shouted in unison, many of them struggled to force the words out, so great was their joy at the death of the former king, more than a few wept openly, some embraced those nearest them, and the cheers outside within the city became so loud they could be heard in the throne room itself..

"Now, Zesshi Zetsumei, make your oath to me. Before all your loyal subjects, I assume you have explained matters to them?" Ainz inquired patiently.

Zesshi nodded enthusiastically. "Absolutely, of course all they needed was 'we're burning Kami Miyako to the ground' and they were ready to stop talking and start giving oaths." Zesshi laughed, and some savage laughter joined hers from the body of elven nobles.

"I see. Well then, proceed." He replied dryly.

"I, Queen Zesshi Zetsumei of the Elven Kingdom, swear my kingdom as a province of the Sorcerous Kingdom, my people will be your people, your law our law, we shall have the same enemies and the same future, until the end of all things." She made her promise with a depth of integrity and feeling in her voice that he could not have missed.

"I accept your oath, and in turn promise to keep faith with my followers as they do with me." Ainz replied in kind, "Arise, Queen of the Elves, and servant of the Sorcerous Empire."

Zesshi stood at his command, then looked behind her at her throne. "I guess I'll have to get used to that spot, won't I? Seems strange, how long did it take you, Your Majesty?" She asked curiously.

"I'll let you know, once it happens." Ainz tried again to make a joke, but again nobody laughed.

Through many a mind there ran variations on one sentence, 'He's so wise, to know that comfort on the throne corrupts, and that it is an unending vocation of constant development... we're lucky at last, to have so sage an eternal ruler...'

"Ahem, well regardless, onto current matters," Ainz began, covering for the moment of silence, "your three surviving scripture comrades will be considered your responsibility, as they rendered aid to you, I will grant a one time amnesty for any past activities, so long as they choose to remain in your service under your orders, and... agree to one other thing, which I will have them briefed about later, and yourself as well. You may all be of great help." He reflected, then continued, "But for now, you have an army to retrieve, two of them, in fact. It will take some time to return all the hostages, so enjoy a day or two of rest. Once the hostages are returned so that no elven hostiles remain and word has spread to everywhere of the new Queen, then your armies can be combined, and you can march with Chindai, and Leinas towards C'teon... with one 'brief' interruption."

"On a related matter however, I should point out that you will have a very easy time rebuilding your capital, and your civilization as a whole, and not only because of the undead labor I will provide you to do so." Ainz said, raising one boney finger up and drawing all eyes to him. "I unlocked the hidden treasury of your father, there is a wealth of golden coins there fit to fund the rebuilding of your nation two or three times over even if you hired the most expensive laborers and artisans, and they overcharged you for their time and materials. Collect it at your convenience."

They all looked at him, unable to move, and Zesshi finally stammered out something akin to a response. "I would be... truly overjoyed, to do all that you say, My Lord." Zesshi said as she reseated herself on the throne of her father. "May I ask though, My Lord, his head and... I assume, the rest of his body, all disappeared..."

Ainz laughed savagely, "Oh that, yes. I had him revived... then I cut off his arms and legs and sent him to be skinned alive forever, I look forward to seeing what kind of scrolls we can make from his skin... 'all' of his skin." Ainz said pointedly.

For the briefest of seconds, outrage stirred in countless breasts... until the moment he got to the words 'cut off' and then many an elf went from pale to... a distinct shade of green, many grabbing their crotches in brief sympathy. Others of clearer mind wondered who would want a scroll made from skin drawn from 'there' while others had looks of delighted satisfaction on their faces.

"I see, well... it couldn't happen to a nicer guy." Zesshi said sweetly, and the entire throne room began to erupt in joyful laughter.

...Fortress Cross...

"Not that many prisoners." Zanac said as they walked away from the ruins and back to their horses.

"Not that many problems then." Nimble replied indifferently.

"I can't argue with that." The King replied as Gargantua began to move.

"Be that as it may," Zaryusu interjected, "the real question is... what problems lie ahead?"

"None, none at all." Shalltear said sweetly, her voice proud and arrogant, her eyes closed smugly, she placed a hand on her relatively flat chest and said, "I'll take care of the next one, I'm sure if I do, my beloved Lord Ainz will praise me, perhaps... perhaps I can be his chair again or... or maybe..." She clutched her cheeks with her hands and shook her head, "ooooh it is too wonderful to even think about it!" Her entire body began to undergo very small tremors from atop her horse, and as she squirmed they tried very hard to not notice, and turned their faces to the lizardman general just so they didn't have to watch further.

Zanac and Nimble looked over at Zaryusu as if to ask, 'What... exactly is going on there?'

Though his face was as inhuman as it got, with his snout turned down and his eyes on theirs, it was a 'long suffering' look that crossed all racial lines. They tried to give him something akin to a sympathetic expression and tried even harder not to think of the dangerous loli vampire girl as some kind of pseudo-throne.

"How... long till we get to where we're going?" Zanac asked uncomfortably.

He didn't really mind when nobody answered.

...Re-Estize...

Brain Unglaus walked away from the noble's estate as the fire was starting to spread. One more dead, one more problem solved. He looked back over his shoulder at the sound of shattering glass and a collapsing floor. "Relax dead man, I did you a favor." He said indifferently as he tapped the flat of his blade on his shoulder. "Trust me, better dead in there than handed over to the freaky demon girl or something." He shuddered briefly at the memory and was glad of the noise of the collapse of the building distracting him until he got to his horse.

People were running to put the place out. In a few hours when they were successful, they'd find a dead noble with a hole in his throat, on the off chance that they bothered to check. It didn't matter to him either way. As he sheathed his blade at his back and mounted the horse to ride away, he took a small document out of his pocket with the noble's name on it.

He held it up, then tore it in half, it promptly caught fire and he dropped it immediately, it vanished before it hit the ground. "I will never get used to that." He said with a small shudder of his own as he left the spot behind. "Sure is a useful way to let them know the job is done. I wonder how many more the King, his handler, or their King, will want purged before the end?" He wondered aloud as he rode his horse quietly down the dirt path back to the capital.

He returned a few hours later and walked into the palace without being challenged. Now a familiar sight, he made his way easily deep within the building, he didn't knock on any doors at all until he reached the princess's quarters. He knocked firmly but slowly, and a few moments later, he was admitted.

He entered just in time to see a gate close and the princess, in all her angelic glory, casually pouring more tea. He looked with some concern at the space where the gate had been. "I... didn't interrupt something important, did I, Your Highness?" Brain asked uncomfortably.

"Not at all." Outer Guardian Renner replied. Her eyes, solid white and shining like polished pearls in the sun, swept over him instantly and he felt briefly like he was looking into the eyes of a goddess. Her wings were wrapped around the front of her body, but he could see that beneath her wings she was wearing, not a dress, but something closer to a riding outfit, casual, comfortable, and not at all constricting. A routine with her lately. "I was just having a book returned to the Sorcerer King's library that Climb borrowed from the Guardian Overseer."

"She was here for that?!" He asked with disbelief.

"No, no, she sent someone else." Renner replied casually, "It was short, but we had a little time for girl talk since things have become... different, or rather 'better' with Climb." Renner smiled sweetly and Brain resolved privately to ask for all the dirty details later himself. "It's nothing you'd be interested in of course, but I must be polite to my supervisor." She said somewhat huffily.

"Ah, yes... well, I'm glad I did not interrupt anything." Brain said hastily, more and more glad by the minute that he didn't, his voice was quite sincere.

"Well, on to important matters, I saw you finished the job, I have three more names for you, then that should finish matters off. One former royal faction member with more money than sense, no loss as he has no competency and no loyalty. One who my brother wants killed for his own reasons, I'm sure they're good ones, and one who insulted Climb a few years ago." Renner said and handed him three sealed scrolls.

Brain took them in hand and slipped them into his satchel. "Ah, Your Highness, you did say 'years ago' didn't you?" He asked hesitantly.

"Yes, is that a problem?" She asked in her angelic voice as she tapped her fingers impatiently on the cover of a book.

"Well... it's just, it was years ago." He replied, as if the issue was obvious.

Renner covered her mouth and laughed as sweetly as a chirping bird. "Oh dear Brain, I don't care if it was five minutes ago, five days ago, five weeks, months, years, or decades. Any insult to my Climb will be answered with blood." She cocked her head at him and stuck out her tongue ever so slightly. "Please tend to him first, as you say, five years ago was quite some time ago, and well, I'd rather he not get away with it for even one more minute than I must allow him to."

Brain cleared his throat uncomfortably, "Well, if Your Highness wishes them purged, far be it for me to argue, one dead worthless noble is not something the world is ever going to miss. But ah, Climb does know about all this, doesn't he?" The blue-haired swordsman asked with some concern for the innocent boy.

"Mostly." Renner replied honestly, "He knows the old nobility has to go, and he knows what purges are like, he saw all the corruption with the old system, he knows how much it cost us all, so while it makes him uncomfortable, he can put up with it."

"Maybe he's growing up a bit." Brain said reluctantly.

"Maybe so." Renner agreed, "Now if you'll excuse me, I'd like to read for a little while before Climb arrives. You'll find your payment has already been deposited in your credit account at the bank near your residence." She said dismissively as she picked up a copy of a book that he briefly glimpsed the title of. 'Venus in Furs' what an unusual title. I wonder what it's about?' Brain thought to himself, noting that it must be fascinating given the hurried steps that carried her to her bed to lie back and read it.

"As you like, Your Highness, I'll head out to take care of the one in particular first, then after a little rest I'll finish up with the other two, give Climb my best regards when he arrives." Brain said fondly and closed the door behind him too late to hear her start to get really into her book.

...Nazarick...

Demiurge looked over the corpse of the female, while a few feet away, a man's head was screaming, "Make it stop! Please make it stop! Don't let her do it again!"

The demon looked over to the talking severed head. "You should be grateful, you have your life because of my assistant's ideas on how to keep the blood going to your brain, nice and fresh."

"This is torment! I don't want to live, I don't want to live! She comes over to me and plucks out my eyeballs! She sets me on fire, please... just let me die!" The man's head screamed desperately.

Demiurge looked over at the head again, "All in the name of better serving Nazarick, you should know this by now, besides it has only been what, a few months?" The archdevil asked as he shifted the female corpse into a large box and placed a metal plate on either side of it, then slid them together so that they met at a hole in the center where her neck was, he brushed her deep brown hair out of the way and pinned it up so it couldn't impede the blade.

"But how much more?! Please tell me that much?!" The head shrieked in pain as it felt familiar talons dig into the skin from behind it. "No! Not you! Not again!"

"Now, now. You were our first successful trial, we'll keep you going for a very long time. After all, if there is a problem that causes you to die suddenly, we want to know about it before it hits any of our more useful, long term subjects." Demiurge replied reasonably as he placed the guillotine blade horizontally over the metal box top, then placed another metal plate over the top of the guillotine blade, sandwiching it into place to create a clear and unbroken path through the neck of the dead body.

"No! No! Please no!" The head begged, and Demiurge looked over his shoulder at it as he began hooking up various tubes to the head.

"Hand me that wand there, would you?" Demiurge asked politely, and the feminine hands of a gold skinned demoness did as he asked, then a moment later, he heard a sickening crunch of a breaking nose.

"I broke your goddamn nose, didn't I, bitch." She said to the fat faced pig like, human head.

"Yesh! You did, you bwoke dish bitch's goddamn nose! Please shtop! Please shtop!" the head screamed out.

Demiurge barely noticed what was going on behind him until it was time. "Alright, be ready to do your part, as soon as the blade slides through, and you've slowed the blood flow, I'm ready to cast my spell."

"Alright, ready when you are, Demiurge. I've been hearing about this 'Remedios Custodio' character for some time now, can't wait to see if she lives up to all the hype, even as nothing but a living, severed head."

Demiurge chuckled, "Well, you can judge that for yourself, let's begin." He said, and he used the resurrection wand to raise her from the dead. Then, just as her eyes were fluttering open, the blade moved to sever her head.

 **AN: OK I'm down to 35 chapters to close this out, I know, you got used to seeing multiple chapters per day or at least one per day, but honestly, I'm going to take a break from 'God Rising' for a bit. I'll explain why in the GR reflection chapter.**


	166. Crime and Punishment

God Rising: The Cult of Ainz

Written by: AtheistBasementDragon

Edited by: The Usual Gang of Drunken Perverted Idiots

Chapter 166: Crime and Punishment

 _...Golden Fortress..._

When Neia woke up, the first captives were being brought in. She heard it from where she lay and her eyes snapped open out of the nightmare that was consuming her sleeping hours. She flung her legs over the cot and quickly put on her boots, her legendary armor, took up her bow, belted on her sword, and then walked out of the tent.

Outside, two of her guards held their disciplined positions without moving even a little. Relentless drill had made them into deadly statues. The wind picked up the cloak behind her, causing it to flap majestically. Today she wore red, and she kept the hood back so she could be clearly recognized for who she was. Her feet fell lightly over the ground, but hardened by the cold, the dirt crunched like bone beneath her boots.

"Line them up!" She barked to the soldiers who herded the bound captives like sheep.

Wails and shouts of fear were plentiful, but her elites were skilled riders and it was relatively easy with undead mounts to shove people into place, particularly when those people were terrified of not following directions.

Neia looked them over with a burning fury in her eyes, the perfect sky blue faded away in front of them and as they watched, gasping or frozen in terror, the ink like darkness took away even her pupils.

"I expect you know who I am." Neia said in a voice that thrummed through their bodies. The tears were good enough answer from some, others fell to their knees, but either were sufficient for her to know that yes, they had guessed her identity successfully.

Her already narrow eyes narrowed further. She looked to one of the mounted soldiers, "Are they separated by role?"

"Yes, ma'am!" Mixis replied swiftly, happily, and hungrily. "The overseers are in the center, the breaker is on the right, the family who owned the slaves and employed the rest are on the left."

Neia looked down the line, the family was shifting uncomfortably and clutching their young children protectively. The children were young, younger than Neia was when she joined the Paladin Order as a squire.

She felt a growl rise up from within as she watched love between monsters and felt the urge to destroy it, she held in a mental sigh and reminded herself of the rules. She looked along the line further, and saw as she looked closer, that the overseers had been brought with their whips.

She looked back at the soldier again, "How were the slaves treated?" Neia asked him calmly, the weight of lives hung in the balance and the entire assembly knew it. The rest of her army, busy about their tasks, began to slow or stop to watch what was happening. Heavy loads were put down, those walking stopped and turned to observe. From up in the tower, Skana, Lakyus, and CZ leaned over to watch.

"Please... let this be enough." Skana begged the heavens.

Lakyus reached out and touched Skana's shoulder as CZ stepped beside her.

Down below, Neia listened to the answer. "Half naked in this weather? What of their other conditions?" She asked with disgust.

"What you'd expect. Mutilated ears, what clothing they did have was threadbare, the communal quarters were drafty, cheap wood, not sealed against the weather. Most of the ones we checked had scars, many said they were acquired on the estate. Were it not for your orders… I would have killed them all myself, ma'am." Mixis answered in disgust.

Neia listened in quiet rage as she walked to where the family stood, the children turned their faces away and buried them into the bodies of their parents, but the parents could only look away, as there was none to embrace them and hide them from the wrath of the one they feared.

"Look at me." Neia said to the patriarch of the household. He swallowed, but did not obey.

"I will not say it twice." Neia warned him.

He tried to turn his face to meet her, and little by little he was successful.

"I'm going to ask the slaves when they arrive, how you personally treated them, what you did with them. I'm going to ask about your wife's behavior, your son's behavior, your daughter's behavior. I'm going to ask if any of them were ever abused by any of you in person. Will what I hear incline me to show you mercy?" Neia asked in a slow, soft spoken voice.

He went even more pale, if possible, but no words came out.

Her rage did. "Didn't I warn you all?! Didn't I?! Didn't you know I was coming for you! Are you so steeped in your evil that even knowing retribution is on its way that you are unable to change?!" She boomed in a voice far out of proportion to her size. Ice stabbed through the lot of them with every word.

But again no answer came.

"Then let's get this started." Neia snarled and moved away from the family and to the center of the assembly. She pointed to an overseer, "Free that one."

Belki had no idea why he was being released from his bonds by the pair of black armored soldiers, but a look in their eyes told him it was 'not' for his benefit. As soon as he was free, the one at his left grabbed him by the collar of his tunic and pulled him forward out of the line. He staggered forward and fell, and the two soldiers stepped back from the mystified line.

"Get out your whip." Neia ordered.

Belki slowly got to his feet. Then he looked at the one who he'd identified as the demoness herself.

He looked at his side. The whip hung there, dangling with every motion.

"Do it." Neia said again. "It's your only chance." She told him.

He took the whip in his left hand, and looked at her blankly, unsure of just what she was asking.

"Whip me." Neia snarled, "Go ahead, use it on me." She taunted him. [Speed of Death] [Eye of Death] She uttered quietly.

He didn't move, he was like a statue.

"What's the matter, are you too afraid to use your whip on someone who can fight back?! Did the gods only choose those without spines as their favorites?! Come on 'overseer' show me how you discipline someone who isn't broken!" She spat every word as if it were venom, "Come on, coward!" she spat further. He still didn't move.

"Either you strike at me, or I'll tie you up and throw you to the slaves to do with as they like when they arrive." She said with a sweet smile, as if death had taken the form of a very young woman, and death very much enjoyed her work.

He looked around for help that didn't exist, gave his whip several test swings, and then, Belki did what he knew how to do best, the whip went out as he aimed for the eye of the Black Paladin, and then the pain hit him.

The pain and the laughter.

He fell to his knees clutching his wrist, his hand was on the ground, still holding the whip, but it was no longer attached to his forearm, and that was just the first pain to hit. An instant later he saw that his left and right ears were on the ground as well.

He then fell back when a knee connected with his face and a moment later, someone in black armor was binding his wounds as he writhed on the ground.

"Next!" Neia boomed out.

Faces went white as a morning fog while the horrifying ritual went on and on, whip hands were piled up like cordwood, along with ears, until her justice was dispensed to all but the breaker and the owners of the estate. Not a single lash had managed to touch her. There was abject fascination on the faces of her army at ground level.

Up in the tower above, Skana watched with a measure of satisfaction. "I wish I was down there with her for that part." She was shaking with rage, a rage especially shared by the elven and orcish members of the Army of Black Justice that had lived under supremacists in the past.

Nonetheless, despite her words, as the shouting and cursing of the earless one-handed mass increased, something within the wife of the Black Paladin began to ache.

Beside her, Lakyus fell to her knees and closed her hands, she looked down and closed her eyes. "What are you doing?" CZ asked.

"I am praying." Lakyus said.

"For?" CZ asked.

"For my friend." Lakyus replied as she squeezed her eyes tight and wished she could do the same with her ears.

Skana fell down beside her and imitated her posture.

"Why?" CZ asked with just the barest hint of curiosity.

"Because even if she is being the embodiment of justice... to do that as easily as she does, she is truly... truly lost." Lakyus replied.

"Healthy people don't... do that, CZ." Skana explained as she brought her hands together. "Tortured people do that, I thought by feeding her people deserving of the most severe treatment, I might later talk her into... sending help, rescuing those who flee but... I know my wife, this is not what it appears. In fact, I'd say nothing is what it seems."

"How do you know?" CZ asked flatly.

"Because they're still alive, and she's doing this in person. Remember what she said about terror? And also, what you said about her doing things anyway, regardless of the cost?" Lakyus answered as Skana began to whisper out a desperate plea in the hopes that her god would hear.

CZ didn't ask anything else, she watched from atop the tower, and when the slaves finally began to arrive, though even with her hearing she could not quite catch the questions Neia threw at them, or the answers she was given, she was fairly sure that they could hear Neia's snarl of anger and fury as she turned her eyes on the family.

She stalked over to where they were and brought her blade down, cutting the bonds that secured parents to their children, and with the strength of the unliving still coursing through her body, she grabbed the patriarch of the household by the hair and pulled him down to eye level. "Do you know the difference between justice and revenge?" She hissed at him through clenched teeth.

His eyes popped wide, his son and daughter's frantic pleas were cutting through the air, but they were so frantic that he could not understand the words. His wife was mute, her voice trapped in fear like a fly in a spider's web. He shook his head frantically.

"Funny..." Neia hissed, "Sometimes I don't either. Maybe they know, lets go find out!" She replied, then with the husband's hair still held in an unbreaking grip, she trod the cold earth beneath her feet, dragging them with her as she walked. The earth crunched in the cold, and even through the cries for mercy, Neia could still hear it give way under her boots. 'How many more? How many more? How many more?' She wondered on a loop, listening to the sound of the earth while the question continued scrolling behind her eyes, and not at all to those being dragged behind her.

Tied to her husband as she was, there was nothing the fear-filled wife could do but stumble along crying out in horror at the fate she saw coming.

"Do what you need to with these two, they belong to you!" Neia shouted and stopped cold a few feet from the gathered group of slaves. She pulled their former owner by his hair and with her arm moving in one smooth motion, she flung the pair bodily forward, they staggered and fell at the feet of the slaves. For one moment in time, they looked up in consternation and dread at the hateful glares of their former property.

Neia watched until it was done. From up above, Skana and Lakyus winced and looked away from the gruesome vendetta as it was carried out.

"Why does she always watch?" Lakyus asked as she finally opened her eyes again as silence began and shouts died down.

"She thinks she has to. You might have heard her say before... 'If I can give the order, I can see it carried out.' She considers it an obligation to know the consequences of her commands. It has... made her great, but also terrible, hard, and fearsome. It's... I think, why she's always the one to put down hostages when they're taken, she's imitating the example of our god." Skana explained in a troubled voice.

Down below, Neia approached the two crying survivors of the household. She looked at them until her gaze forced them to look up and fall silent, "You live, because you were not yet them. Become them, and we will meet again." She warned them in a silken voice. "Had they been to others as they were to you, they would not be where they are now, and you would not be without them. Actions have consequences." She thrust her finger toward the badly mangled bodies, "Theirs," she slid her finger to the slaves who had done the deed, "theirs," she then moved her finger to the two teenagers, "and yours. Do you understand?" She asked as she lowered her hand back to where her sword rested at her side.

"What about you?!" The young man spat out through sniffles and tears of fear and loss as he clung to his sister.

"You just go on, no consequences for you?!" His sister added as she clung in turn to her last living family member.

Neia let out a heavy sigh and put her one hand on each of the young one's shoulders. Her eyes returned to their native blue, "Oh yes," she said with, to their shock, what could only be described as resignation in her voice, "there are consequences for me. Every action has a price with which something else is purchased, even if it isn't clear at the outset. And if you're willing to pay any price, anything is possible, anything… except one thing." She spoke very quietly to them, so that they alone were going to hear her. She put the power of her voice to work for her then, so every word would be pounded into their souls.

"What's that?" The young man asked, so caught up in the entrancing sound that there was nothing else he could do but carry on with the one who had seen to their ruin.

"Living with it afterwards." She said gently, caught in a moment of sympathy for the orphans she'd just had made.

She cut off the power of her voice and they snapped back to reality, her voice grew cold again. "You two will live, as I said, but you have a job to do."

From atop the tower, they could only watch as Neia went and took two horses, then under her directions, the hands of the overseers were bound together with their own whips, and the ears were gathered into a double pair of bags.

"You will carry these to Kami Miyako." Neia said to the two surviving young ones. "Tell them what you have seen here, that Neia Baraja has kept her promise. Tell every village, every town, every person you see on your way, that even the slightest resistance will be erased utterly. And also, when you get to Kami Miyako, tell Cardinal Dominic something for me. Tell him... the next time we meet, I'll do much worse than just spit on him."

The distraught heirs of the dead obeyed as if their lives depended upon doing so, and, certain this was the case, they slung the bags of ears and the dangling hands over the horses, and barely paused to take a pack of food and a skin of water before they rode as far and as fast away from camp as they could.

She then called for the commander of the Sons of Iontariil, and barked out her orders. "Go, take every town, take every village, seize control over every single population of humans around Wheaton, I want them to have no safe haven to retreat to when the rest of us advance."

The commander of the mercenaries had a blank face, save for his eager eyes. Neia approved of him and watched his soldiers march out with disciplined ranks. From up high, as the force shrank into the distance, Skana and the others could see it breaking apart into company elements. Such heavily armed units would be more than a match for any village militia, though as she watched her soldiers depart, Neia couldn't help but wonder, 'Am I maybe... taking things a little too far?' She wiped some of the blood off of her armor and whipped her hand out to fling it into the cold dirt, as she looked at the awed, worshipful faces of the slaves, and the terrified faces of the overseers, she shook off the thought. 'No, couldn't be. But... even if I am, it must be done. I will break them. Either this nation will break, or I will, but no matter what happens, my god will have his due.'

"I think I've figured out what she has in mind, and it... might not be what she said." Lakyus said unhappily to Skana as they watched the fleeing horses and the nonhuman mercenaries.

"You think she lied about letting the population of Wheaton die running from her?" Skana asked, unsure if she should be happy or distraught, emotions warred on her face, her remaining eye held wide enough that it was almost large enough to see for both itself and its missing mate.

"She plays things close to the vest, you know this, remember when we went to the meeting between Queen Calca and Remedios? She didn't tell 'anyone' about CZ's position, and she hasn't informed any of 'us' about gaining more control over her... access, to whatever that is that she does. But it seems she's getting there. She also didn't tell anyone she intended us to go to Wheaton, or even what she planned to do to Yanana until almost the last minute... relatively speaking." Lakyus put her hand on Skana's bicep, "She's tight lipped, always has something else in mind... and this time I think I know what."

"What?" Skana asked hopefully.

"I think... and this is just speculation mind you, but I think she intends to use the population of Wheaton and other places to starve Kami Miyako into submission." Lakyus said uncomfortably.

CZ's blank look didn't change, but she did utter a simple instruction. "Explain."

"We go to Wheaton, villages and towns are fleeing left and right, streaming away, Wheaton has little left but its defenders, maybe they fight, maybe they don't. Suppose they do, that leaves time for survivors to make it to Kami Miyako, survivors that have to be housed and fed. Suppose they don't, we take the city immediately, and... if I'm right, she allows them to leave as a 'humane act' and to take enough supplies to feed the refugees they catch up to along the way. Those rations won't last long, but long enough to get even more to Kami Miyako... then when we advance there..." Lakyus simply cut off her words, leaving the conclusion dangling like the desperate from the edge of a cliff.

"Why wouldn't she just... tell us? Wait... nobody would believe 'General Baraja' would just let an army go." Skana said, eagerly poking a hole in Lakyus's theory.

Lakyus frowned, "Good point... well, I could be wrong, it's happened before." She sighed, "Probably better off, honestly, I'm not sure which is worse but... probably that."

 _...Draudillon's Army...Later..._

Taking towns and villages proved shockingly easy the further west they moved. This proved to be the case for several days, and none of the three really wondered 'why' it was, so much as they just enjoyed that it was so. Still, as a precaution in the event that it was a trap, they redoubled the scouts.

It was however, clearly answered just 'why' things had changed when the first band of elves approached the head of the column. Draudillon blew the halt on her horn as soon as the scouts reported their approach. She looked to Generals Musan and Oma and both gave her only blank stares of their own in response.

"How many are there?" She asked the scout who came in with the report.

"Around three hundred, Your Majesty." He replied confidently from atop his horse.

"And they are coming to us because...?" She pushed.

"They were told to run east." He replied.

"What?! Why?!" General Oma asked incredulously, her brow furrowing, she stared daggers at the scout.

"Ma'am I... don't know, they said they were simply kicked out by their masters and told to run this way." He answered, obviously as confused as they were.

"Could it be a trick?" General Musan asked suspiciously as he stroked his beard in thought. "Throwing something unusual in front of us in order to stop us in our tracks? We know they don't really value elven lives, they wouldn't think twice about using them to set up an ambush. Nor would it be the first time they'd done something like that in all this war."

The scout shook his head, "No, Sir. We've checked the entire area, they're alone and they all insist that they met each other independently and chose to travel together for safety."

"Fine, bring them over." Draudillon said unhappily, "We shall question them ourselves." She added, and the scout saluted and rode off.

A few minutes later, she was looking down at a very hungry elven man with mutilated ears and a body in very bad shape. He was filthy, more tan than his race should be, and while he had a shirt on, it was ragged, filthy, and far to thin for the weather as it was. "I am Queen Draudillon of the Draconic Kingdom, to whom am I speaking?"

"Eaalor... once of Crescent Lake." The elf said through chattering teeth.

"How did you come to be here, what is going on behind you?" The Queen demanded abruptly, General Musan's suspicions lingered on in her head, so she was disinclined to kindness in the moment.

"We... don't know everything, but we have pieced a little together from the villagers' talk in the places we came from, or the few farms we shared in common, but I'll tell you what I can. Just... please... give us food, something warm, something to drink, and tell us where to go so we don't die out here... please... please..." He said and went to his knees and lowered his face to the ground.

Pity moved the Queen as his threadbare shirt rode up, and exposed some ugly scars on his lower back. He was far, far thinner than he should have been even accounting for days on the road. "You will all have what you need. But first, tell me what I want to know." She said slowly, and with more sympathy in her voice than before.

"The rumor is that the terror of the Theocracy is moving north, her army showed up South of Wheaton and she's had her soldiers, scouts, demihumans and the like, rampaging everywhere, they've been killing slave traders, ripping apart breakers, and overseers lose their whip hands, all kinds of wild stories, but... apparently enough humans believed them that they've been kicking us out so they don't get caught with any slaves. They're all running for Kami Miyako, they told us to run the opposite direction, said they'd kill us if we went the same way as them. Couple of ours said that they saw slaves being taken with their owners to go to west, but a lotta people don't want to chance that so... they sent us the other way to die out in the wilderness rather than be caught with us."

He spat the words out as fast as rain fell from the sky, licking his lips often as he anticipated the promised food. The Queen looked to her generals. "It seems that General Baraja is having an effect."

"It appears that is the case, My Queen." General Musan said with more enthusiasm than he intended to show, "This will make things much easier."

"At least until we get to Kami Miyako and they fight to the goddamn death because of her reputation." General Oma reminded them both.

"Perhaps, but it should at least make getting there easier. I'd rather the Theocracy run to us to surrender, than run to fight us." The Queen remarked, effectively ending the discussion.

"Eaalor, go tell your people to stand beside my line of march and fall in at the rear, there are empty wagons back there, you can ride in those for now as we go west, we'll leave you at a village somewhere that... I'm sure will have been abandoned, with enough supplies to keep you warm and fed for awhile, we can spare that much at least." The Queen said, and Eaalor's face lit up with happiness.

"Your Majesty," he began as he went to one knee with his head bowed, "I swear, one day I will come to your kingdom, and repay you for your kindness." Tears of relief fell from his cold face to the colder ground.

"I look forward to it." The Queen said succinctly, and blew the horn to resume the advance. "General Oma, wait with him and his people and ensure they're tended to, then rejoin us. We need to talk about how this changes things."

"My Queen?" General Musan asked hesitantly.

"Well obviously, if we're seeing elves, I think pretty damn soon we're going to start seeing humans, as they run like hell away from Neia Baraja, and I'll just bet my crown there'll be a fair number that Neia doesn't want to allow to escape her grip. So the question is... when or 'if' she asks for them... and assuming she doesn't just 'demand' them... do we give them up or not?" The Queen coughed uncomfortably, shifting in her saddle, and a tremor passed through the bones of both generals, as General Oma went to fulfill the Queen's will. Neither had a clear answer to give for her final question.


	167. The Best Laid Plans

**AN: I'll do a Christmas Day triple release IF… 10 people donate food to a food bank. (Or some equivalent charitable act that helps people this time of year, such as Wintership program support, soup kitchen volunteer work, etc) Happy Holidays everybody!**

 _...Wheaton..._

Captain Graff didn't have time to regret the death of Wesda, he had to do something to restore order as panic spread. "Stupid. Stupid, stupid, stupid, stupid, stupid!" he muttered under his breath. "Damn the long knives, how could they have been so stupid?! Don't they realize they were doing that bitch a favor by disappearing some of our chain of command? By the six, replacing the competent but questionable with the politically reliable..." he shook his head and shut his eyes against the treasonous thought as he ran along the wall.

"Damn fools." He cursed again as he reached shouting distance of a gate. "Get that gate closed you fools!" he shouted.

People were streaming out like water out of a bucket that had just sprung a leak. Pushing and struggling, a few fell down and were being trampled. "Those are dead." He said numbly.

Others were riding out on horses, some clearly had supplies, but even those who didn't, well they were on horseback and it wasn't an impossible distance to Kami Miyako. "You'll live." He said of them. Others were on foot and had packs on their backs, assuming they'd grabbed supplies, "You'll be lucky if the rest don't kill you, but you have a chance." He thought out loud as he continued picking out groups from the crowd and quickly categorizing them as he would military units. Last were those who ran with no supplies, or who ran with children or others who looked unfit for the wild open spaces or who were not adequately dressed for the freezing temperatures night was going to bring on. "You're already dead, and just don't know it." He said aloud of most of them.

"I said close the gate! Do it or I'll come there and kill you myself!" He shouted and drew his sword for emphasis when the guards looked at him as if he'd gone mad.

That did it, they began to close it. "Gods, we'll inflict more losses on ourselves through sheer panic than she will through violence! I hope somebody has had the sense to do the same at the other gates." He said to himself as he sprinted on, he quickly spat out, **[Agility Boost],** activating the martial art to restore his energy as soon as he felt his pace slowing down. 'Not exactly what it's meant for… but it'll do.' He thought to himself as his pace picked up again.

"Guards! Restore order! Get the population under control!" Captain Graff continued from point to point, bellowing orders from atop the wall. Elsewhere, he heard those orders being echoed independently of himself and he let out a small sigh of relief. 'I see we haven't lost all sense. That is something at least.' He thought.

He sheathed his sword, along the streets he saw that somebody had the sense of drawing out the cavalry having them use long spears to control key points and lock the entire city down.

The clip clop of horse hooves and the clink of armor gradually dominated and the citizens' fear of their own soldiers resorting to violence was drawing them back away from the fear of the demon beyond the gates that they had learned was coming for them.

As he saw that order was being restored, he made his way back to the headquarters building and main administrative center for the city. He walked brusquely past the guards and pushed open the double doors that led to the council and strategy office as soon as he reached them. The sound of his meaty hands slamming the door open in his way and then falling closed behind him gave pause to those present.

Graff spoke clearly and succinctly as he made a report they didn't ask for. "It's done, order is restored, but many citizens have fled, the remainder... I don't know how many yet, but let's just say that the end result will be that buying a house here will be very cheap for quite some time." He said with gallows humor and frown on his face. "If you want our people to live, you have to send out scouts and wagons to retrieve them to bring them back here, most of them will die out there long before they reach Kami Miyako, if not from the cold, or thirst, or hunger, it'll be because they kill each other for what meager supplies some of them managed to carry out, or they'll destroy our own villages to sustain themselves. It'll be chaos out there."

"Forget them. They're dead." The Count said as cold as the wind outside. He slammed his fist down on the table and gnashed his teeth, "Serves them right for abandoning us and not holding faith in the six to protect us! Besides, this way we have more supplies and can hold out in a siege for much longer."

Captain Graff barely restrained his urge to sputter in outrage. Instead he simply kept his hands folded behind his back and clenched them into tight fists. His bright blue eyes went around the table looking for any sign of disagreement, he found none.

"The real question is how we can keep her from taking the city, what about the use of elven slaves as hostages. Put some of them on stakes along the walls, and use them as shields against arrow fire, or perhaps offer to end their lives if she doesn't withdraw." The Count proposed, stroking his long white beard as he spoke.

"That won't work." Captain Graff replied bluntly.

The Count sputtered, "How do you know that, soldier?!" He demanded abruptly.

"Because, My Lord, she executes hostages first. It's in the reports I submitted to your ah... predecessor. Simply put, hostages will just piss her off. They won't slow her down longer than it takes to put an arrow through their hearts. Hostages are useless, maybe we can negotiate for a surrender and a withdrawal with them, but... I honestly doubt she'll even go that far for us."

"I suppose 'you' have a better idea?" Commander Miniver asked sarcastically.

Captain Graff took a deep breath and began. "Sir, yes Sir. I propose a defense in depth, we all got the same word, she'll grant one hour to consider surrender and then destroy her opponents, we can't surrender this place or there will be nothing but villages between her and Kami Miyako. But we can make this city into a multi layered fortress and buy time. Simply put, we are all dead men. She outnumbers us. The only things we have going in our favor is that she 'probably' won't slaughter the civilians if we fight her as warriors, and we have good defensive positions to hold out from. We set barricades at every intersection, destroy buildings, lay out fire traps with oil, we make her walk through hell itself and wrest such a price from her that when she gets to Kami Miyako, she has no more will left to fight us."

"Are you really proposing that we essentially treat our entire force here as a suicide corps?!" The Count practically shrieked as he clutched at the thinning gray hairs that feebly clung to his head while his body shook like the leaves that clung to nearly bare limbs.

Captain Graff was already regretting his proposal, he closed his eyes gently so he would not have to see the cowardice around him, his body tensed as he prepared for the rejection of his proposal, but he carried on anyway. "My Lord, that is exactly what I propose. We put fallback points everywhere, we destroy every building that can be passed through, we gather everyone able to fight and put a sword or spear in their hands and ready them to fight to the end. If we wear her out enough, we 'might' be able to exact some concessions from her, there are only a few ways we'll get absolutely none, and that is to use hostages, especially elves, against her. I have no idea why, but for some reason something about how elf women are treated seems... by all reports, to put her into such a blinding rage that she goes on killing sprees. We're not dealing with something normal here."

"What if we kill her?" The Count asked thoughtfully, "I could... call in a favor, see if I could get an assassin to strike her while she sleeps. Even the most powerful general is vulnerable in their sleep." He said in his raspy, aged voice.

'Yeah, I'll just bet you could do exactly that, you slimy bastard.' Captain Graff thought to himself, biting back the urge to so much as whisper it under his breath.

Graff pretended to give it some thought before shooting it down, he stroked his immaculate brown mustache as if deep in thought. "Not impossible, but that still leaves her Vice Commander, and her army is with her by choice, they have very strong bonds of loyalty, they'll likely fight on to take revenge for her if we kill her.

"Could you kill her, do we have anyone who could defeat her in combat?" The Commander asked, pointing to Graff anxiously, his finger shook enough that his armor rattled all the way to his shoulder. "You've killed dangerous beings before."

"I can try... but there's no guarantee I can win, but maybe... maybe if we can draw her in, but listen, I don't want to just let all those people out there die... I've... you know I'll follow orders gentlemen, but this is different. You do one thing for me, and I'll challenge her to a duel when the time comes." Captain Graff replied in a very 'mercantile' voice, sly and thoughtful as he approached these men of influence on their own terms.

"What?" The Count asked, his sharp beady dark eyes staring at him in suspicion.

"Like I said, a lot of people ran for it, they're our people, I'm not willing to let them die, I took an oath to defend them. Gather some wagons with supplies, blankets, food, that kind of thing, bring back those willing, but give out the supplies necessary for survival to the rest, that should let more people make it safely to Kami Miyako. Do this within the next three hours, before sunset, and I will fight Neia Baraja by myself if that is what you want. What will it be?" He asked and folded his arms defiantly in front of himself, and awaited their answer.

 _...Golden Fortress..._

"Now, get walking." Neia said in front of the grunting, groaning, and crying overseers.

They looked at her with uncertainty. "I said, get going. Go, run along to Kami Miyako, it'll take you awhile, but you can make it if you're careful. Tell everyone you meet what happened here, I'm sure you'll encounter plenty of villages along the way, they might help you, if you're lucky. Don't let me catch up to you though, or else I'll hand you over to the first group of elves I encounter, I doubt they'll give you a better offer than I." Neia said quite reasonably as if her bowl of wrath had been emptied bare.

The warning of the 'head start' got them moving, and they began to fall all over themselves to flee, as if they forgot for a moment their chains and wounds, tumbling in a tangle of limbs and curses. Neia let out a sadistic laugh that would have made a guardian proud, and watched as they struggled to leave.

She slowly reached down into her pouch at her side and put on her visor. "Skana!" She called out as loudly as she could.

"Up here!" Skana shouted back from atop the tower.

"Well, come down here!" Neia shouted almost frantically.

With a quick glance given to her two companions, the one eyed vice commander rushed down the steps and presented herself with a quick salute of her fist to her heart. "Ma'am, you called?" She asked.

"See that the former slaves are given a cart to rest in, they can come with us, we could use the extra hands for now, give them food and clothing, some warm blankets, that kind of thing. Have the breaker secured in a cage for now, we'll put him to use at Wheaton as an example. And get the army ready to move, we've given the city enough time, I want us to move out in a few hours I... I think I need a little more rest."

"Neia..." Skana looked carefully over the pope, bitter cold wind picked up and whipped her hair around behind her, there was a small and constant tremble to her body, so small that Skana almost missed it. "Neia are you alright... talk to me." She whispered and reached out to take her wife's hand through her gloves, "You're shaking."

Neia smirked a little, "It's kind of cold, you know, this is what winter feels like."

Skana looked at her for a moment, Neia's eyes were hidden by her visor.

"Neia... let me look at you..." Skana said gently, and releasing her hand, she reached with both of her own up toward Neia's face to take the visor off.

"No!" Neia said and jerked herself away from Skana suddenly, "I'm fine, alright! I'm just going to... go relax for a little while before we get under way, and you've got work to do, Vice Commander, tend to that first, then worry about me."

Skana stopped her hands before they reached the visor hiding the eyes she loved, Neia's reaction was unexpected at the least. She slowly let her hands go back to her sides. "A-Alright... General." Skana said with the smallest bit of hurt in her voice as she backed away.

Up in the tower, Lakyus had been watching beside CZ. "We need to watch her, we don't know how far she'll go, or what His Majesty will do if she goes too far."

"I will report to him." CZ said in a monotone that would have sounded indifferent, save that her look down below lasted just a little longer than it needed to, and that spoke volumes about her concern.

"Good, for now, we need to go, I'll get my Roses in order, help with the elves, and join you up at the front when I am finished." Lakyus said and with only the smallest acknowledgement from CZ, she departed, leaving the maid demon alone to report to the Sorcerer King.

Neia, unaccompanied at last, went to her tent and sealed it behind her. She went to the table, yanked off her visor and threw it down. Her palms slapped down with a crack on the wooden surface and she leaned forward so that her small weight was resting on it. "Keep it together, just keep it together, you're fine, you're fine, they deserved it, they all deserved it and somebody's got to do this. You don't have to do it forever, just end this country and it can stop. Yes... that's right, it can end, it will end... get rid of the ones in the way, get father his due..." She spoke quietly to the empty air, and slammed one hand over her chest where the armor protected her breast, she started breathing hard and could practically feel the sweat spring to her brow despite the cold. "Wheaton..." She felt her eyes widen and nearly bulge, "Yes, they're in the way, but not many, no not many anymore. Get them out of the way, and they have only two cities left." She wiped her eyes clear as soon as they blurred over so that she wouldn't let anything fall and stain the map.

"Maybe... an hour's rest, that'll do me some good, I could use it, and that's plenty." She thought out loud and went to the cot to lie down. She took out a bottle and took several long hits of it before putting it away again, then she closed her eyes to rest.

 _...Crossroads..._

Enri was swearing up a storm while the Vice Commander laughed at her frustration. "Lupu, with me." She said and looked down at the smug Vice Commander. "You," she said to the guard who brought the news, "Guard her." She turned to the smug looking prisoner and said, "You, don't even move."

"Yes, ma'am." Vice Commander Ira said sweetly and resumed laughing as Enri stalked out of the room with Lupusregina loping behind her as fast as they could go together.

She was just about to open the door to the outside when another message came in, she froze, she froze so completely that Lupusregina almost ran into her.

"Enri, what is it?" The red haired beauty asked.

"It's... Lord Ainz. He's going to open a Gate for me in a moment, the meeting in Forton is about to take place and I'm expected to attend." Enri looked at Lupusregina with a hint of fear.

"Oh god, I have to report this... all of this... in person, when I arrive..." She started breathing hard.

Lupusregina touched her cheek, she smiled sweetly, "Relax, Lord Ainz is wise and merciful to those who are loyal, you didn't want this to happen, and more importantly... to take care of this problem, you'd have to stop being you... just... leave it all to me, I'll go find Sun, and we'll get this mess sorted out before you've finished apologizing... or close to it anyway."

Enri cracked a fragile smile, "It's not... I'm not afraid of what he'll do to me... he's a good king, I just don't want to have disappointed him is all. He's put so much time into me, into making me into someone worth more than just a dirt scrabbling peasant, I wanted to give him victory and good service in thanks... and now I've let riots break out all over the place..." Her eyes glassed over with angry tears as she waited for the Gate to open.

Lupusregina pulled her into an embrace, the sentiment Enri had just expressed was one worthy of a Nazarick born servant, the Grand Matriarch pounded her little fist against her bodyguard in frustration. "Not only is this a terrible failure, but... my soldiers... my soldiers... how many who trusted me will pay the price?"

"Everyone does so willingly, you said it yourself, so learn from it, make your apology to His Majesty and we'll make things right here, by any means necessary." Lupusregina said, and holding to Enri's shoulders, she pulled her straw haired friend back. "It'll be fine, only Supreme Beings don't make mistakes, it is a show of their mercy that they forgive ours when we make them. Remember, I failed him once too, you know. He forgave me, he'll forgive you." She matched the cracked smile of General Enri, who wiped her face on her sleeve and sniffled loudly.

"Thanks Lupu, you're the best." Enri said as she straightened up and got control over herself.

Lupusregina giggled, "Well, to know if that's true, you'd have to let me have a turn with you before you go back to your husband, that way you have something to compare to."

She gave her large toothy grin and tilted her head as she giggled. Enri laughed, "You may be a perv, but I love you for it." She darted a finger up and wagged it, "Not that way though! No more rumors!" She laughed, and the Gate opened a few feet away.

"I'll be back soon, I leave the city in your hands." Enri said, and walked through with the command confidence that time, training, and victory had given her. She would need it all in the next few minutes.


	168. Good Times

_...Elf Kingdom...Crescent Lake..._

Time flew past as the Sorcerer King graciously answered every question put to him by the worst dressed nobles he'd ever seen. It was truly... depressing to look at them. Their clothing was clearly once of rich, forest shades and bedecked with, oddly enough, nature scenes, as if they wished to carry the greenwood on their bodies... but rips, tears, stains, all had accumulated over many long years of wear.

Ainz however, had the good grace not to ask about what led them to their ruinously impoverished state. He didn't really need to, it was fairly obvious who was to blame. After some time answering them, he glanced back over at the new Queen, even without a face, it was clear to her that he wished to disengage.

She stood from her throne, and hesitated. 'Shit... ok this is different... how do I end something like this. OK Zesshi, think this through, you've never been a Queen before but... you're supposed to give orders. You've been a warrior, you've been a general... ah, treat it like that! What makes people happy to go? Booze! Do elves like booze? I'm half elf... and I like booze. Is that the human half, the elf half, or both?' She wondered frantically as she tried to think of what to say, finally deciding to go with her gut and treat them like she would treat soldiers who had done well and said with great enthusiasm, "It just occurred to me, that we have a lot to celebrate and nobody has brought out anything to drink!" That had their attention, countless elven eyes turned to her.

"My first decree as Queen over the elves is that the old King's store of wine and spirits should be opened up and shared, with everyone here, and everyone out there. Open it up, all of you, go, capture bottles, enjoy it yourself, walk the city and pour for your brethren beyond, let it be known that this is the first order of your Queen. I declare a holiday throughout the capital, and every town and village in the kingdom. Open the granaries and all the storehouses of the old king, and let all his hoarding be disbursed to those who have suffered under his rule!" She clapped her hands together as if that settled the matter, and in truth, it had, and to her great relief, which she only barely managed to disguise, they went with it.

Faces made sallow by sorrow and malnutrition, lit up at the promise of such an unheard of treat, and the elven nobility filtered out from the great hall of the throne room and beyond. "Your Queen will not be here when you get back," Ainz said nobly, holding his hand out to them in a grandiose gesture that reminded him 'far' too much of Pandora's Actor. "I must take her with me to see that your army is properly led against your true enemy, the ones who have enslaved your people for centuries. Queen Zesshi has promised me the head of Cardinal Dominic, the one who, more than any other living cardinal, saw your people's status degraded and their lives abused. I intend to ensure she can keep her promise. When her work is done, she and all your army will be returned to you." Ainz said to them in the sage voice of an elder as he moved to 'Generous and Wise Ancient One Pose Two' and waited to see how his words would be received.

They stood stock still for a moment, and turned to her and rendered bows deep and sincere. Without raising their heads they shouted, "Long live the Queen! Long live the King! Long may they reign!"

"Now go, take joy in your freedom, while your Queen goes to ensure an era of dignity begins, and lasts forever after!" Zesshi said authoritatively, and only then did they stand and exit.

When they were alone, Zesshi expelled a heavy breath, "Thank you for your help there, Your Majesty. I think I understand your sage wisdom in stating that one never gets used to the throne. I hope you'll forgive me if I come to you for advice as I... try to figure all this out." She wiped the sweat from her brow. "It's much easier fighting or commanding an army, no real chance of questions."

Ainz stroked his chin as he thought, 'Please don't ask me for advice... I may be better at this than I was when I got started... but I'm not a mentor...' His nonexistent heart raced at the threat of having to give advice, and an inspiration occurred, 'Yes, direct her to those more like her, just like when a new employee came on and you directed them to those who they were going to work with in order to find good advice!' He almost jumped for joy in his bones at the thought of the salaryman days that were slipping farther and farther into his past.

He gestured with his upturned hand before him as if to say 'this is obvious', and answered her, "You're not an undead in my position, you are a living person, and your position is more like that of King Zanac or Queen Calca, or Queen Draudillon, or Emperor Jircniv... I would suggest forming ties with them as peers to seek further wisdom for yourself."

Zesshi bowed gratefully, "You're already giving me good advice, thank you, sire." She said, then she and her aides, went to where Ainz stood and knelt in front of him. "What would you command next out of your loyal vassal?" Her long black and white hair hung down her back, and her eyes were shut as if she feared she would open them and find that all this had been a dream. His words, 'You are a person', rang in her heart in stark contrast to when Dominic had screamed about her subhuman heritage. Thirg and Tefl were only a half step behind her and knelt at her back right and left hands, with deep and abiding reverence, they gazed down, displaying their devoted awe as best they could.

Ainz folded his hands together with his finger tips pointed toward her, he took a deep and useless breath, then spoke in a low, sonorous and noble voice. "Now, you will retrieve both your armies, select a few messengers to inform the borderlands, and the rest of them pass through the gate. They will be placed with Neia Baraja's army at Wheaton, while you and she join me in Forton. Your three Black Scripture members can go with your army if you'd like, or leave them here, but... I know which would probably make people here happier."

"I'll retrieve them at once, Your Majesty, I want them with me." She said enthusiastically, the broad smile on her face still felt strange, but also... very, very right.

 _...Golden Fortress..._

True to her intentions, Neia slept only an hour, and rose in a hurry, those who saw only fire behind closed eyelids, seldom wished to linger in their beds.

She simply got up and washed her face to clear away sweat and sleep, and finished just when Skana entered the tent. "We're ready to move, General." She said professionally, then her tone changed, her body posture became less stiff, she leaned forward and let the flap fall closed lightly behind her.

"Neia..." She began, only to be stopped short by a winning, charismatic smile that lit up Neia's face as on the night of their wedding. Skana dropped her intended words and smiled happily back. "Never mind, let's get going, we've got a city to take."

"Yes, we do!" Neia said with what seemed a superabundance of energy, she walked with a spring in her step out of the tent and went to her horse at the head of the column. A handful of elves rushed to start dismantling the last temporary structure, but there was no need to delay the march.

Lakyus jogged up and mounted the horse waiting at her left side. "Everyone ready?" She asked calmly, giving an optimistic smile to her companions.

"Yes." CZ said as she brought her horse up and in between Neia and Skana.

Neia brought a horn from around her neck, put it to her lips, and with a thunderous call, ordered the unbowed, unbent, unbroken army forward to the city of Wheaton.

The march to the city was a forced one, they went through the night and into the morning. "Neia, they need to rest!" Lakyus whispered harshly.

"No." Neia said, with her gaze fixed forward.

An hour later, Skana whispered to her wife, "Neia... they have to rest."

"No. Not yet." Neia replied, she barely seemed to blink as she kept her gaze ahead.

"Then, they'll be too tired to fight if we push them this hard!" Lakyus grabbed Neia's shoulder and squeezed it tight. "You can't march an army this long and then expect them to fight an hour after arrival!"

"The sooner we get there, the sooner it can all end." Neia said emphatically.

"We're still a few hours away, just stop and give them five hours to sleep, please!" Skana urged her, but as she looked into Neia's eyes, which even in the darkness seemed to shine to her, she beheld the gaze of obsession.

So, she changed strategy, "They'll fight harder and win faster if they get some rest first, plus many of the slaves in the wagons are still weak from their ordeals, we'll put them and our soldiers at risk if we arrive unable to fight effectively."

Neia's eyes snapped back to their usual state, "No, you're right, you're both right, I'm sorry, I should have listened to you. OK, so... five hours sleep should be plenty, every tenth man stays awake for guard and can sleep in the covered wagons for the rest of the way there, that should put us at near peak efficiency."

"That'll be plenty." Lakyus said with relief in her voice as she let out a tense breath she hadn't even realized she was holding in.

Neia blew the horn, shouted the orders, and they could hear the sound of an army feeling the relief of finally halting after a long march. Weapons barely stayed in fingers, soldiers often simply flopped themselves down where they stopped.

"Come." CZ spoke firmly to her companions.

"Pardon?" Neia asked in surprise, her mouth almost fell open as CZ gave her an order.

"Now." CZ repeated, only the slightest inflection told the others she was profoundly serious.

Her horse went around the column and rode to the very back.

When they were at the back of the column, uncertain about just why they were there, they could only watch as their maid demon companion gave quick and abrupt orders to various former slaves and had Neia's tent erected again. When the elves had finished their work, CZ pointed to the entrance and simply said, "In."

Neia couldn't think of anything to say, she ran through the memories she had of CZ over the years, and nothing she'd done in the past correlated to this, nothing but one memory that came close. When she'd held information back from her during Jaldabaoth's invasion, out of fear that Neia would back out. 'What isn't she saying... or why won't she say it... what's wrong with her?' The Black Paladin kept her eyes on her friend even as she obeyed the instruction and walked past her, until she was inside the privacy of the tent. Skana and Lakyus followed the direction with equal reluctance.

When the tent flap closed and they were alone, CZ raised her arm and pointed to Neia in a way that for a brief moment, chilled the Pope. The unblinking, unflinching look was unnerving. She felt a tremor in her own eyes, and she looked partially away, unable to bear the gaze.

"You are running at a suboptimal state." CZ said in a neutral but blunt tone of voice.

Lakyus leaned over toward Skana and asked quietly, "What does that mean?"

"Means she's tired or sick or something." Skana whispered, CZ ignored them and pointed to the cot.

"You will rest, you are not well. I will 'make' you rest, if I must." She said and she removed a scroll from the pouch at her side.

"Can't I just ask for a ring that will make that unnecessary?" Neia's toes scrunched inward in her boots as she hid her anxiety as best she could.

"That is not why you must rest. You know that." CZ replied without even a blink, her finger did not waver until she moved to open the scroll.

"W-Wait." Neia said in a small voice and looked down at the ground, very much like a child that had gotten caught stealing cookies. "I-I'll do it. You don't need to waste His Majesty's resources." The Black Paladin knew what effect that would have, and she was right. CZ halted her hand before it had gone halfway to the seal. Wasting the resources of the Sorcerer King, however minor they were, was not something any of them wanted to do.

She slowly put the scroll away and then looked to Skana. "Remain with her, make sure she sleeps. We will handle security." CZ said, gesturing to Lakyus and then to herself.

"I will." Skana replied, biting her lower lip and turning a concerned eye on her wife.

CZ didn't respond, she simply turned around and walked abruptly out of the tent, Lakyus followed, and as they went to their horses, Lakyus glanced over at her, "I don't think I've ever heard you say that much before."

CZ shrugged lightly as she took hold of the pommel, put a foot into the stirrup, and slung herself up into the saddle. "Say what you need to, no more, no less."

Lakyus furled her bottom lip and inclined her head favorably, "Fair enough, nothing gets through, no ambushes, no raids, nothing gets close enough to wake her. I don't care if we have to fight the entire god damn garrison, she'll sleep through it. Maybe some real rest won't 'fix' things, but it'll be a patch at least. Good call."

"I know." CZ replied, and they wheeled their undead mounts around and rode off in opposite directions.

Alone in the tent, Skana took Neia's hand and drew her to the cot once again, but as soon as she got her wife to sit down, she felt the sudden steel grip of her wife's hands upon the back of her head and she was pulled into a passionate kiss. She instinctively parted her lips to receive the urgent exploration of her beloved, and felt, though she could not see, Neia's hands flying over the straps of clothing.

The auburn haired warrior woman knew this urgency very well, the hungering, unquenchable desire of the moment, and she responded to it by helping Neia to undress. 'If this will comfort her, to help her rest with ease... then this moment belongs to her' Skana thought, and she pulled the armor over Neia's head and cast it aside. Her own came off just as easily, swift as could be done, they were naked in one another's arms, skin caressing skin, their tongues dancing over skin when not dueling together. Skana gave her all to her wife's pleasures, working her skilled hands over the strong, muscled thighs of the terror of the Theocracy.

Neia arched her back and let out a deep moan of desire, her fingers clawed at her lover's back as she ground herself against Skana's plying grip, they were a pair hardened by war and joined in the moment by desire, and flinched from nothing. Neia's grip had broken necks, Skana's blows had caved in faces, but on one another, all they would leave were the bruises that proved the strength of their desire. Release after release washed over them both, until steam rising from the furs over the cot, gave silent testimony of the hungers that had been unleashed.

Afterward, they lay together, their forms spooned together and the taller Skana caressed the now matted hair of her lover, she whispered gently into Neia's ear. "Everything will be fine, you just need to rest, recuperate. You'll be fine, I'll stay with you, I'll always stay with you, I'll chase away your bad dreams if I can, or hold you through them if I can't. Just please... please rest."

Neia only nodded in silence and closed her eyes as Skana's arm draped over her side and stroked her around the navel affectionately. The Black Paladin started to breathe rhythmically, slow and even, so that she would seem asleep. Behind her, Neia could feel Skana sync up her breathing so that they were breathing 'together' as if they were not two, but one, and eventually the Vice Commander herself had started to drift off.

Neia felt herself crack a smile, "Such an optimist, my wife. I love that about you. You see the best in everyone and everything. I swear you'd look at a city on fire and praise their ability to gather so much fuel for it." She spoke quietly and nestled back against the warm body of her love just a little bit more, and clung to the arm that still lay folded over her, then let out a gentle laugh.

Neia kept her eyes closed. 'I wonder how tired you were, if I could wear you out that much?' Neia wanted to laugh, 'Probably busy worrying about me, that's silly, I'm fine, just doing what has to be done... that's all.'

Sleep didn't come, though her eyes remained closed and her breathing measured, her other senses were carefully alert. She felt that moment of surprise wash over her again in Wenmark, when she learned the soldiers were not drunk. The trap was sprung and everyone she was responsible for, everyone she cared about, and everybody who was counting on her, had all been caught in it. Her heartbeat began to race and her breathing picked up, she clenched Skana's arm tighter and felt the woman behind her start to stir. She thought about the ambush of the Gray Scripture that had robbed her wife of her eye and nearly of her life. 'Never again, they'll never catch me unawares again...' She thought on a loop.

Then Neia caught herself, she clenched her eyes so tight that the lids wrinkled and forced herself to calm the tension in her body so that she wouldn't wake her wife up. She gradually settled back to how she'd been, but still sleep would not come.

A few hours later, she felt Skana stir, and pretended to be asleep. She lay still until the gentle hand dislodged itself from Neia's grasp and she shook the general awake. Neia pretended to flutter her eyes open and wake up.

"Wake up, General, time to get moving." Skana said affectionately, Neia flung her legs over the cot and stood up. She stretched her arms out over head, as Skana looked on admiringly at the back of Neia's taut young form.

"Yes, yes it is, much better, really." Neia gave her a solid thumbs up as she went to grab a set of simple cleansing scrolls. She tossed one over her shoulder to Skana, who easily snatched it out of the air and stood up herself.

"No sense going out there and making it obvious we were doing what I'm sure anyone not a total innocent has imagined we were doing, eh?" Skana joked lasciviously.

Neia blushed all the way to the ears. "Ugh, they wouldn't really lewd the pope... would they?"

"It's an army made of mostly men," Skana said as she stood up and used the scroll to wipe away the scent and sweat their activities had created, "I guarantee that they have. I once caught a soldier lewding the rocks that sat next to each other because they were vaguely boob shaped and it had just been that long. Not that I don't sympathize, but... bunch of drunken perverted idiots. Though I guess I wouldn't have them any other way." She laughed and Neia rolled her eyes as she went to get dressed.

"I guess you've got a point there, I've heard some of the jokes they tell around the campfires. Still, after all this time, it's... weird to think of myself as being attractive." Neia replied as she pulled up her pants.

"Normal enough for me," Skana said a little cockily as she picked up her shirt, "but while I don't mind if you look too... no touching." She wagged her finger and tried to keep a stern face, but failed and broke down laughing.

Neia threw her shirt on and snickered with amusement, "Very funny. Now enough of your witty banter, we've got to get ready to go, I want-"

There it was. As she got to that part of her sentence, Skana felt an overwhelming sensation of malice and bloodlust come off of the acolyte of the undead god. Skana froze while she was buckling her belt and just looked, it was like another person was standing in place of her wife.

"Our soldiers at that city's gates in a few hours, I'm rested enough, and there is much to do. That city will belong to our lord before the sun sets, even if I have to drown them in their own blood to see it happen." Neia said with a black laugh that reverberated off the walls of the tent.

She reached down and picked up Skana's sword and tossed it over her shoulder, the Vice Commander caught it easily and strapped it on. "Go tell the elves they can start breaking things down here, I'll be out in a second." Neia said as she slid her belt into place slowly.

"Of course." Skana said and rendered a quick salute to the back of her general, and departed.

As soon as Skana exited, Neia sped up, she quickly cinched the belt into place, threw her bow onto her back, and then reached into her pack and took out two stamina potions. She consumed them back to back and then hid the vials. She looked up and stretched herself out again as the vigor coursed through her body and briefly checked her eyes to ensure any dark circles were no longer evident.

She let out a nod of satisfaction and then after a lingering look at her pack, she took out a bottle of liquor and took a deep swig before stowing it again. She resecured it and then exited the tent with it still in her gear.

She saw Skana giving instructions to the slaves and turned her face toward her wife, comfortable at last that no indication of anything amiss was on her face. "Come on, you can't still be sleepy!" She said cheerfully as she got into the saddle.

Skana's green eye twinkled a bit as she glanced in her commander's direction, and she winked. She clapped the elf on his shoulder as she finished instructing him, and jogged over to her horse. The elf rubbed his shoulder a little, and organized his team quickly to dismantle the temporary quarters.

"Let's go, CZ and Lakyus should be back soon, if they're not at the front already." Skana retorted, putting it back on Neia to move swiftly.

Flashing her charismatic smile as she put her visor on, Neia spurred her horse on, and Skana raced behind her, their hair trailing high behind them while the chill air struck them full force.

In that moment though, the wife of the world's only Black Paladin felt like it was not winter's chill at all, but rather that it was spring and they were chasing after the rays of the rising sun. She forgot that they were leading an army which would soon slay tens of thousands, and displace many more, if they were lucky. So for a few brief minutes all was well, she had a sense that they were happy, and it felt to Skana as if they could ride forever.


	169. Between a Rock and a Hard Place

_...Northern Holy Kingdom...Hoburns..._

"I knew this was coming." Queen Calca said as she looked down at the document in her hands. She sat at the head of the table in her conference room reading it over and over again. She set it down on the table and pushed it away from herself.

Ba looked down his nose at her, something he couldn't help but do as a bafolk and the representative of the Demihumans settling in the eastern Holy Kingdom. "Is this... cause for concern, Your Highness?" He asked politely.

"Yes and no." The Queen replied.

"I'm afraid I don't understand, Your Majesty." Robel said as he leaned forward over the table where he sat.

She leaned back in her chair and let her arms fall at her side. "Well, it isn't that I mind going to Forton, the problem is that I don't want to rattle the South so soon after the treaty. I don't want them to think I'm going there to arrange an invasion of their lands. After all, everybody in the known world will have heard of a gathering like this, it certainly won't be a secret for long. If they think they're going to be invaded and have nothing to lose... well I just don't want to see my people and my former people at each other's throats again." She let out a tired sigh and folded her hands together on the table.

"Majesty, may I suggest that you use one of your message scroll sets and request permission to bring a Southern Kingdom representative with you as a neutral observer, just to allay any fears they may have?" Ba proposed thoughtfully.

"An excellent suggestion." Robel said confidently and slid his hand over the table and tapped the document. "This doesn't prohibit it or even suggestively discourage something like that. The Sorcerer King has always shown a great deal of concern for allaying others anxieties over his actions. It makes him 'reliable' in a way. My only concern is that we can expect that my... former commander, will be there, and who knows how a Southern Kingdom representative will respond to the destroyer of Yanana or..." He bit his lower lip and looked away.

"What?" Queen Calca asked in a somewhat hard voice, she leaned forward a bit, sticking her neck out just a bit further as if to catch the words even a moment sooner.

"Your majesty, I worry how she'll respond to a representative of the South. I revere the Pope, but... she is not the peaceful young woman she once was, she's violent, she's dangerous, and she doesn't forget. The South literally burned her followers alive, I'm not saying don't do this, but she needs to be briefed first and given direct orders by the Sorcerer King himself on how to behave, or she may well send their representative back in a box as a pile of ashes." Robel explained urgently, he locked eyes with the Queen and held them firmly, hoping she understood how serious he was about this.

"I... agree. I've met her, remember, she protected me... she... saved my life, but I've never met another human being who both frightened me more, and moved my heart to near weeping, in my entire life. She is an uncontrollable factor by my reckoning, but she will obey her master, even if she ignores the whole world. I'll make the request and the suggestion, thank you both, gentlemen, you've proven your worth to me today." Calca said with a very relieved voice as she reached next to her for another document.

"Next on the agenda." She said, and her chief councilors sat back as the tension fled the room.

 _...South of Fortress Cross..._

"Well, this is a surprise." General Nimble said as they marched their army south behind Gargantua. The horse rocked them side to side in the saddle, it had been a long, 'long' march, but the knights of the Baharuth Empire were renowned for their toughness.

"What's that?" King Zanac asked with a generally relaxed air. He had reason to be relaxed, village after village had fallen at the sight of Gargantua and nobody actually had to fight anything for days. A few suicidal raids on their rear had been swiftly put down by Chindai's dark elves, and during their most serious engagement, he drew up five hundred magicine dwarves at the center flanked by two thousand dark elves, and just peeled the attackers like an apple after using the hardy dwarves to keep the little group of fanatics pinned down. Two dwarves and a half a dozen dark elves had died, and no one else. They were confident, and were right to be so.

"A message from Lady Lupusregina, General Enri's bodyguard, on behalf of her advisor, Sun. Riots are sweeping the region she's overtaken. Lupusregina is asking that we divert the knights of Baharuth to act as occupiers for all the villages and towns around her conquered territories." General Nimble's expression was carefully neutral as he glanced over at the more serious concern. The Bloody Valkyrie, Lady Shalltear Bloodfallen. She reeked of violence in the body of a veritable child. He tightened his grip on the reins.

"That's a sensible request." General Zaryusu interjected, "The Baharuth Empire was on friendlier terms with the Slane Theocracy before all this, and human knights are still some of the best equipped and most disciplined, they'll keep order considerably better than anyone else we have close by."

Shalltear let out an arrogant titter and cupped her cheek with one hand, "Never send a maid and a human to do a guardian's job. If they would only ask for me, I could pacify the entire region in a few days just by myself."

A chill blew over their hearts. Zaryusu however, knew just how to answer, "Of that I have no doubt, Lady Shalltear. I believe however, that General Enri's goal was to hand over as many servants to Lord Ainz as possible when this was over, you would no doubt be very effective but... your esteemed power would leave little left standing."

The praise built into the critique, mollified her and she settled back down before she could insist that she solve the problem herself. Many heads turned toward General Zaryusu, idly wondering how many lives he'd just saved with that one sentence.

"I suppose we could do it." Chindai proposed thoughtfully. "But..."

"But," Ryla interjected, "Our people do not much care to be out of the saddle, nor to stay in one place for too long, we are not meant to be occupiers."

"As my sister wife says, it would ill suit us." Khava agreed, sounding for all the world as if she were a dark elf herself and not the southern transplant she actually was.

Chindai could not keep the proud grin off of his face. His boyish youth and happy face was a stark contrast to the seriousness of those around him, as if he were not involved in a war, but off on some pleasant hunting trip. 'It's a game to him.' Zanac realized, 'Brawling between nations is a sport... god forgive me but... I don't blame the Slane Theocracy for trying to keep 'them' weak and divided if most of them are like he and his wives are.' Though a part of him wondered what it would be like to face off against a figure like that in war... the truth was that as he pictured a hundred thousand like that riding out of the plains over into the lands of settled populations... he felt his heart skip a beat and devote itself with gratitude to the Sorcerer King for bringing them into his service.

"So, we agree it is best that I send my soldiers east then? You can manage without my knights?" Nimble collective command team of the combined armies thought it over for another moment, and then glanced at the enormous trudging Gargantua. "Yes, we can. Go ahead and send them." General Zaryusu said confidently, speaking for them all.

A round of nods from the others, and General Nimble relaxed as he replied to Lupusregina. 'Yes, I will bring the entirety of the Knights of Baharuth as you request, we will be entering the Crossroads proper in a few days, I assume you will have restored order by then.'

It hadn't been a question, and Lupusregina didn't treat it like one, she simply cut off the communication.

 _...Crossroads..._

Rioters and irregulars have one advantage over regular military forces, and that is that neither are immediately obvious, they can't be distinguished from a peaceful citizen as soon as they put away their weapon. However that advantage only existed 'if' the one they were fighting against cared enough to tell the difference between one and the other. General Enri did. Lupusregina Beta did not. General Enri however, was no longer there.

As soon as Enri had gone through the gate, Lupusregina went to the Goblin Strategist. She found him exactly where she expected. Behind a wall giving instructions to various soldiers and dispatching them to gain control over key positions around the city. "You give orders to soldiers, I don't give a damn about that and don't have any idea how to do it anyway. I'm going to go play." Her flame red hair was already 'changing' as she took the shape of a werewolf.

He wasn't going to argue, he simply nodded and returned to giving instructions to a group of humans in Black Justice armor who were taking up quivers and preparing to move out. As she finished her transformation, she couldn't help but notice that none of them gave her a glance that was anything but admiring. 'Looks like things really are different.' She thought to herself, and she flung her muscled arms out, threw her head back, and howled happily to the sky.

It echoed over much of the city, even despite the sound of fighting and chaos beyond, and when the howl faded, she ran on all fours to bound over the wall to massacre those who had the misfortune of being on the wrong side.

Zeck was angry. The heretics, monsters, and apostates had overtaken his city, his son was dead on the wall, and he was forced to sell to the undead who gave coins bearing a skeleton on the face of them. So when it was proposed during a round of heavy afternoon drinking at a tavern, that General Enri's army couldn't hold everything they'd taken, Zeck couldn't have smiled bigger. "Not much of a man are you, letting your city be occupied by the ones who killed your son, no plans on striking back, just drink in and take their coin? Pathetic?" The burly man said with a laugh.

"What'm I s'posed to do?" Zeck asked, several other patrons around the table asked the same question, and the burly figure took out a sword and placed it in front of him as if it were as delicate as a flower. It didn't make a sound as it was laid on the table.

The burly man folded his arms defiantly and said, "See that pointy end there, that goes into the other man. Any other stupid questions, or are you going to take back what's yours?"

Zeck looked at the sword, and picked it up, he went outside and looked around, a soldier in black armor was chatting up a pretty local girl, one Zeck's own son had been sweet on. Fury boiled over, the sun was shining down and warming the human heretic's face, while Zeck's own son lay cold beneath the ground in a mass grave. Now a heretic was chatting her up? Zeck walked up smoothly behind him, took the sword out, and stabbed the soldier in the back of the neck, running him through and through.

Thus the riot had begun. He ran through the city as humans around the city picked up the call to 'take back what's ours', and for a few blessed hours, it seemed like they might succeed. Seeing so many of her soldiers march out the gate chasing after Boabdil made Zeck, and everyone else, think that Enri's army had been weakened. Fire sprang from a hundred buildings that had somehow missed being caught on fire last time. Zeck paid no mind to that as he charged down the street at the front of a hundred other rioters. 'We'll take back what's ours, then fix it later...' He thought, just as he rounded the corner and found himself in front of fifty Black Justice soldiers in staggered formation holding drawn bows.

He had just enough time to pull a stupid face and let his mouth start to open, before the disciplined ranks loosed their strings and arrows ripped from the formation into the mob. Zeck fell with two in his chest, and as he dropped, to his horror he saw that they'd already drawn another arrow each, and those not hit the first time, fell with the next flight.

As he coughed up what he thought was a piece of lung, he saw bright red fur flash behind the soldiers, leap over them, and charge towards where he lay, a werewolf... he could hear rioters behind him, and as he toppled backwards the beautiful monster with the flashing red fur and the blood dripping teeth ignored him completely. Toppled backward as he was, everything was upside down, but he could see from where he lay, the werewolf tore into those rioters even more easily than the arrows had ripped through his group. 'No... that had to be another fifty people... that thing did it by itself... gods... save us... we never had a chance...' And then he thought no more, as his heart stopped and Zeck passed away.

 _...Ikari..._

"Are you going to let them sully your gods?" The cloaked and masked figure asked in the darkness, waking the priestess out of her slumber. Shala tried to rub her eyes to see better in the darkness of her bedroom. She reached for a candle, and found it wasn't there. "Don't bother, you don't need to see, you need to hear. Day by day, the people lose faith. They become more accepting of elves armed in the streets. The sight of those apostates in black armor is becoming more normal. If you don't do something, you'll lose everything."

"Who are you?" Shala tried to ask, but it came out as a whisper. She sat up, and her eyes gradually adjusted to the dark well enough to make out the shape of a large man who was very obviously armed beneath his cloak.

"I don't have a name that you need to know, what matters is this, Enri is stretched thin, and there are a lot of people ready to fight back, towns, villages, even Crossroads, if you all fight back she can't beat all of you, and if she's wiped out, then the entire North goes back into the hands of the followers of the true gods. Now, will you fight or won't you?" He asked quietly.

"I can't fight without weapons." She said snarkily.

"Not to worry, you can take what you need from the dead, and we've managed to make or steal some locally, along with some that weren't found during the sweeps, you can take this city back, when you open for service, there will be arms beneath the seating, call for your flock to rise, and the sheep will become wolves." The shadowy man replied.

That had been before sunrise, now as Shala looked around, it seemed they might take Ikari back. There was smoke rising into the sky, and the other priests had urged their own on as soon as her people had begun to succeed. She approached a young man who looked at her defiantly, he barely had hair on his face.

He sat on the ground with his hands bound behind his back, his sword in someone else's hands, he'd killed four of theirs before he'd been taken down and captured. 'Seeing revenge is good for their morale, they have to see that these people can die like anyone else.' She drew the sword she'd confiscated from another body. "Stand him up." She ordered, and two citizens grabbed him under his armpits and hauled him to his feet.

He didn't struggle, he didn't seem afraid. "You're going to die." Shala said, and pressed the tip of the sword to his throat, certain they'd smell the scent of ammonia when the captive pissed himself. Seeing that they caused fear in the apostates and undead armies would do good for her own forces, as their courage was riding high on their successes so far.

To Shala's dismay the young man didn't piss himself. Instead he spoke, "My life for a better world? Fair trade." And then he pushed his own throat down against the tip of her sword, hard enough to open up his flesh.

"By the gods..." Shala whispered, she staggered back for a moment as she tried to grasp what had just happened, while the sylvan shaped woman was not old, she thought she had a fair grasp on human nature, and this was unexpected. She lowered the sword and looked down at him as he poured his blood onto the stone, and saw a smile on his face.

Her blood ran cold, "Oh no..." She said to herself, and inadvertently to the once enthusiastic insurgents that had been behind him, who saw all that she just had. "What have we done...?" She asked, and behind her she heard the boom of Black Justice war drums, the garrison had been gathered and was moving out into the insurgent held segments of the city. The sound of uniform stomping feet, far louder than the sporadic and chaotic shouting of the rioters, told her that this was not going to end well.

 _...Kami Miyako..._

The Agante broke into the house with ease, they knew just where to go. It was a quiet house in one of the nicer districts, belonging to the mother of Thousand Mile Astrologer and a former scripture member who was now... well past her prime. They moved with stealth through the shadows that coated the house just like the night was coating the outside world. They drew their long knives, some of the best weapons in the Slane Theocracy, every man carried two, and every one of them was enchanted.

Down the wooden hall they went without making a sound, their boots enchanted to muffle sound, the seven men were quieter than mice even if they were to start trampling and stomping on the floor beneath their feet.

The door to the bedroom was unlocked, they knew to expect that to be the case, Dominic knew the target better than any living man and had all but guaranteed it. The bedroom was small but comfortable, the bed was wide enough for two, but only one lay within, moaning some sounds that might have been words. Though she tossed and turned a little, it was clear she was deep in her rest. They surrounded the bed, raised their knives, and brought them down, hard, piercing through her flesh in fourteen places, and all the way down through her body and into the mattress below.

Twice more the knives went up, and came down, but the body did not stir. After it was done, they wiped their knives clean on the sheets, blankets, or any clean surface, and exited the house the way they came.

After they were gone, the doppel got up and sent word to Nazarick that it was time to extract him. He didn't wait long, the gate opened and the body was returned, recreating his injuries on her corpse was easy, and when she was replaced, he went through the gate and counted himself satisfied that his mission was a success.

Pandora's Actor was frankly a little bored. Playing Meidhall was easy, she was so... dull. No grandiose gestures, no dramatic speeches, no sense of 'style'. 'I swear woman, did you ever live a day in your life? Your character is as exciting as potato soup without any spices. At least your title is exciting... but given a choice, better a dull title and an exciting character.' He thought to himself as he droned on with another fake vision about nonexistent soldiers somewhere. 'It's not her fault, her mother is even worse, I never thought I'd praise mein vater's foes, but at least Dominic has some panache!' He all but screamed internally at the dullness, and only his sense of loyalty and duty to his maker kept him focused.

Such was the course of his thoughts when he went to 'bed' that night. He knew immediately when the long knives of the Agante were outside. 'So weak... had I not a part to play, I could massacre them... but... wait! This is the chance I've longed for with this role! I can do a nice dramatic death scene! 'Go out with a bang!' as they say!' For once in this dull mission he felt his blood race with anticipation.

He listened carefully, 'Seven, no, the three outside have joined the rest, ten. Wise, she 'is' a Black Scripture after all, even if she... or rather 'I' am in nothing but night clothes and have no gear at hand.' He heard the muffled cries as they murdered Thousand Mile Astrologer's servants.

'Unfortunate but... I suppose I should have expected such from people like this.' He mentally shrugged and continued to pretend to be asleep. He heard the knives come out again as they came to Thousand Mile Astrologer's room. 'Yes! Time for the drama to begin, das ist gut!' He thought, and he popped his eyes wide as they drew closer.

"Who are you?! What are you doing in my home?!" Pandora's Actor snarled, putting a shocked and angry expression on the face of Meidhall, her lips curled and her eyes flashed and her unbound hair bounced around her as she thrust herself out of the bed.

"Don't you know who I am?!" She demanded.

The Agante agent carried himself with confidence, his shoulders back and his body straight, he looked ready without being tense, relaxed as if this were routine for him, which it probably was. "That is why we're here, your father found out about your activities, the way you've been misleading him, the way you've been hosting meetings of anti-war supporters at your mother's home... she's dead by now, I'd imagine, if you'd like to know."

He laughed as Meidhall's hands went to her mouth to cover her gasp, her eyes filled with tears... "Mother... mother too? No... how could he do this...?" Her entire body was shaking, and her hands came down in front of her to form fists.

'Oh, this is marvelous! I'll make the most dramatic and emotional memories I can for the real thing, I must make sure I put as much feeling into this as possible, for the sake of her 'shaping' but also for the sake of my glorious art!' Pandora's Actor reminded himself as he arched his back and shouted hatefully, "You killed my mother! My father betrays me and my country and our family, and sends you to kill me! Fine! You want to tangle with the Black?! Let's see how well you do!" She shrieked and charged forward without any hint of fear, and only hate and wrath seething in her eyes.

The Agante quickly spread out to surround her, but she didn't stay 'surrounded'. The first she reached, she hit with an open palm to the chest and collapsed his lungs, sending him flying across the room and through the wall, killing him instantly. The remainder closed in with flashing blades, aiming to crush her through numbers, she flung and screamed and bit and sent men flying, but those who did not die immediately, used a healing potion and rushed back into the fray, she felt fingers falling off and cuts going deeper. Yet the vessel of rage and hatred continued to pour out violence upon her attackers, killing three more before a lucky strike embedded itself in Meidhall's eye and she dropped to the ground, covered in many wounds and the blood of herself and her enemies alike.

As she fell to her knees, she looked up through the one remaining good eye and, coughing up blood, said, "Please... tell me you lie... tell me my mother isn't dead... give a dying woman that much..." More blood came up out of her mouth and rolled down her chin to drip onto the floor. Pandora's Actor put all the misery and grief he could into the role in that moment as the Agante standing over her took his knives and crossed them at her throat.

"Unless she can survive forty-two stab wounds to every vital organ, your mother is extremely dead, and yes, your father ordered it, he did ask that you be reminded, if you woke up, that you shouldn't have crossed him." The agent said in a professional tone that was really 'indifferent' more than anything else, just another job from where he stood. Pandora's Actor memorized every line of his face, the better for the memory's later use.

The knives were then drawn in against the throat, opening the jugular and half cutting off the head, and then for good measure he leaned back and kicked her hard in the chest, sending her toppling onto her back. 'Time to bring it home!' He thought to himself as he reveled in the chance to perform, he raised a hand desperately, and struggled to rise. He gurgled out hatred, only for the words to drown in the red. "Father... father... how I hate you... I want to kill you... mother... I will... I will avenge you..." And then Pandora's Actor closed his eyes and 'ended' the scene.

The Agante gathered their dead and treated their injuries, while their leader looked down at the corpse, "Ugh, she was a tough one, but everyone dies. Still, if actors could manage to do 'that' on stage during plays, making it as 'real' as this, well, I might enjoy going to the theater more. Oh well, guess I shouldn't be too hard on them, it's not like many of them ever see real death, so how would they know what it looks like?"

One of his colleagues let out an exasperated sigh, as he got up, brushed himself off, and sheathed his blades. "You're such a snob, Hess, just go to comedies if you don't like dramas."

Pandora's Actor refrained from beaming with pride, and simply lay as a corpse until they were gone. After they'd vanished, he reached out to his father. "My mission is complete mein vater, and I have made the finest memory possible to give to the corpse, as I assume mein colleague is finished as well, we can begin to Roberdyck her immediately."

"Roberdyck her?" Ainz asked.

"Ah, yes we've named the process after the first fool to have their mind altered in Nazarick, a high honor! Nay, a privilege too great for one lowly thief such as he! To have a process we use named after such a knave! Yet..."

'No... got to cut that off now or he'll be making dramatic rambly speeches to me all day!' Ainz thought to himself, grateful he couldn't sweat, and interrupted his creation. "I get it. It's fine, go ahead and Roberdyck Meidhall, make sure she's convinced it all happened to her, and when everything is ready, unleash her on a mission of revenge on these agents. They're far more troublesome than the former intelligence operatives. But one dedicated and powerful hunter... that might just take care of it. Give her everything she needs, we'll ensure she's absolutely loyal to us in gratitude for our 'support'." Ainz answered.

"Of course father, shall I remove Cardinal Raymond? He is after all, aware of their deaths by our hands and might throw a wrinkle into your plans." Pandora's Actor asked as he brushed off the dust that had begun to settle over him from the shattered wall.

'Damn, I'd forgotten that...' Ainz thought and his mind raced frantically, "No, he might have a use still, leave him alive, but have his memory altered, and that of anyone else who might remember the truth. No loose ends."

"It will be as you say, father, I will see it done immediately." Pandora's Actor replied, and he exited through the Gate as soon as it opened.

 **AN: Pandora's Actor is referring to events that took place in 'Blood in the Streets' Where Solution captured Thousand Mile Astrologer and took her to Nazarick where she was murdered. Her mother, around that same time, was murdered by Vanysa and Pandora's Actor as a precautionary measure. If you don't recognize the dark elf characters, well they appeared in 'Dark Plains'. I DID say that the side stories are only separated for organizational purposes :) . They too, are part of the God Rising AU.**


	170. Duplicity

_...South East of Fortress Alaf..._

Leinas and Aureole Omega enjoyed the brief downtime they'd had, the Slane Theocracy had brought abundant food supplies for their soldiers and enough alcohol to get everybody blind stinking drunk two or three times over. If thereit was one thing Leinas Rockbruise knew, it was that there was no drunk like victory drunk.

They broke open the casks and let everybody get utterly smashed, more than a few soldiers had pulled a paramour into a tent for a wild rut as they celebrated their mutual survival. The brief time they had enjoyed the dark elf women and the southern elf women had created a celebration the likes of which they were uniformly sure would never be forgotten... but all good things must come to an end.

They'd been marching almost constantly, with scouts riding out well ahead of the main force in all directions, determined that they would not be caught off guard. The tranquility of it all however, made Leinas anxious. Aureole Omega looked to the left of her where Leinas was riding. "You should relax." She said easily.

"I can't, this... peacefulness, it puts me on edge, frankly it is easier to be in a fight than it is to be anticipating one." Leinas replied in a tired voice as she scanned the open plains. She glanced up, little flecks of white had begun to fall from the sky. "Great... snow, that always makes campaigning easier." She said sarcastically with a roll of her eyes.

"That may be true... both things." Aureole Omega replied, but raised a finger in caution, "But too much anxiety for too long is harmful, you can't stay like that forever, in my knowledge of the first world, there are ample stories of soldiers who fought too long or through too many unpleasant things, and it left them damaged. You were an adventurer before, yes?" She asked.

"I was, for long enough to become adamantite ranked, before I swore myself to the service of the Emperor." Leinas answered, pursing her lips in a bitter expression of distaste at the memory.

"Did you never know adventurers who had been through too much?" Aureole Omega probed, leaning slightly over toward where Leinas sat, still looking ahead of her.

"I did, there were some who lost their comrades and were the lone survivors of terrible things, some grew extremely violent, some withdrew into themselves and could never lift a sword again. Seemed like they were both broken, if you want my opinion." Leinas replied, she took a deep breath.

"I understand where you're going with this Aureole..." Leinas gave a small smile in the direction of her colleague and reached out, the guardian took her hand, "but you don't have to worry, I'll take some down time when this is all over, after we take C'Teon, I'll put in a request for some vacation time before I take up my duties in E-Rantel again."

Aureole Omega gave a firm nod of approval, "Good, I've gotten to like working with you, I'd prefer you didn't end up like some of those."

"Not to worry, I won't." Leinas said confidently, "But for now, an ounce of paranoia might save us an ocean of blood. It seems like there's not much left but... who knows? I don't rest easy until heads are separated from bodies."

"I can't argue with caution." Aureole Omega responded positively, "We'll be at C'Teon in the next... two days if we undertake a forced march tonight and cut rest by an hour thereafter. If we eat and drink on the march and stop only for the soldiers to relieve themselves and sleep, we can make it even faster."

"Then let's do that, I want this over." Leinas said firmly. "I admit, I wish I had the elven army with us still, it would make taking C'teon easier."

"No need, 'I' will be making it easier." Aureole Omega replied with a whimsical voice juxtaposed by the fist she held up. "After I have 'boosted' your forces, I'll take care of the wall, the siege will not be a siege."

"Take care of?" Leinas cocked her head slightly as she inquired further.

"Yes, I will knock it down myself." Aureole Omega answered with just a hint of smugness.

Leinas looked at her blankly, "You could... do that?"

Aureole's head was almost 'bouncy' in her enthusiastic nodding. "Easily, their army is nothing to me."

"Then... why let us go through the siege back there? Why not just get rid of the Theocracy yourself?" Leinas asked curiously.

"They made a better team building exercise this way, remember what I told you before? About how this war was going to unite His Majesty's empire? Well, you weren't really a united army before, you were disparate groups come together. But now you've gelled, humans and demihumans sat around drinking after the battle was over, they traded stories, they traded songs, they traded jokes, they were united. I have met His Majesty's objective here, now I will keep as many of you alive as I can. There's no reason to let the Slane Theocracy fight their best anymore." Aureole Omega answered patiently.

Leinas looked over her shoulder behind her, she saw soldiers chatting on the march, on foot and on horseback, and it was clear to her. "Oh wow..." Was all she could say as a grin formed unplanned upon her face.

 _...Boabdil's Army..._

"How are the riots going?" General Boabdil asked Vice Commander Heikeren as they chewed on a tough ration of dried meat.

"Well, they got started and the Agante representative said they could expect to inflict a few thousand casualties. But, we can't take it back, we can only hurt them." Heikeren responded unhappily, a deep frown settled onto his face after he swallowed a bite.

"How much longer can we hold out, do you think?" Boabdil asked gravely. An unhappy frown forming on his own face to match that of his subordinate's.

"With last round of supplies, not much, the villages our riders have gone to could spare nothing, and I mean could 'really' spare nothing, hunger is hitting everywhere thanks to the loss of farmland in the east and in the north. But the harvest from Wheaton should give us enough supplies to keep going, and it isn't like that area has fallen yet. At least we can supplement our supplies with a little hunting, like that fox I got for you earlier." Heikeren replied with a distant voice that said his mind was not on their supply situation.

"Still thinking about Vice Commander Ira?" Boabdil guessed.

"I'd be lying if I said I wasn't." He answered as he took a swig from his water skin.

"Relax, General Enri isn't a monster, if she was captured, she'll be alright, if she's dead, we can't do anything but make sure she didn't die for nothing, like everyone else." General Boabdil replied fatalistically, holding his hands out as if each contained one of those possibilities.

"Speaking of, our raids are having an effect on Enri's advance parties, scouts are fighting it out on a regular basis, we should have no trouble drawing her army south, at least most of it, luckily since she'll have to deal with the riots, she's stuck on small engagements where we can do the most damage to her forces, but when those are done, we can expect a fierce chase." Boabdil said confidently, his voice picked up fire as the little victories and progress he had gave him energy and played to his passion.

"Small favors, but this can't go on, what you said before was absolutely right, Sir. We can't let someone like General Baraja, or even General Rockbruise, make it to Kami Miyako. I've sent orders to draw the last forty thousand prisoner corps back to us, but if we're now outnumbered and our remainder surrounded, then the Great Defender can't defend us anymore. Dominic has to know this... he has to..." Heikeren drifted off as he spoke, as if he were trying to convince himself that Dominic knew better.

General Boabdil didn't reprimand the defeatist statement, despite the urge to do so. He lowered his head and looked at the ground, he stirred the little flame that burned between them as snowflakes began to land around them. "Winter has come to our country..." He said idly.

"It has," Heikeren agreed before continuing. "Do you think your wife will follow your instructions and convince Dominic to make peace, even if he has to step down or surrender?" Heikeren's voice was thoroughly nervous as he asked the question.

General Boabdil didn't answer right away, he just kept stirring the glowing coals and remaining wood around. "I think she will, she's influential in Kami Miyako, has a lot of pull with the rest of the military officers, if they go in a body and petition Dominic, he'll have to listen to them."

"I hope he does." Heikeren answered in a hollow voice. Shadows began to form over the camp, "Forgive me, Sir, but I'm tired, I think I'll turn in."

"Of course, don't bother with the salute, just go, I'm too tired to return it." Boabdil gave him a crooked smile and scratched his grizzled and half kempt beard a bit, "I'll turn in, too. Goodnight."

"Good night, Sir." Heikeren replied and went to his tent to rest. His eyes shut almost the instant he laid down in his cot. He didn't know how long he slept for, nor did he know just why he woke up. He simply knew something was wrong. His eyes popped open, and the darkness revealed nothing. There wasn't a sound inside his tent, and as he attenuated his ears to his surroundings, he heard nothing outside it either. Still, he felt goosebumps form and the little hairs all over his body stand on end.

He got up, put on his breastplate and boots, secured his sword and a thick, heavy black cloak with the white Theocracy insignia on the back. "General Boabdil..." He whispered to himself. There was snow beneath his feet now, no more than an inch, but it was there. He looked around, the torchlight of the camp cast shadows wildly along the white powder, here and there he heard voices, but nothing alarming. Still his anxious pounding heart told him he had to go to where his general was.

He kept a tight grip on the hilt of his blade and ignored the crunching underfoot, he didn't run to avoid raising an alarm needlessly. But he did move with great swiftness of foot nonetheless. Soon he was at the command tent, there was a light inside. He could hear voices within. One was that of his general, the others were unfamiliar.

He hesitated and listened in. "Your defeatism has made you unreliable, and if you don't end your life, your wife's life will be ended instead." An unfamiliar voice said coldly.

Heikeren felt his blood boil and his heart leap into his throat.

Boabdil replied with great calmness, and it was that calmness more than anything else that kept Heikeren from drawing his sword and attacking those within.

"Very well, but I'd rather at least die warm, would you mind if I put my coat on, and pass a message on to Dominic for me when you report back to him, would you? Tell him I said he deserves what's coming to him." Boabdil responded in what was, in Heikeren's mind, the most noble voice he'd ever heard the man use.

'No... no... this can't be... I...' Heikeren's thoughts were running a mile a minute as the grim, laughing acknowledgement of what he was absolutely sure were Agante men rang softly in the tent.

He peeked within, and saw as General Boabdil took a knife, went to his knees before a half a dozen barrel chested Agante, and looked up at them, "Go to hell." He said, and stabbed himself, he then ripped the knife along his guts from left to right, spilling intestines out and gritting his teeth against the pain, then toppling forward.

"Brave at least." The Agante leader said as blood pooled around the general's body. He knelt down and reached under the body to pull the knife away, he tossed it a little distance away. "With any luck they'll think General Enri had him assassinated, and they'll fight harder. I'm sure the official ceremony commemorating him in Kami Miyako will move a lot of people to fight harder, but even if it doesn't, well the army will be very, very pissed off, that ought to be enough to drive them to new heights of heroism."

"Uh huh, I still would have preferred to simply make him disappear, but... this will do." Another Agante said as they put away their long knives. "Come on, let's go before we're seen."

Vice Commander Heikeren saw them start to move and darted himself around the corner of the tent, his heart pounding as he heard the band slip out, he looked around the corner at their retreating backs, he had great trouble seeing them, and as he looked at where they walked, he noticed that they didn't leave any tracks in the snow. He could scarcely believe what he saw, but he didn't lose his mind. He counted time in his head, reminding himself how far away someone needed to be before it was safe to move without alerting them. He silently prayed to the six that they'd either not notice, or think nothing of his footprints in the snow. It was a great relief when they did not.

As soon as he'd completed his count, he rushed into the tent to see if he could render aid to his commander. He grabbed General Boabdil's shoulders and whispered hoarsely, "General! General! Just hold on... Don't die on me yet." He hefted the older man up and leaned him back against his cot.

"No... No... not like this..." Heikeren said as tears started to form in his eyes as he looked at his mentor and superior's still form.

"Alright that's enough of that, don't get all weepy for me." General Boabdil said gruffly.

Heikeren fell backwards onto his ass and looked at the 'dead man' with open mouthed awe. The intestines were still hanging out and yet... at best Boabdil should have been able to manage a whisper, yet he sounded just fine.

Boabdil gave a grim laugh, "Wondering why I'm alive?"

Heikeren nodded dumbly.

Boabdil reached down and opened up the buttons of his coat, and out fell the body of a dead fox.

"I don't know what you caught, but... I asked to not have to die cold, told them where my coat was, they let me get it, I had it where the game were kept, all I had to do was a little sleight of hand to stuff that little corpse in when I buttoned it up. And then there you go, instant dead Boabdil." He looked smug and self satisfied.

Heikeren couldn't believe his ears, or his eyes. "You're a gods-be-damned genius..." He said with tearful relief as he wiped his eyes.

Boabdil chuckled in amusement, "Just took advantage of some young fools' naive desire to play god themselves." He shrugged dispassionately as he took the coat off. "A damn shame to ruin a perfectly good coat though, and I'd hoped to eat that fox later. But the real problem still lies before me."

"Which is?" Heikeren asked hesitantly as he managed to get to his feet and held his hand out to his commander.

Boabdil took it and Heikeren pulled him to his feet.

"What the hell do I do now? They're convinced I'm dead, and if that asshole didn't kill my wife already, she's dead as soon as they find out I'm alive. I can't even do what some stupid storybook would have me do, take the army back and capture the city myself to save her and dethrone the one who wanted me dead." Boabdil grumbled and sat down on the cot, he stroked his beard.

"Well, be dead." Heikeren suggested. "Shave your beard, dye your hair, and... ride east. That last army is heading this way, I'll write a letter for you appointing you the head of that army, you'll just take on the name of one of our dead vice commanders who we haven't sent a letter home about yet. As long as you stay with those soldiers and not these, you should be fine."

"Then I'll 'answer to you' until all this is over?" Boabdil asked as his eyes widened and he stared at his protege and Vice Commander.

Heikeren nodded. "Yes. If you want to. It's that or... you ride north and surrender yourself to General Enri's army. There's not a chance she'll have you killed or tortured, and there's no chance your capture will be uncovered by Dominic. So... fight or flee, General Boabdil, either way, I'm your man."

"The student has become the master." Boabdil laughed a bit, "No, regardless of what Dominic ordered, I owe it to my country to continue to resist, I can't betray them or the gods. I'll take on a new name and...… I think I will take the army further south to deal with Leinas or Draudillon or, gods preserve us, that other one. Just... one thing, when will you have me 'buried' out here?"

"What's that?" Heikeren asked with interest and a fair amount of pride in his voice as his suggestion was seen to have merit.

"Move out quick and don't leave the horse far away from me. I just came back from the dead after all, and I'd rather not have to work hard to get out of the box or look for the damn horse." He smirked a bit cockily as Heikeren laughed.

"It will be done, Sir. I'll go find what we need to get you ready, write a letter, and so on, tomorrow is going to be a long day for both of us, I guess." Heikeren responded with a yawn as he felt himself start to relax again.

"I think my long beats your long." Boabdil said with some annoyance.

"Sex jokes, now?" Heikeren replied sarcastically, leaving the old man dumbfounded for a moment until he let out a deep belly laugh and shooed the younger man away to work.

 _...South of Wheaton..._

They were an hour away from Wheaton when they came across a most unexpected sight. "Is that who I think it is?" Neia asked her colleagues as the army continued the march.

"That depends on who you think it is." Lakyus said with amusement in her voice.

Skana threw back her head and laughed, while CZ's face remained passive.

"That is Zesshi Zetsumei." CZ answered the question as if it were seriously intended.

"And... I'm guessing each of those columns is an army?" Neia asked rhetorically.

"Yes." CZ said neutrally.

"Get some drums going, we should welcome them properly. After all we're all going to one hell of a party." Neia said with a wolfish grin and great enthusiasm.

Skana looked over her shoulder and gave the order, and war drums began to sound behind her, the army's steps, already uniform, became smart and loud and threw up a great noise, it was more like a parade march than a war march as they grew closer.

"There we go, now we sound properly enthusiastic." Neia said happily and her undead horse shifted into a parade like trot at the shift in her legs guiding it's behavior. Skana rolled her eyes at the almost childlike enthusiasm. 'To think some sleep and great sex would restore my wife this much... if I'd known it was going to be that easy I'd have done that weeks ago.' She shifted accordingly and got her own horse to begin to canter like Neia's, and this was quickly imitated by Lakyus, and finally, CZ.

As they closed the distance the battle flag of the Sorcerer King went up from where Zesshi sat, and the drums of the other two armies began to beat in turn as if to welcome her on, as the army passed, Zesshi's army of elves and her mostly human army of volunteers, began to wheel about and march alongside the long file of Neia's army from the Holy Kingdom.

No sooner than they'd done so than Zesshi Zetsumei brought her horse alongside the four women. "Good to see you again." Zesshi said sincerely.

"And you, too, General Zetsumei." Neia said with equal sincerity. "I assume you did what you intended, then." Neia stated flatly.

"I did, my father is dead, I am a Queen, and my armies, from home and from the north, are here at your service. But what is the plan of attack?" Zesshi asked in the sort of voice she used when asking Raymond what her assignment was.

Neia looked over and pulled off her visor, "The plan? To attack. Then we kill them all." A shadow filled her eyes and a low feeling of 'pressure' began to build.

Zesshi looked into the eyes of the Pope, and remembered the first time they met. She was reminded of what it felt like to be on a long road, then look back and wonder at the distance one had traveled. So it was with this one. The power in her gaze was greater than before, but there was more to it, she reeked of blood despite being perfectly clean. The pressure was minor... to her, but before she could inquire, it was cut off, and Neia's eyes returned to their more human, natural blue.

The visor went back on, and everything was as it was.

"I can do that." Zesshi said, as if none of that had just happened, "I can break the walls, then we let the soldiers pour in and... do what they do best."

"Short and efficient, it works for me." Neia replied calmly and went on to explain more recent events in greater detail.

"That'll be a lot of dead civilians, no matter what happens." Zesshi pointed out.

"I didn't make their choices for them. They're essentially committing suicide." Neia shrugged off the statement, unsure if it was commentary or criticism. "As long as this all ends, I just... I don't care anymore, it has to stop, by any means necessary. The dead don't fight, the dead don't riot, the dead don't rebel. With death... there is peace."

The hollow way she said it had the hairs on her companions' necks stand up, and they were still thinking about that when they saw the walls of Wheaton, and began to draw their armies up to surround the city.

 **AN: Well here you go, also, 171 is written and is in beta right now. Hard to believe I'm down to 29 chapters to go.**


	171. No Mercy, No Quarter

God Rising: The Cult of Ainz

Written by: AtheistBasementDragon

Edited by: The Usual Gang of Drunken Perverted Idiots

Chapter 171: No Quarter, No Mercy

...Nazarick...

After Zesshi had done what she needed, gathered her people, returned the hostages, and had both armies 'Gated' to meet with Neia, Ainz felt a measure of relief. 'I can count on Neia to win regardless, but having the weird half elf with her will make it easier. It's like Punitto Moe said, "If you have to fight, stack the odds, outnumber them, and stomp them till they stop moving."

His return to Nazarick was not without purpose, he went directly to the laboratory where Demiurge was working on the corpse of Meidhall. He entered the research area and found Pandora's Actor pressing his head into the hand of Demiurge's preferred assistant, who in turn had her hand on the forehead of Thousand Mile Astrologer's corpse.

"What is this?" Ainz asked curiously, and Demiurge rushed over to kneel. "My Lord, a small experiment, since my assistant has some degree of mental abilities as part of her nature, we thought we might be able to use her as a bridge to boost the efficacy of the memories Pandora's Actor 'lived through' to ensure the subject is properly rewritten, loyal, and vengeful when she is restored."

Ainz could no longer blink, a fact that he was quite grateful for, because it meant he was able to cover himself quickly. "You have once again discerned my intentions Demiurge, truly you are among the wisest of Nazarick." He said as nobly as he could, while he reminded himself to ask fewer questions next time unless he'd had a chance to think things through more. He ignored the gold skinned assistant who was beaming at the archdevil, and before Demiurge could fill the gap with praise or uncomfortable questions, the Sorcerer King plowed ahead.

"Have those who know of the truth of her death been seen to yet?" Ainz asked.

"Not yet, My Lord, but it will be done before Thousand Mile Astrologer is allowed to leave." Demiurge replied, "Any hint of her remembering anything but what we want her to, and we will put her down again immediately, and perhaps you would care to use her to make a powerful undead?" He suggested hopefully as he rubbed his hands together in what reminded Ainz of villains from the movies.

"Ah, perhaps, but this would have more dynamic use than an undead that can do little more than follow instructions, see what we can do with her as she is, first."

"As you wish, Your Majesty." Demiurge said happily. "Shall we send her to you when she's 'awake', My Lord?" He asked politely as Pandora's Actor straightened up and the transfer of memories completed.

"Yes, but not right away, Cardinal Berenice was asking for an audience after her visit to E-Rantel. I am very curious as to what she has to say after having seen the peace of my rule with her own eyes." Ainz replied as he turned to exit.

"It will be done, My Lord. Oh, and I have taken the liberty of having placed the latest stack of reports on the desk in your private office, there are four hundred and twenty two, I sorted them in order of priority, a few were wrongly marked as urgent, so I fixed that for you as well. Oh, and Albedo was offering to go through them with you."

"All that will be fine, Demiurge." Ainz replied swiftly, eager to escape before some uncomfortable question could present itself and risk exposing his lack of knowledge in some key area. "Please proceed as you think best."

"I am honored by your trust, My Lord." Demiurge said joyfully as he bowed, and held that bow until Ainz exited the room.

...Wheaton...

Time moved so slowly at some moments for Graff that he felt like he was swimming through molasses, and he worried for what was minutes but felt like hours, that the wagons that he'd had rushed out to gather those who fled or render what aid he could, might not be enough or might be too late. In other moments, he felt like he was moving as fast as a gale force wind. The city's remaining laborers tore down empty buildings and created layer after layer of defenses to which line after line could fall back behind. They worked with little rest, and all useful supplies were taken deep into the interior of the city.

He felt his body grow cold as the sweat that sprang from his skin froze against him. Snow was raining down in a gentle drift, it crunched under his feet, sounding disturbingly like shattered fragments of bone.

He was still busy with the final details when the enemy's approaching army stopped giving him time to prepare. "Captain Graff!" Someone shouted from up on the wall.

"Coming!" He called from below and rushed to the tower, making his way up the stairs, pumping his legs as fast as he could until he reached the top.

He frowned, they were coming closer than he expected, the soldiers up and down the wall looked nervous. Most were shaking in their boots, and not from the dropping temperature. He felt no fear, he felt only curiosity, they were not acting as they normally did.

'Why are there so many... it was supposed to be just General Baraja... but if that's one army, then I'm the fucking undead. That one there is clearly the elven army, I thought they were our allies... sort of. Damn it all! This is getting worse by the second.' He thought to himself and blew the horn sounding the alarm for the whole city as the armies moved to surround his city entirely.

As he watched down below, one figure with black and white hair got off her horse, and he could only watch as another dismounted, went back into her ranks, then dragged a corpse by the hair over to where the other one waited. To his great consternation, the one with black and white hair picked the body up by the belt, and flung it. The corpse sailed over the wall as easily as if she'd thrown a small stone into a lake.

The corpse landed just inside the walls, Graff wheeled on his heel and leaned over to the men down below, "Check that body!" He ordered the stunned and horrified little knot of men that formed around it.

He waited as they carried out his instructions, cutting off the ropes that had bound arms and legs together. "It's got the uniform of a breaker, Sir! And there's a note written on his chest!"

"Well, don't keep me waiting, what does it say?!" Graff demanded angrily, his hand went tight around his sword hilt.

"It says 'you have one hour'!" The soldier shouted up with panic in his voice, "And sir! This man... he... he did not die quickly."

"Get to your post!" Graff ordered abruptly and turned back to the other side of the wall.

He tried to count the numbers of enemy soldiers out there by how long it took for them to move to encircle him, but found it as impossible as it was depressing. The army in front of him stretched out. He did his best to try to tell who was who.

"Sir... what do we do?!" A young soldier asked him, "I don't... I don't want to die." He whispered out, ashamed of his fear and ashamed of his words, his fighting spirit all but gone, Graff sighed, the soldier was asking for him to surrender without actually saying it.

"We do our best, that's Neia Baraja over there, if we don't stop her then she'll march to Kami Miyako. If she reaches the sacred city of the gods..." Graff explained patiently, "Be brave, lad, we fight for the gods and we will protect this country against anyone that threatens it, and if we die, we die as men should, facing their enemies with sword in hand."

The boy in armor tried to smile. "Go on, show me your war face." Graff said encouragingly.

The combat virgin bared his teeth.

"Better, but you've got family inside these walls, is that going to scare the undead worshippers away? You protect everyone inside, make sure those savages out there," he gestured with his sword to the army beyond the wall, "...know what is waiting for them in here."

The boy's spirit's rose and he stepped close to the crenelations, "Hey you undead loving fucks! I'm the one who protects this country, come over these walls and I'll kill you! I'll kill you all! Hear me?! I'll kill you all!" He shouted with fiery enthusiasm, and the warrior spirit which had stirred in the young man, began to spread.

"Much better, that'll have Neia quaking in her boots." Graff said and clapped him hard on the back as he walked down the line.

Neia listened to the person on the wall shout his declaration. "Well, I guess they don't plan on surrendering." She shrugged, "Fine by me."

Skana and Lakyus looked at her anxiously.

"Fine by me too." Zesshi said coldly, "I owe the Theocracy a lot of pain."

"Neia... wait, let me try to negotiate at least?" Skana asked hopefully.

Neia looked at her as if she'd gone mad. "Negotiate? There is no negotiate, if they don't surrender, they die. I don't negotiate with corpses or sheep."

Skana traded a look with Lakyus, her eyes welled up, and the leader of Blue Rose gave her a subtle nod. So Skana got down off her horse, went to where her lover stood, and went down on her knees. "Neia, please, for me? Let me go into this knowing I did everything I could?"

A jolt ran through Neia like lightning as Skana went to her knees like a supplicant. She grabbed her wife by the shoulders and brought her to her feet. "Alright! Alright!" Neia said urgently and put her hand under Skana's chin, tilting her gaze up a little so that the taller woman was looking into her eyes.

"If you need this... then do it..." Neia whispered, and she felt Skana relax.

"Raise the white." Neia ordered, "And call up Evileye, if they try another assassination attempt, I won't chance success." A white flag was erected relatively swiftly, and a diminutive unmasked vampire in a red cloak followed a few paces behind Skana as the woman rode on.

The gate opened slowly, and one single man rode out.

Graff was surprised to 'not' see Neia opposite him when he approached on horseback. "Ah, where is your commander?" He asked, "You are definitely not Neia Baraja."

"No, I'm Skana, her Vice Commander and her wife. I'm here to ask for you to surrender, to 'beg' that you surrender, if you want to call it that." Skana said urgently.

"What?" Graff put a finger in his ear to clean out the wax for a moment, "I couldn't have heard you right, to 'beg us to surrender' isn't it usually that the side that is begging, is asking for the chance to surrender?"

"These are unusual circumstances, I'm asking you to surrender for your sake." Skana said in a slow and gentle tone, the sort she remembered using when trying to wheedle a reluctant husband away from his wife for a few hours, in what felt like a lifetime ago when she was a very different person.

"I'm begging you to surrender because that is for my wife's sake, so that she won't massacre you all, and make no mistake, she 'will' have this city wiped out. I know she will because I know what kind of city this is."

"What do you mean by all that?" Graff asked with a very deep frown on his face.

"This is a farming city, your industry is centered around agriculture, the estates, the villages, and that means you have what is most likely the largest slave labor force in the Slane Theocracy, I assume you recognized the uniform of a breaker. Well, I know you have a school for them in this city, I've not brought that up with my wife, because if she knew that, you wouldn't have the hour, and I wouldn't be here." Skana elaborated on her point, and Graff began to feel a tingle of understanding grow.

"So it's true... she's... got issues with how the elves are... ah... handled." He said nervously.

Skana inclined her head and kept her eyes fixed on his, "You have no idea. She'll hold the entire population responsible, if the city surrenders I can leave a garrison here, I'll have the slaves freed and I can give my personal guarantee as Vice Commander, that 'only' those who run the school or have persisted in the flesh trade and flesh domination industries will be held accountable. I can spare this city... but this is the only chance you have. Take it." The Vice Commander said urgently as she held her hands together and out as if to enfold his in her own.

Graff felt like she was throwing a lifeline and he was a drowning man. He shifted uncomfortably in his saddle, and looked over his shoulder. "I... I think I should, but if I don't stop you, you'll go on to Kami Miyako, and I can't have that. I know what the smart thing to do here is, I do and... I thank you for trying, even if it wasn't for our sake, but I can't. We stop you, or we die." He said fatalistically.

Skana's hands fell away, "Please... if she does this..."

He shook his head with finality, "No." He replied with an ironclad voice.

Skana sighed, "Then let history remember that you threw away their lives..."

"Captain Graff." He answered with his name, "And let history remember that your wife took them. How we are both judged, won't matter much to either of us at that point, I think. Now goodbye."

He turned his horse around and cantered it back into the city.

When Skana returned to her lines, she shook her head. "They want to fight."

"Then they ask to die." Zesshi and Neia said in unison, then looked at each other with surprise, and let out grim laughs at one another that froze Lakyus's marrow.

"Do not forget, we accept surrenders." She reminded them both sharply.

"I won't forget." Neia said in a tranquil, quiet voice. "How much time do they have left?"

"Three minutes and forty two seconds." CZ said in a dull monotone. "Forty one, forty, thirty-nine..."

"You don't have to count it out loud." Neia said with a roll of her eyes, "Just tell us when time is up."

"Yes." CZ acknowledged.

"Zesshi, are you ready to do your part?" Neia asked with rising eagerness.

"Yes. Once I knock a few holes here, I'll go to other areas and do the same, I assure you it won't take long." She answered sharply and took her scythe from off of her back.

"Good. I'll see you at the center." Neia replied as darkness filled her eyes.

The moments ticked by, hands on the wall grew tense, the points of spears wavered like branches in the breeze, here and there, they saw someone vomit over the side in fear. Neia looked around, the spears of her army were like trees on a windless day, rooted unmoving to the ground below. Overwhelming pride filled her consciousness.

"Time." CZ said.

Neia cantered her mount a few paces in front of her army and called upon the power of her voice. "Here before you stands the breadbasket of the Theocracy! Take this place and they go hungry! Take this place and we can march to Kami Miyako! Give this city to His Majesty, and we will have all but won the war! You are my lions, my dragons, my lords and ladies of war! You are the embodiment of Justice! You are strong and they are weak! And remember this, this is the nation that sent the man that burned our brothers and sisters alive! This is the nation that tore ours apart through civil war! This is the nation that sought to burn us out, to use our country against the one who saved us all! Will we let them do that to us?!"

Skana looked down at her hands, she could feel the difference, but she looked the same, her eyes went up just as Neia tore off her visor and her eyes glowed like black fire candles.

"No!" A shout echoed back and threatened to tear down the stone.

"Then show them! Make! Them! Pay!" Neia wheeled her horse around and lowered her sword to the wall to order the charge.

Zesshi looked down at her hands as Skana did. Her hands were her own, yet… more, somehow, or so it seemed when the feeling hit her, it was so hard to believe, she felt the rush of energy strike her and she felt like she was more herself than she ever had been before. The pope looked every inch a heroic figure, her black aura fairly glowing and sending shockwaves through her body as her powerful voice raised their will beyond their former heights.

She barely held back until the charge was signaled, and with glee she launched herself at the wall, her undead mount carried her incredibly fast, her scythe raised high, Zesshi cut loose with a war cry to chill the blood. She lowered it and smashed the wall where she struck, sending debris and bodies flying, she then rode along the wall, bringing it up and down against point after point, creating numerous gaps wherever she struck.

But she did not go in, instead she rode around the city's walls to the next army to repeat the process.

Neia put away her sword and took out her bow. She drew and loosed but did not advance, she had the best view here, she brought down soldier after soldier atop the wall as if they were mere flies.

The archers on the wall did their best to fire arrows into the massed ranks, but it did little good, many fell when the wall beneath them simply ceased to be, others by the far more accurate and far more effective weapons of the Black Justice archers.

When she reached and found no arrows, she spurred her mount within and drew her sword. She let out a horrifying warcry of her own and streamed in with countless soldiers.

Skana charged in with Lakyus and CZ at either side of her, chasing down their bloodthirsty general. Some of the soldiers went up into the towers to finish off their enemies there, but it was clear that the first cracks in the defense had already led to a total collapse. They however, were not unwilling to fight despite being outmanned, and Skana found herself engaged against three farmboy militia armed with spears and clad in leather armor. A large lad thrust his spear forward, Skana stepped to the side, grabbed it behind the iron head and pulled, bringing the boy off balance and into the way of his friends, she thrust her sword into his neck then kicked his body toward the other two. They got out of the way, but one stumbled, and Skana charged that one, and severed his leg from behind the knee as she dropped and spun, he fell screaming and clutching at the severed limb, and that broke the fighting spirit of the third, who threw his spear away and ran.

When Skana finally caught sight of Neia, it was as she ran her sword through that boy who had just fled, before bringing down two more who realized who she was, and tried to turn and run, to no avail.

Skana caught up quickly, to her surprise, and then saw why. There were additional barriers, large 'hills' created by destroyed buildings, soldiers that fled the first line, fought at the second with fresh numbers.

"Clever bastards, a leapfrog defense!" Neia spat out and took a few arrows out of a nearby corpse. "Doesn't matter! [Snake Shot]." She said and fired an arrow, it went through one man's eye, then out the back of his head, and then through the back of one man's neck, out of that at the front, then into the neck of another before it broke.

The few who stood with those three, broke and ran for the next layer of defenses.

Fires were springing up everywhere, some set by the attackers, some by the defenders to slow the attackers down.

A group of Black Justice warriors charged with bows firing at a defensive position, and Skana felt a swelling of pride as they kept the enemy heads down, jumped over from the top, and had swords out before they hit the ground and engaged the defenders at close range.

A scream cut through the air, a familiar scream. 'Looks like they encountered the undead, probably won't do much good. I mean they're only skeletons, but it doesn't matter, they'll cause chaos our living soldiers can take advantage of.' Skana thought to herself as her wife advanced beside her.

Not too far away a terrible boom echoed. Neia looked over in that direction and saw a building start to come down. "I'm guessing that would be Zesshi." She said with a malicious grin.

"That does seem likely. Looks like the elves are in." Skana replied.

Further contemplation was cut off, Neia was frozen where she stood stock still, Skana looked in horror as her attention was taken away from the moment, a soldier with a halberd was advancing on her.

"Neia!" Skana shouted, but it didn't snap her out of it. She was staring at a building.

"No... no..." Skana whispered and she flung her sword into the throat of the halberd bearer, sending him collapsing to the ground.

She rushed, still unarmed, to where her wife stood and shook her, hard. "Neia snap out of it!" She shouted into her ear, and with nothing else to do as even that didn't work, she forced her to turn away, raised her hand, and slapped Neia sharply across the face.

Neia brought her hand up to her cheek, and Skana got her first good look at the Black Paladin. Her hair was stained with blood, one eye was covered in red, her entire body was tense and might as well have been carved from solid rock, blood stained her lips and she had countless small wounds that she didn't even seem to notice.

"It can't be..." Neia whispered. "Tell me it isn't..."

"Oh, no..." Skana bit her lip as she saw what held Neia's eyes.

A very familiar sign. "They train breakers here..." Neia approached the door and kicked it down, her sword was out in front of her.

"Damn it!" Skana cursed and followed her, she could feel the change, like light was stolen from the world. Neia went down the hall cutting chains and limbs with equal vigor.

Throughout the building Neia found slaves kept... the way one might expect others to be kept if they were being used as examples of how to break someone into servile obedience. Neia went throughout the building and her wrath redoubled with every mistreated elf she encountered, so much so that she did not hesitate to strike down every single human that she came across, armed or not.

She never uttered a sound the entire way, not until she turned around did Skana truly see what the change had wrought, it was like she wasn't there anymore, as if she were back at Wenmark. Neia didn't say a word, there was only white hot rage in her eyes as tears of fury ran down her cheeks, she ran down the hall, pushing past Skana before her wife could say a word, Neia was gone. "Kill! Them! All!"

"Kill them all, kill them all, kill them all kill them all kill them all kill them all!" Relentlessly the words were pounded into her blood and Skana felt her rage rise up, as the power of the voice moved in her blood even when she couldn't hear the words anymore.

Skana felt the pounding of her heart and her blood rose up, wrath, overwhelming wrath. There was no fear, there was no pain there was no sense of hope or loss or tomorrow or today or any of a thousand different things there were but a single moment before. 'Kill.' It was repeated on a loop in her head. She obeyed. She killed. She saw the terror stricken face of someone in the wrong uniform, and as he saw her one green eye and bloody self, he dropped his spear and fell hard to the stone as he tried to stagger backward. He scrambled away like a crab, and she did not flinch. Her sword thrust into his flesh, it passed into his mouth and out the back of his neck, and she moved on.

Part of herself was aware of it, she felt like she was watching another person, 'Snap out of it! Get ahold of yourself, this rage isn't yours, its hers!' She thought to herself, only halfway truthfully as disgust welled up within her, another cluster of opposing soldiers were moving to bar her path she moved with the smoothness of her motions was like water through a brook, killing them was easy. Too easy. 'Kill them all...' She thought to herself, and moved on.

CZ ran along the tops of the buildings, her rifle had already gone to fully automatic, she targeted anyone who looked like they could give orders, it didn't take her long to catch up with Neia, but as she calculated the numbers, it was better to guard by overwatch rather than directly where she could better watch for serious threats. It all changed when she entered the breaker facility, she lingered up top, taking down small numbers that might surprise her ward by charging into the building as her companion came out.

What changed for her was not the smell of smoke, or the shouts of fear and pain and rage that filled the air in the hellscape that Wheaton had become, what changed was the air itself around her. 'Neia.' She knew it immediately, and she was right. She wasn't herself and it was obvious. It was all she could do to keep picking off threats as her best friend lost herself in blood.

Lakyus felt it before anyone else, that much she was sure of. Her demon sword had spoken to her many times of death, and urged her to use it to take life, most of the time she had been more than happy to oblige, after all as an adventurer, thrusting herself into combat was the norm. But it also left her very sensitive to those quiet words whispered in the darkness. So she felt the change that took place earliest, and was probably the first to hear the word. 'Kill.'

At first she thought it was her sword, but it wasn't the sword's voice, when it was repeated, she recognized it. "No... what happened?" Lakyus wondered aloud as the word thrummed through her body.

'It doesn't matter, I agree with crazy girl, go ahead, kill, it'll feel even better now than it usually does.' The demon sword said to her.

"Shut up, stupid sword, we can argue over the fate of my soul later, for now we've got work to do!" Lakyus said defiantly in return.

Given the circumstances, agree or not, kill, she had to, so kill, she did. Her hovering blades ripped through those around her that had made the mistake of being born in the Slane Theocracy, and the wanton urge for more came on from the outside again and again and again. And there was nothing to be done but do as the voice asked.

'For the thousandth time I don't give a damn about your soul! I don't want to take you over, I'm a cursed sword, what good would your soul do me?! As long as you swing me into bodies I don't give a damn about your body or your soul you crazy bitch! Now quit talking nonsense and listen to the other crazy girl!" Her sword responded in frustration.

"You wish to distract me, but it won't work, even if I must feed you blood to silence you...!" Lakyus responded and cut a man cleanly in two.

'This girl... god she's worse than the last guy...' The cursed sword thought to itself as it gorged itself on the blood of their enemies.

Zesshi heard the voice when it hit her, and she gloried in the feeling, even though the killing itself was frankly dull. 'They're all so weak, who needs an army? I could do this myself.' She thought as she cut her way through a knot of soldiers, but as she saw the elves swarm the Theocracy positions, some of them still bearing ugly marks, and all bearing furious expressions, she understood. 'Centuries of fear of the Slane Theocracy... all over what the elf King did to my mother... and now they're finally getting their revenge... go ahead, kill to your heart's content.' Zesshi thought, and heartily agreed with that satisfying feeling as she drew her scythe back to take another set of unwary heads.

'It's like the whispers of a demoness in my ear...' That was how it felt to Evileye when she heard the voice. 'Kill them all, kill them all, kill them all...' It ran over and over, she knew immediately who it was, and she saw the bloodlust rise on the humans and other races around her. 'Something really pissed her off...' She thought, she ignored the whispering thrum, but as she killed, she found herself beginning to neglect her magic, favoring the visceral feeling of tearing open bare flesh and ripping open throats the way she had when she was known as 'Landfall'. 'This will bear very serious questions when this is all over.' She thought to herself.

Graff was distraught and only his discipline kept him firm in his position near the center of the city. He looked around, survivors were streaming into the administrative core. News went from bad to worse. The elves in the city, long ago cowed and broken, had risen up in mass numbers seemingly out of nowhere.

He stood atop the barrier haranguing his soldiers to hold to their courage and defend what was theirs, and that was when he saw her. The straw colored hair, stained with blood, the green armor, also stained with blood, the feeling of death emanating from her like heat from a flame, and when she looked in his direction as he called her name, the eyes that had been written and spoken of again and again.

"I challenge you to single..." He started to shout, but she was already rushing him in a rage, he barely got his sword up and blocked her weapon, she drove him back, stumbling over the barricade, he fell on his ass, rolled the rest of the way as his swordmaster had taught him, and reassessed the circumstances.

'OK... whatever that was... I didn't see it coming.' He thought and the sword flashed out again. He began to parry and dodge with frantic urgency as she began to go faster and faster. Her wild eyes burned into his soul and fear welled up, he felt like she was consuming him from inside. Her sword meant nothing, he brought his fist up and punched her in an injury site on her arm, and if she felt it, she gave no sign. She just kept hitting, a pounding fear was surrounding them with such force that his soldiers tried to run, but a pressure began to build.

"Kill them all kill them all kill them all kill them all kill them all kill them all kill them all..." He finally understood the sounds coming out of her that he thought was her breathing, but they were words, horrible words. She was lost to the world, she didn't even use martial arts, but as he tried to use his own she just kept pressing him, he flashed his sword out and it ran through her nondominant arm, for a moment he thought that would be the end of it, but to his horror, she advanced with the blade still sticking out, came close, hit his nose with her forehead, raised her sword, and the last thing he saw was it flashing toward his neck, and his body falling away as his head rolled useless along the ground.

As she moved on, he could still hear her saying, "Kill them all kill them all kill them all kill them all..." She'd slowed, it was more of a trudge, he couldn't see her, but he saw the one he knew as the vice commander rushing toward him, or rather, toward her.

'I really should have surrendered...' He bitterly thought, before he thought no more.

It was all so... 'small'. If she had to pick a word for it, that was it. The moment she entered the building and saw the instruments, the 'people' within, used to turn free elves into pliant farm laborers and rob them of their souls in the figurative, if not literal sense, everything had turned into a distant, tiny point of light. She no longer felt her own body, or anything around her. Everything was gone, she felt for a moment as if she were back in the Golden Roan at the moment of her first true failure, and then she lost all sense of everything but the urge to violence.

"Wake up! Neia wake up!" A dearly loved voice echoed in her mind, "Come back! Neia!"

'That's Skana... why is she... what is going on...?' She wondered. Her vision began to change, her sense of terrible rage began to disappear, and she saw her surroundings, there as a corpse beneath her, the head pounded into mush, her fingers hurt, 'Broken.' She knew immediately as she looked at the gnarled, split and bloody knuckles. She was on top of the body straddling it with her knees, 'I guess I beat him to death.' She thought distantly. Her arm hurt, she looked at it, there was a hole clean through the top of her bicep.

She felt Skana's grip on her, pulling her backward but unable to move her until that moment, she was surrounded, not by her enemies, but by her allies, her soldiers, not far away, Zesshi stood staring at her with something akin to approval. She heard her own breathing, it was labored and hard as Skana helped her to stand.

She staggered when she was brought to her feet. There wasn't a victory cry, she looked around, the city was a wreck, walls were fallen, fire was everywhere, debris was scattered about, the living and the dead lay in clumps where some of the defenders had made a final stand.

"It's over." Skana said, she pulled Neia into her arms and held her up with Neia's arm over her shoulder as the Black Paladin felt about to collapse.

"S-See to the wounded, g-gather any prisoners, get to it." She managed to say, just before she coughed up blood and fell forward with her strength entirely gone.

She heard Skana shouting for her as she fell into total unconsciousness. The last thing she heard was an unfamiliar soldier asking, "Prisoners? Did anyone take any of those?" She didn't hear anything after that.


	172. A Bitter Pill

God Rising: The Cult of Ainz

Written by: AtheistBasementDragon

Edited by: The Usual Gang of Drunken Perverted Idiots

Chapter 172: A Bitter Pill

 **AN: Well another step closer to the end, most of 173 is written. It'll be done by the end of the day most likely, 174/175 will likely feature the last General Assembly, still a lot of material to cover in this and in the related side stories, but we're coming so close to the end. I'll see you there, and expect one HELL of an ending, both here and in the tail end of it all. The 'Synod' is the real final act for this great epic, and I trust you'll find it worthwhile to the end.**

 _...Nazarick..._

When Berenice returned to Nazarick, she asked Entoma to see her directly to her quarters; the visit to E-Rantel had seemed as if she was walking through a surreal dream or a children's story. Elves, dwarves, orcs, goblins, humans, even giants and the undead, to name just a few of the races she saw, were all living and working together.

She held the little broken heart piece of jewelry in her hand, though Berenice rarely wore any at all, not even a necklace, this piece, with the story behind it, was fascinating.

Once in her room, the maid stood at the entrance, "Is there anything else you require?" Entoma stood there with her long sleeves closed together in front of her, it was flatly 'bizarre' to be served by something that looked so human, but had made it clear that she was not.

"Other than my wish to speak with the Sorcerer King, I... I think not, I have much to process." Berenice replied, her gaze darted around the room as if looking for something to distract herself.

"You don't like us much, do you?" Entoma asked with the tracings of a little smile appearing on the 'face' of the Mask Bug as it sensed its owner's emotion and shifted its chromatophores to match.

"What?" Berenice whipped her face back toward the girl, her eyes grew large at the bluntness, and a hint of fear touched her voice as she worried that she'd offended the denizens of the tomb. 'Zesshi may have asked for my life, but... that doesn't give me free reign to do just anything, offending them is very, very unwise if I want to stay alive,' she reminded herself anxiously as she asked her question.

"I said, 'You don't like us much'." Entoma repeated the question that... wasn't really a question.

"Why do you say that?" Berenice asked, she tightened her hold on the necklace she'd bought.

"When we were in E-Rantel, you would look humans in the eye, but no one else. You're not even looking me in the eyes, and I'm a maid assigned to serve you." Entoma explained, a certain amount of amusement was in her voice as she said it, but her body didn't move. It struck Berenice how inhuman this girl was, a human might have displayed some discomfort, they might have showed anger, they might have approached or looked away, but she did none of that. 'Whatever her body looks like, she's not a human being.' Berenice thought to herself.

Berenice forced herself to look Entoma in the eye. She let out a sigh of surrender, as the wind was taken right out of her by the incisive remark. "You're right. I don't."

"There, was that so hard to say?" Entoma asked with easy comfort, none of the awkwardness a human would have shown at the admission.

"I've been trying to be polite." Berenice said, uncomfortably, her free hand grabbing her garment and clenching it tight, unsure of where this was going.

Entoma cocked her head, "Is it considered polite among humans to lie? My comrades would never do that... wait does that mean Skana was being rude to me when she told the truth about how I was serving her?" Entoma sounded genuinely confused, though her words were the sort one would expect to be uttered in sarcasm.

Struck by the absurdity of it all, Berenice let out a loud laugh and slapped her hand to her forehead and kept it there. "Oh for the love of the gods... no... no, she wasn't being rude, humans... we sometimes try not to offend people, not to hurt them, by keeping unfavorable thoughts at bay. So we try not to say hurtful things even when we think them." Berenice explained patiently as her laughter faded. "It's... oh, how do I explain this... it isn't that we want to lie, we just think it's..."

"Worse to be disliked?" Entoma interrupted, it was a very simple question but oddly 'insightful' in a strange and monstrous sort of way.

"That is not what I was going to say but, sometimes yes. We try to keep the peace with one another, and that means we sometimes keep our thoughts to ourselves." Berenice went to the table in her room and put the necklace down.

Entoma scratched her head, "If it keeps the peace, why do you fight each other so much? Your country killed thousands of your fellow humans over nothing, Jircniv was attacking the Kingdom every year to starve it into breaking; if lying makes things peaceful, why all the slaughter?"

Berenice sat down slowly into the chair, she turned her face to the wall, the surreal scene was impossible for her to fully grasp. 'If someone had told me once I would end up in an undead's home explaining human nature to a monster... I'd have laughed at them. Every day tops the strangeness of the one before it.' She bit her tongue and held it fast between her teeth to keep words at bay till she had framed her thoughts properly. When she was satisfied, she looked over to the maid.

"Sometimes we have conflicting desires, and when we can't settle things peacefully, or someone is violently ambitious, we fight over it. Why does your master do what he does? Undead beings have few needs, yet he attacks and kills us as if we were mere insects in his way." Berenice could not entirely keep the sharpness or the bitterness from her voice.

If she took offense, it wasn't evident. "I don't know my master's mind, but... I can make some guesses if you like."

Berenice gestured to the seat at the table opposite herself. "Please, make yourself comfortable, assuming this is enough 'my room' that the invitation isn't just a formality, then you're welcome to sit." She managed to keep an amused and self effacing tone as she remarked upon her dubious circumstances as a 'guest' of the Sorcerer King.

Entoma closed the door and obliged, moving gracefully as a dancer in her flowing uniform, she sat down and spoke in a voice that could only be described as 'reverential' or 'loving'. "The Supreme Ones sometimes talked of the first world, and the terrible ruin it had become."

"They destroyed it?" Berenice asked, interrupting with a horrified expression on her face.

"No!" Entoma snapped decisively, "It was ruined by lesser beings, races like yours. You mortals, you live only a handful of years and care only for your momentary, fleeting lives, and so you think nothing of a single tomorrow beyond the one in front of you. You don't even care when you destroy tomorrows for your children or grandchildren, let alone the children who will be born in ten thousand years. It was a great frustration for the Forty One, and that was why they often traveled to the first world, I presume to try to undo the destruction, only to return to ours to take their ease in games of creation. After they left us... I still think it was to commit themselves to saving first world from the destruction of mortals..."

Questions whirled in Berenice's head at these incomprehensible things, yet the maid spoke with such conviction, and she could think of no reason for the maid to lie... it was like the ground was crumbling under her feet. In a very real sense, it was. The foundation of her worldview based on the idea that a human controlled world was a better one. But as she listened, the doubts grew, and she interjected, "Destruction?" She asked, "How could mortals destroy a world?" She asked quizzically.

"By poisoning the air, the water, the earth, by making it a vile place for even themselves to live, you've seen this before, on a small scale. The way a human city grown large and uncontained becomes a pile of filth and sludge over which humans crawl like worms. Left unrestrained, you ruin whatever land you occupy, even against your own interests."

"But just because it happens sometimes…" Berenice leaned close, her face intent as she interrupted again, only to be silenced when Entoma suddenly laughed.

"Sometimes? No, 'every' time. Even when one of you rises who is capable, who crafts a good institutional system and rules well, you die. Then sooner or later the incompetents rise who ruin it all. It happened on first world, and it is happening here. The only reason it is not worse, is because you lack the knowledge and technology of first world's occupants that let them weaponize themselves against the air in their lungs, the water in their rivers, and the very dirt from which they drew their crops! What would happen to Arwintar without the good stewardship of Jircniv? Or Kami Miyako if you had a Philip in charge? Tell me the truth, Cardinal of the Theocracy!" Entoma's voice was less smug, and more 'sarcasm and certainty'

Berenice wanted to deny it, every fiber of her being cried out for her to deny! Deny! Deny! But she couldn't. Not knowing what she knew of the wider world, a peasant in a Theocracy village might have, but she could not. She recalled the excesses and indifference of Philip, the petty and short-sighted greed of the Re-Estize nobility, even, as she thought of it now... the Beastmen's desperate consumption of their neighboring kingdom made sense if they were so ruined. She lowered her head, and went silent.

Entoma took that as a concession and continued, "So when Lord Ainz found this world, he brought up something that his friends sometimes talked of. A world that they would love. A world that he would not allow to come to ruin, he calls it 'Project Utopia'."

"Utopia? What's a utopia?" Berenice asked, befuddled but intrigued, she leaned closer as if to hear the words sooner.

"It's from a dead language, the word means 'nowhere'. There was a story a lesser being wrote about an ideal world, one without war, poverty, or ruin. The irony, that the place didn't exist, was not lost on our master. So... he is going to create it here. That is why E-Rantel is the way it is, that is the future. Did you see poverty, sickness, cruelty?" Entoma asked as she laid out the impossible before a disbelieving Cardinal.

"No... But that doesn't mean there isn't any, I just didn't see it." Berenice pointed out, mentally preening as she pointed out the limited view she had been given.

"We could wander it all week and you'd only find a people on the rise. That is the world our master creates, he will create the world his dearest friends wanted the first world to be. He will not die, age, give into foolish and short sighted notions, he plans for thousands of years in advance, your finest rulers can plan for 'maybe' a few seasons by comparison." Entoma's tone was proud and even cocky, but she was also, clearly moved.

Berenice thought that over, but Entoma was not finished.

"Make no mistake, except for... a few of you, he doesn't love humanity, but... he does love his comrades, and us, the children of his comrades, and for that, he would reshape a million times a million worlds, to create a place where we, and they, could live, be happy, and be safe. It's for that reason, Cardinal of the Theocracy, that he will drag your world out of the muck the many races of this place have turned it into, and save it, and yourselves, from what you would otherwise do." Entoma's answer was accompanied by a smile of ecstatic bliss. "That is my guess anyway, from what little I've seen. Draw your own conclusions, I'm just a maid."

"But he kills humans by the tens of thousands... he let monsters crush Re-Estize, he's letting... ah... that woman, rampage with her army. That doesn't sound like someone with our best interests at heart, or the world's for that matter. I am... or was... a Cardinal remember. It might not be easy to get information out of the Beastman Kingdom, but we manage it. He decimated their numbers and destroyed their armies, how is that improving anything for anyone?" Berenice asked, but as she spoke, well her question began confidently, but as she went on, a sense of trepidation began to fill her, as if she'd walked into a verbal trap.

She was not wrong. The maid snatched a napkin from the table and wrote the number 'seventy thousand' twice, one next to the other. "Is one of these larger than the other?" Entoma asked rhetorically.

"No." Berenice replied, her lips turned slightly down and tightly pursed as she replied, her eyes focused on the napkin so she didn't have to look at the monster.

The maid then wrote a great many smaller numbers underneath one of them, which totalled up to seventy thousand. "Is it still the same even when it is reached through many smaller actions?" Entoma asked with a clever tone as she tapped the quill's tip over top of the number she'd just added up.

"Yes." Berenice replied reluctantly.

"Then seventy thousand at once is no different than seventy thousand over a period of years, if anything, his destruction is a better one, because it lays the groundwork for better to be built over it. The Beastman Kingdom was a ruin, it was why they invaded their human neighbors." When Entoma said that, Berenice briefly wondered if the maid could read her mind, given the thought she'd had only a moment earlier... but she dismissed the notion.

The maid hadn't noticed her brief distraction, and boasted proudly of her master's actions, "He's spent years lending the survivors of his invasion, the support they need in order to rebuild. When he's finished, it will be free of the want that destroyed them and almost destroyed their human neighbors. Would it have been better if they changed nothing and just grew the number of casualties slowly forever? Is it better to never solve a problem?" Entoma's argument was monstrous... befitting a monster, that much Berenice knew... but it was also coldly logical and completely right. The Cardinal felt a tingle up and down her spine as she struggled to find an answer.

"But... he is evil." She replied, feeling instantly childish as the words flew out of her mouth, and she blushed a deep red.

"So what?" Entoma asked indifferently as she set the quill down, "You're not? Raymond isn't? I haven't traveled as much as some of my sisters, but we trade stories, if there is a 'good' person in charge anywhere, I've not heard of them. My Lord repays good with good and evil with evil, and everything he does is for a greater purpose. It's why you're alive, because evil has its place in letting 'good' people thrive."

Berenice sucked in her cheeks in disapproval, but she could think of no ready answer, despite the urge to rebut the claim that she was evil, or that Raymond was evil, as she turned the matter over in her head, she immediately knew how she'd be rebutted, by simply asking how their victims would have seen their actions.

Entoma leaned back arrogantly in her chair, her point sharply made. 'A change of subject is in order, I think. This one is disturbing.' She thought to herself.

Berenice slumped, defeated. "Well, you're right, I don't like monsters, or other nonhuman races, I never thought we could all live together, so I chose to love my own and hate the rest. Seeing E-Rantel, I wonder if that was possible without your master... I'm not stupid, I'm not some blind ignorant peasant who can't admit when they're wrong, but this is a lot to take in. I don't know how much time I have to do so. Nonhumans have been killing humans for longer than my lifetime, it's a lot that your master is asking, for us to put all that aside and live in peace."

"Well, not really, the ones who can't or won't... will not be alive for much longer, no matter what they are." Entoma said thoughtfully, and it froze Berenice's heart to hear the casualness with which that simple sentence was spoken.

"Now, if you'll excuse me, I have marked a precious object of Nazarick, and I need to atone for my sin by washing it clean." Entoma smiled sweetly, then took up the napkin she'd written on and walked out of the room, leaving Berenice alone with her very uncomfortable thoughts.

 _...Village outside of Ikari..._

'Village life isn't easy anywhere.' If all the villagers of the world had one common belief, that was probably it. Vulnerable to enemies in war, preyed upon by their lords in peace, everybody knew it was a miserable, menial existence. So when Vespa found his village occupied by a group of demihumans working for their northern neighbor, he was inclined to just be glad they weren't eating him.

He puffed his cheeks and expelled the air in a sign of resignation, "What else can we do?" He asked the village headman. Grek was a wrinkled old fanatic and Vespa had never liked him. They both had thick, leathery skin from long hours in the fields, they both had gnarled hands and sharp brown eyes, at first glance, one would think them father and son.

But when Grek came to his home in the middle of the night three days after the occupation began and said, "We have to rise up, the gods will bring their wrath down on us for failing to resist the invader!"

Vespa groaned, hugged his wife, and shook his head, "If the gods despise the occupation so much, let them strike down the occupiers!" He snapped at the old fool. "We've got no weapons and we've got no training worth speaking of even if we had them. What should we fight back with?! Pitchforks and cow dung?!"

Grek's face turned red with anger, his cheeks blew up and his considerable temple boiled, "The gods will provide! We outnumber the occupiers, they left only fifty soldiers, there are two hundred of us!"

"Yeah, and fifty of those are too old to fight, and another fifty are too young, twenty are pregnant, and we've got no weapons and no armor, the hell can we do except die?!"

"Then we should die for the gods! We can't let a handful of elves, orcs, bafolk, and humans decide our fates! We have to show them we're not beaten!" Grek sputtered and spat the words, foam flecked at the corners of his wrinkled old mouth with every word.

Vespa wiped the spit from his face, his wife inched closer into his embrace, he looked over at her, fear danced in her eyes with the shaking of her pupils, their second child was only three months along, thus far nobody had humiliated or defiled her. The only edicts the human commander of the occupiers had enacted was to ban the export of food to the Theocracy's army, require that the village accept foreign currency... and he was glad enough to get coppers instead of steel, and they'd limited travel.

The village priest, while initially detained and questioned, was released on the condition that he incite no riots and refrain from preaching human superiority.

"If you want to die, go die on your own." Vespa said coldly, "I'm not throwing my family's lives into the fire, as long as they don't hurt anyone, all we have to do is wait, either the armies of the Theocracy will win and everything will go back to normal, or they will lose, and at least we didn't throw our lives away for nothing. Either way, get... out." Vespa's eyes narrowed, his brow furrowed, Grek sputtered some more, had they each been younger men, a brawl would have broken out. As it was, Grek left, giving one more ominous look to Vespa and his wife as he slammed the door behind himself.

"Husband... this can't end well." His wife whispered as she let herself slip into his embrace. They stayed that way well after the sun set and the candles burned to nothing, just holding each other in the darkness, waiting for the light of day and hoping tomorrow would be better. It never was, not for peasants.

But Vespa was... a little different than most, and when dawn came he went out to his fields with a notion forming in his head. A notion he carried out that evening, he slept early, and awoke several hours before the rest of his village, and went straight to the nearest of the guards. In this case, it was of all things, an elf.

He looked the elf over as he approached, he wore black scalemail armor with a red drop of blood painted on the center, his ears were intact, a rare sight in Theocracy territory, and he carried himself with confidence as well as ease. Like a man who knew he could handle whatever came at him.

"I need to talk to your commander." Vespa whispered, the elf had been briefly tense, his hand playing at the hilt of his blade as if to warn Vespa away, but at the words of the dirty peasant he knew himself to be, much to Vespa's relief, the elf listened.

A few minutes later he sat in front of a human being with an elf guard at his back, and told the commander everything Grek had said. At the end, the commander asked flatly, "Why are you telling me this?" Suspicion colored his voice and he leaned away, as if to distance himself from a deception.

"Because I have a pregnant wife, a child already, and I don't want us all to die because of one or two idiots, life is hard enough for a peasant without having to rebuild because an idiot neighbor set his own house on fire." Vespa answered sincerely.

"I was a peasant myself." The commander said quietly, "I get it, so here's what I'll offer you. Transport away from here if you and your family require it. Guaranteed security in the event of a riot, and at the end of the war, you can either relocate to a farm and have labor provided and five gold pieces to get established... and all you have to do is let us know if trouble is about to break out. As an extra measure, I'll even grant pardons to anyone you think can live peacefully after all this is over."

Vespa blinked, "Ah, wow, yes, yes to all of that."

"Sometimes things do get better for peasants." The commander said with a generous, lordly smile on his face that made it hard to believe they'd lived similar lives once.

When the riots broke out, because of Vespa, the guards had been ready, the Agante member that had incited it escaped, but when the village rose with short swords in their hands and liquid courage in their veins, the occupiers were ready. Vespa hid and watched as Grek, the priest, and many of his neighbors fell down, never to rise as the arrows of the occupiers flew like a storm of bees against unwary children. As he watched the faces of people he'd grown up with, twist in pain illuminated by torchlight, with arrows in throats, bellies, and eyes... or tumble back clutching at the stumps of missing hands or legs taken off at the knee, he wondered if he'd done the right thing. He'd wonder that for the rest of his life, but remained comforted by the fact that his wife lived and his children at least, grew up.

 _...Army of Queen Draudillon..._

The portal opened the day they started seeing human refugees from the villages, as well as scouts from the armies of both Queen Zesshi and General Baraja. Queen Draudillon, predictably, wanted information from both, and had one of each brought to her tent that morning.

She sat at the table with Generals Musan and Oma flanking her, and workers already packing up the goods surrounding them for transport. "What news do you have?" She asked as she held her fingers steepled together in front of her. Her back was straight and to the eyes of her subordinates, she appeared if anything, 'stiff'. A state not seen since their country was nearly lost.

The Elf Queen's scout spoke up first, "My Queen, you have gained a royal sister, for our lady of war, born of violence, has avenged her mother and now avenges all her people. She came to the Elf Kingdom and faced her father alone, she slew the monster, taking his manhood, his pride, and his life. She has won the loyalty of her people, and has spoken with His Majesty, the Sorcerer King. To him she yields, and for him she marches. We, her army, march with her, and have joined hands with the humans best loved of our race, to hale down the Slane Theocracy forever."

He bowed deeply after his flowery prose, and Queen Draudillon forced a regal expression to remain plastered onto her face. 'It seems that with the death of a king who could barely grunt out his urges, they're returning to their... flowery and formal manners... I guess that is good.' She thought, and looked to the elven scout's left where a tall, slender human stood patiently waiting.

"Queen of the Draconic Kingdom, my commander, General Baraja, was poised to seize control over Wheaton when I left, by now, she has probably done so, I was sent out only to search for ejected slaves or to capture Theocracy Civilians." The scout held his hands behind his back and his feet shoulder width apart, everything about his stance screamed 'soldier', his posture erect and his weapons clearly well maintained.

"If it is your desire, Majesty, we can guide you to what are probably now the 'remains' of Wheaton, and you may join with the three armies already present for the march on Kami Miyako. I'm sure General Baraja would be happy to take custody of any prisoners you've secured." The scout made his offer politely, though clearly, he did not expect refusal, given his clipped and expectant tone.

"Yes... that will be fine, why don't the both of you wait outside until it is time to go, it shouldn't be but another hour, and we'll be on our way." The Queen said hastily. As soon as the scouts exited the tent with courteous bows, the Draconic Queen turned to her generals each in turn and said firmly, "Under no circumstances are we turning over any prisoners to General Baraja, not unless His Majesty himself gives the order. Am I understood?"

The gravity of her order was lost on neither, but no sooner than she finished speaking, than the [Gate] opened, and a well dressed elf in bright colors of white and gold, bedecked with jewelry, with long golden hair done in a braid through which was woven a silver spiral, emerged. "Your quarters in Forton have been prepared for you, Your Majesty, and the conference awaits, you will have a day of leisure as the others gather and their quarters and servants are prepared, so please, come with me."

"Are you... a noble woman?" The Queen asked, entranced by the beautiful woman's luxurious manner of almost decadent dress.

"No... I'm a simple servant of the people, you can call me 'Aorli' if you like. Now if you please, there is much for you to learn before everything begins." She said in a kind, even 'shy' voice that didn't match the opulence of her dress.

The Queen stood and touched the older officer on his shoulder. "General Musan, you are in command while I'm away, lead the army to whatever remains of Wheaton, and I should be with you again before you reach Kami Miyako."

"As you command, my Queen." He said, then he and General Oma stood and bowed to her as she walked around the table and followed Aorli through the gate. They held the bow until she was gone, and went out of the tent together.

 _...Ruins of Wheaton..._

The room was a bloodstained wreck still. Skana looked around, they'd righted the chairs they needed around the table in the council chamber, and they'd had the bodies cleared out. But the governor's council chamber still reeked of death and had numerous burn marks and holes throughout, where some soldiers had stormed it and eliminated those in command who had sequestered themselves within in a foolish and failed attempt at hiding.

The tension ran hot in the room. Neia was not with them, she lay in a bed no longer needed by the former owner. CZ and the members of Blue Rose occupied what seats were still intact. Most of the rest were reduced to kindling, with the work of master craftsmen turned to splinters and fit only for the fire.

"We need to have a conversation." Gagaran said with her characteristic bluntness.

Skana nodded somberly. "I suppose we do." She said in a short, swift manner.

"I... we... want, and deserve some answers. Answers we didn't get last time. I've never felt like that before, and I want to know why I did." Gagaran folded her arms in front of her chest and kept her eyes glued to the smaller Vice Commander.

"For once, I agree with the muscle head. I'm an undead, I can't be dominated, but I heard... whispers, I guess, it was like a demoness whispering dark thoughts, encouraging rage and violence. I'm old, older than everyone here put together, and that's as close to a blood frenzy as I've come in centuries." Evileye added with concern etched on her childish face. She brushed some hair out of the way anxiously and began tapping her foot on the floor impatiently.

"They're right." Tia and Tina said in unison and also folded their arms over their chests and bobbed their heads in affirmative agreement.

Lakyus rubbed her temple and rested her forearm on the desk, "First... I should say I felt it, and heard the change, and so did my cursed sword, this wasn't domination, I can rule that out, but she pushed our emotional weak points, and I want to know if she did it on purpose."

Skana shook her head violently and shot to her feet, she slammed her palms down on the thick dark wooden table and said, "Absolutely not, she found a breaker school and went inside, after that..." She looked down, not meeting their eyes, "after that..."

"We don't have to explain to you why this is a problem, do we?" Gagaran grumbled. "I doubt there are three thousand people left alive in this city after that, fighting is one thing, but this was... I don't even have a word for it. Murder, maybe?"

Skana clenched her fists, her nails scraped over the wood, leaving gouges as they traced the path to her palms. "I... she's..."

"She's a threat. She almost killed Lakyus once before, she almost killed you once before. Whatever she's got going on, she doesn't have any real control over it, she's a monster." Gagaran snapped.

Had her one eye not been blurred by tears, Skana might have launched herself at the behemoth woman. As it was, Lakyus did the rebuking, "Gagaran! You're going too far!"

"I'd say the same as Lakyus." Zesshi added as she breezed through the door and leaned against a wall at the opposite end of the long table, she played idly with her scythe as she spoke. "Who gives a shit? She won, didn't she? This was a farming city, given a choice myself, I'd have left no survivors of the Slane Theocracy. Did you see how my elves fell on the people here? Why do you think that is? Because we're 'fighting' the real monsters."

"Maybe, listen... she went too far this time, she's been going farther and farther every time she's engaged again. I doubt her dream is for an empty world, but that is what we'll get if this keeps up." Evileye replied calmly. "I'm not one to shrink from death but... this musclehead is right, Neia is becoming a threat to herself and to those around her. What if next time instead of just urging people to kill, she does what she did at Prart, who knows how many of our own people might be injured or killed if she loses herself again?"

"What do you want me to do...?" Skana asked, reluctantly.

"Get your report together quickly, and request an audience with the Sorcerer King, tell him you think something is wrong with her, I'm sure he's not noticing simply because she's winning. He's not 'here' seeing all... this." Evileye said and pointing her finger up, she moved it in a circle as if to encompass everything around them.

"She's tired and stressed from everything, I mean... OK, yes, she's gone... overboard, but she's playing to the reputation she was given as much as to the one she earned. Lakyus, you said yourself, she's playing to terror, or something like that. Once everything is over, and we have peace again... she'll be the woman you remember in Kedyn!" Skana spoke with a kind of rapidfire desperation in her voice and looked around the room. Zesshi shrugged, and CZ simply sat and kept her thoughts to herself, but none of the members of Blue Rose would meet her eye.

They might not have been meeting her eyes, but it felt like she could read their thoughts. "Look, all I can tell you is that it's kind of... a growth, of what she did last time, I don't know why it's changing, but my guess is that it has something to do with her actions, whether it's fighting or speaking or what, I don't know, but I've seen her try to control it..."

"Ineffectively." Gagaran remarked in a huff.

"Less than effectively if she's... if she loses herself, after seeing the breaker facility..." Skana hit the table with her elbows and held her head in her hands as she tried to talk to them. "You don't understand! You don't! you can't!" She howled miserably.

Her head shot up and she glared at Gagaran, "How can you! How can you dare talk about her like that, like she's something to be put down or avoided! She fought with you, she came when you all called her, she trusts you people! How dare you raise even a whisper against her?!" Skana seethed with sudden rage, and would have shot to her feet had CZ's hand not fallen with seeming gentleness to her shoulder, but squeezed it covertly tight enough to hurt, and pressed down enough that Skana knew she couldn't rise.

Gagaran was not one to shrink away. "Not that I don't respect her work or her... capabilities, but if she could go this far..."

Lakyus gently put a hand on Gagaran's leg and shook her head. "Enough..." She said softly.

Skana forced herself to shift the subject. "I... I have to write this report, please tell the different sector officers to get their casualty estimates to me soon. I want it together before we give Neia a stamina potion and wake her up, it's better that she stays asleep for now. I'm sure she'll ask for everything as soon as she's able to work again... that's the kind of woman she is." Skana finished her statement with the implied rebuke of their criticisms and concerns, and they had the decency to at least accept that much, but mistrust was etched on Gagaran's face as if it were carved out of stone.

Zesshi twirled the head of her scythe over her head, "Well, she kills the people I want dead, far as I'm concerned, that's good enough to stay by her, if it isn't enough for you four, you might as well leave, Kami Miyako is coming up after this, and from what little I know of Neia, she wouldn't want you to stay with her if you don't trust her. Do whatever. Skana, I'll send my underlings to give their accounting, I'm shit with paperwork."

"That'll be fine, please, all of you... leave me alone." Skana said in an aching tone.

They stood slowly, uncomfortably, and left the room one by one, until there room was empty of any witnesses to see Skana rub her head as it began to ache.


	173. Wheatled Down to Nothing

God Rising: The Cult of Ainz

Written by: AtheistBasementDragon

Edited by: The Usual Gang of Drunken Perverted Idiots

Chapter 173: Wheatled Down to Nothing

 **AN: Yeah the fall of Wheaton was grim. But... actions have consequences, sometimes the worst of which, is living with them. Of course, reviews are welcome, the story release rate will drop starting tomorrow, but... no worries, there are only about 27 chapters left anyway, maybe even less. Then we move into 'The Synod' and I wrap that one up, as well as the others, and that will be the end of the God Rising Author Universe. I'll put an AN into place with notes for unwritten stories if anyone wants to take them up, but I'll be moving on to my own original works. Might do a one shot every now and then here, but I was thinking I'd try to write a Tanya fic, say a version of the North African campaign or something, we'll see, still kicking around ideas. Time will tell.**

 _...Ruins of Wheaton..._

Skana wrote in solitude after the meeting, having sent CZ to look after Neia, which she did from atop the tower. Outside, the bodies were being piled in heaps, there was no care for rank or station, the poorest pauper piled atop the fattest merchant, and nobody cared. Some of the citizens who lived could not even be properly 'herded' they walked in a daze, like zombies, in too great a shock even to cry.

Parents mumbled nonsensical sounds that were supposed to be words. Some wailed over bodies of lost loved ones. Some shook the dead as if doing so would wake them. Dirt and dust became a deep red brown mud thanks to the blood that stained faces. Burned out or blasted hulks of buildings were still falling down, and sometimes this added a few more to the casualty lists, as ruined minds lost the ability to understand danger, and died for their failure.

The largest city in the Southern region of the Slane Theocracy had its population reduced to the size of a small town. The dead far outnumbered the living. It remained to be seen how many had fled before the fighting began, but as she wrote word after word, Skana felt as if she were cutting into her wife's own flesh with her quill.

She broke eleven out of sheer uncontrolled anger of them as she wrote, before finally finishing with the twelfth one, it had taken two quills each just to write the concerns of Gagaran and Evileye. To put the word 'monster' or 'threat' near her wife's name ripped her guts apart from the inside, but she managed. It was far easier to deal with raw numbers.

Total casualty estimates were twenty five hundred of Neia's soldiers, similar numbers among the northern army brought by Zesshi Zetsumei, and another five thousand among the untrained and poorly armed local elves. In contrast, the Theocracy forces of twenty five thousand soldiers and seventeen thousand estimated militia were entirely exterminated. She looked down at the document, her eye honed in on those numbers. Fire consumed most of the districts, there were no prisoners, and nobody had acknowledged that anyone had even tried to surrender.

What troubled her most however, was that she couldn't remember anyone trying either. 'Are they lying... or... did they just not recognize when people were trying to give up?' She wondered, and no matter how she thought of it, she found no answers.

"A total victory..." Skana stood up and walked to the window and looked outside, her hands folded behind her back, she could hear the sound of soldiers fighting fires, the cries of the wounded and terrified surviving citizens; she thought about the stories bards sang in her village, when she still had a village. 'They never describe this, when they talk about victory.' She thought, she could smell blood, shit, piss, and festering wounds. The cries of the anguished and the wails of those who were mourning the loved ones they'd lost. "War... it's a terrible... terrible thing. Maybe there are times it must be waged, but whoever argues for it, had better think long and hard before saying it must be undertaken."

She put her hands on the bottom of the window and leaned out a bit, a few secured citizens trudged by under guard, one of them saw her, and his glare of hate pierced her soul. 'I should put him down... before he can rise up, that's what Neia would do... she showed me again and again that my mercy toward the Theocracy was dangerous... no, I can't. I'm not Neia, and the fact is, she 'would' do it... but she would not want 'me' to do it.' She cast off the thought almost as fast as it had come up, and watched a soldier with a halberd press it to the glaring man's shoulder and push him forward, back to wherever he was being taken.

As she looked out over the ruins of the once great metropolis, she found something quite unthought of, coming to her consciousness. As corpses were piled up for disposal, she discovered that she didn't give a damn. Bad as she could acknowledge it in all ways, there was only one concern. And she was asleep elsewhere. The traces of a thin smile began to take shape and she turned her eyes to the Northwest. Towards Kami Miyako. "One more push, and it'll end." She said longingly and stretched her hand out the window reaching out and grab the sun itself as it set in the direction of the city she hated, as if it dared to protect the cursed place, she closed her fist, wishing to crush the light in her fist.

Seething rage seeped between her teeth as she spoke through a clenched jaw. "Hear that, you sons of bitches... we're coming for you, and you're going to die, then I can finally have her back! I'll have her back even if I have to kill you all!" She ground her teeth in fury, until a knock on the other side of the door, echoed into the council chamber where she stewed.

"What?!" She asked sharply as she smacked her lips in impotent frustration.

The door opened, and Inta walked into the room. "Ma'am, Neia is awake. She's asking for you... and a stamina potion."

Skana couldn't move fast enough for her liking, she snatched up the document she'd compiled and stuffed it into the pouch at her side and rushed out of the room as fast as she could move. Through the governing hall, up the stairs, and to the upper floor where the late governor had slept. She flung the door open then back behind her so hard that the door slammed into the frame and cracks radiated outward from the impact points.

Neia was sitting up in bed; her scars were gone, all injuries vanished, but she didn't look like herself. Her eyes were heavy, her arms hung limp at her sides, the way she lay reminded Skana of the way her mother had looked after giving birth to her younger brother, an hour or two before both had passed away.

There wasn't a monster in the bed, just a very tired person. Skana rushed to her bedside and wrapped her arms around Neia at the neck and pulled her in. "God damn you... God damn you..." She whispered as she stroked her wife's head. "You have no idea how worried we were, I was."

She waited for Neia to say something, but the legendary speaker had no words in her, she just lay there and let her comrade hold her. "I'm so glad you're alright."

"Sorry..." Neia muttered without looking up. "I'm fine now, I just... I pushed myself too hard, I can't recall everything, it's kind of hazy, I just got so angry..."

"So did a lot of people." Skana said neutrally.

She felt Neia go tense and look up, she didn't look 'at all' like the terror of the Theocracy, or a monster, or a threat. She looked like what she really was, just a very young woman, tougher than most perhaps, more experienced in the worst ways, least experienced in the best ways. But it was a rare moment, one in which Skana was reminded that the one she'd admired for years now, was much younger than she seemed, barely twenty, or perhaps twenty one. 'Wait... I never even asked her birthday, with everything happening it... I guess it just slipped both our minds.' She realized with a half bitter laugh held in check until it came out as a cough.

"What happened? Let me see the report, bring me a stamina potion and let me get back to work!" Neia's voice started to become stronger, more urgent, Skana glanced down and Neia's eyelids were moving rapidly as she was returning to herself as the embodiment of her role.

"No, absolutely not." Skana replied, "You're not moving from this bed, even if His Majesty himself commands it, I will argue with him to keep you where you are!" Skana said emphatically.

"You can't argue with a god." Neia chortled and shook her head.

"You're damn right I can, and a spouse who wouldn't argue with a god for their beloved, doesn't deserve either of them." Skana said emphatically, "Besides, he'd listen if it came down to it, he's been good to us."

Neia sighed, "Well, I can at least read, give me the report that will be going up. I need to know that much at least. I'm not tired, I can manage that much, just get me a stamina potion to give me a boost."

Skana chuckled, "You're not fooling anyone, what you did clearly took a lot out of you, yes a stamina potion would get you back on your feet, but a little rest for your mind would be one good thing that a stamina potion can't replace. Just lie in bed for a bit, I've got this covered.

Neia lifted her noodle-like arms and wrapped them around her wife. "You know best." She took a deep breath and squeezed, Skana didn't notice that her wife had surreptitiously slipped the document out of the pouch and tucked it away.

"You just lie there, let me go get something prepared for you to eat, then you can get a hot bath and relax, I'll handle getting the soldiers ordered, everything will be ready for you, just recover a bit. I'll be back soon." Skana said with a crooked smile on her face, she stroked Neia's back, and pulled the covers up to ensure the Black Paladin was comfortable, then stepped away.

"Alright, you go ahead, I'll just... lie right here, maybe not because I want to, but I will." Neia said wryly.

Skana stepped away, stopping a few feet from the door, looking at the diminutive figure where she was, and Neia just kept looking back without saying a word. The moment broke, and Skana turned to the door, opened it, and exited.

As soon as the door closed, Neia pulled the document out to read it. "She worries so damned much... I'm fine. All I have to do is a little bit more, I guess a little nap wouldn't hurt, I did take a lot out of myself for that but... it's not like I'm 'really' tired. Just depleted." She said to the empty room, the walls gave silent agreement as she started to read. 'Probably shouldn't have slipped it from her, but she's just being silly and overprotective, I'll apologize to her later.' Neia thought to herself as she started to go over the list of recorded actions, casualties, and performance assessments.

The first sense that something was really wrong as she lay there reading were the casualty numbers. Neia bit her lip until it split, and didn't notice the blood dripping down her chin until it hit the paper.

"Fuck!" She snapped and wiped it away, then kept reading, ignoring the question of just where that blood had come from. "No... how...? How did so many..." The numbers of casualties for her side were minimal, but the casualties for the city, only seven soldiers of the Slane Theocracy survived. Out of the population... Neia felt the knot form in her stomach.

"How could this happen?" She blithely wondered as she tried to recall the events, and they began to return to mind. "No... did I...?" She flipped the document over to the assessment. "Monster... threat to herself and everyone else? Gagaran and Evileye said this..." The stamp at the bottom meant it was complete. But it was hard to believe until she had every moment of the battle back in her memory where it belonged.

Neia read through it over and over again as details of the fight came rushing back like rain returning to the earth from whence it came. When she was satisfied she'd missed nothing, she reached over to her own pack and pulled a message scroll out. She closed the document and requested a courier from Nazarick. Within minutes the report would be in His Majesty's hands, and after that, it would be in the hands of all the others. What happened after that, she knew she'd just have to live with, whatever it was.

That left only the question of what to say to the Vice Commander. 'Do I tell her I saw it? No... no there's no need, she'll just worry more, I'll just tell her she must have dropped it, and that I sent it along for her.' She quickly reached a conclusion that seemed the best option to her in the moment, and inched herself further down into the bed, and just vacantly stared up at the ceiling.

Skana was relieved. Neia was at rest, she would recover. The events of the battle ran through her head, she wondered what she should have done differently, and she was still wondering when she stopped at the area serving as a dining area for the building. One of the former elf slaves was working on some ingredients, whatever it was, it smelled fantastic. She could see him chopping up onions and various other vegetables, and going seamlessly from that to snatching up a handful of spices and sprinkling it all into a pot that would shortly be used to prepare all that as a stew. His implements neatly ordered, his rapid motions clearly spoke of long practice. His hands practically flew as if they had minds of their own.

"Excuse me, I need a bowl of stew and some bread prepared and sent up to General Baraja as soon as it can be managed. She's confined to her bed for a little while, and I'd rather she not have to get up. Can you handle it?" Skana asked pleasantly as she looked around the room. It was shockingly well organized, a definitive order to the placement of every kind of ingredient on hastily put together shelves made of broken wood and stacked up broken bricks. Crude conditions or not, the elf serving as a cook seemed to have done a bangup job getting his work area organized as fast as possible.

"For the general?" He asked, joy flooded his eyes, "She cut my chains with her own sword... for her... anything!"

Skana managed a little nod, "Good, she's in the late governor's bedroom, you can find your way there... yes? Or do you need a guide?" She asked.

"I can do it, it'll be no problem, ma'am." The elf said and his preparation speed began to move so quickly that she wondered as she left the room if there was a martial art used expressly by chefs.

"Next on the list, get that report sent out, and then check with the quartermaster, and..." She hesitated, as she'd been speaking, her hand had gone into her pouch, and found the document missing.

"No." She rummaged frantically through the pouch as she said the now hated term, papers and other small things rustled around as her fingers flew from one to the next and curses flew past her lips like bees from a distrubed nest. When she didn't find it, she retraced her path, stopping every person along the way to ask if they had found a sheet of paper, and every time she heard another 'no' or 'I'm afraid not', her heart constricted a little more in her chest until she came back to Neia's temporary quarters.

She opened the door, more gingerly this time, and found Neia quiet and where she'd left her. "Neia..." Skana asked as evenly as she could when the door slid open enough to admit her, "Did you... by chance, find a sheet of paper, after I left earlier?"

Neia didn't sit up, she lay with her arms spread out as if the ceiling were going to come down and embrace her, but she did answer. She called on the power of her persuasive voice and said as cheerfully as she could, "Oh, that? Yes, I did, I saw the heading and sent it on to Nazarick. Wasn't it finished?" She asked patiently, now putting a little concern into her voice to disguise where her thoughts really lay.

"Oh, yes, not to worry, you didn't send over an unfinished one, but... you know, we can't have those just floating around, I'll have to be more careful next time!" Skana said hurriedly as her mind raced.

"Not to worry then, I found it, and sent it on. His Majesty should have it now." Neia answered as if to put her wife at ease.

It was effective enough that she could feel, even without seeing it, that the tension left Skana's body. 'Oh my love... you're so... naive, innocent even, in some ways.' Neia thought, as the one eyed Vice Commander seemed to have concluded what Neia wanted her to.

"So... stamina potion, food, or wine, bring me one of those or better yet, all of those, or at least something to read. I'm bored. I can't just lie here like the dead." She said with just a little snark in her voice and a smirk to match. She flopped her arms dramatically and just 'didn't move', she just stared up at her wife looking desperately, desperately bored.

"Well, I ordered food, I'll see to some wine and something to read, I'm sure His Majesty will be pleased that the city has been captured, and we'll get a day of rest before you have to go to the assembly. So for now, just do nothing, let me do everything." Skana took Neia's hand in hers, "Just like out there, I'll watch your back, lots of people in this world, they'll try to get you from behind, but they won't, not if I can help it, not as long as I'm alive."

"That makes me feel better." Neia said and she let her eyes close part way, as they did, Skana felt herself get lost within them, to her... they were beautiful deep pools into which she wished to dive, so different than the face she saw turn around in the Breaker Academy.

'It's like she's another person...' Skana thought to herself, and sat on the bed beside her wife, deciding to stay awhile longer, the Quartermaster could wait, this was more important, at least to her.

 _...Forton..._

"Welcome to my home." Aorli said with a deep bow to Queen Draudillon.

The Queen looked around the room as soon as she stepped through it, "Oh my god..."

Aorli smiled sweetly. "You approve, Your Majesty?"

"What is this place?" The Queen asked with her mouth agape even as she tried to retain her royal bearing.

"This is the council building and my primary residence. I have been afforded this after a locke count chose me for the position of city governor." Aorli said sweetly as she retained her bow.

"Please, raise your head," the Queen began as she remembered her manners and continued to look around her, the stone was countless swirling patterns of black and white stone, in the center of the room, up on the ceiling, was the emblem of Ainz Ooal Gown, while down on the center, etched into the stone in a glowing red, were the names of the vassal kingdoms.

As she saw the Queen's eyes take it all in, Aorli pointed above, "The high king above," she let her hand fall to the list, "all else below, as it should be, when there is a true king worthy of such a place."

"Forgive me, but... I don't know you?" The Queen said with some embarrassment.

"You wouldn't, I expect, please follow me to your quarters. Until some time ago, I was nothing. A few people changed that." She walked gracefully away and the Queen fell into step beside her. "I was a... resident, of Kami Miyako." Aorli explained in a hushed voice, the tension of the muscles on her pronounced, sharp elven features, was impossible for the Queen to miss.

Draudillon didn't say anything. "Yes, that is the appropriate response, Your Majesty." They walked down the long hall, and she continued, "I was rescued by His Majesty during a failed Theocracy plot to manipulate the Re-Estize Kingdom, you might have heard that much, but I doubt my name came up as one you'd remember. But... I would wager you know my half-sister, Queen Zesshi Zetsumei. That was where we encountered one another, I'm part of why she abandoned the Theocracy to join with the god of the elves."

"God of the elves?" Queen Draudillon asked doubtfully, looking away at the intricate art hanging on polished stone walls, all of it depicted nature scenes, fitting for an elf region. "And... what is 'counting lockes?" She probed further.

Aorli looked apologetic, blushing a little as she used expressions that were clearly alien. "Oh, I'm sorry, I should explain. Most of the elves in Forton, and the other two cities, we worship the Sorcerer King as god of the elves. Unlike Neia Baraja, who has become something of a patron saint for us, we don't worship him in one single aspect, but as the entirety of what matters most, the savior of our race. Some focus on a single aspect or value for themselves, but for most of us, he is worshipped not for the shining example of his character traits, but for the thing he did which gave us back our souls. Saving us from our bondage."

"I guess that makes sense." The Queen replied in an understanding tone.

"As for counting lockes, it's how we choose public officials, none of the elven nobility made it here, so to choose leaders, every elf grows one finger length of hair extra beyond the rest and, when it comes time to choose a leader, they go to the collection station, cut that locke off, bind it in cloth the color of their favored candidate, and then the bands are counted. Frankly I think I won only because I was personally freed by His Majesty, and my half sister was a General in his army at the time." Aorli looked a little embarrassed at the admission of why the position had come to her, but her face tightened up and she pursed her lips.

"I am determined to do a good job hough! His Majesty gave me undead labor, advisors, access to his library, and supplies to let us all rebuild. The reason why I have 'this' and what I wear..." she spun briefly to encompass the luxury and then touched the fabric of her marvelous clothing, "is because I think I touched a nerve with him in a brief conversation. I... talked about the way I lived before, the misery, the filth, the drabness, I guess it reminded him of something else, because the next thing I know... all this was made for my use. I guess it might also be his way of saying, 'Now you have a lot to earn.' If so, I'll live up to it, that is for sure." Aorli said with vigor and determination as she stopped in front of a door. "But I'm rambling, sorry to go on over that simple question." She became visibly shy for a moment, but Draudillon gave a regal smile in return.

"It's alright, you'll learn how to control that over time, it really is interesting though, such a fascinating way to govern, and, if it isn't too hard to speak of, I'd love to hear your story some time." The Queen replied.

Aorli gestured into the room, it was carpeted wall to wall, had a large four poster bed with a thick quilt with the emblem of her country over the top of it, a mirror, a small private workstation, and a table with tea hot and waiting for consumption. "Thank you, Your Majesty, this is your room, some of the other delegates are already here, they've been trickling in as we've prepared quarters and their tasks have reached points at which they can be done without. All relevant reports on the latest actions will be delivered to you shortly, then if you'd like, you can join the other delegates and I in the dining hall tonight, the rest of them should arrive tomorrow, and we can begin."

"I look forward to it." Queen Draudillon replied kindly as she entered.

"As do I, an official servant has been assigned to you, and will join you soon. Please don't hesitate to ask for anything you need or want." Aorli added, and then as the Queen entered, Aorli bowed, and held the bow until the door was shut.


	174. Off Guard

God Rising: The Cult of Ainz

Written by: AtheistBasementDragon

Edited by: The Usual Gang of Drunken Perverted Idiots

Chapter 174: Off Guard

 **AN: Well, we're getting there, I'm having to slow down thanks to training for my new job, but... step by step. :) Enjoy a double release today, also, 'Scales of Trust' Chapter 1 has been made publicly available on patr30n dot com /telling stories. That, if you don't recall, is my original work. You think I world build a lot with Overlord? No, not by comparison to my ambitions for this one, which has a unique magic system, a growing fully functional language, and an already rich cast of characters just waiting to entertain you.**

...Crossroads...

Lupusregina hadn't had that much fun in her entire life. 'I don't know which way is better... doing it in wolf form or as a human... it's all so... fun!' She giggled gleefully as she crouched over the rioter. She gave him a big toothy grin, the sort she gave to friends, and then it turned savage and her teeth became sharp and vicious. He had a moment of fear before the pain hit as her hand tore open his stomach; she yanked his intestines out and tied them to the tail of a horse, and his screams of pain did not keep back the understanding of what she was doing. She held her hand up behind the rump for just a moment, long enough for him to shake his head in a desperate plea, and then she slapped the rump and the horse ran towards the area still controlled by the insurgents.

As the horse dragged the screaming man by the intestines that threatened to be pulled and ripped apart, she shuddered in climax at the fading wail that brought cries of horror from down the street. The note she'd carved on his chest telling them to surrender would probably be sufficient to quell that group. But Crossroads was large. She bounded from where she was up to a nearby rooftop, then from there to a higher one, and looked around.

The city still smelled like death, and would for awhile. 'I wonder how many times these toys will get me off? I wish I could just let them keep going...' She thought to herself with regretful look as defeated faces came out from behind a barricade with eyes downcast, they flung their weapons down, and another block could be called secure. The human warriors Enri had left behind came out and took possession of both the weapons and the prisoners.

Lupusregina looked east, to where Enri no doubt was, and stuck her tongue out, "I'll tell you all about this when you get back, -su. In the meantime, I'll go find new playthings!"

Eire hid. Day after day she'd been doing that. It was moments like this that she missed the man she'd betrayed, his warmth, his burly frame, he'd made her feel 'safe'. The straw she was hiding under stank; a horse probably pissed nearby. She poked her head out and listened carefully.

The sound of stomping feet, shouts of pain, and thudding of bodies falling flat kept her cringing where she was. The stench of blood and other less pleasant substances made the stale air in the stable worse. She whimpered in terror and prayed to the gods she was rapidly losing faith in, that she could keep her noises confined to that much. Her body was tense, and every muscle wanted to get up and run.

But she didn't bolt. She thought back to her childhood, the way the dogs her father owned would frighten birds to take wing, and as they ascended to the sky, they exposed themselves to her father's bow, and down they went. 'I will not die as a little bird...' She thought on a loop, 'I will live... I will live...'

She was still murmuring the same thought when the death screams rose to a crescendo, pressed from dying lips to the laughter of a monster. How quickly the screams faded would stay with Eire forever, not because most of them ended quickly, but rather because most of them ended slowly; the death screams were followed by screams of pain, whatever was happening, was hurting.

She forced her eyes to open, and lifted up a few blades of straw to give herself a blurry view of the ground, she saw fine boots tread the boards, and then part of a leg as the woman went down to her knees, straddling what was left of a rebel. She could see fingers ripping flesh away and casting it aside, and the woman lowered her face over the dying, looking into his widened eyes before she covered them with her thumbs, and pushed the digits through, piercing his eyes at the pupils, and then stilling his kicking, flailing form forever when she pierced his brain.

Eire saw the face, she knew who it was, General Enri's aide and bodyguard, the flaming red hair and matchless beauty were unmistakable. She giggled and looked at the pile of straw. "I know you're there -su. Want to play hide and seek -su?"

Eire stopped breathing, she didn't move, the feet moved around after the woman stood up. 'Gods... please... please have her be lying, please protect me... please...' She prayed silently.

"Have it your way -su." Lupusregina said with a sadistic giggle. A few steps later, she thrust her hand into the straw, scooped her up by the throat and held her aloft in the air.

"Thought it might be you -su." Lupusregina giggled out, "I recognized your smell– and your fear. I never forget the scent of prey -su." Her golden eyes made Eire just whimper further as she flailed, kicked, and grabbed hopelessly at the fingers holding her tight at the neck. The pain was tremendous, and she felt herself gasping for air, her desperate heaving for breath was only growing more futile than hiding had been.

"So, you a rebel -su?" Lupusregina asked indifferently.

Eire's eyes bugged out of her head, she tried to gurgle a 'no' but she couldn't make the word come out, so she frantically tried to shake her head.

"No, huh? Well, you're not on our side... I should probably kill you, but... I am curious about something. You satisfy my curiosity, I might let you live, deal?" Lupusregina suggested, but she squeezed her fingers just a little more tightly.

Eire felt her hands fall away, there was no strength left, she tried to say 'yes' but it came out as a gurgle, and the tightness at her neck prevented even a nod.

"Blink once for yes -su." Lupusregina said sweetly, unwilling to grant a breath for an answer. Eire blinked, and Lupusregina dropped her unceremoniously to the floor.

Eire felt the splinters of the coarse wood penetrate her skin, and the hard landing hurt like hell, but she couldn't cry out because she fell to coughing and holding her throat tenderly, stained by the viscera and blood from Lupusregina's hand, an ugly bruise was sure to be there after that.

"Now, what was it you were all weepy about before? When General Enri and you met?" Lupusregina asked with a twisted smile on her face, her hands rubbed together eagerly, anticipating a story of desperation and fear.

With no other options, her mind racing too fast to even lie effectively, she told the truth. How she met Petyr when he came to the bar, their love making, the days they spent, his final words, her betrayal, it all came out. She didn't make eye contact with Lupusregina even for a moment.

When she was done, to her surprise, Lupusregina started laughing, not lightly, it was a full blown belly laughter where the blood soaked woman had to wipe the tears from her eyes to keep her vision intact.

Gobsmacked, Eire just lay there, propping her body up on her hands as she stared at the feet of the red headed beast of the general.

"Oh, I'm letting you live." Lupusregina replied with a grin, "I'm even going to let you go, this is too perfect -su!"

Eire snapped her head up to look at her in disbelief. "What...?"

Lupusregina put a fingernail beneath Eire's chin and forced her head to stay up as she raked over the woman with her golden eyes. She moved her face close to Eire's, and took a deep, long sniff, Eire blushed but didn't dare to move away.

"You heard me, this is too perfect, yes, you can go, you can live, I won't hurt you, you're going to be living with 'that' the rest of your life, in your condition? Marvelous! Fantastic! Wonderful! I could never torture you as well as you're going to torture yourself, why would I kill you? Nope, go, live, hide away little bird, until this is all over. Then go, spend your traitor's silvers in gilding your self-made prison, maybe your silent gods will come and give you comfort, if you pray enough." Lupusregina stepped away, and then flipped her hand dismissively in another direction, casting her fingers out to a street that was empty but for the many dead. "Go, run -su." She laughed in sadistic amusement, and fearful of displeasing the monstrous woman, Eire scurried away as fast as her legs would carry her, she heard screams not far away, and the laughter of the monster woman as she brought those screams into the world.

'Won't be long now, another couple of days at most and the entire surrounding area should be put down, ah well, at least I get to play till then.' Lupusregina thought to herself, and followed her nose to the next largest group of prey she could find, ignoring the sounds of fighting between ordinary soldiers as she went, licking her lips in anticipation.

...Draconic Kingdom Army's Camp...

General Musan looked up at the head on the spike that they kept at the head of the column. He was uncomfortable, it was probably the grimmest thing he'd seen the Queen do, impressive, in a barbaric sort of way. He didn't much care for it though. 'Royalty, always with the displays, but what can you do?' He thought, and shrugged the thought off as things settled down behind him.

"Something on your mind?" General Oma asked as she walked over to where he was standing. He looked over to her and shook his head. Some distant elven heritage kept her looking younger than her years, but even so it was rare for a woman, let alone one her age, to achieve the rank she had. It spoke to her talent and drive, it made him feel at ease to hand leadership of the military over to her after the war.

"Nothing significant, really just looking forward to the end of all this. I realize I look like a man in his twenties, but this campaign has left me feeling my age. I'll be glad to retire when it's done." He gave a humorous grin to her when he said that, and she couldn't restrain a laugh of her own.

"Yes, you're very much a spring chicken, if that spring was a hundred years ago." She winked, he shared the laugh at her exaggerated mockery of his age.

"Very funny, but no, really nothing significant on my mind, which is probably negligent on my part; I should be thinking more about what will happen after we link up with General Baraja and General Zetsumei. Or should I say 'Queen' now? Nothing like this has ever happened before as far as I know." General Musan said with his lips shut tight as the last word exited his mouth.

General Oma shifted on her feet, noticeably uncomfortable. "Oh yes, chain of command issues? Two Queens and a Pope, and the ranks of all those armies have followers of the Pope's religion? Oh, and to make things even better, the Pope has a reputation for extreme violence? Yes, that will be uncomfortable, but if it makes you feel better, they'll probably solve that at the gathering our Queen is attending."

"I hope so, we'll be linking up with those three armies soon so... I'd rather not have the last march beset by chaos." General Musan replied as he walked away from the 'reminder' of their purpose, that sat staring blankly toward Kami Miyako on a spike.

General Oma walked with him, "True, but I wouldn't worry about it, things will work out, they won't fail us. In a few months, we'll be back home celebrating your retirement, and within a few weeks you'll be sitting by a lake somewhere, casting a line into it and waiting for a fish to bite."

The ground crunched under their feet, a pale layer of white powder left a mark with every step, the steam of their breath in the cold seemed to give life to their comradely exchange, and as he reached his tent, General Musan gave her one last look, "You're right, of course. I shouldn't worry so much. Have a good night's rest, see you tomorrow." He said and went in as she bade him a good night herself.

He slept easily, the darkness of the tent was comfortable, but long experience had him sleep with one eye open, which is why both flashed open when an unexpected sound hit his ear, that of fabric being cut. 'I shouldn't be able to hear that... it should be farther away, which means they're cutting the fabric of 'my' tent. If they're cutting the fabric of 'my' tent, then they must have magic weapons, since the fabric of command tents are always enchanted. That can't mean friendlies, great, assassins, just what I need. For fuck's sake, 'time' will take care of me well enough.' He kept the gallows humor in his head along with the laughter it brought, and reached under his cot for his sword.

He let the cutting go on until he made out the shadowy figure sneaking part way in. That was when General Musan lunged forward with his blade, when the intruder was most vulnerable. He couldn't see the expression of surprise on the intruder's face, but he was sure it was there.

The sword pierced the intruder's face and came out the back of his skull, the body dropped, lifelessly, and General Musan gave the corpse a firm kick to send the body back and free up the sword. "Intruders!" He shouted, "Guards! Guards!" The shout was taken up from somewhere, and the cry went out and the camp began to stir to life.

As the body tumbled back and the cry went up, the friends of the intruder did not stay idle, they abandoned all pretense of subtlety and slashed the fabric of the tent to get at their target as fast as they could. "Stubborn bastards!" General Musan shouted and took up a shield, without armor, he was vulnerable, but all he needed was a little time. He killed another the same as the first, but the remaining few managed to get the gaps in the fabric large enough that they could burst into his quarters. There were five of them, wearing black cloaks and each bearing two long knives of high quality.

"You want my life?! Come on then!" General Musan snarled, and to their surprise, he took the attack to them, bashing with his shield and making wide slashes with his sword to keep the younger and more agile attackers at bay. They cursed and tried to get around him, they were on the clock and they knew it, already the sound of the alarm was bringing more to the scene. After three such successful slashes kept them moving away, a single uniform frustration seemed to overtake the last four, and they rushed him, heedless of the certainty that at least one of them would die.

Seeing their resolve, General Musan ignored his pounding heart and their pounding feet. With what he was sure was the last warcry of his life, he brought his sword back and with his shield up, brought the blade around to take one more head.

It was at that moment that help arrived, guards poured into the tent and went straight for the remainder, tackling them wildly as two more grabbed the General and pulled him back, staggering him to the cold, frozen ground with the force of their efforts. He landed with a thud, straight down to his ass, stopping some of the painful impact by letting his hands catch the fall behind himself. It gave him the perfect view of the hate filled faces of the black clad assassins that were tackled to the ground and still struggled to kill, before a series of stab wounds to their necks and heads took the hatred out of their eyes and replaced it with the glassy look of the dead.

"General Oma! Check her!" He shouted as he struggled to rise, and was assisted by his own men. "And check these bastards, I want to know whatever we can about them!" He said forcefully as he got the ground under him again and pointed to the scattered corpses.

His instant adoption of a command posture and order prompted his soldiers to act, he made a mental note to find out the names of those who responded first, and honor them properly. "Where are the guards who should have been outside my tent?" He asked with a sudden concern and a sense of dread.

One of his rescuers bowed his head and shook it unhappily. "Gone, sir."

"Dead?" General Musan asked with a regretful voice as he started to catch his breath from his earlier exertion.

"No, just 'gone'." The soldier replied, "No indication that they were there at all."

He paled. "Find them! Alive or dead, it doesn't matter! But find them!" He cleaned his sword off on the black cloak of a corpse and sheathed it, then started to pace with one hand on his forehead. "I can guess who these were, at least by organization if not by name." He kicked one of the dead faces with distaste.

As he tried to work out all of what had taken place, soldier came back in who had gone to call for General Oma. "Well?" General Musan asked expectantly.

"Sir, I checked her tent, she is missing, but there is a copious amount of blood left behind. Too much for her to... to have survived." He said with a raw expression of loss on his face. His lip quivered his voice was rougher than it had been before.

'One of her soldiers, at a guess.' General Musan thought to himself.

He went on, "She must have been murdered in her sleep. The guards outside her tent say they saw nothing and heard nothing." He rendered a brief salute to signal that he had finished his report, and then asked through a tight jaw, "What should be done, Sir?"

Fury formed on General Musan's face, his jaw clenched and his brow furrowed, a red vein on his forehead began to throb. "Arrest the ones responsible for securing her, either they're inexcusably incompetent or they were bribed, either way, we can't keep them with us and we can't let them leave to have possibly profited from this. Have them hanged before sunrise." He paused for a moment, taking a breath before continuing.

"Go, leave me for now, station a few outside in case of a second attempt, but take these bodies, and after you've searched the area, question the guards outside the camp, I want to know how these men got in without being detected! Go! I... I have to report this to the Queen. I want to find her body, we'll need it if we want to resurrect her... but there is more to it than that." His face showed for a moment, the aching sense of loss that death innately brings to survivors, with the softening of his cheeks and a single bite to his lip to keep his grief at bay.

Then his face twisted with greater wrath as the reality of it all hit him, his eyes turned to steel and looked unblinking at the soldiers who attended him. "Those bastards think they can stop us by striking down one of our own?! No! We'll do a forced march all the way to whatever still stands of Wheaton, we'll show them that their underhanded tactics will only drive us to fight harder!" He growled out every word at first, his voice growing louder and louder, until he shouted at the end and slammed his meaty, wrinkled fist down on a table and accidentally broke it.

"Yes, SIR!" They shouted in response, and went to carry out his orders as he went to sit at what remained of his table and write to Her Majesty Draudillon. As he focused himself on composing the missive, and the soldiers left him alone, the muscles of his face tensed, he would easily and quickly compose the report. But it would be some time and only with great difficulty that he composed himself. He reached behind him to gather a handkerchief, he would need it to catch the tears even now welling up and blurring his vision.


	175. Truth and Consequences

God Rising: The Cult of Ainz

Written by: AtheistBasementDragon

Edited by: The Usual Gang of Drunken Perverted Idiots

Chapter 175: Truth and Consequences

 **AN: Well here we go, double release day, don't forget to check out my patr30n for original work at /tellingstories. At 3-5,000 $1 supporters I can write full time. Also, the newest Yutoob audio reading will be done and published tonight. And of course, if you want to see this series illustrated I've found an artist who I think is roughly on par with So Bin in terms of quality (though different in their own right), who is cutting me a deal on the illustration work. Suffice it to say, I'm excited... anyway if you want to see that happen faster, you can support the project patr30n at /godrising. (All funds from this go to the artist, I don't take any).**

 _...Ruins of Wheaton..._

Skana sat at the edge of the bed beside her wife, she stroked her arm gently, the worst of the scars were gone, but it was clearly not a restful sleep. Thrashing, limbs flopping uselessly as if fending off an unbeatable enemy. Sweat, it poured out of her flesh and soaked the expensive sheets. Tension. There was no restfulness to her body, it was taut as a drawn bow. Distress. Her little cries were childlike and even at her weakest and most vulnerable moment, she had never looked so helpless and small to Skana's one good eye. Fear. She reeked of it the way she had reeked of blood, the fearless monster, on finding her wife's arm extended, clutched to it like the drowning to a lifeline, only then, as Skana inched herself onto the bed, and drew her wife's head up to her breast so that her ear rested over Skana's heart, did any semblance of stillness come to her frenzied form.

"No wonder you're not sleeping..." Skana whispered softly enough that she didn't wake the blonde woman up.

She wrapped her arms around her and lay with her back against the bed and Neia held tight and secure as one nightmare seemed to fade, and another began, still, the auburn haired veteran did not move, she held her place with no motion but to caress, until her grip was suddenly broken by Neia herself, snapping to wakefulness, and finding herself in the unexpected state, twisted her body and shot her hand out like an arrow loosed, and grabbed Skana's throat.

It was such a sudden and forceful motion that it caught them both off guard; Skana's eye shot open, and so did Neia's, but where Skana was shocked, Neia's eyes were full of horror. When she realized what she'd done, she instantly pulled her hand away and looked down at it in distress.

"I'm... I'm sorry, I don't know what just happened, it was... it was just a dream and then I woke and... I'm sorry, I'm sorry... I'm sorry," the words stumbled out until Skana pressed a kiss to her wife's lips to silence the pleas for forgiveness.

"It's alright, it was an accident, everything is fine, you didn't hurt me, you'd never hurt me, and I'm tougher than that anyway, give me some credit. You didn't make me your Vice Commander because I slept with my boss." She soothed Neia when the kiss broke. Skana gave her a winning smile, charming even, with wide upturned corners that she hoped set her wife at ease. And the joke made Neia giggle playfully and wipe away the distress that was pooling in her eyes, before it could truly begin to be expressed.

"You're the best." Neia said and stretched herself out, wide awake whether she wanted to be or not, and Skana eased herself out of bed and stood up.

"That however, 'is' why you married me." She winked with a cocky grin and Neia's laugh deepened.

"Well, it wasn't for your humility, but jokes aside, I do need to..." Neia stopped in mid sentence and looked behind where Skana stood.

Skana in turn, looked behind her, and the black vortex that represented a gate, finished opening. Through it, stepped Tuare, she looked her usual self, sweet, childlike and shy, bright blue eyes and long blonde hair cascading down the back of her maid outfit. She was in a word, CZ approved 'cute'. She curtseyed to the couple and with her eyes still down to the floor she said formally, "General Neia Baraja, per the orders of His Majesty, you are to proceed through this gate to Forton, there you will be a party to the third assembly and present your vision of the faith's future to all delegates, those who will rule, and those foreign bodies that have chosen to send a representative."

Neia grinned from ear to ear, but Skana saw a brief tension in her body at the instruction.

"Skana, you handle things here, you're in charge, I've got to go, His Majesty calls!" Neia said and fairly flung herself out of the bed and ran past her wife, past the dismayed Tuare who had clearly not expected such a rapid response, and through the [Gate] before her wife could object.

"Damn it." Skana said and reaching a hand up to her face, she clenched her fingers above her jaw and drew them down in frustration.

"Did... I just see the Pope run past me to see His Majesty in her night clothes?" Tuare asked with her mouth opening and closing as if there were more to ask, but she couldn't think of what else it was.

"Yes... Yes you did, and I'd appreciate you keeping this between us." Skana replied in a delicate voice as she rolled her eyes.

"I... was going to help her dress for the occasion..." Tuare said uncomfortably, her bright eyes turned down to the floor, she obviously restrained herself from shuffling her feet in front of the high ranking woman in front of her.

Skana could only let out a heavy breath of annoyance, "Think nothing of it, she's... just herself. Waiting has never been much part of her nature..." she looked away out the window and added in a whisper only she could hear, "...not even in the best of times."

She turned back to Tuare and clapped her hands together, "But don't worry about it, follow her through the gate and just assist her on the other side, I assume she has quarters prepared for her and suitable clothing for however long this will last?" Skana asked.

"Well, yes, My Lady, she does. However... this gate led to His Majesty's private office where he and Lady Albedo await her coming." Tuare said with a beet red face.

Skana first felt horror creep over her, but then as she thought on it further, the stories Neia told her, she started to laugh so hard that she could not keep from crying as she sat herself back down on the bed and held her stomach while the laughter just kept coming. All Tuare could do was look back and forth from where Neia was, to where she'd run. "But… but… but…" She said on a loop until Skana finally stopped laughing enough to just point to the waiting gate.

"Just go, containing her is like trying to contain the wind, no matter what you do, it just keeps blowing." Skana said as she put her hands on her hips and shook her head with an affectionate smile, leaving a hesitant Tuare to simply do as she said, and follow Neia out of the room and through the gate.

 _...Forton...Ainz's Office..._

'I have to get away from her, I have to, I can't be around her now, not after I did that... oh god, what did I do... what did I do, I grabbed her by the throat, how could I have... well, it was an accident, just a response when I... but she just 'touched' me, I can't do that? I'm the General of the Army, how can I just excuse that? I can't, I have to take responsibility for it... but how do I do that?' Her mind was awhirl with thoughts like that as Neia rushed out of the bed and through the gate without thinking, what had just happened with Skana bit like a stray dog on exposed muscle. She was sure she stank of sweat, she had to, as she could smell herself. How her wife had tolerated holding her as Neia's body had done that... 'I swear, she's a saint, better than I could possibly deserve.' She thought wryly, until she realized the other implication of what she was thinking.

Which hit just as she arrived at the other side of the gate and found herself looking at an open mouthed and dumbfounded Ainz along with the smoldering eyes of Lady Albedo who was clearly not sure if she should be outraged or not.

Neia looked down at herself as she went to one knee and realized she was still in her night clothes, pale white and soaked with sweat, it clung to her form in the most embarrassing way.

With nothing to be done about it, Neia just kept her gaze down as she blushed, and whispered, "Pope Neia Baraja, reporting per the orders of her god."

"Neia..." Ainz asked gently. "Why are you... ah, you know that can be seen through as it is..." He looked away uncomfortably.

"I... I was in a hurry, the gate opened, I didn't think..." Neia stumbled over her words and kept biting at her lips between every one of them.

She heard footsteps behind her, small ones, tentative ones. Tuare spoke in her shy voice from just behind Neia's shoulder. "Sire, I take responsibility for this, I made the intent of coming here clear, but did not get out fast enough that I was there to see that she was bathed and changed into proper clothing for the occasion first."

"I must also be held to fault, I didn't let her finish, I only reacted, it was foolish of me." Neia interjected.

"Lord Ainz... if you wished such a thing, you need only ask it of me... you know I am..." Albedo started to say, only to close her mouth when Ainz raised a skeletal hand to stop her before yet another inevitable clash between an over-excited Albedo and his nervously watching Eight Edged Assassins might occur.

"Enough, it's a trivial thing, unworthy of concern, though... it might be an amusing story later, for now... have a gate opened to her quarters here and let her be prepared there. I am just glad we didn't gate her into the conference room. I will speak with you later, Neia." Ainz said in as noble a voice as he could, though he could not help but feel he was a little 'stiff' due to his discomfort.

"Yes, yes of course, Your Majesty." Neia said hastily and stood up as soon as the [Gate] opened, she rushed through it, followed closely by the human maid.

Neia sat soaking in the bath, leaning forward with her arms crossed over her chest while Tuare scrubbed her back. The rough bristles felt good on her skin, but it made her miss Skana very much.

"Am I being too rough, My Lady?" Tuare asked anxiously.

Neia gave her head a small shake, "No, you're doing fine. And... just call me Neia, there's no need to be so anxious."

Tuare was quiet and Neia did not probe further, she simply sat in the hot water and let the girl do her work. It was relaxing at least, the bathroom was shockingly ornate, stone floors and marble counters; the design seemed ripped from Nazarick itself; a large stone bathtub of onyx and red stones polished smoother than the finest grain of paper had been easy to slip into. Near at hand was a rack with thick, black fabric towels that seemed chosen to match the theme of the room, which itself matched the bathtub in which she sat.

It was an unusual degree of luxury, that much Neia was sure of. But rather than question it, she chose to relax herself into it for the present, questions could wait when comfort was present. Tuare's little hand took Neia's left arm at the wrist and lifted it up. She fumbled a moment with the hand holding the brush and dropped it into the water. "E-Excuse me!" She said and darted her hand toward the water to retrieve it.

"No!" Neia said suddenly and snatched Tuare's wrist in a grip that, for the little maid, was impossible to escape. Her eyes immediately started to become like a gathering storm, only for her to catch herself at the sound of Tuare's yelp, it was like a puppy that had just had it's paw stepped on.

Neia released the grip immediately and forced herself to relax, "I'm sorry, I mean... please don't worry about it, let me get it for you." Neia's voice was far more gentle than her looks, and it seemed to create a conflicted state in the maid.

"Are... is your wrist alright, I'm sorry if I hurt you... I didn't mean to, it's just I'm... I'm uncomfortable being close to anyone right now I guess." Neia apologized as best she could, bowing her head to the maid as she retrieved the brush from the bottom of the tub and placing it gently in Tuare's hand.

"It's alright." Tuare gave Neia a weak smile, the corners of her mouth barely moved as she tried to give it, "I can tell you're tense." She held her wrist, her hand shook a little as she rubbed it.

"I'm not the only one... am I?" Neia asked bluntly. Her words were blunt, but her eyes were fixated on the little maid's hand in motion. "What is it?"

"It's nothing of importance." Tuare said, and seeing Neia's eyes, dropped her hand away, and picked the Black Paladin's hand up and began to scrub her arm as if nothing had happened.

Neia bit her tongue and let her eyes fall to the rippling water as the minor motion back and forth in the confines of the tub created little waves that grew and grew with the vigor of the scrubbing, and then began to fade as the process slowed. She bit back the urge to demand answers, and said a weak, "Please... speak your mind. We've met before, albeit briefly, why are you so anxious now, you don't have to be scared of me, I'd never hurt one of His Majesty's servants on purpose."

Tuare lowered Neia's arm and went to the other side of the tub, lifted Neia's right arm, and began to scrub, she was quiet, but the Pope could see she was turning an answer over in her head. "Promise to say nothing to anyone of my answer?" She asked.

"I do." Neia returned.

"I was in the room while a report about what you did was being read... I... I know you wouldn't hurt me intentionally, I'm a loyal servant of His Majesty. But when I heard it, well..." She hesitated, and as she finished scrubbing Neia's arm and scooped water into a bucket to rinse off her charge, she took a deep breath, then spat out hastily, "it made me think of the noble who took me. He didn't think anything of our lives, we weren't people, we were tools or toys. The things... the things that happened in, well... you know, I'm sure. It made me think of the way he cast off our lives, I know that's got to be wrong though!" She added hurriedly, her voice carrying a hint of urgency as she dumped the bucket over the back of Neia's head and shoulders.

"I know it has to be wrong, it can't be all there is! You're a hero! Anything you did, it had to have a reason and I just don't know it! I know those are just the other side, they're our Lord's enemies, but it's hard not to think of the peasants there and... not see something like myself." Tuare said, glad that Neia couldn't see the shaking of her lips.

Neia caught the shaking of Tuare's lips in the mirror on the wall, the trembling of her hands. She didn't answer, she just grabbed the sides of the tub and pulled herself up to her feet.

Tuare couldn't help but look at the body of Neia Baraja over, she wasn't a tall woman, truth be told Tuare might have even been a little taller, yet despite her smaller size, the Black Paladin's body seemed like it was carved out of rock, even the feel of her hands were harder than any woman's Tuare had ever felt. 'Pretty though, even from the back, the straw colored hair, she looks like a living weapon.' Tuare thought as she went and took up a towel.

As she did so, she caught sight of Neia's eyes reflected in the mirror, those were soul swallowingly terrifying, hard and cold, sitting in a narrow shape that screamed 'predator' and despite the bath, she reeked of violence and bloodshed.

'You're such a sweet one, such a gentle one... to give me the benefit of the doubt like that.' Neia thought bitterly and tried to smile, but she couldn't make her lips move, so she just held still until Tuare came back to her with the towel and began to pat her dry.

An impulse hit her, one Neia could not suppress as Tuare went to her front and began to pat her down. "What if there wasn't?" Neia asked quietly.

The gentle, doe-like eyes of the maid went wide as someone who had a torch suddenly shoved at them from out of the dark. She froze with the towel pressed over Neia's breasts. Neia looked at her inquiringly, and slowly Tuare began to move again.

"I asked you a question." Neia said as the maid silently went back to her task.

"I-I don't have an answer," she swallowed hard, an audible gulp came from her throat, and she didn't look at Neia's face again as she went lower, "I guess... I really don't know. What do you want me to say?" She whispered as she went down to her knees and patted the Black Paladin's feet dry. "Do you want to be a monster? Do you want me to call you that? I'm a maid, I can't speak to the choices of those above my station." She bit her lip as she finished and stood up. "Please follow me to get dressed." She said more easily, at home again in a task she knew.

It was answer enough, and Neia did not press the poor girl further. Though she noted the little red ring on Tuare's wrist where her hand had mindlessly grabbed. 'A danger to herself and those around her.' The phrase from the report came back to her.

'Maybe it's not fine... but... it's almost over, almost. Just one more task and I can finish this nightmare. One more city to break.' Neia thought to herself, 'But I owe her, and Sebas, a deeper apology than I've made.' She looked at the hand that had grabbed the maid, and loathed it in that moment.

The room they entered was exceedingly comfortable, with deep red carpet and polished cherry wood walls. A large bed that looked exceedingly comfortable was in the back center of the room, with black curtains open to allow light to pass through enormous wall length windows. A work desk, a table with a few chairs, and a large wardrobe were scattered about, Neia waited patiently, indifferent to her nudity and to her surroundings. To her surprise, she really felt nothing about it.

Tuare simply scurried to the wardrobe, grabbed the few things she needed, and rushed over to where Neia stood, outside, snow began to fall, and Neia distracted herself by watching, only following Tuare's gentle guidance to put on a functional shirt and pants. She felt a mild sense of pleasure as the fabric slid over her skin. It was soft, suitably colored, made to give the appearance of a more formal uniform of Black Justice. The insignia of her army and her faith, a simple red chain ran over the outline of the body, though at the center, distinguishing her from all others, was the symbol of Ainz Ooal gown in a white as pale as a cloud.

It was a rather form fitting outfit, suitable to freedom of movement and... oddly elastic compared to any other fabric she was familiar with. When it was done, she sat and allowed Tuare to assist her with a pair of boots that came a quarter way up the calf. They were a deep black that matched the pants but they shined brightly enough that she could see her face in them.

"Marvelous." Neia said with a pleasant smile. "Thank you, Tuare, I appreciate it."

Tuare bowed quietly, but Neia caught the way she eyed the door. 'She wants to get away from me, so... this is what it's coming to, is it?' Neia thought to herself.

"Would you follow me to His Majesty's office, Lady Neia?" Tuare asked as she held the bow.

"Yes, of course, I am in your care." Neia answered uncomfortably, shifting her eyes away so she wouldn't chance seeing what she'd done.

Tuare straightened up and led the way out of the room, finding His Majesty's temporary office proved easy, and she found both her lord and Albedo just where she'd left them.

"Much better." Albedo said with an approving glance at the now clean and properly dressed Neia kneeling in front of them.

"Majesty, I have completed your task may... may this humble servant ask to take the day for herself to enjoy the company of Sebas?" Tuare asked as she made her report.

Ainz took careful note of what Tuare had just said, it was unexpected, she'd never asked for time off for herself, not in years. Most of the time, he'd had to order it, or the request came through Sebas, and then not at her behest. "Yes, you may, I will send Sebas to you once I have received his report on the disposition of other guests." He replied somberly, and he privately noted the way she scurried through the gate, leaving the three of behind her.

"My Lord, I have been briefly informed of your expectations, but I assume there is more you wished to discuss with me in... greater depth?" Neia asked tentatively.

"Yes, Neia." Ainz said quietly, "But not of that nature, I speak of reports of your... wellbeing."

Neia felt her heart skip a beat and her muscles tense, but she did her best to give no outward sign.

"Look at me." He ordered, and she raised her head.

Albedo raised her arm and pointed decisively to Neia. "You are the human representative of Lord Ainz before the world, perhaps you did not plan on that role, but it is yours nonetheless, if you falter, it will appear as if he has."

"If I should falter, dispose of me in such a way as he is not disgraced. Then raise another in my place" Neia said without flinching.

"Albedo... that is not what this is about." Ainz said patiently, and placing his skeletal fingers over her hand, he lowered it back down to her side.

"You are not so lightly replaced as that, Neia Baraja. Your loyalty to me is second to none among humanity. And while I will not deny that, were it necessary to do so, I would sacrifice you, as any king might have to do with any subject... but no proper king casts loyalty aside as if it were nothing." Ainz answered with equal patience.

He dropped his arms to his side and pushed further, "A report came to me recently from CZ, suggesting you have been getting... increasingly violent. This is a war of course, so I expect violence, but she says you sleep little, that when you encounter certain... types, you become blood drunk and push yourself to excess. What do you say to this?"

Neia took a deep breath and closed her eyes as she composed her thoughts, "My Lord, my... father, if I may, my god, center of my justice... I admit my violence. I ache to end all this, to put down your enemies, to destroy the Slane Theocracy and end this war. Every day they resist is an insult to you that I find intolerable, every day they exist at all, sullies your world. They have made me out to be a terror in order to galvanize their people to fight harder, so I use their stories against them. I teach them the meaning of terror, but... I am doing what must be done. I cannot rest easy, as long as they live. Please... allow me to continue to the end, then as I promised, I will... find a rest in the place you intended for me as we once said. I am not worse, I am only more driven. If I exceed your will, I accept my punishment, whatever it may be."

Tuare found herself in her quarters in Nazarick again immediately, again she gave thanks for the [Gate] spell for the wonder that it was, and realizing exactly where she stood, she fell back against the door to her room, her back striking it with a sullen 'thud' she slid her body down until her knees were curled up to her chest, and she inched herself into a little corner where two walls met.

She rolled up her sleeve to expose the mark Neia had put on her. It was turning an ugly purple. Her lip started to tremble. She sucked in her breath. "You're not going to cry, you're not going to cry, you're not going to cry damn it!" She repeated to herself. "God... it hurts, it hurts... how? Why?" She asked the empty room as her thoughts began to race.

"What do I do? Do I report her? It was an accident, she said she felt bad about it... I guess I can just ask Pestonya to heal it and say nothing, but she might report it, it is just a bruise, right? Right?" She asked nobody, and touched it with two fingers of her other hand, it stung. Pain shot up her arm and she sucked in her teeth, but no tears came out.

'I mean, if I report it, what does it matter? I'm just a damn maid, a charity of the greatest of kings, she's the damn Pope, she's a commanding General, she's a hero... even if nobody calls me a liar, other than Sebas, who would care? And even if they do, do I want to make an enemy out of... her? That... by turning her in? No, she apologized and that is more than I've ever gotten out of anyone who hurt me before, and it was an accident, I should let this go. Just not say anything, I don't want to upset Sebas.' Tuare concluded, not daring to give actual voice to those thoughts, even to an empty room.

None of those thoughts gave her any sense of peace, she didn't get up from the floor, it felt like where she belonged, and she gently blew on the bruise in a futile attempt to sooth it.

'She sounds like the NPCs.' Ainz thought for the thousandth time as he looked into her devoted eyes. Albedo at least, seemed to approve of the sentiment. She'd been watching Neia a great deal since the woman's stay in Nazarick after the Last Battle of Prart. Why she'd started watching, he didn't know, but at least she behaved herself around Neia, without the brusqueness or evident hatred she had for most humans. "I will remember that, Neia." He said in a serious voice.

"As I expected of Your Majesty, but if your humble servant may beg one more thing..." Neia said, and her gaze shot to the floor. "I must... report myself for disciplinary action."

Ainz felt his nonexistent heart start to race. "Explain." He said succinctly, glad his emotional dampener was already kicking in.

Neia began to speak, the words raced out of her like a gale force wind, so fast it was hard to follow. "I accidentally hurt Tuare! I didn't mean to! I swear I didn't! It was an accident! It was an accident! W-While she was..." She went on to explain, the dropped brush, the impulsive grabbing of her wrist, it all came out so fast that he had her repeat herself several times to be sure he understood.

"Is that all?" Albedo asked dismissively and waved it away with a hand gesture as if it didn't matter.

"It is, I swear it! Lord Ainz entrusted me with a servant to care for me, and I... it was my responsibility to treat her well, and instead I hurt her..." Neia whispered out slowly as she ran out of breath.

'That would explain her desire for time off...' Ainz thought, but then another question occurred to him. "Why didn't she tell me, did you instruct her to keep quiet?" Ainz asked in a displeased tone.

"No, never, My Lord!" Neia exclaimed, but thought quietly for a moment about his question, "If My Lord will forgive my speculation, I of course do not know exactly why she said nothing, but I can guess. Either she feared not being believed, or that it wouldn't matter one way or the other, or she feared... she was... so afraid of what I might do if she reported it... she felt safest saying nothing at all."

"So... you could have gotten away with it? Why speak up, then? Isn't it very human to try to avoid punishment?" Albedo's voice was more amused than anything, and she folded her hands low in front of her body, seemingly indifferent to the entire matter.

Neia did not activate her voice, but she didn't need to, the power of her conviction rang through from the marrow of her bones to the tip of her tongue as she spoke, her eyes fixed and hard on the easy golden gaze of the Lady Albedo, "Because I am His Majesty's loyal servant. I am entrusted with one of the highest stations a human can be honored by. Therefore I must exhibit the highest standard of conduct in his service. If I try to escape punishment for my weakness, I will compound one weakness with another, I will degrade his service and degrade myself. I... I don't want a world where a peasant maid can be denied justice because of who did injustice to her. I am not fighting for that, I am not killing for that. If I let this go, if I don't face responsibility for what I've done, even accidentally, then all those deaths are for nothing... I would be a sinner of the worst sort."

Ainz kept the sigh to himself, 'Accident or not, Tuare is a resident of Nazarick, and I can't let this go even if she does. And if that isn't enough, well... at least Neia has turned herself over. What kind of 'justice' am I to dispense for this? A fine? A physical punishment? No... I think I have a better idea.' Ainz ran through the options in his head, allowing the silence to stretch out as the stare between the Guardian Overseer and the Defender of the Faith to stretch out. Neither blinked, but neither seemed hostile to the other, it was like two figures staring at one another across a canyon and each was trying to work out how to build a bridge to the other side.

Finally, he spoke, "You did the right thing in reporting yourself, the first thing you must do is apologize to her in my presence, acknowledge what you've done, after that, your punishment is in her hands, she is the aggrieved. If she goes to excess, I will intercede, but within reason, it falls to her to decide what satisfies her justice." Ainz broke the silence, and Neia bowed her head.

"As you will it, My Lord." Neia answered humbly.

"Albedo, retrieve Tuare." Ainz said calmly.

"At once, My Lord." Albedo replied, and gracefully stepped through the [Gate] when it opened.

They did not wait long.

Tuare looked around the room in anxious confusion, all three of the powerful figures had their eyes turned on her, she was the center of attention, and her every darting look around was one that sought a place to hide, yet for all their stares, she felt no hostility, which ironically added to her confusion and anxiety. Goosebumps broke out over her body, her hairs stood on end. 'Oh no... did she tell them, did she tell them she disciplined me, am I in trouble? Oh god, no... No... what if they send me away, what if I have to leave Sebas what if they make me go with... her, what if she hurts me again... no... no... no...' She wanted to start wailing, she couldn't keep back the trembling in her body, but she kept back the impulse to cry, at least.

"Go ahead, Neia." Ainz said patiently.

Tuare felt like a bird under the gaze of an approaching serpent as Neia stood and came over to her, she went completely motionless, and then her mouth dropped open as Neia went down on both knees, then pressed her head to the floor at Tuare's feet. "I'm sorry! I'm sorry! I'm really and truly sorry! Please... Please forgive me! I didn't mean to hurt you, I didn't! It was an accident!" She shouted to the floor and her eyes filled with tears that nobody could see. "You were just doing your job and I didn't mean to. I really didn't mean to! I just reacted without thinking. I'm so sorry..." The words rushed out until she had no more breath to give them life.

Tuare looked down in abject wonder as one of the most powerful people in the world humbled herself before a maid. "My punishment..." Neia said quietly, "is for you to decide, I will accept it, as your justice. Whether you wish money, or to see me flogged, whatever you wish, I... am under your justice, as the one who wronged you."

"H-How?" Tuare could only ask in disbelief as she finally ripped her gaze away from the kowtowing Pope and looked up to Lord Ainz.

"She reported herself, she is accountable for her actions, as all under my rule are, and she did wrong. That it was an accident does not make it acceptable in her eyes, and she is not willing that anyone, even a maid, should be denied justice because of their station, or because of the station of the one who does injury." A hint of pride was in Ainz' voice as he spoke, and it gave Neia the courage to speak up again.

"It doesn't matter what you are, or what I am. I didn't have the right to do that to you, please... tell me how to make it right." She said without breaking eye contact with the floor.

A thousand thousand memories rushed through Tuare's mind in that moment, the nobles, the 'customers', the justice she never got and would never get, not fully. Here was a chance to get a little back, someone of a station like theirs was hers to hurt if she wanted to... she felt her heart race and her chest seize up for want of breath. For a moment she felt the impulse to declare something savage, she pictured the one at her feet, bucking under the sting of the lash for daring to touch her, a scream ripping from her throat, or a hammer to the fingers that had grabbed her wrist, a mangled, twisted and broken mess. For just a moment, she indulged the fantasy of painful revenge, as if Neia at her feet was a stand in for all of the ones before.

She looked down at her, the breathing of the woman at her feet was slow and constant, her body rose and fell with every breath as Tuare thought it through, 'It was an accident...' She reminded herself, 'And she's not them, I can't punish her for what they did...' And then a brilliant thought occurred.

"I want ten thousand." Tuare spoke impulsively.

Neia raised herself up and turned her eyes to Tuare. "Gold, platinum, silver, copper? Name it, and it is yours even if I am impoverished forever!"

Tuare shook her head and smiled sadly, she lowered herself down so that she was kneeling in front of Neia. She gently cupped the face of the Pope in her hands, and forced herself to meet the eyes of the Black Paladin. In what might have been the bravest moment of her life, she did so, and replied, "No. Ten thousand lives."

"You want me to kill ten thousand people? Who?" Neia asked, incredulous that this could be the same maid from before.

"No, Neia... I want you to 'spare' ten thousand, when you go to Kami Miyako... I... I am not stupid, I have an idea of what you intend... but if you want my forgiveness, it will cost you your vengeance. Ten thousand who you would have simply let die, if not kill outright, you must instead save or spare." Tuare said in a gentle, hushed voice only inches away, she stroked the wet cheek of the pope, and somehow felt just then, 'She's not as scary as I thought at first...'

Neia looked away from her, back down to the floor. She thought for a long moment... "I will meet your price. I will go out of my way and ensure that ten thousand lives are spared from death, even if it would be easier to ignore them or to take them. I will exclude however, the lives of breakers or overseers, if that is acceptable to you."

Tuare nodded, and placed a kiss to Neia's forehead when the woman looked up at her touch. "Is that acceptable, Majesty?" Tuare asked humbly.

"It is." Ainz replied formally as he watched the scene unfold, 'That was unexpected... but... perhaps for the best, Neia might benefit from a more merciful influence.'

"Thank you, Tuare." Neia whispered as the maid stood, and held out a hand to help Neia rise to her feet.

"Tuare, you will attend to Neia and her wife after the conference, and until she has met your price, at Kami Miyako." Ainz instructed, and the two women bowed.

"It will be done, My Lord." The two said in unison.

"Yes, it will, but for now, Tuare, go see Pestonya to be healed, and then enjoy two days off." Ainz instructed, and a joyful expression crossed the maid's face with a large smile from ear to ear that seemed to make her glow with life.

Neia smiled weakly at her, the nature of the little blonde maid was such that it seemed impossible to not like her, a spirit of happiness radiated from her like warmth from a candle. 'How could I have hurt 'that'?' Neia wondered in dismay and disgust. 'A threat to herself and others.' The memory of what was on the damnable paper ran through her mind again.

'Oh, that's how.' Neia thought grimly as the maid departed.


	176. PointCounterpoint

God Rising: The Cult of Ainz

Written by: AtheistBasementDragon

Edited by: The Usual Gang of Drunken Perverted Idiots

Chapter 176: Point/Counterpoint

 **AN: Happy Holidays! Since we had some people donate food to food banks, I'm doing a short chapter bomb instead of just a winter vacation. Seven chapters, 6 GR and one Discord Exclusive comedy moved over. Enjoy... But one more thing!**

 **AN TRIGGER WARNING: This warning will appear on a number of chapters going forward. I don't normally do these, but given the delicate subject matter... I think it necessary. Some of you have noticed that the character of Neia Baraja has become increasingly violent. As those of you who read the Synod are aware, she by this point, has developed SEVERE PTSD (Post Traumatic Stress Disorder) due to the things she's seen and done. I have done my best to write it in such a way that this mental health condition is treated RESPECTFULLY and not some TRIVIALIZED GIMMICK, any defects found therein, are mine. Her mistakes, her outbursts, nightmares, aggressiveness, defensiveness, and her desensitization toward and increasingly reactionary resorting to violence are all part of that, as is... unfortunately, the state of mind that has her starting to believe she is beyond help or hope, and those of you who are observant, have noticed it building for awhile. I realize this makes her less... likeable. But I hope it helps to make her more 'real', and if you know someone like this in the real world... please... get them help. Also, if it helps... the Synod deals heavily with her attempt at coming back, so... while I hate to give spoilers, don't lose hope for her.**

 _...Forton..._

Departing the presence of Lord Ainz under a disciplinary measure was the last thing Neia wanted. Yet doing so, knowing justice had been rendered, was as much relief as shame. Though as Neia and Tuare departed, it felt profoundly strange to walk down the long hallway beside her 'victim'. 'I never thought I'd see something like this happen in my life. What do I even say?' Neia wondered as she walked in stiff silence beside Tuare.

The difference between the two women was as night and day. Even shamed as she felt, Neia walked with her back straight, shoulders back, and eyes forward. Even stiff, her arms and legs moved with purpose. Even unarmed, she was a weapon. Even clean of filth, she smelled of blood. Beside her... Tuare. Even secure in justice, her eyes were down. Even free, she moved demurely with her hands folded in front of her in a state of submission.

Their footfalls echoed on the floor and bounced off the walls, providing the only ambiance they got as they walked through the finery of the building. Its smooth floors and polished walls, the art that hung up along the way, all spoke of the tremendous wealth of who had furnished and provided for it. Yet for all that beauty, to Tuare, it was like being locked in a cage with a wolf that had just been fed.

The feeling of violence was still fresh, and though even minutes ago, Neia had not seemed so frightening, with the ruling made and the promise with it, Tuare wondered what was to happen next. Uncertainty was dangerous for peasants, and her sense for that danger was sharpened to a razor's edge.

Neia broke the moment first, she stopped in her tracks, "Tuare, wait." She said as gently as she could manage.

The maid froze, she turned slowly. "Y-Yes, Lady Neia?" She asked tentatively.

Neia started to reach to touch her, but seeing the maid take an involuntary step back, she froze again, and lowered her hands back to her side. "I meant what I said... I really didn't mean that to happen to you. I will meet your price but... you don't have to be afraid of me."

Tuare cracked a smile, it wasn't the demure one she often wore, it wasn't bemused, amused, wry, or pliant. It also didn't last long enough for Neia to grasp what it was, because she almost immediately laughed. Her head went back and she laughed with such bitterness as Neia had not imagined could be held in another person.

"Of course I do. I'm terrified of you! I don't have a choice about that!" She exclaimed and balled up her little hands into fists that she raised up before her waist. "Do you have any idea... any at all... how much that hurt? How frightening it is to have someone who reeks of blood and death from the tens of thousands of lives she's taken without remorse or pity, take hold of your wrist while you're completely helpless, and squeeze? To have no idea if you can even say anything to anyone ever? To crouch in a corner of your room not even wanting to tell your husband because he helped make the person that hurt you? Or because you don't know what that powerful person might do next? Do you?!"

Neia didn't respond, she just remained quiet, chastened, her terrifying eyes were shut.

"Then don't tell me I don't have to be afraid of you... Please... I have good reason to be afraid, you can't tell me that I don't, whatever I feel, at least it is 'mine' to go through, do I have to throw that at your feet too?" Tuare asked through tears of anger, which she wiped away on the sleeve of her maid outfit with a heavy sniffle.

"You... apologized, and you turned yourself in, nobody ever did either of those after hurting me before so... I believe you meant it, and I will... forgive it. But I don't ever want to be alone with you again... please... just let me stay away from you... I... I'm going to ask my husband if he can join me when we travel with you to Kami Miyako to... 'collect my price'. Please... just... just leave me alone." Tuare closed her mouth tightly, and Neia took a few steps back.

Neia started to nod, but didn't complete it, she could hear Tuare backing away, then turning on her heel and getting out of there as fast as she could scurry. Neia stood alone in the hall, her gently closed eyes tightened. "Hero, huh. Some hero. I am an idiot."

Lacking for anything else to do while she gave Tuare her head start, she looked around the hall, next to where she'd stopped was a painting. Beautifully made, it showed a road of grass splitting a lake in two, on one side, the reflected sky, trees, and shore, were as clear as if it were a looking glass. An orange glow from a setting sun cast its light over the scene, and a single figure stood alone on the road looking out, his back to the artist. A little cottage on one side had two chairs outside next to the door, the whole thing was done in such a way that it seemed to be plucked out of a dream. 'Like someone saw what Skana and I talked about and hung it here.' She touched the frame, a golden colored wood with intricate swirling patterns around the edge as if to represent the breeze. Then she let her hand fall to her side, and walked away from it without a backwards glance.

'If this is how it has to be, then so be it.' She thought to herself as she made her way to... nowhere in particular.

That 'nowhere' took her to the meeting hall where a large long table had been set up, around which many a familiar face was gathered. The first face she saw was that of the Emperor of Baharuth, he was standing in front of a large minotaur dressed in an elegant purple robe indicative of royal status. The minotaur was easily as tall as the Sorcerer King, but the body was lean, muscled, it stood with confidence, yet she knew the difference between a warrior and a... not warrior. This one, even from the back was 'not' a warrior. 'Ambassador from the Minotaur Kingdom. Amazing, never seen one of those before.' She thought. "Emperor Jircniv." Neia said formally, inclining her head in polite but not submissive manner.

'By all the dead gods...' Jircniv thought to himself as he looked at her. He thought back to the last time he'd been in front of her, she'd been a hard one then, with her piercing gaze and cold, calculating zealotry. Now? He took an unconscious step back as she came close, and covered for it by raising a hand to gesture to the enormous minotaur lord in front of him, as if he was just making room for her to insert herself.

"This is Ambassador Akrotiri of the Minotaur Kingdom." He said with all the outward calmness of a man in his own home, and all the inner calmness of someone standing in the eye of a storm.

"Ambassador Akrotiri, this is the Pope I was telling you about, otherwise known as General Neia Baraja." Jircniv said, glancing up to the Ambassador as he gestured over to her.

'Humans are so small.' Akrotiri thought just before he turned to look at the diminutive pope, only to be immediately glad she wasn't taller, her eyes raked him from cloven hoof up to the tips of the horns that protruded out and away from his head. His brown eyes met hers, and he felt swallowed whole.

"General Baraja, I have heard much of you and your exploits. They are... impressive." He said. Then he started to extend a hand, hesitated for a moment, and then completed the gesture. She reached out and took his, his hand made hers disappear, but despite the size, he felt the acute softness of his palm, and hers felt like it had the hardness of the head of a battle ax.

"Thank you very much, Ambassador." Neia smiled with warmth and activated the power of her voice, "I hope you find that your time here is worthwhile, and recognize the glorious era His Majesty is ushering in to the lands west of your border. No doubt a just and fair trade relationship between our two peoples will make us far better neighbors than good walls, good castles, or good armies." She tilted her head as she flashed her winning smile and closed her eyes to keep back any chance of ferocity showing through as they released their handshake.

"Yes, I would hope for much the same, we have had... little contact with our western brethren, except through rumors carried by merchants who heard things third hand from other merchants." Ambassador Akrotiri's long snout couldn't show the same range of emotions with his bull like mouth, but it seemed he was being wry about the matter.

"Yes, it's the same with us, far enough away, and all you get are half formed stories." Jircniv shrugged, "Well, with the coming stability, no doubt that will change. We will need to form more cooperative trading relationships with our eastern and southern neighbor kingdoms."

"When peace is restored at least," The Ambassador said, and then froze in mid-sentence.

He felt like a hand caressed his heart. "Peace will be restored 'very' soon."

It was Neia's only answer. She looked at neither of them, but she didn't need to, they could smell the blood and see the bodies, and then the moment was gone.

"When that happens, I should send my good friend, Tinamoc," She clenched her hand tight for just a moment, then continued, "your way. He's a merchant of the highest caliber, and I have no doubt he could hammer out an agreement that would have both our homelands increase our prosperity for many years to come." The charm replaced the scent of blood, and her voice moved like silk over skin, and it was as if they could see the falling pieces of gold so clearly that they wanted to hold their hands out to catch them in hand.

"That is my hope for my people as well." A large, well muscled tigerman in red cloak and wearing a simple double ended black fabric that split at the thighs and was secured by a golden cord knotted at the front. Atop his head he wore a simple golden circlet with two inlaid rubies side by side, and then the next three spots beside them were empty spots clearly meant for the same stone.

"Majesty." The minotaur ambassador bowed formally with one arm folded in front of him at the waist.

"I'm sorry, forgive my ignorance, but I don't believe we've met." Neia said politely, inclining her head, but not bowing. She then extended a hand. "I am Pope Neia Baraja, General of the armies of Black Justice."

The tigerman enfolded her hand in his thick padded fingers. "King Rargnan of the Beastman Kingdom. Your lord made me his primary contact, and for that my people made me their king."

Neia gave him a graceful smile, "He elevates all who he graces with his eyes... sometimes much farther than they could ever deserve." Her smile became somewhat self-effacing, but she kept every ounce of charm in her tone of voice.

'That's new. Usually on first meeting, a human is at least terrified of me, yet it is my marrow that is cold. Perhaps I should test her a little.' Rargnan thought to himself.

"He does, he... visited... my kingdom during our war with the Draconic nation, we'd been eating humans easily till then. At least our stronger ones were, unaware that we were in fact destroying ourselves." Rargnan kept his voice neutral and put a sense of irony into his gruff voice, but he watched the Pope with interest to see how she would respond to such a statement.

'Is he suicidal?" Jircniv wondered, privately aghast though he kept his face neutral, he covered any possible breach in his expression by taking a wine glass off of a tray carried by a passing elven server and bringing it to his lips.

Neia, to their common surprise, only smiled, more broadly than one might expect a human to normally do at all, let alone to such a statement. "Yes of course, after all, the line between predator and prey is... a very thin one, and one never knows when a greater predator is watching. It is... so fortunate that he acted in such a way that both your nations were in the end, preserved." She let her closed eyes open just as she finished speaking, and a tiny hint of reverberation carried from her lips and struck his nerves, killing them for an instant.

'OK, that was a bad idea. She is what they said. Test over! Test over!' Rargnan thought to himself, but answered when his heartbeat resumed its pace, "I agree, the truth is, he's dealt fairly with those of us who lived." He then removed his crown and held it down to her level. "Do you see these?" He asked, pointing with one claw to the rubies and the empty spots.

"Yes, Sire, why do you ask?" Neia asked politely, sensing a change in his tone that she approved of.

Rargnan's voice was full of wonder and admiration as he went on to explain, his eyes sparkled like the rubies themselves, and his tone was full of optimism. "The two inlaid rubies represent goals accomplished in our restoration, the renewed soil and plants are seeing a return of wildlife. The rivers flow as they once did. And the red patch that killed so relentlessly has been wiped out. In another year, I will put an additional ruby into place, as we will have established a vast network of farms to feed our omnivore population and will have established extensive ranches for our carnivore population. Two years after that, I expect us to be able to actually sell our goods again, and within two years after that, I expect us to have established the first new towns under the planning system the Sorcerer King has given to us. Lastly, we'll have a minister and cabinet expressly for the management of our environment and food supply systems to ensure we never destroy ourselves again. We will never have the numbers again that we once did... but we will have better lives as a result."

"Impressive." Neia said, the muscles of her face tensed as she tried to keep the cocky, proud smirk on her Lord's behalf, at bay.

"Yes, it is for that reason that I intend to offer my kingdom as a vassal state. Well, that reason and... I do not relish the notion of being neighbors with a long term enemy like the Draconic Kingdom while it has the backing of the Sorcerer King." He said with some discomfort.

"That's wiser than I was hoping you'd be." Queen Draudillon spoke as she approached the group. "I had intended to petition his Majesty for your utter destruction after the war." She walked with smooth, easy confidence, dressed in her very best, and bore a smile sweet as poison on her face as she came near. She looked over to Neia, "Excuse me for not approaching you right away, Pope Neia, I was in conversation with Ambassador Gran of the Troll Kingdom, and Revered Speaker Esgas of the Wyvern Rider Confederation, and Ambassador Nolos of Karnassus. The latter of which is... a bit of a talker." She smiled a little to show that she only joked.

Neia responded with a polite laugh and brushed it off, the gap did not linger long.

King Rargnan turned to look at the Draconic Queen. His gaze was cool and calm, he didn't exude hostility, he seemed more a disinterested stranger than hostile power. His stance didn't really change, it regained the briefly lost confidence, and he spoke without baring his predatory teeth. His arms and hands opened at his side, the light caught the sheen of his fur and gave the king of the beastmen a regal air. "I am unsurprised, Queen Draudillon, but... after all the Sorcerer King has put into restoring what is left of my people, I think it unlikely he would accept." A notion quickly jumped to his mind as he caught the interested eyes of the Warrior Pope, "Besides, I think that would be very inconvenient since we will be officially extending an invitation to the Pope to send her priests and paladins into our lands to spread the glory of the Sorcerer King in anticipation of our integration into the fold."

Jircniv had seen a lot of political maneuvering over the years, but seldom had he seen a more adroit move at averting a potential calamity. Not since he'd offered to vassalize himself. The surprise on the face of both the Minotaur Kingdom ambassador and on the Draconic Queen came too quickly for them to completely suppress. But on the face of the deadly Black Paladin was something he'd never imagined on her. Unbridled joy. Neia smiled enormously and her eyes shone a radiant blue that made her briefly appear more a pretty girl than a blood reeking monster.

'Masterful. He's made an ally of the Sorcerer King's most powerful human worshiper with a single sentence and headed off any further considerations by the Queen of bringing further death to his lands. Good idea too, if I'd been Draudillon I'd have pointed out to Neia next how they took to eating humans, just like the Demihuman invasion, and would likely eat the elves she rescued just as easily.' Jircniv thought as he studied the face of the Draconic Queen.

She smiled sweetly, "Then we will share one faith, I had my people officially break ground on the first temple to the Sorcerer King, just a few weeks ago. We demolished one dedicated to the six that had fallen into disuse. It will be the largest temple in the eastern region of his empire when it is finished. Perhaps... as a token of 'friendship' and to help atone for the past, you would send a few artisans and laborers to help with the process, and be among the first to kneel there in deference to his glory?"

'Bad conditions aside, she's no fool. He can't refuse without looking insincere earlier.' Akrotiri thought to himself, the tigerman was relatively new at kingship, compared to the long rule of the Emperor, or the Minotaur King, or the human Queen, that much was clear. It was clear because he was caught off guard by the seemingly friendly proposal that was more like a petty jab that he couldn't avoid. 'That will cost him precious resources, laborers, and skilled craftsmen, making it easier for her to look good while extending the time it takes for his people to recover, since there aren't so many of his people left... I should not underestimate the players of the royal game in the west.' He reminded himself and made a mental note of what he saw as Neia waited expectantly.

"Y-Yes, that is... justice. When all is finished here and I return home, I will gather a thousand laborers and a hundred of my finest artisans, and send both them and suitable building materials to your capital. I hope you will reciprocate the gift when I break ground on our own." King Rargnan said hastily, giving a subtle reminder that her boast of size could yet be rivaled in the future.

Neia found the whole exchange fascinating, something tickled in the back of her brain as she watched it all play out, she almost felt like a kid who had jumped into a game without knowing the rules, like she was seeing the shadows of other words behind the ones they said openly. Still, her eyes held their joyful light, "I will match the gift with followers of my own, just as soon as Kami Miyako is a ruin, I will call for volunteer artisans to go east. Oh, and speaking of the east..."

Neia's face went hard as stone and the light faded away from her expression, the smell of blood that wasn't there touched their nostrils, "Well done in taking Yaksun. I read the report of how you used the demon woman to terrify the population, and the atrocities of their elites to shame them. You kept the place pacified, that's good. Terror is good, but sometimes shame is better, you used both well, Queen Draudillon. In both Yaksun and at Chasm City."

The Queen was no coward, fear seldom touched her, and for that she was grateful, "Th-Thank you. I've... read about some of what you've done. I'm... amazed at what you have accomplished yourself."

Neia waved it off, "They were in His Majesty's way, that is the same as suicide. But... My victories have not always been so, nor are they truly mine to claim. The greatest part of my knowledge comes from the education my divine father has chosen to grant me. My skills are due more to the diligence of his servants in training myself and my own, our gear is the fruit of his generosity, even the very power in me that brings armies to their knees... it is not mine." She lowered her face humbly, "I draw upon him, he is my strength, and by his strength I will break anything in the world, even the world itself, to see him to his proper place." Her smile was gentle, even motherly, a stark paradox to the low, reverberating voice of death, the shadowy eyes, and the smell of blood that even a hint of the wrath beneath seemed to call up.

"I have learned from him, and from experience, and learned well, and so I know what will happen next. Whatever survivors fled Wheaton before it was destroyed, who manage to survive the trip as well, will bear the story of my actions, and their fear will consume them. Fear is a very... very powerful tool. Not the only one..." She smiled sweet as death and held her palm out and turned up in the center of the little knot of world leaders, "but when you use it, and capture your enemies in their fear of you, then they dance in the palm of your hand, and you have grasped their very hearts. Then all you need do... is squeeze." She said savagely and closed her fingers into a fist.

"Jaldabaoth, Remedios, Suchala, Yuri, the breakers and overseers I've captured, the lords of Wenmark, the priests and judges of Yanana, I've learned from all of them, and in just a little while, I'll apply those lessons at Kami Miyako, and they will never rise again." Neia said as if she were describing the blooming of garden's roses opening to the sun, it wasn't hate that poured out of her, or even wrath, she was easy and tranquil even as her closing fingers cut off the light that struck her palm.

"It will be... a sight to see." Queen Draudillon said in a voice as hushed as if she were whispering at a funeral.

"I look forward to having you with me when we get there, your army from what I understand, should be reaching what is left of Wheaton soon." Neia said matter of factly.

"What is left of it?" Queen Draudillon asked with surprise, this reiterated phrasing of destruction caught the ears of the others and they looked at Neia questioningly.

"Oh, right, you probably haven't seen the report yet, there's not much left of it, the population is now roughly the size of a small town, no telling how many fled before I got there, but not much remains of those who stayed. You'll see for yourself when you get there, but the report has probably already left His Majesty's hands and gone to those of you who regularly receive such things." Neia explained patiently, she missed the muted and neutral expressions when her eyes caught those of Queen Calca across the room.

"Excuse me," Neia bowed her head politely, "I wish to go say hello to my former Queen, I haven't seen her since my wedding and I would like to pay my respects." Nobody objected as she broke from the little group and crossed the room, passing between servants and functionaries brought along for the occasion, and taking up a glass of wine for herself as she passed an elven server who looked at her with worshipful eyes.

For a moment they were quiet as she excused herself and walked with purpose to the Queen, long confident steps devoid of hesitation to approach a royal to her face, and more so as she set her glass down on a nearby table, and to the surprise of the watchers, they saw her relax, her dark aura dissipating as she embraced Calca as one might a sister, friend, or a favored aunt.

"Are all your military officers so familiar with the nobility?" Akrotiri asked, his large upright ears twitched as he spoke, but he did not tear his eyes away.

"No." Emperor Jircniv explained, "She's not just a military commander however, because she's the pope, she's the commander of all the faithful of the Sorcerer King from the Northern Holy Kingdom in the west, to here in Forton, far to the East, as far south as the Elven Kingdom, and as far north as the tip of Re-Estize and Baharuth. Since nothing like her has ever existed, we've all..." Jircniv stroked the thin beard he had begun to grow and thought for a moment about how best to explain it to the twitchy eared Minotaur ambassador, "well, we've independently concluded that we are better off just treating her as a kind of royalty. Is that as strange to you as it is to us?" He asked with an eyebrow raised.

Akrotiri paused, as if to consider an answer and Jircniv hastily continued to avoid a possibly awkward situation.

"I admit I am ignorant of the Minotaur Kingdom, so forgive the nakedness of the question." The Emperor apologized with a bow of his head to the representative of the minotaur king. He concealed a smile at the lie, it was a small one, but through little things, he could always glean advantage.

"Think nothing of it, Emperor Jircniv. We are an open faced people, with little need of titles, but I have always heard that humans were surrounded by protocol and ceremony, where titles decide even who can speak to whom." Ambassador Akrotiri scratched at his snout, and Draudillon chuckled a bit.

"Would you like to tell her she can't speak to someone?" She asked archly.

"I would not." King Ragnarn replied in the growling voice of a tigerman, he and Queen Draudillon glanced at each other sideways in silent acknowledgement of one another's temporary agreement on at least one subject, and the conversation moved on.

Calca held her arms out, Neia was happy to embrace them, though she buried a surge of emotion when Calca caught her own reflection in the glass Neia set aside, and flinched involuntarily before she recovered. "Good to see you again, Pope Neia."

"Good to see you too, Queen Calca." Neia's smile was genuine, as was that of the woman who stood in for her mother at her wedding. Calca folded her hands over Neia's when they stepped back from the embrace, and held them between the two. "But... I have to ask... are you alright?"

Neia cocked her head and furrowed her brow as if in doubt. "Majesty?"

Calca leaned forward just a little, "While I admit... Yanana stunned me, conversing with Robel ah... illuminated some things, I understand better now but," she whispered, "you put your life on the line to save me, you put everything on the line to protect our people after I died, whatever you've done, I just don't believe you're the uncaring, unfeeling monster the Theocracy says, or that you seem intent on convincing others that you are. Please... tell me the truth."

Neia shut her sky blue eyes and let out a sigh, sure that nobody near was listening, she spoke gently in response, "Majesty, you're perhaps the kindest noble I've ever met, after the Sorcerer King. And I've met all the ones worth knowing, I think. But trust me, everything is going as it should go, and when it ends, so will... things with me. I just have to finally bring this to an end, and we'll get," her eyes popped open and held Calca in the shining whiteness of her eyes, "a brand new world out of all this. It won't be for nothing, and that is enough for me."

"Oh, Neia..." Calca felt the almost desperate hope coming off the bloody Pope, and whispered the last too softly even for her ears to catch, and she stroked the hard surface of Neia's hand.

They might have said more, but Neia felt eyes boring into her head, and followed her gaze to a door on the other side of the room where General Enri was staring at her, having locked eyes, Neia withdrew her hands from Queen Calca, "Excuse me," she said hastily, "I think I have to deal with something." She didn't stay to catch Calca's acknowledgement, but the Queen watched as the two women seemed to move in sync.

Long strides from short legs stood out as the two crossed the great hall as if they were combatants. Neia saw a document in Enri's hand, her practiced eyes caught a few words, and understanding dawned, but she revealed none of her thoughts.

Enri wore white, similar to her runecrafted armor, emblazoned with the symbol of Ainz Ooal Gown in black, a stark contrast to the opposing choice for Neia herself. Her eyes were hard and fixed forward, her arms swung back and forth like a pendulum as she made her way in a beeline for the smaller Pope, neither flinched from the other, but the tension became palpable enough that others began to catch a sense of it.

They stopped short, just two feet from one another. "General Enri." Neia said calmly.

"General Baraja." Enri replied frostily. They stood stiff as spears in a battle line, quiet until they realized eyes were starting to focus on them. Before either could suggest they take things elsewhere, a bell began to ring from the center of the room. They turned their heads to look, and saw a double row of elf servants in formal green and white dress entering pushing the carts carrying trays of food on silver platters.

The elves laid out placards with names on them, each embossed in the language of the person in golden ink. So one by one they found their seats. Neia, to her pleasure, found herself pulling her chair up next to Zesshi Zetsumei.

"General Neia. A pleasure once again." She said, amused, as though they hadn't just fought a battle together.

"Queen Zesshi, the pleasure is mine, I almost didn't recognize you without your scythe." Neia chuckled as the half elf sighed with longing.

"I miss my scythe." She said, obviously wishing to have her weapon at hand, her hands opening and closing as if to feel the phantom of her weapon. "I feel naked without it."

Neia's pulse was pounding, she felt the stare from Enri like one feels a pin pressing into the flesh. She did her damndest to suppress the memory of violence, the sword thrust through a back, bodies so close her ear and snarling teeth were pressed against it and she could hear the heartbeat once before her sword cut it in half inside her victim's chest and stop forever. There was no question in her mind why Enri was staring at her, though she saw out of the corner of her eye how she only stowed the document.

'Zesshi is a pretty one, in an unusual sort of way.' Neia thought, seizing on that idea, she responded, "Trust me, if you were actually naked, I'd be looking a lot harder at you right now." Neia winked, and Zesshi cocked her head and looked down at her, unsure if the Pope was joking or not.

Neia chose not to explain, but let it by with a chuckle that the Queen took up in turn. "Sorry to disappoint you, but I'm taken." Zesshi responded with some amusement, her black and white hair bounced behind her as she gave out a genuine laugh. As she laughed, she found herself much at ease, her body felt loose and relaxed as it did when she had indulged herself in just a little more alcohol than she should have in the past. 'So, this is what it feels like?' She thought as she leaned back in her seat and brought a cup of wine to her lips. Nobody was staring at her ears, nobody was muttering anything under their breath that they wanted her to not hear, or arguably worse, wanted her to hear, and she didn't have to conceal herself from the world like she was a source of shame for those she served. Even the jokes flowed more naturally as she turned to speak to King Zanac beside her.

Enri went to the chair opposite Neia after having pocketed the document, and took her seat, the sound of the sliding chair sounded like thunder to the Black Paladin, but she kept a neutral face as the silent glare continued as if it had never been broken. Relief was snatched away from Neia's grasp. 'Why? Why? Why now?' She closed her eyes in faux tranquility and kept her hands beneath the table to hide how tense they were as one by one, sumptuous meals were laid out for the most powerful figures of the west, north, south, and near east. The City State Alliance, the Minotaur Kingdom, the Wyvern Rider Tribal Confederation, the Troll Kingdom, tribal chiefs of the Abelions Hills, all had representatives at the far end of the table. Closer to the head, were those closest to the Sorcerer King, the vassal state leaders, royalty born and bred, and yet the two who had no claim to grand titles, sat in opposing tension to one another.

Plate after plate laid down in front of guest after silent guest, waiting for the servants to complete their task, to Neia it felt like a countdown. She felt the unblinking iron eyes of the peasant general, and she started to get angry. Her heartbeat skipped for a moment, and throb to a new rhythm. 'How dare she? How dare she? HOW DARE SHE?!' Neia thought to herself as the sound of silver gently striking wood ticked off the seconds.

It was only when the one empty chair, the one at the head, had a plate laid down in front of it, that the one to be seated, entered the chamber. The great double doors at the back of the room opened, and out of it stepped the radiant Albedo, who walked gracefully to the seat and under the eyes of all, she held out her arms in welcome, spread her wings, and smiling joyfully, she addressed them all. "Welcome to the Forton Conference. I am Lady Albedo, the Guardian Overseer of Nazarick, in terms some of you would better comprehend, I am the equivalent of a Prime Minister or a Majordomo. My Lord, His Majesty the Sorcerer King, bids you welcome. He sends word that he will join you soon, but as he does not eat..." a low rumble of amused or reluctant laughter swept the table, "he invites you to dine first while he tends to some sudden and unfortunate business, you will be informed about its nature when he arrives, but for now he wishes you to simply enjoy yourselves before he settles down to the matter of business."

Glances around the table were full of questions, wide eyes, flushed cheeks, tilted heads or bodily tension, most were slightly on edge, but Albedo filled the gap further.

"It is nothing unmanageable, I assure you, there are simply a few minor details to be settled upon before bringing it to the relevant party's attention for a decision. In the meantime, Pope Neia, would you open the meal with an invocation?" Albedo asked, and Neia shot to her feet.

"It would be my honor, Lady Albedo." Neia said calmly, folding her hands behind her back, she raised her head, "May I ask that you all please stand, and if you follow other gods, honor them in a fashion suitable to you, as we honor our own."

Every ounce of power she could muster was poured into her voice. From it came a reverberation like drums in a canyon which poured her feelings into their souls, as the many chairs scooted back and the subordinates and neighbors from as far away as Argland or the Minotaur kingdom rose to their feet.

Her voice called eyes to her like the bells of a great temple as she intoned, "To the divine one I offer my praise, and call down from him his wisdom that it may touch upon us this day. Give to us your wisdom, that we may see the path to peace, to create a better world, give us the will to carry it through, no matter the cost to ourselves, for the sake of those who must come after, that it not perish with our passing or with theirs. Give us your courage, that we not flinch from our duties to our beloved people, no matter what they may be. Give us your compassion, that we give mercy to the merciful. And above all, give us your strength, for without strength there can be no justice. For all these things I praise you, and for all these things I ask you. Praises Be to you, Ainz Ooal Gown."

"Please, be seated." Albedo said solemnly as she sat down at the head of the table.

When Neia was seated, she looked down at her plate. A rare and bloody steak was in front of her, a favorite meal, with a rich looking sauce drizzled over it, next to a mixed green side with vegetables she'd never seen before. As she glanced at others, doing her best not to look at Enri and keep her temper from boiling over, she saw equal surprise on their faces, followed by wonder as they ate and talked, clearly those were new dishes to them as well.

It could not however, last for long. "Very nice invocation." Enri said coldly.

Neia saw the knife in her own hand, she felt the judgment coming at her, and the beating of her heart was like a war drum calling her to violence. She gently, slowly set the knife and fork down and closed her eyes again, then put her hands beneath the table where she could clench them covertly.

"Thank you, General Enri." Neia said calmly, and made to turn to her right to address Albedo.

It didn't work, "Especially coming from you." Enri said in a voice that dripped acid.

Neia felt her breath quicken. "Then thank you twice, I think." Neia looked back at Enri again as she spoke, then again she tried to turn back to Albedo to speak, only to find Albedo speaking with Jircniv.

Enri spoke up again, "You're welcome, so strange to hear a butcher speak of mercy." She hissed in outrage.

Neia kept her eyes closed, but she had to squeeze them to keep it so. She felt the anger off the ally across from her.

"Look at me." Enri demanded, leaning forward slightly.

"The last person to make that demand of me, regretted it." Neia said frostily.

"Look at me." Enri demanded it, "What are you going to do, kill me? Was it someone else whose life you stole? How many people are dead that didn't have to be, was the person who made that demand, one of them?"

"Hey..." Zesshi started to say, she felt the slight shaking in the woman next to her.

Enri ignored the half elf, "I read the latest report about what you did at Wheaton, what your armies did... there were peasants there... people who..."

"Shut up." Neia said quietly as she kept her face downward toward the table.

"Why? Can't bear to hear, can't bear to look?" Enri shot back, "How many do you think there were? Look at me, damn it!" She hissed out, unable to contain her outrage.

Neia's head snapped up and she opened her eyes, there was no light left in them only an all swallowing shadow like it was plucked from the deep roots of an ancient mountain, "I did what needed to be done. How dare you? How dare you...?!" Her voice echoed as low and conversation nearby began to quiet down as the tension became overwhelming.

Not flinching from the Pope, Enri shot to her feet and slammed her fists down knuckles first on the table, leaning forward and resting on them. "I dare because you not only drowned an entire city, you exterminated a fortress, mutilated prisoners, and then all but exterminated another entire population! Is that what you're fighting for?! What's wrong with you?!"

Neia stood up and looked her in the eyes, "You damned fool." The silence spread over the table like a plague. Even Albedo ceased speaking to watch with interest. "You don't know anything! Anything!" Neia's voice began to rise with fury, and from her spread the fear.

"What don't I know?!" Enri snarled, "That the way to win a war is to create a desert and call it peace?! You're right, I don't know that! I don't butcher the helpless, I don't destroy cities or drive villagers from their homes. I don't..."

"You don't do what you need to do to win!" Neia slammed a fist down, shattering a chunk of table away as an aura of wrath began to build and radiate from her gaze and cutting Enri off. "Every one of your conquered territories rose in rebellion! Your soldiers are dying for your mercy and you dare... you DARE come to me to complain about how I have won?!"

"What's the point of winning if there's nobody left?!" Enri demanded, "Don't you know that what you're doing is wrong?!" Her hands reached out with palms turned up and her fingers curled like an eagle's talons as if the truth was too big to be held within them.

Neia's lip curled in a rage fueled snarl, "I am doing what has to be done to end this forever! You come late to the war, Enri Emmot-Bareare, far too late to dare tell me how to fight it! While you were at home in your village embracing your little sister, Jaldabaoth rampaged through my country, and I fought to break his power. While you were at home with your goblins, safe and secure, I was breaking the demihumans that still remained to ravage my country! While you were laughing and smiling at home, I was spreading the glory of His Majesty! While you were eating good food, I was feeding our desperate hungry and fighting the corrupt nobles!" Neia's voice echoed like a roll of thunder whose cry was desperate to be heard, but Enri found her voice seized up and she could not speak to silence her counterpart.

She raised her hand and pointed it to General Enri in accusation that countered the one leveled at herself, "While you did nothing, I raised an army. While you did nothing, I suffered the loss of comrades. While you did nothing, my war was already years in the waging of it. Death, death, death every single day and every single hour as the Slane Theocracy sought to use the people who had begged for their aid, and who they had turned away. I did not compel them to my country! I did not make them send General Suchala to set my followers on fire, nor offer inquisitors to Remedios who persecuted us at every turn. I did not raise up the would-be King of Men, Astraka, I was confronted with those things." Neia's accusing finger folded into her hand to make a fist as she continued.

"Before you studied war, I was fighting it, this is only the latest and last stage of it all, and you come along late, you accept my help, my students, my trusted advisors and soldiers to prepare your soft, weak villagers to become warriors, swelling your ranks with competent living weapons... then you face off against the gentle of spirit while I fight monsters of cruelty, and tell me I am wrong?! How dare you... Grand Matriarch, criticize me." Neia's mouth closed, but her eyes did not, the piercing night of her eyes exuded almost demonic fear, and more than one at the table refused to look at the darkness there.

Enri felt shivers run up and down her body as she locked eyes of stone against eyes of terror. Stone cracked, but did not break as easily as most, though she wished ardently for Lupusregina's company now. "You can't really think becoming a war criminal is 'justified' can you?! Just butchering people is... it's not how we're supposed to fight! Remember the accords! Do you dare defy His Majesty?!" Enri demanded.

Albedo raised an eyebrow, but did not interfere, instead she rested her head in one hand and watched it like she was attending a drama.

Neia was not long in answering, "They broke the accords before the ink was dry. You know this. But you know this less well than you should. You read the reports, you know what Queen Draudillon found in Yaksun! You know the conditions of the estates, you know of the breaker school in Wheaton, the horrors of Wenmark that will forever mark the ruin in legend as a dark city, you know that Yanana cast our people out, naked to die in the cold. You damn sure know about the work of Aalon by now, and Queen Zesshi I know, has reported her actions in Kami Miyako in detail. So... General Enri... did you inspect the lands you occupied for similar atrocity, or did you just lack the courage to know the truth, if they were truly there?!"

Enri reared back as if struck and gritted her teeth, hard. "I found not even a rumor of them in Ikari City, and all the slaves were evacuated from Crossroads before we could take it. They wouldn't leave anything behind, that I'm sure of." She folded her arms in front of her chest defensively, but the Pope pressed the point.

"Did you seek out the facilities or didn't you?" Neia asked sharply.

"I... didn't." Enri admitted reluctantly, but her defiant expression didn't change. "I don't think they ever took root in the north anyway, most likely slaves were just too expensive to waste."

Unhappy looks were cast her way from the elven servants, and she felt it as soon as the calm explanation of their expense came out off her tongue.

Neia let the words hang in the air, her mind raced a thousand leagues a second, for the master orator, even a general who she reluctantly acknowledged was her tactical superior, this was a battle she was far better outfitted to wage. "No doubt, that wasn't the case elsewhere, and you know it." Rage seemed to take physical form, "Yes, I am responsible for ending all that, I will not deny the terrible cost, but you pretend you never paid it at all, or worse, that there was no such cost. I've met your bodyguard, and unless I've become terrible at recognizing sadists, Lupusregina Beta is ripping people apart as we speak and probably has been since the day you got here. The Goblin Strategist, I believe his name is Sun... if I'm not a complete incompetent, I would say he's unleashed dragons on the populations that don't yield quickly. I wonder how many villages your soldiers exterminated completely, that I would have reduced barely at all. You can't fight a war with unstained hands. Even Queen Draudillon relied upon a demoness and raw shame, plus demonstrations of supreme magical destruction that required her to kill hundreds of her own. Trading the lives of the few for the lives of the many, as I have the lives of many, in order to save even more!"

Enri's eyes went from narrow with anger to wide in astonishment at what she'd just heard Neia say. "Yes there's a cost, but it's the just thing, to save as many as we can, all that we can, and that we accept risks by doing so!" Enri argued passionately.

"So you put the butchery onto others and keep your own hands clean, and that gives you the justice to stand before me and call me monster?" Neia's fist shook with fury and she brought it back down to her side. "I do what I do openly and honestly. I am still more kind than the Theocracy, I accept surrenders, it is not my fault if they don't take it."

"That doesn't matter if you don't give them the chance to do so!" Enri snarled in retort, biting her lip hard enough to draw blood and angry enough not to have noticed.

"They get the chance when they know I'm coming, I even gave Wheaton an hour of life to make a decision, I didn't make their choice for them. Don't forget, General Enri, that we did not start this mess! But I will finish it. Even if I have to take Kami Miyako by drowning them in their own blood, even if I have to march north and put down the insurrection in your territory myself, this will end. I will make it end, it has to end. No matter what, at any price. I will not see this drawn out even one hour longer than it must, which is why I left written orders to put the dead of Wheaton to use giving Kami Miyako their warning, long before I arrive." Neia's voice was hollow, like talking to a lich, it reminded Enri of the day she heard the battle cry of the death knight, her blood ran cold in her veins.

"You're going to make yourself a war criminal... if you're not already one." Enri said accusingly. "If necessary, I will petition His Majesty to have you tried and hanged for it." Enri replied with a tone that said she meant it, and it froze the blood of those who heard her to even imagine such a thing, but none imagined the response. 'What did she mean, put the dead of Wheaton to use? Do I even want to know?' She wondered, suppressed a shudder, then lost her chance when Neia's hollow voice did the impossible in the face of Enri's threat.

Neia gave out a bitter, long, loud laugh. "Then do it. You thought we could be decent, that this war was going to be just a skirmish writ large, but you thought wrong! Burnings, tortures, kidnappings, rapes, murders, assassinations, inquisitions, the torture of our people, my people, the destruction of my nation and what little peace my country almost got back... no, there has never been anything decent about it, General Enri! You call me a war criminal, but you miss the point!"

Her voice went hard as a mountain side and her fist pounded her own breast as she spoke, "All war is criminal! It steals land, lives, decency and honor, it steals limbs from the healthy, happiness and security from the innocent, and even those who survive it, are forever maimed and never recover in mind even if they get the best magic to restore their limbs and remove the scars of their bodies."

She shook her head furiously, bouncing her straw colored hair wildly, "No! Perhaps you are right and that is what I am, but if I am, I am the last one, because I will bring victory, I will see the elves all freed and the Theocracy a ruined memory that will live on only in myth. I will drag your gentle soul to the victory circle kicking and screaming with your conscience intact because you tried to stop me, but you will fail, and because you fail, I will see us succeed. If Father wishes a noose around my neck, I will place it there myself and step off the platform with a farewell wave! Nothing else matters but making this all END! No matter... what... it... takes..."

The pounding fury of the evangelist voice sent blood pumping hot as volcano's fire through veins that had been ice only a moment before, the tendrils of the hand of death seemed to wrap round Enri's heart and she felt her lungs seize up, it almost felt like an attack, but it wasn't, not quite, it was more like her very will was being drained away to nothingness, fleeing her body as if afraid to remain within her flesh.

But one more sentence, managed to find it's way past her lips, and though she had to lean on the table to sustain her will to stand, she did so using fists and portrayed what strength she could as she said it, "I'm sure Remedios Custodio would have said exactly the same thing, word for word."

The words hung between them for a moment... and then there was a heart rending wail that filled the room, echoing for so long and loud from wall to wall that for a moment Enri wanted to look around for a banshee, but if anyone else heard the noise, they gave no sign. Neia stood erect still, unmoving and seemingly unmoved, then turned to the Guardian Overseer and bowed deeply, "Forgive me, Lady Albedo, but I seem to have lost my appetite, would you excuse me until His Majesty requires my use?"

Neia, along with everyone else, was surprised when the response came, not from Albedo, but from a deep, regal voice that none could ever mistake or forget.

"That would be now."


	177. The Master of Death Cometh

God Rising: The Cult of Ainz

Written by: AtheistBasementDragon

Edited by: The Usual Gang of Drunken Perverted Idiots

Chapter 177: The Master of Death Cometh

 **AN: Happy Holidays! Since we had some people donate food to food banks, I'm doing a short chapter bomb instead of just a winter vacation. Seven chapters, 6 GR and one Discord Exclusive comedy moved over. Enjoy... But one more thing!**

 **AN TRIGGER WARNING: This warning will appear on a number of chapters going forward. I don't normally do these, but given the delicate subject matter... I think it necessary. Some of you have noticed that the character of Neia Baraja has become increasingly violent. As those of you who read the Synod are aware, she by this point, has developed SEVERE PTSD (Post Traumatic Stress Disorder) due to the things she's seen and done. I have done my best to write it in such a way that this mental health condition is treated RESPECTFULLY and not some TRIVIALIZED GIMMICK, any defects found therein, are mine. Her mistakes, her outbursts, nightmares, aggressiveness, defensiveness, and her desensitization toward and increasingly reactionary resorting to violence are all part of that, as is... unfortunately, the state of mind that has her starting to believe she is beyond help or hope, and those of you who are observant, have noticed it building for awhile. I realize this makes her less... likeable. But I hope it helps to make her more 'real', and if you know someone like this in the real world... please... get them help. Also, if it helps... the Synod deals heavily with her attempt at coming back, so... while I hate to give spoilers, don't lose hope for her.**

 _...Forton..._

Ainz walked through the double doors, his steps long and strong, the low 'tink' sound in between each step as his staff's tip touched the floor, the table stood in deference to the host as he walked down the right side of the table, all the way to the head to take his place beside Albedo.

Enri and Neia had forgotten their antipathy for the moment, sharing common deference to the same undead savior of their lives.

"I do apologize for being so inconsiderate a host that I could not greet you all personally, and that I kept you waiting as well, but... perhaps you've noticed that there's a war on." He chuckled at his own joke, but nobody laughed.

'Seriously, why does nobody get jokes in this world?!' He wondered as he made his way to the head of the table.

The assembled host waited until he reached his position and he released his staff. It floated beside him, a constant testament to his powerful magic. he clapped his hands together, and to the shock of those who heard it, the sound was that of living flesh instead of clacking bones. "Now, to the reason for my delay. Queen Draudillon, I regret to inform you that I received a report from General Musan, General Oma has been assassinated. Her tent had too much blood for her to have survived, and her body was taken. I sent agents in pursuit to help General Musan, but all they found was a large fire-blackened place where they must have destroyed her corpse in a small clearing in some nearby woods. Her ashes were scattered to the winds, leaving nothing behind. A handful of men were killed attempting to assassinate General Musan as well. They were armed and dressed in the fashion of the Agante, we can only surmise that her killers were part of that same group."

His sonorous voice was quiet and solemn, and the implications were lost on few. For those that were lost as to the significance of their assassins actions, Albedo spoke up. "No doubt this was done to prevent her resurrection, the fools." She spoke with the serenity of the indifferent, but Queen Draudillon was on the verge of tears with rage.

"For those who do not know," Ainz continued with distaste in his voice, "the Agante are a military intelligence wing of the Slane Theocracy that is heavily decentralized, with individuals and small numbers communicating only loosely and in isolation, they focus on actions that destabilize areas. They were behind the attempt on Chindai's life, and perhaps the lives of his wives, and supported the coalition against him that he later defeated to unite the Dark Elf Kingdom. While they are not champions of humanity, they are its venom, even though they are not as powerful as the scriptures in combat, from what I have heard, they are skilled in groups, and of course, a person asleep can do little to protect their throat from a knife in the darkness."

Draudillon gritted her teeth. "How dare they... no... I shouldn't be surprised after what I've already seen them do... But General Oma is important, the next in line is not ready for the task, General Musan's workload is already enormous, it will be very difficult for him to manage both divisions..." Her voice was shaking, her eyes focused on the table beneath her as she became hyperfocused and tried to force her grief down. 'How did they bribe my people? How did they extort them? I can barely believe it but... it must be so! When I return, I will launch formal investigations into temple ties, I'll bet my last coin that any traitor is closely tied to the worship of the old gods.'

"Yes, Albedo is precisely correct, what they do not know however, is always the most dangerous thing. Which they're about to find out, forty thousand and one times over." Ainz said with a serenity on par with Albedo's indifference, and numerous eyes went to him with interest.

"I am the master of death," Ainz said patiently, "so to me these are just alternate states of being, perhaps to the weak fifth tier limitations they know best, there is nothing I 'should' be able to do to restore her to life without a body." He had no lips, but there was an aura that could only be described as a 'clever smile' coming off of him as he raised his skeletal hand and pointed to Calca.

"Would you like to explain, Queen Calca?" He asked as he caught the understanding on her face that was revealed by the little 'o' her lips formed and the widening of her eyes.

"After I... died, I'm told that my people had sought my resurrection. But they refused when he informed them that without a body, there was a chance I might not come back the... way they knew me. I would surmise that the Slane Theocracy never learned that His Majesty is not bound by such limitations as requiring a body at all."

Eyes became like saucers up and down the table as the revelation of the raw power of his magic swept through their consciousness. Queen Draudillon's eyes lit up with hope.

"Of course, General Oma was 'your' servant first and foremost." Ainz said to the Draconic Queen, "You knew her best, will she return to serve you willingly, no matter what the cost? Will you accept her, regardless? Do you want her back?"

Draudillon immediately kicked the chair back out of her way so hard that it fell backwards and fell hard enough to the floor that its clatter echoed for several seconds. She prostrated herself with her head close to his feet. "I knew her well, she would never willingly be parted from... her duty. She will come back, and I will accept her, no matter what!" She said loudly and with conviction.

"I see." Ainz said, and drew a wand from his robe. He pointed it to a space a few feet away from the table, and people turned or craned to watch the impossible be made trivial. [True Resurrection.]

The whorling shadows and clouds that sprung up would never leave the minds of those who saw it happen, tendrils like dark tentacles rose from the floor and formed the outline of a body. Sweat rose on the brows of those who were capable of sweating, the little droplets seemed to mark the passage of time as they trickled down faces, hands trembled and nobody cared, eyes bulged as a miracle took place before their eyes. Only two smiled. Lady Albedo, who had only a supremely cocky smile, and Neia Baraja, whose face was alight with pride.

Then the miracle ended as the shadow faded and naked flesh became visible.

The pale skin of General Oma had a faint blue tint to it, and her head was... not connected to her body.

"She's... still dead. And I was..." Queen Draudillon started to say, then stopped mid sentence when the head blinked.

Ainz reached his hand into the air, opening his pocket dimension, he drew out a cloak and flung it over the naked body of General Oma.

"Where am I? Why am I... was I naked? Her eyes darted around and she tried to turn her head, only to find that it wasn't moving. "Why can't I turn my head?" She asked with her anxiety increasing as one question bled into another until her head fell to one side and she found herself facing the table. "My Queen, Your Majesty ah... someone, please! Please tell me what's happening!" She began to panic, her eyes widening as the mystery deepened.

"I will explain." The Sorcerer King said as he stepped away from his place and moved in between her and the rest of the table. "You were killed last night, the assassins stole and burned your body to keep you from being restored, but I am unbound by such trivial concerns, so you are... in a word, back. But... as a consequence, you're an undead. Specifically, you're a dullahan. You can remove your head and carry it around, or move your body independently of it. A very impressive dullahan too, really." He said encouragingly, "But before you can control yourself entirely, you'll need help just this once, after that, you'll have complete rule over your flesh." He said, and looked over his shoulder, "Queen Draudillon, this task should be for you, come here."

She scurried over as fast as she could until she was kneeling beside them. "Sire, tell me what to do?" The Queen asked with eyes darting back and forth between the two undead.

"Take her head in hand, and connect it to her neck, this will reforge the connection and make it permanent." Ainz explained as he gestured to where her head lay.

"My Queen..." General Oma said with a reverential devotion, as Queen Draudillon, with shaking fingers, took the head of her subordinate in hand and held her up to eye level for a moment.

"Good to have you back, General Oma, ready to even the score?" She smiled crookedly, and Oma returned that smile and flashed fangs she hadn't had before.

"A thousand times over, My Queen, now... can I have my body back so I can kneel properly to you?" She asked sweetly with a slight curl to her lips that made her smile sweet, resolute, and eager all at once.

Draudillon blushed a little, then lowered the head to where her neck was, and put it into place, it connected easily, and General Oma began to move her arms and legs experimentally. "Well, it works but... being undead... not what I expected. What exactly 'is' a dullahan?" She asked as she started to sit up, gratefully flashing a smile to the Sorcerer King as she wrapped the cloak around her body.

"A harvester of lives, perhaps you restored to this state because of your profession as a general, in ancient stories, the Dullahan would ride in a wagon of bones and harvest the souls of the living due to die. How powerful you may become, remains to be seen, but a better description of a General, I cannot name." Ainz explained with a 'partial lie', and rose to his feet.

Oma went to one knee and bowed her head deeply, "I am grateful for my restoration, and... while this body feels very different, I confess it feels..." She took a deep breath that she no longer needed, "fantastic. But... might I ask for some clothing? It feels... a little drafty right now." She said with an amused smile and a slight rose flush coming to her cheeks. The Sorcerer King pointed to one of the servants and gestured her to General Oma, who was escorted away to dress, but he did not break his stride otherwise, or lose control over his audience.

"Now then..." Ainz looked to the Guardian Overseer, "Albedo, the mirror. Let them see."

"My Lord." She bowed her head deeply in acknowledgement and strode purposefully from the room, returning only a moment later with the Mirror of Remote Viewing. She erected it at the head of the table, and as the leaders of the world looked on, tension grew in the bodies of the great as their many eyes focused solely upon the actions of the radiant succubus.

Neia though, had eyes only for the Sorcerer King, 'A gathering of power here like the world has never seen, yet any ignorant one from anywhere could enter, and they would not have to ask who rules here.' Goosebumps conquered her flesh as she watched his miracles unravel as if they were trivial chores, Neia's eyes watered while he called Draudillon over to tend her loyal servant, and that did not change as the two stood up after expressing their gratitude.

Ainz turned back to the assembly, his boney fingers formed a pyramid, and he radiated malice, shadows flew from him as if frightened. As the shadows fled, they raced over the faces of the delegates, who felt the cold touch of the grave racing over exposed skin. The most disciplined kept their shudders to themselves, but most... did not, or could not. "Now, there is a price for everything, and consequences apply to all. Today, this means I owe the Slane Theocracy abundant pain. They have an army of forty thousand, this group is made up of disgraced nobles, criminals, expelled magic students, humans considered disposable even by the standards of the Slane Theocracy. They have been marching east to prevent Queen Draudillon from going west, but they reversed course to join with their comrades and take advantage of the uprising in the North."

Enri shuffled her feet and looked down at them unhappily as her army's condition was described. "Sire, I promise order will be restored soon..." She said urgently, only to stop as the Sorcerer King waved it away.

"It doesn't matter, they only expose the rebellious elements when it is most convenient to crush them, better now when an army is present, than two years later when there isn't one." Ainz shrugged the matter off. "Besides, I can trust you to handle it. And if you have trouble, don't worry, I will send General Baraja to assist you."

The casual statement sent a shiver down Enri's spine as she imagined just how far the Black Paladin would go. 'Is he promising me help or threatening my conscience to motivate me... is there even a difference? Is he telling me there is value in what she does?' She fretted over the unspoken questions, but could not bring herself to speak them, she only nodded numbly and kept her head bowed in deference.

"Regardless, they will not reach their destination." He looked to the door as Oma returned fully dressed, "Pope Neia, General Oma, follow me, the rest... watch the mirror." Ainz said as he pointed dramatically to the priceless artifact, before stepping through the [Gate], followed by the two commanders.

The snow crunched underfoot as the trio stepped out of Forton and into the snow around them. Flakes fell as gracefully as rose petals to the ground. Trees surrounded them, and shining high sun reflected brightly off the pure white ground. Evergreen trees cast shade not only from the trunks, but from the snowy canopies that were made when flakes bunched together in the thick, high branches.

Neia watched as her breath made fog in front of her, and found that she was alone in doing so, General Oma fell in to the left of the Sorcerer King, and though her chest rose and fell, it seemed to be more the habit of her body than by the act of actually breathing. 'She's a pretty one too... no, bad Neia, what's with you?! Focus on business!' She thought to herself and let happiness fill her as she enjoyed being in the company of the Sorcerer King.

"This way." He said succinctly and stepped forward, the two followed the crunch of snow underfoot was almost the only sound to disturb the tranquility around them for several minutes, but as they walked, Neia gradually heard the sound of a much greater and very well known sound, the sound of many marching feet.

Though she and General Oma traded glances, neither spoke until they stepped out of the clearing. Ainz raised his hand and pointed to the enormous column of tens of thousands marching eight abreast. Many rode on expensive warhorses, and behind all that was a long wagon train.

Their eyes followed where he pointed, until his finger pointed far ahead of the column. "There comes one man, he and he alone will live to bear witness to this, whether he is a scout, a lost one, or what, does not matter, what does matter is that he carries word of this that reaches Kami Miyako, and know two things, first that there is a price for assassinating those who lead under my rule, and second... that they cannot succeed anyway." His voice was even and calm, but long familiarity showed with the subtle finality of his movements that he was a being full of wrath.

"I take it I am to announce their deaths?" Neia asked as she clapped her hands together and rubbed them together.

"You are." Ainz confirmed with a slow nod. "And General Oma, you will announce your resurrection, then ride to return to General Musan, it won't take you long, at least not on your mount."

"Sire... pardon me, but... my mount?" She asked and scratched her head, from which hair, long and white, hung gracefully and straight.

"You are a dullahan, your skills include the ability to summon a mount. Focus within yourself, you should gain a feel for your new gifts." Ainz patiently said to her, as he watched the army march on the road at the base of the hill on which they stood. General Oma kept her eyes closed for a moment as she obeyed his command.

"Reaping..." She whispered, and a scythe took shape in her hand. Long and curved as a farming implement, she felt power coursing through her body, it seemed to have no weight, despite being taller than she and having a large, long curved head. "Summon mount." She whispered, and a black hole opened up in the ground beside her, and a black horse with red eyes, thickly muscled and exuding hot black smoke from his body, nickered and neighed beside her, its large, heavy hooves brought smoke and steam from the ground and the snow melted where it touched. She put a gentle, pale blue hand to his snout, "Nice to meet you too, Ichabod."

"Ichabod?" Neia asked curiously.

"It's his name, don't ask how I know, it simply 'is'." Oma shrugged it off.

Someone finally caught sight of the three on the hill, and an alarm began to sound.

"It is time." Ainz said formally and laid his hand on Neia's shoulder. "Announce it, give them fear, tell them why they die, and then I will bring death to them."

"My Lord!" Neia responded loudly, her eyes filled with the darkness that marked or marred her. All thoughts and troubles faded away to nothing as she took up the mantle of being her lord's herald, and her voice echoed over the open ground, "Death comes to you, Army of the Slane Theocracy! Cowards! Curs! Fools! Your agents struck down General Oma of the Draconic Kingdom, in the way of cowards, in the darkness and shadow. Fearing her in the day, you took a hero's life from her Queen in the night! Now she has been restored!" Neia fairly glowed with holy light, ecstatic in the power of the moment, she fell to her knees in reverence for her sacred duty as the voice of her class shattered even the tumult and panic below, even down to the thundering of forty thousand pounding hearts. Her arm outstretched and finger pointed to the pale blue woman.

General Oma mounted her horse, and reaching up, plucked her head from her shoulders and held it up for all to see. The horse reared back, its enormous hooves kicking outward, and from its mouth came not the whinny of a beast, but a death scream that left fear in those who heard it.

"To strike down the living servants of our lord, is to raise undead ones in their stead!" Neia did not need to shout, her call was calm, but it reverberated over the field such that it shook the branches of the trees beyond the army and the snow fell to the ground as if struck dead.

"Now know the truth of what you have unleashed, and know death comes for you and all behind you!" She could barely restrain a laugh as she fell silent and turned to look up at the Sorcerer King. "Father, I believe they begin to understand."

Down below, soldiers struggled to restrain frightened horses... and themselves, as terror began to take hold of their hearts.

Ainz stepped forward, putting them a pace behind him. "Do not move from where you are." He instructed them, then he spread his arms before him and asked Neia quietly, "Do you know what the goal of all life is?"

"For me, it is service." She replied humbly, 'No matter what the price.' She added within her own mind.

'Good, perfect cover for using this.' Ainz thought to himself, then said in a noble voice, "No..." he pointed to the terror-stricken soldiers and finished, [Skill... The Goal of All Life is Death]. Having said 'skill' so softly that nobody, not even the undead beside him, could hear it, he then firmly and loudly cast the spell, [Maw of Ammit].

A great and terrible energy went out, sweeping the field, and a gigantic clock gear manifested behind the Sorcerer King which audibly ticked down the seconds, while those seconds led only to more chaos below as the fear caused some to die before the magic itself as they were kicked or trampled by horses or their fellow soldiers. And the world died.

Ramka looked around in a panic, soldiers were running left and right, units forming up wherever they could as the terrible voice shattered the backbone of their resolve and pronounced their doom. Though but three stood upon a hill, it wilted the courage of his tens of thousands of comrades. 'Oma? Who is Oma?' He wondered, at a loss as to why anyone would give a damn about one assassination. "Screw it!" He shouted as someone hammered into his shoulder and knocked him aside in a desperate bid to abandon their position, a horse screamed in the pitiable way animals do as the man atop it kicked his heels hard into the terrorized beast in an attempt to ride it to safety. Ramka dove out of the way as the pounding voice finished its dark pronouncement.

His heart pounded in his chest, he felt his breath come hard and fast as someone pushed him hard as he staggered and he fell to the ground. 'Home, I want to go home... oh gods, how did I end up here? How?! All I took was one damn chicken!" He felt a kick to his ribs, and winced in pain as they cracked from the force as the person tripped on his body. But that at least gave him a moment to start to rise, he pushed himself up from the ground, and just got to his knees when he saw it.

'No... what the hell is that?! Gods preserve us! Gods preserve us! Gods preserve us!' He screamed in his mind as an enormous black maw seemed to rise from the ground itself, jagged shadows shaped like teeth blotted out the sky as it moved over the army from the front to the back. A brief memory came to him, of his childhood, seeing a serpent unhinge its jaw and swallow an enormous rat. 'So this is what it was like for the rat...' Ramka thought in a flash of clarity before he got to his feet, threw aside his shield and helmet, then tried to run for the 'edge' the side of the shadow mouth. But to his horror, he found himself, his fellows and everything being sucked back to the maw. He fell down on the ground, desperately clawing through the slippery snow. 'No! No! NO! I want to go home! I want to go home! I want...' Then the shadow closed, and he didn't want anything anymore, as he and all his army, ceased to exist at all.

 _...Great Conference of Forton..._

"By the gods under the hills..." The Troll Kingdom ambassador whispered as he looked through the mirror. An enormous blackness captured all the world, or seemed to from where onlookers could see, it covered the field, many times darker than the span between the night stars, it engulfed the marching host. It fell over the living along the road and swept over the entire army, and as the darkness faded... the bodies became as one with the shadows cast by the power of the king, then broke away and drifted into nothingness, like ash carried off when paper was burned and still left with clinging embers to devour the remainder.

When the endless black was gone, so was the army, soldiers, their equipment, horses, wagons, even the trees and grass were gone where the shadow of death had touched, only impressions of everything that had been, remained to show that they had been there at all.

"He... pointed to them... and they died... no... they disappeared... erased from existence itself. No... bodies, no equipment, the land is just swept clean of life..." Esgas muttered in a daze as he looked around at the other guests, a bit relieved to see that they were showing the same reaction.

'So... this is what it felt like for General Nimble...' Jircniv thought as he rubbed his eyes furtively. 'Seeing is not believing, because I see it... and I still can't believe it...' He shut his eyes and silently blessed whichever ancestor had led him to inherit the wisdom to surrender his Empire to the Sorcerer King, before he became a hindrance instead of an asset.

...Slane Theocracy's army...Massacre Site...

"The goal of all life... is Death..." Neia whispered to herself in a daze. 'Never will I forget that.' She promised as she looked out over the now empty field, devoid of the snow.

"Completely erased..." General Oma muttered in awe, and to her right, Neia began to applaud enthusiastically.

Across the field, the lone survivor watched as the army he was to join was wiped from existence, erased as if by the will of the gods. "By the... No... how...?" General Boabdil wondered aloud, he rubbed his eyes over and over again, raising his hands, then lowering them to look again each time as if sure he must have imagined it. When he finally accepted the horrible emptiness, he got down off his horse and fell to his knees with his arms out, hands far from his body, he wept for the dead who did not even have bodies left to bury, and cast his eyes to the cold and uncaring sky where he'd lived his life thinking that the gods watched over his people. "Why?! Where are you?! Where are you now?! Please! Please! Bring them back! We're you're children?! Your faithful! Did you choose us, just to leave us to this?! Do you not love us?! Then save us! Do something! Please! No more! No more!" He screamed until he was hoarse, and could scream no more, like a victim of torture who had broken under the lash of their tormentor.

When his rage was drained and only a sad state of childlike incomprehension, he fell forward into the snow. The cold cut into his hands and sapped his strength, the frozen wind carried past his body as if it were carrying away what hope he still had left to himself, until he slumped into the ground and felt the cold spread where the snow touched his cheek. "Damn you... damn you all..." He barely managed to whisper the words, and he did not look to the sky again.

'I don't want to get up. I don't want to get up. I don't want to get up. I don't want to move, it's useless, it's all useless, we never had a chance at all... we kill their generals, they come back as undead, we fight their armies, they bring dragons. We raise champions to fight, and they bring champions of their own, while also taking ours away from us. We draw on our priests and paladins... they create paladins of black and red and a pope who breaks our will with her voice... We call on the gods... they bring out a god to crush our cries for help... I don't want to do this anymore...' He thought as his tears froze against his face. The General did not have the strength to pound his fist in frustration. He felt too heavy to move, and every snowflake that covered him bore the weight of a mountain where it landed.

Ainz looked over to General Oma, "Before you go to your army, watch that one who lived, make sure he does not die, send him away alive to carry word of what happened here, then go and rejoin your own. I'm sure General Musan will be happy to have his workload lightened." He said somewhat teasingly.

"As you wish, divine one." General Oma put her head back on her body and nodded it humbly.

"Come along Neia, let's go back." Ainz said solemnly. 'Why does nobody ever laugh when I make a joke?' He wondered to himself as they walked away from General Oma and over to the [Gate] that appeared a few feet behind them.

At the great conference, Revered Speaker Esgas watched with fascination. His sky blue eyes were raptly held to the elegant mirror as it displayed the distant scene. 'What a useful means of keeping watch, with a legion of those things, one could watch an entire country without ever setting foot over its borders. Have they turned it on our people?' He wondered and stroked his black bearded chin thoughtfully. Goosebumps rose afresh on his deep tan skin. 'Why reveal that they have something this useful though... unless they want us to know or... just don't care because it is trivial to them?' He wondered further, no answer seemed satisfactory, and for most of them, he swallowed hard as he considered the possibilities.

All that was wiped away, they heard no sound, but whatever the pope had said had sent chaos into forty thousand, and then... under Albedo's control, the view of the mirror swept over the entirety of the assembled host... and Esgas watched them disappear like they had never existed. His tanned skin paled, nor was he the only one. 'By the Wyvern Maker... how is such a thing possible...?' He looked to his left and craned his neck to look up at the Troll Kingdom Ambassador's face. 'We might not always have been on the best terms, his kingdom and ours, but in this we are united. We must not bring such wrath down upon our peoples.' The troll's gray skin went a little bit whiter, and he swallowed loud enough for a number of his neighbors to have heard him.

Ambassador Gran felt the Revered Speaker look up at him as he'd swallowed. He lowered his eyes away from the mirror to exchange a look, his hazel eyes locked on sky blue, and they shared a moment of understanding. 'Our armies together are perhaps two hundred thousand, between my trolls and his wyverns and supporting infantry... if the stories are true then the undead has at least two spells... if that even was a spell... that can utterly destroy us. Worse, we can't even get rid of his subordinates because he'll raise them as legendary undead! I had hoped to find some weakness in this new western order but instead... I find a warning we must all heed.' His thoughts raced as fast as stones rolling down a mountain, only to be stopped short.

Queen Draudillon was completely relaxed, though the smile that formed on her lips was just a little bitter. 'Had my wild magic possessed that kind of power, I could have saved my nation in a day instead of dying by inches. For that matter, he did it without sacrificing a soul... amazing, beautiful, wonderful, terrible... but under his rule... we are secure at last. Yet... I find I envy him not a little, having that kind of power.' She reached for her cup and brought it to her lips, and savored the taste of juice instead of wine.

'Damn, no kill like overkill.' Zesshi thought to herself and smirked at the destruction of the nation that had betrayed her, 'So that's the power that had the cardinals shitting their robes, no wonder... but it makes their war all the more suicidal. Well, at least I ended up eating dirt by way of that dark elf boy instead of facing... well... that.'

"Fear not," Albedo said sweetly, she covered her mouth with one oh-so dainty-looking hand, and giggled cryptically from behind it, "my Lord has not used his greatest powers, he has limited himself severely since he was only destroying one small army, you are perfectly safe 'here'." When the Guardian Overseer ceased to speak and ceased to giggle, she let her hand rest at her side and gave them a warm and matronly expression as her golden eyes shone like the sun.

But from the Karnassus City State Alliance to the Minotaur Kingdom and everywhere in between, it drove their thoughts into abject pandemonium. They dared not move, cry out, or speak as the Sorcerer King returned with the Black Paladin. Radiant black eyes remained fixed forward as his living weapon in the war of words walked to her place at the table across from General Enri.

She did not even try to suppress the shadow that lived in her eyes. 'If I am bound to speak for death, then so be it, you wanted me to look at you, General Enri? Very well, but only a fool asks the abyss to look into them.' She thought to herself, but this time, General Enri did not look at her.

Enri's thoughts were in a tumult of doubt and self recrimination as she looked to avoid the eyes she'd so recently demanded face her. 'Forty thousand... OK, they were soldiers... but... damn it, am I the hypocrite here? How many dead by my orders? Maybe... maybe I was too hard on her? But the deaths of all those people... civilians... is that really the best way? Who the hell says they'll hang themselves?! Who says 'anything' like that? Is she right, is it the only way? Am I hiding from my responsibility so I can sleep at night? I know what Lupu is, I have to know what she's doing, am I just pretending I'm not responsible so I can play the good guy...? Who can I even talk to about this? Not Lupusregina, friend or not, she'd never understand this sort of thing... there is... one, who might, damnit...'

Without looking up, Enri quietly said, "General Baraja... can I ask you for a favor?"

This caught Neia off guard, the voice of the peasant general was like a trembling leaf, 'No, did I... no, I don't think I hurt her too... shit what the hell is she going to ask for... wait, did I use my evangelism against her without knowing it? No... yes... aw hell, better answer!' She thought in a rush, and nodded once, saw that her opposite number still hadn't looked up. 'Oh.' Neia thought.

"Yes, General Enri?" Neia asked quietly and pushed the blackness out of her eyes to restore them to their native blue.

"If you don't mind... I... I'd like to talk to Lady Lakyus. Do you think you could ask her to come here, and maybe ask that she be gated? It is important." Enri stumbled over the words, unsure of how they were received, she forced herself to look up, and found the deep abyss was gone from the woman in front of her.

"Yes, of course." Neia said to her curiously,. 'Is she going to talk about me? Is she going to try to turn my friends against me? No... she wouldn't do that, would she? Would she? No help for it, I already said yes, I'll just... discreetly inquire later...'

"With this, the Slane Theocracy has only one martial force remaining, save for a few minor fortifications, village militias, and the city defense forces. Total, all gathered together, they number maybe thirty thousand. With the one remaining army of the North, they are perhaps ninety thousand strong, and their remaining elites among the scriptures are countable with your hands even if you were missing a few fingers." Ainz said as he drew himself to his full height, and the table went silent.

Ainz let his glowing red eyes pass over each attendee. 'Remember, eye contact is key to sales, they've just seen the stick, now to show them the carrot, a chance to avoid the stick more easily.' He thought to himself, and began.

"So now with that said, and the inevitable now clear to all, we will commence with the true purpose of the Forton Conference, laying out the state of the postwar world, between my people, and our neighbors. So that all may know where we stand in all things, and so that no 'misunderstanding' leads to needless war."

He let his eyes travel to them again, watching faces for expressions of curiosity or interest living alongside the fear they had no doubt just experienced in the last hour, seeing the 'accidental' creation of a 'legendary undead' and the destruction of an army in the span of seconds. They were focused, that was clear, their eyes did not waver from him even a little from the time of his return to the moment the mirror was moved aside and he took his place at the head of the table once more.

"I would first propose that we establish an international council of permanently stationed diplomats, where all kingdoms are represented all year round and issues resolved peaceably, that the wastefulness of war does not become inevitable." Ainz said, stretching out his right hand as if to take theirs within his, and drawing his left to himself, "I value tranquility and peace, artistry and accomplishments, the chaos of war and mindless destruction are anathema to me. It is because my people and I were drawn back to this world from our long contemplations and our work within our home by those who sought to steal from us, that I have come to realize we could not ignore the world forever as we had..."

Jircniv bit his lip sharply, 'I wonder where the world would be now, had I not drawn him out into it again?' Some faces around him looked confused, uncertain, a few glanced to him, seeing his discomfort and surmising he played a role in it all.

Ainz ignored this byplay and moved on, "So to that end, we should create a venue where all may bring their issues to the fore, publicly, and create a system of 'international laws' by which all will abide and by which all are held accountable. This recent war has left many lessons that we may apply to the new standards, and I would like to propose a few of those now... do I have your ears further? Raise your hand if this proposal holds your

interest at the very least." He polled for the vote and watched hands go up.


	178. Duty and Responsibility

God Rising: The Cult of Ainz

Written by: AtheistBasementDragon

Edited by: The Usual Gang of Drunken Perverted Idiots

Chapter 178: Duty and Responsibility

 **AN: Happy Holidays! Since we had some people donate food to food banks, I'm doing a short chapter bomb instead of just a winter vacation. Seven chapters, 6 GR and one Discord Exclusive comedy moved over. Enjoy... But one more thing!**

 **AN TRIGGER WARNING: This warning will appear on a number of chapters going forward. I don't normally do these, but given the delicate subject matter... I think it necessary. Some of you have noticed that the character of Neia Baraja has become increasingly violent. As those of you who read the Synod are aware, she by this point, has developed SEVERE PTSD (Post Traumatic Stress Disorder) due to the things she's seen and done. I have done my best to write it in such a way that this mental health condition is treated RESPECTFULLY and not some TRIVIALIZED GIMMICK, any defects found therein, are mine. Her mistakes, her outbursts, nightmares, aggressiveness, defensiveness, and her desensitization toward and increasingly reactionary resorting to violence are all part of that, as is... unfortunately, the state of mind that has her starting to believe she is beyond help or hope, and those of you who are observant, have noticed it building for awhile. I realize this makes her less... likeable. But I hope it helps to make her more 'real', and if you know someone like this in the real world... please... get them help. Also, if it helps... the Synod deals heavily with her attempt at coming back, so... while I hate to give spoilers, don't lose hope for her.**

 _...Nimble's Column..._

The clanking column's shining armor caught the light of the sun and their halberd points were ramrod straight in the arms of their wielders. The knights of the Baharuth Empire marched perfectly in sync with one another, as foot fell beside foot; every halberd, every pike, every spear was equally level. The closed face protection of the knight's helmets robbed them of their human faces. At the same time, the long and winding march of the four man wide column, moving along the dirt road, kicked up an enormous cloud of dust that the village could see for miles.

Nimble looked over his shoulder and suppressed the expression of the pride he felt in these consummate professionals. The village ahead was making a lot of noise. 'I shouldn't be surprised.' He thought, as he heard the sound of shouting and alarm. 'They had to have heard or seen us coming a mile away at least. Damn fools.' He reached into his pocket and pulled out the set of orders, each village had orders scrawled next to it, some read 'exterminate', some read 'suppress', some read 'occupy' and a very few read, 'protect'.

He traced his finger down the line to see whether a little bit of ink would see a few hundred people dead or not. His hand stopped and moved to the right to read the order. "Alright, 'exterminate' it is." He looked to the drummer next to him. "Sound the order for extermination when we get within a bowshot."

"Sir." The young drummer replied abruptly.

General Nimble sighed, "Damn fools." He muttered angrily, "If you'd just taken prisoners, or if you'd just disobeyed, you'd live, what the hell were you thinking, killing off the little garrison here wasn't going to win you anything..." He relaxed his body as the column came close, he saw the handful of villagers in the distance, they had a complement of archers lining up, a hundred and fifty at a glance, maybe more, in a loose, crude formation, ready to fight against his column of tens of thousands.

"Brave... but stupid." Nimble said quietly and drew his sword, before the first arrow was loosed, the drummer boy sounded the order, a cavalry officer blew his horn, and the thunder of hooves echoed over open ground as they began to charge the little place. 'In an hour, there won't be a single person alive over the age of fourteen left there. In two hours, I'll have the surviving children secured and sent off to whatever place the Sorcerer King is keeping them, and in two weeks, the burned out ruins of this village will already have started to decay. In two years, nobody will remember it existed at all.' He thought as he spurred his horse forward, leading another column around the rear of the open, unwalled village to cut off the escape of anyone who might be old enough to rebel again. "Damn fools. Such brave, damn fools," he spat out, as he spotted a handful of villagers armed with swords attempt to charge his force, unarmored and on foot, as if they had a chance against mounted and armored cavalry. 'I wonder...' He thought briefly before he wheeled to meet the counterattack, 'Do they know it's all useless?'

He never got a chance to ask them.

 _...Massacre Site..._

Snow came down in large but gently drifting flakes around General Oma. The powder deepened over the earth beneath the hooves of Ichabod, and her icy gaze went from the empty road, to the lone survivor who had cast himself into the snow. The blanket of the sky wiped away all traces that anyone had ever walked the road before her, as if the world itself rejected the notion that they had ever lived. In the distance, the figure who had witnessed it all lay unmoving. 'I suppose I've waited long enough.' General Oma thought to herself, and shook her head, casting off the snow that settled in her long white hair. 'If I wait too long for him to move, he'll never move again.' She tapped her heels into the flanks of Ichabod, and the massive percheron horse trod a snowy path from where it stood, to where he lay.

She reached a position merely a foot from him, Ichabod's hooves rose and fell in the snowy ground, as if asking her to let him trample the fallen man. She granted no such permission, but rather took her scythe from off her back, and poked the butt of it into the man's body. "Hey, get up, get up, I'm afraid it isn't time for you to die just yet." She said to him in a fairly impatient voice.

"I don't want to, just... leave me alone, if you want to kill me, kill me, it doesn't matter what position I'm in, you can do that regardless of whether I'm lying down, kneeling, or standing up. I never bought that whole 'die on your feet' crap. You're not less or more dead based on what position you're cut down in, so just do what your master wants, and finish me." He replied in a broken voice.

"My master didn't order your death, survivor. He said you have a purpose to fulfill before you can die, and I should see that you rise to the occasion... more or less." She shrugged passively and poked him again. "Look, I can keep poking you all day if I have to, but I'd rather be somewhere else, the least you can do is look up at me, it's rude not to look at the one you're talking to." She pointed out critically, as if she were remarking on poor table manners.

"I guess that's true..." He grumbled, "Dead in an hour or a minute, the least I can be is polite before the end." He groaned in pain while his body resisted his orders. He rose to all fours and then pushed himself up to his knees, his bones ached, his muscles ached, the cold had sapped his strength and it was only with the greatest effort that he managed even that much, before raising his head to look up at the dullahan before him.

General Oma put her scythe away, "Better... now, maybe you didn't understand me before, but I'll repeat, I'm not here to kill you, you have a job to do."

Boabdil frowned, "A job?" He asked and furrowed his brow. "I don't work for your master, what job?"

General Oma nodded, "That is precisely why the job is yours. You have seen his Majesty's will and power, you have seen 'me' the dead General Oma, restored to unlife far more powerful than I left it. You will bear this knowledge away from this place, return to your people, make them listen, make them see reason and surrender."

General Boabdil laughed bitterly, "You don't recognize me, I take it." He replied, giving her a smile as bitter as his laugh.

She cocked her head, "No, should I?"

"I know you, General Oma, though we haven't met... many years ago when my nation sent a handful of retired Black Scriptures to your country, I sent with them, a number of my aides to assist in training your officer corps. You were just a junior officer then, but when my people returned, they spoke highly of a junior officer of great talent, in spite of her 'tainted blood'." The last two words had a distasteful emphasis on them, and so she tensed only slightly in body at their utterance. "I am General Boabdil."

"I see." She raised an eyebrow with interest, "Well, it is a shame we are on opposing sides, but... perhaps it is better if you know who you're dealing with, I like to think I've conducted myself in such a way that you will take my word for it when I say your cause is lost, no matter what I look like now." She answered him and removed her head from her body. Rather than dismount, she let it sit in her palm and extended her arm so that her head was now closer to him.

"Am I right?" She asked pointedly.

Boabdil sighed, "You're not wrong at least but... I will make a poor voice. As far as the Theocracy is concerned, I'm dead. I was classified as 'defeatist' and Cardinal Dominic took my wife hostage and threatened her with death if I did not take my own life. I managed to fake my suicide and take on a different identity to continue my service but... well, you see the problem, don't you? Even if I do this, it will be as someone without credibility, and if I use my true name to gain it, my wife will die."

General Oma frowned, then flipped her arm up so that her head flew up and landed conveniently on her neck. "Neat, wasn't sure I'd make that shot." She said casually. "Alright, well..." She bit her lower lip and let them fidget aimlessly as she thought of one problem after another. "Damn, that is a problem." She took a deep breath and held it for several minutes, her arms folded over her chest, she tapped her fingers on her left bicep as she contemplated what to do.

"I suppose, out of respect for your conduct in this war... and for your past assistance to my country, I can intercede on your behalf, ask if someone will shelter your wife, and give you a free hand to reassert your life and let you speak the truth and save what you can. I mean... if you really want to die, I guess you could. But don't you have a duty to your people at least?" She said simply as she stroked the mane of her precious mount.

"Help an old man to his feet, will you?" He asked and raised a hand, she took it, and easily hefted him upright before letting go.

"Death or duty isn't a choice, and I guess if I really want to die, doing so because I did my duty is as good a way as any." He said solemnly. "But... can I ask something?"

"I suppose, I don't know if I'll have the answer, but you can ask it." General Oma replied with a shrug.

"Why do this? Why not just use all this power and wipe us out? Or let the red hand and the other vengeful hosts come and do it. Why even offer us a chance to save ourselves?" General Boabdil asked in confusion.

"I honestly don't know the answer to that... but if I can propose something...?" She asked tentatively as she sat back on her horse.

"Go ahead?" He asked in rapt attention as he went over to his own mount... which had backed several feet away on its own.

"When it comes to something like that, don't look at him, look at those around him. From what I know of Lord Ainz, everything he does has a reason, or multiple reasons. If something he does, doesn't make sense, then the problem is never on his end, but in our own limited vision." She sighed with exasperation, "It's no state secret that this scared even our Queen, to see how far ahead he thought, she talked often of it in breathless awe. He must have some reason to not simply unleash everyone on you, I don't know what, but a word of advice... be glad of that and take advantage of it. Save what you can, General Boabdil, or save nothing at all. He's given you a chance, and it is more than most kings give their enemies."

Boabdil nodded somberly as he got into the saddle of his horse... "I... yes. I will bear the sight of their deaths with me for as long as I live, but perhaps I can at least give their deaths meaning by using it as a warning to end things before... well, before the worst."

"Goodbye, General Oma." General Boabdil replied, and wheeling his horse back the way he came, he began to ride away.

General Oma watched her enemy leave, and when he was a distance beyond her, she turned her horse around and began to ride west, Ichabod continued to pick up speed, her long hair whipped up in the wind behind her as she spurred him on faster and faster, and somehow, without knowing how she knew... she knew he simply would not, could not tire... very much like herself.

 _...Kami Miyako..._

"Forgive me, Lady Solution, I find myself tired this evening." Raymond said as he slumped at his desk.

"You're only human." She said with the same smile she had on her face when Raymond knew she was eating somebody inside herself.

He managed a laugh when she said that, it was common byplay between the two of them now. "You sure about that?" He asked playfully for the hundredth time.

"I'll know better if they let me taste you." She licked her lips hungrily as she looked at him.

He only rolled his eyes, and signed the document in front of him. "No doubt, no doubt. By the way, does a human taste differently than a demon?" He asked curiously as the question suddenly came to him.

"Very." Solution said firmly.

"What's the difference?" He asked, vaguely aware of how surreal the conversation was.

"Humans taste kind of like..." She tapped her chin as she thought and looked away... "kind of like pork. Demons... well I've only eaten weak ones but... they're spicy, kind of like flavored jerked beef." She explained, wiping her mouth as she started to salivate, and finished off the target inside herself that she'd been saving as a snack for later. She cut off the scream to avoid the annoyance while she talked, but savored the trembling agony of the rest by slowly dissolving the living flesh.

Raymond took a sip of tea, he smirked as he recognized the very slight change of expression on her face as she ate someone. 'Is this really me?' He wondered to himself, 'I'm a defender of humanity... I'm doing all this 'for' us... but a half a year ago I couldn't have killed another human except at absolute need... now? I can smirk while one is consumed inside a slime? And enjoy it? What a difference... to think I could enjoy all this?'

As if she could read his mind, she chuckled, "See," She said, "You're just a lesser demon. It's kind of funny, really." She said as she finished off the remainder of the person inside her.

"How's that?" He asked as he poured a little milk into his tea and stirred.

"Most of your species are like sheep, easily herded, sheared, and slaughtered, you do it yourselves all the time. But sometimes some of you seem to be born with souls that aren't like the rest. You wreak havoc, you destroy, you kill and love it, oh you have your reasons and justifications sure..." Solution giggled at the pretense and went to sit down in front of him on the opposite side of the desk, she rested her head in one hand as she laid her elbow down and looked at Raymond, "but the truth is, you enjoy it. You pick your favorite type of kill, and you kill, and believing rightly or wrongly that it will get you something else after that, is just a bonus."

Raymond set aside the milk and brought the cup to his lips as she spoke. "Ahhh, that really is good. Getting damned hard to come by though, that's it for the milk and there's been no new tea at market for weeks." He thought aloud as he set the cup back down. "So you think I'd have been a killer no matter what?" He asked curiously, letting out a slight huff that might have meant anything.

Solution nodded, "I know the soul of a killer very well, and that's you, Cardinal Raymond. You're like a demonic sheepdog."

He choked on his next sip of tea as she said that, sputtering some out and drawing a laugh from the buxom blonde beauty opposite him as he pounded his chest and coughed it out.

"A what now?" He asked incredulously when he regained himself.

When Solution stopped laughing, she went on, "Wolves just prey randomly on sheep, but the most successful wolves become sheepdogs, keeping a large number of prey to themselves for their own use. The sheep think of the sheepdogs as their protectors, but I've seen your cities and I laugh at that."

He raised one eyebrow and lowered another, looking at her cockeyed, "You're going to have to explain that one."

"Your nobles and merchants live in great castles, palaces, manors and mansions, your senior military officers keep wives and concubines, using the wealth they acquire to push themselves higher and pursue their own pleasure, and it all depends on the sheep below to obey them, which the sheep happily do because you demonic sheepdogs are, to them, protectors from the wolves. But any way you put it, they're going into somebody's belly. They're just more scared of the wolves than they are of you." Solution laughed louder as Raymond went quiet, she rapped her fingers on the table as if counting the time before his rebuttal.

He finished his tea and sat up straight, "I 'am' doing this for a higher cause you know, I'm not joking about that. My nation has destroyed its potential; through our corruption, through our pointless cruelty, we created a system that can only fail. I'm not doing this just for pleasure."

"I don't doubt your devotion, I'm just saying that without it, you'd be killing anyway. You take to it too easily, and you enjoy it too much for me to believe otherwise, and what's more, you know I'm right." She leaned closer, he didn't flinch away. 'Brave one.' She thought to herself as her monster smile spread over her face.

"Speaking of, how is Nua doing with her training?" Raymond asked idly.

Solution, sensing his desire for a change of subject, and that she'd get no further with that one, sat back and answered him, "Stubbornly, if I had to pick a word for it; she's got a high tolerance for pain, that one." Solution looked at him archly.

'Your people are to thank for that.' It was an unspoken sentiment, one he was reminded of regularly, and which he never asked that she not say, the reminder fueled his rage.

"But?" He asked.

Solution let out a heavy sigh and slumped backward herself, letting her arms fall against her side, "She just has no killer instinct. She managed to make a kill in Nazarick, but that was in a moment of fury, and that doesn't come easy to her. She learns the forms, she takes the blows, she practices her counters, but even though she can't possibly hurt me, she doesn't have the will to try to do it."

"What will you do?" Raymond asked with interest as he slid the now empty teacup across the table to the maid.

"Play to her strengths I suppose she needs escape skills, teach her how to flee effectively, use her surroundings to her advantage, and teach her how to disable rather than kill. Not what I'm best at, but I'm good enough to teach the likes of her." Solution replied.

"The likes of who?" Nua asked as she entered the room casually.

"You." Solution replied with amusement.

"Oh, I suppose that makes sense." She said somewhat chastened, then turned to Raymond and extended a letter. "From Enlaith. Coded." She explained.

Raymond nodded and took the document and broke the seal, opening it up. "Well, this is useful."

"What?" Solution asked.

Raymond's fingers were tense, "Enlaith is now the new favorite of a visiting Agante. He's tight lipped, but lets little details slip here and there. This letter includes... you won't believe this."

"What?" Solution and Nua asked in unison as Raymond started to laugh.

"Information about a plan to send a team to assassinate Neia Baraja. Details are sparse, but apparently he promised to come back here after he 'finished off the apostate.' He didn't say which apostate, but there is only one person in a thousand miles who could be called 'the' apostate. A series of teams went out not long ago to target the generals of the various armies, we should pass this along to His Majesty, he'll likely want to set guards of his own to them." Raymond said thoughtfully and reached into his desk drawer for a message scroll.

Nua, thinking of the person that wrought slaughter with ease, whose shadowy eyes sparked terror so great even unconnected elves who barely left their homes in Kami Miyako, heard stories about it, started to laugh.

"Why is he so far behind the others?" Solution asked with rather more caution in her voice.

"It doesn't say. He's a specialist of some sort, but no other information is available here, this does include his name but I don't recognize it, I'll need access to his official record to know why he's selected for this, looks like he's traveled quite a ways though. In... look in honest combat I doubt any one of them would stand a chance but... the Agante are relentless, ruthless fanatics, they'll kill by any means they can." Raymond explained unhappily.

"What makes them so special?" Nua asked when her laughter finally began to die down under Raymond's serious demeanor.

"They're... well, they're not like godkins, but they're similar in that they're raised from childhood for this kind of thing. When parents and families die off and leave children behind, those orphans are raised in special institutions where their abilities are determined, and those best suited for... this kind of thing, are funnelled into a training program that they spend their youths in, venturing out as adults to their assignments. They're raised to be covert agents of chaos and murder for the sake of the gods. They're probably the ones Dominic used to help finish off his opponents. In retrospect I should have seen it when the late Pontifex Maximus showed me the evidence of how Dominic came to power. The sly bastard must have been using Agante loyal to himself against his own government, planting evidence to disgrace some, bribing officials to nominate the right people to temple voting positions, killing others... no wonder he was able to pull it off without being noticed."

Raymond sighed and set the letter down. "It's the same exact thing we've been doing to the dark elves and demihumans for generations to keep them weak and divided, only he used them for himself to get a position of absolute power. Alright, I'm going to send this to His Majesty and then get some rest, hopefully he gets it before any of those teams reach their targets, I don't want to think of what he'd do if any actually succeeded." Raymond shuddered in discomfort.

"Hmpf, that would be something. But for now... see you tomorrow, Raymond. I'm heading out to the next target, but if you can't get to those records by sundown, just let me know where they are. I'll borrow an agent of Nazarick to get to them. I doubt very much you want to see the response out of His Majesty if somebody actually killed General Baraja, so I would make that a priority." Solution said pleasantly as she stood up and walked out, with Nua waiting patiently as Raymond opened the scroll.

A moment later, his eyes became distant, not really seeing her as he focused on what he had to say... and what he had to hear, while in communication with the Sorcerer King.

His face went pale. Nua bit her lip and sat down where Solution had been, waiting patiently but shifting with increasing discomfort as the seconds ticked past.

Finally Raymond's time of communication passed away, and he pounded his fist on his desk hard enough to crack it and shouted, "Damn it! Damn those fools!"

Nua jumped and began to shake in instinctive fear.

He raised his hand, "Sorry, sorry, I'm sorry Nua, I didn't mean to frighten you, it's just..."

"Just?" She asked anxiously.

"Two Agante teams already struck, they failed to kill General Musan, but they got General Oma, the commanders of the Draconic Kingdom army under Queen Draudillon. And... not only did the Sorcerer King raise the deceased general, he turned her to a deadly undead dullahan, and as 'punishment' to my kingdom, he erased one of our only remaining armies... forty thousand, struck dead in an instant..." He sighed breathlessly.

"Oh." Nua said in a neutral voice that sounded slightly happy about it.

Raymond folded his hands on his desk, "It's alright, I don't ask that you mourn the dead of my nation, you don't have to hide your glee from me, I... understand it." His voice was bitter and broken, and his spirit only wilted when she did not revel in the deaths of so many humans.

Instead she got up and went around the desk and sank to her knees next to him so that she was looking up at him affectionately. She reached out and placed her hands in his lap and he turned to look down at her. "You're a good human. I never thought I'd know one, I know how much it hurts to see your people die like this, and I don't enjoy the ache it creates here..." She reached up and touched his chest at the heart, "but don't let it break you. Just make it to the end, and whatever happens... I'll help you, like you've helped me."

Raymond reached out and touched her head, stroking her hair affectionately. She did not flinch from his touch. "You say I'm a good human, Solution says I'm a demon in human skin. Not too long ago, you insisted all humans were demonic, and the human savior of the elves is referred to by humans as a demon herself... who is what is all so confusing, I can't even tell who is good or bad anymore, the only thing I know to be good is that you and those like you will get a better world out of this when it's over. It's really the only thing that lets me know I'm on the right side at this point. I can't ask more of you than that." He gave a bitter laugh, then let his hand come away from her, and she stood up.

"But... you weren't lingering behind just to say this, were you? Why are you really still in here? You have something more for me, don't you?" Raymond asked with a small frown on his face, a sense of dread sweeping over him.

She nodded, "Yes... I went to the market today like you said, to buy grain, fruits, meat; everything we need. You know the prices have been high in the past, but today they shot higher than the walls around this prison of a city. With the refugees streaming in from everywhere, I shouldn't be surprised. I managed to buy grain and a few of the more expensive fruits, it'll be enough for us here in the house... barely. Despite all those people coming from Feron. But I couldn't buy any meat, it's all gone, the butcher shops were shut down in minutes, sold out. With all those new people that recently arrived, this isn't going to get better, and the city is getting packed... dangerous... and expensive."

She started to shake as the memory of fear washed over her. "I... well you dress us better than average, the refugees, they're ragged, but you put me in," she swallowed, "people clothes, to do the shopping, and they look at me with more hatred than I've seen from anyone since Pharmakia; others, they look at me strangely, I worry that they might be crazy. Some of them shake like they're sick and just 'stare' at me. I... I had to get around a few people who got in my way, a human guard who knew me as y-your s-slave... he's the only reason I think they didn't hit me for daring to shop."

Raymond listened patiently, tapping his forefingers together as he took everything in.

"And... there's something else too." She bit her lip anxiously.

"What?" Raymond asked with dread as her body's shaking became subtly greater.

"It's, well... it's the meat. I mean it is all gone from the market, but I saw some people with meat anyway and I can't buy it anywhere for some reason. I talked to the other ah... the other slaves when shopping. None of us are having any luck buying meat for our masters or mistresses. I assume it's only reserved for those who aren't slaves like us. So... who is doing it? And why doesn't it look right?"

"What do you mean it doesn't 'look right'?" Raymond asked calmly.

Nua's eyes glassed over and she reached out and grabbed Raymond's shoulders, hard, harder than she ever had. "I don't know how to explain it, it doesn't have the redness of deer or the thick fattiness of cattle, I've talked with slaves who talked with cooks who have been working with meat longer than your and my lifetime combined, and even though they prepare it for their owners... they don't know what it is either. What is it? Where is it coming from? Raymond please... please I'm getting scared..." Her voice trembled like her body did, and for the first time since he'd met her, she clung to him.

"I don't know what's happening out there, I'm scared to be alone on the street, even wearing a collar so everybody knows I-I'm property, even dressed like a rich man's possession... the looks I get, the change in the spirit of the city... I've lived here for most of my life now... I've always been scared until recently... but now... now I'm more frightened than ever... Please... promise me you won't let anything happen to me out there... I don't... I know I'm all jumbled, none of this makes any sense! But none of it out THERE makes any sense either!" She exclaimed, "The streets are packed, the hatred thick, the fear thicker, the mysteries I'm seeing are tickling at my brain like I'm missing something important... please don't let anything happen, please don't... I don't want to go out there... I don't... I'm afraid one day soon I won't come back."

She bit her lip and pressed her head to him and started crying in fear. "I don't want to be scared again... I. Can't. Go. Back!" She begged for the end of her fears from the only human she trusted. A small part of her thought, 'Please don't disappoint me...' as she felt him contemplate how to answer her.

Raymond's frown deepened and he let her cling to him, gently touching her shoulders so as not to make her feel trapped by an embrace, however well-intentioned it might have been. "The meat could be made by magic... we're always trying new things with that but... it is mainly Yvon's area of oversight; it is capable of all kinds of things though, so I'll put in some inquiries, I'm sure there's a reasonable answer. It's probably nothing, just the fruit of some military magic experiment that is being used to increase our food supplies that is only being rationed to humans and not sold to the public."

"I... I hadn't thought of that... maybe I'm being silly but... still, please don't send me out there again without someone to protect me. The looks the refugees give me... none of your people have been good to me for a long time. But the expressions and eyes I get from the ones out of Feron, the things they whisper to me when trapped in a crowded line and I can't get away from their whispers... when they lean in close... if I weren't wearing the marks of property..." She shuddered. "I've rarely felt such naked hate for me before..."

Raymond nodded gravely, and held Nua's hand, he stroked the top of it slowly with reassurance and spoke in a slow, tender voice. "Feron was the place Aalon took, the survivors who escaped felt the wrath of elves first hand... I'm not surprised, but just remember this... when confronted with the wrath of the elves... they ran away."

Nua smiled, "That... actually makes me feel better. But I still want a guard."

"I'll ask for Solution to go with you." Raymond said without hesitation, and Nua relaxed completely. "I'll also make sure she... 'sternly' cautions those who accost you."

Nua's smile got much, much larger, and Raymond reached up and wiped her tears away with his thumb. "Thank you, Raymond. Now, go ahead and get some rest, you clearly need it, you are after all only human." She said as she stepped away and walked out, leaving him alone.

Raymond scribbled his signature on a few more documents, then got up, blew out the candle, engulfing the room in darkness, and walked to the door. "Only human, huh? I'm not even sure what that means anymore." He muttered as he walked out and went to at least attempt to get some rest.


	179. In the Flesh

God Rising: The Cult of Ainz

Written by: AtheistBasementDragon

Edited by: The Usual Gang of Drunken Perverted Idiots

Chapter 179: In the Flesh

 **AN: Happy Holidays! Since we had some people donate food to food banks, I'm doing a short chapter bomb instead of just a winter vacation. Seven chapters, 6 GR and one Discord Exclusive comedy moved over. Enjoy... But one more thing!**

 **AN TRIGGER WARNING: Scenes involving the character of Neia Baraja depict the symptoms of PTSD, done as realistically as the author can manage. If you find such instances difficult to read, well you have been cautioned.**

 _...Forton Conference..._

Berenice looked down at her hands. They were a little more pale, but they felt the same as ever. "These are mine...?" She asked herself in a moment alone. She looked into the mirror as she passed it by. The strange but normal hand came up and caressed her cheek. "Younger, more pale but... mine. She smiled, white teeth like the ones she'd always known, those were still there. "By the gods..." She felt a tremor in her spine, she reached up to where her ears were, and moved aside blonde hair to touch the now pointed tip.

She felt her breathing rush, and she scurried into the kitchen and down to the wine cellar. She let herself fall backward against the casks and brought her hand to her forehead. "So this is an elf body... I didn't expect it to feel like this." She looked down at herself, wearing servants clothing made of finer material than a cardinal's formal dress, with black and white frills and a pair of shoes made of an unfamiliar material, she shook her head at the strangeness of it all.

She looked up at the low ceiling and forced herself to breathe more slowly, then she set the tray under her arm, down on a nearby table, and put fresh glasses down. "OK, this is almost as strange as my... body. Me? Cardinal Berenice, a serving girl? Not quite what I had in mind when I asked His Majesty if I could observe the conference. Wait... did I just call the Sorcerer King... 'His Majesty'?" Berenice looked away from her task for a moment, towards the steps that would bring her back up to the kitchen and out into the hall where world leaders and ambassadors of great kingdoms were conversing. There was no sign that her private conversation with herself had drawn any attention.

She relaxed a bit and selected a wine while she thought about just how it had come to this.

 _...The Sorcerer King's Office...weeks earlier..._

"Your Majesty, I thank you for rescuing me, for keeping faith with Zesshi Zetsumei, and... also for your excellent treatment, allowing me the comforts and freedom that you have, sets a standard my nation has never truly equaled, not for guests, and certainly not for prisoners." Berenice said with a grateful bow after her eye opening experience in E-Rantel.

Ainz set aside the document he had in hand, and looked at her with piercing red orbs that once chilled her blood, but now fascinated her without the same fear she'd held before. "You are welcome, Lady Berenice... or do you prefer to be addressed as Cardinal?"

"Just 'Berenice', if you like, Your Majesty. I'm afraid I don't really count as a Cardinal anymore." She smiled bitterly at that, and let her eyes fall away to the floor.

"Berenice, then. As we are alone, then for now just call me 'Ainz'." He replied, and her eyes snapped up to him in disbelief.

"Majesty?" She asked, 'Did I hear that right?' She wondered.

"I said, just call me Ainz, as we are alone. I confess I have little use for titles, they make me... uncomfortable. If respect isn't put into a person's name when they are addressed, what does a title change about that?" He shrugged, "I simply use them because it, for some reason, makes everybody else more comfortable." He answered with dismissive shrug.

Her mind went back to a speech that had fallen into her hand, where Neia had called him the greatest of all monarchs, the example of what a king should be. A stirring in her breast as he dropped all pretense in front of her, told her now that she understood a little of what the then squire was saying.

'Oh good, at last I can relax around someone, it gets 'exhausting' being king all the damn time, it'll be nice to have just a 'normal' conversation for once.' Ainz thought as he saw a matronly, warm smile cross her face.

"But you didn't come here just to say thank you, did you, Berenice?" Ainz asked pointedly.

"No... I..." She hesitated, then spat it out in a rush, "I want to beg your permission to attend the coming conference!" Her hands clenched and her eyes shut as she threw the words off of her tongue as fast as they could be uttered.

Ainz folded one hand over the other on his desk and was quiet for a very long minute. "That would be... a bit strange, don't you think? For someone from a hostile nation to attend a meeting to settle on what the direction of the world will be after her nation ceases to exist?"

Berenice winced, "I... know. I don't mean as a representative, could I... maybe be in disguise, the way I was in E-Rantel?"

"I see, well... you'd have to be unobtrusive but there is one option that will work, if you are willing to wear a different flesh for awhile, and if you are capable of serving... and taking risks? I won't force you, but if this is what you really want, well everything, even things freely given, have a price paid somewhere." Ainz said patiently.

Berenice nodded repeatedly. "I have seen much, seen everything I thought I believed, turned upside down, I feel like a coin flying up into the air turning over and over at the head and not knowing what way I'm going to land, or when the landing will come. Please, Sire, I will throw the dice one more time to get a chance to see the way the world will turn after all has ended."

"Alright, the demoness you encountered before, has been working with one of the greatest geniuses of Nazarick on an item that would 'temporarily' change the form of someone else. They have a prototype, but it is not without risks, and they want someone to test it on. Are you sure about this?" Ainz asked cautiously.

Berenice swallowed, "I am, I want to see, I want to know, and I will take risks to do both."

 _...Present..._

"Not quite what I expected. But I do make a pretty elf." She laughed a little at herself and finished pouring the wine.

She paid close attention to everything as she walked unnoticed among the great leaders who, once, would have vied to talk to her. Her blood ran cold when she realized Neia Baraja had walked past her and casually taken a glass off the tray before walking over to Queen Calca.

But she froze stiff, as did all others, as the confrontation between Generals Enri and Neia unfolded. 'That's the bravest girl I've ever seen...' She thought as she watched General Enri continue arguing despite the terrible aura that rose from General Neia. When the tension faded to nothing and the other servants began to move again, she was only a half step slower, and so she rushed to where General Enri sat, and placed a glass down in front of her.

As she leaned in to do so, she whispered, "That was very brave."

Enri looked up and over to where Berenice's warm expression was, and she smiled weakly in return.

"Thank you... but that was terrifying." She said gently.

As Berenice stood up, she reached out and squeezed Enri's shoulder gently and whispered, "That is why it was brave... but I could have done without the 'too expensive to murder', part." Then she moved away to serve someone else.

 _...Kami Miyako..._

Dominic stretched out in bed and the she fell out, stumbling away from where he stretched out, satisfied. 'At least this one kept the tears in check when I was done.' He thought as he felt his body relax. "It's so stressful to be in charge." He said with some smugness, "But it does have its benefits." He folded his hands under his head as the pillow sank a little.

He heard the faint sound of tears in the hall, 'OK, so much for that faint praise for the new she.' He thought as he rolled his eyes, right on cue, Yarvin entered the room without knocking.

"Master, was the one enough or would you like me to send another?" Yarvin asked formally, "Or would you instead prefer something to eat or drink?"

"Something to eat, I think, oh and... make sure the animals are fed well all day today, including tonight as well, I'll need to send the twins to pick up the harvest from the contract zones Raymond has been overseeing tomorrow, so everyone will need their full strength to fill the city granaries and warehouses." Dominic replied thoughtfully.

"As you wish, Master, but what would you like to eat, you matter most, after all." Yarvin replied urgently.

"Steak?" Dominic proposed.

Yarvin shook his head. "None to be had, Master. I sent the shes and the hes all over the city to every butcher, and could not find any."

"Lamb?" Dominic proposed hopefully.

"I'm sorry, Master, but the last shipment we got of that came from Crossroads along with the slave population that was evacuated, it was just the cheap salted stuff, and it was bought up quickly." Yarvin replied with an unhappy shake of his head.

"Fish, then? We do have that small river in sight of the city and..." He went quiet, screams were echoing outside, being taken up all over the city.

Dominic shot up out of bed and traded a look of alarm with his elven slave. Yarvin didn't waste a second, as Dominic rushed to the window, Yarvin went to grab his clothing.

The Great Defender of the Slane Theocracy threw open the windows and lunged halfway out, "What's going on?!" He bellowed as he looked outside. People were running about like mad, heading to the walls and chattering like wild monkeys. Nobody answered him, and the words were a jumble.

Yarvin returned and began throwing clothing to the bed while Dominic shouted desperately for answers.

"You! Guard! I demand an answer!" Dominic shouted at a guard who, despite running, seemed to have retained his senses, and recognized the Cardinal of Wind for whom he was. "What is happening out there?!"

"Disaster, Cardinal!" The guard cried out, "The river, the river has turned to blood!"

"Impossible!" Dominic shouted angrily and slammed his fist against the left shutter, smashing it against the outside of the wall hard enough that it splintered.

"It's true, My Lord Cardinal! I saw it from the wall myself, and that isn't all! The fishermen who were out there... they... they..."

"They what, man?! Spit it out!" Dominic hollered.

"They caught body parts! There are thousands upon thousands floating down the river!" The guard said with horror.

"Not possible!" Dominic snarled and thrust himself within. 'Damn fool must be mistaken, they're starting a riot out there over nothing! I swear I'll make it a hanging offense to start stupid rumors like that..." He thought as he went over to the bed and snatched his shirt up, 'the only place thousands of bodies and enough blood to turn the river red could... come... from... is... oh. No. No. NO!' He screamed inside his head as the realization dawned.

Yarvin looked anxiously and silently waited for Dominic's instructions as the Cardinal rapidly put his clothes on.

"Skip the meal, Yarvin. I have to go to the office immediately this morning." Dominic said urgently, fear palpable in his eyes.

"Master... what is it...?" Yarvin asked anxiously, while retaining perfect servant posture a few feet away.

"You're forbidden from speaking of this, do you understand?" Dominic said calmly.

"I do, Master." Yarvin said sincerely.

"Wheaton has been destroyed and its population either wiped out or nearly, it's the only answer, if what they say out there is true, Neia Baraja exterminated the population, and dumped the bodies into the river to... send them to us. That has to be her work. She likes people to know she's coming." Dominic ran his hands through his hair, he felt older than his middle years in that moment.

"Wheaton was our breadbasket, our last shipment from them came weeks ago, we were due for another soon, and with the city's population increased from the slaves and refugees from Crossroads and the few from Ikari, plus the survivors of Feron, and all the villages that fled as well... if we have survivors from Wheaton as well, what the hell are we going to do?" Dominic asked with a growing sense of dread.

"They've just wiped out even our meager fishing resource for... I don't know how long. I need to get to work, I have to go deal with this, we have to work out some way to feed everyone, or reduce the population to a manageable level." He said as he processed everything in his head as fast as he could.

"Master, you will find a way, you always find a way." Yarvin said reassuringly, "Go, I will make sure a meal is prepared and brought to you at work, we have some pork left, and some chicken, I'll make sure you eat well, and... should I have a she bring it to you to help you relax as well?"

"Good idea. Thank you, Yarvin." Dominic said gratefully as he rushed out the door as fast as his legs could carry him.

 _...Forton Conference..._

Bearing witness to the simple 'erasure' of an army by a single being, brought a spirit of peace to all nations, when that being spoke of the tranquility he desired.

"First let me put one thing to rest," Ainz said calmly, "I do. Not. Hate. The. Living." The red orbs in his eye sockets seemed to roll with almost comical annoyance. "I have had to say that far too often, and it grows old, I will not repeat it. You are right to fear uncontrolled undead which rampage mindlessly. However, I am no ordinary undead, I am an Overlord, a ruling class capable of reason and holding to values other than hatred. I will kill or order killing when it is necessary, but it will not be for the sake of itself. That so many still live, should be proof enough, yet if anyone doubts me, they are free to tour my realm for themselves at their leisure."

"For now, I ask that you set aside any doubts you may have at least provisionally, and consider the state of the world to come. That is our purpose here, after all." Ainz said in a sonorous voice.

Akrotiri raised a dark, meaty hand. "What 'is' the state of the world as you envision it, Sorcerer King?" The minotaur lord asked with a sense of urgency as thick as his body.

"First, there is the matter of the war ending. The Southern Holy Kingdom has been granted its independence, while the Northern Holy Kingdom..." He gestured to Queen Calca, "has petitioned for integration into my own as an official province. This request has been accepted. All laws not considered to be in conflict with those of the Sorcerer Kingdom in letter or spirit will be allowed to remain."

He gestured to the Draconic Queen, "Similarly, Queen Draudillon has asked for the same status for her Kingdom, this has 'also' been accepted. So it also is for Re-Estize, the Dwarven Kingdom, the Understone Empire, the Dark Elf Kingdom, the Abelion Hills..."

"And the Baharuth Empire." Jircniv said suddenly as the litany of changes was made clear and he realized that the other monarchs had been looking to surpass his advantage as the first to yield, by yielding further than he had.

"...And the Baharuth Empire." Ainz added, gesturing lastly to his first vassal. "The Slane Theocracy will cease to exist, and be integrated into my empire after being broken up into several distinct provinces based around patterns of conquest by various commanders. So will end also, the Sorcerous Kingdom, and from it will be born the Sorcerous Empire." He went quiet for a moment, allowing the nations around his own, from the Argland Council State to the Minotaur Kingdom, to understand the situation.

He then went on, "I will not be destroying the temples of the six or of the four, but they will no longer be allowed to charge for the cost of healing, as holding life hostage for coin is considered anathema to the principles of my lands. They can find another means to sustain themselves," he clenched his fist in front of him and looked down at it, leaving many a delegate to wonder what he was remembering, 'Mother... it won't happen here, nobody will languish sick because they chose food or shelter over medicine, I will not let this world become like mine... and if preventing that means taking it all... well I have no idea how my NPCs got the idea I wanted this world... but as I look around, I find that I do, if for no other reason than I can make it something other than the world I came from. This is my world now, and I will make it so, it will be as it should be, no matter what the cost.' He thought, and carried on, and out of seemingly nowhere, his voice took on an even more impassioned state than Neia had ever heard from him.

"You ask of me the way this world will change, and I will tell you," he held his arms out and up, and looked not at the delegates, but above them, over their heads as if to speak to all the world, "it will change in all the best ways, the illiterate will read, the young will grow old, the old will die in their own beds instead of in the streets, the guard will not just be a bandit who gets paid, the noble will not be just a wolf, and the peasant will not be merely waiting to die as they hack at the dirt! Kingdoms will have a venue to work out their differences in peace, so that war is the last option, not the first. The great cities of the world will compete with one another in culture and art, swords will be beaten into plows, and slaves will walk free, their chains melted down and turned into useful things. I will make it so, even if I must drag the world out of its violent infancy."

'Yes, you will have your place, you are the rightful god of this world, it will pass into your hands, or I will burn it down so that you may build on the ashes.' Neia thought as the vision of that world passed before her anguished eyes, the march of years that were but a handful to some, seemed a lifetime as the sound of his hypnotic voice compelled her mind to search for a time when she had not needed to draw her bow to live, the terrible moments that she dreaded in the darkness passed by in a long march, and beyond them she saw the world he promised. 'Anything, anything anything anything anything anything, I will do anything, to give you everything. That world will exist, and you will be its god, I will die to make it so, or... kill everything in the way of it.'

As those thoughts passed through her mind, and the unspoken rededication of her will to that of the Sorcerer King, a devious plan began to form to make it so. 'His voice, his presence, so noble, so kingly, it's like black dust. So intoxicating... he has won the room with his will and with his power... I must ensure that they do not get a moment later to think to consider anything else. My power, so meager it is nothing before my lord... yet it is mine and I will use it for his sake. Who is not with him, is against him. I will watch, I will speak, and I will break their very souls.'

The Diamond Dragon Lord could barely believe what he was hearing, and yet he saw what he was hearing, manifest before him as if the world the Sorcerer King said he wanted, already was, like a fresh fruit just out of reach, and a skeletal hand grabbed the branch and drew it in, so that all he had to do was reach out and pluck it.

Akrotiri was incapable of tears, yet he thought of the shout of mourning he let out the day his sons had been buried in the last war against the Wyvern Rider confederation... now the reason for their deaths, a simple matter of trade, seemed so petty, pointless, coin movement for life... and here was an end to that.

King Rargnan thought of the pictures he'd seen of his kingdom as it had once appeared, a pristine beauty, and there before his eyes it was so again, renewed as if it had never been ruined, and this being, who had the power to kill them all, dangled paradise lost before him, offering him and his people a chance to return to it. 'Am I a wayward child being called home again? I feel like it.' He thought to himself, and did not care, the chance was simply too great.

Enri felt the same bedazzlement of all the others, though the question of whether that elf that had whispered to her was being sarcastic or not, still lingered, but her eyes were focused. Neia was across from her, she could see the gears turning. 'She's got something in mind. Damn you, Neia. Do you think you're the only one who serves this cause? Will you twist everything? I was serving him when you thought us unlucky to have him as a lord! Do you think fear is the only tool?! So much wrong with you... so much you're wrong about... I will show you, I don't need your help, and I will make you regret thinking terror and slaughter were the only choices to give our lord the world, or his proper place in it.'

As all those thoughts passed through her head however, she noted the expression on the Black Paladin's face, 'I've seen that look... on the faces of those resolved to die, I saw it on Nfirea's face the day he thrust himself against that ogre to save my life... what did Zaryusu call it...? Hero's Light... was she serious about not caring if she was hanged? She will not make this easy for me.' Enri's mind was a whirlwind and her senses were overwhelmed by the passionate power that had filled the room, her rational mind all but gone. Her resentment and concern over recent matters lingered on, as did a deepening suspicion, one she did not have even the slightest willingness to release, not yet.

Albedo sat demurely as her lord, her unrivaled lord, spoke his will to the world, the way his words hammered out, like a smith forging a sword, a sculptor shaping a stone, or a painter whose brush stroke crafted a masterpiece, he labored as only a king truly could, and with the quality that only the greatest of kings could manage.

The corner of her eyes caught the expressions on the two generals. Resolute, even fanatical. 'Each wishes to serve well, that is as it should be. Rivalry or not.' She thought, and decided to leave it alone.

Lord Ainz ceased to speak. 'I wonder, what can any of them say to that?!' Ainz suppressed a laugh as his time as a salaryman was applied in a handful of words that seemed to have ensnared the world into his vision. He caught the calculating looks of two of his generals, zeal was etched on their faces, nor were they alone, he saw, as those who would be his provincial rulers showed a similarly fanatical devotion on their faces, while those from abroad showed fascination and optimism, as near as he could tell, all on their own. 'Dealing with them will be easier for quite some time, I think. Still, caution is warranted. I can't know that their lands have no players, or NPCs in hiding. Time will tell how I can best deal with them and... who it is best to send.' He cast an eye between where Zesshi, Neia, Enri, and Chindai sat. Dark tendrils swept briefly over Neia's eyes, only to fade away after she blinked. 'No, she... I have to help. I can't ask more, not unless there is a very specific reason. Not after this.'

 _...Wheaton..._

Skana sat alone with Lakyus and CZ in her private quarters. One of the former elf slaves put several plates of food out, he didn't say much, but his joyful eyes and the red marks on his wrists told her that the cause of those marks had been recently removed.

"So... was it really necessary?" Lakyus asked, breaking the silence as soon as the servant was gone.

Skana cut into the steak on her plate, leaving only the sound of cutting for a moment, as if that were to be her answer. She took a bite, chewed, clearly enjoying the taste, then set her fork down and looked at her companions. "Yes. Those were my orders." She folded her hands in her lap and smiled demurely.

"That wasn't what I asked." Lakyus replied calmly. "Don't you think dumping the dead into the river was a bit much? I mean, I suppose you had to get rid of them, and that was a lot to bury, but still."

Skana picked up her cup and drank a sip of wine, she savored the flavor and set it down. "It was practical, and it was necessary, as my wife said in her note, it was the best way to let Kami Miyako know what was coming for them." A troubled expression came over her face, "I know what happened, but she's not doing this for nothing... think about it. Villages everywhere are surrendering, we haven't suffered even one dead orc... orc! This is the Slane Theocracy, they 'hate' demihumans with a passion, look what they do to elves, and those are very close to human themselves! Her measures are... cruel, yes, but they're driving surrenders left and right, it'll save more lives in the long run."

"Will she recover?" CZ asked sharply.

Skana turned her face away, "I... I don't know what you mean."

"Yes you do!" Lakyus said urgently. "Yes you do! Damn it, Skana! Will you stop trying to forget and stop trying to deny the problem, you keep doing this, you deny a problem, pretend it doesn't exist, then admit it, then make up reasons why it will go away on its own, then try to forget it exists! How long will you do that for?!"

Skana's eye filled with tears, "Don't tell me what I already know! I don't know, I don't know, I don't know, I don't know, I don't know... I don't know! I know there's... what she's... but she'll stop! She has to stop when it's over!"

"How do you know?" CZ asked with seeming indifference as she drank from her own cup.

"Because... she has to, doesn't she?" Skana asked weakly.

"Gagaran wrote that she's a threat to herself and to others, and she's right, you know it, don't you?" Lakyus asked gently, reaching out to take Skana's hand and hold it.

Without meaning to do so, Skana lifted her free hand and touched her throat, then snatched it away back down to her side.

"She's supposed to be a threat to others, it's what she's been paid for for her whole life." Skana's voice was cold, but her clouded eye did not meet Lakyus's look.

"You're playing with semantics, and you know it. You touched your throat just now, did she hurt you, did Neia hurt you?!" Lakyus demanded.

"It was an accident!" Skana snapped, "She was asleep, I held her, she woke up and just 'reacted', she wouldn't have done it otherwise!"

Lakyus and CZ traded expressions.

"You're strong, lots of people aren't, this city didn't survive her 'accident', how long till she has another, what if it had been an elf servant who was worried about the way she slept and woke her up, you'd have an elf corpse to get rid of."

"What do you want me to say?" Skana asked with a sharp sniffle. "I saw the same thing you did, what she did to the overseers, you don't think I know that isn't normal? Why do you think I tried to keep her back from the front? Why do you think I agreed with you about that? But she can't be contained that way, she's a front liner through and through, she leads by carrying forward, and she's been doing it for years. You think she shouldn't feel anything?"

She went quiet, Lakyus bit her lip, the hand that held hers, had a very slight tremor to it that could be felt more than seen, 'Oh... she's... damn it, she's not trying to attack my wife... stupid Skana... have you learned nothing?' Skana mentally rebuked herself and took a deep breath.

"No... I know, but listen... something has to be done." Lakyus said sharply.

"She's going to enter treatment, she promised me, but she wants to finish, maybe needs to finish here first." Skana barely whispered the words.

"Will that help?" CZ asked.

"I don't know, injuries to the body can be healed with a spell or a potion, but how do you heal a life? This kind of thing is all she knows, all she's ever really known, all I can do is stay by her side, the way I promised I would. If that means sometimes she wakes up ready to fight... well I'm... actually... I don't even know if I'm a better fighter up close than she is anymore... but I'll help her no matter what. Would you abandon Keeno, or Gagaran, or the twins, if they became like Neia has?"

"Never... absolutely never. But I wouldn't push the problem off till an unknown tomorrow in some distant time, either." Lakyus replied humbly.

"What do you want me to do?" Skana asked doubtfully as she tore a chunk of bread off of a loaf.

"Ask her to resign her command, pass it on to you, or ask the Sorcerer King to relieve her of duty." Lakyus suggested hopefully.

"That'll destroy her." Skana shook her head. "Not happening, after Kami Miyako, I'll... I'll get her to give up command of the army, let someone 'else' hunt down Theocracy remnants and the like. But until then, I won't do anything that might make things worse, and that... is a terrible idea."

"No good answer." CZ remarked in a monotone.

"Thanks CZ, big help there." Lakyus remarked in the same tone CZ had just used.

"Sure." CZ said dismissively.

Lakyus sighed and leaned back, "Fine, on other matters, I suppose it is good that the bodies are gone, but still, what next, how long are we going to be here? This city still smells like blood and death."

"Draudillon's scouts arrived this morning, most of their army will be here by nightfall, I figure one or two days rest, then we pick out a joint force from our armies to occupy the place, and march to Kami Miyako, there's not much left in this wreck to secure, so it is really about using it as a headquarters to run the villages and keep supplies from going northwest. Zanac and Zaryusu's armies should be at C'teon tomorrow, and with that big golem, they'll take it in a day. So... we leave in two days and take a slow march to Kami Miyako until our commanders all return. Then one last battle and the whole thing is all but over, except of course... for the Synod itself." Skana said and clapped happily.

"Then... then maybe I can get my Neia back." She said with a grin.


	180. Broken Things

God Rising: The Cult of Ainz

Written by: AtheistBasementDragon

Edited by: The Usual Gang of Drunken Perverted Idiots

Chapter 180: Broken Things

 **AN: Happy Holidays! Since we had some people donate food to food banks, I'm doing a short chapter bomb instead of just a winter vacation. Seven chapters, 6 GR and one Discord Exclusive comedy moved over. Enjoy... But one more thing!**

 **AN TRIGGER WARNING: Scenes involving the character of Neia Baraja depict the symptoms of PTSD, done as realistically as the author can manage. If you find such instances difficult to read, well you have been cautioned.**

 _...Forton…_

'So, this is what an evening in a different flesh felt like. So strange, elven hands, elven ears, all different, yet also so like mine, so that was what it's like to be an elf.' Berenice thought to herself as she followed the Sorcerer King out of the room. 'Still, I miss my own body, it'll be good to be back in it again.' She followed demurely behind the undead king she had... unwittingly come to have an abiding respect for, she could feel it in her breast, his stirring speech, his vision. 'Is he really undead, or does he just look like it? Either way, my theocracy has grossly mishandled everything pertaining to him.' She kept the sigh internal and continued down the hall to his temporary office.

Their footfalls were the only thing to break the silence until they reached the large double doors that had once been the entrance to a human governor's office. Albedo opened the enormous heavy doors with seemingly the lightest touch, sending them flying in. 'Those once took the strength of two full grown men to part...' Berenice marveled at the casual display of strength out of the inhuman beauty, gawking for several seconds behind the pair until she regained control of her facial muscles.

Ainz moved behind the desk and sat down, while Lady Albedo moved to stand with hands folded in front of her, so that she was demurely behind his left hand. Berenice went to one knee in front of the desk and lowered her gaze. "Thank you, Your Majesty, for this evening."

"We have a few minutes before Vanysa arrives to restore you, so tell me something, I take it you found it a worthwhile way to spend your time then? Did it not disturb you, to find yourself playing the role of servant, or to wear the flesh of the race your people enslaved?" He asked the question without any malice in his voice, if anything, she felt he sounded curious.

She hesitantly shook her head, "It was easier than you might think, to play the servant. Priests and priestesses are... well in theory, we are supposed to be humble and see ourselves as servants, of the gods and of the people. I... admit, that when you see yourself as serving gods, it is easy to think of them as the only things over you, and all else is below. But we are 'supposed' to be the most humble of the humble, even if it is not always so, I have tried my whole life not to forget that obligation. Not always successfully, but I have always tried."

"And your body?" Ainz asked, somewhat more intensely.

Berenice was glad she was looking down, it hid the fact that she had a twitching in her eyes. "It feels real, it feels... like mine... Sire, I don't know how I can say this, but I will try. My race, my kingdom, has denigrated the value of elven lives to the point where they are only animals, livestock, or just tools that work, it's so integrated into who we are as a people that I... even... I suppose if I dare call myself 'reformed' or 'awakened'. It was hard to imagine that they could feel pain like we did. That they could be frightened like we could... they were mannequins, moving dolls that mimicked awareness... I was wrong. We were wrong. I knew it before now, but feeling that flesh as my own brought the shock of how much so, right to my heart. I stubbed my toe on the stairs, and it hurt just like it did when I was a human, I dropped a glass and cut my finger slightly when picking up the mess, and the blood flow felt like when I was human, the sting felt just like it did as a human."

"So you felt their pain and found it to be just the same as yours." Ainz summarized.

Berenice bit her lip and hung her head in shame. "I did. And knowing what I know now, I will not forget it. I don't know how I'll ever make up for how I lived before, but I know I can never go back."

It was just at that moment that one of the double doors was pushed open and a familiar demoness entered with an object in hand.

"Ready?" Ainz asked Berenice bluntly.

"I am." She said and closed her eyes, "I hope it doesn't hurt as much this time though."

"It will." The demoness said calmly.

Berenice looked up at her, "If it does, it does. For what it's worth though, I am sorry... Vanysa."

The horned girl gave a toothy grin, "Yah remembered this time, good. Alright, brace yerself, this's gonna hurt like the dickens."

She took Berenice by the back of her head, then held a shimmering, round, smooth stone up and pressed it to Berenice's forehead. She screamed, it was like her veins were on fire, she clawed desperately at the wrist of the demoness, but Vanysa didn't move, she only held it firm. "It hurts! It hurts! It hurts!" Berenice screamed over and over again as she felt her body's internal fluids heat up and her skin sizzle.

Seconds later, Vanysa pulled back and looked at the stone like object in her hand, then down at Berenice.

"Huh?" She asked as Berenice fell forward and breathed as if she had just run a marathon.

Vanysa looked from the object to the subject again and again, dumbfounded, then back over her shoulder, "Maj'sty, it ain't workin." Her eyes were half crazed, "I'll try it a'gin!" She reached down and grabbed Berenice by the hair, close to her scalp and yanked it back, forcing her to look up, and then the demoness pressed the stone to the former Cardinal's forehead again.

Another round of screaming began, followed by more desperate clawing to drag the source of pain away from her forehead, and then a loud 'crack' that drowned out even the screaming, caused her to pull away.

She released her grip and stepped back as Berenice fell forward again, evidently unharmed, but breathing hard and in agony. "No more... no more... it hurt so much... I can't endure that a third time... what... happened?" She said from all fours as she stared at the floor.

A second crack sounded, and the demoness looked down at the stone in her palm as the cracks spread, and then it shattered and disappeared. Her golden skin went pale as she turned to her master and prostrated herself. "Master... it done broke... dunno know how... me an Demiurge thought it'd work but... somethin's wrong."

Ainz and Albedo traded a brief look. Albedo seemed particularly distressed, her left hand lingered on her belly for a moment, and anger appeared on her face. "Explain why that didn't work."

"Ah dunno know, ah really dunno... shoulda, it done got her ta be'an elf, shoulda worked... that damn thin took months fer us ta make!" Vanysa's eyes welled up with tears of frustration. "Ah trahed, we trahed, real hard! Real hard!" Her fists balled in frustration on the floor from her prostrate position.

"Be at ease." Ainz said, raising his hand calmly and touching Albedo's right arm, "It was only a prototype, there are bound to be failures, failure is the aperture for finding success, it is frankly amazing that you were able to transform her at all."

Berenice began to get back to her posture on one knee, "So... I can't go back, Sire?" She asked, a stunned, wide eyed expression on her face.

Ainz stroked his chin in thought, "It is... not impossible, Berenice... but it would require the use of items we have yet to successfully replicate. The demoness beside you, remember, was once human, I used one such item on her because of the service she rendered unto me before, and down to the hour of her death. She gave everything up, and was rewarded with a new life as a result. Such a gift is not lightly bestowed."

"I... understand." Berenice said softly, "You can't just use something rare like that on me, what have I done for you, after all? I have already been treated as a guest, and you saved my life, you even gave me a glimpse into what you were going to do next... I can't ask you to give me more... will I... stay like this permanently then?" She asked as she tried to wrap her mind around it all.

"Vanysa?" Ainz asked.

Vanysa slowly rose, "Ahm right sorry, really," she said as she reached out and stroked the place on Berenice's head that she'd but moments earlier, painfully gripped. "Thin is, fer this ta work how it wuz s'posed ta, it kinda had ta be like a permanent thin, an it shoulda broughtcha back th'same way. Ah mean, we gonna make more an try'n figure it out, gots ta be honest though, some of our subjects got blowed up, an some caught fire an turnt to ash. We can try agin if'n yah want us to, or jus wait till we make it work proper."

She closed her eyes in frustration, and when they opened after a long moment, they were clear again. "Really, Lady Berenice, I didn't do this to you out of some petty revenge, it really was supposed to work, but I'm afraid this is permanent until we find a solution, there must be some underlying reason why it can take you one way, but not another, perhaps the object we used is the problem, we might need something different. But..." she drew her hand away from her, "if it helps, this seems to be such a real change that you got an elven lifespan, if it takes a few hundred years to make you human again... so what?"

"That will be all, Vanysa, go report your results to Demiurge." Ainz sighed, 'So much for that, I wonder how many years before we'll see progress on those experiments.' He thought to himself as she bowed and hastily excused herself.

Albedo had her teeth gritted, but she said nothing more as Berenice knelt in silence and contemplation. "Albedo, go with Vanysa, she seems not to be entirely stable today, convey what happened to Demiurge, he will no doubt require your... exceptional assistance."

"My Lord." Albedo said deferentially, bowed, and exited as well.

When the door closed behind her, Ainz looked at the kneeling woman for several seconds of quiet contemplation. "Berenice." Ainz said finally.

She looked up.

"This was an accident, I can assure you of that much, the risk of experimentation, but nonetheless it does put you in an unexpected position which was not my intention, you understand?" He asked politely.

"I do, I have... come to understand that you are not... like that. You didn't do this to me to make it some kind of cruel irony, I know that, I took the risk by choice, whether I died, or... less expectantly, this." She replied calmly, and peacefully.

"Good, nonetheless, it happened here under my aegis. You were rescued by virtue of our deal with Queen Zesshi, she did not want you killed, as a result, I was going to leave your final disposition to the end of the war. To keep you here until then so you would not be recognized. I do not think you will be recognized now." He said somewhat sardonically.

Berenice touched her ears and laughed at the irony, "Agreed, My Lord."

"Thus I will give you a choice. I can let you go, as long as you do not reveal your true identity, you can wander the world as a free elf, and return if you wish to be restored to humanity when we have worked out how. Or you can remain here in Nazarick as my guest, and we can work something else out to do with you then. If you choose to go, I will provide you with a handful of coins enough to get you started, and some simple supplies. You can go live a normal life in a different flesh. Perhaps go to the elf kingdom, live under Queen Zesshi's rule, and reveal yourself to her sometime after the war if you want. What will it be?" Ainz asked placatingly as he folded his skeletal fingers together in front of him in 'Conciliatory leader pose #12'.

Berenice looked at him with wide eyes that were so full of awe that she felt something more than the respect she'd felt before.

 _...Great Hall..._

Silence but for the flickering flames of candles around the room, bathing the world's center of power in an orange light as if from dozens of tiny suns, and through a window, an owl's call brought them back to themselves. Finally, Akrotiri spoke, "This is... so much, so vast a vision to take in, Great King, may I suggest we reconvene tomorrow, after we have rested and had time to ponder the considerable weight of your words...?"

Ainz inclined his head magnanimously, "A wise suggestion, hasty decisions are unsafe ones. Ponder what you have learned as you rest. My maids will show you to your quarters for the night, you will be well guarded to protect against any harm that anyone might wish upon you." He said with an easy calm that bespoke his considerable nobility.

'When he lived, he must have been a king of legend, if he was once a mortal at all...' King Rargnan thought to himself as the delegates stood and walked to the exit as if from a dream.

Neia and Enri stood at once, "General Neia, could you... wait a bit?" She asked.

The Black Paladin stopped where she stood, she responded by action, waiting as others filed away, none said anything to her as they left, most avoided looking at her, save for Calca, who only looked at her with an expression that Neia found difficult to identify, and so brushed off.

"Your Majesty." Neia bowed deeply as the Sorcerer King finished trading words with Lady Albedo, and the two of them left, followed by an elven servant.

"Well? What is it?" Neia asked abruptly when the doors closed and left them alone.

"What do you plan to do?" Enri folded her arms in front of her chest as she went over to where Neia stood a few feet from the table.

"Crush my father's enemies, drive them before me, and hear the lamentations of their survivors. I will do this until there are no more enemies of my father to crush, and the world is his, or he commands me to stop." Neia folded her arms in front of her in the same way, and the two traded glares of steel.

'Is this me? Is this really me? How can I do this? Look at her?!' Enri screamed inside her head, but as she thought of what was at stake, she forced herself to carry on.

"No, here. Now. In this place, you have something in mind, don't you?" Enri demanded, her nostrils flared as she took a heavy breath, Neia's eyes popped briefly wide before returning to their narrow state.

"You do, tell me." Enri ordered her firmly.

"I don't work for you, General Enri. Mind your own affairs, I will do what is necessary to win this war..." Neia growled out.

"This isn't a war!" Enri shouted and reached out in a fit of anger to grab the collar of Neia's shirt.

Neia's hand darted up and grabbed Enri by the wrist in a grip the peasant general couldn't hope to break, and she squeezed, just a bit. Neia's voice was the caress of death. "Being on the same side does not mean I will allow you to grab me."

Enri gritted her teeth as her hand was held fast. She did not reveal that it hurt, not even a little. "You are a better general than I am, I admit that, at least in the field." Neia said trainquilly. "But I am much, much stronger." She increased the pressure just a little bit, and Enri's lips parted slightly, and the faintest whimper came out as she felt something give under the General's hold.

Neia released her grip. Enri yanked her hand back and cradled the wrist. 'God, did she break it, did she break my wrist?! It hurts, oh god it hurts...' Enri thought to herself, but suppressed all sign of it on her face.

"Nobody touches me." Neia warned her, a face of stone, neutral, "No one..." and then for a fleeting moment, almost imperceptible, a flash of anguish ran across her face like a breeze, before it returned to its tranquil state.

Enri clutched the wrist and bent forward slightly over it, holding it to her chest. "Damn it, Neia, this isn't a war!"

Neia shook her head, "You are wrong. This is a war. Everything is war, everything is war until our god's rule and place goes unquestioned. Until then, the only difference is that they haven't drawn their swords yet. You're right, I intend to carry my lord's vision, our enemies have made of me a monster, everyone believes it... you are on my side... but you believe it. I'm a dangerous threat, I can be trusted to kill and destroy everything in the way." Neia took a step closer to Enri.

For a moment, Enri remembered huddling over her little sister in a desperate attempt to save her from the knight, and her eyes widened. She slid a foot back, Neia stopped. "See?" She asked, and stopped. "The delegates here have been enthralled by the deaths of forty thousand soldiers, they have been enthralled by our Lord's charisma, noble spirit, and his vision, I will use my own meager abilities to keep them focused. I will befuddle their minds with either fear or optimism, so that when they go home, they will either go home committed to his vision, or go home so afraid of his wrath coming to their kingdoms, that they will never act to bring it down."

"You can't do that!" Enri said calmly, "You don't have the right to do that." She hissed.

"You didn't have the right to grab me, you tried anyway, you failed. Had you the strength to do it, you would have succeeded. The rights that matter are the rights that win, I will do anything to see that this win is total, so that it never has to be fought for again. Hate me as much as you like, General Enri, resent me if you will, but there will not need to be another me, when all has come to pass." Neia said evenly.

Enri looked at her numbly, her wrist was throbbing. The pain was becoming more pronounced, "I don't hate you, Neia, I don't. You want the truth, sometimes I'm a little jealous of you." She let out a laugh that cut off quickly when she jostled her wrist.

"Jealous? Are you sure 'you' are not the crazy one?" Neia asked her with a cockeyed look.

Enri gave a weak smile as she rubbed her wrist, she felt it start to swell. "I was serving His Majesty before you, remember, he came to my village, we were his first loyal followers, but you're the one whose wedding he attended, you're the one he stood for, you're the one who... well, if any human is his sword, it's you. I don't... see him the way you do, but he also sees you in a way he'll never see me, so... how can I not envy that. But despite that... I'm... I'm not trying to stop you because I want to, I'm trying to stop you because it's the right thing to do! Not just for the people you might hurt, but for you too!"

"The right thing to do, is to win." Neia said simply, decisively. "How's your wrist?" She asked as she tried to process what Enri had just said.

"Hurts like hell." Enri responded honestly, "But what about the right thing for you?"

"Right thing for me? Not a few hours ago you were talking about having me hanged." Neia raised an eyebrow doubtfully.

"I was angry... still am, actually! But I mean it, what about the right thing for you?! I know your record, and you've got a wife now, if you keep these things up..." Enri stopped talking as Neia let out a laugh.

"There is no right thing for me, not anymore. I shot children, I destroyed armies and cities, I mutilated prisoners... overseers and breakers yes, but still. I'm a threat to everyone around me, so... I'll surround myself with enemies of my lord, and destroy them, there doesn't need to be anything for me after that." Neia spoke bluntly and without emotion, an almost tranquil resignation about her.

"But you can't...!" Enri said in disbelief.

"Can't what?! I 'can' do any damn thing that needs to be done!" Neia snapped and stepped closer, Enri did not move back a second time.

"Lose hope!" Enri shouted into Neia's face so loudly that flecks of spittle splashed over her face.

Neia looked at her blankly. "The last few days have taught me one thing about hope."

"And what is that?" Enri asked hesitantly.

"That sometimes the people whose job it is to give it, don't get to have it. I'll make sure all this isn't for nothing, the elves will be free, many people who would have died will get to live, my god will have his temples in every city, my king will reign supreme. I will have to be satisfied that this hasn't been for nothing. Just do yourself a favor, and don't get in my way, thank you for your... concern, and... I'm sorry I was hard on your wrist." Neia said with a sad sincerity and tried to walk away.

Enri rushed to get in front of her. "Neia, I mean it, this can't..."

"Get. Out. Of. My. Way. We're done here." Neia snarled through clenched teeth.

Enri held her ground. Neia raised her hand, slowly, inexorably, and gently put it over Enri's throat, they locked eyes, "Don't forget, I'm the child killer, the city destroyer, and this hand that is over your throat right now, was around the throat of the woman I love in... a fit. My own friends called me a threat to them, and what's more, I proved them right. Just stay out of the way." Enri still didn't move.

'Oh god no… she wouldn't really do it, would she? Is she herself? Her fingers are shaking, is she… scared? Of what?!' Enri thought in a rush as her heart raced.

"Please." Neia asked, 'Move! Move damn it! God damn it move... please move… I have to go I have to go, let me go I have to leave I have to be alone!' She thought, her breath began to quicken, her fingers tensed, and Enri got a glimpse of something else behind the mask for a moment, then hesitantly stepped aside, and Neia let her hand fall away as the peasant general made way for her.

Neia looked behind her when she was safely several feet away, "Don't get me wrong, Enri. I hate this. I hate this, I hate this, I hate this, I hate what I did, I hate what I do, and I hate what I see when I sleep, like I told Remedios before I killed her. I didn't want any of this. But here we are regardless, and there is no other way. You know what's really funny though?"

"What?" Enri asked in a hollow voice.

"I got a chance to speak with Raymond, he begged me to find some way to spare the survivors of the Last Battle of Prart, I told him no. He told me it would haunt me the rest of my life. Do you know what I said?"

Enri shook her head, "I don't, I only know what I hear and read, and that was nowhere."

"Not surprising, I didn't write it down, neither I suppose, did my wife. I told him I knew that, but I'd do it anyway." Neia replied in a voice entirely empty of emotion.

"I fail to see the humor." Enri answered dryly.

"I've had to explain the same thing to allies, family, friends, and even foes... The only thing that matters, is what has to be done, and that someone does it. As the living symbol of devotion to His Majesty, I can't slow down, I can't quit, I can't take a break, I can't show 'any' weakness, because it will reflect badly on him. I could slaughter thousands, and if he punishes me, he's redeemed, but if I fail, there's no coming back from that. He'll be the god that failed, and that won't fly at the Synod. So all that I do, 'has' to be done. You want to keep your conscience? Fine, stay out of the way, let me do the dirty work. Don't worry about me, I can handle this. But... I really am sorry, I didn't realize how hard I gripped, it's... just training, you don't stop attacks with half measures and... well you know that already. Goodnight." She said, and walked away.

'I will prove you wrong, wrong about everything.' Enri raged in her own mind at Neia's retreating back, before eventually leaving the room empty herself, and heading to her quarters where she kept an extra healing potion.


	181. Dark Days

God Rising: The Cult of Ainz

Written by: AtheistBasementDragon

Edited by: The Usual Gang of Drunken Perverted Idiots

Chapter 181: Dark Days

 **AN: Happy Holidays! Since we had some people donate food to food banks, I'm doing a short chapter bomb instead of just a winter vacation. Seven chapters, 6 GR and one Discord Exclusive comedy moved over. Enjoy... But one more thing!**

 **AN TRIGGER WARNING: Scenes involving the character of Neia Baraja depict the symptoms of PTSD, done as realistically as the author can manage. If you find such instances difficult to read, well you have been cautioned.**

 _...Northern Column..._

The long steps of Gargantua might have been slow moving, but they ate up the ground in front of enormous golem, inexorable step by inexorable step. Boom sounded upon boom, thunder upon thunder, but drowning out even the heavy steps of this moving mountain, were the hoofbeats of a hundred thousand undead horses, pounding feet of thousands upon thousands of demihumans, orcs, dwarves, quagoa, and scores of other soldiers, backed by almost two hundred thousand humans from Re-Estize, the Sorcerer Kingdom, and the Holy Kingdom, and thousands more undead fodder. The line of the united armies stretched for miles.

"I can hardly believe it." Leinas said as she rode next to Aureole Omega. Her beautiful eyes surveyed the land on either side of her, and she let her body go all but limp with the pleasure of the open wind and open ground.

"What's that?" Ryla asked curiously.

"There's... well, there's nothing left worth mentioning. The Elf King is gone, Astraka is gone, Suchala and Yuri are gone, Philip is gone, almost all the Theocracy is either occupied or a blasted ruin. The Kings and Queens of the world, well, as much of it as I know anyway, are gathered together... it's... in ten thousand years, will anyone think of this time as anything but a myth?"

Ryla laughed, her hair swaying behind her as she caressed the Everplains horse beneath her. "Maybe, who can say? But what matters is that we make it a myth worth telling, and... I think we're doing pretty well at that. Our Chindai will teach them a lesson that those who survive will never forget." She held her chin up, proud and sure.

"Yes, he will." Khava agreed joyfully, "To watch him fight is... beautiful. Unfortunately this will be my last battle for some time."

Ryla looked to her sister wife. Then her eyes widened as she understood, "You bear a new rider within you?"

"I do, it is right that he should know the saddle and the wide world now, to be born into a different world, but after this battle, I will remain back, and I yield the riding of the night to the two of you, that you may also bear a rider to the world." She said with a pleasant, if somewhat salacious smile.

Leinas rolled her eyes. "Elves of the plains."

"What?" Shalltear asked with annoyance, "What the hell did they just say?"

Leinas kept the laughter from her lips as she looked at the diminutive monster next to her. "Khava there just said she's pregnant, and promised Ryla lots of bedroom time with their husband so she could get a better chance at the same."

"And she didn't just... say it?" Shalltear asked rhetorically.

Leinas answered anyway, "She did, they're a very... ritualistic people, martial cultures like theirs surround themselves with formalities and rituals, it keeps the bloodshed to a minimum."

The transplanted southern elf and her dark elf sister wife positively beamed as Leinas explained it, clearly proud of the description of their homeland's customs.

"Hmpf, whatever, as long as they obey Lord Ainz." Shalltear said dismissively, then tensed.

"Something wrong?" Leinas asked cautiously, tensing up as well.

"Something right, rather." Aureole Omega said pleasantly, and raised her hand, pointing straight ahead, "I can see C'teon, you might not, but we can see farther than you can, we'll reach it at nightfall. So, what do you want to do?"

Leinas thought it over, "Surround it on three sides, break down all four, give them time to flee to Kami Miyako, and kill everything else in the way?" She proposed the plan casually, and Shalltear was quick to speak up.

"Why let them flee, why not kill everything?" She asked uncertainly, 'Am I missing something?' She wondered anxiously.

"Dead people don't eat." Aureole Omega remarked. "Every person that flees here is one more that the capital will have to provide for, and that will make the last siege easy, they might even surrender before we arrive, recognizing how futile it is."

"Oh. But..." Shalltear started to speak again, 'Won't they just eat their weakest and most useless ones? I mean what other good are they? Will I look stupid if I say that? If I look stupid I might make Lord Ainz look bad... but what if I'm right? I should say it.' She thought to herself, and then went on, "won't they just eat the ones they have the least use for?"

That sent silence among the command ranks save for Aureole who was nodding approvingly at her fellow Nazarick denizen's comment, finally Leinas answered, "I... guess they could, Lady Shalltear, but I just don't consider it likely, I know they've done horrible things, but never that. No, more likely they'll surrender. Even Dominic has to know he can't hold those populations in his city and win. If it comes to that, they'll cave... but... maybe it wouldn't hurt to march just a little bit faster anyway." She looked over her shoulder to a fief player, and he began to blow a beat that was echoed down the line as the pace of the march was quickened by a few steps more per minute.

 _...Wheaton..._

Yorgrim trudged down the street in clean clothes, having just thrown away the bloody ones he'd used to throw body parts into the river. He looked at his hands for the hundredth time. 'No blood, there's no blood, there's no blood no blood no blood no blood no blood no blood...' He whispered in his own mind over and over and over again, trying desperately to convince himself that his hands were in fact, still clean after having thoroughly washed them again and again. 'Damn you... damn you all for coming here. Damn you for what you did to my city, damn you... demons, demons, you're demons, I hate you, I hate you all...' He thought to himself as a group of humans walked by in the black armor that, for all his hatred, made his heart quail in his breast.

'Don't hurt me don't hurt me don't hurt me...' He thought as they walked past. They did nothing, they ignored him, a middle aged human with neither armor nor weapons wasn't a threat. 'Not that I was a threat when I had them.' He thought bitterly as he made his way to a tavern. He opened the half broken door and walked into the building, a fireplace provided heat and warmth, stacks of broken doors, roof thatching, and busted chairs were to the left and right of it. Dozens of tables were occupied by people drinking themselves to oblivion. A buxom woman approached, she didn't say anything, nobody was talking. She didn't take his order, she was already carrying a mug.

She set it down in front of him, he slid a coin over to her without looking, she didn't even look to see what it was before putting it in her apron pouch. It was a coin of the Sorcerous Kingdom.

He started drinking, hard. The alcohol washed down his throat and he never tasted it. His scruffy and bedraggled beard caught flecks of beer that spilled due to his rapid attempt at consumption. Nobody looked, they were doing the same thing.

'How could this happen? How? We're the Theocracy damn it... or were. How could the gods send demons to us?' He asked himself yet again. Most around were asking themselves the same question, a few slid coins over the table to servers who brought more booze. Nobody looked at their coins. Nobody wanted to.

Unlike most, he had one memory on a loop that they didn't, encountering the commander... it came to mind yet again as he finished his mug and quickly slid another coin across the table to wait for its replacement.

 _...Battle of Wheaton...Days Earlier..._

The clash of arms as yet another barrier collapsed under the relentless onslaught sent panic through Yorgrim's heart as he braced himself at his position, desperate survivors of the previous position fell in behind him. The stink of sweat rose from his body, and his chest rose and fell in long, deep, fear filled breaths. He fingered the sword pommel over and over again, wrapping and unwrapping his fingers over it as if to remind himself it was still there. His eyes scanned the street in front of him, it was one of the four way intersections, so there were soldiers like him at every street, with rubble and debris thrown up as small hills, walls, and so on. 'Goddamnit... I can't stand it, I wish they'd get here so we could get this over with, the waiting is a nightmare on its own.' He thought to himself, and then he froze.

He looked to his left, right, and behind him, doubtful expressions greeted him, he looked at the other barriers blocking access to the intersection, the faces he could see were just like his own. Anxiety dialed up to eleven.

"Fire! Bring the flame!" Someone shouted, and a torch flew over his head as he saw why the black armor was coming into view, but to his horror, one suit of green was at the front.

The roar of fire went up as the alcohol and pitch soaked wood was struck by the torch.

Over the roar of the fire however, there was a blood-curdling voice. "Kill them all kill them all kill them all kill them all..."

He drew his sword, and the archers behind the barrier loosed their deadly arsenal, 'Please... please gods, put an arrow in those eyes, end her before they get here... please oh please... give me mercy... protect me... save us...' He whimpered the prayer and finished it as a banshee howl of bloodlust filled the air and, as if the fire were not there, battle maniacs began flinging themselves through, cloaks caught fire, and they didn't seem to mind. The banshee wailer landed in front of him, here eyes dark as the pitch behind her and hot as the fire that rose from it, she fell on him. "Kill kill kill kill..." It was a loop of rage, he desperately parried her first blow, and felt his arm crack as he fell to the ground, he fell on his side, and her sword found its mark in his gut. She moved on, the words on repeat, while he waited to die.

 _...Present..._

The mug being put in front of him brought him out of the memory and he took it up to drink. 'Maybe if I drink enough I can wash away the memory.' He thought to himself for the fourth day in a row, and again found himself disappointed with the failure.

He slumped over the table, blanking out to unconsciousness, like most of the rest there would eventually. He awoke hours later, when light shining through the burned and broken door hit his face, right on the eye no less. A groan left his lips, and he turned his face away, the warmth of the sun kissing his head was countered by the chill of the winter cold blowing inside. Someone lit the fire again, he felt a shiver over his body.

"Gah..." he said as he pushed his aching and half frozen arms up from the table and stood. Nobody but the proprietor was awake, and she was tending the flame. He brought his hands up and cupped them over his mouth and blew hot breath into them, then rubbed them together for a desperate warmth. He heard talking outside, thanks to the silence inside, a voice he'd heard once before.

He went to the door and looked through the gaping hole, 'Her... the other demon woman, the one that followed... that thing, through the fire!' One eye, bright green, talking to a woman with long blonde hair and a monstrous long black sword.

He felt his heart seize in his breast. 'I've got to hide...' He thought immediately, then mentally kicked himself. 'No, they'll ignore me if I just walk off, if I hide I'll look suspicious...'

So he opened the door and walked out, letting it fall closed behind him, intending to just walk past and pretend they weren't there, just like he pretended that most of the buildings weren't a ruin of blackened ash, fallen roofs, and full of holes. Just like he pretended that he wasn't using the coins of his conquerors and just like he pretended that his nation still had a future. But, seized by some impulse to folly, he muttered under his breath, "Fucking demons." as he went on.

The green eyed woman glared at him, "Got something to say, say it to my face." She bit the words off and spat them at him with fury in her voice.

He stopped where he stood, for a moment expecting to feel one of their swords run through his back, when it didn't happen, a bit of courage welled from within and he turned slowly around.

"I said, 'fucking demons' didn't you hear me?" He asked in a hateful voice.

"If I really were a demon, neighbor... you'd already be dead, or wishing you were." The one eyed woman glared at him.

"I already do, so yes, you are." Yorgrim said scathingly. "You come to my country, come to my city, destroy our homes and businesses, you unleash a monster on us, leave a handful of us alive, and dare claim you're not demons?!"

The one eyed woman wasn't quiet for long, "Your country was the one that wanted war, your country came to 'my' home, your country started the civil war in 'my' kingdom, your country came to my lands, burned our homes, burned our businesses, you ignored us when we called for help, then came and burned our people alive to manipulate us. Fuck your country and fuck your city, you started all this, we're just winning it. And we're still more merciful than you, do you know 'why' so much of your city is wiped out you unmitigated bastard?! Do you?!" She shouted at him in anger, her fists clenched tight as she stalked closer, the blonde woman grabbed her shoulder, but she shook it off.

Yorgrim felt fear rising up, his tongue wouldn't move to let him answer. "It's because my wife found your breaker academy! You did this! You did this to yourselves! I warned you! I 'begged' your commanding officer to surrender! I begged him to just give in so that this exact thing wouldn't happen! Because I knew your blasted school was here, my wife found it! She found it and it... it broke something in her! You brought her wrath down like I warned your stupid leader that it would!" The one eyed woman was shouting at him with fury, foam flecked from her lips and spittle flew at him and caught in his beard as he backed himself against the wall.

"You're the demons! You! What you did to your slaves, did that to my wife, and that is why she did this to you! Your destruction of lives, brought destruction to you! You were warned! Again and again and again we warned you! We told you we were coming when we sent the overseer! We warned you when we took the Golden Fortress! I warned your people at the gates of this very city! You brought this on yourselves! If you hate demons so much... don't become them, because you'll raise worse ones against you!" The one eyed woman shouted at him and he fell mute, rage oozed out of her like honey through a broken cask.

'How... is she lying, she doesn't seem like it, that's real rage there... how could she know the things she says she does, how could she, how could it be...?' He wondered, and finally found his voice, "Who... are you?" He asked, carefully leaving off the word 'demon'.

"I'm Skana Baraja, wife of Neia Baraja, the Pope and commander of Black Justice and its entire military apparatus. I'm also her Vice Commander, and every single thing I've said to you is absolutely true. I tried to save your city, but you chose leaders who preferred to destroy themselves. Don't start wars if you're not prepared to see them brought to your gates."

Yorgrim began to sweat profusely, the blonde woman grabbed the one calling herself 'Skana' and this time the green eyed woman allowed herself to be pulled away, and the two walked off, leaving him alone and horrified. 'I... want to drink some more, screw work today... I want to forget all that.' He thought, and went back inside the ruined tavern.

 _...Draconic Kingdom Army..._

General Musan rode at the head of the column feeling a profound sense of loneliness as he did so. Behind him there were now fifty thousand soldiers, with the increase from elven volunteers and reinforcements from home, it was an army to be reckoned with. The stomping feet moved to the steady rhythm of fiefs and drums, to not only keep time, but let the whole world know they were coming.

Despite his loneliness, a small hint of pride crept through in a tiny smile. "Sir?" One of his aides asked, "Everything alright? You're awfully quiet."

"Fine, I was just thinking, it's strange not to have Queen Draudillon and General Oma near me, you get accustomed to some people being around, and when they're not, you feel a bit empty, like you're missing part of yourself."

The young aide nodded in grave understanding, "Of course, I have a wife back home, she informed me she was pregnant the day we left, she's probably as big as a house now." He laughed, "I can't wait to get home to her, it's not easy being away after having spent every day for three years with her beside me every morning."

"No doubt, but hey, you'll go home soon, so there is that." General Musan said pleasantly and gave a fond smile to the young man.

"By the way, General... didn't you say you had a new body guard now? Where is he... or she?" the aide asked and looked around.

General Musan gave an indifferent shrug, "All I know is that I'm being watched over, I haven't been 'introduced,' just told that I'm being guarded at all times in the event of another attempt on my life."

"Strange..." The aide remarked with a minor frown of incomprehension.

"Everything about the Sorcerous Kingdom is strange, and impossible, and powerful, but it is because of all that, that our nation survived." He said pointedly.

The aide was clearly about to respond, but his mouth closed as he raised his arm and pointed ahead of him, "Sir... Wheaton." He said, and General Musan turned his eyes to where the young man pointed.

"Ha ha! Yes! We're here. Marvelous... but wow, they really did a number on that place, it's a wreck." He said as he saw the many gaping holes in the walls, the tendrils of thick black smoke that told him they were burning pitch and oil, or that some had been set alight and not yet entirely put out yet since the fighting had ended. "Well, that's General Baraja for you, not one for half measures when confronted with resistance. Alright, blow the horn, let them know we're here."

A long, loud bellowing of a trumpet created a buzz of activity on the walls, and the gates, what was left of them, opened welcomingly.

"Did they really need to open the gates?" The aide asked with a little confusion, "I mean we could just walk through the scores of gaps..."

"No, they didn't have to, they're just acknowledging that they recognize us and that we are welcome within. They're being polite." General Musan replied patiently as he further educated the young officer.

The young man closed his eyes briefly as he internalized the knowledge, they rode in amicable silence as they made their way into the conquered city.

The population was as much a wreck as the city itself, dirty, fearful, broken spirited, 'Are these really the people of the Theocracy? The ones that wrought so much havoc for so long...? Well, I guess it's what happens when you meet something worse than yourself.' Musan thought as he remembered the face of the beastman that had come to court after the Sorcerer King had 'visited' and formally signed an agreement to never send his people west again, the lionman had a haunted, broken face, dull eyes, and a dull mane, like a different being than the proud beasts that had overrun the Draconic Kingdom.

He shook his head, as if casting off the memory, and made his way to the city center. He found a delegation waiting for him. Several rows of Black Justice officers, and members of the elven army that served under Queen Zesshi, they waited in a pair of double row formations, but to his surprise, he saw a black clad human standing in front of the elves, an elf in front of a band of mixed races, where in front of the purely human armies was one figure he recognized, a one eyed auburn haired woman.

He dismounted from his horse, as did the aide, who took both sets of reins and stayed back. Then he strode across the open stone that made up the plaza and stopped twelve paces back, he rendered a salute with his fist over his heart. "General Musan of the Draconic Kingdom." He said, identifying himself, and held the salute.

"General Thirg of the Elven Liberation Forces, serving under Queen Zesshi Zetsumei... Newly promoted, if you're wondering." He smirked a bit and rendered his own salute.

"Cenna Tachoni, Temporary Commander of the Elven Army, former Captain of the Black Scripture." He said and rendered a close imitation of the salute of his counterpart.

Skana snapped out a salute of her own, "Vice Commander Skana Baraja of Black Justice. I command here in the absence of General Neia Baraja."

When she dropped her salute, the rest did the same, one by one. Skana looked over to Lakyus who stood at her side, "Lakyus, would you see to the General's aide, get his men quarters for the day, then join us after, we'll be in the briefing room in the manor, the one you left General Oma waiting in."

"Of course." Lakyus said politely.

"General Oma?! She's here?!" General Musan barely kept himself from shouting as he exclaimed in disbelief.

 _...Kami Miyako..._

Melkan spat blood onto the floor. "I ask you again, how often can the Sorcerer King cast his high tier spells." The interrogator rubbed the fist he'd just used on Melkan's thick jaw.

Melkan chose that moment to laugh. "Really, like I didn't hear you the first time? I tell you again, I. Don't. Know. Aren't you idiots getting tired of this? You've been asking me for weeks now, and you never get anything."

"You were at his side for weeks, and never learned a damn thing? You expect us to believe that?" The solid interrogator asked.

"Don't care if you believe any of it, I don't know a damn thing." Melkan said again, and spat even harder after another blow cracked across his jaw. A tooth clacked to the floor with the blood that flew out.

He looked up at the interrogator, he was a medium sized man with muscles that spoke of hard work, solidly built, and he seemed to like hitting, if the smile on his face every time a punch landed, was any indication. "You know…" the interrogator said as he went to a wash basin by the door and cleaned the blood off his face and hands, "I actually understand your loyalty to the undead. I actually lived in the Draconic Kingdom a long time ago. I was a farmer back then, lived close to the beastman border, I bought the land there because it was cheap, I figured I could farm more area, make more money, then move somewhere safer. Had a little cottage, a nice life, a wife, I was even going to have a child."

As he padded his hands dry, moved to the next table over where implements of pain rested. Melkan tried to shift left and right to see what was being sought, he felt his body start to sweat again. 'Delay, at least a little delay is a little less agony! And stay strong idiot, you can't give anything up anyway, this is what it took to get Moira the chance to escape, it's the price you knew you'd pay, now take hold of your cock, be a man, and pay it!' He thought urgently. "Yeah, guess you brought them with you here eh, what's it like to go home to them after torturing people?"

The interrogator shook his head, "No, the beastmen invaded, so… I ran. I ran to the stable, got my horse, and rode off, abandoning my wife and unborn child. I'm sure they were eaten not long after, but… I did save myself. I still miss her of course but… it was them or me. To be honest? Now I barely remember her face. If I can do that to them… just imagine what I'll do to someone whose agony can actually be helpful to me?" He turned around and held his hand out with palm upturned so that Melkan could see what he had.

"No… it can't be…" Melkan's eyes went wide.

A trio of thimbles with sharp, small, catlike claws at the end, Melkan shook and tried to get loose from the chair to which he was chained. "Now, either you tell me how many different types of spells you saw, or you pick which eye I pluck from your skull again." The interrogator said wickedly, before stopping short at the stunned look on Melkan's face.

"What?" The interrogator asked inquisitively, lowering his hand slowly to his side.

"She has soft, beautiful brown hair, brown eyes that sparkle when she's happy or when she's sad, and are gentle when she smiles. She has thin lips the purse tight when she's annoyed and tremble like a lute string when she's crying. She has an oval face, is smaller than I by about a foot, and has a freckle on her left cheek that disappears when she smiles. Oh and she's a little tan because she likes to stand out in the sun when the wind blows and plays with her hair." Melkan said confidently. "Remember now?"

The interrogator's face when from confused and cockeyed, too shocked with his mouth hanging open and his shoulders slumped forward, too enraged at the completeness of the description. "How could you possibly know that?!" He demanded through clenched teeth.

"Because… your wife is alive, or was, last I saw her. Incidentally, you have a son, congratulations." Melkan said, savoring the range of confused and agonized emotions that crossed the face of the interrogator as he tried to find some way to deny what Melkan said… and found none.


	182. Planning Ahead

_...Re-Estize..._

Renner stretched out with a smile on her face and her eyes glowing white as a pair of perfect clouds. She reached over next to her where Climb lay sleeping still and began to caress his chest. A little smirk formed from her first smile as she sat up and looked down at her puppy. 'Mine all mine all mine no more pretending no more risks no more thoughts of loss he's mine he's mine all mine and I'll never be without him again never never never never and I'll never let him go.' She obsessively thought to herself and let her hand drift lower over his sleeping form, his muscles barely gave under the slight press of her seemingly delicate fingers, and the wings began to emerge from her back ever so slowly. She put more into the one closest to the bed, easing her up and over him.

Her hand went lower, finding his body's desire already evident beneath the sheet, already waiting for her as she'd come to expect, since the slowly building level of experience taught her more and more lessons. She straddled him slowly, and holding him firmly yet gently where she needed him, she awakened him in one of his two favorite ways, with the feeling of ecstasy conquering from below, and with her lips pressing to his own.

He awakened quickly, and she arched herself back without a word to let Climb's hands roam over her body. "Yes... yes... yes it feels so good..." she whimpered out truthfully as his fingers proved to be a quicker study with her body than he had ever been with the sword.

Masculine groans came from his mouth, which did not stop until she flung herself down to him again and her angel wings wound their way under his body, which he arched to give them passage beneath, and their lovemaking became more urgent and ardent, and her cries became wild and loud.

He blushed as she rocked herself against him and unleashed a voice of ecstasy as loud as her body was beautiful. The whole palace probably knew this routine by now, of that he was sure. 'Let them listen, let them know.' Outer Guardian Renner thought maliciously. 'You can all know what I do with him, screw your propriety and fussing about royal blood, I'm the angel servant of a god, if it does not break his will I can do what the hell I want... come, complain, complain and I'll feed you to the hounds!' She thought with fury which then drove her to meet his thrusts all the more aggressively, she grabbed his chest with her hands and tightened her fingers, she felt muscle beneath, then a crack as she broke something within him.

It stopped neither of them, "Yes, Climb! Yes! Do it! Let... me have... our child...!" She screamed as a climax of bliss washed over her trembling form, and coaxed his own release in turn, whereupon, after what felt like forever, she fell into his waiting embrace his hands caressed her slender shape, from her waist, to her wings, to her slender arms which were, despite being much smaller than his, many, many times more powerful.

"Did I hurt you... my Climb?" Renner asked sweetly, 'I wonder how many beyond the door heard me ask to bear a peasant's child? I hope someone, I hope someone speaks against it, it's been awhile since I've been able to punish someone for the temerity of criticizing my puppy.' She closed her eyes to hide any hint of sadism that might appear even in the milky white glow, and he didn't see.

"A little." He gasped, "I think you just fractured two this time... hurts but... I can wait for the healing potion I... like resting here with you like this, everything I dreamed when I began to become a man and... it is here." He boldly reached up and touched her chin, taking it between thumb and forefinger, he brought her to face him, "This is all I ever wanted, and more than any man ever deserves."

"You expect me to argue, my Climb?" She asked sweetly, drawing her lips a hair's breadth away from his.

"No, never. I just feel a little guilty for wanting more... I cannot wait to add a child to the family but... what will your brother say?" Climb asked with a furrowed brow.

"What I tell him to, if it comes down to it, I represent the Sorcerer King's interests here, my brother will become accustomed to everything eventually. It may take time, but before you hold son or daughter in your arms, he will see your true worth when set against others, just like I did, just like 'she' did." Renner said with pride and confidence in her voice as she caressed the blonde beard that had started to emerge on his face.

"She?" Climb asked with a raised eyebrow.

"Queen Zesshi, you being 'you', setting yourself in contrast to the side she served, helped break her out of her old life. Renner snorted, "I'd be jealous, or concerned, but of course, well... you've mentioned her preferences." Renner laughed with amusement and put her arms at his side on the mattress, and pushed herself up and rolling over to let Climb rise.

As he slid his way off the side of the bed, he reached into the dresser beside him and took out a healing potion and quickly downed it, sighing with relief as it took effect and the cracked bones healed. "Are we going to the conference today, my Princess? Or... is there something else that must be done?" He asked as he rang a bell for a servant and reached for a robe.

"We are, Climb, and... I think I should bring Brain along." She said as she rolled over and slid out of the bed herself.

"Brain?" Climb looked over his shoulder as the servant opened the door. "Draw a bath, please." Climb said politely as Renner drew herself up behind him, she wrapped her wings and arms around his frame.

"Just one though... we'll share." She said in a dusky voice that made the maid... and Climb, blush a deep red.

As the maid withdrew, Renner continued, "Yes, you're not an appropriate bodyguard anymore, remember? You're the father of my child."

"Working on that at least." Climb said with a rare salacious joke that prompted a titter of laughter out of the golden princess.

"Yes well... he's at least currently the Royal Chief Warrior, since the King acceded to my wishes, or rather... yours. It's proper then that he should accompany us in the treasures of the Kingdom."

"As you wish, my princess, I'll go see him this morning. But if I may ask, why is it that we are attending? King Zanac is there after all."

Renner stepped back from him and went to retrieve a robe for herself, and as she slid her arms through the sleeves and wings through the slits in the back, she answered, "Because I am still a princess of this country, the sole heir of my brother, should he perish in these difficult times. Had we suitable ambassadors, we could send one of those, but other than the Marquis Raeven, well... it will be some time before we have rebuilt our administration."

"I see, well as you think best, Princess." Climb answered as the maid poked her head into the room, "The bath is drawn, princess and... my lord." She said uncomfortably.

Climb nodded, and the woman retreated as fast as she could. "I think we're going to have to give you an official title of nobility, like father intended to before." Renner said casually.

"As my princess wishes. But for now... the bath?" He asked as he held out his hand.

She placed her little slender fingers into his palm and savored the warmth of his hand closing around her own, "Yes, of course." She replied with her 'sweet face' radiant and bright before him. 'Never let go, I'll never let him let go... he's mine... mine forever...' She thought to herself with the joy of a demon with unlimited toys to play with.

 _...Nazarick..._

Demiurge looked over the fragments of the object he'd spent so many hours working on. "I don't understand, why did you break? You should have worked."

"Still thinking about that thing?" Albedo asked as she entered his office without knocking.

"Yes." He said without looking up, his hands spread out over the table, hunched over it and gazing down intently, all he could do was ask it why and get no answer in return. "What brings you here?" He asked impatiently.

"Hoping for an answer myself." Albedo replied coolly. "That was going to be the way I could finally have a child with our lord, to produce an heir for Nazarick. And it broke to pieces."

"Well I don't have one to give you." Demiurge replied with annoyance.

"Any chance the crazy one you've taken to playing with has worked anything out?" She asked hopefully.

Demiurge ran his hand over his forehead as if to wipe away nonexistent sweat. "None. She's not as intelligent as I, but she's creative, very 'out of the box' in things, still however... this perplexes us both. As near as we can tell, the material itself is part of the problem, we need something new, so we're going to try it with new materials, lots of them, we'll find some way to make this work." He replied with calm obsession.

He took a deep breath, "How are things going at the conference?" He asked, eager for a change of subject.

"Interestingly at least, General Enri had a serious conflict with General Neia." Albedo said with a smile on her face like she'd just watched a grand drama play out. "She threatened to push for Neia to be put on trial and hanged."

Demiurge straightened up and stroked his chin, "So, is that his plan then?"

Albedo looked at him quizzically as Demiurge turned around to face her. "What?" She asked.

"I thought he planned to throw her away as a sacrifice at Prart, but he didn't, he pulled her to safety, and as usual his master plan far surpassed my own feeble efforts, she became a terrible force to be reckoned with out there, so perhaps now..." Demiurge began to drift off from speaking as he ran calculations through his mind.

"Now?" Albedo asked, bringing him back to reality.

He refocused on the Guardian Overseer, "Well, now she might make a better scapegoat than a General. The war is nearly over, his armies can win without her, to pacify the conquered realms, he may have her put to death. We know she'll accept the blame if it gives our lord the world. Perhaps this is what he prepared for her after all."

Albedo thought that over for a moment, from the few minutes of private conversation, to the Sorcerer King's actions toward her, and a different conclusion began to dawn. "No... I don't believe you're correct, Demiurge. I believe he is sincere in the way he treats her. I speak not as a Guardian, but as a woman and from a woman's heart, as I lay at night imagining how he would treat the child that I will surely bear for him one day, what I see, is how he has been treating her. I am certain he is not planning on her demise."

The iron confidence in her voice gave Demiurge pause. "Does it matter, will she really push for a trial?"

Albedo thought that over, "General Enri has done more than I thought possible for a human peasant, and more interestingly, she stood up to General Neia. Since the Pope has come into her role at Prart, nobody that I have seen has been able to argue with her like that, yet Enri did. I believe she may take the matter to Lord Ainz and request it. If she does, and he grants her request, it will make things very difficult with the elves."

"Yes... true, she's their hero, their champion. They'd riot if she were put on trial, let alone found guilty. It might also pose a problem with the subordinate nations, the Slane Theocracy had a lot of grudges against them, as far as most of them are concerned, Neia did them all a favor. So what do you propose?" Demiurge asked as he stroked his chin.

"The easiest thing would be to silence Enri, but she is under Lord Ainz's personal protection and he has not revoked it. Alternatively, we bury it all. Destroy the reports, lock down the city with our own forces as soon as the four armies currently there depart. And spread the stories of the atrocities of that city far and wide."

"So that people revel in what she did rather than condemn her for it?" Demiurge asked as understanding dawned.

"We won't have to work hard, humans are... creative at least. When it comes to suffering, their breaker schools, while only a pale imitation of Neuronist's skills, are still quite impressive... by human standards. Such as the way that they create pliant slaves with no will to resist, and keep them in great numbers." Albedo explained with seeming indifference.

"What about Neia herself?" Demiurge replied thoughtfully, "You know how she is. If she feels like what she did was a hindrance to her master, or broke the justice she believes him to embody, she won't let it go either. She may even beg for a trial all on her own."

Albedo rubbed her fingers together in a slow and easy fidget as she spoke pragmatically, "It shouldn't be hard to alter her memory, I read the report, she was clearly beyond reason, tell her she's needed for an experiment, and change her understanding of what happened, but if we do that... you have to keep your... assistant, away from her until the process is complete. I do not entirely comprehend what she says when she describes 'seeing guilt'. But somehow I do not think it will be Lord Ainz's will that Neia be given to Vanysa for punishment."

"It bears substantial thought... Lord Ainz's plans are so... many and so intricate, that I can barely comprehend a fraction of any one of them. What he will do with her is now the greatest mystery of all." Demiurge acknowledged with great discomfort as he folded his hands behind his back to disguise that they were tightly clenched in frustration. "What would you do with her, Albedo?" He asked hopefully.

"Have her exterminate the rest of the Slane Theocracy of course, such an act of terror would cow foreign nations that have yet to yield, and satisfy the many enemies they made for themselves. After that, sacrifice her and use her body as a reagent and create a suitable life from her that will never break loyalty and which will be able to serve Nazarick forever, and have the power for that to have true meaning. Much like was done with the body of the human woman."

"Yes, he did a marvelous job with Vanysa's remains." Demiurge agreed with a pleasant smile.

"Yes, but I was referring to General Oma. It was a stroke of genius to..." She looked at Demiurge with a knowing smile, "he didn't mention it, did he?"

Demiurge shook his head, "No... yet..." He slapped his cheeks with both hands and dragged his fingers down, pulling his flesh in frustration. "Will I never even see the base of the mountain of his genius?!"

Albedo touched his shoulder with one hand, and gave him a sympathetic smile. "None of us will. After he gathered her ashes, he restored her body in the shape of a dullahan, then teleported her corpse, stopped time, and cast his true resurrection, timing all three spells so that it would appear as if she was recreated from nothing. To make it even better, he called upon Calca to refer to the lie he'd told the paladins years ago after her death, when he said there was a chance she could resurrect as undead if it were done without a body." She clapped her hands together joyfully, and let out a breathy sigh of admiration.

Demiurge flopped himself down in a chair. "He planned all this back then... he must have, it's too perfect... I should expect nothing less, but he will never stop surprising me it would seem." Demiurge groaned. "While it brings me great joy, it also terrifies me, how can we live up to his standards, we must always fall so short... I dread the day he tires of our shallow efforts and..."

Albedo's eyes went wide as the moon and she thrust her hand to his mouth, covering his lips with two fingers, "Please... do not finish that sentence!" She begged ardently, "I cannot bear the thought... I try so hard not to think of... such a thing. Focus on your work Demiurge, he is a wise and forgiving Lord, and we are the children of his dear friends, he will not abandon us, I believe that, and you must also. Only work hard, and he will see how much you try, and forgive your failure to equal the unequalable."

Demiurge nodded solemnly, "I should return to my work, I need to make a list of items for my assistant to retrieve."

"Very well, I should return, Shalltear has been begging to come report to Lord Ainz personally. And I'm afraid I'm out of excuses to keep her at bay, but... that doesn't mean I'll give her time alone with him." She said with a wickedly competitive smile and drew herself up straight with enough force that her ample breasts bounced slightly.

"I wish you luck then." Demiurge said dryly, and got up to return to his work, barely noticing when she left.


	183. New Beginnings

God Rising: The Cult of Ainz

Written by: AtheistBasementDragon

Edited by: The Usual Gang of Drunken Perverted Idiots

Chapter 183: New Beginnings

 _...Nazarick..._

Sebas strode through the door with the same calm air he always did, his face a mask of dignified tranquility, he shut the door behind him with the grace of a dancer as his eyes scanned the room. Well-appointed quarters by any standards, if not luxurious, they were still sufficient by the standards of the world to be fit for the Kings of the New World.

However as soon as he entered, he knew all was not as it should be. A small frown formed on his face. Then he heard it, the very faintest of cries, with a small sniffle to end it. 'The dining room...' he thought, and his long powerful legs carried him across the living room and straight into the room where, to his shock, Tuare sat with her face in her hands, propped up on her elbows.

He went immediately to where she was and knelt beside her. He removed a handkerchief with one hand, and reached out to touch her cheek with his free one. "Tuare..." He whispered softly, she looked up.

Her eyes were puffy and red as she turned to look at him, a crooked smile formed on her face that trembled from the sheer effort of making it. She reached out with trembling hands and took the cloth he offered. She then dabbed her eyes and laid it down on the table.

"Tuare?" He asked in a quiet voice as she reached up to where his hand touched her cheek, and there, her hand covered his. Her heart beat a little faster.

"S-Something happened... I... I got hurt." Tuare whispered in a cracked and broken voice.

Sebas didn't say anything, he remained kneeling by her side and let her move at her own pace as little by little she related how Neia had injured her. He kept his face neutral as she spoke, allowing nothing to show until she finished recounting it all, including their encounter in the hall after the ruling was made.

"Tuare..." Sebas whispered again, and slowly enfolded her into his arms as she let herself slip into the comforting embrace of the man she loved. "I'm so proud of you... you're the best of humanity... my creator would be so proud of you, just as I am, to name such a price. How I wish he could see you now. And... believe me, I will have 'words' with Neia over this. She will never lay a hand on you again."

Tuare's eyes widened and her embrace around him tightened, "Husband... no. I truly believe she is sincere, she didn't mean to, it was an accident, with anyone else, it wouldn't... it hurts more 'because' it was me. She confessed after all..."

Sebas placed a hand atop her head and stroked the long strands that ran down her back, steel resolve in his gentle touch, he didn't look down at her as he replied, "No, I helped teach her, I helped train her. She became what she is, in part because I helped her become so. I cannot be satisfied until I have spoken to her myself."

"If that is what it takes to ease your heart, then Sebas... do what you must. But first... first ease the heart of your wife, I want... I want the safety of your touch." Tuare whispered, "The safety of your strength, nothing else but you, 'all' of you will do." She said with the faint rose blush to her cheeks that she still got when she broached the quality of boldness in the desires of her body.

He didn't carry her to bed, he let her slip from his embrace, but the touch of one hand to the other did not fall away, instead she held his own, and walked him out of the room, and in the direction of their bedchamber. He followed, letting her take comfort in her sense of control and confidence from her safety in doing so with him.

The door shut behind them with a gentle 'snick' sound as the door knob turned into place. It had barely done so when she approached him and began to undo each button of his shirt while he stood, statue like, allowing her resolve and confidence to grow with every inch of steel skin exposed, until there lay nothing between their eyes and the bare flesh of their own but a mere bit of empty space. Only then did she take his hand again, and draw him to the bed as she moved backwards, then there lay no space between them at all, and that did not change for several hours time.

 _...Sorcerer King's Office in Forton..._

"Wait... Your Majesty... am I... am I not to stand trial as one of the rulers of the defeated nation? I don't expect that my scant time in support of Raymond will be sufficient to atone for the things my country did." Berenice said with her mouth remaining open after she spoke, unable to think of more to say, or to really accept what she had just heard, it opened and closed in silence several times before she finally allowed it to close and stay that way.

Ainz shook his head, "No, as far as the world knows, you died attempting a coup d'etat against Cardinal Dominic. The only one who knows you live, outside of Nazarick of course, is Queen Zesshi, and she I think, will say nothing. Therefore there is no point in dragging you back 'from the dead' to answer. As it stands, this 'accident' it seems, has given you a chance to start your whole life entirely over again, or nearly so."

Berenice chewed on her tongue as she thought the matter over, she seemed to find the floor very interesting as she considered everything, and then at last she brought her her eyes up to the undead monarch again. "What of Raymond, Sire?" She asked hopefully.

Ainz propped his arms up on the desk and folded his fingers together in front of his jaw. "Raymond, of course, will have to answer for his time as a ruler. He is after all, still very much alive and very much a public figure, a few months of decency don't erase everything before. In all probability, he will be put on trial, and depending on how that goes, he will then be handed over to Queen Zesshi, or perhaps he can be sent to hard labor or a time of imprisonment, the exact end has yet to be determined for him."

"Can I... not offer to take some of his sentence?" She asked hopefully, her eyes fluttering as her mind raced.

"No. No one can pay the price for anyone else, he was head of the Black Scripture for a long time, Zesshi has taken on most of the survivors of that organization to her service, a lifetime of devotion to her will do well enough, but Raymond was a commander, the greater the authority, the greater the accountability for them that wield it. You it seems, had a hand chiefly in civil affairs, and of the records we've... acquired, I don't see the things I expected, so you are, as it is, free to leave." Ainz answered.

Berenice repeated the last part of his sentence again and again as if it were a prayer. She impulsively prostrated herself, lowering her head to the floor, "Your Majesty... I was wrong, we were all wrong, we misjudged you at every step of the way from the first moment to the present, you are truly the wisest and most just king I have ever encountered."

Ainz accepted the praise passively, replying only with, "It is the job of a king, to strive to be that. I will not be a bad king to my children." His voice was that of an absolute monarch declaring the order of the world, and from her prostrate position, Berenice felt her heartbeat faster.

'Am I prostrating myself before a god, after all?' She wondered in awe.

"Majesty... with respect to your choice, I would like to... to travel. I would like to see the Elf Kingdom, I want to see what Queen Zesshi makes out of the place. While I am there... there is something else I want to do, and I pray your indulgence one more time." She said in a deeply honored voice still full of her earlier awe.

His silence granted her permission to continue.

She kept her eyes down in her prostrate position, but she spoke with firmness of voice, a pale imitation of the voice of the absolute monarch, but it was her resolve and she carried it firmly. "I will, when I settle somewhere, write everything down. Everything I can remember of my life in the Slane Theocracy, every sin our nation committed, everything we did, good and bad alike. I will make it so that nobody can ever forget or deny the things that happened, it may take me years, but when I am done, I ask that you release it to the public as the final Journal of Cardinal Berenice, let that be the last time I ever use that name."

"A minor request, I will grant it." He said with a casual wave of his hand, then asked curiously, "What name will you go by thereafter?"

"I lay that choice at your feet." She said humbly. "You have given me my life, it is proper then that you should give me a name to match it."

'Why does this always happen? I always end up with these burdensome choices... can't she at least spare me this much?' He wondered frantically as he scrambled to think of something suitable, and a faint, half remembered conversation sprung to mind.

'He's so wise, he gives such consideration to even trivial things... how could we have ever been so foolish as to curse his existence...?!' Berenice screamed inside her own head, glad that her prostrate posture hid the emotions of shame and reverence that covered her face.

The Sorcerer King took up, 'Wise Undead Pose Number Two' and leaned back while he looked away, as if recalling a distant past, which in a manner of speaking, he considered that he was doing just that as he named her. "In first world, the world I and my friends came from, there were many languages that died out, and one of my dear friends was a lover of those languages, he said they carried worlds within them. I always counted him to be rather wise, and enjoyed listening to him talk. One of the examples he gave, the word 'ber' meant 'to carry' and was attached to many other words. Another 'tra' meant 'between'. Therefore your name hereafter will be 'Bertra' because you have, however unexpectedly, carried yourself between two races and two worlds. Perhaps because you have two lives in two bodies, you may help form a bridge between elves and humans... or perhaps not, I leave that choice to you."

He then reached into his pocket dimension and took out a leather pouch, then dropped a handful of coins into it, and pushed it across her desk. "That should be enough for you to live anywhere, in any kind of way of life you wish. You can buy a very good sized farm in the countryside, or open a shop and buy a small residence in Crescent Lake, or even a small estate somewhere. Go, live your life, and reach out to us when you wish your humanity restored. If we've solved the previous problem, then it will be done, your old body will be yours to reclaim."

Berenice slowly stood, one foot at a time as the coins were slid over the table. She walked over and took the pouch without even looking within. Her eyes widened as she recognized the weight of a substantial amount of gold, easily what he said it was enough to do.

"Your Majesty... I... I do not know what I can say, thank you... for my life, for the name you give to me, it is beautiful beyond words. Thank you for the means to live, and... for the opening of my eyes to all I had been blind to before. If ever I can be of service... my feeble talents are yours to command." The former 'Berenice' replied with shining and grateful eyes.

"I will remember, and hold you to that." He replied nobly, "To whom much is given, much is expected, however you live your life, do not make it a waste of my will. Now, where would you like me to send you?" He asked in a surprisingly amicable voice.

"Would, just outside Crescent Lake... be too much to ask?" Bertra asked hopefully.

"Not at all." He replied patiently, and a moment later behind her, a [Gate] opened.

Bertra bowed deeply, "If I never come to you again, please know that this bow is the most sincere one I have ever given in all my life, and that includes the many times I have bowed before my... former... gods, I guess being an elf now, I can't follow them anymore. They would turn their backs to me as I am, so I will not turn my back on you. When you see Raymond... please pass on to him my gratitude for all that he did. And tell him that, even if I don't see him again, I will never forget him."

Ainz nodded politely as she straightened up, and backed her way into the portal, refusing to show her back to the eternal monarch.

Then his office, and the king himself, and the [Gate] were gone, and she found herself looking out over an enormous and shining blue lake that reflected the light of the moon like a perfect mirror. Little lights danced in the great city on the island, home to tens of thousands of elves, for a long time all the former Cardinal could do was stare in wonderment at the impossible place in which she found herself.

Finally, Bertra took a deep breath, and said joyfully, "This may be the start of the greatest adventure of my life... and I can't wait." A smile formed across her new face, she rubbed her hands together, and she took her first step forward.

 _...Ruins of Wheaton..._

General Musan followed where he was led by the command team while those outside saw to getting his army situated for their short stay in the ruined city, the main building was... bloodstains aside, largely intact.

He stepped over a broken and burned table and chair set that lay strewn about the hall. "Cleanup is slow, eh?" He asked.

Skana nodded, "It is, largely because it doesn't matter, we got the bodies out of here, and out of the rest of the city, but we don't plan on leaving more than a small occupation force behind, there's just not that much left to occupy." She said in a chillingly casual voice, not even breaking her stride as her long steps carried her down the long hall.

"So I see... what happened?" He asked with surprise, "Was resistance that firm?"

"Sort of." She replied, "the fires are definitely almost entirely their work, they erected a defense in depth, destroyed a lot of buildings to create barriers that they then lit on fire, but if you get right down to it, it was the wrath of my wife. She... saw things." Skana shuddered at the memory.

"Things?" General Musan asked dubiously.

"Things." Skana said and closed her mouth so that it was obvious she would provide no more details.

"Yaksun." He suggested in a diplomatic tone of voice.

"Something like that. A breaker school. Where they and overseers learn their... trade, right in the middle of the city, not even on the outskirts, General Baraja... well she lost herself in wrath, it... did things, to the rest of us, or at least some of us, and this is the result. It might have gone this way regardless I suppose, but we'll never know." Skana shrugged.

"After Yaksun, all I can say is... fuck 'em?" General Musan replied bluntly as they came to a door. Though made of a pale white wood, that beautiful artistry was barely visible between numerous bloody stains scattered all over it where a number of people had clearly perished. 'Somebody made an unwilling stand here, guess whoever was inside locked them out, I wonder if the ones inside got to live?' General Musan thought to himself as he eyed the pattern of the stains that reflected panic and desperation.

When the door opened, he knew immediately as he looked around, 'No, no whoever was inside, did not live much longer.' A number of blood stains were scattered about, one that grew outward from under a desk that someone had probably hidden under, several stains on the large table, with deep thin holes where swords had stabbed through bodies and then gone through the wood beneath, and a final thick patch in a corner where a small knot of people had been trapped and annihilated.

All that, he concluded in an instant before his eyes fell to the table where a pale blue skinned woman stood up, though her hair was white and skin blue, he couldn't have mistaken her for any other.

"General Oma!" He said with surprise in his voice.

She gave him an enormous grin, and removed her head from her body.

His jaw dropped.

"I can look surprised too, you know, and I can drop my jaw even farther." She said and dropped her head before catching it near the height of her knees. "Yes, it's me, well... I guess you could say a new and improved me." She said pleasantly.

"I... wow, they didn't... I heard you were restored but..." He looked her up and down as he struggled for words.

"If you're wondering what I am now," she said crisply, "I'm a dullahan, a kind of undead being, a consequence of being restored to life with my body destroyed."

General Musan approached her slowly, as if not really comprehending, his slow, tentative steps eventually brought him within reach of where she stood. "What is it... like?" He asked with wonder.

"If you're wondering if I feel hate for the living..." She began uncomfortably, "no, I don't. Perhaps because I kept my memories, I... guess, but all I want is to serve Her Majesty again, and her lord, the Sorcerer King, who brought me back from death to reap the lives of our common enemies."

"No... not that..." General Musan said as the other commanders came into the room and politely ignored the reunion as they began to take their seats at the table. "I knew the moment you looked at me and made that ridiculous joke about dropping your jaw, that you didn't hate life. Hated good humor... maybe... but life... no." He said with a smirk before his arms went out and he embraced her tightly for a moment.

She grinned, "Glad to see you too, General." She said happily as he stepped back, then she pursed her lips, "Hey... do you mean to say my jokes are bad?"

"Oh yes, that was awful." He smirked at her thin lipped expression, "But that doesn't matter. I was really asking anyway, what it 'felt' like to have a body like this."

"Oh," She dismissed his mockery of her sense of humor 'for the moment', and answered pleasantly, "it feels great, I feel stronger than ever, like I could fight an army and win... and maybe I could. I don't know just how strong this body is yet. Perhaps we'll find out soon enough though." She said enthusiastically. "But save your questions for now, we can talk more about what happened later, instead," she gestured to a seat at the table, "sit, and let's go over the plan to attack Kami Miyako, we've got a lot to do to take the last bastion of opposition, soonest begun, soonest done, as you used to say. So let's get started."

General Musan nodded numbly but with an enormous smile on his face as he sat next to his restored protege, and Skana stood up at the head of the table. "Alright, thank you for joining me everyone, we've got a lot to do and little time to do it, so let's get down to business." She said in a fervent and professional voice.

'Neia... please be alright.' She thought briefly, then shoved the thought down and took the agenda out of a file an attendant placed at her right hand.


	184. Research & Development

God Rising: The Cult of Ainz

Written by: AtheistBasementDragon

Edited by: The Usual Gang of Drunken Perverted Idiots

Chapter 184: Research and Development

 _...Nazarick..._

Vanysa looked over the corpse. "So... yah really think this'll work?" She had a black eyebrow arched and her long talons clicked on the work table. Her storm grey eyes were alight with insanity after all the work they'd done on the corpse, her golden body was still tainted with wet blood from the meat that had once been Thousand Mile Astrologer, she took a few slow, sensuous steps toward where Demiurge stood near her head. She smiled archly as she saw how he looked at the way she rolled her hips with every step as she drew closer to him.

"I think so, if we're right, then something about the confluence of magic that resulted in your demonic nature being selected as a Tisiphone, influences the way magic reshapes a corpse that is resurrected without a specific nature in mind. Ideally we'd have more bodies to work with but..." Demiurge shrugged with resignation, "There aren't that many like her to work with for experiments, so we'll just have to wait until the opportunities arise."

Vanysa bit her lip in thought, "But... we do gots more."

"What, where?!" He asked eagerly, his crystal eyes fixed on the buxom demoness.

She laughed and her madness began to melt away, her eyes went sharp, "Easy, the dead Black Scripture members. I had them retrieved." Before he could ask, she continued in a dusky voice, "I knew where Zesshi had been, near Crescent Lake... more or less, so I just borrowed a beast from Lady Aura to have it look for corpses and signs of fighting in the area, after finding the bodies, I returned the beast and had them returned, they're wrapped and preserved in a few boxes already. As long as we either rob them of or replace their memories, and raise them as something unrecognizable to their fellows..." She drew close to Demiurge and boldly put a hand to his chest, "nobody will ever know, and what marvelous servants they might make."

Demiurge let out grim chuckle as she used the little accomplishment to remind him she was no fool, as much as she used her body to entice him. "You're becoming quite the demoness. Getting used to everything, aren't you?" He asked with a raised eyebrow of his own.

She shrugged and stepped back, her voice grew serious and her lips lost their pursed, seductive look. "Maybe so. I know there was a time when all this was unthinkable. I was a... good girl once, never wanted to hurt anyone, never did anything bad, just hid from bad and tried to make a life. Maybe if things hadn't changed, I'd have stayed that way. But sometimes... you know sometimes, I think this was always part of me, and it was just like a seed that hadn't been watered, and all it took was enough blood dropped on it to make it grow..."

She froze for a moment, bending over the table and resting her hands there, her talons dug in and ripped into the stone, her teeth gritted and eyes squeezed so tight they wrinkled in her head. "Gah... no... no... no..." She repeated on a loop, while Demiurge simply stood and waited, until her body started to shake and her eyes opened.

"Sorry... just..." She shook her head and grabbed hold of her horns as she tried to control her labored breathing and return it to normal.

"Another?" He asked her passively.

She nodded slightly, "Yes, just... this still happens to me... I guess some of what I did to this," she gestured to the parts of the corpse that she'd cut into, "reminded me of my time with... him."

"I see." Demiurge said neutrally, eyeing her in askance.

"I'm fine, don't bother about it." She said with a wave of her golden hand, "It's over, and I'll relax with my plaything later, for now, tell me just what you were hoping these modifications would represent?"

"I'll tell you if it works, I wonder what will happen to her if she's not specifically given an undead nature, your own case, looking back, I would have thought you would have inherited the nature of wrath, but perhaps your hatred was greater than your rage?" Demiurge finished the thought as a question and stroked his chin as he pondered the way the musician had been mutilated before death. "Or perhaps it was the way in which you were damaged, or some aspect of your personality... but if we can master this, we will understand more about how magic in this world works than anyone else anywhere." As Demiurge clapped his hands together enthusiastically, Vanysa matched him in perfect synch.

"Well, with the memories implanted, and the... relevant ones altered in the minds of those who might remember the truth, there should be no further problems. I still feel bad about killing her mother though." Vanysa sighed reluctantly, "I know, I know, you don't need to say it Demiurge, but it is my nature, I can only really enjoy hurting the guilty."

He shrugged, "Everybody who does not serve Lord Ainz is guilty of not serving Lord Ainz, that is reason enough."

Vanysa tittered in an amused voice and turned her eyes down to the corpse, "Sorry to keep you waiting there Meidhall, but I can't resist the charms of some." She looked up and winked to the demon, who wished he had the ability to roll his crystalline eyes at her flirtatiousness.

He coughed into his hand, and took up the scroll. "Create Undead..." He said, and then left off any specification.

The magic whorled around the corpse, whipping around her like the wind, the skin of the dead, already pasty white, paled further, her hair, once long and blue, became red as flame, her ears developed a small tip at the top as if she were a half elf, her eyes, milky white in death, became catlike and her irises red as blood.

"What...?" Meidhall managed to muster out as she looked up at the demons that were in turn hovering over her body and looking at her as if they had found a particularly interesting insect.

"Welcome to the land of the... unliving, I guess." Vanysa said with a toothy grin.

"Unliving... wait... I remember..." Meidhall shrieked in a furious rage as the memory rushed to the fore, "My father... he... he had me killed! My father had me killed! He had my mother killed!"

She tried to sit up, pushing up from her palms, only to feel two sets of hands on her shoulders pushing her back down. "Where do you think you're going?" Demiurge asked serenely.

"To kill my father! To kill the assassins my father sent! They have to die!" She shrieked, her eyes filled with red tears and she tried to sit up again.

"They will, in time, first..." Demiurge said, then turned to Vanysa, "Show her."

That gave Meidhall pause, and Vanysa released her grip to take up a nearby hand mirror, which she handed over to the still unmoving Meidhall. She took it in hand and held it up to her face. "Wha... wait, you said 'unliving... this is not my hair, those are not my ears... what did you... do to me?" She asked breathlessly as she looked at her pale skin and looked transfixed at her blood red eyes.

"You are a Leanan Sidhe, a curious outcome, an undead of not considerable power but... not quite what I was expecting." Demiurge said thoughtfully.

"This was how you were restored to the world." Vanysa explained patiently, "So that you can exact your revenge on those who ended the life of yourself and your mother." She placed her golden hand on Thousand Mile Astrologer's shoulder, "You are now bound to the service of His Majesty, the Sorcerer King, and will follow his orders."

Meidhall took all that in with silence... "I... am bound, am I? I have no choice? I am enslaved?"

"If you want to call it that, however..." Vanysa touched her cheek, "My master is very generous, I am sure if you wish to return to death after your revenge is exacted, he will permit you to do so, you do want revenge, more than you want to die, don't you?"

Meidhall thought for a moment... "Why did you leave my memories intact, you surely could have raised me as a mindless husk?"

"You would not be you, and... I know something of how you died, it was brave, my master believed you deserved to stay yourself, and did not want to steal who you were, away from yourself." Vanysa smiled patiently through the lie.

"What does he command of me? I want to... know that I am bound." Meidhall said uncomfortably.

"Hunt the Agante, the ones who killed you, your mother, and all their organization. No matter where they hide." Demiurge said with a predatory expression as he released his grip on her.

A powerful pull rose in her chest, like a heavy chain she could not pull away. "I... am bound to my maker... but tell the master this... even without compulsion... I will obey him. And as he gives me so generous an order... my chance at revenge... I am his to command until he wishes my unlife to end."

"Your equipment is over there." Demiurge said and pointed to a corner, "Put it on, and we will drop you into the area we suspect some Agante may be operating."

Meidhall didn't say anything, she just slid her legs off the table and walked to the corner, heedless of her nakedness, and began to dress, with her back to the demonic pair, she could not see the sadistic smiles on their faces as glee rose up within their hearts, nor did she see as they mouthed the word 'perfect', as she cursed the ones she believed to be her killers.

A few minutes later, the [Gate] opened, and Meidhall was gone, leaving the demon and demoness alone. "That went well." Vanysa remarked happily.

"Yes, it did, so... music?" Demiurge asked.

"Music." Vanysa agreed, and they walked out together to go and visit Astraka.

 _...Kami Miyako..._

"I hate this." Raymond said under his breath as he walked from his house to the carriage.

Nua was behind him, around her neck was a collar made of thick, heavy iron. She was biting her lip as she walked behind him. 'It hurts... so heavy...' She thought as she walked, but her face stayed carefully neutral as she followed Raymond to the carriage. 'Don't let him see, at least don't let him know that.' She reminded herself, biting her tongue over and over.

His footman opened the door, and he entered to quickly take his seat.

As he made himself as comfortable as he could, he glanced out the door and saw Solution stroll easily behind Nua, evidently indifferent to it all. He bit back a laugh. 'They're so afraid of an elven insurrection but I've got a monster right here that wanders around without any impediment at all, my country has become a joke, what is left of it." Raymond thought bitterly.

When Nua reached the carriage, he held out his hand, shielded from any other eyes, he could safely assist her, and he did so, allowing her to sit. Solution sat beside her and put her feet up on the seat next to Raymond.

"Are you alright, Nua?" He asked as he leaned forward a little, resting his arms on his thighs.

She nodded as rapidly as the heavy collar allowed.

"I'm sorry... if I could do this any other way... but the change in the laws regarding elven slave security... there are no exemptions, if you're going to be in public, this is how it has to be." He said as he looked down at the carriage floor, unable to look up at her as she was. He could though, feel her looking at him, worse, he felt only resignation, not condemnation. 'Hate would be easier to bear.' He thought sadly.

"Master, I..." She started to say.

"Please... when it's just us, don't call me that." He said tiredly.

"Raymond... I don't want to lose the habit... not yet, I'm... scared." She leaned against the window and moved the curtain a little to look outside at the busy street.

She trembled as the sound of a brawl struck her ears, two groups of peasants were brawling at an intersection, the brawl quickly grew, they were shabbily dressed and filthy. Knives, fists, and improvised clubs were the weapons of choice, most of them were clearly not well fed, so even the brawl was pathetic. She saw the cause immediately as a small bucket of grain was kicked over and the brawl halted and both groups dove for it, desperate to gather the grains into their hands.

A whimper left her lips and she closed the curtain and held it tight long after they passed. Raymond didn't say anything, not even to reassure her. 'He's afraid, Raymond... is... afraid.' It was like ice formed around her heart, he was still peeking out the window still.

"Who was fighting?" Solution asked with a hint of annoyance in her voice.

The sounds of armored footsteps passed by as guards went to bring an end to the fighting the carriage was leaving behind.

"Two groups of refugees I'd say, I caught a few words, sounds to me like accents from Crossroads region and Feron. Fighting over grain if you want to know." He said as he relaxed back into his seat and folded his arms as the carriage rolled along.

"There's still grain?" Solution asked with a sadistic smile as the sound of screams behind them told them all that the guards were not being kind to the brawlers, and blood ran in the streets.

Raymond did his best to ignore the sound, "Yes, the project Berenice, Ginedine, and I oversaw resulted in one more harvest, it took all the magic we could manage even so, to get just one more harvest again, but it's being rationed, it can't be just 'bought at will' like it was, there's a limit based on the ration cards, speaking of which..." Raymond said and drew a card out of his pocket, then handed it over to Nua. "That is for you to use while shopping with Solution. It authorizes enough to feed the entire household if we're careful."

"Relax Raymond, I'll be mindful of her." Solution said in her customarily cocky voice.

Raymond did relax. "I know. But it isn't just that, I got word that a riot broke out at the food stall when the ration cards were first used, apparently people are saying that there isn't enough, the restaurants are all completely shut down. Twenty refugees were murdered by residents, and a half a dozen residential homes were burned down in retaliation by the refugees... and of course the refugees are broken down by where they came from and they're fighting each other as well. It's bad out there."

Nua rested her palms on her knees, "You're going to see Cardinal Yvon while we shop... right... master?" She asked anxiously.

Raymond didn't correct her again. "I am. He's... look, I've worked with all the cardinals for years, even before I became one myself, but of all of them, Yvon has always bothered me the most. Maximillian was a brilliant legal mind, I think, if things had been a little different, we could have won him over to us. But the Cardinal of Light is different. His support for Dominic was unflinching. He's like Dominic's right hand, he never much favored public work, he preferred to work on internal projects. We get his votes, but never more than a sentence or two of his opinions." His voice was clearly frustrated and he shifted in his seat uncomfortably, then peeked out from behind the curtain again, sighed with disgust, and let it fall closed the way it had been.

"Weren't you three looking into the two of Dominic's supporters more, thinking of putting them to the test or something?" Solution asked in passing.

"Yes, I asked Berenice about it, Maximillian well... I guess he doesn't matter now. But Yvon?" Raymond's eyes went distant and he looked away from them as he called up his youth to mind, "I may not know much about him, but, well a long time ago when I was a boy, I remember seeing a neighbor beat a dog that had barked too much. The dog suffered an injury to its leg that never healed properly, it limped for the rest of its life. The neighbor kept the dog, still fed it, still used it for its purpose. But I never saw on his face even the slightest hint of remorse for the injury he caused the beast, nor any pity for it when it was in pain. And when the dog couldn't work anymore, he killed it and threw it out, then bought another to replace it. I always felt bad for the dog, to have that kind of life. Let's just say Yvon reminds me of that man, only elves are to him, the same as beasts. So are criminals, if I'm any judge."

"When you... saw us, before all this... can I ask... did you feel pity the same way you did for the dog?" She asked hesitantly, 'Do I really want an answer to that?' She wondered, and cursed her tongue for speaking it aloud.

Raymond looked back over to her, then closed his eyes and folded one hand over the other, and lowered his head, "Do you really want an answer to that question?"

"Do I?" Nua asked with a quivering voice, "You're the first good human I've known in... a long time, I guess I want to believe you were always this way."

Raymond's pursed lips finally parted as he answered, spitting the words out with loathing thick and rich with every syllable. "Fine, yes, I felt exactly the same way, right down to equating both in the same manner, which is probably why I did just as much about it... which was to do nothing. When I began to become a man, I regretted not doing anything for the poor dog. The irony that I should feel a similar regret twice is not lost on me."

He shook his head regretfully and forced himself to sit upright again, disgust and dismay warred in his voice as he went on. "To the matter at hand though, Yvon is just like that, his devotion to his deity is fanatical, his divine magic is probably why he survived the assassination attempt on Dominic, and he's extremely dangerous, the slaves he keeps in his house don't even have clothing, unless you count collars, though he seems to have no sexual interest in any of them, male or female. The agent we had talk to the outdoor laborers revealed that he sees them as exactly the same as the dog I just talked about. To him, elves are just animals to be worked like any other."

He briefly looked at the roof of the carriage, "I am hoping his isolation and general muteness is because he's found some magic way to produce food, because there won't be time for another harvest before the armies of the Sorcerer King arrive, but even if they don't, we're done. We're going to destroy ourselves in this city." Raymond's tone was of a broken man, his arms lay limp at his sides, and he looked over to Solution, who wore an expression he'd seen on ladies attending a theater drama, intrigued but... disconnected. "Do me a favor, would you?"

"What?" She asked with some interest, the inhuman smile on her face revealing her hunger for violence.

"If I don't come back from this meeting with Yvon and Dominic, get Nua and the others out before doing anything else about me." Raymond implored her anxiously.

"Feeling antsy, maybe?" She asked teasingly, only to feel surprise instead when he nodded seriously.

"I didn't think things could get worse, but I was wrong before, and I don't want to think it but... well, every time I imagine I've hit rock bottom, the bottom drops further." Raymond's said in a quiet voice as he looked from one woman to the other. "Just... do this for me, would you?"

"I'll think about it." She said smugly, "For now..." The carriage rolled to a stop, "it appears as if we've arrived, come along Nua, we've got some shopping to do." She said and waited as the footman opened the door, as she got out, she looked behind her, "See you soon, Raymond." She said with a wink, and they left him in the carriage alone.


	185. Of Great and Terrible Things

_...Forton..._

Enri's first stop was her room where she kept a spare potion. 'Ow, this hurts... this hurts like hell...' She thought as she held her arm just below the wrist. 'Did she turn my bones to powder?! OK Enri, focus! First, use one of your husband's healing potions, then go see the Sorcerer King. I can't let her just 'do' this.'

Her legs moved barely slower than a run, the clacking of her feet on the floor made her think of her childhood. 'It's just like then...' She thought to herself as tears began to come unbidden to her eyes, the day she had been bitten by a stray dog, her father had witnessed it, attacked and killed the beast, but been bitten in the leg himself. He'd rushed her home for help, but tried to hide his own pain, the way he'd moved as if every step was agony... 'I wonder if it hurt like this...' She clenched her eyes as the pain built, she wanted desperately to just run to her room, but it jostled her arm too much, so a scurrying quick step was all she could manage.

'She doesn't even know, she has no idea what she did... dear god, that's it... she has absolutely no idea...' Enri's eyes widened at the realization as she reached her room, rushed to her bedside, and took the potion out of a drawer. She drank it down as fast as she could, and sighed with relief as the pain quickly faded to nothing.

She smacked her lips with satisfaction and wiped her eyes clean. "Thank you, husband." She said as she set the empty bottle down. "Now, as for you Neia... I'm not letting you do this." Enri reminded herself as she leaned against the wall to compose herself.

It took several minutes in her room, and a brief time at a basin of water washing her face, before she felt ready to go confront her Lord. When she was ready, she took a deep breath, and began to walk to his office with the same urgency she'd had with her injury only minutes earlier. Her arms swung at her side with the kind of brisk confidence that was now second nature to her and her legs ate up the floor with long strides, her eyes were fixed ahead and unshaking in their certainty.

She held all that together all the way to the moment she reached the door of the Sorcerer King's office. 'Wait... what if he does want this? What if this is all part of his plan?' She swallowed for a moment, 'Then you'll know, at least. Go on.' She answered herself in thought, and knocked on the door with her confidence restored.

"Enter." The noble voice she could never forget, called out, and she pushed one side of the heavy door open with great effort, it was slow, and only enough that she could slip inside, but- in she went.

As soon as she entered she walked to his desk and bent her knee before him. "Your Majesty." Enri said quietly, "I beg a moment of your time to bring a grave matter to your attention."

She saw immediately that he had been going through documents, but as soon as she'd knelt and spoken, he set the one in hand aside and folded his hands on the desk in front of him, she could feel all his attention focused upon her.

"Speak." He said simply.

Enri told him everything... save the part where Neia had crushed her wrist, or put a hand over her throat. At the end of her narrative, she glanced at the Sorcerer King and saw him rubbing his chin in thought before he spoke to her, "I see. Well, let me first say, you have correctly understood my will. I do not intend to terrorize my guests into submission. Thank you for bringing this to my attention."

"My Lord," Enri began reluctantly, "I... I must question the continued fitness of General Neia Baraja for command over her army. The events of Wheaton, and... other things, cause me to think she has lost reason to bloodlust, she is loyal and dedicated to your will, true. But she will only hand you a graveyard if she is allowed to go on as she is. She... she reminds me of the knights who came to my village, the day you saved us all. Worse, I don't think she understands how far gone she is, her perspectives are all skewed... and... my Lord... I see only death in her future if nothing is done."

"Explain." Ainz asked with a tightly controlled sense of urgency in his voice.

"I asked her about what was best for her, and without outright saying it, she implied that she has no future. Why would she think that? This war is nearly over... there's a world after that to work on making." Enri's voice gradually filled with fear as she imagined herself traveling the same path as the warrior pope.

"She is in... deep distress." Ainz admitted, "I have some familiarity with cases like hers from the First World, it sometimes happens to those who drink too deeply from the cup of war. I will be getting her help, but I believe she will only be destroyed if I remove her now. I am sending Sebas with her after the conference to help keep her... contained, while she fulfills another task. That should keep the bloodshed to a minimum, but thank you for coming to me with this." Ainz said calmly, "I will speak with her promptly."

"My Lord, may this servant ask but one more boon of you?" Enri asked hopefully.

"You may ask, at least." Ainz said in a lordly tone that, as it often did, filled her with passionate enthusiasm for his service.

"My Lord, when this country is conquered, I would ask that you allow me to take governorship over the Slane Theocracy, at least long enough to oversee the reconstruction. I believe I can do it effectively." She asked hopefully and dared to raise her eyes to meet his staring red orbs.

"Is there perhaps some motivation to your request? A motivation you are not revealing?" He asked pointedly.

Enri lowered her eyes for a moment, "There... is. My Lord, I assure you I will work hard but... I have seen who Neia has become, she is a red hand, a weapon, a force of terror. She used violence and intimidation to maintain control over the reconstruction of her capital. I want to show her that was never the only way! That compassion and kindness also have value, I want to prove her wrong! Forgive my selfishness... perhaps... perhaps I want to prove it to myself as well... but please... please my Lord! I know I'm not wrong! You showed me this way yourself! You cared for my people, protected us, gave us your loyalty as we gave you our own! I know that this way works, but she has... well I don't think she's ever seen it! So I want to be the one to show her... and maybe that will help. Maybe if she sees, maybe if the whole world sees... we really can get that world that we all want in common!" Enri argued passionately and prostrated herself impulsively.

"Please! My King! Let me be the one to do this!" She asked with such force that her entire body trembled.

"Alright." Ainz answered after a moment, "Before the province is broken up into different governorships, you will retain control over the entirety and handle its reconstruction. Return to your quarters and get your rest for now, I must summon Neia to me."

"My Lord!" Enri said happily as she fairly leaped up to her feet and bowed deeply, before withdrawing from the office.

 _...Neia's Quarters..._

'Go... go. God damn it! Go, get out of here before someone sees you.' Neia thought to herself, her senses were running hot, she felt like every touch of air over her skin was carrying the warning of a threat, her entire body was barely kept from a visible tremble. 'Damn her... why did she have to get in the way... why did I... do that?!' She folded her arms in front of her as she walked and began to push her feelings down into a pit in her stomach, trying desperately to ignore them and focus on taking one step at a time, she listened with extra care for any hint that someone else might be near, so that she wouldn't have to deal with nobody else.

She exhaled a breath she hadn't known she was holding as soon as she walked into her quarters, she turned, closed, and locked the door. For good measure, she looked around and found a desk with a heavy stone surface over a thick, dense, and expensive wood. "Yes, you'll do." She said, and went to where it sat, taking it with both hands, she dragged it over to the front of the door, and set it down to block the only entrance.

Satisfied with its relative security, and reaching up to touch her lips as she thought of the last time she'd kissed her wife, and a furious scowl formed on her face, she went to where a small round table sat, and brought her fist down on it hard enough to make it shatter, the pieces hit ground, and for good measure, she kicked one of the larger chunks hard enough that it embedded itself into the wall.

"Damn it. Damn it damn it damn it damn it damn it damn it damn it!" She snarled out over and over again before she went to the wine rack in a corner and took a bottle up. She held it by the neck. "Just one drink, just one, just one and then... then, maybe get some rest." She said as she looked at it. Her fingers tensed, closing into a fist, the glass shattered and the bottle fell and hit the floor, it landed on its side and thick red liquid glugged out onto the floor. "No." Neia whispered and shut her eyes tight against the thought, the thought of someone she'd injured... killed... the way blood pumped out of his femoral artery when she'd thrust her sword there, leaving him squealing and clutching in futility as she left him to bleed out and sought another victim. The surprise when three had jumped through windows in a building and caught her off guard... "Too weak... too weak and too brave and too wrong and..." She shook the thought off.

She looked longingly at the bed and went to where it was. A large one, with a thick, soft blanket, it called to her. "Skana... I wish you were here... How I wish... no... no no no no no." She said as she thought about the way her hand went to Skana's throat. Her desire for the bed scattered like dust blown away by a sudden wind, she looked instead to a small closet, one she could close in, where she didn't have to risk being around anyone. "Yes, you'll do." She whispered, and went inside, she closed the door behind her, and slumped herself against the wall, and staring at nothing in the darkness, she began to drift off at last to sleep.

 _...Crossroads..._

Eire bent over the bucket and vomited as soon as she got out of bed. "Damn it." She said as she wiped her mouth and went to wash up. "Vomit... is... disgusting." She said, and then broke into a mild smile of relief. The cause of her relief was going to be outside the front door of her tavern in an hour or less. She quickly donned her work attire. A simple brown dress, flat shoes, and a black apron. She rushed down, 'almost' ignoring the bloodstains where men had died or been injured not that long ago. The business of living allowed her no luxury to reflect again, and for that she was grateful. She even ignored a very distant shout that said the entire city had not been restored to peace yet.

Here though, she was able to wear a smile because she felt safe. She went outside to the large oven, made the fire and set the bread to baking. Then it was inside to make another small fire and begin to heat the water and stock for the stew she'd be serving to the reason she was feeling safer.

Almost on the dot, she was going to be ready, her feet rushing around with the smoothness of an expert dancer who had danced the same dance ten thousand times. She pursed her lips and started to whistle with happiness as she flew from task to task, and then within to right the chairs at the many tables. She paused only once, to look with lingering longing at the corner where Petyr had first amused a crowd of patrons by a mocking song that had gotten him a fair sum of money. He'd had a gifted tongue and a quick wit that night, and every other night.

She bit her lip and squeezed her eyes, then resumed her life, rushing to the door, she unlocked it and the knights of the Baharuth Empire came streaming in and sat down. A raucous but respectable lot wearing steel plate armor and carrying swords at their sides and shields on their backs, they spent coins with Jircniv's face on them. Behind them came the soldiers of Black Justice, clad in black scale mail with varied emblems painted in the center, wearing black cloaks and carrying sharp swords and bows, the two could not have looked more different.

Behind both of those came soldiers from the Army of Carne, Enri's home town forces were distinct in that most carried spears or halberds with short swords, except for the goblin corps or demihumans that now also frequented the tavern. 'I still don't believe it. I can now tell one army from another just at a glance... but more than that... I'm 'comfortable'.' She shook her head in dismay and began rushing around to get beer, juice, and breakfast orders, lightly stepping over wayward feet and spinning by a chair that suddenly thrust out as someone stood without knowing she was there, in the battle of life, this was her arena and she was a master of the waging of it.

They all paid good coin, and to her shock, they all, at least the humans... seemed 'normal'. No horrible rituals, nobody hurt her or threatened to, nobody tried to walk out without paying their bill, at least not twice, because they were the victors and she was a conquered citizen. The few that did were dealt with by their own people and she got double the coin as compensation.

'It's enough to forget what they did to the rebels...' She thought to herself as she remembered the frozen bodies that had been hit by ice dragons, the burned ones where people had been set on fire, the hangings of those deemed to be 'outside the rules' by being out of uniform when they tried to fight. The temples of the six were all reduced to rubble, and the fighting had reduced the population by almost half, a great many had outright fled the city for the hope of safety in Kami Miyako. 'But you're alive.' She thought as she mindlessly started slapping mugs down on tables with practiced ease before she went outside to the oven to retrieve the first batch of bread.

Inside, she could hear someone start singing. 'Petyr?! No... not Petyr... he's dead.' She reminded herself, the voice wasn't quite right, close though it was. As she put the bread on the tray, she briefly pondered trying to get to Kami Miyako, and again dismissed the notion, if this was a game to make her and everyone else who wasn't fighting, feel safe before destroying them, they were truly committed to the role. 'Besides, what kind of sick fuck would do that to anyone?' She pondered as she headed back in and hands went up calling for bread and holding copper coins.

'No, I was just wrong, now I have to live with that.' She thought, and touched one hand over her belly where Petyr's child was growing, 'How I'll explain it to this one someday, I have no idea... no wonder that woman... monster thing... let me go... she knew. And she was right.' Eire thought as she started passing out the bread as coins were put into the apron pouch. She kept the frown from off her face as she felt hatred swell inside her breast, 'I will never forgive them. Never. Never ever. Fuck the priests, fuck the six. They ruined everything.' She thought to herself, hiding the vindictive thoughts behind a flirty smile that saw an extra coin tossed into her pouch as she handed a partial loaf to a good looking young soldier in steel plate armor.

Outside, a mile from where she worked, in another part of the city, fires raged as the last insurrectionists tried in vain to stave off their extermination for another hour.

 _...C'Teon..._

Noise and shouts rose up from the city well before the armies reached it. Gargantua alone would have been horror enough, but backed by tens of thousands of demihumans, a hundred thousand dark elves, wolf-riding dark dwarves, and human soldiers in the hated black armor... only added to the nightmare.

"Surround them on three sides." Leinas said with a malicious smile on her lovely young face.

"You have something in mind?" Khava asked curiously.

"Yes. His Majesty wants orphans, free of their parents hatred, to destroy an entire civilization root and branch so that it will never rise again? Alright. First you surround them on three sides, then we send Gargantua to the fourth, let it destroy the wall there so that the population can flee. Then as one, our armies shout one word, 'Run'. Let as many as wish to, run for Kami Miyako. I don't imagine the food situation there can be very good. Whatever stays here to fight, dies, what is too young to fight, we keep alive for later fostering, and as for those who run? Well, why fear cowards?" Leinas held her arms out in a casual shrug, closed her eyes, and laughed the grim laugh of the experienced killer.

Ryla and Khava shared malicious looks, "So our human cousins from afar are on friendly terms with death, it seems." Ryla's smile was more than enthusiastic as she rubbed her hands together eagerly. "You know... Chindai is the greatest of our men... and if you're..."

Leinas threw back her head and laughed, "Thank you for the honor, but... I'm afraid I'll have to decline, I've no intention of binding myself to anyone that way, unless my king commands it. Besides, much as I respect the dark elf traditions, they're to me, better visited than lived. I like a settled life now, I'm not one for wandering the plains. He is a handsome one though, I'll give him that."

Khava and Aureole Omega chuckled at the exchange. "Forgive the suggestion," Khava said with an amused laugh getting just a bit louder as it went on, "I had no idea your relationship with the Master of the Everplains was… like that."

Leinas turned red, "No no no no! I promise it isn't, that isn't what I meant!" Her response, exaggerated as it was, brought even more laughter to the little group as their horses trod onward to bring death to their common enemy.

"I will go back to Nazarick with stories to tell, that much is sure." Aureole Omega said as an amused smile formed on her face.

The flags went up and the armies' wings began to branch out to surround the city, wails of fear and desperation were carried far beyond the city walls, but confusion was added to the mix as it became obvious that the entirety of it was not to be surrounded.

Gargantua came close to the walls, passing close enough that it could be touched by those who stood at the parapets if they stretched out their hands but a little.

Garal stretched out his hand to do precisely that. His blue eyes wide with awe, the stone of the enormous golem was as smooth as his own flesh, it's steps were like a constantly rolling thunder. When it passed by, he looked down at the hand that had touched it, and ran it along his face as if unable to believe the comparison to be a true one. Sure enough, it felt much the same. "How could anyone... anything... make a mountain walk? What are they even making it 'do'?" He wondered aloud, beside him, his brother, Kalim, looked at him as if he were insane.

"How the hell should I know?" Kalim snapped at him, they were frozen but for their tongues, unable to truly process the reality in front of them, and as Gargantua moved on, the Theocracy soldiers were only slightly less mesmerized by the massive army in front of them.

"We're going to die here... aren't we?" Garal asked sadly.

"Probably." Kalim bowed his head in ascent, a few had chosen to swing their swords or maces at the stone behemoth, some had chosen to shoot arrows, and others turned their catapults and scorpions on it, but if there were even any scratches, let alone damage, it wasn't evident. All projectiles and all efforts at all, seemed to simply bounce away and fall to the ground as if they were never used in the first place.

Their heads went back and forth from the army to the monstrous construct, as its steps carried it to the eastern wall, and the mission of the moving mountain became evident. The enormous arm raised up over its head, and down it crashed in a firm chopping motion, screams echoed from those lucky enough to survive the impact, but they were drowned out by the sound of falling stone as it simply 'walked' peeling back the wall and toppling stone until its slow steady walk carried it all the way from the north east, to the south east tip of the long city wall... and then it just walked on, until it stepped behind one of the wings of the army on the other three sides.

A drum resounded from somewhere among the ranks of the largest host. Garal and Kalim reluctantly drew their swords, shaking with anticipation of the inevitable.

Then to their dismay, a single word was shouted in unison from all three sides. "Run!"

The city, already distraught, panicked beyond all reason, Garal and Kalim simultaneously found their eyes pulled away from the front, to look back into the city to see the chaos for themselves. From their position on the high wall, they could see people trampling each other, men, women, children, the elderly, the people with horses did not care if they shattered the bodies of those in front of them as they rode past, the young did not care for the old nor the strong for the weak, among the many who tried to flee, there were men in armor whose slowness and fear made them prone to simply being pushed out of the way, falling, and suffering a painful death as they were trampled. The armor meant to keep them alive, only gave them slower and more painful deaths as the city began to empty.

"Damn them!" Garal swore.

"Who?" Kalim could only ask as he fell to hands and knees and looked out helplessly over the city as it destroyed itself.

Garal felt his will leave his body and he fell back, against the stone crenelations. The spirit of defeat drained strength from his body. "I... I don't even know who I'm cursing. Them..." He gestured to the fleeing masses who slew their neighbors as they sought the safety of the path out of the city, "or them." He jerked his thumb over his shoulder to the army that caused the horror to take place. "Or all of them!" He threw his hands up in frustration before they fell at his sides.

All they could do, all anyone on the walls could do who was not actively fleeing for themselves, was watch and wait. Finally Kalim asked him, "What will you do?"

Garal frowned. "I'm a soldier of the Slane Theocracy, my enemy is out there. Besides, my brother is here with me, I can't leave him."

Kalim winked at him, "Same, good to stand with you. That is... if I can get my feet under me again."

Garal shrugged, "Yeah, remember that time when we were little, and you let father's horse escape the barn, so you hid in the hay pile while I took the blame?"

Kalim's pale face blushed and he sheepishly took off his helmet and ran his hands through his short black hair. "Yeah... I never did pay you back for that one."

"No, but since we're on the subject... maybe there is some way you can do it eventually." Garal said as he looked out over the wall, and saw a single figure stand in front of the host and perform some sort of ritual like motions.

"What's that?" Kalim asked as he watched his brother go from the crenelations, back to the edge and look down.

"Name your son after me." Garal said with a wry smile.

"Funny, but I'm not even married." Kalim said with an unfortunate and regretful laugh of his own.

"No, but someday you will be." Garal replied, "And when you are, I hope you can forgive me for this."

"Forgive you for what?" Kalim asked in confusion.

"Well, for pointing that out over there." Garal replied and pointed down the side of the wall where a large hay pile sat.

"Looks like the one from when we were kids, what about it?" Kalim asked.

"It's just that, just like back then, there's only room for one." Garal replied, and Kalim had a moment of dawning understanding on his face, before the mailed fist of his brother connected with him just as his mouth was opening to object.

Kalim slumped, and Garal grabbed him before he could fall the wrong way, then stripping him of the metal armor, and leaving his brother with only the padding beneath, he rolled him over the edge of the wall, thirty feet below, where his unconscious body disappeared into the large pile of straw.

"Hope you make it, brother, and forgive me." Garal said as he watched the lone figure start it's advance against his position. The army behind it waited for a good fifty paces, and then began to follow.

Aureole Omega finished her ritual and advanced against the wall by herself, behind her, they counted out her steps, and on she went, she ignored them and focused on the task at hand, she took an almost whimsical skipping pace to herself, a few arrows came her way when she was within range, but she saw that most of the wall was abandoned, few bolts of the scorpions were shot and no catapults were evidently manned. Clumps of soldiers gathered for their final duty. A pale young man of considerable courage drew his bow and sent arrow after arrow straight at her heart. "Not bad shooting really, some of these Theocracy Soldiers are actually very brave." She said thoughtfully as she came to the wall. When he saw his arrows weren't working, she saw that he gave up on that, and took up a rope, tied it to the crenelations, and jumped down, using the rope to help him repel down to the front of the wall, putting his body between her and the stone she was going to smash.

"Futile effort." She said playfully.

"But my effort! This is my city! Back there is my family! This is my country! And I won't just let you take it! I'm Garal of the Theocracy, monster, and you will not pass while I live!" He shouted at her and let out a battle cry, charging the last few feet from where he was, to where she approached.

"What a waste of courage." Aureole Omega said with annoyance as her fist flew out, and his torso shattered, his own bones pierced his body as they broke into pieces, and he flew back against the wall he tried to defend, staining it with his blood. His eyes were losing focus as she drew back for a second strike, this time against the stone.

"No..." He gurgled out through the blood he was hacking up. His blue eyes wild with desperation.

"Oh no you don't!" Aureole Omega snapped in annoyance as he seemed intent on at least spitting blood on the clothing given to her by a Supreme Being. She jumped away by a few feet, and then the one who called himself Garal staggered forward, and fell, a look of relief on his face as his eyes dulled and the light died.

She drew back her fist again, and brought it forward, shattering the wall as easily as a hammer smashed a melon. 'What the hell was that about?' She wondered idly, then shrugged it off and got back to work.

C'teon began to fall like a puppet whose strings had been cut, the handful of city militia, better fit for breaking up tavern brawls or dealing with bandits, had no quality answer for the army that had come against it. Here and there, Leinas could detect the sound of desperate fighting, but by and large she and her companions had only to trot their horses forward.

Still, hard experience or not, she felt her heart moved somewhat by moments, the reedy wail of a woman's newborn as she brought forth life at the worst possible time, and found herself alone as someone she trusted, abandoned her and the child to their fates.

Sometimes she felt her heart swell in admiration, as a farmer with a pitchfork tried to defend what little he had against soldiers he had no chance at all of defeating. Still, step by step, her soldiers seized it all, the howls of dark elven revenge were notable as they gloried in the moment, but as she rode on, she noticed out of the corner of her eye, that Khava's hands were tense on the reigns of her mount.

"Something wrong?" Leinas asked her, "We're not in any real danger anymore, this is probably the most embarrassing defeat the Theocracy has suffered in its entire history."

"It isn't that," Khava replied coldly, "Before I escaped from Kami Miyako, I was a slave here. C'Teon was something of a... waystation, if you will. It was the first city most elven captives saw, if they didn't end up going to Wheaton. That's where the city got its name, 'Central One' used to have some other name, but it was a major distribution hub for Theocracy armies, goods, and so on. It's like..." She scratched her head as she tried to think of an analogy.

"E-Rantel." Leinas said impulsively.

"E-Rantel?" Khava asked doubtfully.

"Yes, E-Rantel was the assembly point for the Kingdom's armies in their wars against the Baharuth Empire. They kept warehouses in great abundance, far greater than the city's needs by itself, it held food, goods, everything, and because it was only used for soldiers during war, the rest of the time most merchants would rent out the extra space, and it became a major trading hub despite it having a lower population." Leinas explained patiently, and Khava nodded enthusiastically.

"Exactly. Feron's exported raw materials usually found their way to smithies here, slaves bound for Kami Miyako, wheat from Wheaton... Kami Miyako was too densely packed to serve the same purpose without expanding the walls. So C'Teon took up the difference. So... I know this place... and I hate every stone of it." Khava hissed through clenched teeth. "I want to kill everything still living inside these walls... and... if I weren't convinced that the people who ran, were running to their doom, I'd want to chase them down... I don't know how much rope it would take to hang them all... but I'd like to see if there's enough.

Ryla reached out and took her by the hand, and Leinas could not think of anything else to say, not until they reached the central plaza before the governor's manor and administrative center.

"We'll check the place... thoroughly." Leinas promised somberly. Khava did not answer, neither saw the need to do so.

 _...Slane Theocracy..._

General Boabdil rode back the way he came. The snow drifting down threatened to bury him more than once as he considered his encounter with the undead General Oma.

'How long have I been on the road now? Everything seems to run together?' He wondered to himself as his horse went step by step back to the army he'd so recently left, the clip clop noise of the hooves was buried like the hooves themselves, beneath a layer of snow and anything left was carried off by the steady wind.

When he could, he spurred the horse to galloping, holding his cloak tight against his body to keep himself as warm as he could, his once immaculate beard more akin to that of a homeless beggar than a much esteemed commander, only having changed into his elaborate armor and equipment suggested his true status.

"Is there anyone less lucky than you?" He asked aloud as the cold bit into his old bones. "Okay... yes, dead people... and... yes probably the elven slaves, them too. Alright, lots of people, but of comparable people to my position, I can think of nobody less lucky than I. Not least because I'm freezing my balls off going back the way I came to the place I was almost assassinated to tell everybody it's hopeless. And to top it all off, I'm talking to myself like a crazy person and I can't even tell how long it's been."

He shivered and shuddered, but on he rode, sleeping in the saddle and pausing only to relieve himself or let his horse rest. He made the best time he could, and eventually ran into outriding scouts of the army, who brought him swiftly back to camp.

He went immediately to the command tent, where he found General Heikeren waiting for him. His escort dismissed, they clasped hands in greeting, but each wore a joyless expression as Heikeren gestured to a chair, into which Boabdil quickly flopped himself without even a pretense of dignity.

"General Boabdil..." Heikeren leaned forward urgently, lines of care etched on his face, "Why are you here? You should be with your new command..."

"I have no command." General Boabdil replied bluntly. "Because the army to which I was riding, was exterminated to the last man before I could take control over it."

Heikeren's face went gray as death, and his lustrous eyes seemed to become dull and hopeless as Boabdil watched. "What... happened?"

Boabdil held up one hand, and then one finger. "One spell, that was all it took. You remember the briefings, before all this began?"

Heikeren swallowed audibly. "I do, Sir. The Katze Plains, the meeting for the Accords, the tall tales of other impossible magics... everyone believed he'd used a trump card at the Katze Plains but... I guess that isn't true, is it?" He asked with hopelessness rising in his voice.

"No, clearly it wasn't, he pointed, said something, and... everyone just 'died' consumed by some shadow and not even their bodies were left behind. Worse than that, do you want to guess 'why' he did it?!" Boabdil asked in agony as he pulled at his own hair in frustration and despair.

"I probably don't." Heikeren replied as he looked down as the urgency of his mentor's tone hit him.

"No, you don't, but I'll tell you regardless. Those gods be damned Agante! The fools assassinated General Oma!" Boabdil snapped.

"Oma is dead? That is... regrettable. I worked with her when you sent me to the Draconic Kingdom. She was a great talent, had a good sense of humor, and speaking as a man... well, she was very beautiful." Heikeren felt the wind leave his sails as he thought of his former ally on the other side, and a hint of mourning struck his heart.

"Speaking as a man, she's still very beautiful, because... she is not exactly dead. Despite the fact that the Agante burned her body to nothing, the Sorcerer King was able to restore her... she's now a legendary undead... She was... there. The Sorcerer King wanted me to see, wanted me to know. She rode to me on a black horse that gave off black smoke with every step, she spoke to me of my mission... the Sorcerer King is coming, his generals, the fingers of his bloody hand, are coming to Kami Miyako. He showed me how futile it all is, we simply... we can't win." Boabdil's words were slow and mournful, there wasn't even any bitterness left in his voice, just weariness.

"What do you propose we do?" General Heikeren asked, utterly at a loss to even close his mouth as he desperately asked the question and pondered his unthinkable circumstances.

Boabdil reached out and clapped Heikeren on the shoulder, he held him there, still strong despite his age, the weathered general hardened his heart for what he had to say next.

"We can't defeat anyone, not anymore. But that doesn't mean we're without options. We can save some. We'll back away from Crossroads, we've harassed Enri's scouts since we abandoned the place, keeping her from coming South. The insurrection... has at least kept her busy I'm sure. We can slip away without notice, and head for Kami Miyako, we can get in the way of General Neia. If someone is going to seize the capital, I'd rather it not be her. I'd rather General Enri be the one to do it, out of all the Undead King's officers, she's the one most likely to see our people left alive."

"That's an option but... Sir, I propose something else... our men are loyal to you, they trust you. I say we return to Kami Miyako, with the entire army, and take the place ourselves. We depose Dominic, install you in command, and allow you to surrender to General Enri when she arrives." Heikeren said enthusiastically.

"It could work." He thought to himself... "Or... they'll just kill us all regardless. General Baraja cut her teeth on Jaldabaoth's armies as a squire, she sharpened them on surviving demihumans, she made her reputation against Remedios and Suchala, and what's more, if what our few remaining spies say is even remotely true, she's the human hand of the Sorcerer King. Every single army is likely to be put under her command when she arrives. That means she 'can't' be allowed to arrive." Boabdil thought the matter over as his 'replacement' looked at him intently.

"Alright... what about this? I'll go to Kami Miyako, I'll just bet there are dissident elements in the city, I can raise the hue and cry, and warn them of the army's coming, if I can rally the population and overthrow Dominic myself." He said, holding out his hands hopefully.

General Heikeren rubbed his temple, "And 'us'?" He asked.

Boabdil spoke somberly, "You go north, meet General Enri, and surrender your army... on the condition that she gets in the way of General Baraja herself."

"You realize you have almost no chance, right?" Heikeren asked his mentor as he grabbed the old general's hands.

"I'm already dead, remember?" He replied, "I can't lead the army against General Baraja, she knows my name too well as the one who fought General Enri for this long, the one who captured many of their scouts, killed many of the people that her organization trained. If I go to General Baraja, she's more likely to kill me than to listen. If I am with the army when it surrenders to General Enri... she'll likely consider Enri a traitor for accepting it, or for getting in her way. If I take this army to block General Baraja... she'll slaughter us for the sake of it. I've always been an... unlucky man." Boabdil said wistfully, "However, I've done and accomplished more with bad luck than most people do with good. Let this old man use his bad luck to his nation's benefit, one more time."

Heikeren looked at him for a long time, "We're soldiers... we're supposed to do more than this!" He said urgently, "We were supposed to withdraw, conduct a fighting retreat, rally the..."

He stopped when one hand of the old general left the hold and touched Heikeren's beard.

"You're also people, and people are supposed to live, and nothing else we do gives any of our people a chance at that. I wasn't exaggerating when I told you what the Sorcerer King was capable of doing. He 'wanted' me to see, he 'wanted' me to know, so I could tell you, so I could tell everyone. His herald wrought terror by speaking, his general defied our knives by rising from ashes and he took away an entire army, right out of existence, horses, wagons, men, women, everything when he pointed at it and decided it should cease to be!"

Heikeren looked down at the snow on the ground beneath them, and Boabdil went on, "You and Ira aren't just proteges to me, you're like my son and daughter. I've seen enough death for a hundred lifetimes, and I know what's coming if nothing is done to avert it."

"General Baraja will take command over the others, with her record, the only other competitor is General Enri, and given that the Agante managed to stain her reputation with their stupid and futile insurrection, it's very doubtful she'll get the job. She'll have that damned walking mountain knock down the walls, and then everything in Kami Miyako that counts as human will be exterminated. She 'hates' us like the elves do. All this time... we worried about monsters. And look at us... we made one out of a human, and that's what comes to end us?" Boabdil laughed a bitter, brutal laugh that Heikeren could not share.

"Sir... alright, it sounds utterly mad, but... maybe? But I won't let you go alone! Go in with at least a small escort, say... twenty soldiers. Something at least." He said urgently.

"Alright... fine, I get the feeling you'd have me knocked out and chained up for my safety if I refused even that much." Boabdil agreed reluctantly, but let a proud crack like smile form from his lips

"Yeah... probably." General Heikeren rubbed the back of his head a bit sheepishly.

"You'll need some rest at least, we've got a few days before any action can take place, this storm brewing is all but impossible for her human troops and for some reason General Enri hasn't been sighted at all. The assassin squad that went to eliminate her during the uprising... well, they never reported back, or so the Agante liaison said before he took to his heels." Heikeren grumbled incoherently. "That was the point, by the way, they started this uprising to throw her off balance and create a chance to kill her, they threw away the lives of thousands upon thousands of our people in a rebellion they couldn't win, just to get a 'chance' at taking one life, the only life that actually treated our people with real compassion."

Boabdil groaned, "I hope she's still as kindly inclined after that, I wouldn't be surprised if all of them started brutal crackdowns in imitation of General Baraja, after all if treating us well doesn't work, but brutality does, which would you choose?"

"Ah, shit." Heikeren said crudely.

"Agreed." Boabdil replied succinctly as he stood up and went to pour a bottle of wine into two cups. "Last one, I take it?" He asked as he handed one over.

"Last one. Well, nobody I'd rather drink it with." Heikeren replied, and together they finished it off.


	186. Threads of Fate

_...Forton...Neia's Quarters..._

Neia gasped as she woke up in a cold sweat in the closet of her luxurious room. "Damn. That was unpleasant." She said as her hand went over her heart, it was beating a thousand times a second, or so it felt as her eyes took in her surroundings and she struggled to catch her breath. For a moment as she sat up and propped herself against the wall, she tried to remember what she'd dreamt, but nothing came to mind, it was black.

She got up, left her closet, moved the desk away from the entry, and rang for a servant. In minutes an elf woman was at her door, her long golden hair fell to her waist, her ears were long and tapered to a point as if they'd never been cut, her eyes a gentle blue without the steel of the pope, she wore a simple dress of black and white with an apron in the front that marked her station. But most of all, what stood out was her look of shock at who was inside the room to which she'd been summoned.

She fell to her knees and wrapped her arms around Neia's legs and sobbed into her clothing. "It's you... it's you it's you it's you it's you..." She wept as Neia looked down at her, unable to think or move.

Doing her best to avoid hurting the slender woman, Neia put her arms down to the woman's shoulders and pulled her away. "I'm sorry but... I don't know you, do I?" Neia asked, a little concerned she may have forgotten someone.

The elf woman looked up and put her hands to Neia's waist, her soft blue eyes were wet with happiness... "No... I... I was a friend of someone you knew. I was one of the prostitutes in the Golden Roan. I was one of Illyana's friends. I survived because she passed on your teachings, and I was in the hotel when you came to save us... I could never not recognize you. Even though we've never met, Illyana spoke of you with almost every breath she took when we were together."

Neia held out her hand, and the elf woman took it, allowing the Black Paladin to help her up. "You don't need to go to your knees for me... Wenmark was my greatest failure... so many of your people died, all because of my mistakes. True, I have had some successes... but Illyana died in pain because of me, so many of your sisters there did. I am glad you're alright, that many of you are... but were it not for His Majesty's mercy, everything would have been lost, or nearly so."

The elf woman shook her head, "Lives were lost... but even those of us who died... we died for a reason, we got our souls back, you reminded us all that we were people too... I... wish things had gone as well as you'd hoped they would. But if we ever had a human champion, it is you. I live, and am free, because of you."

"What is your name?" Neia asked gently as she withdrew further into her quarters.

"Sylva. Sylva of Crescent Lake." The maid replied humbly, her eyes still wide with disbelief at who stood in front of her.

Neia gave her a winning smile that gradually grew sadder as she spoke, "I'm glad you're alright, Sylva of Crescent Lake, that warms my heart. If... you ever wish to visit the grave of Illyana, she is buried on a hill to the west of Prart, there's a tree there that her body nourishes, and a stone marker, it's a peaceful place. Far from the land she hated."

Sylva returned Neia's expression and nodded deferentially, "One day, after everything is finished, I will go to her and pay my respects. She was a sister, in how we lived if not by blood."

"I'm sure she would approve, but for now... I desperately need a bath, please draw one for me and select my dress for the day, I did not sleep well." Neia said wearily, when a thought occurred to her. 'I didn't attack her. I... did what I did, to my wife and to Tuare and if I'm honest with myself I... nearly did to Enri. But an elf maid grabs me and I stand there befuddled and don't respond at all?' As Neia turned the matter over in her head, she went to her satchel beside her bed and took out a pair of message scrolls to ask for Lakyus and for a [Gate] for her.

"I understand, mistress. I don't sleep well either." Sylva said quietly as she entered the bathing room and began to work the pump to draw water.

That drew Neia's ear, she laid the scroll aside for a moment and sat down at a small table in the corner. "No?" She asked neutrally.

"Most of us don't." Sylva said from the other room where she worked.

"What do you do about it?" Neia asked in a carefully neutral voice.

Sylva's melodic voice went a little louder as the sound of water flowing into the tub echoed through the room. She seemed understanding, caring, but distant. "We talk to each other, every now and then... we work together now, most of us. And when we're together, if one of us is having... trouble, we pause the work and let them talk, or give them space, or embrace them, whatever they say they need at the time. We're all in it together so... I think that helps. Lady Pestonya advised Governor Aorli of what to do, and advice like that was passed to us. There are other things, but I don't wish to waste your time with concerns about us. You've done enough for a hundred elven lifetimes, you don't need to do more."

'She's so kind to us... to want to know we're well and recovering... she hardly seems human. I envy her... what must it be like to be so strong, so invincible, to never have to feel like this. To be untouchable by fear or nightmares, to walk through hell and smile at the demons before striking them down. Heroes are an otherworldly breed.' Sylva thought to herself as she dipped her hand in the water to ensure the enchanted stone tub was warming it as it should.

"I see." Neia answered from where she sat at the table beyond the door. "Well, I'm just glad you're all taken care of." She put commanding force into her voice with a gentle concern, and wiped her eyes clean of distress as fragments of her dreams came back to her. 'So much for that idea, I can't do that.' She thought to herself with resignation.

"The bath is ready, mistress. If you will enter it, I will select your clothing and return promptly to see you cleaned." Sylva said happily, "I admit, I'll be the envy of the other maids for this."

Neia forced herself to laugh, as she rose and went to the bath. "Well, I won't make you work too hard for it, but... if you don't mind, it's just 'Neia'. I don't own you, you're a free elf. Call me by my name, and I'll call you by yours."

Sylva shook her head as Neia entered, "Please allow me to use the word, 'Mistress', and make it a word worth loving instead of hating."

"I will bow to your wishes then." Neia said as she took off her clothing and stepped into the bath, savoring the feel of the rising heat over her skin. "Please bring me the scrolls I set out before you tend to my clothing or to myself, there is something I must do."

"As you wish, mistress." Sylva said with a wide smile spreading over her pale skin.

 _...Northeast of the Ruins of Wheaton..._

"Fifty percent casualties are not what I would call a success." Nin said as he cut raw meat from the deer and chewed it slowly. His black cloak protected him from the cold, and his twin knives saw them provided for, his hazel eyes swept his companions, and several of them grumbled around the kill in agreement.

"Maybe not, but killing the target 'is'. And a fifty percent success rate is... well, we've seen worse." Holt replied with a disgruntled mumble as he started sawing off a piece for himself. "We got in, killed her, took her body, burned it to nothing but ashes and scattered it to the winds, and we got away clean. Alright, Pel's team was wiped out, but we were going after the generals and the Queen, did you think this would be easy?"

"It wasn't fifty percent, we didn't find the Queen, let alone kill her." Nin pointed out before tearing meat away from a piece of bone.

"We also didn't lose anybody trying to find her, and we know that the Queen isn't with them now, that's something." Holt answered in turn. "You sent word back, right?"

"Course." Nin responded with annoyance, "Kinda concernin' though I think. We know she was there, now she's not. So where'd she go?"

Holt snarled out angrily and stabbed his knife through the snow and into the dirt. "It's time to admit the obvious. We're going to lose."

As if frozen by the falling snow, the rest of the team stopped cold at everything they were doing, even chewing, and looked at him as if he'd gone mad.

"We're. Going. To. Lose." Holt said bluntly. "Wheaton is gone, Crossroads is gone, Ikari is gone, Feron is gone, C'teon didn't have a chance in hell and will probably fall soon if it hasn't already, Yaksun and Chasm City are both gone, and so is every fortress meant to prevent all of that! Even if by some miracle we wiped out all the armies on our soil, we not only don't have enough 'people' left to launch a counter attack, they could all just raise new armies again and come for us. Killing generals only slows down the inevitable!"

He glared at his comrades. "Am I wrong?" It was not the question it sounded like. "I dare you, tell me I'm wrong, and then explain how." Holt's piercing green met theirs and one by one they fell away.

Nirn stabbed his own knife into the dirt in the same way, swallowed the bite he'd taken, and glared back, "What do you propose then?" He asked calmly. "Surrender to the undead? Become his lackeys or toys, become good slaves like the fucking elves?"

Holt shook his head, "No, never that, instead I propose something else. We go south, the elves are still in chaos after the death of the King, the few who traded safety for their families in exchange for loyally abusing others, are still being... dealt with. We can sneak in, raid one of the more disordered places, and steal some magic items, illusion stuff, change how we look. Then we go outside the borders, into the wider world. The undead won't be content with just what he's won. Sooner or later, he'll venture east. I say we make the world ready for him, it may take generations, but with our skills, we can help build a coalition of nations, or perhaps even a new empire to the east to rival him. We may not take him down today, but we can lay the foundation for our great grandchildren to take him down one day, and humanity can ascend once more to the place the gods decreed for us."

"You've been thinking of this for awhile." Nin said reluctantly.

Holt nodded firmly, "I have, since Ikari fell. If the Iron Governor could be broken, anyone could be."

The rest of them thought it over. "What else did you have in mind?" Nin asked with more confidence in his voice.

"We can't just all 'vanish'. They'll wonder where we are, they'll look for us, so I propose we send word to the other teams, they each split their numbers in half, nobody knows how many of us there are, and our activities are sporadic. The halves that go, make their way east, there are lots of mountainous regions in the east, and hidden valleys, and deep woods, we can take some women with us, start little 'alcoves' of humans in exile. We use magic to blend in, and worm our way into the halls of power, an assassination here, a coup there, and over generations we build up a coalition of demihumans, I know, I know, desperate times need desperate measures, or... if far enough away, perhaps human kingdoms if any exist, and we use them to stop the damned undead from ever moving east!"

"One day... we can come back..." One of the others added hopefully.

They spoke amongst themselves for several minutes as the cold blew and the blood and meat nourished their bodies, before finally coming to an agreement.

"Alright," Holt said calmly, "I'll take half and go south, one of you carry word to the drop sites for the other teams, we'll start pulling out of here as fast as we can, nobody will think anything of it if some women disappear, there are so many refugees as it is... I kind of feel bad about kidnapping some human women but..." He shrugged, "It can't be helped, we have no time to argue, and we're doing them a favor anyway, they won't find safety at Kami Miyako."

There was a reluctant silence as nobody wished to agree, and yet they did.

"How do we decide who goes?" Nin asked.

"Ritual of the gods, winners go east, losers stay and make the undead pay whatever price we're able, for taking away our country." Holt proposed.

A round of grumbled agreement met him, and they paired off one by one to the game of rock, paper, scissors. When they were done, they clasped bloody hands, and Holt and his half got up and left.

When they were gone, Nin looked at his peers, "I'm going to head for the drop site and let them know our intent, the rest of you head west, we can do more damage there, everything here is lost."

Nin was spiriting himself away in short order, fast as the wind he moved in the low run he'd been trained to, he reached down and touched the knives he'd put back at his side. 'I can't believe it's come to this... that we should live in such times... but it will not end here, not today, not tomorrow, not until everything is right again, even if it takes a thousand years... we will rise again!'

The rest of his squad began to move on, more slowly, but steadily and easily, untroubled by the freezing cold that would leave lesser men in terror of their lives.

They moved on for hours, until within the woods through which they moved, the howling wind began to still, and gentle snowfall let the dead woods come to life. They could hear the crunch of snow beneath their feet, and the gentle sounds of branches breaking here and there, or a lump of snow falling where it became to great for a branch to support it.

The twelve of them became accustomed to those noises very quickly, which was why a new sound startled them. A sweet and simple song. "Down in the valley... or wherever I go... a longing, a hope, that soooomeone will know... the hardship, the pain, of the one who's betrayed..."

The twelve traded uncertain looks. 'No one should be out here in this?' Was the universal thought, but through the dead woods, darkness, and gently falling snow, they saw a little light. It only took a look for them to know they needed to surround the source.

They moved so stealthily that they made not a sound, and in seconds a tiny clearing was evident, and there on a stump, sat a young woman.

"I've hoped for, I've longed for, a reckoning day... where hopes are fulfilled and the guilty are slain..." The woman paused in her lovely singing, a few butterflies hovered around her hand, her pale white skin seemed to shine like a cloud with the sun behind it. She had one leg crossed over the other, and fire red hair in a long double braid swayed slightly as she turned her head.

"You can come out, I know you're there." She said in a beautiful voice.

The Agante members that surrounded the clearing were hesitant, goosebumps formed on every living body at the strange scene. Still, knives came out with the confidence of long practice, and they stepped out of the shadows and into the light that seemed to come from her.

Meidhall looked around her, a few faces flashed through her memory, and matched the ones here. Before they could speak, she did, "You're probably wondering what a beautiful maiden like myself is doing just idling the night away here, in the middle of nowhere, but the truth is... this isn't nowhere to me. I spent many an hour in these woods when I was a little girl, there's even a small cabin not far away, my mother built it, and sometimes she used to go there to sneak away with my father for a little youthful rendezvous." She laughed with amusement and placing a hand on the trunk where she sat, she leaned over slightly.

"But you don't have any reason to care about that, do you?" She asked rhetorically. She carried on without waiting for an answer, "The important questions were, why am I here, and why did I know you were? The answer to both of those... in reverse order, is yes, and that is why. Don't I look a little familiar to some of you?" She asked sweetly.

Blank looks met her.

Her ruby lips formed into a pout, "Oh, right, I guess I look different. Picture this hair, but blue as a sapphire. Oh, and also... picture me as the daughter of Cardinal Dominic." She cut to the chase, and dropped the minor illusion, the points of her ears became obvious, and her blood red catlike eyes were exposed, and her hand thrust upward over where she sat. "[Mass Drain Life]" she called out as the Agante members responded to her change with instant aggression.

They froze as the legendary undead opened her mouth in a vengeful smile and then they sank slowly to their knees and one by one fell forward, as their bodies aged almost to the point of death. "You won't die, not yet." She said as the last of them fell forward into the snow and she cut off the spell. "I'm taking you to my mother's cabin, there, your blood will go to my cauldron, and I will consume every drop, and you will watch each other die."

She savored the look of horror on their faces, and over the first one, she loomed close and whispered teasingly, "You should have known it wouldn't be as easy as all that, to kill the servants of the Sorcerer King."

The look of horror did not vanish from their faces as she dragged them like logs through the snow, to the place where she would end their lives.

 _...Crossroads..._

"It's been what... a week? Two? Who even knows, but we can't find that bitch anywhere?!" Ithari shouted and kicked a chair hard enough to send it flying across the room.

"She should have been close to her bodyguard, the red headed bitch!" Kar replied emphatically, he held his hands out in front of him, bending them at the waist.

"Well, she wasn't! We got this riot started just so we could kill the peasant bitch, and she's nowhere, and thousands of our people are dead for nothing!" Ithari roared in a rage. "They'll have the rest of the city put down soon, and all the outlying areas too, I never imagined that bitch would use the methods she has..." His roar became despondent and he leaned against the wall to hold himself up.

"Maybe she hasn't?" Kar suggested tentatively, and Inthari's head snapped up to look at him. His sandy hair swayed behind him, and brown eyes looked over inquisitively.

"What?" He asked.

"I said, 'maybe she hasn't?' Think about it, all we've seen is the goblin animal with the white beard that is almost always with her, and we've seen the red haired whore. Maybe they've been running everything and she's not here at all." Kar proposed with growing displeasure in his voice as he considered his own words.

Ithari went very quiet as he ran through their options. "How long do you think before the last blocks are taken back?"

"Assuming they fight and don't surrender?" Kar proposed as he thought it over, "Three days, Ikari is back in their hands entirely, the villages beyond here are all either surrendered or destroyed, the arrival of more human soldiers from Baharuth will finish them off entirely."

Ithari groaned. "Alright, we've already sent our representative out to General Heikeren telling him what happened so far, we have no real choice if we don't want this to be a complete waste, except for you and I to remain here, send the rest of the surviving squad to the drop points. When Enri returns, we'll kill her then."

"By ourselves?" Kar asked doubtfully.

"By ourselves." Ithari replied, "The restoration of peace here is the best opportunity we'll have after she returns from... wherever she went. After all, if we can kill her and burn her body, what'll be left for their monster to resurrect, and if we kill his commanders, well what good will armies do him? So we 'have' to make this work." He slapped the back of his left hand into the open palm of his right.

"Alright, fine, I'll go tell the others, let's hope this works. We lost enough in trying to get her already, we can't waste a second chance." Kar answered obediently, but... without much hope in his voice.

 _...Forton...Office of the Sorcerer King..._

Ainz thought back to his meeting with the commander of the Army of Carne the night before...

Enri knelt before the Sorcerer King without a hint of fear in her posture or her face, indeed her eyes sparkled up at his skeletal face and she wore a pleasant smile on her face.

"Enri, I regret having had to put you off, but now is as good a time as any, isn't it?" Ainz asked in a tone that matched her pleasant smile.

"My Lord, any time you have for your humble servants is a blessing to be treasured, be you god or great king or both, that changes not a thing." Her face, once fresh and young, still had a beauty to it that said 'I am not of many years' but it was more care worn than it had been the day they met, with small lines beginning to appear as the weight of responsibility drew age ever closer.

'I will have to decide very soon, whether to offer her the gift of immortality... or not, the same is true of the one who loves me best of all. Still, better to leave those for later, let them win this war as mortals, knowing at least that their names will live forever.' He thought to himself with a measure of wistful regret that at least Enri might say no.

"Come, stand up, my faithful General." Ainz said from behind his desk, "As we are alone, we needn't be so formal." He suppressed the urge to sigh with relief.

Enri stood and it was immediately obvious that she came from a peasant background, not just in the very slight accent she still carried, but also by the casual way in which she stood, and in the toothy grin, far from the reserved manner of most nobles, on her face was worn every feeling she had, in a way, it was a great relief.

"As you like, Lord Ainz." She said as he stood and walked around the desk to approach her, and placed a hand on her shoulder.

"What brings you to request time with me this evening?" He asked of his first human servant.

Her face went from happy for his company, to grave with concern. "My King... Ainz... Divine One... I must... tell you something." She said urgently, and to hear her speak so, he felt concern rise within, bidden by her expression and her tone and the words she used to call on him in all three aspects of himself.

So he listened as she related her conversation with Neia, and the Dread Pope's plans to crush or control the delegates before they return to their home countries. "While I have no doubt she could do this... I know Your Majesty will agree that it isn't right, they come in peace to a call for peace, they come to hear you speak of the world ahead. They come to you in trust, as we once did. I cannot believe that this would be your will. I know Neia's intentions are good, that she thinks this will save lives or more easily give your... our, common homes a peace we haven't ever had before. But this? This isn't why she's here, is it?" Enri asked as she impulsively took his hand between both of hers and turned her eyes up to meet the red orbs of her village's savior.

The Sorcerer King waited until she was done, listening to every word, 'Neia... that might very well work but... they were promised safety in my name, even slightly violating that will simply not do.' He thought to himself. To Enri he answered, "No, that is not my will. I will summon Neia to me to deal with this myself. I will have to explain to her just 'why' she was brought here, she has clearly misunderstood."

Enri's sparkling eyes shone like stars and her grip grew tighter on her Lord's hand, "I knew it! I knew I wasn't wrong!" She said excitedly, before her voice became humble and her face turned away from his, "I feared, I admit, that I was failing you. You gave so much to my village, to my family, to myself. You're My Lord, but for the years I've known you, I also counted you as something more important than that."

"More important?" Ainz asked curiously.

"Yes, vastly so. I am... despite the station you have elevated me to, the education you've given me, a peasant at heart. I always will be, no matter how you dress me or what you teach me, no matter that I rule a great city in your name or a vast army... I am only Enri Emmot-Bareare, a girl born in a little nothing village on the outskirts of reasoned travel to E-Rantel. For us, for people like me, friends and family are everything. Lords? Gods? Allies? Kings? These are distant things for us, who helps is a friend and a neighbor, who gives is family. The stranger who does both, becomes both. Our loyalty to you is not born from our oaths, our oaths come from our loyalty, and our loyalty comes from who you have made yourself to us... when we needed you most."

"You've... never spoken like this to me before, why now?" Ainz asked, looking down at her as her left hand went back and forth over the bones of the back of the hand she held.

She blushed a little, "I suppose I felt a little jealous, Neia got to do so much for you, in so little time. OK... a lot jealous. You attended her wedding, she began the faith we now all follow, she speaks for you before all the world... and... I just didn't want you to forget what you mean to all of us, and to me."

Ainz reached out with his other hand, and placed it atop her head, he patted her there, before letting it drift down the back of her head. "I haven't forgotten, but do not forget what has happened to Neia, 'because' of what she's done. Would you wish to return to your little sister that way?" She'd blushed slightly at the affectionate, indulgent touch, but that stopped as he finished speaking.

Enri shook her head vigorously. "I do not envy her that, not even a little." She bit her tongue in an attempt to stop the next words from coming out, but no sooner did she remove the bite, then she said them anyway. "My Lord... what she did in Wheaton." She swallowed, "She needs to be charged for what she has done. It can't be allowed to pass unremarked on as if it never happened. If it does, it will forever taint your victory."

Ainz went back to his desk and sat down. "A few years ago we toppled a criminal organization, destroyed their slavery operations, destroyed their brothels, and broke the will of every single surviving leader, now they serve as a kind of quasi intelligence operational service, occasionally 'reminded' of their obligation to obey. Some of them, we have refined their skills with training and equipment, and put them under the command of a demoness with a sadistic streak. I will be sending some of them to Wheaton to compile everything, and make a decision then about what to do based on their recommendations. They will be interviewing survivors, examining wreckage and ruins, everything. It may take a year or three, but the trials of existing war criminals will take time too. If it merits it, I give my word that I will not forget your plea." Ainz said with calm regretfulness.

Enri prostrated herself, "You are the greatest of all kings, most would put expediency over justice, or simply slay the accused to spare the embarrassment... I am forever proud and humbled to serve you. I am also... deeply sorry, that I must bring this to you of one who I know you value as if she were your own child."

Ainz let himself expel a needless sigh, "You have always done as you thought best for all, you are in the right station for that, but for now, goodnight, General Enri. Get some rest."

She rose and bowed, then withdrew, if she felt any sense of accomplishment or rightness in what she'd done, Ainz had not seen it in her.

Now... it was time to speak with Neia, and he found himself thinking back to when they were first alone in a carriage together, her eyes had frightened him, 'scary' was the only word for it. Now? 'Now she's like a daughter... her work for me has been as relentless as a created being of Nazarick, but she isn't, and because she isn't, she is destroying herself.' He thought about that over and over, the last living human to destroy herself for his sake had been his mother, who worked herself to death. 'I lost a mother that way, I don't want to lose... a daughter too.' He clenched his fist, and called for a servant. 'I can justify at least this delay, plus... if I use a gate she might run through in her night clothes or something again.' He felt a laugh rise up at the mild humor of the memory, and waited.

 _...Kami Miyako..._

As Raymond rode towards the administrative building, he looked with an abiding depression at the many buildings that he passed. "It's like a siege has already half destroyed us." He muttered under his breath as he looked at the many places where roofs and doors had been ripped away for the wood. He thought about the last report he'd read, about seventeen refugees being hanged for storming a residence to steal wood so that they could burn it... and killing the resident in the process.

He closed his eyes and tried to remember what the city had been like even two years ago, vibrant, alive, powerful and confident, the streets clean, full but not cramped... and then the memory of passing a slave auction and not noticing the humiliation on an elf's face as she was stripped, of going past as she was handed over like a side of beef to the highest bidder. "Why does it have to end this way?!" He shouted in a spate of fury and slammed his fist against the door of his carriage, hard enough in his wrath that it went flying off and skittered along the street where a group of refugees and residents started brawling over the unexpected gift of burnable material.

The cold struck his skin hard when he lost the security of the door, but not an iota of care for that entered Raymond's mind as he pulled up to the entrance of the capitol building.

Arrayed outside where were people gathering and shouting up at the balcony. He looked out at the masses, hundreds of them, they screamed many different things, and most were dressed too thinly for the cold. "Bring my son home!" Came from one person. "No more death for the undead!" Came from another. "Make food, not war!" From still another.

'No coherent evidence of leadership, that can't end well.' Raymond thought to himself, but at the same moment he felt a measure of relief that they had not gathered in such numbers that they would block his path. 'Dominic will not like this.'

As he got out when the carriage went around their numbers and slowed to a halt, he looked back at them, and saw beyond where they stood that some people were defacing Dominic's images, a crier shouting a pro-Dominic message was under guard... 'That's new, they didn't need guards before... something must have happened.' He thought to himself as he went inside, his lips pursed tight, he rubbed his hands to warm them as he left the outside and ascended the long stairs.

He walked alone, accompanied only by his footsteps as he strode purposefully toward his goal with a rising sense of dread coming up from the pit of his stomach, his shoulders felt the weight of his office, but with back straight and determined eyes, he entered the meeting hall that was... in a word, 'empty'. More so than it had been, at least.

Dominic sat at the head of the table, Yvon at a seat to the right, and Raymond took his position opposite that of Yvon. The table was silent until Dominic himself spoke up. "There will be no more fish."

Raymond paled, Yvon, already naturally pale, became more so.

"The destruction of Wheaton and the presence of so many bodies, choked the waters with blood, the fish die, and with it, any chance of harvesting from the waters for extra food." Dominic said gravely, his face wrinkled and his eyes exhausted.

'He's too tired to even be angry...' Raymond realized with discomfort.

"There is no beef, there is no lamb, there are no goats left, we will get no more imports, and we can no longer supply the armies in the field, we're down to what was gained from the last grain harvest. If there are any dogs left in the city, people are hiding them indoors, I haven't even seen a stray cat in weeks, and yet there are no rats. Which means people are eating them." Dominic went on in a dead monotone. He swallowed hard, "Ventures into the woods for food or even wood are sometimes not returning, so I think that means some refugees have turned bandit and are surviving outside." He slumped in his chair. "The gods test us sorely before offering their aid, the last time they appeared, humanity was nearly extinct, perhaps that is where we must be again, before they return."

"So then..." Raymond interjected, "Where is the meat coming from?"

"What?" Dominic asked with a cockeyed look.

"The meat." Raymond said, "My slaves have often tried to buy meat, and found none, yet there are humans out and about eating meat. I've spoken with my neighbors, as my slaves have spoken with the slaves of those neighbors. While my neighbors are close-mouthed, the slaves say they don't recognize the meat they're given to work with. So? Where is it coming from?" He looked over to the withered, elderly Cardinal of Light, "Yvon, is this part of some military project to use magic to produce food? If so, we need it deployed everywhere as fast as possible."

Dominic shook his head, "I... don't go out much, I go from my home to here and back to home, I send Yarvin out for anything I need. He's reported a shortage as of this morning."

"And that's without the ration card murders, no sooner than they're issued, than people start killing for them so they can get double the food. And I've seen peasants brawling over a bucket of grain to the point where they kill each other for it." Yvon remarked calmly, then tapping his fingers rhythmically on the table, he went on, "No, there is no military project to provide food to our people using magic. If I had that and we'd made a breakthrough, you'd both know about it. But... I think I can guess the meat."

Dominic and Raymond looked at him curiously. "Isn't it obvious?" Yvon asked quizzically, "It is elf meat. That's the only livestock left in the city, even a thin elf will be worth enough meat to feed a few people for several days, not to mention the marrow in the bones."

Raymond tried desperately to refrain from vomiting, and barely succeeded, but to his shock, Dominic tried and failed, spewing the contents of his stomach beside him.

"W-W-WHAT!? They can't be eating elves!" Dominic exclaimed in disgust.

"Why not?" Yvon said with a dismissive wave of his hand, "They're only animals, frankly I think it's more disgusting that 'people' actually fornicate with those things. They're livestock, nothing more. And before you ask, no I haven't organized the collection or butchering of them, but I was actually going to propose that we do that, and soon." Yvon turned his attention to Raymond.

"You and our late traitor comrades did a fine job establishing those outer facilities, but this is our final solution to the hunger problem, there is no more harvest to be had there for the foreseeable future. And with the fall of Feron, no new iron will make its way to us. We simply can't use those anymore, we should keep the facilities intact, since we can put more animals to work in there after all is said and done. For now, frankly we should codify how slaves are to be collected for slaughter. Soon those ration cards that people are killing over now, will be useless unless we offer an alternative food source."

"Absolutely not." Dominic responded, his customary wrath began to rise, his eyes flashed, and he slammed his fist down on the table, its surface cracking under the fist. "They're subhumans yes, but they're not 'food'! We're not vampires or demihumans!" He shook his head vigorously, "I won't allow it! I won't hear of it! Anyone caught selling an elf for slaughter as food will be hanged! Anyone caught doing the slaughter will be sentenced to the breaking wheel! Anyone caught eating an elf will be crucified!" Dominic shouted in absolute and utter outrage, his face turned purple with fury and the vein in his forehead throbbed in the way it did when he grew furious beyond measure.

"Of course we're not those things, but we are humans, and that makes the rest of them just animals. There's nothing wrong with eating them, the gods gave us souls, not them, and if it doesn't have a soul like us, it's just food for those who have one." Yvon said emphatically.

Raymond kept his face calm, but internally his mind was ablaze with fury and an urge to retch, 'I thought Dominic was bad... but you? You are worse than he is... but... no, not all those we've saved... not all that, it can't have been done just so they could be put through a slaughterhouse and served to humans for lunch... oh god, that's why they were looking at Nua...'

"That brings up another problem!" Raymond snapped out, forcing their attention to him, "C'teon can't hold on its own, and a lot of refugees will be streaming this way. We have nowhere left to house people as it is."

"Then they can't come in." Dominic said bluntly.

"Perhaps we can bring in those who come bearing some food or necessary tribute to help the city, but as for the rest...?" Yvon looked somewhat displeased, "Well, ironic as it is, we can take their animals, both the four legged and the two, as those are useful as food... but the actual people? I'm afraid they must be abandoned."

"Oh, the irony." Raymond groaned, "Our army turned out the followers of the Sorcerer King from Yanana, naked to die in the cold, and now we do the same to our own."

"Do you think we can support them, Raymond?" Dominic asked frigidly. "Another... however many thousands of refugees will make it here from C'teon and anyone from Wheaton who survives the trip? I don't see how. This city is already bursting at the seams and can barely feed those we have, and that... we won't be doing for long. The river is essentially dead to us, this is 'it'."

Yvon's face was one that always looked calmly displeased, and that had not changed as he addressed them, "You both need to rethink what I've said, the long eared sheep is the only animal left to eat, we'll run out of grain soon, then what will you tell our people to eat? Each other? The poorest who have no elf animals are already doing that! I understand you may not agree, absurd as it seems to me, but unless you have a real proposal... consider doing this while we can still do it in an organized fashion. People are already doing it anyway, that much we can safely say."

"Absolutely not!" Dominic reiterated with his teeth grinding together hard enough to crack.

Yvon was relaxed and at ease, even serene as he answered. "Fine... for now, but at least we need to withdraw the livestock from the outer labor facilities, we can use them as shields or laborers we don't need to pay for."

'That is 'not' what he has in mind.' Raymond realized with growing anger, 'He is thinking ahead...'

Dominic stroked his chin, "Yes, that is sensible, there's no reason to leave them out there to be recovered, and maybe we can use them as bargaining chips. The evil bitch seems to have a weak spot for them, maybe we can use them as a bargaining chip."

'A bargaining chip? That only makes sense if he's thinking about things going wrong, about the gods not responding to our time of need... oh Dominic, you fool, you've abandoned the true faith. Like Ginedine and Berenice before you, you've fallen from the path, and so you must be removed.' Yvon thought grimly, while he quietly nodded along.

"What happened with the criers by the way?" Raymond interjected, eager to force the subject elsewhere. "I see they're guarded now."

Dominic grumbled for a moment in unhappiness, "Protestors assaulted one, beat him half to death. We hanged six, they were from villages outside of Crossroads, blamed me for the war. These peace advocates..." He felt the wind go out of himself as he went on, "they're getting bolder. We tried busting some of them up before, when Meidhall and her mother were hosting them in secret, but while we got a few, it just drove the rest underground, now they're getting bold again. It's nothing to worry about, they'll screw up eventually without proper leadership."

Raymond noticed how tight Dominic's fist was on the table, anger radiated off of him like heat from a burning hearth. 'It's worse than he says, maybe he knows that, maybe not, but he's barely hanging onto his rage. More interestingly, he 'is' hanging on to it. Pre-war Dominic wouldn't have bothered. Is he growing more sensible, or more tired? Caution, Raymond, caution.' Out loud he pretended reassurance, "I understand, defacing messages on the wall is minor, attacking your advocates is another thing entirely. You should get some extra guards for yourself as well, if they're attacking your advocates, you are not far behind on the scales of boldness."

Dominic inclined his head appreciatively, "Thank you, Raymond. I appreciate your concern and will take that under advisement."

The next few hours were depressing ones as Raymond listened to the growing list of ills his country was suffering. Ration card theft, even murder for them, the divisions in the city between refugee groups and local residents and their daily fighting over supplies. "This can't be right though, can it?" Raymond asked when they got to a new security matter.

"It is." Yvon said grimly, "We've had numerous graves being opened up, and the dead removed, but no sign of necromancer activity. I have absolutely no doubt, that people are eating the dead. Think about it Raymond, the trees are all but gone, the grass itself has been ripped up, people are eating anything they can, and there are a lot of people. Desecrating the dead is the next step. Just yesterday there was a court case of a woman who killed her youngest child to feed her oldest three so that they wouldn't all starve. We hanged her for it of course, but..." he slammed his fist down on the table, causing it to reverberate with the force of it, "that is why I say we need to turn to the long eared sheep! So that people don't eat people! And that is where we're coming to! A ration card is enough to feed a family of three or four, our red cards feed our manors, but many of our people have more children than the ordinary cards will provide for!"

"Enough!" Dominic shouted as his temper was loosed on the room and his own fist slammed down on the table hard enough to break a chunk off and send it clattering to the floor. "I WILL NOT HEAR IT! Any human who kills and eats another human is less than an animal! They are not a reason to turn slaves into food! They are a reason to buy more rope to hang them faster! I've had enough for now! Meeting adjourned! Get out, both of you!"

Raymond and Yvon stood up slowly, and filed out, leaving Dominic alone at last.

 _...Kami Miyako Market District..._

"Crowded place." Solution remarked in passing. "Filthy place too. Humans are... disgusting. As a maid I can scarcely stand to be about such filth, it offends me on a... professional level." She turned up her nose arrogantly as Nua guided her.

"You see the filth, my lady. But I... I see the hate, I see the desperation and hunger... I see the eyes turned on me with fury at my existing." She drew out the red ration card Raymond had given her as they headed towards a line and inclined her head toward some watching eyes.

Solution followed her indication and saw what Nua meant, rage and gritted teeth. "I don't get it." Solution said with a shrug. "You're a slave doing what she's told, at least as far as they can see."

"It's because I'll eat." Nua whispered as they fell into line. "I'll go home to my master, make bread, serve him, and he will feed me, I am not starving, and they hate me for it. Some of them probably have hungry children, and their rations aren't enough, but since I'm getting food for an entire household, for a Cardinal, I'll take away enough food for them to eat their fill for a week." Nua felt herself relax as Solution stepped beside her.

'I wonder how powerful this one is... she seems... invincible to me. Invincible and without mercy, and she is my guardian... Raymond gave me his safety... I can't ever forget that.' She thought to herself, and as she let her mind drift off, she felt a hand dart out to try to grab the little red ration card.

She snapped back to reality in an instant and shrieked, she pulled back, and the person who grabbed at it let go, she stumbled into several humans who also saw the telltale red ration card of someone of importance, and, clinging to their own meagre cards, their rage boiled over. Someone grabbed at her hair, "Get the card!" Someone shouted. "Get the meat!" a different voice cried out from somewhere.

Nua didn't think, as she fell to the stone she slapped the ground with her hand to lessen the impact, and rolled away from the nearest assailant to protect her card, the pull at her hair hurt, and her foot thrust out and she felt it connect with something very soft, and a high pitched cry of pain told her where she'd hit someone, but the yank to her golden hair drew a cry of pain from her for an instant, and then the pain was gone as if it had never been.

Solution stood over her with her feet on either side of Nua's body, and her palm had struck a human torso with such force that he bowled over half a dozen of his fellows. "Do. Not." Was all the beautiful buxom blonde uttered. Nua curled up and clutched the precious card to her chest, her eyes clenched shut, she couldn't see what was happening, but the near riot was quelled in a second's time.

Even the bravest can be frightened by the unexpected, and not much was less expected by Yarvin than seeing a stunning blonde woman in a maid outfit, standing over an elf slave and hitting with the force of ten men.

Whether lust, hunger, hatred, or desperation drove the near riot, the crushing blow dealt by the human woman crushed all motivations equally. Silence began to descend around them, and as the elf girl gradually stood up, Yarvin caught a glimpse of her face from beneath his cloak. 'You... you are still alive? You're still alive! You?! It can't be... no... wait... yes it could. Fucking slut, probably rode your way to comfort for the last hundred years after throwing me to the dogs... traitor, bitch, scum...' A thousand insults and threats flew behind his eyes and he used all his training as a servant to keep his face neutral. 'Where is she staying... I want to know... where did that whore land herself?' He pondered, and stepped back, avoiding the crowd as he usually did on these errands. 'But more importantly, why is she guarded so well? And where did someone like that even come from? My Dominic would have told me if there were scriptures in the city like that? I need to know more...…'

The powerful blonde woman moved out of the way and Nua got up the rest of the way on her own. She wiped her face, and the grain distributor took their card, stamped it, and scheduled delivery, getting them out of there as fast as possible.

Yarvin remained back out of the way, he glanced at the distribution center, the crowd had been eager to let the cause of the unexpected turmoil depart, but they were slow at organizing themselves again. 'I have time enough.' He thought eagerly, and started to follow where Nua led.

 _...Crossroads..._

Vice Commander Ira sat in her cell, her laughter had died out quite some time ago when the riots failed to materialize any result except her people dying. 'Is it really a result to say someone has 'died for nothing' if there is no other change?' She turned the absurd question over in her head, it was, to her, a very 'Is zero a number' kind of argument with herself.

She got up and paced around, then dropped down and started doing push ups. When she got tired of that, she rolled over and did sit ups using the bars of the cell to brace her feet. She was entirely alone, and had been left that way for days. General Enri hadn't come to see her, only a human or an orc or sometimes a goblin, came by, brought her food, collected her waste bucket, and left again without a word.

One she'd asked for chalk, and he'd ignored her, only to find that with her next meal, she'd been given a piece, and with that she'd done two things. Marked her days, and drawn an outline on the wall of a person, and practiced her strikes.

"I probably stink right now, gods I'd kill for a bath." She said to herself as she went to start the routine again.

"You do." A voice said from behind her. She turned to see the red headed woman that accompanied General Enri.

"Do what?" Ira asked with surprise.

"Stink." Lupusregina replied and held her fingers melodramatically to her own nose and pinched her nostrils shut. "I could smell you all the way down the hall. -su"

"Oh." Ira said, flopping down on her cot and folding her arms in front of herself. "Then you should provide prisoners with bathing facilities. It's not my fault I stink if you don't give me the means to stay clean."

Lupusregina laughed as she came closer and pulled up a seat near the bars. "I guess that is fair, I just thought I'd update you though."

"Update me?" Ira asked in disbelief.

"Yes, a good chunk of your city is now dead. Hanged, torn apart, ripped to pieces, frozen to death, speared, gutted, and/or smashed. You thought the riots were so funny, but you laughed before the punchline of the joke. -su" Lupusregina Beta said with amusement.

Ira looked down at the floor, defeated. "I suppose I did. You didn't need to tell me that though, I figured it out."

"You did?" Lupusregina asked with surprise, "How?"

Vice Commander Ira pointed up at the window, "I listened. Eventually I only heard your people, none of mine. And the food always came to me at the same time without interruption, all that told me that you were winning and that there was no interruption in supplies. If this had been an emergency, I could expect to be killed at worst, or be fed sporadically at best. That could only mean that you were winning handily."

Lupusregina inclined her head in a gesture of respect, "Well done, human. It would seem that the Slane Theocracy does have capable officers. Well, in other news, you know that other army of criminals your idiot leaders gathered together to go stop Draudillon?"

"Yes..." Ira said hesitantly.

"My master destroyed it with a single spell, and your assassin squads have all failed, a group of them came into this city too, tried to ambush my friend while she was away, so I killed them -su. Of course they might have a few left in the city but... not enough to matter, if they ever mattered at all. Basically all that is left is Kami Miyako. Then your nation will no longer exist. -su" Lupusregina said with a wide, cheerful smile.

"Did... did Enri..." She began, then froze as fury formed on Lupusregina's face.

"GENERAL Enri to you." She said coldly.

"Did General Enri... authorize those brutal measures?" Ira asked anxiously.

Lupusregina giggled as her anger melted away, turning on a dime when Ira used the proper form of address. "No, she left so Sun and I were in charge of putting things down, so we did it our way. If she'd been left here, well..." Lupusregina scratched her lovely red hair thoughtfully, "how should I put this? I like her a lot, she's my best friend outside my home, I'm proud of what she's done and how far she's come, but she doesn't have the heart for this kind of thing. It seems your little insurrection was timed just right for her to be gone to see our master. -su"

"The Sorcerer King... she wasn't even here for this, she went to see him? Won't he... you know, kill her for letting this happen? He's undead right, since when do the undead show mercy to anyone?!" Ira asked doubtfully.

Lupusregina's giggling faded out and she looked at the Vice Commander like she was a moron. "Course he won't kill her. She's loyal, oh yah she might be a bit of a softee, but she's a smart one, she learns from her mistakes. -su Master says that everyone makes them, and if they're learned from, that is what matters. -su" The lovely redhead made a little fist and tapped the side of her head teasingly. The brief memory of her own mistake flashed through her mind, and she suppressed a shudder in front of her enemy before moving on.

"He's wise, kind, generous, forgiving, and loyal, you all were dumb enough to treat him like he was some ordinary rampaging lich, but he's not and never was. He's the Supreme Being who led all the other Supreme Beings. You can think about that while you sit in here, I just wanted to give you an update before my General comes back, she'll probably have questions for you before she goes after your last army."

"I won't answer them." Ira said firmly.

"Suppose instead of answering her, I ask the Sorcerer King to turn the embodiment of wrath against him instead. What do you think 'she' will do to General Boabdil? To Vice Commander Heikeren? Whose hands do you want your army to fall into?" Lupusregina smiled sweetly and held her left hand out slightly in front of her, "Enri" or, she held her right hand out the same way, "Neia"?" Ira felt the color drain from her face.

"That's what I thought. When my General returns, you will cooperate fully with her in brokering the defeat of your last army or its submission, or I will go to our master and ask him to bring 'that one' to the field. The same outcome... your defeat, will happen either way. It's up to you to determine how much suffering and death you want there to be along the way." Lupusregina stood up, "Think about it, Vice Commander Ira. -su" She smiled sweetly, and walked out, leaving Ira alone and shaking in her cell.


	187. A Gourmet's Secret Recipe

God Rising: The Cult of Ainz

Written by: AtheistBasementDragon

Edited by: The Usual Gang of Drunken Perverted Idiots

Chapter 187: A Gourmet's Secret Recipe

 _...Forton...Neia's Quarters..._

She relaxed with ease after sending the messages out that she needed to, and felt better for it. It helped that the water was blessedly hot and Neia patiently allowed Sylva to clean her up, the gentle scrubbing went on, and she kept her eyes shut as the touch went on and on. The sound of dripping water as the sponge was wrung out before being reapplied to her back, was very peaceful. Her breathing slowed as the elf woman worked. 'Why does it feel so different?' Neia wondered as the elf's tender fingers went over her skin, 'Why is everything different?' She wondered, and turned her mind back to the day it all changed and the true clash with Remedios began. 'Am I so different now? I don't even recognize that girl... if I could put who I am now, into myself then... I wouldn't have just let Remedios hurt me... I would rip her apart with my bare hands... now? What did Enri say? That Remedios's words and mine were one and the same?'

She let her eyes open slightly, and caught sight of the elf woman in the long mirror of the counter, Sylva seemed serene in the way she performed her duties, at ease, at peace. Her hands and arms moved like a graceful dancer, not a motion wasted or extraneous in any way. Outside her window, she heard a slightly falling rain begin. "Mistress, I need to tend your front, please relax backwards."

Neia obeyed the instruction, but only absent-mindedly, she closed her eyes again, 'Remedios... this is really the difference I guess, if there is any between you and I. She's not afraid of me. What's the difference between a monster and a hero, except for who is in front of you and who is behind you?' She sighed as the woman lifted Neia's leg slightly and scrubbed it slowly.

'Maybe Enri was right, maybe I am more like you than I want to admit, but is that the only option? If so, if being you breaks the Theocracy, then I'll be you, only I'll be better at it, and... I'll be more merciful than you. At least as much as I can be anymore. They wanted terror, so terror they will have.' Neia smiled tranquilly and kept her eyes closed as Sylva finished her front.

"All done, mistress, unless you require further attention, I will see to your clothing." Sylva said happily, a radiant smile on her face as she looked down at the relaxed human in her bath.

"No, you did a wonderful job, that felt amazing." Neia said gently, as her arms draped along the sides of the tub.

"It was my joy and privilege, I will boast of attending you, until the day I die." Sylva said with a bow. "Now please relax there while I fetch something for you to wear."

"As you like." Neia said pleasantly and savored the warmth and the sound of what must surely have been a freezing rain beyond.

It felt like no time had passed at all before the soft press of elven hands came to her shoulders, "Mistress, your clothing, please stand, and I will dry you."

Neia rose from the bath and stood, enjoying even the sound of the water as it fell from her body, it felt like being prepared for battle. 'Prart, it's like at Prart. Or a hundred other battlefields? How many has it even been since I've helped someone with their armor?, or when did others begin to help me with mine? Yet today I go out to another kind of battle, one where my armor is not metal, and my weapons are neither bow nor sword.' She felt the same confidence fill her body that she'd felt before every engagement she knew she couldn't lose, and would not allow herself to.

The towel patted her dry completely, she held her arms out at her sides and allowed it all to be done, her eyes closed, she felt everything more keenly. It reminded her of the time with Skana, of their more intimate play with one another. 'How I miss her...' Neia thought, "I can't wait to do this with her again..." She said softly, and then slapped her hand over her mouth in sudden embarrassment.

Slyva laughed from down on her knees while she dried Neia's feet. "I won't say a thing, mistress." She stood up and backed away, then went and held up her selection. A black and white affair, emblazoned with the symbol of the Sorcerer King over her heart, and her organization's symbol next to it, as if to ward his mark. The white and black crossed at an angle from one side to the other, and was complemented by a green sash. Dressing went quickly, with Sylva wrapping the sash around Neia's waist, and then tying it off, they were inches from one another, the elf woman caught her breath as she stared into the blue eyes of her savior and yanked the knot tight.

'My god, elf women are beautiful... no! Bad Neia! Look, don't touch! Besides, she's a servant, and you don't take advantage of those under you.' Neia blinked away the thoughts that came unbidden to her mind, and Sylva, as if she knew them, tittered and stepped aside to reveal how Neia looked in the mirror.

"Do you approve, mistress?" Sylva asked with a wink.

Neia tried and failed to keep a faint rose from her cheeks, and moved her arms from side to side and up and down, the sleeves were form fitting but did not constrict her movement, the sash was a nice touch. "I like it, you have impeccable taste."

Sylva politely nodded her head, "Thank you, Mistress, it pleases me that you favor my choice."

It was then that a knock at the door interrupted them. Sylva went briskly to answer it as Neia slipped on her shoes for herself, and another stood in waiting, a man dressed in the attire of a butler. "General Neia, you are called to the office of the Sorcerer King."

Neia quickly ran her fingers through her hair in an improvised attempt at brushing it. "I am at his command. Sylva, thank you for your help this morning, I wish you a wonderful day and a wonderful life."

As Neia strode quickly over the floor, the elf impulsively grabbed her into an embrace. "Thank you for giving me my life 'back' to make it wonderful in the first place."

Neia felt herself tense for only the slightest moment as Wenmark flooded her memory again, and then relaxed and folded her arms around the maid. "It'll be so for the whole world over one day, no matter what it takes."

Their cheeks touched, and Neia felt the warmth stirred in her breast, she felt the woman's face move as she nodded. Then the moment passed and Neia marched out the door with her back straight, eyes forward, a tingle of power in every inch of skin as she felt the resolve to reshape the world even if she had to break it first, secure itself again in her heart.

Reaching the Sorcerer King's office, she rapped on the door, waited until she was called to enter, and pushed one side open with one hand. She immediately fell to one knee as he approached her, awed as ever by his majestic presence. "Neia, my most ardent follower, my human hand, my human voice. My daughter, as surely as if you were born to me." He said in his noble, powerful voice that all but moved her to tears.

"Sire, father, divine god, you call, and I answer." She said with her blue eyes facing up to his red orbs, her every gesture spoke of her affection and devotion.

"Good, though I am afraid this is for less than joyful reason." Ainz said as he held her shoulders in his hands and her gaze in his.

"Father?" She asked hesitantly. "Have I done something wrong... something else, I mean?" She asked, suddenly embarrassed and ashamed of herself again.

"Neia, no, it is not that. You will pay the price you must and that will be the end of that... but there is much to say... perhaps I should begin by saying... I spoke with General Enri." He said in a quiet voice that thrummed through her veins.

"I can guess what she said." Neia said softly, letting her eyes fall away and down to the floor, she felt his left hand come under her chin and raise her eyes back up.

"First then, let me praise you. Your abject dedication to my cause is second to none, your will to see this opportunity in this way speaks of your observational skills as much as your strength of will in carrying it out. So many... they hesitate when the time comes, and let chance slip from grasp never to come again. You have not." Ainz remarked. Her expression however, did not change as she waited for the other shoe to drop.

"However, first, you have misunderstood the intention of bringing you here. I did not bring you here to break or manipulate the delegates, to do so would violate the spirit of peace I wish to promote. Perhaps they would never detect what you have done, but perhaps others would, or would suspect it even if they could not know it. In the short term, we may make great gains. But in the long term, we may create more enemies." He stroked her cheek as he spoke, as a parent would to a child who has tried too hard and overwrought themselves.

"Do you understand, Neia?" He asked gently.

"My Lord, I do... but then... why 'am' I here?" She asked plaintively. "I am no Queen like Draudillon or Calca. I am no great governor of your great test city like Enri. I am no Emperor or King, nor even an ambassador. I do not even have a home anymore. I am nothing but a voice, a look, a weapon you can wield to..." He stopped her words before they could continue, by placing a finger over her lips.

"No, Neia. You are more than that, and when this war ends, you 'will' have a home, the finest residence anyone in this world has ever seen outside of Nazarick. You will not live your life in a saddle any longer. But more than that, you are much more than that. You are a 'chance' that I have taken, and it has paid off." He explained patiently.

"A chance?" She asked without any hint that she understood him.

"Yes, it is true, you are my mortal voice. So I do wish you to speak, but speak for the faith as it will emerge, let the wider world know what you intend, so that they will welcome your emissaries without fear. But that too, is secondary. I brought you here so that you could get a glimpse of what tomorrow would look like. So that you could see the fruits of your labors as they begin to break through the earth to grow into a great tree under which the world will find shelter." He stroked her hair gently.

"Father, I..." She began, only to stop as he shook his head.

"Neia, I brought you here so that you could find hope. You've lived most of your life either preparing for wars or fighting in them. You needed to see, more than anyone else in my service, how that is going to change." He said affectionately.

Neia felt her lower lip quivering, and she fought back tears. "Father, what you hold out is such a wonderful gift that I can never be too grateful for. But if Enri said all that I think she did..." She unconsciously reached up and touched her own neck.

"She did." Ainz said, deducing her thoughts. "And yes, I do have to send out agents to investigate, after your army leaves, the Eight Fingers agents that we've taken control of will conduct a thorough examination and recording of events. They will question citizens, soldiers of both sides, everyone they must. Even if it takes years."

"Years?" Neia asked with surprise.

"They'll be spread a bit thin since they'll have to find out what went wrong in General Enri's lands. How the Agante were able to spark riots so thoroughly without her knowing it was coming, suggests a failure or oversight somewhere, and we must find and fix it. Also, I will be putting these former criminals at the disposal of a new agent of Nazarick, the former Thousand Mile Astrologer, to help hunt the Agante." Ainz explained. "That means Wheaton is a lower priority as, for better or worse, there is no danger left there."

Neia nodded numbly, "Then the gift of looking ahead means more to me than even your infinite wisdom can know. May I go then, and work your will as you intended?" She forced a charming expression onto her face as she pushed aside thoughts of the pending investigation to one side. 'One day, my father's justice will come for me, and I will answer for my sins. But until then, I will use my days to lay this world at his feet, it will be his temple. Even if it is too late for me to be anything more than its sacrifice..' She thought to herself as her only lord slowly inclined his head in approval.

"You may. Go, and do great things." Ainz said proudly, "And know also, that I am truly proud of you, no matter what else you've done."

"Father!" She exclaimed happily, her smile shone genuinely as she rose, "There are some things I must go and say, but then, may I come back here and see you?"

He nodded, "You may, I have little appetite, so... take your time." He joked, and once again wondered what was wrong with this world's humor when she did not laugh as she exited the room to go join what was no doubt a sizable gathering in the main hall.

 _...Forton...Main Hall..._

Emperor Jircniv sat opposite General Enri as they enjoyed a brief meal. Beside him sat Queen Zesshi, and she felt their faint glares at her. "Don't pretend you're not aware of the looks you're getting, General Enri." Queen Zesshi said in a frosty voice.

Enri set her fork down and looked over at the Queen. "Alright, explain them."

"My soldiers are out putting down insurrections in your territory, instead of advancing against the last Theocracy Strongholds. That all happened on 'your' watch." Jircniv said bluntly.

"Neia Baraja is the reason I even have a side to join in the first place. Her efforts at saving half my heritage and telling the world that elves are people too, is the only reason my sister has a place to call home. You told her she should be hanged, are you think I should kiss you for it?" Zesshi added, and clenched her jaw, her black and white eyes and black and white hair only added to her expression of anger.

"Where were 'you' when my sister was crawling like a dog?" Zesshi asked. "In my book, anyone who undoes that, is automatically the hero."

Enri looked down at her plate, with a shamefaced expression they did not expect to see, her eyes closed and her fingers trembled at the table. "I know this. Maybe I was too cruel to her. It's true. I tried to be kind to peasants and commoners, because I 'am' one!" She exclaimed as she found the will to meet their glares with one of her own. "No matter how high I rise, I am as I was born. I didn't check for abuses, but... I did set those I found, free. I thought if I could just punish those who held onto the old ways, I could create a path to peace... that was my hope. I underestimated their hatred though. Or underestimated the control their priests had over the people, or their loyalty to the gods... I don't know, maybe all of that."

She swallowed hard, "I also admit, yes, I was somewhat envious of Neia's place, if not the rest. But truly, all I really wanted was to end this war as peacefully as I could. When I was in Carne, back when it was still a village, we didn't really care about nobles, gods, priests, kings, or anything else. There was only the harvest and staying alive. I thought if we let people in the Theocracy do the same, then we could... you know... bring them slowly into the fold. It made sense, and for awhile it worked!" She slammed her fist down on the table, hard enough to draw looks from up and down the line from other delegates.

"Well, it isn't working now." Jircniv said unhappily, "And every soldier of mine who dies, is on you."

"I know." Enri said with bitterness and anger as her eyes went hard as steel, "And I will never... ever forgive the Theocracy for it." She looked to Queen Zesshi, "And you... your highness, you are right. But I believed, and still believe, that Neia went too far. It's one thing to kill breakers, slavers, recalcitrant types who refuse to change or give up their ownership of others. But it's another to kill the tanner, his wife, and his child, just for being behind the walls you're taking. I'm not saying we should love them, embrace them, and sing songs together. I'm not saying we should forget everything that happened... Perhaps I'm wrong, and Neia shouldn't hang. But she's the living symbol of the Sorcerer King's justice. If she can do this without a second glance, then it can be done by anyone, at any time, for any reason. At the very least, questions, hard questions, have to be asked and answered."

"About that, General Enri speaks the truth. For me, for she, and for all who have served in the course of this terrible conflict." A powerful and unmistakable voice thrummed through their souls from behind where Zesshi and Jircniv sat.

Neia approached the long table as other delegates were filtering in, and sat down beside Queen Zesshi. "I have things I have to answer for, I accept that. But the time for answers isn't yet, first we need the quietness of peace, without the clashing of swords. The last fight is still ahead, after all. Time enough for whatever comes, when that is done." She placed her hand on Zesshi's shoulder, "Majesty, I thank you for your praise, but what I did, what I said, should never have been needed in the first place."

The half elf smirked a bit, "But at least you said it."

"True. One day, eventually, I'd like to see the elf kingdom that brought some dear friends into the world." Neia said enthusiastically.

"I will keep a room at the palace for your use." Zesshi said with equal enthusiasm.

Enri went back to her plate, only to find Neia reach out across the table to take her hand. "You weren't wrong, not about anything and... I'm sorry about before. I'm feeling... good today, optimistic." Neia said as she pumped all the charm she could into her voice.

To that, Enri responded with an apologetic look of her own, "We all have our justice to keep, don't we... it is a shame when it must clash, but if it must be, then at least it is over a worthy cause."

"Agreed." Neia said, and as an elf servant laid down a glass of juice in front of her, she looked up and down the table, seeing the remaining delegates enter for the morning meal, she stood.

She gently tapped her spoon to the glass, slowly drawing the eyes of the long table to where she was, some leaned forward, others back, in order to see her, and reminding her to her annoyance, that she was not as tall as she wished.

She rolled her eyes and wondered for the thousandth time if her master should have chosen a taller speaker, then laughed internally at herself and began. "Yesterday, my lord, my king, my god, father to myself and his empire at large, addressed you regarding the future state of the world. And I, in pale imitation of his glory, spoke of how enmity is to be dealt with. Today, with the breaking of the dawn, I wish to speak on something nearer and dearer to all of us. I say this with confidence, because even the strong wish their children to grow up. Even the wealthy, wish for the security of peace to enjoy their wealth."

She felt the eyes of minotaur and troll, goblin, human, half elf, and others, on her, and she quickly fell into her rhythm. "I speak of course, of the matter of peace. Many of those at this table, have in the past found their nations at odds with one another." She gestured with her glass to King Zanac and the newly arrived Princess Renner, and then to the Argland Council State's quiet dragon lord avatar. She gestured to King Rargnan and Queen Calca, and from the Wyvern Riders to the Troll Kingdom ambassadors. There was quiet acknowledgement of this obvious truth, "Yet now, as this war slowly ends, we must turn ourselves to the means to ensure that it does not happen again."

She took a deep breath as she allowed them a moment to process what she'd said, and then went on, "To pursue peace, we must understand why war happens, while there may be many causes, at the core of it most of the time is that war happens because of want. Food, water, goods, resources, land, or even simple power. But with the innovation of His Majesty and this great assembly of nations, where all nations may debate all matters with ease, we find a tool for peace like nothing the world has ever known. If one nation grows hungry, then all nations can come together to solve the problem without imposing a great burden on any one. If we create an internationally developed reserve, then no one nation need fear a great drought. If we create a means to certify movement from overpopulation, then a new nation may benefit from new citizens, without forcing a nation to go to war to find new space for its people."

She saw the lights go on in countless eyes as they began to see the advantages of such a system. "I don't suggest that this will solve every problem, but if it solves many of them, then will we not reduce the probability of a wasteful war? Imagine building monuments to your legacies that could stand for a thousand years, instead of throwing a hundred thousand lives away for a victory that will be irrelevant in ten years, and forgotten in a hundred!"

It didn't take evangelist power to entice great lords and ladies with the prospect of such a legacy, and even they knew that much about themselves, yet they embraced the pleasant thought for what it was. "In that capacity, my people, Black Justice, will do all we can to assist. Our priests heal all people without charge, without concern for their race or the nature of their injury. Our temples provide the inexpensive labor given by the Sorcerer King. Our Red Paladins provide safe escort for travelers no matter the risks to themselves. We promote learning and teach for free. Where we go, opportunity follows. Ask any nation into which we have ventured, if they are worse for our having come to them." She let that hang in the air. "We fear no sickness or violence, only weakness and ignorance. The justice of his majesty is carried in our hearts, and if you have seen even a fragment of it, you will begin to understand why we serve him. It is not for power, but for excellence in noble virtues, that we follow." She clutched her free hand over her heart, closed her eyes, and looked down, unable to forget that she had in her own mind at least, let her master down. "Though we are but a pale reflection of such glory, we mere mortals, may at least try, and in that effort, come a little closer to what it means to be divine. I urge you all, as you treat with His Majesty in the coming days, allow us to help you as we were helped first. In that spirit, I drink to peace, before I depart to go about my father's work."

Glasses went up. "To peace." They drank, and Neia did not sit down, instead, she bowed gracefully, and made her exit.

She made her way out of the hall with all swiftness, her crisp steps echoed like the march of time, and like time's forward march, she did not look back behind her. She went straight to her king's office, and knocked.

"Come." A voice within called.

Neia entered, and a broad smile was clear upon her face, ear to ear it spread, beneath shimmering blue eyes that sparkled like sapphires. 'Were it not for their shape, she might have been thought beautiful by this world, rather than terrifying beyond all reason.' He thought somewhat sadly for her. "What is it that you needed, Neia?" He asked as he set aside the document in his hand.

"Father, I have worked your will and addressed them in the light of hope you sought for this gathering... but... I fear my continued presence will be an inhibition to your aims." She chewed on her tongue for a moment as she let those words hang in the air, "I am a weapon, a thing of terror, while I can charm a crowd, moving their hearts, at my core I am... well, you saw yourself, My King, how I was even 'before' I became as I am today. As long as I remain, it will be as if you are walking around with a drawn sword. I am truly thankful for your intent, and I have seen it, but the longer I linger, the more of an impediment to your peace I will be."

She went to one knee and bowed her head humbly, "Please, let me return to my armies, let me be the one thing I truly excel at. We have preparations to make before departure, and... I'm sure my wife misses me greatly."

"Very well, go out, and prepare the armies to bring down the final stronghold. When you are ready to move, Tuare and Sebas will join your ranks and you will begin to pay your debt." He said with an eye toward easing her troubled heart, "Lakyus arrived a few minutes ago, and I believe she wanted to speak to you... but that can wait until she returns to Wheaton."

The gate opened, and Neia stood, bowed, and withdrew through it without another word.

 _...Ruins of Wheaton..._

"I hate meetings." Skana said bluntly to the attendees at the meeting she herself had called. Her expression told them she was only partially joking, a resigned little half smile that brought mild empathy from the rest of her command team. "But what can we do? Got to get information, and there's no other way, so... let's get this going so we can all do the tasks we'd prefer to be seeing to, shall we?"

Cenna propped his feet up on the table and leaned back in his chair, "Sure thing, by the way, I'm basically incapable of taking anything 'too' seriously, least of all meetings, so please don't take offense if I look bored."

Skana's eye blinked at his blunt 'apology' only for her to relax into her chair and wave her hand dismissively. "It's fine, I'd prefer to be swinging my sword into somebody's face than swinging a pen over a piece of paper, myself. So here's the deal. Thanks to the captured harvest we have enough food, even without resupply from His Majesty, to campaign for three months. Our best estimates, which are almost to an ounce in terms of reliability, say that Kami Miyako has enough food for three weeks."

Cenna raised an eyebrow at that. "That's odd."

"What?" Skana asked.

He stroked his chin with one hand while his sword bounced up and down off his shoulder, "Kami Miyako has never had a lot of grain storage space, most of their supplies were held at C'Teon or were shipped directly from Wheaton and Crossroads."

Oma set her head on the table in front of her and looked down at the document sitting there. "Well, this has the same estimate she just read, so... why don't you just tell us what you think the problem is in more detail? I mean we know they started a new distribution plan, couldn't they have held back some from what the farming areas sent to them? And adding in more fish to their diet from the river? And what about the food that was to go to their armies, couldn't they have some of that left over since they don't really have much in the way of an army left?"

Cenna was quiet for a moment as he thought that over, 'It'll take some getting used to, seeing a head talking to me independent of the rest of the body.' He thought to himself before refocusing on the questions she'd raised. "I... guess." He replied, "But still, look I'm new, I joined for Zesshi's sake, I'm late to your little party, I don't know how good your intelligence operations are... our intelligence operations are, but I am telling you that if they have 'that' much food left, despite refugees and fish catching, something else is going on."

Skana shook off the chill that went down her spine. "I will... request a further inquiry."

"On a related note, I sent a request to His Majesty to hide General Boabdil's wife." General Oma said in passing, "He is going to do what he can to facilitate as peaceful an end as he can, he's probably already gone to his army and explained things, and by now is likely halfway to Kami Miyako. The problem being, he was ordered killed by Dominic, so most of the Theocracy... what is left of it at least, thinks him dead. So when he shows up, it's possible that his wife will be killed as a result."

"I see." General Musan said as he swirled his spoon around in his cup of tea to mix the sugar and milk more thoroughly. "Small favor to a friend?"

General Oma shrugged her headless shoulders, "Not really, he'll just commit more fully if he knows she's safe, it shouldn't be hard to hide one old woman, or to remove her if it comes to that. I did appreciate the help he sent us though... so maybe it's a bit of a professional courtesy."

"Fine, doesn't hurt things, but how long do we take before we move out of here and on to our last objective?" He asked with a burning anger in his eyes.

"Not long, another day, maybe two. His Majesty didn't say how long the Forton Conference would be, but since he's just introducing concepts to them and explaining the post war plans for the new Sorcerous Empire... it won't be long." Skana said confidently. "But speaking of the post war consequences, what have the outriders found in the search for refugees who fled the city?" She looked away uncomfortably, "My own have rescued a handful, a few hundred at best. Many more are... frozen, or we've found some who were murdered by their fellows."

General Musan spoke up next, with a neutral, professional indifferent distance from the subject. "Mine found villages that had been destroyed by the refugees, or villages that had destroyed desperate refugees, my guess, based on what we've seen so far, that the first villages to be attacked were successfully destroyed, the survivors fled farther away, and were prepared, and defeated all attacks later. Some were already occupied by your orcs, and those kept villagers safe from refugees. But it's a very mixed result, but we've found not many more survivors than you have."

"Thirg, you've been quiet so far." Skana remarked, glancing at the elf vampire.

He nodded, "Yup. Look, you want to know what we've found? Whole lot of dead people, and not one of em do I regret being dead. So far we've found no survivors, we have found indications that some 'did' survive, wagon tracks, horseshoe prints, that kind of thing. But by this point they're well beyond normal scouting range. As I see it, anybody who has survived so far, is going to make it to Kami Miyako, not that I expect them to have any luck after that."

"What do you mean?" Skana asked thoughtfully.

"They're not going to get into the city. I promise you." Thirg answered as he folded his arms in front of his chest. Seeing the looks from the others at the table, he went on, "Cenna said it himself, there's not enough food but for a couple of weeks, they're not going to bring in useless mouths to feed. That means they either hang around outside and freeze waiting for us to come and capture them, or they move on. Some will become bandits and prey on villages, we've already seen that. Others will hide in the woods and try to live off the land, with mixed results depending on where they come from... and a little luck. But most of them will outright die. I promise you, as we move on, we'll find a lot more empty villages as people run from us, and those will have been empty for awhile."

"Awhile?" Cenna asked, cocking his head curiously.

"Yes, awhile. Word spreads a lot faster when the words spread terror, and two things spread terror over this whole country. Theocracy propaganda about the demoness in the west... that would be your wife, Skana." The Vice Commander bristled at that, but Thirg went on as if he didn't notice, "And of course... the demoness herself. The ones she sent running with mutilated hands, the children I hear she sent riding all the way to the capital, assuming they made any progress, I guarantee they spread the word to all the outlying villages, and they warned their neighbors and so on. Nobody else is getting into Kami Miyako."

"I hate to admit it, but I'm inclined to agree with our vampire friend here." Cenna said, gesturing to General Thirg. "Kami Miyako is the largest city in the country, but it can't house the refugees of C'Teon, Feron, Wheaton, Crossroads, Ikari, and any who fled from surrounding villages. They'll take food and fighters. And everyone else can freeze or starve. They have no choice or everyone dies."

"That doesn't bother you?" General Oma asked in surprise.

Cenna looked over at the head on the table that had addressed him. "I'd be lying if I said I were happy about it. But I grew up in the Theocracy, the priests have always talked a big game about protecting humanity and human superiority. They've even given people like me a kind of 'special place' and status, and... yeah, I'd also be lying if I said that wasn't kind of fun. But I've seen the way they throw people away. I know about the burnout rate for some of the scriptures, and some of the missions we've gone on have been for anything but the 'greater good of man'." He snorted derisively and made little air quote symbols with his fingers. "I stick by my comrades, Zesshi trained me, Raymond led me, if they're both on the same side and they insist that they're right with such fervor that they'll make themselves traitors? Yeah, I believe them. Besides, Zesshi told me about her baby sister, if they'd do that to the family of their trump card, what would they do to anyone more disposable?" He shook his head confidently, "I'd be on their side if they were on the side of my brothers and sisters, but they're not, so I'm not. Not to say I want a lot of dead common people but... do you know another way of waging war? Because I sure don't."

"Good enough answer for me." Skana said with finality and began to pass documents down, "Here are our final positions for the line of march, scope of scouting responsibilities, communication signals, and so on. This is 'it', people. When we arrive, we'll be linking up with General Rockbruise, General Zaryusu, King Zanac, Chindai Khan, General Enri and probably General Nimble, assuming everything is wrapped up smoothly. We'll have the largest army the world has ever seen, all gathered in one place. An army like that, could capture the entire world... and all we're going for, is one city. Please go over what I've just handed you, ask me any questions you may have, and then we'll get out of here and get to work."

"Will the Sorcerer King be joining us?" General Oma asked hopefully.

Skana grinned wolfishly, "Yes, but from the last I heard he's got something... special in mind, before he joins us."

"I can't wait." Said several voices all at once, before similar predator grins formed on every face and they focused on the task at hand.

 _...Kami Miyako..._

Raymond left with dread drowning his soul. He barely noticed his exit, barely noticed climbing into his doorless carriage, and barely registered the chaos in the streets. People begged for coin from anyone who looked like they might have one. It was the only thing that stopped the brawlers or the destruction as buildings were torn down for wood. 'It won't be long until they're killing people for wood to burn, this is a bad winter.' He thought miserably as the cold started to bite him like a hungry animal. Not far away he saw children chewing on a raw rat. 'Not even a means to cook...' He shuddered as he made his way home, and wondered where their parents were. Alive? Dead? Imprisoned? Hanged? 'I wonder how many orphans we're making all by ourselves?' He pondered as he got out in front of his home.

To his surprise, there was an older human woman standing in front of his manor, looking like the definition of uncertain. She fidgeted with her feet and paced back and forth like she wasn't sure if she should stay or go.

When his carriage clattered to a halt and he stepped out, she turned behind her to see who had arrived, and he saw relief appear on her face. She had graying hair and a gaunt face that might once have been plump, her hazel eyes were full of worry, but even bundled up as she was, he could imagine what she must have been like in the flower of youth and beauty. Her hands were wrinkled, and rubbed together without any gloves to protect them, but at least she had a heavy coat around her too ward her against the weather.

As he stepped down, she scurried over, "Are you Cardinal Raymond?" She asked hopefully.

"I... yes, I am. I'm sorry, you've got the better of me, you look familiar but I cannot place you." He said apologetically.

"I'm Illal, wife of Boabdil. General Boabdil. I... I was told to come see you. I was told by..." She swallowed very hard, "You... please, can we speak inside? Your manservant, your butler, he wouldn't allow me in until you arrived. I'm so... cold. I had almost given up and gone home. Please, the cold saps my strength."

Raymond did his best to hide his suspicion. "Was there a whorling black void involved? Or a noble voice of incomprehensible power?" He asked gently. 'If neither of these is true, I have to get rid of her.' He thought unpleasantly. 'General Boabdil is dead, killed himself, so why should she be here?'

Her eyes went wide as saucers, "You... know? She spoke the truth?" She asked urgently, her frozen fingers clutching for his hands.

"Who?" He asked patiently. "A young girl, one of great beauty, in a flowing maid outfit with purple hair, she called herself 'Entoma' she said I was to come to you for protection, that you would hide me."

Raymond swallowed as he felt his heart try to leap out of his throat. "Alright, come inside, but understand, what you see beyond that door is not to be spoken of. And once you are in, you will not be leaving until this war has reached its dreadful end. Do you still want to come in?" He asked gravely.

She nodded anxiously, "I do, I must, I haven't any choice... please... let me in. In the name of the gods... I beg you, it is difficult for an old woman, but if you demand I go to my knees..."

"No... that will not be necessary." Raymond said as he put his hands to her shoulders to stop her descent. "Come in with me. We have no tea left, but we have a barrel of wine, given to me by... someone amazing, during the new year."

She followed uncomfortably, her little steps filled with trepidation as much as with weakness brought on by age and cold. Raymond knocked on the door, and his butler opened, admitting her. "Thank you... thank you so much..." She started to say as the door creaked open, and her eyes, worn with fear and exhaustion, having only just restored themselves to normalcy after his short revelation of familiarity with her speaker, went back to enormous as she saw what he was hiding.

Scurrying about the house were numerous elves, all busy with various tasks, all clothed and well fed, they tended to many tasks, but among the many laborers, there were elf and half elf children on furniture reading or playing games. The fear that held the city in its grip, held no power within those walls.

"What... is this place?" She asked in utter incomprehension.

"My secret, my atonement for my lifetime of sin, my... redemption, if you want to call it that. Every one of those you see here is free, none wear collars unless one 'must' venture out of the house. As you know this much, you may as well also know, that the facilities beyond the city that produced our last harvest, serve the same end." Raymond said proudly as one of the little half elf ones ran up and clung to his leg, he hefted the boy and put him on his shoulders.

He rocked back and forth on his heels for a moment, and then set the boy down and with a pat on his back, sent him running off again.

"Come upstairs to my office, we can speak there." He said, and turned to the butler as he passed, "Has Nua returned with Solution yet?" He asked.

"Not yet, Sir." He replied formally.

"Very well, send them up as soon as they get here, oh and bring cups for wine. I get the feeling we'll all want some." Raymond said tiredly.

When they were seated in his office, Raymond did not dance around the matter. "Please, explain what happened, and why you are here."

Her voice was older, cracked with age, but still had the power of a woman of her class, one confident and firm in her convictions. "First, my husband is not dead, he is alive. Dominic ordered him killed... but the Agante, they failed. He faked his death somehow. He's going to come here, back to the city, and try to... I don't know, fix things, stop things... but he asked for me to be protected. I was used as a hostage before, to get him to submit to death. I won't be used that way again! I won't be a tool to control him!" She said urgently as she rolled one hand anxiously in the palm of the other.

"So... he asked... someone to help me, that someone, whoever it was, went to the Sorcerer King, and the Sorcerer King sent the one called 'Entoma' to me, and she in turn told me to come see you. Now... here I am, and I suspect why that was." Illal looked at him pointedly, relaxing some as she felt the warmth of the inside of the house, and the reason she could expect some safety became more evident.

What might have become an uncomfortable silence was interrupted by a knock at the office door, followed by a brusque, "Don't bother." from Solution as she breezed into his workspace with Nua scurrying in behind looking utterly terrified.

Raymond shot to his feet when he saw her downcast gaze and trembling body. "Nua are you...?" He looked over to Solution.

"She's fine, she actually did pretty well, kicked a squealer right in the balls." She giggled with amusement, "And she fell the right way too, a little scared, a little stung, but I took care of the rest. The supplies are ordered, what little there are." She saw the older human woman, and asked, "Who is this?"

"The wife of General Boabdil, it looks like she'll be staying with us for a little while." Raymond replied as his heart began to beat faster. "But... that's minor, nothing more than an extra bed and one less handful of grain per person. I... got my answer, or rather, your answer, Nua."

"Raymond...?" She looked up with trepidation.

"The meat wasn't coming from a secret project or hoarded animals or salted preserved resources... it was... brace yourself...they've been eating elves. Some of them at least. Elves and... the dead. Humans too, it seems like. Cardinal Yvon... he wanted to have all the elves gathered together and kept for slaughter like cattle to feed the population." Raymond touched his throat as the image of swallowing such a meal almost brought him to retching.

Nua's thoughts froze for a moment that seemed like an eternity before she fell to her knees and barely managed to cover her face with her hands that were shaking like a leaf facing a tornado, as she let out a sound of despair that could touch even the heart of the most despicable demons before going in a wail of denial, "No... my people... my brothers, sisters... why... we weren't put on this world just to be... just to be food for our owners! That can't be! It can't be!" She lowered her hands and balled them into fists, she looked up at Raymond fiercely through eyes half blind from tears. "You're lying! You have to be lying! Tell me you're lying! That this really was a game, and that you're just another monster after all! Please! Please! Even that! Even THAT would be better than this being true! Please... oh god please no..." She fell to a blubbering whimper on the floor and rocked aimlessly back and forth.

Raymond went from his desk to where she was on the floor, "What else is left?! We're not supposed... nobody... nobody is supposed to die that way..." She let herself fall into his arms and sob into his shoulder as the horrible truth chased down her denial and killed it.

"I'm sorry... I'm so sorry..." Raymond's little soft words caressed her ear. "But I won't let them get you, any of you."

"That does sound like something Dominic would do..." Illal said in disgust.

Raymond helped Nua up to her feet and over to a chair, and gently laid her in it. She fell to sobbing more quietly.

"No, actually Dominic flatly forbade it." Raymond said keeping his flinch internal as she reminded him of the games some twisted humans played with Nua and those like her in the past. "It seems even he will have none of this."

Illal shifted uncomfortably in her seat, "I've heard rumors of this sort of thing, but I didn't believe them. 'Long eared sheep...' that's what they meant..." She suddenly began to turn green, her hand went up and covered her mouth, her eyes widened in horror and her body quivered with disgust.

Solution, ever the observant maid, took up a waste bin as the others turned to Illal when she spoke. The beautiful blonde maid laid it at her feet. "Use this, I'm good at cleaning, but prevention is better than cure." She said with casual indifference.

Illal snatched it up and began to vomit, before Nua's horrified eyes, meaty chunks flew out of the aged woman's mouth, along with the rest of her meal.

Nua launched herself from where she sat, hate on every inch of her beautiful face, her eyes wide and unblinking, her fingers stretched out like claws, her hair bounced high behind her, and Illal flung herself to the side to put distance between herself and the wrathful elven girl. The chair toppled with a loud clatter as she backed herself against the wall, only for Solution to catch her with a single arm.

"I didn't know! I didn't know! I swear I didn't know!" Illal said as she sank to the floor, her bones ached as she did so, but she barely felt it. She started wiping her mouth chin with disgust, and the bin she'd dropped as she fell, tipped over on its side, spilling the contents onto the floor after all, rendering Nua's screaming utterly mute as she looked at the remains of some unknown member of her people, transfixed with horror.

"Name. Give me the name." Raymond said to her with the eyes of a Black Scripture member, he recollected the days of his youth when he tore life apart with ease and none could stand against him, and in that instant, he was that man again.

Illal looked up at him as if she'd barely registered the order. "You wish to stay here in safety... you will atone with the name of the one who served 'that' to you." He said as he gestured to the half digested flesh.

She finally understood, and whispered answer. "Kasa... a... a neighbor, I had a m-meal at her home. N-No wonder she laughed when I asked what it was, and wouldn't answer when I'd asked where it came from... I... I feel sick still. Please... I didn't know... I didn't know..." She clutched her vomit stained hand to her hair and barely moved except her lips to repeat her denial of knowledge.

As Solution held the now unmoving Nua, Raymond looked over at the elf girl, "I will take care of this." He said in the voice of death, reminding her and Solution both, of a faint imitation of the Sorcerer King.

"Looks like she has some killer instinct in her after all." Solution said with the inhuman smile on her face, "You should take her along for this one."

Nua nodded emphatically, "Yes... yes... let me do it... I want... I need this one... please." She asked.

Before Raymond could answer, Illal caught sight of the monster smile on the blonde maid.

"You're not human..." She whispered in a tiny, vulnerable voice.

The maid shook her head, "No, I am not. I am a battle maid, what you might have heard of as a maid demon, a servant of His Majesty the Sorcerer King, here to assist Cardinal Raymond." She let Nua go, and the elf dropped to the floor and went to gather up the little pieces of meat, she covered them with her hands and began to pray to gods she was now convinced did not exist, for the former living beings to find some peace, and promising to at least bury their remains with some dignity.

Illal began to hyperventilate, her lips moved as if to speak, but instead, unable to bear the sudden stress, she fainted entirely.

"That was an unpleasant introduction." Raymond said with a grimace, while Solution could only giggle with delight.

 **AN: Bombs away. 187-195 in one drop, enjoy. Also review, reviews feed me. :)**


	188. Enlightenment

God Rising: The Cult of Ainz

Written by: AtheistBasementDragon

Edited by: The Usual Gang of Drunken Perverted Idiots

Chapter 188: Enlightenment

 _...Forton...Main Hall..._

When Neia had gone, Albedo rose from her place at the head of the table as the delegates enjoyed their morning meal. "My King has made his will for the future known, and you have received an invitation from the Pope to see the nature of the work her people perform. Of course, we are happy to use the [Gate] spell again to bring in your observers at your leisure. Naturally we do not expect to settle everything now, but these are the subjects we wish you to consider, brought to you straight from my master's hand."

Albedo took up a document that was resting next to her plate and began to read it. "A single international currency to ease trade and prevent a single nation from manipulating the market. An international bank to which each nation contributes a founding sum, and from which each nation may borrow for peaceful projects. An international grain reserve to stave off famines. A two house system of international legal authority. One house whose membership is apportioned by size, the other where every nation, great or small, is represented equally. Along with a Great Speaker who will approve the laws and measures passed by both houses, and who must be approved by majority every ten years. A code of laws for the treatment of great monuments, civilians, and captives, to be presided over by an international tribunal. My master asks that when you return to your homes, you draw up your own proposals for these, and when we meet again after the Synod, that we negotiate this system's implementation."

Ambassador Akrotiri raised his hand, and Albedo gestured to him. "Yes, Ambassador?" She asked in her naturally sensuous voice.

"And if a nation chooses not to participate?" He asked. "What then? This is far beyond the scope of my power to agree to."

Albedo smiled radiantly, "My master, in his wisdom, anticipated this question. His answer was, 'Then nothing.' You simply will not gain benefits from it, though you may petition for admittance later, it will fall to the other nations to agree or not."

"Forgive my impertinence as I do not intend insult, but if I may, one thing more. The... General who departed, the stories that have come to me of her actions do not align with some of the laws you have proposed. Are we to believe that these laws on treatment of monuments and people will be honored when she is not only free, but in command?" He pushed further.

Albedo folded one hand over the other and closed her eyes to keep her fury from showing. 'How dare anyone criticize anything done for My Love!' She thought while keeping any outward sign of anger from showing. She opened her eyes again after taking a deep breath.

"General Baraja's actions are under review and an investigation was decided upon last night, we are sending our agents to interview battle survivors from both sides to learn the truth of what happened, and if it is necessary, then she will be the first one subjected to the international tribunal. It will be so, in order that all the world will know that nobody is above reproach. No matter how close they are to the throne." Albedo promised sincerely. "Now please, enjoy your morning meal, my master will no doubt join us after, and relay his intentions in greater detail, and then you are invited to spend the day at ease before you return to your homelands."

That brought silence to the table as Albedo sat, and then the buzz began.

Zesshi glared at Enri with both her black and her white eyes each hard as steel. Enri did not flinch, but there was no sense of relief to her either.

'Did I... just get her killed? Did I just sign Neia's death warrant?' Enri wondered with an aching sense of guilt gnawing at the pit of her stomach, she placed a hand there, 'I wish I were with you now, Enfi, I could use your comfort...' She thought to herself more profoundly than she had in months.

"Excuse me." Enri said quietly and stood up. She quickly left the room as fast as her feet could carry her without casting off her dignity or seeming to be engaged in the retreat she truly felt she was undertaking.

Her feet carried her out of the hall and to her quarters, where to her surprise, she found someone waiting outside for her.

"Enri, right?" Lakyus asked politely. "I'm Lakyus, Neia said you wanted to talk to me."

Enri nodded hastily and opened her door. "Yes, thank you, thank you for coming. I... honestly am surprised to see you."

"You're surprised that a person you asked to see, bothered to show up where you invited them?" Lakyus asked with a bit of amusement and a whimsical smile that spoke of her noble heritage.

Enri managed a nervous laugh as they entered her quarters and shut the door behind them.

She locked the door and gestured to a table. "Can I offer you anything?" She asked politely as Lakyus set her sword against the wall next to the chair and sat at the cream colored ornately carved round table.

"No, nothing, thank you. I'm here because my friend asked me to be, she said you wanted to talk to me, and I assume it is urgent, given what she said, and that makes refreshments a low priority in my mind." Lakyus replied with an inviting smile and she tapped her hand on the seat of the chair across from her. "So please, sit, let me listen to you."

"Alright... can I ask, what did she tell you?" Enri asked anxiously as she went to the chair and sat down across from the adventurer turned military leader. 'Wow, she's definitely a priestess, she has such a warm aura about her, so relaxing...' Enri thought as she looked at the blonde woman's gentle smile with only a slight turning up at the corners of her lips and eye contact that was not a hardened stare. Her posture was relaxed and her hands out and opening.

"Well, she told me about her confrontation with you... everything." She clarified, "What was said, and what was done, from first to last."

"Oh." Enri said and snapped her mouth shut like a bear trap.

"It's alright, I'm well acquainted with Neia, how she was, how she is... I'm not going to gainsay you for any of it. If you want the truth, I'm... impressed, profoundly so. People seldom stand up to her over anything, and I've 'never' seen anyone argue with her except her wife, and maybe CZ. That takes real courage, and however you feel about it, you should be proud of yourself for that."

Enri blushed at the praise, a faint rose tinging her cheeks. "Thank you, but after I've had time to think things over, I don't feel like I was brave, I feel like I was kind of a judgemental bitch."

Lakyus laughed at the way she said it, and putting a finger under Enri's chin, tilted her head up. "It's alright, as a priestess, it isn't my job to judge you, just relax. It's my job to help you. I may be an apostate, but I do believe in the value of lending an ear or a well-wishing word to one who needs it. Or... if I can, maybe offer good advice. Whatever you need."

"Do you do that for Neia?" Enri asked faintly.

Lakyus let out a frustrated sigh, "No. I try, but... she and I are friends, even close ones, and I've tried many times. But she always begs off of it, always another task, another battle, another meeting. She just won't make time for it, and can you imagine anyone less than the Sorcerer King himself 'making' her do something she doesn't want to?"

Enri shook her head vigorously, "No, I can't. Definitely not."

"Me neither." She said with a hint of frustration. "But this isn't about her, I'm here for you, so... what would you like to talk about?"

"You were at the Battle of Wheaton or... the Massacre of Wheaton, if that description works better." Enri said in a small voice, Lakyus nodded, but didn't say anything. "You were at the Golden Fortress, where Neia did... what she did, to the Breaker and the Overseers and... the owners." Again Lakyus nodded without speaking.

"You have been with her since Prart, and worked with her briefly before that, you go a few years back, don't you?" Enri asked.

Unable to avoid speaking, Lakyus answered, "Sort of, I mean, yes to all of that, but most of that was strictly professional. We didn't start to become friends until Kedyn, and then not really until Prart. Years ago, it was just one encounter, and that was it. Why?" Lakyus asked her uncomfortably.

"In all that time, did she ever try to... I don't know how to put this... keep her hands clean?" Enri asked as her fingers fidgeted with one another on the table.

Lakyus felt a light of understanding start to dawn at the question. 'So that is what is bothering her...'

It was a struggle for the adventurer to keep herself from laughing. The taste of blood hit her as she bit her tongue to keep the inappropriate reaction from coming out. "No, no she never did that. If anything it is the opposite. She barrels forward relentlessly, she's like the wind, always in front or striving to be. You want my honest thoughts, it is... frustrating, she has a hard time letting go of dirty work and leaving it to others to do. It's one thing to set the example, it is another to never let others 'follow' that example. At Prart she insisted on being the one to execute all hostages that her enemies brought up to torment us behind the walls. Who does that more than once? You may think it sounds noble of her, but it is reckless, reckless to the point that the nobility of it is a vice and not a virtue."

Enri thought that over for a moment, and the silence stretched out until it was shattered by Lakyus folding her hands into her own lap and leaning forward urgently. "Listen to me, do 'not' compare yourself to her. Do not try to 'be' her. Do not 'envy' her. Look at what being how she's become has made her do, what it's made her into. Is that what you want?"

Enri bit her lip, "'...You thought we could be decent, that this war was going to be just a skirmish writ large, but you thought wrong...' 'there has never been anything decent about it' That was what General Baraja said to me. What she did was wrong!" Enri slammed her fist on the table hard enough that it wobbled, "But her soldiers are not ambushed! Her friends are not at risk! She's seen not even a whisper of defiance! All her enemies are dead or wishing they were... Suchala, Yuri, Remedios, Astraka, and the various nobles that plagued her in the past... dead, all dead. But I am presented with 'one' enemy, and not only is Boabdil still alive with an army to oppose me, but all my gains rose up in riots or rebellions, and my soldiers paid the price!"

Enri was transfixed and staring at Lakyus' beautiful eyes, but there was no desire in her look for anything but an answer. "If I don't have to be a monster to win, then what do I have to be?! If I'd done what Neia did, a lot more might have lived than have died. And I asked for 'her' to be tried as a criminal. Am I really just trying to keep my hands clean so I can pretend to be something I'm not? So I can avoid guilt? So I can avoid dealing with what I'm presented with? If I threw away my conscience, would I have done a lot more good than harm? Have I been blaming the Theocracy's vile knights so much, for what they really had no choice but to do, and trying so hard not to be them, that I ignored how necessary it was to be just that way?!"

Barely a breath passed between one question and the next. Her frenzied words flew like hail in a storm from clouds to earth, and only being an adventurer, used to using her ears to gather information quickly, allowed Lakyus to be sure she'd understood Enri clearly.

"Enri... General Enri." Lakyus said quietly as the peasant General seemed to lose herself in her own series of questions.

Enri seemed not to notice, she went on in a hushed voice as if she had no real idea that she was speaking at all, distant, lost, as if Lakyus herself were not even present. "Tens of thousands of commoners are dead by now, I have no illusions about who my best friend is... Lupusregina is a sadist, she revels in violence and bloodshed. I have no illusions about Master Sun, my strategy officer. He is the definition of practical. Together, unchecked by my conscience and supported by General Nimble, they will restore order quickly. The region I conquered contained... at best estimates, somewhere around two hundred and fifty thousand people, not counting soldiers, between the cities, towns, and villages of the large region."

A deep breath came and went from Enri's bosom, "I left them there, all of them. The riots began minutes before I was summoned. I could have stayed, I'm sure the Sorcerer King would have permitted it, but I made my escape and left those two in command. I think... somehow, I knew that what they'd do would work, and I didn't want to be the one to do it, but I knew it needed to be done. I wonder how many people are still alive now? Neia wouldn't have left, but then, she wouldn't have had to. What am I supposed to do? Please, tell me!" Enri said and brought herself back to reality, and remembered Lakyus was there listening to her.

Lakyus took the hand of Enri in her own, "You do what 'you' do, General Enri. I'm not going to tell you what is wrong or right, because there are precious few moments in war that there is anything but wrong to be had. But you do what 'you' do. You're a person who cares about life, all life, it's made you into a figure of legend in the eyes of many, even your enemies remark on your character. If you want to keep being that person, then make the choices that keep you that way. Go back, reclaim command, and bring order as 'you' do. Maybe you were too kind before, you misunderstood the nature of the Slane Theocracy or their ability to incite chaos. But you are a woman who learns from her mistakes. Take a harder grip, but without the brutality that defines your opposite number."

"But I..." Enri began.

"No." Lakyus said with quiet force, "I've seen war, death, battle for longer than I like to admit, I've never known a middle path, but maybe there is one, and maybe you're just the one to find it. You're incredibly rare, as a peasant, you've been powerless, on the receiving end of fear from monsters, humans, and human monsters. But now you walk among Kings and Queens as a person of power yourself. People who would have ridden past you without a glance, now seek to know your mind. Generals who would have thought the old you to be nothing but fodder, now look at you with admiration even as they try to defeat you. You have a chance that comes not once in a thousand years. A chance to change war. You tried one way, it didn't work, now try another."

"But what if I fail again...?" Enri asked in a small voice. "Other people will pay for my mistakes again."

"Then you'll be the same as Neia in that respect. The same as every person ever born in fact, others almost always pay the price for somebody's mistakes. It's just as true for me as for she as for you as for all. Mistakes are inevitable, aren't they? Just do your best, learn from where you go wrong, and improve. Don't dwell on what you can't fix, only take from it what you can so you don't repeat the mistake." Lakyus smiled weakly as she thought of her own gravest error, and her years of unknowingly wounding Keeno.

"Lupusregina Beta said something like that to me years ago. I asked her about whether I should become a chief, she told me I'd make mistakes and to think about scenarios where I was or wasn't chief. It's because of her that I took that job. It's also why I felt OK taking this one when His Majesty brought it to me." Enri smiled with equal weakness as she recalled the memory.

"Was it good advice?" Lakyus asked rhetorically, fairly certain of the answer.

"It was then, and yours is now." Enri smiled genuinely, her lips spreading over her face and gradually lighting up. "I've learned something from all this, just like Neia learned from her enemies, I must learn from mine. I will temper my mercy. My gentle touch, will now be wrapped in a glove of steel."

She stood up with her back straight and eyes fixed with resolve, for a moment Lakyus couldn't help but notice that she seemed much taller than she truly was.

The apostate priestess stood up and held Enri's shoulders, she locked gentle and understanding eyes on her opposite number, "I know you'll do great, just be careful not to lose your way, it's harder than you know to find your way back. It can be done, but better to not get lost in the first place. Now get going, you've got a region to restore order to."

Enri nodded solemnly, "Thank you, that helped a great deal, I guess I owe both you and Neia one for this."

"I think I can speak for her as much as for myself when I say, no, you don't. If for different reasons. But that's a story for another time. For now, let's go see His Majesty, and go back to where we're both needed most. To our soldiers, and to our friends." Lakyus released her grip and Enri gestured to the door.

"After you, Lady Lakyus." Enri said with a pleasant smile on her face and a polite bow of her head.

Lakyus inclined her head in turn, went to the door, opened it, and they went out together.

 _...Kami Miyako..._

Yvon was not one to waste time, he walked with crisp steps despite his wizened age, his every motion that of a man who seemed younger in his motions than his body should allow. Full of dread intent he made his way out of the building where Dominic now sat alone, or more likely as he considered it, with a secretary drafting an order with the new laws he'd shouted in a fit of temper.

He looked around as he left the building, barely suppressing a smirk as he saw the hungry people near the building shouting for bread or meat or 'something'. The grounds around the main building had once been immaculately kept, now as he saw it, not even a bit of grass grew, plucked to the last blade for the small nourishment it might offer to the desperate people. The trees were dead and without magic, would never grow again, even the bark was gone, stripped to be boiled until it could be chewed up. Most of the people were no longer wearing shoes, and nor could shoes be bought anywhere, as the cobblers who made them had sold all their leather. A shudder went through his old body. 'To think they'd go so far as to eat their footwear, and raw leather...' He pondered, 'and still Dominic refuses the obvious solution. There's no reason or sense to keep livestock around when we're going to run out of even dead humans if it came to that... to think even he would have some softness, some weakness about him. The fool. The gods won't come save us if we refrain from learning the lessons they teach.' He rolled his beady eyes, and went to his carriage.

"Home, Master?" The elf coachman said through chattering teeth.

"No, take me to the barracks of the fifth battalion, quickly." He said, and seated himself inside. The coachman wasn't naked, but he wore nothing that would protect against those conditions. The ride would be that much more uncomfortable for him as they sped to Yvon's chosen destination, but about that, there was no reason to care.

Yvon folded his arms in front of him and glared at the wall of the inside of his carriage, he tapped his foot impatiently as he felt the carriage take one turn after another, the bumps in the road grew tiresome but he endured until they reached their destination. The coachman scurried down and yanked the door open and flung himself down onto the frozen stone, barely making a noise when the pain struck his knees and arms. Yvon stepped down on his back and from there to the ground. "Wait here." He said, and went inside.

The building was broad, made of rough cut stone rather than brick giving it a rustic appearance. The grounds were stripped like everywhere else, and given the many armored soldiers who walked around, and the fact that he'd had to pass through a gate framed by large walls in order to get in, it wasn't hard to conclude that hunger hit even the best fed, the soldiers.

The heavy wooden door opened easily enough despite its weight, without even a squeak. 'So, they're still keeping the same high standard of operations despite circumstances being what they are, good.' Yvon thought as he went straight to the commander's office.

He breezed through the door without a second thought, the scent of blood rich in his nostrils, the Cardinal of Light took a deep breath to savor the stench of slaughtered demihumans. A miasma of violence hung about the place like a fog, to those who were attuned to the spirit of the places in which they walked.

The commander looked up at the unexpected disturbance before he popped up and rendered a salute on recognizing the Cardinal. "Sir!" He said emphatically.

"Relax and be seated Commander." Yvon said smoothly as a serpent.

The armored officer slowly sat back into his chair, watching with a sense of caution as the Cardinal went over to the door and carefully closed it, his slowness akin to one who did not wish to be taken note of.

"I need fifty of your most hardened killers. Or your complete silence if you refuse." He said in the same low, silk voice he'd used before.

The commander sat formally and in silence as he turned the requisition over in his head.

"Do I want to know what for?" He asked gruffly. His lips pursed tight above his bushy black beard and his green eyes held on Yvon as if he were trying to read the contents of a book whose cover was closed.

"Not if you want a full meal. I need them for a special harvest." Yvon answered, "Now will you cooperate with my unofficial requisition, or not?"

"Why not make an official one?" The commander asked hesitantly as his instincts screamed at him that something was amiss.

"Because, Commander Montec, this is a delicate matter that I'd rather Dominic not be... bothered with. If it works out, your men eat, your battalion eats, and we'll keep this city from eating its own people. If it fails, well..." He opened his arms and turned up his hands to show their emptiness, "then what is lost but an afternoon for you and your men?"

Montec thought it over, his stomach growled angrily, and Yvon cracked a smile, "Double rations isn't much, when it is double barely more than nothing, is it? Hardly fit for training on, definitely not good enough to fight a defense of this city on. Now are you going to cooperate with my 'harvest' or not?" His voice was silky smooth and hard as stone. Montec, the veteran of scores of fights, felt his toes scrunch in his boots, like he was standing on quicksand and had to make a choice about what to do or drown in the moment.

"Fine. I'll send them to your residence within the hour, with written instructions to obey you no matter what." Commander Montec replied with greater calmness than he truly felt.

"No matter what?" Yvon asked emphatically, hunching forward just a bit, enough that Montec felt ill at ease at the question, and leaned back unconsciously.

"Yes, this company has exterminated entire villages, it even includes survivors from the ill fated attempt on Gazef Stronoff's life. They shrink from no order. You tell them what to do, and they'll do it, and the more brutal, the better." Montec replied with a deeply felt confidence, knowing that in this, he spoke the absolute truth.

"Good. I had best not be disappointed." Yvon replied, and without so much as a salute, he wheeled about and made his exit.

Commander Montec was true to his word, not long after his return to his quarters, there were fifty soldiers in the yard of his manor. 'Efficient.' He thought approvingly and went out to where they had formed themselves up in five ten man rows. They were large, powerfully built, wearing full plate and many of them having at least a piece or two of enchanted gear that marked them as veterans of many a campaign.

Yvon made his way out of his house, within, he was sure some of the animals were looking out the windows at the unfamiliar sight on the grounds of their owner's estate. He didn't bother to look back, it didn't matter to him.

When he reached the front and center of the formation, he spoke simply and directly. "The back ten of you move around to the side and back of my manor. The forty in front, enter my home, and kill every elf inside. I have roughly one hundred of the animals working around the manor, miss none. You may stab or cut their throats, but nothing more. Leave the people alone, but kill the animals. Then drag their bodies to the kitchens."

There was silence for a moment. Nobody moved.

Yvon felt wrath rising as they seemed to disobey, then he chuckled as he remembered, "Oh, yes, fall out, then return here when it is done."

Without question, the front forty began to file into the manor with swords drawn. They crowded the entrance and he could see through the windows the way they spread out to search the large manor home.

The screaming began fairly quickly. Yvon simply went to a nearby bench that sat under a dead tree that had been stripped of its bark, and waited it all out. 'Damn, I should have brought a book to read, how boring, I hope it doesn't take too long to put down that many... well... with forty of them it shouldn't take 'that' long. It isn't like the animals have that many routes to run by, and any they take they'll just run into the last ten." He let out a breath as he tried to idle away the boredom by counting out the cries for mercy that wouldn't come, he heard the faint sound of furniture overturning as some of the beasts tried and failed to hide themselves beneath couches or beds or within closets. 'Hell, I should have just lined them up and chained them, that would have been easier, I hate the very thought of one of those animals dirtying the place where I 'sleep'.' He all but retched at the thought. Tapping his lips to keep them shut rather than risk losing some of the scant food he'd eaten.

His wrinkled face puckered up as if he'd just sucked on a now impossible to acquire lemon as he counted off the few screams he heard. The human voices and shouting were no less panicked, and storm clouds gathered over his face as the freezing wind began to pick up. 'Surely they're just panicked by the sudden activity, they can't possibly 'sympathize'.' He thought with annoyance. It quickly proved irrelevant as the screams died down, a window broke, and his frown deepened. 'Great, I'll have to replace a window.' He grumbled mentally as a scream followed shortly thereafter, causing Yvon to give a sharp satisfied nod as the one responsible was evidently cut down after making it outside. One by one the screams continued to fade, until silence reigned.

Then silence save for the barely audible cries of his human servants who could only watch as the events unfolded in front of them. Still he waited, until the front door opened and the soldiers filed out of the house and formed up, bloodstained from their work, swords dripping, bloody footprints in the dirt where grass had once grown, some were sweating, a few looked mildly disgusted, most appeared simply bored, all had blood over their armor.

Yvon went in front of them as they snapped to an attentive posture with their swords held up in front of their faces. "You've done well, and worked quickly, now you may go to my bath house and clean yourselves and your equipment off, by the time you are all done, I will have a reward for you."

That had eyes widen with anticipation at the generosity of the Cardinal, a few whispered with pure happiness about the prospect of a hot bath in the winter cold, and they quickly fell out and rushed to the large, round building just off the main house to which he'd pointed. "Go, bathe, and refresh yourselves before you eat your fill. I will send someone for you when all is prepared."

Yvon then walked away and back into his house. Stains were all over the place, blood and a bit of gore being picked up by hollow eyed human servants, but as he went from room to room, he cast quick cleansing spells, and it was gone. Every stain and drop of blood, as if none of it had ever happened and none of them had ever been there. This he did as he gave orders to the few survivors. "When all the bodies are in the kitchen, prepare them in a variety of ways, in stews, over fires, use your finest techniques to prepare a feast, I want all that meat to be as savory as it can be. Am I understood?"

Silent bows of acknowledgement were the only answers he received as he continued his own minor chore of erasing all the stray droplets or large pools. The manor was massive, and took considerable time for him to walk through.

As his feet carried him, he felt less than half his years, as if the vigor of slaughter had restored his spirit, he relaxed his entire body as if he'd been receiving a massage from the hands of a skilled masseuse, every ounce of tension fled his flesh as if in fear of the new strength he felt coming over him. He stood in the library and held his arms outstretched at his sides and gazed to the glass dome above it that let in the light of the sun, far above, the clouds parted for a moment and a beam of sunlight came down and shone over him.

Moved by the feeling of strength and lost youth in the moment, he cast his praise to the heavens, "My lords above, I am your true and faithful son, Dominic has fallen from the path, his words hint that he imagines defeat. He dares to hold sympathy for the animals and how they're used. Grant me the power to correct his folly. It is clear to me now, I never should have allowed him to lead, and our current state is punishment for that. He may have his Agante, but I have your blessing, as the light shining down from you now proves, I am the chosen one in whom you are well pleased. We will eat of your bounty and grow strong. I will gather the swords of faithful soldiers, I will feed them according to your will, and we will bring... him... down."


	189. Down to Earth

God Rising: The Cult of Ainz

Written by: AtheistBasementDragon

Edited by: The Usual Gang of Drunken Perverted Idiots

Chapter 189: Down to Earth

 **AN: Onward! LOTS of character development along the way as we race to the end. Incidentally... I was probably wrong about 200 chapters, might be 205. Anyway, enjoy and let me know what you think! :)**

 _...Kami Miyako...The Slaughter..._

Seno heard the killing before he saw it. In a manor that large, it was no surprise to hear noises from a distance, the walls allowed sound to carry very easily. His scrawny form, weak from great hunger, gained a sudden surge of strength and vigor as panic took hold. Beside him, his sister Misu looked equally fearful. For a moment they both froze, they recognized the sound of someone dying, all too well. Memory rose of the day of their capture, when the soldiers of the Theocracy swept over their town and dragged them into a nightmare, a hundred and twenty years earlier when they were already a hundred years old.

"I don't know what's happening, but something is and it isn't good, we've got to move!" Seno whispered to her and grabbed her hand, they ran, as fast as they could they sprinted through the master's house, the sound of killing was growing closer. "What do we do?" Misu whimpered as tears started to roll down her face, and down the length of her exposed body. "Where can we hide?" She choked out as Seno pulled her along.

"There is one place that we might make it... just hold on." He said as they sprinted, heedless of the sound of feet, since that and the sound of screams were reaching a fever pitch like some tempest yanked from hell's deepest pits.

He tightened his grip as sweat made his entire naked body go slick, he prayed to the gods he'd given up on that no stray drop of sweat would give away their path, and took her to the library. "There's a bookshelf, I found a small old air shaft through the wall when cleaning behind it, we might be able to crawl out through there..." He said breathlessly as they entered the huge room. Books lined the walls, and offered only inches of space, but for the waifish, thin siblings, it was sufficient.

The enormous round room had a few tables near the center, chairs interspersed about, a table with a tea set ready to make tea that nobody had anymore of, sat idle but had no dust upon it. The cleanliness of the unused set spoke of the thoroughness of the slaves who cared for every inch of the manor, and the terror their master inspired in them that they not slack off even that much on something rendered useless by the nation's circumstances.

Seno looked around before his eyes found hers, still holding his twin sister's hand, their eyes held one another for a moment, and their stiff, barely clean golden strands of hair, the only covering of their bodies other than the collars they wore, they each looked to the other for comfort and hope, and found none. He broke his gaze and resumed his search as memory was meddled with by the panic that caused his heart to pound within his breast. "Here!" He exclaimed as the memory was snatched from the darkness of his fears, and he moved the bookshelf away from the wall and jabbed his finger down at the vent, it was large enough to crawl through. The sound of killing was more distant, cries and pleas that went unanswered by men or gods but by more death, still echoed all the way to where the siblings were standing. "You go first." Seno whispered.

Misu shook her head, fear etched on very line of her face, he grabbed her cheeks and brought her to an inch from his own, "Yes, you have to go, just trust me, you'll make it, just stay hidden until it is safe. I'll follow. I promise." He whispered as he brought his forehead closer and touched hers. She let out a tiny whimper that reminded of him of when they were children, and she'd gotten in trouble for taking a tart from their parents' table. He felt the urge to laugh in spite of himself, his response then... eat all the tarts on the table so that she wouldn't get in trouble for eating one.

"You promise?" She asked in a small, trembling voice that was exactly the same as back then.

"I do." He said sincerely, barely parting his lips enough to get the words out, and she went behind the shelf, then inched her way feet first into the small shaft.

The sound of killing ended, but he could hear very distant footfalls and marching feet. His breathing picked up, and he looked down at his sister, all that was visible now was her head, "I'm... sorry, I'm afraid I lied just this once, please, forgive me!" He said in an agonized tone, "Someone has to put the shelf back or they'll know..." Her mouth fell open as she, transfixed with horror, saw him disappear as he went to the other side of the shelf and push it back to the wall into its proper place.

"Seno!" She cried out fearfully.

"Hush, just stay quiet, I'm going out the window." He said, and rushed to a wall, he pushed a table beneath it, and Misu felt herself relax when she heard the sound of breaking glass.

She tried to wiggle further, then froze, voices carried from outside into the shaft. Male, and not at all disturbed by the sounds they must have heard within. 'They're part of it... I can't go out... yet.' Misu thought and remained still, she heard the sound of Seno climbing, and then felt the horrible dawning realization that he was running into a trap. She opened her mouth to scream, but heard his grunt as he heaved himself out... then a cry of terror and a scream of pain as Seno was cut down by the men waiting outside.

Misu was alone. She fainted before she could even cry for him. When she came to, she had no idea how long it had been, the shaft was cold and her body felt stiff and sore, a very small crack in between the bookshelves let her see out into the center of the room, and there, her golden eye beheld the master of the house. Cardinal Yvon Jasna Dracrowa stood in the light, speaking to the heavens, seeming to her the embodiment of a divine evil. She watched, and began to understand the reason hell had descended even deeper into the nightmare that it was. She trembled as she watched him embrace the sunlight that surrounded him in a circle made by the dome overhead, her breath low and inaudible, but to her it sounded like she was screaming. She snatched her hair and shoved it into her own mouth, gagging herself to keep any stray sound at bay.

It was all she could do to watch, until her heartbeat and breathing became so frantic that she fainted again.

 _...Yvon's Estate...Dining Hall..._

Preparing all the meat took hours, but if the soldiers that sat around the table as the few remaining human servants ladled the stew into bowls or served slices of meat and blood pudding onto plates, minded that, well they gave no sign.

When they'd eaten their fill, such that they felt their stomachs were going to burst with both meat and joy at having eaten well at last, and they leaned back in their seats, Yvon stood up. "Follow me, and you will not go hungry again. I will harvest the work camps, and feed the soldiers and this city. Continue to follow Dominic, and both you and all your comrades will starve for want of food, while some of our remaining supplies go to feed mere beasts. What will it be?"

As one, the fifty stood up so fast that their chairs flew back and slid across the floor, their swords came out and they lay the flats of their blades against the center of their faces. "I'll take that as a sign that you're with me." Yvon said with a grin spreading over his thin face, seeming even larger for his withered body.

"Sir! Yes Sir!" They shouted in unison.

"Good, then my first order, get all the meat and stew gathered up, and have it taken to your unit, and any leftovers to all surrounding units, when you run out, spread the word that I will feed every soldier who presents themselves here by the time the sun is at its apex tomorrow." Yvon remarked, "As long as they swear to obey me, that is. For now, you are dismissed."

The humans of his house moved like zombies, bodies empty of souls. Step after trudging step, they made their exit as they sought a longed for respite that would be forever plagued by nightmares.

 _...Raymond's Home..._

"Solution, take Illal to my bed, would you... and... please don't kill her? I'm sure she'll have questions, a use, and it sounds like His Majesty wanted her protected." Raymond wearily asked as Nua wept on her knees and in a mindless daze, caressed the ruined meat on the floor that had once been a living elf.

"Fine." She said passively and picked the woman up at the waist, she draped Illal over her shoulder, but before she walked out, she glanced at Raymond, "Just out of curiosity, why is it such a big deal for... you know, 'humans' to eat elves? But not for me to eat... anyone at all?"

Raymond's response came quick, like he expected the question. "Because you're a maid demon, we wouldn't think anything of a lion eating a person because that's just what a lion naturally does. It is its nature, that's yours. But for us... we are violating our nature to turn on others like ourselves. The gods abhor those who turn on their own, or so we've always been taught. If you were a human, instead of just looking like one, it would be different."

"Oh. I guess it's a human thing." Solution turned up her nose a little, as if to express her preference for her nature over his. Each shrugged off the other's answer, and for the moment, that left Raymond and Nua alone.

"I'm so sorry..." He said in a soft voice as he drew her face into his chest and gently disengaged her from the remains.

"Are you? Are you really?" She said in a broken voice, she let him draw her away, but the eye farthest from his chest still looked at the little pile of fluid soaked, chewed up and half digested meat that had been one of her people. "Are humans capable of that...? How can you be, if you're part of the same people who did such a thing?"

"I would never..." He murmured, then stopped as her hand came up to his lips.

She pushed slightly away from him, her eyes were mirrors to his own, and though her voice was rough from all she'd let out, it was forceful and for the first time since he'd known her, commanding. "You share the gods who said that is all I am good for. For six hundred years your people have prayed to them, for hundreds of years we have been used as your beasts of burden, your chattels, your slaves, abiding because of the dictates of your divinities. For all your life, you knelt to them, prayed to them, served them, became a priest and a Cardinal. All while knowing what 'they' had chosen for us, these 'gods' of humanity." She stopped, and the commanding air was gone, leaving her spirit with the return of her mewling tears of anger. "I called you the first, the only, good human I'd met. Take a good look, Raymond." She raised her head high, lifting her throat where the heavy collar still rested and still choked against her, as she'd yet to remove it. She then pointed to the pile of chewed up elf meat Illal had 'left behind'.

"I am either this," she touched her collar and winced from the sudden pain, "or I am that, according to your gods. You may have turned on your nation to save your people, you may have saved us to atone for the many wrongs of your country, and of yourself, but you can't say that you wouldn't have either end for me, as long as you serve gods who say otherwise."

She clenched her jaw as she held her fingers lightly under his chin, and saw her reflection mirrored in his eyes. "If you're going to continue that... then I'd rather you just kill me in my sleep tonight, so I can die thinking that I knew a good human, for once in my life."

She stood up, leaving the cardinal silent on the floor, "Wait..." he said urgently, "your... the collar, let me..."

She shook her head violently and she jerked back away from him. "No. I'm going to go get something to clean up what is left of this poor soul, and bury what I can of whoever that was. Then I'm going to my little space beneath the stairs and sleep. I can't bear anything more of the day... I can't. And if you're still a follower of your gods in the morning, don't let me wake up, because I don't want to be in a world where the only good human I know, follows gods that keep me in this, or like that... even one more day. Finish me quickly in my sleep, let me dream forever, take my collar off then, when I'm free of life, fear, everything, including my delusion that a human could be good. Then may your gods keep you, and welcome you into the afterlife you long for, one day."

She stormed out of the room, then returned with a towel and cleaned up the remains, she wrapped them carefully, kneeling reverentially, placing one bit at a time slowly into the center of the towel, then wrapping them as if one had a newborn babe, and not the fluid soaked mess of dead elf flesh. She then walked out, clutching it to her breast without looking at Raymond even once as he remained, kneeling on the floor, lost in his own thoughts.

That was how he still was when Solution returned to him. She ignored his lost expression, the blank staring into nothing the glassy eyes as he descended deeper and deeper into his own confusion and a convoluted mess of tangled thoughts. "Raymond?" She asked. "Hey Raymond, Nazarick to Raymond, hello, anybody home?" She badgered, leaning over in front of him and waving her hand in front of his eyes.

Annoyed, she put her hand to his cheek, and started dissolving some of his flesh, slowly. He shouted in pain as he snapped back to reality and leaped several feet away and directly into a perfect combat stance with his fists prepared to hammer her.

She grinned widely, "There you are, I'd say sorry about that but... you taste pretty good." She tittered.

He touched his cheek and relaxed as she went on, "It was the only way to get your attention, listen, I wanted to bring this up before, but with the new girl... anyway, we were followed back here."

"Followed?" Raymond asked, his body relaxed but his expression turned grim, his lips turned down in a frown and his chin wrinkled beneath his slowly growing beard. "Any idea by whom?"

Solution shook her head, "I don't know, it smelled like an elf though, so I didn't think anything of it, nothing in this city is a threat to me, but he seemed to focus his interest on Nua, and he was hostile. Obviously he glanced at me, but... he was definitely centered on her, and I could taste his hate. He followed us here, and then disappeared.

Raymond stroked his beard thoughtfully, "I'll have to ask her about this tomorrow."

"Not planning on killing her then?" Solution asked with obvious sincerity.

"Why would I..." He started to say, only for her to cut him off.

"I heard everything, obviously. She wasn't joking." Solution held out one hand, and one of her fingers became long, thin, and wiggled like a worm on a hook. "I can make it quick and painless for her, if you like. The brain feels no pain of its own, I can just ease this through her ear, wrap it around her brain, and destroy it. She won't have a mark on her, she won't feel a thing, and that will be it."

Raymond looked as blank as the store mannequins that he'd seen being used to show off fashionable clothing in the most upscale shops. His face didn't even quiver.

Solution sauntered over, close enough that her breasts were pressed to his chest, "Come on," she whispered duskily, the wiggling finger stroking around his beard, "It's what your gods want for nonhumans that aren't slaves, and you'd get your wish, that she not suffer anymore. You'd keep your promise too, to not let anyone get her. You can bury her remains in the back with dignity, I won't even eat her corpse, and I'll help you dig the hole. Best of both worlds, isn't it?" She put her lips close to his ear.

"Come on, demon, obey your gods will, isn't that what you humans do, obey, obey, obey the gods, submit like sheep even when you think it's wrong. I'll kill her for you, you don't have to do anything, your hands will be clean, just say the word, and I'll carry out the will of your gods, as your instrument." Her other hand went around his body, he stood stiff as a board, unmoving as she played up her sensuality, her perfect maid outfit didn't even wrinkle as she moved it against him, he felt her hot breath in his ear, but couldn't speak.

"Go on... order your 'servant' to kill the one you care about, with all mercy and kindness, and she'll never know the choice you made." She giggled as she felt his stomach roll in his body, "She'll die beautiful and peaceful, and you can embody all the 'virtues' of your gods, from human rule, to the place of elves and other nonhumans, even down to their mercy as you had it done without pain. Isn't that all the 'virtue' you humans love so much?"

Raymond closed his eyes slowly as he quieted his heart. Solution went behind his back and whispered into his other ear, placing her hands on his shoulders, "Go on, give the order, keep faith with your gods like they say you should, and let her rot in the ground where they say she belongs. Let her die, dreaming of her freedom and a life beyond these walls, I can even try to stimulate some pleasure centers in her brain, so she'll enjoy her death as I eat her from the inside of her skull."

Raymond finally managed to muster out a few words, spitting them out in bitterness as his body shook with rage, "Do you enjoy this?" He asked.

"Enjoy what?" She giggled as she pretended her ignorance.

"Torturing me?" He asked through gritted teeth as his fists clenched.

"Very much so." She giggled insanely, before throwing back her head and letting a full blown deep belly laugh come from within. "You humans, especially the ones of you who are just demons in a different skin, you make everything harder on yourselves, how can I not love to play with you so much?"

"So you're just... throwing it all in my face, because it pleases you to see me forced to shred everything one way or another?" He asked again.

"You have no idea how much so. My master, my god, values 'all' of us, he'd never throw any of us away. Higher and lower is just accountability and responsibility, but he loves 'all' of us as the children of his friends. Yours hate so many, that even when you actually like one, you're supposed to put them in collars, kill them, enslave them, eat them, anything but treasure them. And now because of that, I get to watch you rip yourself apart trying to decide between your conscience and your gods. It's..." She touched a finger to her eye as if to wipe away a mocking tear, "so beautiful, for someone like me."

"I'll tell you what, Raymond... I'll make the choice for you. Just go to sleep tonight like you always do, and in the morning, I'll bring her body out back for you to bury her. I'm a maid after all, I'm supposed to help the master of any house I serve." She gave a broad, mocking grin that he 'felt' from behind him even though he couldn't see it.

"Unless... you'd like to stop me?" She stepped away from him, "Go ahead, talk to your gods while I go to the door, I'll keep her company until she sleeps, then finish it off. Maybe ask your gods to change their minds, maybe they'll talk to you, maybe they'll talk to me, or... maybe I can walk out and leave you here, and the only thing that will change is that you'll bury her tomorrow."

"See you later, Raymond." She grinned as she tittered, her ample breasts shaking as she walked away to leave the room.

She managed a step. "Don't." He whispered.

"What?" She asked with an exaggerated tone and a very phony look of surprise. "Shouldn't I execute the will of your gods, isn't that what your faith says?" She teased him as he snatched her wrist in his hand. She felt his grip tighten. At the same time, she felt no hostility coming from him.

"Don't." He said again, looking down at the floor, a slight stain still present where the meat had laid not long before. "Please." He added hesitantly.

"Are you choosing livestock over your gods? Isn't she just an animal born to serve, that's what your priests have said for centuries, isn't it?" She asked him with her huge, monster mocking smile fairly daring him to argue.

"They're wrong." He said coldly.

"But they got their words from your gods." She grinned, "Doesn't that make it right for her to wear a collar and obey? Or to walk meekly toward a knife that will bleed her dry so she can be made into a meal?"

"Then... the gods are wrong... do you want to force me to say it?" Raymond ground out, unable to tear his face away from where his eyes were focused.

"Yes, I can feel all the agony in your grip, I can hear the rapid beating of your heart, your pain is so beautiful... my sisters, the ones who share my nature at least, will revel in the story of torturing a Cardinal out of his 'faith'." She laughed again, slowly, low, and almost inaudibly.

But he gave a low, grim nod, "I abjure them, reject and detest their teachings, I am no longer their man. These teachings are wrong, their words are wrong, their beliefs are wrong, and they are mine no longer. Please, leave her alone. No more half measures, no more hypocrisy, I promise." He released his hold on her wrist and fell to his knees, still staring at the stain.

"There are a lot of ways to break a man, looks like the demoness was right about how pleasurable it is to break them without an ounce of pain. I'll have to get her a souvenir or something from here to thank her." Solution remarked with sudden casualness. "If it helps though, Raymond, I believe I've probably done the best favor for you than anyone ever has." She winked down at the broken shell of a Cardinal.

"Forgive me if I don't feel the urge to thank you." He said in the husk of his formerly commanding voice.

"Forgiven, we are 'friends' after all. And what good are friends if they don't forgive? I'll be heading out now, I'd like to track down where the little 'spy' wandered off to." She said with a wink as she walked out the door.


	190. On the Edge of the Seat

God Rising: The Cult of Ainz

Written by: AtheistBasementDragon

Edited by: The Usual Gang of Drunken Perverted Idiots

Chapter 190: On the Edge of the Seat

 **AN: I love writing, hope you love reading. :D**

 _...Forton..._

Shalltear was skipping down the halls with absolute delight as she made her way to the office of the Sorcerer King. It wasn't her usual method, but strolling was too casual, and running, much as she wanted to, did not properly let her savor the anticipation 'or' express her overwhelming happiness. So skip she did. Hands on her parasol, her dress immaculate. Perfect, even, except that the knot in the back was just a little loose... 'In case he wants to unbind it quickly.' She thought with bliss as she came to the door.

She knocked three times, and when the last knock faded, she heard him summon her within.

She opened the door with a single hand and strode purposefully within, closing the door with a dainty push, she knelt a few feet from his desk and bowed her head. "I come as my lord commands to report on our many successes in his name." She said formally as her hand came up and touched her breast. She felt a flash of frustration as she felt the padding beneath, but it did not show on her face in the least.

"You have indeed had great success, Shalltear," Ainz pronounced as he struck 'Noble King pose two' with his jaw thrust out with a slight upward gaze and his hand outstretched in front of him. "How then can I reward you... within reason." He added cautiously, and suppressed a shudder when he saw the faint pout appear as her no doubt 'unreasonable' request that he claim her body, come to mind and be shoved aside.

Her face brightened, "While service to the supreme ones is reward enough on its own, if it pleases you My Lord, I would beg one humble thing..."

"Yes...?" Ainz asked, struggling to keep the anxiety out of his voice as he broke the pose.

"Reward me with... the same punishment you gave me last time, My Lord!" She exclaimed and thrust herself forward to all fours. "Let me deliver my report to you as you claim me as your seat!"

'Peroroncino!' He wailed inside his head, but lacking any way to refuse her, he stood and walked slowly to where she waited. Shallchair was already breathing hard, her eyes brimming with hopeful expectation, her lips parted as she huffed and puffed with deep desire. He reached out, his skeletal fingers stroked her little back, she felt so delicate and childlike. 'I'm a terrible boss... how can I do this to my friend's child... but what else is there?' He thought, at once glad that he did not have a stomach for bile to rise up in, and wishing he had one so that he could expel the sick feeling that he was exploiting Shalltear's loyalty.

She shivered at his touch, bringing a shudder to him that she could not see when his fingers withdrew, and then he turned, and sat down on her back. "Deliver your report, Shalltear." He said, then added, "But do not take overly long, I must wrap matters up here, Outer Guardian Renner is due to arrive soon to brief me on her reconstruction efforts and to present a list of acceptable candidates to offer contracts for the reconstruction of her nation, and I must do the same with Calca after that. There are bidders from multiple countries thanks to this gathering, so it may take some time."

"Forgive the stupid question, My Lord," Shalltear began as she breathed heavily through her desire, "but, why are you offering contracts to outside countries?"

"A proposal drawn in part from something Neia suggested after learning trade from Tinamoc, apparently he helped draw some of it up along the way during their travels. The outsiders will work through established guilds for labor and provide their own for any shortfalls. They will then be exposed to undead labor for its practical purposes, guarded by Black Justice paladins and cared for by our priests, the economics and ability, combined with the absolute reliability of our system to enforce justice and pay generously as well as on time, will make the faith of our Empire very appealing. Once exposed to these many benefits, they will petition their homelands to welcome our priests so that we will open temples, these temples will lease undead labor and further enrich the empire, while our paladins and priests provide security and health without regard for race, and further spread the Black Book. In time, perhaps ten, twenty, or a few hundred years, they will seek to join us of their own free will. They will give themselves freely, and there will be no need for another great campaign such as the one in which we are now engaged. We will not need to destroy our prize to claim it." He explained patiently and patted her head.

"I... see." She gasped and shivered in release as he patted her head. "On-on to my report." She said duskily and detailed it all, though she longed to slow it down, she couldn't bear to disobey to draw out her reward. So instead she simply told him everything in the reports she'd written, as well as her own personal opinions and observations, before finally coming to what she privately knew he really wanted, to hear what she herself had learned and how she'd grown.

"Very good, Shalltear. Very good. You are learning, you are growing, you are not the one you were when you left, and I am very proud of you." He said, and impulsively began to stroke her head, so lost in her words had he become as she related everything, and so proud was he, that he barely noticed when he responded "Enter!" when three knocks struck the door.

He however, was immediately brought back to reality and realizing just what his circumstances were when in walked Renner in her archangel form, with Brain Unglaus standing just behind her right shoulder.

The first thing Renner noticed was the incomprehensibly powerful being, a creature she knew could and did kill tens of thousands of warriors in mere minutes... being used as a chair by an even more incomprehensible being. Immediately glad her white eyes did not register surprise and so disgrace her, she acted as if nothing were amiss and walked within and knelt before the seated monarch with her wings folded humbling around her body as her eyes turned down and her head covered her breast.

Behind her, Brain's face contorted in shock and terror, his breathing quickened and his heart beat a hundred times faster than in his hardest battle. She saw his face, but on it he saw no recognition, only twisted desire and longing as she told her master everything. "And that is all, My Lord." She said reluctantly.

"Very good, Shalltear, please wait outside with the Princess's bodyguard." Ainz said as he stood, he held out his hand, which she daintily took, and rose to her feet with a slight tug of his arm.

She walked out of the room, past the princess, and when Brain exited as well, backing out as fast as he could, she shut the door to leave the royalty alone.

"Outer Guardian Renner reporting to her Lord." She said without a quiver in her voice. `I want to do that with Climb! It is... inspiring! Wonderful! Amazing! How did I not think of that?! Is there anything this dark genius cannot imagine?!' She wondered with a sudden leap in her devotion that shot her already considerable loyalty up beyond the heavens.

When Brain was alone with Shalltear, he immediately fell to quaking and could not look away from her.

She ignored him at first as she leaned against the wall beside the door, her eyes closed haughtily she tapped her closed parasol on the floor with annoyance. "Are you just going to stare at me? I know I'm beautiful and all that, but I don't think I've made anyone tremble because of it before." She laughed a little at her joke, she could taste his terror in the air around him, and breathed a little deeper to savor it further.

"It's you... it's really you..." He repeated the words she'd first heard him say, fear etched on every inch of his face, his lips never closed but to repeat the phrase.

"What exactly do you mean 'It's you' I mean, 'Me' I mean... you know what I mean!" She snapped in annoyance and opened her eyes to look at him. She put a hand on her hip as she faced him and pointed her parasol at him. "Haven't you any manners! Don't you know how rude it is to just stare at someone and repeat the same two words over and over like a crazy person! Explain yourself!" She demanded in annoyance.

"You don't... recognize me?" He asked, "We've met. We... well, 'I' fought, you weren't really fighting, I bored you. You toyed with me and broke my pride to nothing, I could never forget you." Brain said emphatically as he found his voice again.

"Oh?" Shalltear touched the dimple in her cheek and looked away thoughtfully, "I'm afraid I don't remember you, I guess it could have been when I was controlled, that happened some years ago. I'm afraid after I was killed, then resurrected to break the control, I lost all memory of what happened before."

"Oh. Well... I guess I don't feel bad about being forgotten now." Brain responded uncomfortably. 'Killed, this… she… killed?! How could anyone be strong enough to do that?' He wondered, aghast.

"I'd also forget you if you were too weak to bother with." Shalltear remarked as she tapped the tip of her parasol back down on the floor beside her foot.

"Is there anyone that doesn't apply to?" He asked on a sardonic impulse.

"Few. Lord Ainz, Albedo, Cocytus... Mare, Momon, and possibly Sebas, but even most of the guardians are no match for me alone. Although..." She paused the tapping of her parasol and looked away thoughtfully again.

"Although?" Brain asked with an urgent impulse that some secret of strength might pass from her beautiful, terrible lips as his mind raced, 'Sebas might be her equal… and 'Momon!' the human?! Can it be that humans might reach the peak after all?!' He wondered with a sudden joy in his heart

"One thing I don't know, and I don't think anyone knows yet, is whether the 'created ones' will be able to grow in strength to compare with us, or whether they're as evidently limited as most of the beings of this world." She said casually.

"Created whats?" He asked with fading hope, his words like those of a drowning man grasping for a rope that looked liable to break if he pulled on it.

"Like your Mistress, Outer Guardian Renner. Or the demon girl." Shalltear explained with a little annoyance.

"Sorry ah... demon girl?" He asked, "I don't know any demons."

"Oh." She rolled her lovely eyes, and a playful impulse took her, she approached Brain, slowly, a step at a time, he stood rooted to the spot as she looked up at the tall, broad, powerfully built human that she could have broken with her pinky finger.

"Years ago, there was a human female who, alone among her people, followed our master as a servant, just before this war, she was taken by humans who learned of her existence by accident. She was tortured to suicide, and raised back to life as a demoness of vengeance. Humans..." She giggled with a whisper, "you're so often weak as a species, and yet, your souls vary so wildly. Like you only have your flesh in common, but within lie the spirits of demons, angels, vampires, werewolves... your versatility is your saving grace."

Brain held firm, though every fiber of his being told him to run. 'I swear, Climb wouldn't be shaking like this, barely holding back pissing his pants. If it weren't for Sebas... I might have already done so.' He thought to himself as he inhaled the scent of blood and beauty from the dainty monster that looked up and touched his flesh. A single gesture, and his face would be torn off.

He screwed up his courage and said quietly, "You won't do it."

"I won't?" She said sweetly.

"No, you're teasing me, playing with the fear you feel from me, but you won't, because I serve a servant of the master we have in common. You won't do anything to me without his permission." He said with as much confidence as he could muster.

Her hand fell away and she let out a sigh, "You're right, but it was kind of fun to tease you, and I did mean that, your species is versatile, you can become so many things, be so many things. If our power is deep, yours is wide, I saw this in Re-Estize. You are a useful people to rule, when guided by the wisdom of our god. Absent that...?" She shrugged indifferently.

"Another question?" Brain asked, eager to turn the conversation away from that subject.

"Fine, might as well, it's boring here without Lord Ainz to serve." She grumbled, and Brain forged ahead.

He held the words back for a moment, as if fearful of the answer, but spat it out rapidly when he gathered his will. "You said these 'created ones' gained power, Renner I understand, got an object. But you said the other one was simply changed by magic with no item, why? And did they become equally strong?"

Shalltear felt a sense of relief at the simple questions cast her way, it was difficult to seem supreme herself, even to an insect, when they had questions she could not answer. As she could, she spoke with arrogant confidence and the vanity of the strong. "Items like that are rare, the one used on Renner was brought from the other world of the supreme ones, they are not lightly used. On Vanysa, I know our Lord used a scroll, which was had in greater supply. But that required that she be dead first. As she died in our master's service, giving up her life to protect the almost worthless knowledge so that she couldn't hurt him even in the smallest way, he chose to use one of those scrolls. Those are also not common, but more might yet be made, far sooner than items."

"And their power?" He asked hopefully.

"Without direct observation it is difficult to say, but I would put Renner as roughly equal in strength to a Death Knight, thus making her impossible for almost any lone adamantite adventurer to defeat. Though a team of such, that might succeed if they had to fight her, depending on their tactics, equipment, and teamwork." Shalltear answered thoughtfully, and stunned herself, 'Did I... just do that? I did! I did! I thought about a way to win without just barrelling in and killing! I assessed someone I didn't have to and did a good job!' She felt an enormous and joyful expression forming on her face that she couldn't keep back.

She could see he wanted to ask her what brought the smile to her face, but eager to do the same thing again, she barrelled ahead, "In the case of the demoness, she lost strength by dying, but her new form was much, much stronger than her other one. I would put her above say... Neia, but below a Death Knight. She also gains strength in strange ways though, and I haven't seen her in about a year. So that might have changed." Her grin only got larger, 'I did it again! I did it! I not only assessed strength but the weakness in my knowledge... my master was right... he was right... he wasn't just being kind in praising me...' She thought to herself.

"Lady... Shalltear?" Brain asked as she began wiping her eyes above the broadest smile he'd seen in a long, long time. "Is something wrong?" He finished the inquiry as she shook her head.

"No, something is right, something I just realized, and perhaps I wouldn't have, if you hadn't pushed with your annoying questions to pass the time." She laughed at the joke.

He didn't. "Oh, I wasn't trying to be a..." she waved off his words.

'Why does nobody get jokes in this world?' She wondered before moving along. "It's fine, it's fine. I realized something wonderful, and I suppose I owe you for it, go ahead, ask me for something. My Lord insists that good work is to be rewarded, and that I think, includes happy accidents." Her face turned serious and she tapped her parasol on the floor a few times as she waited out his surprised silence.

"I want power. Tell me. My 'humanity' is something I would trade away in a heartbeat for even a fragment of the power in your pinky finger. I've refined my blade to the limits of my ability, no mere human could defeat my blade, I'm sure of it. Others might compare, they might contest, but all things being equal, sword versus sword... I am the best. And yet I remain an insect who can never scale the peaks of the mountain! It is... in a word, torture, agony. Tell me what I can do to 'earn' a change like Renner or the other one! Please!" he dropped to his knees and lowered his head. His sword he drew and held it in his open palms up above his head.

"I swear on my blade, I will always use my strength for the cause of our master, only tell me how to truly reach the peak, so that I never fail again." He asked with a desperate, aching humility.

Shalltear touched his blade, his remark of his own failure stirred the unhappy memory of her own, a press of her finger and she could shatter the object, silence held between them.

"Isn't it clear?" Shalltear asked cockily, "Provide the best or most faithful service that you can. Renner delivered my master a kingdom, Vanysa died in agony to remain a faithful servant. If there is another way to gain the recognition of my master to gain such elevation, I do not know it. You might beg him, but to beg a favor of a king whom you have not served personally is... not likely to end well. And if you go to him seeking the path to reward instead of the path to good service, you will also fail to get your heart's desire."

Brain thought that over, "There is a kingdom now, isn't there? That tore itself away rather than submit the way they should have? If I made myself its king, and handed it over, would that prove my worth and loyalty?"

"Perhaps." Shalltear shrugged, "Only my master can say, if you wish to chance it, you can ask him." Shalltear traced her finger back and forth along the blade, a faint memory came to mind of it clipping her fingernail. "Somehow though, I don't see you as the 'asking' type."

With his head still bowed, Brain managed a grim laugh, "No, not really, I've lived by my sword my whole life, chance and life have carried me this far. I'll let it take me farther. I'll seek Princess Renner's permission for a quest of my own at the first opportunity. Thank you, Lady Shalltear."

Shalltear took her hand away and leaned back against the wall, "I suppose you're welcome. That makes us even, then."

"Yes! For everything!" he said cryptically as he put his sword away and stood, his fear was gone, and a renewed sense of purpose swelled within his breast beyond the mundane existence of ordinary life as a bodyguard that wasn't needed and a stale existence in the capital. He relaxed with ease against the wall, just as the door began to open and Outer Guardian Renner exited the room with a pleasant smile on her face. "Alright Brain, let's go mingle a bit before we go home."

"Yes, Princess." He said as he fell into step behind her.

"Shalltear," Ainz said from within, "Go and see that they're able to get back as soon as possible, the same for General Enri and Lady Lakyus, as well as King Zanac, Queen Zesshi and Chindai Khan. Then after I've finished with all the other attendees in some trivial late afternoon discussions, [Gate] all the other delegates home as well, then return to the army yourself, and let's finish this... team building exercise the Slane Theocracy calls a war."

"With pleasure, My Lord!" Shalltear said with a bow, and headed back to the main hall with a smile on her face that just would not go away.

 _...Crossroads...Following day..._

Enri walked into the office like she hadn't ever left. The gate opened, and there she was in full armor, her long hair unbound, wild, even glorious. A hardened expression in her eyes which reminded Lupusregina more of Neia Baraja than Enri Emmot-Bareare. Seeing her ward and friend return, Lupusregina left her position standing beside Sun, who sat at her desk, and went to embrace her.

"Welcome back, General." Lupusregina smiled broadly and kissed Enri on the cheek. Enri returned the gesture and they gently embraced for a moment before stepping back. The Goblin Strategist looked up from where he was writing.

"Welcome back, General." He said in the aged but wise sounding voice he always had, and set the quill down with which he was writing. Opposite him sat a prisoner Enri hadn't seen since the conference had begun.

She was not laughing this time, as Enri walked around to the administrative side of the desk, and the goblin strategist stood up and yielded the seat to her. Enri sat down and looked into the eyes of her highest ranking prisoner. "Things didn't work out too well for your people, did it?" She asked calmly.

Ira shook her head in a small way that was reserved usually for children who knew they were in trouble.

Enri folded her hands together on the desk in front of her, "Would you like to know how many out of your country are now wiped out? I'm sure General Nimble has annihilated every village that slaughtered its occupiers, probably even destroyed a few rebellious towns. And by the way, not sure if you noticed this, but it's cold outside, I doubt we'll ever know how many of your people just plain froze to death. Why aren't you laughing? Wasn't it oh-so-funny awhile ago when your little rebellion began and your insurrectionists started killing my soldiers? Wasn't it hilarious when my generosity toward your people was returned with ambushes and blood in the streets?"

Vice Commander Ira looked down at the surface of the desk and didn't meet Enri's eyes. "You wanted me to be Neia, didn't you?" She demanded.

Ira shook her head. "Didn't you?!" Enri all but shouted, "Well?! Speak up! Or should I let Lupusregina show you how she puts down opposition?!" Enri yelled, and Ira straightened up with a start.

"Do you have 'any' idea what you've done?!" Enri exclaimed. "Do you know where I was?!"

Ira looked at her with a blank and silent expression.

"I went to a conference of world leaders, and while there I was confronting General Baraja about her brutal methods! Thanks to 'you' or at least 'your people' General Baraja had the perfect rejoinder to my criticisms. That 'her' conquests had no rebellion, while all of mine had risen up! Don't you understand?! You made her look right to slaughter your entire country!"

Ira's blank look became wide eyed with fear. "General Baraja has already returned to her army, and your country's stupid exercise in futility all over the north gave her the exact justification she needs to leave nobody alive from Wheaton to Kami Miyako, and out of all the ones with her who have the power to argue against it, who she might listen to, only one or two might even consider it."

Ira opened her mouth to speak, the chains on her wrists clinked as she began to wring her hands together.

"Was it worth the laugh before?" Enri asked her coldly.

"No..." Ira responded quietly. "I'll... help, Lupusregina brought me an offer, to save Heikeren, and all our soldiers, if I help bring the army down. She told me Boabdil is not likely to be in command, but... I know Heikeren, we came up the ranks together, he's like an older brother to me."

"Alright." Enri said as her body began to relax at the sign of cooperation, tension drained from her like water from a pail that had sprung a leak. "Tell me more."

Ira took a deep breath, "He relies heavily on the General for advice still, same as me, actually. If Boabdil is gone, then... then it depends why. Our General doesn't spend lives like coppers, he values his soldiers like his children. The situation was desperate when you caught me, if that hasn't changed..." She looked inquisitively at General Enri.

"If by 'changed' you mean 'gotten worse for you' then yes, it has. The Sorcerer King wiped out your only other army, just by pointing at it, with leaders from the surrounding nations watching in awe. I believe you would call his circumstances a 'position of strength'." Enri replied coolly.

Ira swallowed hard, "I... see. Then if General Boabdil is aware of this, and I assume he is, he'll tell Heikeren to surrender, but he won't do so unconditionally. I know him like I know my brother, Heikeren is proud, but also affectionate, and not to flatter you but... he holds you in high esteem."

"I see." Enri said neutrally. "When you say affectionate, you mean...?"

"He has a love of the common folk, he was one. Not many people know that. He spent the first twelve years of his life as a street kid. Saved some rich man's son from drowning in the winter, kept the kid alive, and was rewarded with an adoption, an education, and now here he is. The funny thing is... if he'd been where I am when the insurrection started, he probably would have cried, rather than laughed." Ira's face twisted into a bitter one. "Because he'd have seen all this destruction coming. But I didn't."

"I see. Sounds like he was the wiser of the two of you." Enri said with a harsh voice.

"Agreed." Ira replied bitterly. "He will surrender, but not lightly, he'll demand some kind of concession, he always puts his own twist on the General's plans, almost always for the better. He's... I hate to admit this, and if you tell him I said this I will deny it forever... but he's a better officer, better commander than I am."

"Can he be trusted?" Enri asked calmly.

Ira nodded, "In a game of cards, not even slightly, but in all else? Demand an oath in a certain name, and he will keep it even if it kills him."

Enri leaned forward with interest, "What name?"

Ira bit her lip and looked away in discomfort, rattling the chains on her wrists again. "He told me this in confidence, if it comes from you, he will know it came to you through me. If I tell you, you must swear on Nemu's life that you will give him the most generous terms you can, and keep them in letter and spirit."

"How do you know my little sister's name?" Enri asked with sudden frigidity in her voice and a look that promised death for a displeasing answer.

Ira looked at her as if she'd become dense, "I'm a Vice Commander under General Boabdil. You are chief of the village where your Sorcerer King first appeared and wiped out the Sunlight Scripture. Do you really think we would never bother to check the place out or learn who did what out there, or anything we could about them? General Boabdil is thorough, and made sure we learned all about you since we were going North and... as stupid as it seems now, we wondered if we might end up at Carne ourselves."

"I see." Enri said as she understood, after which she didn't even blink, "I swear, on Nemu's life, I will do as you have asked."

Satisfied, Ira looked at her again, "Tell him to swear an oath in Eostre's name, and he will never betray it."

"Good, now, what demands is he likely to make?" Enri asked, relentlessly.

"Food, water, blankets, shelter for his army. He'll likely ask to let them winter here in Crossroads as opposed to going north. He'll likely ask for some kind of task for them to keep them busy, rather than formal imprisonment." Ira suggested tentatively as she thought the matter over.

"Not unreasonable." Enri said thoughtfully, "The city itself can be treated as a prison of sorts thanks to its... reduced state." She paused to glare at Ira, who had the good grace to look down at the chains on her wrists and reflect bitterly on her ill thought through laugh. "Is that all?"

She shook her head. "No, no it isn't. If he can be said to respect you... look... I don't even know what to believe anymore. The stories about you that were spread to the population were all complete and total horseshit. We knew at the command level... but... the stories about Neia were so over the top that we wondered if we were being lied to as well about her. But even thinking that was the case, fear... he's afraid of her. Whatever he asks you, will in some way pertain to that one's advance on Kami Miyako. He might ask that you rush to the city, or try to talk her out of slaughtering it... I don't know, but I know that fearing what she'd do there kept many of us from a good night's sleep."

"I see." Enri said succinctly, her stone eyes did not blink even once as Ira went on, and when the Vice Commander finished speaking entirely, and Enri had acknowledged her words, she replied at greater length and with greater force. "From what I've been hearing, if ever there was a city that caused its own destruction, it is yours but... I have no love of slaughter. I will do what I can, but I will not promise I can avert her bloodlust. You may as well be asking me to bind the wind before it blows in your faces."

Ira went back to wringing her hands, clinking the metal chains again as if it were music to accompany Enri's grim pronouncement. "I can't tell you anything else, really, we were short of food before, he won't be bargaining from a position of strength, he's going to use what he has however, as well as anyone ever could. He knows you want to end all this, and that is what he'll appeal to."

"I'm content to let him do that." Enri replied, "Even to the point of... dealing... with Neia."

"Lupusregina, have the prisoner bathed, return her military equipment to her, allow her to dress the part, then walk her through Crossroads so that she can see the results of what she thought was so damned funny before. Then please ensure that she's fed a proper meal, and get the army ready to go. I assume of course, that all dissident elements are put down?"

Lupusregina gave a malicious grin. "Painfully put down, from the most northern, eastern, or western villages of Ikari, to the same for Crossroads, nobody will dare raise even a whisper of defiance. And in some places, there is nobody left to whisper at all, thanks to the timely arrival of General Nimble's forces to some towns and villages scattered about the area."

"Good." Enri said crisply, "Then see to all that and let's be ready to move, pull out some sixth tier scrolls for localized weather control, I want a nice spring weather in front of us all the way to where General Heikeren's army is freezing their balls off. That should be further 'illustrative' of his circumstances, just in case they had a mind to forcing us to cut those off." Enri made a sharp 'chopping' gesture with her hand, and as Lupusregina laughed at the ribald joke, Sun instinctively winced in male sympathy at the joke and the gesture that followed it.

"You got it! -su" Lupusregina replied as she went and clasped the prisoner by her shoulder, "Oh, and it is good to have you back, Enri. -su"

"Good to be back, Lupu." Enri smiled warmly at her friend and was just turning to Sun to inquire about further details, when Lupusregina added...

"After all, my nights are so... lonely...-su" She winked and laughed as Enri turned strawberry red in the face again.

"Damn it, Lupu! Get!" She shouted as she tried and largely failed to suppress a laugh as she pointed out the door while the grinning Lupusregina led Ira out of the room. As Ira left, all she could think was, 'The right to laugh belongs to the victors. I wonder if I'll ever laugh again?'

 _...Kami Miyako..._

Left by himself, Raymond could barely stand, and as Solution closed the door on him, it was all he could do to stagger himself to his desk and fall into a chair. Time ceased to hold meaning as he stared into nothingness. 'A lifetime... and I'm really throwing it all away...? Maybe this was inevitable? Maybe I just didn't want to admit it, but perhaps it became inevitable the day I chose to accept gold from the Sorcerer King. Or even before, from the moment Zesshi said goodbye and I was forced to make a choice. From the time I picked up my knife? From the time she sat with me at our last meeting? From the time I first felt sympathy for a dog as a child? If I'm not a follower of the gods anymore, what am I?'

He lowered his head to the table and brought his hands over the back, he squeezed his eyes shut tight, 'Gods, any of you, all of you, if you're really listening to us, really watching out for us...' He began to think, all but weeping with a desperate longing that he be heard as he made the prayer, only to freeze in mid thought, and a boiling rage rose up from the pits of his soul where the blood of thousands rested in his conscience.

A raw, boiling fury flew from his soul at those who taught him to be the man he'd been... at all the teachings that led him to ride past pain a thousand times and pretend it didn't matter because it was 'divine will', and the whispered prayer of longing became a hateful curse of a demand, 'Then strike me down! I reject you! I am an apostate! You want Zesshi's blood, you want Nua's misery and that of others like them who dare to merely exist?! Curse you! Curse you all! Strike me down if you have any power left! I dare you! I demand it of you! Strike me down or I will strike the brick from every temple! I will turn my knives and my skills to demolishing every scrap of faith still placed in you, unless you strike me now and prove yourselves masters of something other than hiding!'

For a moment the years of living a life of faithful prayer roared back within him, and demanded he beg forgiveness and return to the fold, but he did nothing. Raymond did not fall to his knees, he did not beg the gods spare him or seek the salvation of their embrace. Instead his rage became a bitter pit of bile, and he raised his head, then spat it out in disgust on his own floor. 'Damn you all. Your ways are done. You will not hurt Zesshi, or Nua, or the little ones I hide here, nor any other while I can lift a knife.'

He drew a deep breath, exhaled it, and drew another. Then another, then another, then another. In and out, he felt his chest expand and contract. He put his hand over his beating heart as he leaned back in his chair, letting his head fall over the back so he was looking up at the ceiling. "I'm not dead?" He asked with a wonder. "I'm... really not dead?" He repeated, as understanding dawned that he was not going to be struck down by divine wrath.

"Not so as I can see it." Solution said as she came back in, "Have you been there this whole time?" She asked incredulously.

"I guess." He replied as he brought his head forward to look at her. "How long has it been?" He asked tiredly.

"Hours, like, a bunch of them, I guess." She pointed to the window, and he looked back, it was pitch dark out, only the candles of his office had kept it alight within.

"Oh." He said disinterestedly. "Find anything?"

"Sure thing." Solution grinned, "It's me after all." She smugly closed her eyes and lightly touched her breast, "Following an elf scent from the front of this place was easy, tracked him back to Dominic's house. Don't know why he came this way, but maybe Nua would know if you asked her. And before you ask, yes, she's asleep and no, I didn't wake her. It can wait. Nothing can threaten her while she's in these walls." Solution's tone was very 'matter of fact' and Raymond was not inclined to argue with such an obvious statement of fact.

"So what was all... that?" She asked, "The death talk, I mean."

"Just asking the gods something, and... I suppose you could say, threatening them." He said with resignation. "Call it a 'test' I guess." He replied with some reluctance.

"Oh, Lord Demiurge does lots of tests, and Lord Ainz encourages testing as a means to knowledge, not really my cup of tea, but I can't argue with the results." She said in passing as she went to offer her hand to him. "Come on, let's get you to bed, Illal woke up and is downstairs having a small meal with some of the elves that have trouble sleeping at night. I'll put her in one of the guest rooms when she's done."

"You're not going to melt away my hand, are you?" Raymond asked reluctantly as he paused the reaching out of his hand to take hers.

She giggled, "I've seen your knife work, I'd as soon smash a stained glass window as an artist like yourself. I wonder if His Majesty will let me turn you into a demon... or maybe a slime after all this? After all, he did raise a dullahan like my eldest sister."

Raymond sighed heavily, having the distinct feeling she'd been quoting something he hadn't heard, and unsure if she was joking or not about the second, he was also too tired to care. He let her take his hand, and she, in a perfect representation of the ideal maid, helped the master of the house to his bed when he was at his most weary. He closed his eyes, and instantly fell into the deepest slumber of his life.

 _...C'Teon..._

"There's barely anybody to hang." Leinas said in disgust as her army frantically swarmed the entire remains of the city. She said this while seated around a conference room table with Chindai, Aureole Omega, Zanac, and Zaryusu. Nobody argued the sentiment, and save for the more fixed features of the lizardman, profound disgust was etched on a multitude of faces.

"So what?" Chindai asked as he leaned back in his chair and propped his feet up on the shiny polished table.

"So people need to pay for... those things. Wouldn't Khava agree with that, at least?" Leinas asked urgently.

Chindai blinked a few times, "No, she'd want people to die slower, and they will, how much do you think people took with them when they ran? Maybe your time at Fortress Alaf colored your perception, but'cha know it's really cold out there. Even being used to these temperatures, they're not going to be in a good way. I figure most of the guilty will die frozen in the snow before they reach safety. Anyone who survives, we can question later."

"That's cold." Zanac said, and Chindai snapped his head over to the King, about to rebuke him, before he saw the grin on his face, recognized the pun, and burst out laughing.

"How much of a head start are we giving them? It's been almost what, a week now?" Zaryusu asked with some evident impatience in his voice. "I am eager to end all this, I want to return to my village, to my wife, to my son. Every day we delay, delays that as well."

"Not much more, resting the armies and letting them enjoy themselves, as well as securing what is left of this place of any useful supplies, intelligence, and of course, liberating the prisoners, the brothels, the surrounding farmlands and the like, was not going to happen overnight." Aureole Omega pointed out as she waved his concern aside.

Zaryusu took on a somewhat depressed air for a moment, before Aureole Omega went on. "Fear not, we haven't been idle, the Dark Dwarf outriders and many other cavalry have been capturing the villages and towns all around the region, as far west as the outskirts of Feron. Aalon has completely taken control there now, there is no human settlement anywhere along the mountain range to the border of the Elf Kingdom that is not under his control. Sadly he doesn't have the people he needs to join us in the march to Kami Miyako. But... he has enough for his part. When we move, we'll move quickly, so please be patient, General Zaryusu." Aureole Omega's voice was light and encouraging, and she felt him perk up a bit as he understood they were not simply 'idle'.

"Good, my lizardmen utterly hate the cold, and though it does not much bother the quagoa, the snow is not to their liking. It's the same for dwarves and all of the others under me except for the few frost giants. Speaking for myself, I don't like it either." Zaryusu said and let out a voluntary shudder to emphasize his statement.

There were nods of agreement from the rest of the table when Leinas spoke up. "Well, the good news is, we won't be marching through snow or 'winter' weather when we leave. We won't be here for long, but since we've held back the use of our scrolls so much, we'll be using our sixth tier localized weather control spells to give us a bright early summer day to walk through from C'Teon all the way to Kami Miyako. Let a false summer spring forth and surround the winter city at its fall."

There was a collective sigh of relief from the table that was instantly followed by groans at her excessive use of puns. "I'm pretty sure that His Majesty has made the use of so many puns in one sentence, a war crime." King Zanac said with a roll of his eyes.

"If he hasn't, I'll propose it." Chindai teased with a shit-eating grin.

"Ahem," Leinas faked a few coughs, then went on, "The good news is that the slaves we've liberated are all regaining strength and are not only willing, but eager to help us on the campaign's final stages. More are coming in from the farming estates, but not as many as I'd expected."

"It's not really a surprise if you think about it." King Zanac pointed out, "Back when my nation practiced slavery, it was fairly common for farmers on great estates who felt threatened, to sell or lease their slaves to others in a safer region to minimize their losses, and I seem to recall reading that General Enri believed that General Boabdil had done the same thing with the slave population of Crossroads, and most of the surrounding regions. In all likelihood we'll find that most of the slaves here are in fact being kept in Kami Miyako."

"That makes a grim sort of sense." Chindai Khan remarked as he inclined his head to the lumpy looking Zanac. "Whenever we fought one another on the plains, we kept valuables as far away from the destruction as possible, it stands to reason they'd do the same with the backbone of their labor."

"Curious thing though, no breaker academy here, no school for overseers." Leinas added thoughtfully, "We've searched this city fairly thoroughly, but... the only thing of note that we've found is a large number of warehouses that obviously haven't been used in months at least. Maybe more."

"Anything special about them?" Zaryusu asked as he rapped his claws on the table impatiently.

"Nothing I noticed, just scraps of paper scattered about, lot numbers I guess. I've had them all recorded in case we find records for the goods that they refer to. Minor mystery, I guess. I've put a copy of the symbol into the latest report, along with the list, and that'll be sent out to all the other generals and the Sorcerer King, along with tomorrow's dispatch. I'm sure nothing significant will come of it. But since you never know..." She shrugged as if to say, 'why not?'.

"Can't hurt." Chindai said thoughtfully.

"Right. So, next item." Leinas said, reaching for another document.

 _...South of Crossroads...Road from the Last Army of the Theocracy..._

Boabdil rode his horse like a madman, as did his small escort. What enchantments they could manage to boost the speed and energy of their mounts, or at least stave off exhaustion, were used. For good measure, each of them carried a few herbs known to result in an incredible energy boost, but at great cost later, including potential death. 'It was the last of that, too.' Boabdil thought to himself as he unthinkingly tapped his saddlebag.

The cold wind bit his face, but on he rode. With every sound of the horses hooves pounding on the hard ground beneath the snow, he wondered again, 'Is it all futile?'

Around him branches blew back and forth in the wind, the wind forced them to point in the direction from which he and his escort had ridden, 'It's like nature itself is telling me to turn back the way I came.' He clenched his jaw, and soldiered on.

The thunder of hooves seemed impossibly loud as the twenty one man army barrelled south heedless of the cold, heedless of the snow that sometimes came down and blinded their ability to see more than a few feet in front of themselves. They clutched the reins of their horses, and of the twenty one, twenty prayed to the six to guide their commander. The miles were eaten up as their mounts went on until the magic that Boabdil now counted as feeble, finally wore out and they were forced to stop and use the last of the energetic herb, they took the opportunity to relieve themselves, each one separately fearing that the freezing cold would cause their piss to freeze before it had fully evacuated from their manhood.

As the herb was consumed they remounted their horses and rode on, driving the beasts beyond all reason, until one by one the animals' hearts burst in their breasts dying on the run and simply collapsing, until at last there were twenty one men on foot, just as the city came into view.

They trudged forward on sore legs, leaning forward into the wind, their muscles aching all the way, hands clutched to cloaks and their eyes downcast to keep the snow out of their eyes. Finally, they drew close enough to excite the attention of disbelieving guards. As they did so, Boabdil looked over his shoulder to his following escort, "When we go in, I will not compel any one of you to remain with me, this is dangerous, and I am already considered dead. I have no idea what Raymond's connection is to all this, or why I was informed that my wife was sent to him, the goings on in the city are a mystery. If you wish to save your lives, go, and I will never blame you for it."

"Never." Was the uniform response of the twenty young men.

"You're damn fools... but I'm very proud of you." Boabdil said, wiping away a brief flash of emotion from his eyes so that it would not freeze to his face, and he turned again to the city, then walked on.

The gate was shut, and gave no sign of opening as he and his men approached. That by itself caused his heart to beat faster, but as he beheld the sight of the seemingly impregnable gate, he saw something else, and turned his gaze up the length of the wall to be sure of what he thought he caught a glimpse of. An elongated wooden platform with short, waist high rails affixed to it, and a single soldier standing in the center, was being lowered down the outside of the wall. It had a double pair of pulleys and a rope attached, which in turn had a matching set at the top on an improvised platform secured to the crenelations.

"This... is definitely new." Boabdil said numbly as he watched the soldier being lowered to the ground dozens of feet below. His warrior eyes were transfixed, 'I see, he doesn't fidget, he doesn't appear nervous at all, either he's uncommonly brave, or they've been using this for a good little while now at least.' He thought to himself.

When the soldier reached the ground, he trod out with a hand on his sword and a crisp, disciplined look in his eye. Boabdil and his escort waited patiently a dozen yards back, and drew themselves up as if for inspection.

"St-state your business." The soldier stuttered out through chattering teeth.

The soldier's skin was slightly jaundiced, and his body seemed thinner and less muscled than it should have been, though his eyes were disciplined, and his stance, a foot back, hand on a sword, was combat ready, it was clear he'd seen better days.

"I come from... General Heikeren in the north on urgent business with the Cardinals. These men are my escort." Boabdil said diplomatically but firmly, leaving his hand off his sword to ensure no 'misunderstanding' occurred.

The soldier looked them all over, and narrowed his eyes, "Please move back your hoods, and remove your helmets."

"Wh-" A soldier began to demand, Boabdil held up his hand at shoulder height, bent at the elbow, indicating an order to be silent. The soldier looked at the back of his commander's gesture, and snapped his mouth shut.

"Fine. But may we know why?" Boabdil asked as he moved his hood and unfastened his chin strap to remove the helmet.

"Order from the Cardinals, fears that some races 'close' to humans, might try to sneak in disguised as humans, and you all looked a little too well fed so..." The guard shrugged and started to relax as he saw their human faces.

"Oh, well if something isn't done soon, that won't be the case for anyone out there. So we urgently need to be about our business." Boabdil said with the utmost courtesy, he put the helmet back on, resecured it, and put his hood back up with a final shiver at the winter chill.

"I understand, Sir, it's fine, we can take four men at a time on the lift, it'll just be a few minutes to get you all up, should I send word to the cardinals of your coming?" The guard asked with a much more relaxed air as the familiar and easy tone of Boabdil continued.

"No, nobody but they are to know of our coming, were it not necessary for entry, I wouldn't even be informing you, so just bear that in mind, would you?" Boabdil asked with a friendly, but grave expression on his face, his eyes briefly taking on a haunted look again as he remembered witnessing the destruction wrought by the Sorcerer King, the guard nodded with understanding.

"Y-Yes, of course. But... who shall I put in the logbooks?" The soldier asked as they walked back to the lift.

"Vice Commander Graves, and his escort, will be sufficient." Boabdil said in a voice that began to feel even to himself, heavy with exhaustion.

Boabdil stepped onto the platform with the guard, and two of his men. "Clever device, what do you call it?" He asked curiously.

"I and the other guards call it a lift, but the guy who invented it, calls it an 'elevator'." He rolled his eyes with annoyance, "What a stupid name. It's clearly a 'lift'." He snorted derisively.

Boabdil shrugged, "As long as it doesn't collapse when we're up high, you can call it a dongovator, for all I care."

"A dongovator, sir?" The soldier asked as he did a double take.

Boabdil nodded sagely, "Yes, goes up and down all the time, but the only reason for either is it's being ridden." He smirked smugly, a slight upturning at the corners of his mouth and a sparkle in his eyes as he tried to hold back his laughter.

The soldiers with him had no such compunctions, they started laughing uproariously, and Boabdil, unable to maintain his straight face, joined them in laughing all the way up to the top.

A few back and forth trips, each one accompanied by laughter as the joke was told again, saw the entire party atop the walls, and a retelling to the others atop the wall saw the same result, with long absent laughter briefly returning to the hungry city as Boabdil and his company made their way down the stairs and out into the streets.

Boabdil looked out to the distant sky, darkness was fast approaching, as they moved through the street, Boabdil kept his pace just barely under a run, behind him, his escort found it difficult to keep up under the weight of their armor, despite their youth relative to their commander. He cast a glance over his shoulder, "We need to move quickly, every minute we delay, is a minute that may bring the demon closer to our city. If even half of what they say of her is true, we cannot let her come without having prepared some reason for her to spare the population, for that, we need time, even a day might be enough, even an hour, but we can't waste a second!" He whispered with hoarse urgency. "And worse, what if her master chooses to make an appearance? What do you think he'll do?"

The sound of their heavy booted feet pounding the pavement hard and fast was redoubled, then redoubled again. As they moved through the streets they took horrified note of everything they saw. The once proud city had become destitute, the streets were crowded with people, almost all of whom were filthy, a group of brawlers, some of whom had Crossroads accents, and others whose accents clearly marked them as local residents, fought over a sack of grain barely large enough to have been called a coin purse. They pulled no punches and blood was quick to flow.

They passed by a gallows where a half a dozen people were dangling from ropes around their necks, signs revealed their crimes as 'Blasphemy', 'Inciting a Riot', and 'Cannibalism'. Lumps formed in over a dozen throats at the crimes they saw, crimes unthinkable a year ago.

"What the hell happened to this place...?" A young officer asked with eyes already haunted from his own inability to accept what he was seeing all around him.

"Failure." Boabdil said in a voice of utter loss, "Our people... this is what happens to those who lose, I've seen this in the aftermath of countless battles, I've seen it among villagers who lost everything, even their self respect, and now it has come to Kami Miyako. Death would almost be a blessing for a city come to this kind of ruin."

There was no answer any of them could give to a statement like that, and they remained in silence until they came to the front of Cardinal Raymond's estate.

Boabdil took a deep breath, "Remain close, but remember, we're visiting a Cardinal, display the utmost respect, no matter how suspicious you find anything to be.

Silent acceptance was given through slow salutes, and their hands fell away from their swords as they formed up into four ranks of five behind their General. Boabdil went up the short two to three steps to the door, and knocked slowly but firmly.

An answer was not long in coming. A buxom blonde woman in a maid outfit who, the instant he saw her, caused hairs to stand up on end all over Boabdil's flesh. He almost jumped back and reached for his sword, only discipline from a lifetime of service kept him from reacting by more than a sudden stiffness in body and voice. She saw, and smirked, and he thought for a moment that she gave an appreciative, if very tiny, nod of acknowledgement of his good sense.

"I-I'm here to see Cardinal Raymond." He managed to fumble out.

She looked over the massed ranks. "No. He's been in bed since some... unpleasantness the previous evening, and he is not taking unexpected visitors."

"He'll see me." Boabdil insisted.

Her gaze narrowed at the men behind Boabdil.

"Are you planning on taking him somewhere?" She asked, and his skin tingled as he felt the rising danger.

'I must not antagonize this one.' He thought solemnly to himself.

"No. These are my escorts to ensure my safety on the way here." Boabdil said reassuringly as he extended his arm out to encompass them all in a single sweeping gesture.

Her eyes did not shift from the narrow look at the unexpected claim. "I will permit 'you' to come into the threshold, but if what you say is displeasing, do not expect to leave, and do not expect your 'escort' to have been enough."

Boabdil felt tense as stone, like a frog looking up at a hungry stork. He looked behind him, "Wait here." He said succinctly.

Then the maid moved aside, admitted him, and the door closed as quickly as it opened, before his soldiers could object without making a scene.

The interior of the house was what you'd expect of a Cardinal's estate, wide, but functional, well decorated, but without a superabundant excess. Even less surprising, there was an abundance of elves moving about the residence, then it hit him.

"No... collars...?" He asked mutely.

Solution pointed to the floor where he stood, "Move from that spot before I return, and I will dissolve your brain in your skull and I'll get to it by going up your cock." She said with a savage smile.

"You're no ordinary maid." General Boabdil said bluntly.

"You're a master of the obvious." She said in an equally blunt voice, and showed him her back as she went up the stairs. "Who by the way, should I say is here?" She asked without looking back.

"General Boabdil." He answered calmly.

She didn't miss a step as she went to Raymond's room.

He waited for what seemed an eternity as hostile elven eyes were cast on him, but he kept his own gaze firmly up the steps.

Eventually the maid reappeared at the top of the steps. "He'll see you, come on up, oh, and your wife would probably like to see you as well." Solution remarked in passing, Boabdil moved even faster than before, and followed where the maid led him, she opened the door unceremoniously and found Raymond sitting up in bed. "I'll go retrieve your wife, and return promptly. Raise a hand to him..." Solution said, and winked, then closed the door and left them alone with the unfinished threat in the air.

"Forgive my disheveled state, recent events have been... hard on me." Raymond said immediately as Boabdil entered, and gestured to a nearby chair.

Boabdil flung himself backward into it, clearly worn out, his arms fell limply into his lap, "Same, I'll spare you the trouble of asking why I'm here, how I got back, everything. As my wife probably told you, I faked my death, what she wouldn't know is that I briefly assumed another identity and rode East to take command of another army, but that army no longer exists. I arrived in time to hear a demon, the Sorcerer King's red hand, announce its destruction. Then I saw him destroy it with little more than a gesture, all forty thousand and some, erased like a drop of ink fallen into the ocean. Then I saw another impossibility, General Oma was supposed to have been killed by the Agante, yet she came back. The Sorcerer King, he restored her to life as a legendary undead, a dullahan."

"They let you live, didn't they?" Raymond asked in a cold and broken voice.

"Yes, to come back here, to warn the city, to warn our people to surrender... before it is too late." Boabdil leaned forward urgently and clasped his hands, "Please, convince Dominic to give in, we can't win. My army is now under General Heikeren, but we haven't a chance, there's nothing we can do."

Raymond groaned and lay back down, staring through empty eyes up at the ceiling. "Don't you think I've tried to find avenues to peace already? General Baraja has warned us again and again, yet nobody listens. She sent an inquisitor, she sent a group of broken overseers, she sent children who watched their parents die, she destroyed Yanana down to nothing, the Golden Fortress is a ruin, Wheaton is now a small town... she even sent the dead population to us on the river, she turned the river red... tens of thousands of bodies and body parts floating and bobbing in the water, I am not exaggerating, the river was red for miles, were it not for the wells inside the city, and using up mana constantly for days creating water, we'd have run out of drinkable water in a day and all died of thirst."

Raymond turned his head to the side, to look over at the General. "I met with her, you know. The Red Hand, the Black Paladin, the Pope. I met with her to beg. Me, a cardinal of the six, and I put my head in the dirt and begged for mercy for the soldiers we had left in the west, the ones that had gone to Yanana after their failed siege of Prart. She told me no, and then she killed them all."

"You can't have given up..." Boabdil asked hopefully, he reached out and put his hands on Raymond's chest, "Please, you have to have something in mind."

Raymond turned his head away, "Our people have started eating the elves. When she learns of it, well... you've read the intelligence reports, I promise you they're not exaggerated, she 'hates' us for what she holds us at fault for. Our treatment of the elves has set her to madness, if she learns this, or rather, when she does... she will kill every human man, woman, and child in this city. I'm sure of it."

"Wait... eating the elves? You mean... food? They're turning the slaves into food?!" Boabdil couldn't move as he asked the question.

"Yes. Solution will make sure she knows, but even if she doesn't, I'm obligated to... damn it all." Raymond sat up and flung his legs over the side of the bed, and Boabdil withdrew his hand. "I'll be blunt... and before I begin, understand that she wasn't kidding. If you react badly to this, you will die almost immediately, and it will be incredibly painful as well as absolutely unavoidable, do you understand me?" Raymond asked in a low, serious voice.

"Yes..." Boabdil drew his hands together and held them tight in his lap.

"I'll be obligated to report it to the Sorcerer King. I've been working for him to... atone, I've been doing so since I realized our country has been not only wrong, but already defeated before the fight even began. I've been doing it in the hopes of saving our people, and to save the elves we've mistreated for so long. And as of last night, I became an apostate, I can no longer serve the six, it's been... distressing. I was just gathering my strength before I wrote to His Majesty, to report the horror that is about to befall our city. Cardinal Yvon wants to codify the slaughter of elves for food, add them to the rations, and... well... at least Dominic blocked that, so there doesn't seem to be immediate danger."

Boabdil's blood ran cold as the ice and snow outside the manor. "You've... betrayed the nation...? I... words..." The warning loomed large as his words stumbled, and he looked down, defeated. "I can't raise a voice against you, I'm here to try to hasten our defeat as well... alright, fine, let me think about this." He said gruffly, and settled into a thoughtful posture, stroking his bedraggled beard and looking out the window to the encroaching darkness.

His brilliant mind ran through scenario after scenario as fast as someone flipping through the pages of a book. Time and time again, an idea came to mind and was rapidly discarded, until he finally hit upon something.

"Wait... on my way here, I saw brawls, hangings, evidence of dissent. What can you tell me about that?" He asked hopefully.

"It's loose, decentralized, handled by an elf and a handful of humans but with no real leadership, it keeps it hard to track and so hard to repress." Raymond said dejectedly. "The elf woman keeps us informed about a great deal around the city, but very few humans know who she is outside of myself. And no, I'm not going to tell you. You don't need to know."

"That may keep them safe, but it is also keeping them ineffective. We both know that with this, there is not a prayer that this entire city will be spared. But... what if we can save a 'part' of it?" Boabdil proposed.

"A part?" Raymond asked, suddenly intrigued, his voice went a little higher and his dull eyes brightened a bit.

"Yes, if we want to bargain with the demon woman, we need to have something she wants to save. Or at least to not kill." Boabdil pointed out in an increasingly confident and canny voice.

"If you're proposing we use the elves as hostages... she'll kill them all and then kill our city anyway, just to make sure the whole world knows that taking hostages is useless." Raymond pointed out with a roll of his eyes, "You should already know that."

"No, not hostages, tokens of... acceptance. A symbol, something to show her that not everyone in this city deserves the sharp end of an arrow. It looks like you've done much, but... not enough to spare the city, nothing to negotiate for. Link me up to the dissidents in the city, I'll get them organized. We'll create an impromptu kind of... neutral zone, here, get as many people opposed to Dominic as we can, when we have enough, we can appeal to her sense of justice, get a part of the city, with nobody who supports Dominic or... Yvon, within it. We can ask her to spare 'that'. It isn't everyone, no. But I'd rather save some than save none, besides, if Heikeren does his part, we might have an inroad to meet with her."

"We can... try." Raymond said, "In the morning I will have you linked up with some of the dissidents, if they'll accept you as a central authority to dissent, you've got a shot at this. But I warn you, if any of the ones you accept are brothel owners or patrons of the mistreatment of elves... and I mean 'any' then your chances of her being merciful drop from slim to none."

Boabdil released a pent up breath, "I understand, between myself and the twenty, we can get some organization done in a day, more done in two, and within a week we'll have everyone worth saving living inside a single square of the city. If that isn't good enough, then all we can do is laugh as she kills us."

"Very true, husband." Illal said as she entered the room and rushed over to him, he stood up rapidly and wrapped his arms around her in an embrace.

"Illal, you're safe... I'm so relieved, I heard you were, but... I was, well never mind, just know that my heart beats more easily knowing you're alive and well." Boabdil said as he clutched his wife as close to his flesh as his armor would allow.

"Well, then we've got to go over quite a bit, and we've got to discuss it quickly then, don't we?" Solution asked as she entered and closed the door behind her.


	191. In Good Hands

God Rising: The Cult of Ainz

Written by: AtheistBasementDragon

Edited by: The Usual Gang of Drunken Perverted Idiots

Chapter 191:

 _...Ruins of Wheaton..._

Neia found herself again in the quarters she shared with her wife, and her gaze lingered hatefully at the hand that had put itself around the throat of her beloved, and the place where it had happened. "Time to make up for it. As much as anyone can make up for that kind of thing anyway." She said to herself and reached for the silk rope that would summon a servant.

It wasn't long before an elf woman presented herself at the door, but by then Neia had already begun to fill the large tub that rulership over Wheaton had afforded the presumably late governor. The elf woman wore a simple black garment that fell to knee length but was split at the thigh for ease of movement. Around her waist was a red sash bound at her right hip. The garment had a pocket over the left breast, and on her feet were simple but functional sandals with leather bindings about the ankles to secure them. When she saw who had summoned her, a smile broadened over the woman's face.

"My Lady, what can I get you?" She asked with a little bending of her knees in an odd form of bow that kept her hands folded in front of her and her eyes briefly cast down before they met her own as she straightened up.

Neia brushed aside her brief curiosity, "I need... wine, two bottles and two glasses. Also... are there any flowers to be had?"

"No... I'm sorry, My Lady, but the flowers are well out of season." The servant said apologetically.

"I see, well, the wine, glasses... and some small treats, something sweet and finger sized. Do we have anything like that?" Neia asked hopefully.

The elf woman thought about it for a brief moment, and then her face lit up, "How about sugar dusted snowberries!?" She asked eagerly with a broad smile on her face.

"You ask that like I know what they are." Neia said with a sardonic grin on her face.

"They're a berry that grows around the city, when I served a wealthy house here, my master and his wife loved them. I... snuck one, once, and it was the best thing I'd ever eaten." She said happily, sighing at the memory and closing her eyes as she recalled it to her mind. "Of course, he and his wife are dead now, you cut off their heads in front of me during the taking of the city." The continued grin on her face told Neia all she needed to know about the subject, so she went on.

"How quickly can you gather a small bowl?" Neia asked hopefully.

"Two hours I can have a bowl on a tray along with the wine and glasses you request." The woman said as she bounced on her heels as if eager to set about the task.

"That will be fine, please hurry, I want to surprise my wife when she comes back." Neia replied with a slight urgency in her face and voice.

"As you wish!" The servant answered hastily, and without further words, she wheeled about and rushed away.

Neia closed the door and touched her forehead, "Strange, I don't... remember cutting off any heads. I thought I recalled it all. But... no? I guess not."

She returned to the bath and laid out candles, busying herself with preparations up until the moment the servant returned, bearing with her all that she had promised on a silver tray. "Thank you." Neia said sincerely with an enormous smile spread across her face, her terrifying eyes sparkled with delight that the servant spoke of for the next eight hundred years of her life.

Neia, for her part, completed the scene, and felt herself torn for a moment. 'Dress? Armor? Or nothing but a smile? Of all the dilemmas of my life, this is truly the best.' She thought in a moment of happiness, before the choice was made for her when she detected the sound of well known booted feet.

Skana opened the door and looked at the marvel around her. Tiny lights bounced around the room from countless candles, and there beside the bed, stood her wife, wearing a black and white dress beneath a warm and welcoming expression. "Welcome back." They said together as Skana flung the door shut and they closed the distance between one another in the way only those who know the struggle of life and death are capable of doing.

Their lips met and tongues dueled as their arms entwined, until at last Neia placed her hand over Skana's breastplate and pushed her slightly back, so that the green eye she loved so well looked down at her with expectation.

"I'm so sorry... it was an accident, I would never..." Neia's smile wavered for a moment until Skana's hands cupped her cheeks and held her fast.

"You are the bravest woman I've ever known, you've been and remain my hero, I know what that was before, and it wasn't will or wrath or cruelty toward me that made it so. I know it was an accident, and I will help you through it, no matter how deep the shit gets, I'm your woman, and you are mine. I love you, and will never let go. No more apologies, just living on, the best we can." Skana whispered and lightly kissed her wife's lips again, her hands reaching behind Neia's back, and unclasped the binding at the neck, which Neia allowed to fall to bare her flesh.

If there was one thing Neia knew as well as how to find the chinks in armor, it was how to strip it off, and it was not long before the echo of falling gear sounded off the walls like a passionate crescendo, until there lay not even air between entwined flesh. "Come, I know you said no apologies, but even with that..." Neia wrinkled her nose a little bit... "armor and the padding beneath tends to smell, come along, let me see you to the bath..."

Skana did not argue with either her wife, or the sentiment at all, not when she sank into the heated waters and felt hands running over her as she closed her good eye and let bliss envelope her. Not when Neia tugged her dripping wet to the bed, nor when she tasted sweetness, nor when they had tired themselves out so well that each required yet another bath after frenzy consumed them both until the rising steam was the only thing moving from the bed as they finished making love to the fading light of the candles, and the ruined city froze outside.

 _...Kami Miyako..._

Hunger. There is always hunger. An endless cycle of consumption. As the feast rolled out of his home after his slaves had paid the price for his power, he took a bite of grilled bicep, and swallowed it with blissful satisfaction. "Go, feast, feast and then follow me. There is plenty of food in this city, if you just have the will to take a bite." He said to the frozen night air, before turning around and walking back into his home.

"Cardinal... why?" Baxit, one of his few human servants asked with a hollow and uncomprehending voice as he stared around the now impossibly clean room.

"First I feed the soldiers, then I feed the people, when the gods are pleased that we have adhered to the true path, then and only then will they see fit to save us from the undead. We cannot compromise as Dominic would have it. A shame, I had such... hopes for that young man." He said and put his hand on the shaking servant's shoulder.

"Don't worry, I know, even for the faithful, this was a grim chore, but it pleases the gods, and that is reason enough to call it righteous." Yvon tapped him lightly a few times. "Go on, get a bite to eat, you must be hungry. Have something to eat, we should have some meat left, then get some sleep after your prayers."

"Y-Yes, cardinal." The servant whispered as he trudged away. He went to the kitchen without thinking, on the table there was still some cooked meat left, near the back, piles of bones that had been broken open and 'emptied' of the marrow within. His stomach growled as he looked at the flesh, he gripped his treacherous stomach.

"They were only elves..." Baxit whispered as he looked at the meat. "You can't feel bad about this." He whispered on. "You worked with them, you lived with them, you talked with them." He retorted to himself. "But they were elves." He answered back as his hand went unthinkingly closer to a morsel. "But they had come to trust you." He gnashed back at himself and clenched his jaw tight as his thumb and forefinger closed on a small piece. "But the gods said they are not people." He lifted it up. It smelled so good, his stomach was cursing his slowness and punishing him with pain. "But in the quietness of your heart, you knew better." He answered himself again as the morsel sat suspended between his fingers and just below his nose. "But... I'm so... hungry." His free hand clenched around his stomach, and his mouth opened just in time for the hand that held the meat flung it past his lips to sit on his tongue. He chewed as fast as he could as if to keep his own response at bay. Till at last he swallowed, and the response was, "Which of them was that, do you think?"

Baxit slammed his once well muscled hands flat on the table several times, keeping his frustrations at bay until they came out as a squeal and he just kept hitting the table until the rattling saw several slabs fall off and land on the stone floor with a sickening 'squelch' noise.

"Fuck it." He said to himself, and walked out back into the freezing night air. Snow crunched beneath his feet as he traversed the long backside of the manor. "Where are you going, idiot?" He asked himself, his breath steaming the air as he trudged and went on talking to himself. He didn't really see anything around him, he just stared a few feet in front of him at the snow on the ground, which was why he heard, rather than saw.

Misu shivered within the passage for what was certainly hours, she felt her body going numb, and cursed her nakedness more than she ever had before, yet even then she would not move, not until she felt she would die if she waited longer. So backward she inched, making as little noise as possible until she felt the intensity of the cold hit her all the harder as her feet emerged into the darkness. She went out the narrow passage until she had to slowly dangle herself, and then drop the fifteen to twenty feet below, down into the snow. She hit the ground and fell backwards, a painful bruise was no doubt already forming on her bare ass when she struck the frozen ground beneath the still low covering of powder.

They saw each other at the same moment. "Misu..." He whispered.

"Baxit, sir..." She said with waves of terror suddenly washing over her, she scrambled to her feet as fast as her aching body would let her, she thrust her back to the wall with her arms and legs out, "Please... sir don't... don't tell them... I want to live. I just want to live..." She whimpered as tears froze on her cheeks. "I'll... make sparing me worth it..." She whimpered and turned herself around and pressing her front to the wall with her legs open. "I just don't want to die that way... anything but that... please... please have mercy..." She whimpered, her hair bouncing around behind her as she shook her head in denial of the fate she feared so much. She braced her body and felt his eyes on her.

"No... listen..." Baxit said with pity rising in his stomach in place of hunger for the present. "You won't last ten minutes out here. Not like that." He said and tore his heavy coat off his back and held it out to her. "Take this." He said hurriedly. She looked at him in confusion.

He shook the coat, "There's no time!" He whispered hoarsely, "You've got to go! Run to Cardinal Dominic! Cardinal Yvon has gone... I don't know if there is even a word for that madness! But you've got to go! Go warn the Cardinal, unless you want every elf in the city to end up in the stew pots!"

She held her lewd posture and desperate expression as behind her eyes her mind raced. 'Is he serious? He's... no this isn't a trick, if it were he'd at least screw me first.' She cynically, and rationally, concluded, and her trembling hand reached away from the wall and took the coat. She flung it on and covered herself up for the first time in decades. Still she looked at him with doubt.

"Just go! Go before you really freeze! To get to Cardinal Dominic's home..." He whispered the directions rough and fast, describing it all as best he could and as fast as he could, repeating it several times and making her say it back so that he was sure she understood. "Listen, you have to be convincing! Cardinal Dominic may not be a friend to your kind, but whether you should be in or out of a stewpot seems to be a bone of contention enough to get Cardinal Yvon to launch a coup. A coup he might succeed at if Dominic doesn't see it coming. Now go!" He all but begged.

"Th-thank you." She said softly, the dull golden eyes sparked to the slightest bit of life, "I'll never forget you Baxit, even if that means nothing more than tomorrow morning." She turned and ran, clutching the cloak around her neck and at the waist as she rushed on feet frozen to numbness over stone streets.

The wind screamed her demise as she felt her body temperature drop, the snow crunched under her enough to bite her feet like an angry predator, and yet somehow despite the growing thickness, it provided no ease to the feel of the stone as her feet slammed down again and again. 'At least there is no one out on a night like this.' She thought as she leaned into the wind as it strove to tear the coat from her and see her dead. 'It's like the dark gods of this city want me to fail and die...' The grim thought came to her, and she gritted her teeth all the harder and pumped her muscles with even greater determination. 'No. No. I will not fail, I will not fall. I owe that to my brother, what happens after that, happens, but I will finish this.' Misu promised to the ghost of her sibling. 'Lend me your strength, brother.' She prayed silently as she rushed past house after house, building after building.

Her teeth chattered and she looked enviously at the glowing lights in many buildings where people bundled up for warmth in defiance of the freezing of the world around her. For what felt like years, she wondered if she were getting lost, if the snow had blinded her to a direction she should have gone, anxiety rose as the temperature of her body fell, until at last she saw the size of the houses grow. 'Almost there... almost there...' She repeated on a loop as her legs wobbled unsteadily, ahead, she managed to make out the dark shape of a great manor. Calling upon the last welling of strength, she came close to the door, until her body started to collapse. 'No... not here... not here... I'm so close...' She screamed inside her mind, and then she felt a sudden push against her back, a firm shove, and she stumbled forward the rest of the way and crashed against the front entrance. She hit it hard with her shoulder, as she fell to one side, she glanced back the way she'd come to call for help from whoever had pushed her.

She was alone, inside she heard the bustle of somebody's footfalls. She had eyes for the path behind her, and for a brief moment she thought she saw a familiar outline and her eyes froze shut when tears sprang forth, the hand of the outline withdrew and the whole thing faded. She ached to call out to him, but the door opened and she fell inward into the chest of a well dressed elven servant.

Her mind began to slip from consciousness, but she spat out, "Yvon... gone mad." And then she said no more.

Of all the visitors to come to the house of his master so late, an elven woman wearing nothing but a heavy coat was the last on a short list of possibilities, and at the top of a long list of impossibilities. Yet here he was, holding onto just that. 'What does she mean?' Yarvin wondered anxiously. For a moment, he nearly kicked her back out to freeze to death, but her last words before she lost all awareness grabbed him by the heart and squeezed.

He put an arm under her shoulder and dragged her all the way to his master's study where the embers of a fire still gave off considerable warmth. He looked between the couch and the floor, and without a second thought, put her on the floor close to the embers, then went and took up, with some reluctance, a pair of blankets from a closet and returned to cover her.

He looked down at the sleeping animal and grimaced unhappily, "I don't know what runs through that head of yours, she. But this had better be worth what I'm about to do." Yarvin said distastefully, and went upstairs to his master's quarters, he listened outside the door, if he was finished with a she, or alone, he couldn't tell, but it was quiet at least. He knocked.

There was no answer, he cracked the door slightly, Dominic was sound asleep on the enormous bed, he was alone. Yarvin felt his face melt with affection as he reached out and touched the cheek of the Cardinal. "Years a man, and I still see the boy in you, that you will pass before me, as your parents, and theirs before you, and theirs before them, I take no joy in long life, with its long loss." He whispered to the sleeping man. He let his look linger on, a little longer then shook Dominic awake.

Dominic sat up slowly, pushing himself up on his elbows before he sat up all the way. He blinked and rubbed the sleep from his eyes. "Yarvin, what's going on, what time is it?" He asked, looking out the window when his eyes began to adjust to the dark.

"Master, forgive me, but something has happened." Yarvin said with anxiety that set Dominic's hairs standing on end.

"What?" Dominic asked with concern as he began to slide himself out of bed.

As Yarvin explained about the female that was now unconscious in the study, Dominic narrowed his eyes. "We won't know anything more until she wakes up, is there any way we can hasten it along?"

Yarvin shook his head, "Except to warm her more, master, there is nothing we can do. With your permission I will build up the fire again, but I know of no magic that will warm or wake her."

"How long do you think it will take?" Dominic asked reluctantly as he walked out of his room with Yarvin following close behind.

"Hours, assuming she lives, she was nearly dead and said only that one thing before she lost consciousness." Yarvin replied as they went down the stairs together, the low light of candles making their shadows dance in a way that reminded Yarvin impulsively of how Dominic had liked to play shadow tag with him. Jumping onto his shadow and forcing him to 'freeze'.

"Yes... just like that, never hesitate to stand on an elf, body and shadow, both are beneath you." He'd said to the boy, who always nodded with understanding and told him to run again. Yarvin shook off the fond memory as they came to the base of the stairs and went to where the female lay.

Dominic reached down and touched her cheek, it was like touching ice with his fingers. "Get her an extra blanket, and build up the fire some more, you're right, Yarvin, I've never seen someone this cold. I'm actually impressed she made it this far if she came all the way from Yvon's manor."

"As you wish, Master." Yarvin answered and retrieved another.

Dominic sat on the couch and leaned forward, resting his elbows on his knees as the fire cast its shadows past her body to bounce within an inch of his feet When Yarvin had both covered her and rebuilt the flames, the Cardinal of Wind came to a decision. "Bundle yourself up against the cold, Yarvin. Wear all that you need, and go tell the safehouse of the Agante to put all their internal agents on high alert. I admit my first thought was to dismiss this, but as I look down at the desperate state of this animal, something must have clearly gone very, very wrong at Yvon's residence. By all rights it should have died out there, even animals don't push themselves so hard without reason. But I need to know more."

"As you wish, Master." Yarvin replied and went to carry out his master's order.

"I'll stay here and keep an eye on it until it wakes up, then see what other words fall from tongue when it can be used again." Dominic answered the unspoken question, and resumed a quiet vigil over the unconscious female.

"Of course, sir, but... remember the ah... other matter?" Yarvin gently reminded him.

"The female you saw? The one you knew?" Dominic asked with slight interest.

"Yes... master, I know it seems nothing to you, but when a treacherous snake is allowed to live in a house, it is usually with other snakes. The manor she lived in was Raymond's. And I realize her having an escort is not so strange, given Raymond's 'soft' nature. But I promise you, master, that one was uncommonly dangerous. If he sent out an escort like that with a mere animal, especially a treacherous one, either he can't be trusted himself, or at the very least, it would be wise to reach out for his help as well with whatever Cardinal Yvon is up to."

Dominic rubbed his right eye and yawned deeply, "Yarvin, I value your council like no other, but Raymond, for all my disagreements with him, isn't a problem. It isn't unusual to have a powerful servant or two, after all I've got the whole of the Agante under me. She's probably just a woman who dropped out before completing training to become a scripture. For someone like that to become a servant to him wouldn't be strange, and for someone like that to bowl over a few half starved peasants wouldn't be surprising either."

"Master... please. I beg you..." Yarvin fell to his knees and reached out his arms imploringly, "at least let me go by Cardinal Raymond's manor, if nothing else, alerting him to some possible danger would engender even deeper loyalty to you."

"Hmmm..." Dominic said and rubbed his chin thoughtfully at that, "Yes, that might be useful. Alright, 'after' and 'only after' you have alerted my local Agante to be on the lookout for anything strange, you can go by Raymond's home and deliver a warning to him that something is afoot. Am I understood?" He asked firmly.

"As my master wills it." Yarvin said with a sigh of relief as he stood, and readied himself for departure.

 _...Ruins of Wheaton..._

Queen Draudillon walked the streets of the ruined city, her eyes casting left and right. She felt not even a whisper of the cold, thanks to her enchanted gear. But despite this, her heart was touched with winter chill as the guards behind her kept their gloved hands tightly clenched around their swords. The billowing wind created tiny tornadoes of snow at odd angles, and mixed with the black of both ash and soot alike, it created a mockery of Winter's stark beauty. Her feet crunched over the sea of black spotted white, and snapped her head to one side when she heard a crash as yet another building caved in on itself.

Her soldiers responded to the tension in her with heightened alertness of their own. "Hard to believe, isn't it?" Queen Draudillon remarked as they walked down a long and empty street. Ahead of them lay a large amount of red snow, which had accumulated at the dead end of a four way crossing.

"What is, my Queen?" General Oma asked as she caught up with them as she trotted up on horseback, dismounted, and said, 'Return, Ichabod' and the horse became black smoke and vanished.

Draudillon's grim expression became more pleasant as Oma put herself in the Queen's path, knelt, and kissed Draudillon's hand as it was offered out to her.

"That this was once one of the most powerful and wealthy cities in the Theocracy. It is now only a shadow of its former self. Welcome, by the way." Draudillon said as she took her hand back and gestured for her dullahan general to rise.

"It is." General Oma remarked, her light blue skin reminded the Queen of the glacial ice she'd seen on a journey long before, perfect, beautiful, cold, and stark as the winter itself.

"Walk with me, General." Draudillon remarked and resumed her stroll.

"As My Queen commands. Where are we going?" General Oma said as she took up a position at Draudillon's left.

"Anywhere, nowhere, just walking and thinking. Occasionally talking." The Queen shrugged her slender shoulders dismissively. "Something many of us have taken to doing after the inspiration of His Majesty. His walk about the streets of his domains have sparked many a revolutionary idea, or discovered unknown talents, among his populations, or found problems even his ministers were unaware of. As a result, he often solved problems before they became one or reached a critical stage."

"You hope for the same, Your Majesty?" General Oma asked curiously as they left the bloody snow behind them when they turned down another street.

"It's a poor ruler who doesn't accept good ideas because they weren't hers." Draudillon gave a self effacing smile to her General.

"You were never a poor ruler, you were at your worst, a great ruler in the worst of circumstances." General Oma said with conviction, "Most others would have given in to despair, you never stopped working for us."

"You flatter me, General Oma. But the truth is not lost on me, I made mistakes, and other people paid for them. I do the past a disservice to bury my errors in judgement in my own memory as if they never were." Draudillon remarked, her hair billowed behind her even bound together in a long, waist length braid, as the wind funnelled into the street they were on.

"You're not cold, Your Highness?" General Oma asked with genuine concern.

"No, my equipment will stave off the cold. I suppose you don't require items for that any longer." The Queen remarked as the sound of another collapse somewhere close by, reached their ears. "The city is dying like it's people, only slower. How much of the Slane Theocracy is still alive, do you think?"

General Oma was quiet for a moment, "Are you asking me in my capacity as a General, or as an undead that is created to end lives?" A single dark eyebrow went up as she looked her Queen in the face.

"As a General. I doubt your undead status offers any fresh perspective on this. Does it?" Draudillon asked hopefully.

Oma shook her head, "No, it doesn't. I can tell when someone is close to death, and I'm still testing to see how diverse this ability can be applied, but I can't say how many are alive. As a General however, given what we've seen, and the reports from our counterparts, that over half the adult male population of the Slane Theocracy either is dead, or will be soon. Since they don't put as many women into armor, those survivors are higher in number. As far as the young go, that is even harder to say, since the Sorcerer King takes those away to be reared by foster families or in institutions. Taken together, over seventy percent of this country has ceased to exist at all, in life or in its borders. All that's left is Kami Miyako and the villages around it, and most of those will be as cold as I and much less active, before very long."

"I see. That sounds about right." Queen Draudillon remarked as a peasant coming around the corner saw them and froze where he stood.

Oma put her hand out and summoned her scythe, and out came the swords of the guards behind them, only to stop their actions as their Queen raised her hand at shoulder height, indicating they should relax. She kept her eye on the peasant as she spoke to her escort. "This is a common reaction, we don't wear the black uniforms of Neia's army, nor those forest colors of the elven army, and we weren't present for the destruction. We're 'neutral' in the eyes of the population, even as occupiers. He's not a threat."

Seeing that no aggression was coming their way, the peasant approached, "Please, a coin, something, anything?" He went to his knees and held up his hands as he came to within just out of sword reach.

Queen Draudillon reached into a pouch at her side and took out a coin of her country and handed it to Oma. "Give him this." She said.

Oma approached, and the peasant, realizing that her bluish skin was not an effect of the light, went pale as snow, as he accepted the coin from her. As soon as his fingers closed over it, he shot up to a crouching position, turned on his heel, and ran away as fast as he could.

"Not fond of the undead I see." General Oma remarked, "Your Majesty, after all this is over, and we return home. May I request a posting in our capital? I doubt I'd make an effective administrator over any former Theocracy lands. Hard to rule those who keep running away." She said in a dry witted voice.

Draudillon laughed in amusement, "General Oma, after General Musan retires, you'll have a long career serving me in the capital as my chief of staff. I can assure you of that. But you know, still, that one was braver than most. He actually stayed and took the coin, and he looked you in your eyes."

"Actually... that's a good point." General Oma remarked, "And the way he ran away, he sprang to a sprinter's posture like he'd had a lot of practice. I think... I think we'd better find him."

Draudillon looked over her shoulder, "Guards, go, find that man, I have questions. General Oma, remain with me, we're going back to the headquarters building, they need to know something is wrong."

The guards took off running immediately, following the prints in the snow.

"My Queen, please do not object to any measures I take from here back to the manor. Because anyone who gets too close to you, I 'will' cut down where they stand. You can punish me later if necessary, after we get you back alive." Oma said firmly, and took a position in front of her Queen, and they began to hurry back.

"Very well, but at least warn them to stay well back." Queen Draudillon remarked with displeasure.

"At your command, My Queen." General Oma said calmly.


	192. Clashes

God Rising: The Cult of Ainz

Written by: AtheistBasementDragon

Edited by: The Usual Gang of Drunken Perverted Idiots

Chapter 192: Clashes

 _...Kami Miyako...Raymond's Home..._

Nua woke up beneath the stairs and brought her knees to her chest. "Please. Please. Please." She said, but could not articulate the rest as she thought about her last words with Raymond. She took long, deep breaths as she came to accept that, yes, she was still alive.

She stood and touched her fingers, her hands, and then covered her heart with one hand. "It beats, I am still in this world. Hmpf, not even sure how glad about that I should really be." She said as she turned to walk out and, in a distracted moment, bumped her head and scraped off some of the skin. "Ouch... damn it!" She grumbled, and as her senses all returned to her in earnest, the full implications of it all hit her like a landslide. "Raymond..." She whispered and felt strength spring to her legs and she began to run. Her hair flew behind her as she dodged around the corners. Elves and humans looked after her with either annoyance or confusion, both of which she missed in her mad dash to know what fruit had dropped from the tree of their exchange.

She ran so quickly that she slid along the floor and barely snagged the bannister rail at the steps to stop herself from sliding too far, then used the grip to launch herself up a number of stairs. She rushed into his bedroom, and found him asleep. The dim light of the early dawn had not yet crested the horizon, but her elf eyes gave her her answer. There in the center of the floor, sat his religion's holiest text... and his knife was shoved clean through the word 'gods' on the cover. "You made your choice..." She whispered to the sleeping man through shimmering tears of happiness. "I'm glad, so very glad." She went and touched his sleeping form, her slender hand rested on his chest where he lay as if in death. His hands folded over his torso and entwined together.

She let her hands linger on his for a moment before she went to where the book lay and let her eyes linger there and the cross bladed dagger that jutted up from the floor like a tree that had grown through the book. She reached down, braced her foot on the cover, and pulled the blade out. She held the slender weapon out in front of her and cradled the flat one hand, while the other retained its loose hold on the handle.

"I can do this... one more time." Nua uttered quietly to the blade, and left the room, leaving Raymond asleep.

She went to the guest quarters, where Illal slept soundly, 'You ate him... or her. You 'ate' one of my people, you chewed that poor one's flesh and swallowed it, savored the juices and perhaps praised the chef... you deserve to die.' Nua held the knife upright so that the tip lay between her breasts and the handle lay against her belly, she placed her ear to the door and eased herself close to the handle. Silence met her from within. She could hear the sound of her breathing, her beating heart, even the little drift of hair that caught her when the breeze that blew behind her became noticeable.

She blinked and tensed. Then jumped and spun around in mid air as the cause of the 'breeze' laughed heartily, and was still laughing when Nua hit the floor.

"Going somewhere? I didn't know you liked 'older' human women 'that' way." Solution said with her monstrous grin, her eyes caught the knife in Nua's hands. "Knife play? Not for novices you know." She said dryly while she kept the enormous, inhuman smile on her face as she held her hand out. "Give it." Solution said bluntly.

Nua held the knife tightly, though she blushed as she understood what Solution was suggesting, she didn't buckle at the demand, she shook her head vigorously with tears in her eyes. "No. Please. She has to pay for what she's done. She 'ate' one of mine, at the very least she should die for it."

Solution shook her head. "You haven't been granted the right to kill that one. Besides, even by your standards, she didn't know what she was doing. Not that I mind her dying but... she has been granted tacit protection for the duration of the current crisis. I can't let you kill her, much as I'd like to watch." A vague look of disappointment crossed the face of the monster maid, but nonetheless Solution inched her hand closer. "Now give it, or I'll take it away."

Nua backed herself into the corner, the handle of the door jabbed into her back, "Please... Lady Solution..." She began to plead, only for the maid to shake her head.

"No." She answered, but a pleasant thought came to her. "But... how about if I let you have the one that gave her the elf meat? I'm sure Raymond intended her death anyway."

"I... was expecting you to say something about how she didn't deserve it... or... I don't know? Maybe tell me how it will haunt me or something, like Raymond told Neia." Nua said timidly as she clutched the blade.

Solution could not keep back her giggle of delight. "Oh Nua, I don't give a damn if she deserves it or not. I'd kill her because I'm hungry, or kill her because I enjoy it. And whether you're haunted or not is 'your' problem, not mine. My one and only concern is the will of My Lord. Anything else is irrelevant, and that one in there has at least temporary protection, so I won't let you kill her. When that's removed, I don't care if you skin her alive, all the way down to the bone."

Nua swallowed the lump that had formed in her throat when her heart leaped into it. "I... see. And... if you were allowed to do it to me?"

Solution shrugged indifferently. "I put some work into you and I'd hate to see it wasted, but never forget what I am, because that will not change. Now give... me... that... knife. I'll give it back to you when I take you to kill the other bitch."

Nua relaxed her grip and held it out by the blade, allowing Solution to take it by the handle. It slipped slowly, reluctantly from Nua's hand, slightly cutting two fingers as it was taken from her. "Good." Solution said succinctly and inclined her head toward the steps, "Go to the kitchen, prepare Raymond something to eat, he's had a long night."

"A long night?" Nua asked as the words registered with her. "What do you mean? What happened?"

Solution rubbed her temple with her thumb and forefinger and shut her eyes tight in dismay. "You're as dense as I am sadistic, I swear. Fine, fine, fine. After you left to go bury Illal's last meal, I had a little fun with him. I tortured his mind for... quite some time, about your little ultimatum. Kind of did him a favor I guess, you forget, he grew up here. That religion was 'his' all the way to his bones, he devoted his whole life to it. You demanded he choose, it might not have been intended, but it was the most beautifully sadistic thing you could have done to him. Maybe even more painful than what I did." She slipped the dagger into her body and held it within, then took Nua's hands in hers and enveloped them, without burning her.

"You might as well have asked him to cut off a limb, but he did it, I might not 'care' much, but that doesn't mean I don't understand what he felt or how. It's kind of funny, really." The beautiful smile that spread over her face, reminded Nua of the ecstatic bliss of the twins used by Hodge, and she struggled, then failed to suppress her shudder.

 _...Kami Miyako...The Home of Dominic..._

Misu woke up staring into a face she didn't know but which wore an expression she'd seen many times. Indifference. 'He does not care if I live or die... still, a step up from killing me for meat.' She thought as she suppressed a shudder.

"So, you live." He said patiently. He sat on a couch a few inches away from her and rested his forearms on his knees with his fingertips pressed together and palms apart.

"I... do. Are... Are you Cardinal Dominic, Sir?" Misu asked hopefully. The warmth of the burning flames of the fire washed over her beneath the thick trio of blankets, a wiggle of her fingers and toes beneath the blanket told her that they were going to remain intact, and briefly she wondered if some magic had been used to heal her.

"The same. Care to explain what you were doing running to my home in the middle of the night wearing nothing but a single thick coat?" He asked with an edge to his voice, and he subtly leaned closer over her fearful face.

"Sir... Cardinal... the Cardinal, Yvon, he was my master, our master. But he's gone mad! Completely mad!" Misu restrained herself from shrieking as she felt the rising anger from the human sitting over her.

"Explain, and be quick about it, slave." Dominic said abruptly.

Wetness filled her eyes and emotions of sorrow and loss rose up within that she couldn't keep back. "He had us... all of us, all the slaves in his manor, slaughtered! He killed us, had the bodies taken to the kitchen and defleshed, he turned us into food!" She sobbed. "My friends... my older brother..." She wailed lightly, and though he gave no sign on his face of caring, she did see his hands ball into fists.

"Why would he need that much 'meat'?" Dominic's voice was tainted with suspicion, "He couldn't eat that much in a year. Not even with all his human servants helping."

"Sir... he... the soldiers, he had soldiers do the killing, they ate us... ate us..." She blubbered out the barely coherent words, and Dominic folded his hands together as if in prayer, then extended his forefingers and brought them together and covered his lips as if to shush himself as he thought.

His eyes held onto her like he was sizing up prey, and Misu clenched herself tightly to keep from pissing herself from renewed fear. "Please... believe me." She whimpered quietly.

"And how did you escape, if everyone was killed?" Dominic asked calmly.

"M-My older brother, he knew of a shaft in the l-library. Hid me in there by moving a bookshelf, I w-waited in there till last night. Then I got down, a human who served in Cardinal Yvon's home, he gave me the coat and told me how to get here, he said to warn you what was happening. I listened to the cardinal's rant, from my hiding place. He intends to overthrow you, b-because you see us as something more th-than food. P-Please... is it true, that you do not eat us?" Misu jumped to the question she most craved answer to, and the low shaking that the heat could not eliminate, redoubled.

"I banned that barbaric practice. Your kind are slaves, but you are not as lowly as some beasts." Dominic replied as he shook his head with denial.

"D-Do you believe me, sir?" She asked desperately.

"I actually do. And before you ask, I won't be sending you back to Yvon, because there will be no Yvon to send you back to." Dominic responded and stood out. "Not for long anyway..." He began in a calm voice, then his temper flashed as rage broke through the calm facade he'd previously held and the urge to violence overwhelmed him, and he shot over the girl and slammed his fist into the fireplace, shattering the stone around them, "because I'll kill that treacherous bastard!"

Misu began to relax and her breathing grew easier. "And... what will happen? To me, I mean?" She asked in a little voice as his fist withdrew, coated with dust and embedded tiny stones in his knuckles.

"I suppose you can stay here, I'll have them fit you with suitable slave dress, and set to light duty while I bring order about." Dominic replied after a moment's hesitation.

"Master, as you say... should I... wait or?" She let her eyes go to the blanket that had replaced her coat and felt her breath quicken.

She needn't have asked, he waved her off with indifference, "It's fine, wait there, you don't know the way around my manor, and I have other things to do." He said with a barely controlled snarl as he considered the tale of treason she had carried to his ears. She closed her eyes and lay quiet as he left her alone and began shouting for his slaves to come and attend his orders.

 _...Yvon's Manor..._

"So three took their own lives?" Yvon asked his butler as he scratched his head while sitting up in bed as the day dawned. "Why would they do that?"

"Sir... I... I think they sympathized with the dead animals, each of the three was known to be more... 'gentle' in handling them than others." The butler, a slender man of grey hair and stiff voice that matched his wrinkled face and equally stiff posture, said reluctantly.

Yvon's face changed instantly, from a hint of unhappiness to callousness. "Then forget them, fools die the deaths of fools, and for doing something so stupid, they should be mocked. May as well kill themselves over a dead cow or pig, as over those animals. Livestock is livestock." He grumbled with annoyance.

"Yes sir, but on the other matter, no soldiers have arrived at your call." The butler replied as he set a tray of oatmeal, a pair of biscuits, and a sausage that could have only one origin, in front of his master.

"None?" Yvon asked with a sudden sense of anxiety, his eyes opened wider as he cut the cooked sausage and slid a piece into the first biscuit.

"No, Sir. It's only a handful of officers, they represent companies of common soldiers, and they pledge their loyalty. They have consumed the meat you gave so generously, and will serve loyally in return for food to sustain themselves." The butler let his smile sit comfortably on his own face at the manner in which he'd conveyed the good news.

Yvon received it well, laughing slightly as he dunked the biscuit into the oatmeal. "You had me for a minute there Yalos, just for a minute, but you had me. Excellent news, have them ready to raid Dominic's home tonight, and have them send some scouts out to watch his home. He never goes anywhere, so that should be easy. However, I have no doubt that he's well guarded nonetheless. And besides, he was a scripture member, once. When night falls, he does."

"As you wish, Cardinal." Yalos replied with a perfect small bow as he took up his master's tray when the meal was finished, and made his way out of the room to carry out his instructions.

 _...Ruins of Wheaton..._

Tuare held the hand of her husband as tightly as she could as they stepped through the gate and found themselves amidst Neia's handiwork. Proud towers were broken ruins, clean streets still had black ash blowing about amidst the snow. Tuare looked up at the Butler of Steel beside her, "Sebas... I'm frightened..."

"There is no need to be afraid, my love. She won't hurt you, nobody here will, and our Lord would not have you go and do what you could not." Sebas said with the patient strength that had so endeared him to her. She let her look to him fall away into a determined nod.

"I... suppose she would be in there." Tuare pointed ahead of her to the building that was still intact.

"The manor of the city's governor, yes." Sebas said as he looked around for himself. Freezing winds howled down empty streets, and the only indications that anyone had been left alive, were the scattered rising plumes of smoke from buildings around the ruined city, as well as the occasional heavily clothed human commoner.

"No children." Tuare said with a quiet rising horror in her voice.

"What?" Sebas asked her as they began to walk through the snow, her enchanted red cloak was keeping the cold at bay, so her voice was clear, but her meaning was lost on him.

"There are no children." Tuare clarified and swept her hand out to encompass the view. "Husband, remember what life I came from. Children work too, it's vital for families to survive, that everybody work. We see the occasional adult, but no children. Even in these conditions, we should see at least a few... did she... did she kill all of them too?" Tuare's body shook despite not feeling a bit of the winter cold, and Sebas drew her close.

"That is not the way of our merciful Lord." Sebas said confidently as the reached the steps.

They approached the steps of the manor and went up to where two elven guards in full kit stood watch. "Name and purpose?" The guards said in unison, but before an answer could be given, the great double doors parted, and Zesshi Zetsumei exited and stood in front of them. Clad in the white command armor given to her by the Sorcerer King, it had numerous etchings on it that artfully tied in to the runes engraved onto it by the dwarven runesmiths, though she was not greatly taller than Tuare, to the human girl she felt as if she had to crane her neck to look up at the black and white eyes and bound black and white hair. She looked over her shoulder at the guards, "I've got these two, I've been expecting them." She said to the black armored elves.

"Ma'am!" They answered in unified response.

Zesshi waved them forward, the doors reopened, and the Queen of the Elves led them in.

"Your soldiers are disciplined." Sebas said with a polite compliment.

"Those aren't mine. Those are Neia's. I believe those two were part of a group called 'The Vines', they alternate with a group called 'The Blood Miners'. They're Wenmark survivors." Zesshi replied, but smiled slightly as they walked on. "I will make sure they hear of your compliment however, it's funny, do you know how they settled on the guard shifts?"

"How?" Tuare asked as they walked the hall of the blood stained manor, she focused as much as she could on the white armored back of the odd looking general.

"Duels, or bouts, I guess would be a better word. They couldn't decide who was going to guard the Pope, so they set up a ring and had boxing matches, ten best against the ten best, and it came out a draw, so they take alternating days. Hard to believe they were ever just slaves. They were wasted on that kind of life." Zesshi remarked as they came to a set of stairs and began to ascend.

"Oh." Tuare said quietly.

"You disapprove?" Zesshi asked at the answer.

"N-No, it's just... why that way?" She asked demurely, letting her eyes fall to the carpet in front of her.

"I was wondering that myself," Zesshi replied as she opened up a large door at the top of the stairs, "so I asked Neia why she didn't just order one of them, I rather liked her answer."

"Which was?" Sebas asked with a hint of curiosity in his inflection.

"They like to remind themselves that they have a right to fight for what they want. If that keeps their spirits up, then a little mana spent on healing spells is a price well paid for good morale." Zesshi recited with a prideful voice. "A sentiment I like to remember, nothing does the broken spirit better than feeling strong enough to fight back, I've begun incorporating it into my own ranks, with positive results."

"L-Like what?" Tuare asked as she wrung her hands in front of herself.

"You have to understand, most of the elves under my command lived longer lives in chains than several human lifetimes, you don't come back from that overnight. Hatred was their only real drive, and obeying humans rankled, even if they were humans who broke their chains. They practically worship Neia, but she's still human. One thing she and I agree on, is that we can't build a people up just on hatred, so I borrowed a page from her book. I went with the next best thing. Pride. His Majesty's religion encourages the pursuit of personal excellence, and simple self respect, pride in their heritage and skills have been cultivated by contests. We grant awards, accolades and renown within our ranks for progress in a field. Not to mention courage and cunning in battle, Taken all together, these have rekindled the spark of life in a broken people. Little by little they have come back from the abyss, and of course... victory. Victory is the ultimate balm. If they were forced to fight another war against the Slane Theocracy as it used to be, but without the idiocy of my late father at the helm, I wouldn't put the same odds on a human victory."

They didn't need to see Zesshi's face to know she wore a predatory and wolfish grin.

"Where are the children?" Tuare suddenly spat out. "What did you do with the children of Wheaton?" Tuare asked again when silence was not immediately broken by an answer.

"The ones who survived the fall of the city, were all removed by order of General Baraja." Zesshi replied evenly.

"R-Removed? Removed where?" Tuare asked in a quivering tone, her eyes fixed on the back of the Queen.

"I don't know, far to the North, likely to the heart of the Sorcerer King's domain to be fostered out, or put into the orphanages that sprang up around Re-Estize, or the ones in the Baharuth Empire. Likely some went east to the Draconic Kingdom, but that's just a guess on my part." Zesshi said uncaringly.

"T-Taking them away from their parents...?" Tuare began only to freeze in place when Zesshi looked at her with a sudden coldness.

Sebas, without thinking, stepped slightly in front of her.

"Most of their parents are dead." Zesshi said succinctly. "I was here, remember. The ones who live, would be lucky to have gotten even just their lives. All I can tell you is that they're all gone from this city, the young held to the promise of their surviving family's good behavior. The rest to remain where they're sent to be raised as citizens under the Sorcerer King. Neither General Baraja or myself plan on making the mistake General Emmot-Bareare made."

"M-Mistake?" Tuare asked shakily as they got to walking again.

"Yes. The people of the Theocracy may be good to their own, but if you're not one of them, they're either at your feet or at your throat. There will be no rebellion here, or in the west, or in the east, like there was in the North. Aalon all but destroyed Feron, Leinas and her entourage simply made their enemies run themselves to death, Draudillon used terror and shame, while Neia and I... well, we're in agreement on these kinds of measures. They will not rise behind us when we leave to destroy their capital." Zesshi said as they entered the main hall.

"No, no they will not." Neia said from the throne of the former ruler of Wheaton.

Behind her at her right and left hands were Skana and CZ, and even a glance at them told Sebas that they agreed with Neia's sentiments. As Zesshi came close, Neia stood and descended from the seat of power and extended her hand to the Queen. They clasped forearms, "Queen Zesshi." Neia said warmly.

"Pope Neia." Zesshi replied with equal warmth.

"Hell of a conference." Neia remarked casually.

"All conferences are hell, I hate meetings." Zesshi said sarcastically, prompting a laugh from the Pope as they broke their grips.

"You're going to have to get used to those." Neia remarked with a smirk.

"Maybe, but I never have to like them." Zesshi said with an emphatic denial.

"Fair enough, but join my wife and I for dinner tonight, we can talk about how our temples can help your homeland recover." Neia said enthusiastically.

"I look forward to it." Zesshi said and stood aside, "For now though, they've come to see you, now if you'll excuse me, I should check in with Cenna and the others and see how they're holding up." She said and moved along, leaving Neia behind.

Neia felt her sky-blue eyes go from bright as candles in the dark only a moment ago, to being dulled as if burning out. "Please... come with me. I'll show you to your room for the night myself, we're leaving here in a day or two, once General Enri has removed the only barrier to her march, we'll all arrive at Kami Miyako together in the largest coordinated siege in history."

The couple politely inclined their heads. "We are in your care, General." Sebas said in the courteous way he always did, while Tuare inched closer to him and he put his arm comfortably around her waist as she silently looked on. Neia did her very best not to flinch when the little peasant maid did so.

She wore a stoic expression and looked over to her wife, "Vice Commander Skana, handle things for me for a few minutes, I'll return soon."

"Of course, General." Skana said stiffly, clenching her fingers behind her and holding her erect posture as if she were a statue.

The look between them lingered only a fraction of a second longer than it needed to, but then it was broken, and Neia led the way through the room full of officers and representatives from the four armies that represented four parts of the world. She moved easily through the numbers of chattering figures with eyes for only a single goal, the door on the other side. She moved with swift and even steps, only a little faster than made sense for the occasion.

Tuare felt her feet beneath her scurrying along, her hold on her husband had been reduced to merely holding his hand, but that hold was tight as her heart beat quickly in the presence of the terrifying general.

It was only when they passed through the door that Neia began to slow her pace, and after a few minutes walking through the hall, Sebas noted the way his wife's gaze lingered anxiously on the many blood stains, and asked, "Why have you not had the blood removed? I know you have magic users capable of something so simple."

Neia didn't look back, or answer the question, instead she asked one of her own. "May I offer a brief detour, I believe something is owed that cannot be collected or given in your quarters."

Sebas and Tuare traded a questioning glance, and when she smiled encouragingly and squeezed his hand, he answered for them, "Yes... I suppose that is alright."

"Good, then we'll be going this way." She replied, and led them down the right path at the next fork in the hall, and eventually out into a large open chamber.

"This is a training room. Why did you bring us here?" Sebas asked as Neia went to the wall and set her sword side, as well as removing her live arrows and replacing them with ones tipped with balls of hardened sap.

"I owe your wife ten thousand lives." Neia said in a voice as empty as the great training room in which they now stood. Dummy equipment sat at various intervals along the walls, wooden swords, blunted axes, blunted blades, staves and retracting knives with dulled edges and rounded tips. "But you are her husband, and also, I would not be me, without your dedicated training. I didn't just hurt her, I betrayed you. I owe you satisfaction. So?" She said questioningly, as she took up a blunted sword, "A duel then. It would not please our Lord for us to fight to the death. So instead let it be only until one of us cannot rise. Is that agreeable?"

Sebas narrowed his eyes, "Do you think you can win?"

Neia shook her head. "No, but it doesn't matter. I will do my damnedest to do so, this isn't a matter of reason, or logic, victory or defeat. This is simply honor, you fight to defend the ones you love, or to avenge them if they are harmed. I harmed her, accidentally maybe, but I am responsible for my actions. Besides, it is your job to do what you can to make this right. Same as it is mine." She swung a practice blade a few times in front of her.

"I... I don't need this." Tuare responded gently, "I don't need more violence. Not over me, I've seen too much violence. You don't need to do anything for me, don't need to fight like this." She clutched her hands together in front of her chest as if in prayer as she spoke her denials.

Sebas's stoic face did not break. "If my wife says this, it must be true."

Neia smiled gently, a little life coming to her dulled eyes. "If there is a better soul than yours out there, I've never seen it, Tuare. But with your permission, I would ask that you allow the duel. It is a matter of warrior's honor, nobody should ever be alive to say they hurt the wife of the Butler of Steel, and got away clean, even if..." her smile became wry and self deprecating, "the one in question would never make the boast, and will regret the act for the rest of her life."

Tuare's eyes wavered, and then her hands fell away from her breast and down to her sides, "If that is necessary, I don't understand war or warriors, I never will and I never want to. But if it will help... 'somehow', th-then I permit it."

Sebas went to his wife and took her shoulders in his hands, then leaned down and kissed her forehead. Tuare closed her eyes and all but melted, before stiffening up and stepping back out of the way.

The two faced one another from twenty paces distance. "Will this do?" Sebas asked.

Neia gave a grave nod, "You remember. I shouldn't be surprised, alright then." She took out her bow and looked over to Tuare, "At your ready, Lady Tuare." She said calmly.

Tuare took a deep breath, and as it came out she said a soft, "B-Begin."

[Speed of Death], [Death Grip], [Death's Endurance], [Call of the Grave], [Ability Boost], [Agility Boost] Neia activated her martial arts as fast as she could and drew her bow even faster, she spent a third of her quiver just charging the Butler of Steel, but he moved his hands with the grace of a conductor, as if he were guiding a symphony in front of him. The arrows clattered away uselessly.

Neia came close, and remembering her first fight against him over a year earlier, she flashed the blade out, her eyes were already dark as night, the crude iron bent as he blocked the blow with his wrist alone. She dropped and spun the other way to strike him behind the knee with the bent weapon, he lifted his leg, letting it pass harmlessly beneath and, pulling his punch, he brought the blow toward Neia's body.

She went with the spinning arc he'd allowed her to finish and used the momentum to roll herself out of the way, drop the blade, draw her bow, and fire three more arrows at his head as she came back in to kick him in the chest. She may as well have kicked a mountain.

He brought his other hand up, then down in a chopping gesture, only she used his unbroken posture to push herself off, and flew backwards, bounced off her hands, and landed with a bounce to her feet. "You have improved. Over a year ago, you'd have been finished."

"That one I learned from Skana, she's the acrobat. I'm... better at this." Neia launched herself in again, using the last of her arrows, she cast aside the bow and let him launch another of his impossible punches, she grabbed his wrist with death's grip and tried to fling him off balance, only to find that... again, a mountain would have been an easier object to move.

His next blow struck, hard. It caught her shoulder and sent her bouncing away, she got up, her narrow eyes free of any pain, blood on her lip, she wiped it away. 'He's going easy on me.' The rational part of her mind said, but that part of her was rapidly dying.

Another charge, this time she took advantage of the opening he'd given, not to attack, but to move to where the weapons were and draw two more practice blades, before returning to re-engage. She used one in her left hand, and continued to deflect his minor blows as her hunger for violence continued to drive away her rational mind.

'I see. So this is it.' Sebas thought to himself, he could feel the rising fury within her as she drew deeper and deeper from within, and lost her outer self. He continued to let her deflect, and deflected her attacks high and low with ease. 'She has grown far from then... blows that should have finished her... she no longer seems to feel. Those martial arts... the undead do not tire, the undead are relentless, the undead are filled with unquenchable rage and hatred... I see... I will have to report this to Demiurge.' He thought to himself, and landed a firm blow against her solar plexus, enough to kill a normal man, he felt bones crack beneath her skin, but instead she only threw the weapon to her other hand and used it to strike his side beneath the arm. It bent like the last one.

'So this is what did all those things...' Tuare pondered as she watched the small human in her signature green armor hammer in futility against the Butler of Steel, but refuse to fall as if pain meant nothing. 'She's not even breathing hard, how much longer can she go on?' Tuare wondered as a another strike sent her bouncing halfway across the training hall, only to stand back up again. 'Till she dies... she'll go till she dies, or until something snaps her out of it!' Tuare realized fearfully.

Neia was rising to her feet, her eyes empty of anything but the endless dark, she was again charging toward the Butler of Steel, but with empty hands. Her legs and arms pumped and she ate up the ground like a fire raced the wind through dry grass.

'I see. She must be stopped now, before she goes too far.' Sebas thought to himself, 'How best to do this? Killing intent? No. She would need to face something like Our Lord's for that. Command authority... yes, she was used to obeying me before.' He thought to himself, and as she came within the last thirty feet, he struck the posture of an instructor. His hands folded tight behind his back, his feet together at the heels, he shouted firmly, "Exercise over! Fall in!" in the same voice that she'd heard a thousand times and a thousand times again. His perfect and noble voice jabbed like a bolt of lightning shattering through the darkness, and illuminated the shadowy world in which the Black Paladin had cast herself.

Though she did not stop instantly, she quickly slowed until she staggered to within arms reach of him, and he reached out, and putting his hand up to her head, he drew his middle finger into his palm, held tense there by his thumb, and flicked her in the center of her forehead, sending her onto her back, splayed out and sore and coughing up blood.

Sebas knelt close to her, remembering a conversation with Pestonya about how to handle a mind lost to the bloodlust of the past. He took off his coat, and put it over the fallen paladin. "You are not there. You are not in combat. You are in a training hall, safe, there is no fight and no danger. Everyone is alright, you... are alright." He went on, letting her clutch the coat he placed over her body, his voice as low, and gentle.

'It's like when he talked to me… back then, or, those times I relive them. She's me, she's just like me…' Tuare thought to herself with a swelling of pity when she caught a glimpse of the haunted blue eyes.

He looked behind him to where Tuare stood watching the unfamiliar actions. "Bring me the water skin from the wall, please." He asked her politely, and within moments, it was in hand as she stood a few feet away to observe.

Sebas popped the cork and offered it out to the defeated opponent. "Drink." He said as he looked at the torn up face of Neia Baraja. She looked for a moment as if she might refuse, but at his insistent nod, she opened her lips and let him pour it into her mouth.

'What is this? How can 'she' be like me?' Tuare wondered, the untiring monster, that shrugged off killing blows, broken bones, and swung iron hard enough to have it bend, was now a shaking, heavy breathing, terrorized and broken mess, lost to the world around her until her 'target' began to draw her back to reality with gentle guidance.

When she seemed herself again, albeit bleeding from numerous injuries incurred by bouncing and scraping along the floor, she finally spoke.

"Ouch." Neia uttered as she wiped her lips with her forearm. "I think..." She said as she started to breathe hard, "I think you won that one, Butler of Steel."

Sebas approached in two broad steps and bending over at the waist, looked down at her. "I did, and I now understand a fragment of your problem."

Neia laughed and coughed up some more blood, "I can give you a full accounting, cracked ribs, lots of bruises, might have lost a few teeth too... a concussion... or three. Might be some lung tissue in that blood too, could you... grab one of those healing potions from the cabinet over there?" Neia asked and flopped her arm in the direction she intended.

Tuare didn't wait on Sebas, she scurried to the cabinet, opened it, drew out a bottle and, running to where Neia lay, she poured it over the Black Paladin.

"I broke one of your bones... your husband broke about thirty of mine." Neia said from down on the floor and forced a bloody smile as the potion took effect. "I'm not a merchant, but I think Tinamoc would say your husband has repaid it with interest." She said from the floor as she started to move slightly.

Tuare shook her head, "If that is what warrior's honor is, yes. But I am no less terrified of being alone with you now, than I was an hour ago, this gave me nothing." She said softly, 'Nothing but an understanding that only confuses me more, at least.' She mused.

Neia nodded gravely as she started to sit up, "I will pay your price, and I am not asking you to forgive me, or to forget what I did."

Sebas stuck out a hand, and Neia, after a moment's hesitation, took it and allowed her one time teacher to help her up. "It was not, however, without use. The basis of your abilities, the reason behind your battle mania, and the bloodlust therein. It is because of your status as a Black Paladin. All your unique arts are based on death and the undead, and so you carry their traits to an ever greater degree as you apply them. This is furthered by your... experience, with certain events."

"So... undead nature in a living body that is already full of rage? Isn't that a glorious thought." Neia said with a mixture of amusement, pride, and resignation. Her left eye twitched for a moment as she spoke. "I suppose that makes sense but... what do I do with that knowledge? How do I keep from... what do I even call that?" Neia asked as she retrieved her sword and arrows from where she'd discarded them. "A berserker state? Blood drunk? Frenzy?" She sheathed her sword, hard. It echoed slightly off the walls for a few seconds before going silent, like the rest of them.

"Now please, follow me, your room is close by." Neia said as the silence drew on, and she led them back the way they'd come. The pair followed the restored woman back to the fork in the hallway, and down the left path they went until they reached a door. "It's clean inside. I promise. And... Sebas, you asked a question earlier, and I'm sorry I ignored it. I didn't have the blood cleaned, because all this 'happened'. That... that time I saw father, when he put his cloak over Illyana's body and it was stained with her blood, he didn't remove it. Yes, he could have used a cleansing spell and erased the stain, but it would be like erasing the event."

Neia wiped her eyes and barely kept back the trembling of her lips, "Tuare, you may think I keep it this way as some kind of... love of blood, but it isn't. It is so this is remembered. As my beloved father let the blood of a slave linger on his precious garment so that it could not be forgotten, so I have left every stain of victory in place. Victory is a filthy, filthy thing, and I won't let that become an afterthought in some half drunk, lazy bard's story two years from now. I hope you can understand."

'Such is the greatness and compassion of our Lord.' Sebas thought to himself with pride.

She reached out and turned the handle, then pushing open the door, she pointed inward with one hand. "Please, take your ease, both of you. I'll have a servant sent later to attend to your needs until we depart."

For a moment, neither of the couple moved as they considered Neia's answer, then without another word, they entered and shut the door behind them, leaving Neia to return to her duties without them.


	193. The Setting Sun

God Rising: The Cult of Ainz

Written by: AtheistBasementDragon

Edited by: The Usual Gang of Drunken Perverted Idiots

Chapter 193: Acts

 _...Kami Miyako..._

"Please! Please not the gag! Oh god! No! It hurts! It hurts! Please stop, sir!" Enlaith shrieked under General Boabdil's eyes. Her look was hard as a shield and thoroughly defensive, and a moment later she made lots of gagging noises as the cloth was lodged in her mouth.

Then silence. She got up, went to the door and listened for movement outside. She then yanked the cloth out of her mouth and threw it onto an ornate wooden table nearby and sat down at it. She gestured to the other seat opposite herself. "There, that little show should put off any questions about why it was so quiet in here after you paid for all that time." She rolled her eyes, "Of course I'll have to have you hit me for real a few times to leave some decent bruises but... it can't be helped."

Boabdil mutely sat across from her as her expression relaxed. "Oh, so... that's what all that sudden shrieking was about. I admit that for a moment, I thought you were crazy."

Enlaith looked decidedly smug as she poured some cheap wine into a pair of cups and put one in front of him. "Crazy like a hungry fox." She said in a voice as smug as the smirking expression.

She took a deep, long drink from the cup, tilting her head back to get every drop as Boabdil drank his more slowly, setting it down several times as she finished two more. "I wouldn't sip that garbage, General." Enlaith advised, "It's not the good stuff, there's no good stuff left, and that won't sit well for long."

"I've had worse in the field." Boabdil remarked in passing as she slammed her cup down again. She went quiet for a moment, then shrieked out, "No please! That's not where that goes!"

She laughed very quietly as he turned a deep red. "Someone passing by in the hall." She tapped her ears, "These are pretty good, you know."

Boabdil shifted uncomfortably in his seat. "Ah, yes, well... back to the reason I came here. I'm taking control over this 'resistance' you have going. The information networks, peace advocates, everything. Raymond informed me of your activities, but the time where those were helpful is passing. We have to consolidate, and start retracting inward."

Enlaith's eyes narrowed dangerously, "Tell me... human, how do I know this isn't some trick to get all of us together so we can be slaughtered all at once. Dominic's Agante didn't get many after he had his daughter and her mother killed, but there weren't that many to get in the first place."

"You are not what I was expecting." Boabdil said as he reappraised the slender elf prostitute, deflecting her briefly.

"Oh? What 'were' you expecting? Some waifish, half starved elf trembling in the corner?" Enlaith asked with an edge to her voice as she poured another drink for herself.

"Well, something like that?" He half asked and half admitted.

Enlaith gave a low, harsh laugh before throwing back another drink. "You wouldn't be wrong for a lot of us. But every person is different. Some of the women I knew, the ones who were first sold with me, killed themselves after some time in captivity in places like this one. Some broke and became shells of who they were, like dolls, they didn't and don't feel anything at all. Some became meek and fearful. Some flung themselves into their work to make the best of things, seeking any small happiness they could. Others... like me? Well, some of us got harder. I look for ways to 'get even' and take my revenge where I can. Killing a human here and there when I can get away with it. I do what I have to in order to survive, but I don't forget who my enemies are, not even when I kiss them as if I loved them, did I forget the urge to bite off their tongues, or anything else when I could."

"You'd have made an amazing soldier." Boabdil remarked with a respectful look as he sat up straight and stared at her, unable to blink but forced to suppress the wince at what she implied.

"Thanks, I suppose. But would you answer my question?" She asked him impatiently.

"Fine, the simple answer is that you don't, but you've heard enough rumors at least to know things are coming to a head, and you've got two choices. You can have your network scattered around everywhere when the Sorcerer King's generals break down the walls and fill the streets with more soldiers than this city has people, or, you can get them all together somewhere so that when Neia orders her soldiers to kill everything in their way, she knows where to tell them to stop. Now will you work with me, or not?" Boabdil asked bluntly.

"You're a human... but... so is Raymond, and so... mostly, was that crazy bitch from last time. Fine, I'll get the word out, have the soldiers who came with you go to these locations, I'll get the word put out to meet up with them they'll then smuggle people out of homes without being noticed. But there are two things you'll need to do." Enlaith said as she snatched a piece of paper and began to scribble down a series of locations scattered around the city.

"What's that?" Boabdil asked dubiously as she slid the paper over to him and he looked it over.

"First, beg for some food. The Sorcerer King's agents can probably do so directly, you want to save people, you need to keep them in one place. Second, you'll need to talk the Pope into sparing human lives. She's not much for mercy when it comes to the Theocracy, and when she finds out what has been happening here? She might just lose it. Raymond has told me stories sometimes, about what he's seen, heard, and so on. About this city and about what has happened outside of it. Personally, I don't care if any humans live or not, not anymore. But..." She paused with a little frown when trying to pour another cup and found only a few drops fell from the lip of the little jug. "Damn." She said, and threw it hard against the door. It shattered, "Please! Please don't cut me!" She shrieked, and felt a twisted satisfaction as he looked down at the floor, unable to meet her eyes.

She then went back to the matter at hand, "As I was saying, 'but'... I understand there are some lives Raymond thinks are worth saving, and given how hard he's worked, I'll give him this one. He met with her once, he may be able to arrange it again. If that fails, you may be able to intercede with the Sorcerer King, but realistically speaking? I've never met him, but he's not long on mercy towards those who cross him, from what I hear. And wiping this city out might be the perfect way to say to the world that this country no longer exists."

"I see. That is... good advice." Boabdil remarked, then he snatched up the cup of cheap wine, threw back his head, and downed what was left of it.

"Yes, it is, but there is one more thing I want, and I want it now." Enlaith remarked.

"Which is?" He asked reluctantly as he threw the cup against the door, shattering upon impact.

Enlaith pursed her lips for a moment and then said, "I want you to kill me. No, not really, this little show has people out there thinking you've brutalized me, I'd planned on just having you hit me and cut me a few times just to make it realistic, but given all that you've just said, I think it's time for me to get out of here."

"Is that really necessary?" Boabdil asked distastefully, he made a sour expression that was further exacerbated by his beard as the tensing of his cheeks raised the hairs over them when he heard her request.

"Absolutely. Hit me in a few places, cut me up a bit, then smear the blood on my throat, oh and put some of it around your mouth. Then ring the bell, tell them you tenderized the meat a bit too much. They'd normally dispose of me themselves, but... tell them you'll handle it yourself, you have a use for my remains. They may charge you a little extra, maybe by the pound. But... they won't think anything of it otherwise." She said with an unnatural kind of calm as she described what she wanted him to do.

"Are you serious? He asked, aghast as he leaned back from her in his chair.

She shot to her feet and flipped the table over between them, it crashed and broke, and she shrieked out a banshee like wail once more that died in a whimper. She was breathing hard and stared at him as if he were an idiot, an idiot she despised. She then spoke in a low, savage voice that was barely a whisper as he shot to his own feet, for a moment thinking she would attack, but save for the heavy rise and fall of her breasts as she took one rapid breath after another, and the movement of her lips, she didn't move from where she stood.

"I've heard that scream many times since I first walked through doors like these. When a human went too far, by accident or by intent. I see it on your face, you know what it is, it's a death scream. You probably heard it on battlefields. I heard through the thin walls of bedrooms." She kicked the leg of the table she'd flipped over, breaking off a long stretch of it, she hefted it once, then tossed it to him. She then picked up a smaller piece, and was about to put it into her mouth, though she hesitated just one more moment to add, "Death has always been the only escape from your country for my people. So faking my death is the only way to hide until someone brings death to your walls. Come on, human. Give an elf whore a good beating." She hissed at him, and moved the side of her dress aside and pointed to her thigh before putting the piece of wood into her mouth and biting down.

Boabdil looked at the broken table leg in his hand, and at the expectant expression of the resolute woman. Her hateful eyes went vulnerable for just a moment, and she nodded encouragingly as she clenched her jaw tight enough to dig her teeth deep into the wood, then with a grim resolve not so different from her own, he lifted the improvised club, and brought it down on her flesh.

A few hours later, a carriage pulled up outside, and a pale faced General carried the bruised and battered 'body' of an elf female outside, hanging limply over his shoulder until he rudely tossed her in the seat, quietly aware of the looks his blood stained beard drew as he got in and pulled away.

 _...Outside of Crossroads..._

Ithari brushed back his dark hair and took a long, deep breath of cold air. He scooped up a bit of snow and put it into his mouth so that even steam would not give away his position. Behind him were some bumbling idiots, but it was 'because' they were bumbling idiots. A dozen of them crouched where he told them, wrapped in the warmest clothing they could gather, these priests, priestesses, and a few followers of the gods, prepared their positions the way he instructed them to.

"H-How long now?" One of them asked through chattering teeth as the sun began to dip low on the horizon.

"Hours, I suppose." Ithari replied dismissively. "Quit asking stupid questions. It doesn't matter how long because we're not leaving till it happens. You're lucky to even get this chance."

"N-No, it isn't luck. The gods willed that you capture Enri's messenger to Heikeren offering a meeting. The gods willed that Kar capture his warning to her and reveal the betrayal. It was the gods, not your efforts, that made it possible to let you walk them into meeting where you could kill them both." A moderately well built young priest with a fanatical gleam in his dark eyes, admonished him.

Ithari wondered if Kar was grumbling from the other position with his own band of idiots. "Fine, luck, the gods, I don't care what it is, what matters is that we were able to get her message to him, and keep his warning from her, and prepare this place for them to die. We've done all we can, now all we can do is wait. Wait, stay hidden, and stay silent. Now here, take some of this and rub it on yourselves." He said and took out a bottle. He splashed a little over his head, and handed it to the next person, before patting the place down with the hood of his cloak.

The one he handed it took, took a whiff and recoiled, his lips scrunched up and his eyes shut tight as if he didn't even want to look in the direction of the stench. "What is this? It stinks enough to call the gods back from heaven!" he exclaimed.

"Animal piss. A mix of it, some dog, some deer, and so on. From what we know of the cunt's guard, she's a werebeast, a werewolf, to be precise. They have an extraordinary sense of smell, why do you think we are downwind?. She'd know if people were here before them, so we have to hide from her nose, animal piss wouldn't be uncommon. Stay out of sight, make no noise, hide our smells, and we can catch even that bitch off guard. Now quit asking questions like the answers will change my orders and put it on, or I will put you down." Ithari growled the threat through gritted teeth.

One by one they obeyed, and as the light faded and surrendered to the darkness, the pair of Agante prepared themselves for death. 'I doubt I'll live through this, but I will see that bitch burn to ashes, and perhaps her death, even if it doesn't result in the fall of the North, will forever put doubt into the undead's followers. After all, if even his first loyal follower is allowed to die in agony, how divine can they think him to be?' He took another mouthful of snow, and watched the twinkling stars overhead through the breaks in the many trees. The clearing was sizable, a good twenty yards in every direction, good enough for a small meeting to take place covertly. The thick trees made the darkness even greater with shadows overlapping shadows.

After a time, doubt gnawed at Ithari's gut. 'When will they get here? These few vengeful ones can't hold out forever against these conditions, if only I still had the rest of my team... but these will do, with... a little help.' He told himself again and again.

A sound hit his ears, voices, low, human, and coming from the south. 'Heikeren. Fuck knows why he turned on us, but if the gods favor, maybe I can ask him before I shove his own balls into his mouth and cut his throat.' Ithari thought with barely suppressed rage. He glanced into the low trenches, just a few inches deep, into which his 'new team' had concealed themselves. They were obeying his orders to only look at the ground.

He closed his eyes and listened.

"Yes, I'm sure she'll listen to us." Heikeren said calmly to one of his aides. "She's not a monster, she wants this over with as many people alive as possible, same as us."

'Four guards... that's good.' Ithari thought as he felt the light hit his eyelids 'With torches, even better.'

As he listened to the five from the Theocracy command take position, with their heavy booted feet crunching on the snow, he heard another series of voices.

"Lupu, Sun, you know how much I value your council, both of you, but if there's a chance I can end all this with just a conversation, then it's worth the risk. I know, I know you'd rather just rip them all apart personally, Lupu. But I owe it to our soldiers after all that to give them at least one peaceful victory that doesn't destroy any lives." Enri said confidently.

"I'll never forget this." Ira replied sincerely as the manacles clanked together in front of her.

"Better not." Lupusregina replied bluntly and issued a low growl from Enri's right hand.

Ithari felt more light in the area, 'Also torches, good, and there are only four of them. One of which is a prisoner.' He thought as his ears told him what he needed to know. 'The monster on the right, goblin on the left, prisoner in front, general in the center.'

Branches snapped and broke under the weight of snow, occasionally bits fell loose and landed with a 'fluff' like noise on the ground, but the assassins added nothing to the ambiance.

Ithari opened his eyes and watched as the two sides formed up on opposite sides of the clearing. Heikeren loosed his sword belt, and handed it to the guard behind him.

Enri began to do the same, and then handed her own to Sun at her left. One of Heikeren's soldiers walked to the center bearing a long torch, and after jabbing the sharp end into the frozen ground several times, he stepped back into position, and the two commanders walked over to where the torch stood, casting shadows over them both.

Enri spoke first, "General Heikeren." She said politely.

"General Enri." He replied with equal courtesy. "I see you've taken care of my comrade, I am... thankful. I was afraid she was lost to us."

"Well, I'm alive, thank you very much." Vice Commander Ira said in a self deprecating tone emphasized by a slightly wry smile forming at one corner of her mouth. "Even bathed and dressed in my uniform for this occasion, all in all, I could be worse off."

"Yes, Neia probably would have killed you." Enri said pointedly, ignoring her otherwise as she focused her look on Heikeren.

Enri didn't smile, her eyes looked hard at him, ignoring the expression of gratitude. "Were you involved in the uprising?"

"No." He said coldly. "That was a stupid waste, perpetrated by the Agante."

"I don't trust you, any of you people." Enri said bluntly, "I am only taking this chance to give you the opportunity to surrender and save your lives, if I walk out of here without your sword, your entire army will never walk anywhere else again."

Heikeren did a double take, "That is... not the statement I was expecting."

"Come on, Heikeren, you can't be surprised, that insurrection did a lot of damage, more than you realize, and I don't mean to her army. It hurt us." Ira said sadly.

"It did, enough that I question my presence here." Enri said with deadly quiet in her normally gentle voice.

Heikeren tugged on his face in frustrated exhaustion. The fire of the torch licked at the frozen air and cast shadows around them both, "Look, General Boabdil himself told me to take this path, I already know what's going to happen, there's no Slane Theocracy left. If I had a chance at winning this, I would fight to the death, but I don't. There are just a few things I want, give me those, and I give you my sword, and my army with it."

"You're in no position to negotiate." Enri replied sharply. "After all, how can I trust you to do anything?"

"I was hoping that our respectful interactions had bred some measure of trust between us?" Heikeren remarked optimistically.

"Enough that you would swear an oath in Eostre's name to keep your word, even if it kills you to do so?" Enri asked sharply.

Heikeren's eyes snapped to the hanging face of Vice Commander Ira. "You told her?"

"Not everything, just that you'd keep an oath in that name no matter what. Forgive me." Ira said sadly as she saw his wounded expression and the flame reflected in his widening eyes.

"Too much to ask?" Enri asked coldly.

"If he cannot make this oath in the gravest of names to him, we cannot trust him at all." Sun said from his position, he tapped his cane lightly. "This, General Enri, is an all or nothing moment."

"Fine." Heikeren said resentfully. "I have a few minor requests, if you do your best to keep them, then I surrender, my army will surrender their weapons down to the last spear. I swear it in Eostre's name."

He then went down to his knees and lowered his head. "The Army of the Northern Theocracy surrenders." He said gravely.

"You're going to leave it to me to decide if your terms are reasonable?" Enri asked in surprise.

Heikeren raised his head without being asked, though he did not rise from his knees. "We have been enemies, but not personal enemies. You treated our soldiers well when they were taken captive. We did the same with yours. I've got to trust that you have not lost yourself to hatred or bloodlust. I don't think you have, or we wouldn't be here. And... I'm hoping the fact that I sent a warning about the assassins, helps persuade you of my good intentions."

Enri looked over her shoulder to where Lupusregina and Sun stood, just a few feet away. "Assassins? What assassins?"

'Everything or nothing? No. Just nothing.' Ithari thought from his hidden position as he finally finished piling the little alcohol soaked tinder over the ending point where the line of pitch ended. 'I wish we could have coated the whole clearing with this stuff but... oh well.' He struck the flint and the spark flew immediately with the little 'clack' noise of stone striking stone.

"Look out!" Lupusregina shouted in alarm as from both sides of the clearing, the two teams sprang to their feet and threw spears at the figures lit up by the flames.

Heikeren and Ira reacted immediately. She snatched her hands up and grabbed the general's cloak and yanked her back, as Heikeren, still on his knees, dove forward, grabbed her by the legs, and pulled her down.

Enri felt the wind get knocked out of her as she landed on the hard snow, she felt something sticky clinging to her clothing, and a moment of horror came over her as her brain instantly made the connection between the clack of stone and the substance she felt and managed to get a glimpse of.

She was not wrong, a few clacks and sparks hit the pitch, flame roared to life and raced along the criss crossed pattern of pitch lines all over the clearing beneath the snow. Two of Heikeren's soldiers screamed as they were standing in exactly the worst position. Another fell when a thrown spear went through his neck. The would be assassins ran screaming into the walls of fire. To finish off their prey.

A howl split the winter sky, [Summon Pack] Lupusregina said, and direwolves dashed out of nothingness to attack the attackers, heedless of the flames. She felt her fur burning as she rushed through the flames and began tearing out throats.

She heard a faint gurgling cry behind her, but paid it no mind. She heard Enri scream in agony, and shouting voices as Heikeren's last defender fell, followed by a shout of defiance from the man himself.

Leaping into the flames in the last stretch of an arm's length, she found Enri rolling with fire stuck to her arm, and with a howl of bloodlust, orgasmic bliss as she saw her best friend in agony, with fire dancing off her cheek and limbs, she grabbed the Grand Matriarch by her arm and flung her out of the chaos, sending her bouncing free of the flames to roll in the snow as she put out the burning herself.

Half his men were down, Ithari could tell that much, his lightning quick senses told the story of the attempt as it happened, he saw Kar fall not six feet away when Heikeren drew a spear from his calf and shoved it through Kar's throat. A direwolf dove through the flames and hit one of the priests hard enough to knock him down, it tore at the human throat with knife-like teeth, leaving the human gurgling out his screams as he was pinned down to the burning flames amidst the freezing snow.

From there, he spotted Enri flailing with her hair catching fire, as if it ached to be the wick that would burn her to nothing. 'There she is, there's the cunt that caused so many problems, kill you, and at least one thing will be solved.' He thought as he ran at her with the Agante knife raised over head, only to find Ira's rage filled face in the way as she tried to thrust a broken spearhead into his face.

"Bitch! Treacherous bitch!" He shouted and avoided the strike, his knife flipped position at the handle and flew back and forth in front of him in slashes at her throat. Ira avoided them as their martial arts activated one for one, but fury drove him on even harder when he saw the werewolf yank Enri and fling her out of the chaos.

"You don't matter!" He snarled and he managed a good, hard kick into her chest, sending her falling onto her back, he turned and ran through the fire to finish the General where she fell.

'Ten more feet...' he said as he saw her struggling to rise, he howled with hate as he raised his knife, his cloak flying behind him, he saw the look of sudden fear on Enri's face as she looked up at the noise and saw the fire and hatred reflected on the blade above her.

The knife fell, but not in a killing blow.

Ithari felt his grip go limp before he understood why it was happening, the knife fell from nerveless fingers to land upright, it's tip buried inches in the ground, he felt his feet rise from the earth and looked down to see a claw sticking through his chest.

He coughed, hard, blood came out, he reached out with his free hand to touch the bloodsoaked, red claw protruding from his chest, not understanding how it got there. 'So soft...' He thought stupidly at the feel of the fur.

The growl however, he understood the growl as he was brought back toward the owner of the claw, and he understood the meaning of the terrible maw as he was forced to bend painfully far back, and the jaws came down to his jugular.

He did not understand the pain of the bite, because he was dead as soon as his throat was torn out.

Enri was still yowling in pain when Lupusregina crouched down next to her and, hovering her hand over the burn marked peasant General, she cast [Cure Moderate Wounds]. The pain faded almost instantly along with the vanishing burns.

"You looked like shit. General Enri." Lupusregina said as she returned to her human shape and held her bloody hand out.

"That... hurt... a lot. I've never felt anything... anything like that. Not even when I was injured in that fight at my village." Enri said fearfully as she touched her cheek and looked anxiously down at her arms.

"Doesn't now though, right?" Lupusregina said with her big, toothy grin. "I know, I'm an amazing cleric, you can spare me your gratitude."

Enri spat some loose blood out of her mouth and into the snow. "I think you should be the one thanking me, and apologizing to me, too." She said sardonically.

"Why's that?" Lupusregina asked as she folded her arms in front of herself defensively.

"First because I 'know' you just had the hardest orgasm of your life, so... you're welcome. And you should apologize to me for making me 'see' that happen." Enri shuddered mockingly, but Lupusregina didn't even blush.

"If you hadn't been on fire at the time, you'd have loved it and you know it." She said with a smirk as the fires began to fade behind them.

"No, definitely no. Now where's Sun? Usually he'd be the first to come up to me now and say something wise." Enri said as she looked around, and then saw the little lump sprawled out in the snow.

"Sun!" Enri shrieked and rushed over to the limp body of the Goblin Strategist. "Lupu! Heal! I need your magic!" She cried out as she looked down at his body, he lay on his side, the pool of blood saying he had not moved from where he fell. A blood tipped spear and the open throat told her what had happened. His body had already lost it's warmth, and Lupusregina put her hand on Enri's shoulder as she shook the little goblin, and he began to turn into tiny motes of light and vanish as the last bit of life fled his flesh.

"Enri... he's gone." Lupusregina said as Enri hunched over the body and continued shaking him.

"Sun! Sun! Come on! Get up! Get up!" She urged the corpse that was already half vanished. "Come on! You're my strategist!" She looked up over her shoulder, "Lupu Please! Try! Just try!"

Lupusregina crouched down next to the vanishing corpse, [Cure Critical Wounds] she said with a hand over the now almost faded wound. Nothing happened.

"Please! Try it again! Try it again!" Enri urged desperately, her lower lip quivered and her entire body shook as grief already began to rise even before she was ready to admit the loss. She reached out and grabbed the red headed beauty at the shoulder with her bloody hands.

"It won't work, I can heal folks at the brink of death, but for a dead summon, there's nothing I can do. When the spark died, he was lost forever." Lupusregina said patiently, "I'm sorry."

"Could His Majesty bring him back...?" Enri asked with a sniffle.

"No... he was spawned from an item, once he's gone, he's gone forever. Like I said, I can't do anything."

Enri wiped her nose, and a hard look came into her eyes, "Are you actually sorry, or are you just going to get off on how much this hurts?"

Lupusregina didn't miss a beat, "Both. But we can talk about that later." She said, and pointed behind Enri to General Heikeren and Vice Commander Ira, who were slowly walking over, though in Heikeren's case, he was held up by having an arm over Ira's shoulder, as she kept one wrapped around behind his back. Hobbled or not however, they approached.

"Ah... I could use healing, if you don't mind." Heikeren asked, chastened as Ira slowly let him slip to the ground.

He flopped down with an audible grunt of pain, Lupusregina looked to Enri questioningly, and the General nodded, and put her hands into the snow where the Goblin Strategist's body had fallen and vanished. As Lupusregina tended the pair, Enri whispered comforting words to the empty space.

Enri choked out gentle words as she looked down into the ground. "You'll go down in history as one of the greatest strategists in history, books will teach your words of wisdom, and the fate of nations will echo your counsel for thousands of generations. Rest, my friend, I'll finish the rest with you in my memory, instead of at my side." Her shaking hand went to where his face had been, and with heartfelt wail, she punched the snow and dirt beneath her hand.

She wiped her face when she ran out of breath, sniffled one more time and looked down at the pair of Theocracy officers as she thought of Sun and focused on her duty, as he would have advised her to do. "I suppose that eliminates the question of whether or not I can trust you, doesn't it." It was not a question, not with that tone.

They said nothing in response, unsurprising to her as none of them considered a response needed.

"You saved my life, I think. I won't forget that." Enri added. "As to terms... how are these?" She asked, then took a deep breath and spoke with the swiftness of a boat going downstream and as firmly as a sword against a shield.

"I will house your soldiers in Crossroads instead of sending them North. They will bear no weapons or armor, but they will remain under your officers' authority to discipline, and your officers will answer only to those I leave in command. When the war ends, they will be released and I will let them keep their horses so that they can take up farming. Weapons and armor will be sold and used to buy them the means to rebuild peaceful lives, the conditions will be that you appoint a small corps of code enforcers, and both work to rebuild Crossroads, and enforce our laws as if they were issued by your Cardinals themselves. We will feed you as we would our own, and after the war I will help your soldiers resettle. With further understanding that all of them forswear resistance to myself and to the Sorcerer King now and forever."

She stopped and folded her arms in front of her chest as she looked down at them with eyes of stone. "Sun died for this, and I won't do half measures. Every single one of your soldiers accepts these generous terms, or every single one of your soldiers dies." The pair was quiet and solemn as they stood.

"There is one more thing I want to ask for. Without it, all this was meaningless." Heikeren replied.

"What?" Enri asked as coldly as the corpses around them.

Heikeren swallowed hard before he spoke, "I want you to stop General Baraja from slaughtering Kami Miyako. I know what she'll do, but my General is there, General Boabdil is almost certainly trying to find some way to either force a surrender or at least to save those he thinks she'd be willing to spare if there were a way to do it." Heikeren said urgently, "Please, I know what your Pope says, I know... some of the things my country has done, but there are still people worth protecting, besides... I think you'd want to show General Baraja that hers isn't the only way."

"Fine. Look, His Majesty has handed her control over four armies, not officially, but she'll almost certainly have it before she moves out. She's got a chip on her shoulder for you all, there's no letter I can write to make her change her mind. Besides that, other than the Sorcerer King, there are only four people that she listens to anymore. One of them can't talk, one of them is almost as bloodthirsty as she is, one of them doesn't give a damn about bloodshed, and the last..." Enri drifted off, "actually might help us. Alright, I'll ask for Lakyus to broker a short meeting, a chance for you to beg for the lives of your city's people. That's the best I can do. I can't do anything else. Accepted?" She asked and held out her hand.

Heikeren took it and clasped it tight. "Yes, that's as good as we can ask for, and better than I'd hoped for. Tomorrow morning I'll march my entire army to Crossroads and we'll lay down our arms and armor."

As the handshake broke, Enri took out a key and tossed it to Ira. "Go back with him, come back without the chains on."

Ira looked at her with gratitude, "I will, Grand Matriarch."

Enri looked over her shoulder at the place where the goblin vanished from. "I think we did it, Sun. Wherever you are, I think we did it." She whispered.

 _...Kami Miyako...Home of Raymond..._

"You're sure about this?" Boabdil asked uncomfortably as they pulled up to Raymond's home.

"Yes, not happy about it, but sure of it." Enlaith remarked as she rubbed some of her bruises. "Just drag me into the house, no suspicion will fall on him if you do that. Then after you do so, head out to the places I've told you, use your entourage, there are only a few thousand of us, but word can be spread quickly. The only problem will be, where to keep us?"

"That depends on how many of you there are, but... I do have an idea." Boabdil said to her calmly. 'It's like... it's so strange, talking to an elf as an equal.' He thought to himself as he looked over the many bruises, cuts, and bloodstains he put on her. 'Hard to deny her that status though, I've known soldiers who couldn't cope with this.'

"Fine, I'll leave it to you then, for now, let's get this over with, I'd like to get a heal spell cast on me quickly, this hurts like hell." She said brusquely and went limp as she laid down on the floor of the carriage.

"As you wish." He grumbled unhappily as he got down from the carriage, grabbed her limp arm, and dragged her out and across the snow covered stone. If any of Raymond's neighbors saw, they gave no sign.

He knocked three times, and hurried in as soon as the door opened, past a shocked human butler and over to a couch. As soon as the door closed, Enlaith's eyes flew open, and her limp hand grabbed his arm and he helped her up into a seated position.

She looked over to the human servant, "Relax, this..." she waved her hand over the bruises and cuts, "was how he got me out, just go get someone who can heal it all, it hurts as much as you think it does." She said through gritted teeth.

"Also, go get my escort from the guest quarters, I have some places for them to visit, it's going to be a very long, very busy day." Boabdil remarked wearily to the butler.

 _...Kami Miyako...Home of Yvon..._

Yvon sat at his desk across from the unit commander. "Good, that should give me enough support to bring him down. Strike the head, and the body will die. With no more Dominic, the others will have no choice but to fall into line."

"What about the Agante?" The commander asked uncomfortably.

Yvon shrugged, "Worst case scenario, we exterminate the ones in the city, I'm sure Dominic has kept the records locked up tight, last time Raymond brought up their records suggesting we go over them for mission selection together, Dominic said he kept those hidden and we didn't need to see them. Once we behead that one, we'll search his house, find the records, and put them down if they don't submit, and if they do, well there are a lot of dangerous missions we can send the untrustworthy out to die on."

"I can't argue with that." The commander replied calmly, licking his fingers and still savoring the taste of meat that Yvon had just served to him. "So when do we strike?"

"Evening, during dinner, they'll be hungriest then, and tired from the long day." Yvon remarked, confidently, "and as for the animals, harvest them immediately. I'll need a lot of meat to get more of our soldiers on board."

"It will be done, we'll be ready in time." The officer said confidently.

 _...Raymond's Home...later that day..._

Yarvin stood outside the door. 'She's there, the bitch, the cunt, the trash, that vile disgusting girl... how long I've dreamt of killing her, making her pay, now here she is and I can't touch her. How cruel fate is.' He groused to himself, standing there in front of the ornate door. It felt like forever before he could bring himself to knock.

The beautiful blonde powerhouse from before was the one to open the door. "Oh, it's you, the one who was following me before, what do you want?" She asked with a dangerous smile on her face.

Yarvin stepped back from the shock, "Y-You knew?"

"Of course, I'm Master Raymond's personal bodyguard, what kind of guard would I be if I didn't take note of someone with their eyes glued to me without a hint of..." She put her finger to his chest and uttered in a dusky voice, "lust."

He swallowed, "I'm the slave of Cardinal Dominic, I need to see Cardinal Raymond, it is urgent, please..." He folded his hands behind his back and stood rigidly straight save for his bowed head.

"Want to explain why you were following us, first?" Solution asked dangerously.

"The girl, the one with you. I thought I knew her." He answered stiffly, and watched the maid guard relax visibly.

"Wait here, slave." Solution said coldly, and closed the door in his face.

"So much for the story about him being soft on elves." Yarvin muttered as the cold bit into his flesh in spite of the warm garment of his master.

A few minutes later, he was walking in and being guided upstairs, the house felt 'empty' save for a handful of anxious looking elf slaves wearing heavy collars around their necks and moving... scurrying about their many little chores.

The steps creaked under him as he followed the perfect shapely maid in silence, he said nothing as it was not his place to speak, but he could not restrain himself from enjoying the view. If she was aware, she ignored it, leading him to an office door, which she opened and gestured for him to enter. "Master Raymond will see you now, slave. Displease him, and I will send your head back to your master without the rest of you."

Yarvin bowed his head, entered, and went down to his knees a few feet from Cardinal Raymond's desk as the door shut behind him.

"What do you want?" Raymond asked bluntly. "Raise your head, I don't like talking to the top of a skull, now get on with it, I'm busy."

"Cardinal Raymond," Yarvin said as he raised his eyes, "My master is in danger. Cardinal Yvon is planning a coup. He's slaughtered all the elves in his house, cooked them as meat, and bribed the military units stationed here to support him, not 'all' but many, many."

Raymond's eyes went wide with horror, "You can't be serious?!"

Yarvin nodded his head frantically, "I am, Sir. A slave survived the massacre and escaped due to the kindness of a human servant, she fled to my master's house and warned him, we don't have long, please... I know you have had your disagreements with my master, but this? I don't deny our place, but to be... that? No, please, help him."

Raymond's mind raced his eyes went dark and he stood slowly to his feet. 'Yvon wants to use elf meat to bribe the soldiers to fight for him and take power for himself. He used up all of his own... that leaves... no. Oh no...' he raised the fist that had once been a member of the Black Scripture, and brought it down violently on his desk. It splintered in half and collapsed. He growled with fury and glared down at Yarvin. "Go back to your master, tell him I will help him. Yvon will pay for his treachery."

Solution flung the door open to see Yarvin prostrate with his head to the floor, "Master Raymond?" She asked urgently.

"Go, we've got a lot to do and no time to waste." Raymond said to the elf slave.

"Thank you, Cardinal Raymond!" Yarvin said with desperate hope in his voice as he shot to his feet and rushed out.

"Did the others already leave? And are we ready for... later?" Raymond asked as he calmed down.

"Yes," Solution said calmly, "The twenty went out shortly before the slave got here, but she and I will take care of the other one tonight, sounds like there'll be plenty of chaos."

"She?" Raymond asked.

"Nua. I caught her about to sneak into Illal's room with this." Solution said, and drew Raymond's knife out of her body and tossed it to him, he caught it easily and held it as if he couldn't understand what he was seeing.

"She... went to kill Illal?" He said as his eyes went slowly to the maid demon and away from the knife.

"Yes, I offered her the one responsible for serving the meal instead, so we'll handle that, and don't worry, I'll bring Nua back alive. For now, what's next?" Solution asked and began to tap her foot impatiently.

Raymond nodded numbly, "Granted, that target is yours and hers. For now, I need to send word to the Sorcerer King, Yvon is going to raid the work camps, I need to get those empty immediately, and I'd like my house to be emptied as well of everyone I can."

"How did you conclude that?" Solution asked with a suddenly respectful look in her eyes.

"Because it's what I would do if I were him." Raymond said with a grim and thin lipped expression. "He's going to use elves to feed his supporters and win over the city, the report featuring isolated incidents of elf cannibalism would be almost a footnote since it was being punished here already but... as a policy? One that will undercut his work? Yes, he needs to know. Can you get word to him immediately and ask for one of those 'gate' spells to be used to get them all out of there, and maybe those who are here as well?"

"You know she'll find out, right?" Solution asked him with her inhuman smile.

Raymond swallowed, "I know. I still think about it." He looked down at his broken desk. "Do you know how many monsters I've killed over the years?" He asked her as he idly kicked a broken piece of desk, sending it flying past Solution and embedding it in the wall.

"A lot?" Solution shrugged indifferently.

He put his hand to his chest and looked into Solution's monstrous and sadistic eyes, "Yes, many. Monsters so grotesque and vile that even you would retch to look at them." Raymond said in a deadpan voice, "But she's the face in my nightmares. I felt no hatred from the impossible power of the Sorcerer King, so from him I felt only awe, like I was before a god, a supreme being. But from that... little monster? I felt enough hate and rage that it was like ten thousand undead were looking into my soul and tearing at it through my flesh."

Solution shivered with pleasure and brought her hands together, "I wish I could be there when she finds out."

"You would." Raymond groused in exasperation. "Just… add it to the notes and send it urgently, would you?"

"Of course… 'master Raymond." She said with a cruel smile on her face and a sardonic bow of her head.


	194. Warnings

God Rising: The Cult of Ainz

Written by: AtheistBasementDragon

Edited by: The Usual Gang of Drunken Perverted Idiots

Chapter 194: Warnings

 _...Nazarick...Ainz's Private Office..._

"So they have fallen lower than I ever imagined possible." Ainz remarked as the report from Raymond and Solution came through. "They offend me greatly, and for that, there will be a terrible, terrible price." He said solemnly as Albedo set the document down.

"You intend to repeat Wenmark on Kami Miyako, My Lord?" Albedo asked with a proud and loving smile as she rolled the scroll up and moved it to one side and reached for the next one.

Ainz shook his head, "No. Much worse. They call for their gods to save them, they believe it will happen with such fervent hope that anything will do, in order to win the attention of those deities. They long for divine wrath so much? Very well, then I will 'create' gods to destroy them. I will allow Neia to do as she sees fit, with total command of the entire assembly, and whatever is left at the end, will speak for one hundred thousand years of the folly of defying my will. Those who live, if any do, will tremble from dawn to dusk and dusk to dawn, that they might offend the agents of my will again. All my experiments have borne good fruit, and they will choke on it, before they themselves are cut down and thrown into the fire."

Albedo grabbed hold of the table as her body's pleasures rose in waves and crested in orgasmic bliss at the pronouncement of her Lord, which was accompanied by an unrestrained aura of darkness that caressed her like a lover's touch.

"My Lord... let me..." She began with wide golden eyes and trembling skin.

"Eight Edge Assassins! Albedo containment protocol one!" He shouted as he pushed himself back away from the table just before she leaped up from her seat, and his guards began to wrestle her to the floor for the thousandth time.

 _...Crossroads..._

Enri stared blankly at the wall of her office with Lupusregina standing uncomfortably behind her at her left hand. "Something wrong?" Lupusregina asked as the silence stretched when the fourth person came and went with information updating her about the approach of the Army of the Northern Theocracy.

Enri looked up to Lupusregina and rested her elbows on the desk. She then brought her hands together at the fingertips with her palms apart. "What the fuck do you think?" She asked crudely, spawning a look of surprise from the werewolf beauty.

"Other than that, I mean. I know you still feel Sun's loss, but there's more to it than that, isn't there?" Lupusregina asked quietly.

Enri kept her stone beauty eyes up on those of her best friend, and stone shed water as she nodded. "I think... I understand her more, and I don't want to. Sun has been with me for years, and now he's gone without even a body to bury. I know something of what Neia endured, I thought I knew it when I lost my parents. But while they were parents, Sun was something else, a comrade, a war companion, a teacher, a leader, a guide, even a sage. And I can't even bury him. I feel lost without him. I'm afraid I'll make a mistake I wouldn't if I had his advice." She looked to her other side, where he should be standing, stroking his beard and saying something clever.

"I didn't realize you thought so little of yourself or his teachings." Lupusregina said distantly as she took her eyes away from her friend and folded her hands behind her back. She rocked herself back and forth innocently on the balls of her feet as Enri's expression became an angry glare.

"I mean he spent all that time hammering knowledge into your thick peasant skull, keeping you at his side through everything, making sure you learned everything you needed to so that you wouldn't need him. And you know, he was so proud of you, it's probably for the best that he died without knowing you didn't have any faith in his efforts." Lupusregina spoke casually and started to whistle innocently.

Enri shot to her feet and raised a finger, her mouth opened to let loose savage words, and she froze in the middle of it. "Thank you... Lupu. You may be as pervy, sadistic, and bizarre as they come... but I really couldn't ask for a better friend or a better guardian."

Lupusregina nodded smugly, "Damn right you couldn't. It still bothers me that they found a way around my senses but... even ants can be resourceful. Besides, you were never in any real danger with me around. But what did you mean by understanding 'her' and not wanting to?"

"Who else? Neia. I'm starting to understand how she could be... what she is. I think I preferred not to know. It would have made things easier for me, you know, later." She shook the thought aside and went on. "Did you reach out to Lakyus for me already? If I'm going to keep my word to Heikeren, it has to be done quickly." Enri asked with an uncomfortable shift in her otherwise comfortable cushioned seat.

"Yes, she'll approach Neia today, it wouldn't be a bad idea to have the Cardinal she knows, present. Or the 'good' general if it could be managed. If you want to get any kind of concession out of her, she'll need to see that there are a few she shouldn't kill. If she doesn't give ground, well..." Lupusregina licked her lips, "fine by me, I would love to rampage through that whole city."

 _...Outside of Crossroads..._

"So this is happening, not what I imagined when I set out from Kami Miyako." General Heikeren remarked as he rode his horse at the head of the army.

"Me neither, me neither. But try not to think of this as a total failure on your part, and just focus on the fact that it may be the only reason anybody in Kami Miyako still lives after this." Vice Commander Ira remarked.

Heikeren took one hand off the reins of the horse and put it over his face. "I 'wasn't' thinking of it as a total failure on my part, thank you very much for that."

"Oh." She said succinctly with a goading smile on her face that she didn't really try to hide. "Well good, because you shouldn't. We didn't even have to kill many of our own to make good on the deal. What? A hundred men across the whole army?" She asked as the goading smile faded and a serious look took form.

"About that, yes, and jokes aside, knowing that this is the only way to save any of them, is the only comfort doing it brings to me." He said as the walls grew closer and a virtual wall of carts with people standing beside them, slowly came into view.

"If it helps, assuming we get through all this, I'll make sure I insist till my dying day, that we had no other choice that would have been anything more than a waste." She said tentatively.

"That actually does help. Thank you." Heikeren responded and went quiet as the army came close. A single figure with a lean body, thick black armor, short blonde hair, and piercing narrow eyes, stepped away from the carts and waited patiently. Heikeren raised his fist level with his head at his left side, and the order to halt blew somewhere behind him.

He and Ira dismounted, approached, and knelt to the young, pale skinned man. "I am General Heikeren of the Army of the Northern Theocracy, here to surrender my weapons, my armor, and my freedom, for myself and my army, to General Enri of the Sorcerous Kingdom."

Nimble bowed slightly forward and touched his hand to his armored chest "I am her proxy, General Nimble, I will be taking command over the region of the Northern Theocracy, I accept your surrender in her name while she prepares for... certain things, I understand you agreed upon."

"General Enri moves quickly." Ira remarked, "Not that I am surprised, not at this point." She said with sardonic praise.

"Agreed. Now, have your soldiers file forward and deposit their armor into the carts, starting from the one at the back, and moving toward the front cart where they will be able to draw an issue of warm clothing and be assigned to quarters. Officers go last as they must be briefed on their responsibilities as prisoners controlling the activities of their soldiers. This city is now a prison, but it is a prison in which they may move freely, for the most part... as long as they obey certain strictures." Nimble remarked with calm resolve. "And of course, understand that there will be little mercy for those who break those strictures."

"They will require little explanation of that, I can promise you." Heikeren remarked as he removed his sword, laid it flat in his palms, and held it up above his head as he lowered his gaze.

"Enri said you could keep it, something about appreciating something you two did, you can surrender them privately to avoid any public disgrace." Nimble shrugged indifferently. "The rest though, that doesn't apply to. Go ahead, get started, this'll take quite some time and I'd rather not waste even an hour." Nimble said without a hint of mirth. "Go on, get it over with."

Heikeren and Ira stood, "It will be done, General." He replied, and went to perform his final duty as a free commander of arms.

 _...Ruins of Wheaton..._

General Oma remained close at hand to Queen Draudillon as they made their way down the street back to the late governor's manor. Her scythe rested straight back on her shoulder, ready to sweep down and harvest any life that came too close for her liking. Their steps were slow and heavy as they crunched their way through the snow that continued to pile up beneath them.

"Just a moment, majesty, I need to take a look around." General Oma remarked, and took her head off her neck with her free hand, and tossed it a good thirty feet into the air. The Queen froze at the unexpected action.

When the General caught her head and neatly put it back onto her neck, she looked over at her Queen. "Is everything alright, My Queen?" She asked at the mystified expression.

"Oh, ah, yes. I just... it- well perhaps it is a silly reaction, given that I put your head back on your body and all that, but it didn't occur to me that you could do something like this." The Queen said with a faint blush of embarrassment on her pale cheeks.

Oma laughed lightly, "I actually hadn't tried it yet. I wasn't sure it would work, myself. Now that I know it does though, it's very useful."

"OK then... see anything?" Queen Draudillon asked hopefully.

"Nothing, we've got a clear walk back to the palace, a few people are out, but none on our direct line back, we should be safe. The only ill omen is that I don't see the rest of your escort, something is very, very wrong there." Oma said in a clipped and professional tone.

"Then we'd best be back quickly, I think I'm safe, if they wanted me, then I'd likely already have been attacked. There are only a few worth really coming after in this city, and if we exclude me, well I seem to recall seeing a mention of some kind of plot to target General Baraja." The Queen said as her eyes narrowed, "The Sorcerer King saved my kingdom from destruction," she folded her arms in front of her as she began to grow angry and her jaw tensed, "his pope has pledged her help to rebuild my country. I would be a poor vassal or governor if I allowed this to go unremarked upon or if I was slow in reporting a potential problem."

"Agreed, and you are not a poor ruler." General Oma remarked with conviction. [Summon Mount] The General said, and Ichabod rose from below.

"Get behind me, My Queen, I didn't want to do this, because it will hurt the living, but please, bear with the pain." General Oma said as she flung herself into the saddle.

The fact that Queen Draudillon did not even hesitate at the warning, would never leave the memory of General Oma, she simply took the hand offered to her, and climbed onto death's mount, and though she began to howl in pain as the undead horse began to suck the life from her, she wrapped her arms around her General and held tight as the deadly behemoth of a horse charged through the streets, all the way back to the palace.

Oma ran Ichabod like a boulder rolling down a mountain, leaning into the wind to buy even a fraction of a second more of speed as she felt her Queen's shaking in agony behind her.

No sooner than she'd reared the horse back on his hind legs as she pulled him to a stop, than she leaped off and pulled the pain racked Queen with her to the painless ground below.

The Queen fell to all fours as soon as Oma let go, breathing hard as life began to return to her body. She coughed and spat into the snow, as her General crouched beside her.

Draudillon coughed, and hacked and spat into the snow, but she managed to shake off the touch of the undead General. "Go!" She urged and pointed to the manor, "I'll be fine here, it'll just take me a moment to get my bearings and my strength back, please! Go! We don't know how many there are or what they're planning but any moment lost is a moment to their advantage! GO! I order you! GO!" Draudillon snapped, and Oma straightened up and took off at a run.

The guards at the top of the stairs of the manor tensed, and remained unmoving as the undead general came barrelling up the steps, "One of you, help her! I need to see General Baraja!" The General said sharply as she threw open the door and charged into the building.

Reaching the audience chamber did not take long, and predictably, there were a number of mighty names present even at a glance. Inta and his sister, Hilda, famous for their service with Gustav in the Southern Holy Kingdom. Cenna and his remaining Black Scripture under Zesshi, the vampire twins, Thirg and Tefl, Queen Zesshi, General Musan, Lakyus and her Roses, CZ, and Skana standing beside the empty throne. There was ample conversation going on, and Oma cut through it all. "I need to speak with General Baraja, where is she?" She said loudly.

"Here." A firm voice answered as conversation died and the green armored Black Paladin entered from the opposite side of the room and approached the throne and took the seat of the late governor as her own.

The conversations of the room did not pick up as General Oma removed her helmet and approached. She stood squarely in front of Neia and bowed her head politely. "Pope Neia, I have urgent news."

"Go on." Neia said as she leaned forward.

Oma went on to relate everything, what little there was, of what she and her Queen had observed. Silence so great that even the impact of a pin on the floor could have been heard from one corner of the hall to another.

Finally, Neia spoke up. "I see, well that settles it, there are Agante in the city."

Murmurs began to go about the room, and Neia leaned back in the stone seat.

"Well, what will you do?" General Oma asked, and began to regret the question as it left her lips.

"Isn't it obvious?" Neia said coldly, "Destroy the rest of the city. The Agante love fire after all, it is what they did to your body, so... I'll give them all the fire they could ever wish for."

 _...Kami Miyako..._

The sweating never stopped. Boabdil's twenty rushed from place to place, hoofing it through the snow on foot, trading the speed of horses for the power to blend in as they moved about the city under Enlaith's direction. Back within the manor, Boabdil and Illal sat at the ornate dining room table across from the elf prostitute with an expression stern enough that were she differently dressed, and human, he might have thought the elf to be an instructor.

Illal shifted uncomfortably and beneath the table, her hand found that of her husband. She occasionally stole a glance his way as Enlaith spoke. "Truth time." Enlaith said melodically as her hands folded in front of her on the table.

"I have no idea who will win between Dominic and Yvon. Maybe we'd get lucky and they'll kill each other. But I don't think so. Nobody but Dominic himself knows how many Agante are in the city, and nobody but Yvon knows how many units have joined himself. I've privately spoken with a few who have made it this way who work in the... upper levels of the interior. As far as ourselves, the fight between the two may be a net good. But we still have the same problem. Where to hide them." Enlaith acknowledged with lip biting annoyance.

"I think the artisan district would be the best choice, it isn't strategically important to either party, it's mainly used for work, it's back against a far corner of the city, and the warehouses are all but empty since no new materials are coming in to the city." Raymond added as he walked in wearing the garb of a cardinal and held out his hand to Enlaith.

The elf woman, to the surprise of Boabdil and his wife, stood and faced him, and shook his hand respectfully. Solution was at his back, and could always be counted upon, "It doesn't hurt that a lot of the artisans themselves are dead." She giggled, "The danger of having a skill nobody needs in a city under siege, and being used to speaking your mind since your skills used to be valuable." She was still chuckling when she sat down.

"What does she mean, husband?" Illal asked uncomfortably as she felt a concept fly over her head.

"Purges." Boabdil remarked tensely. "Yours was not a unique case, dear. Dominic... I refuse to call him Cardinal... he's gotten rid of people opposed to him. Artisans, master jewelers and goldsmiths, they were all well connected, wealthy, outspoken..."

"And useless to Dominic. But I've put down a fair number myself for being too vocal the other way." Raymond admitted candidly.

Illal paled and her hand shot up and covered her mouth. "Are you... monsters? All of you?" She looked around the table, and Raymond thumbed in the direction of the inhuman smile of Solution.

"Just that one. Though we've had some minor discussions about that. Lady Illal, I am sorry... but this is how things are. I didn't create this conflict, I just have to get as many through it as possible. If I'm not absolutely ruthless about removing obstacles, or threats before they can become obstacles, then everything I've tried to do will be for nothing. I simply can't have that. I won't let them get Nua, or Enlaith, or any of the others, human or elf, that I want to protect. So, if it comes to it, I'll kill everything and everyone between myself and that goal. Your husband is a soldier, ask him to explain it if you can't understand that." Raymond folded his arms in front of his chest and sat straight in his chair, his once flourishing brown beard was graying from the stress of the last year, yet his expression was anvil hard.

"Dear... go to our room, please. You don't need to worry about these things..." Boabdil said, letting his hand fall to her thigh and squeeze gently.

Illal stood slowly and looked from one to the other, a few times it seemed she might speak, before but barely a squeak came out before she rushed out of the room and back to her quarters.

Boabdil sighed and looked in the direction she'd rushed off in. "I'm sorry, I guess it was a bit much to expect her to sit in on this. She's a good woman, but not well suited to the barbarism we find ourselves surrounded by."

"It's fine, probably doesn't help that she had to talk to an elf like I'm a person." Enlaith remarked with a dismissive wave of her hand.

Boabdil shook his head, "Believe it or not, that would be the least of her problems, her teachers were all elves, she was practically raised by them, and believe it or not, hatred for your kind is not an inborn trait. As she put it to me once, 'Though she was long of ear, she was always here. Though he was of elven skin, still I grew up with him.'" He looked slightly embarrassed, "Don't be too critical, she was young, writing terrible poetry is a trait of many of the young."

"I'll take your word on that one." Enlaith said with a thin eyebrow dubiously raised. "But fine, it doesn't matter anyway, if you're being truthful with me and she lives out the end, the new world after this one will be easier for her to accept. I like Raymond's idea of the artisan district, the warehouses can be quietly bought up, and quickly."

Raymond slapped the table with an enormous smile on his face. "I've got it!" He said as he shot to his feet.

Mute looks of shock formed as he did so, "No time to explain, I've got to go before the opportunity passes. Solution, I leave the evacuation of the camps to you, but please also ask for the evacuation of my household... including Nua. I'll be back soon. Enlaith, please fill the General in on everything else."

"So... I didn't see that coming." Solution remarked, "But I am supposed to guard him, and as per usual, he forgets that as long as I'm following my master's orders, I can do whatever I want. I'm going to keep an eye on him. Enlaith, finish briefing the newbie, if some incredible beauty shows up in a maid outfit, refer them to Nua, she'll know what to do."

Enlaith, stunned to silence by the confounding occurrence, could only accept what the monster with the beautiful face said to her, and gave little hesitant nods that showed the first little break in her long held stance of bravado, and it didn't recover until she was left alone with the General Boabdil to say the only thing she could think of. "That was strange."

"Very much so, but, what else do I need to know?" He asked, tearing his gaze away from the direction of the front entrance.

"A lot, so let's get down to business." Enlaith said without even bothering to disguise her gratitude at a return to relative normalcy.

 _...C'Teon..._

"Forward! March!" General Zaryusu shouted as he and Zanac spurred their horses forward.

"That was ugly." Zanac remarked after an hour of nothing but the sound of drums setting the pace and the sound of horses and stamping feet behind them.

"Yes, it was." Zaryusu remarked mutely. "I've heard of the human institution of slavery, but never seen its fruits up close like that."

Zanac nodded along, "Still, this one was relatively small, C'Teon seemed to be mainly a manufacturing and storage city, other than that one little facility of discipline, it was fairly small. Given its evident relationship to Kami Miyako, I thought we'd find more."

Shalltear gave her sweet, enigmatic smile to them both, "Of course you wouldn't, think about it, Kami Miyako has the wealthy and powerful humans, Feron had all the mining, Wheaton most of the farming. Making things is hard, the few slaves that worked here would be specialized and expensive. Mistreating them would be like..." She scratched her head in frustration, "like something... I don't know..." She grumbled as she tried to come up with an analogy.

"Like killing the cow instead of milking it." Zanac suggested tentatively.

"Yes!" She said enthusiastically and pointed at him. "That!"

"I believe Lady Shalltear is correct, it's a kind of waystation and manufacturing center, while the discipline facility was ugly, it's not the same thing to abuse a master craftsman as it is to beat an easily replaced miner or field hand." Zaryusu added in turn.

"How long until we get to Kami Miyako?" Shalltear asked, a bored expression already forming on her face as she looked over the stark landscape of the road in front of her, leafless trees and an open white plain on either side, but for their army, the sun shone bright with spring due to the magic scroll they'd chosen to use.

"Not long." Aureole Omega remarked as she and Leinas rode up to the front, side by side.

"Good." Chindai said as he approached from the rear on the other side of the long formation, his wives only a pace behind him. "Just because dark elves 'can' handle the cold, doesn't mean we wouldn't 'prefer' warm furs and warm alcohol in this time of year. He suggested pointedly.

"We know what you really want those furs for, husband." Ryla said archly, "And it isn't just for napping."

Chindai looked sheepishly pleased with himself, "Your night singing tells me you do not object."

She looked smug, "I didn't say I do, I only tell the truth, now and in the darkness, for all to hear."

"They're a blunt, open faced people." Leinas remarked to her companions. "Charming in its way, but if you're not a bit ribald, they can be a bit much." She winked at the trio of elves, and they grinned like cats who had found unguarded canaries.

"Ahem, ah, as she was saying, not long, it's about a five day march, given the time needed to make camp." Leinas clarified for Aureole Omega and coughed uncomfortably.

"Sounds about right, but I wouldn't be surprised if a few small numbers found their courage and chose to try to strike us in the dark, so we'll need a firm watch and to work in shifts. Losing a soldier is one thing, losing one to our own ineptitude or underestimating the last holdouts of the Theocracy is another." Zaryusu added, "Nobody wants to be the last casualty in a war whose end is already decided."

Nobody was inclined to argue with that.

 _...Ruins of Wheaton..._

"You'll destroy the remainder of the city? Just to get a few assassins?" General Oma looked at Neia as if she'd grown a second head.

Neia looked right back at her. "This city doesn't deserve to exist in the first place. Before you ask, I'll evacuate what remains of the people who live here, I'm sure the Agante are in hiding, they'll refuse to attend a great assembly of the population, once we've moved the rest out, the place can be destroyed. I can't leave a sword free that will eventually be raised against His Majesty. If I do that, what do you think they'll do with their blades? No. I have no intention of leaving a scrap of resistance alive to come and fight another day. Retreat is not defeat, so allowing them to run away, just like at Prart, is allowing them to come again. I will not do that." She said with conviction.

"Isn't that a little much?" Skana asked reluctantly as she laid her hand on her wife's shoulder from behind her.

Neia's face went from stern to blushingly cute as she looked up and over her shoulder at the emerald green of her wife's good eye. "You are my better half in every way, but this is, if anything, something of a mercy as well. I am sparing the survivors after all, and what do you think 'His Majesty' will do if I am, by some slender chance, killed by the Agante? I am not afraid to die, and I doubt very much they will succeed even if everything up to the moment went off perfectly. But if they did, well, look what happened when she was killed." Neia remarked, gesturing to the undead General Oma.

"That... is a fair point actually." Lakyus interjected reluctantly as she approached the throne.

"Just out of curiosity, aren't you at least wondering a little, what kind of Undead you would become with magic shaped to your nature?" General Oma said as she took off her head and tucked it under her arm, as if making a point.

Neia put her thumb and forefinger close together in front of her. "Just a little." She admitted. "But don't tell Lord Demiurge I said that, he'll take it as an invitation for experimentation." She chuckled a bit, but nobody else did, and she rolled her eyes at the lack of humor others exhibited.

'Father is right, nobody gets jokes around here.' She thought with annoyance. "The point being, the city is already a ruin, I will simply make it cease to be, down to its foundations. We don't need it anymore, we're marching out tomorrow for Kami Miyako, let it remain a ruin of bloodstained stone and ash, all broken and worthless, with no one behind to mourn it, or the handful of Agante corpses charred and twisted in the ruins." Without even meaning to, her eyes became dark, and her voice chilled even the coldest of present souls to hear it.

Lakyus approached as silence answered Neia's words, "I need some time from you, soon, I've received a message from General Enri, and your promise to hear her out in advance, no matter how much you don't want to."

For a moment Neia almost gave in to her impulse to immediately refuse, but her empty dark eyes found a glimmer, a shimmer, a reflection of her own face in the green eyes of her friend, lowered her own face in acquiescence. "Alright, ask her when, and where. If she's going through you, it must be a delicate matter."

"It is." Lakyus said, and leaned forward to whisper into Neia's ear. "The Army of the Northern Theocracy has surrendered, and a chance to ask for your mercy was a condition."

Neia's fist clenched tight, her teeth gritted and ground against one another, a pressure began to build around her, only to slowly fade as she got ahold of her temper. "I owe her one. Fine. But if 'that' is what she wants… then it will be at the location of my choosing rather than her own."

"I'll pass that along. Thank you, Neia." Lakyus said, and put her hand on Neia's shoulder and squeezed with adamantite strength, not with an intent to harm her, but rather with the ferocity of affection from one concerned friend to another.

"Thank me tomorrow morning, when I'll meet with them, but tonight, I've got a city to burn." Neia said calmly.

"Again." CZ corrected indifferently.

"Yes. Again." Neia acknowledged.


	195. Red Flames & Black Waters

God Rising: The Cult of Ainz

Written by: AtheistBasementDragon

Edited by: The Usual Gang of Drunken Perverted Idiots

Chapter 195: Red Flames & Black Waters

 _...Nazarick..._

"My empire is ready for the Synod, My Lord." Jircniv said as he knelt before the throne of kings. "Troublesome elements, influenced to excess by Theocracy teachings, have been 'mostly' removed."

"Mostly?" Albedo asked with a dangerous undertone. "Is it not your job to ensure they are 'entirely' removed? What 'exactly' does it mean to say 'mostly'?" She shifted her left foot slightly as if she were going to descend the stairs, a beautiful and wrathful inhuman vision, her wings twitched behind her.

Ainz raised his hand and put it in her path. "Relax, Albedo, I can tell you from experience in First World that old ways and old habits die hard. There were long dead faiths in that world that still echoed into their future thousands of years after their deities fell into obscurity. I'm sure my good Emperor is giving it his all."

Jircniv bowed his head deeply at the praise. "I am, what I mean is, there are none in positions of authority who can 'order' any attendee to vote against the Pope's proposal. Nor will there be any who are in a position to stir up rebellion. Those have been removed from the temples by the priestly leaders themselves."

"I sense a 'but' there. What have you not said, that you should say?" Albedo demanded, with less vitriol in her voice as she heard the successful measures already undertaken.

"But, wrong doesn't always mean stupid, and some, sensing the changes, have fled entirely, along with some of their more devout followers to the outskirts around the empire, just beyond our borders or into the hinterlands where they can hide. They won't change the outcome of the Synod at least, but they may pose a problem in the future." Jircniv reluctantly admitted. "Forgive my failure to capture them all."

"It does not matter." Ainz said as he struck Wise Undead Pose #2, with his hand outstretched as he remained seated and looked off into the distance as if in memory.

"It is well within expectations, you performed exceptionally well in handling all that you did, and most impressive of all, you discerned my will without having to wait for orders. You are learning to think as a true servant of Nazarick, and for that you deserve my praise. We will handle those remnants in due time, they will have a use... like those before them." He said cryptically and returned his hand to the armrest of his throne.

Jircniv blinked, 'He has the world on strings, just a puppet master, all works within his will, even when they oppose him.' The bloody emperor thought with awe. "I am sure you will do what is best." Jircniv stumbled the words out uncharacteristically.

"Best... yes. What is best. Funny sentence, isn't that? Said one way it is a statement, said another way it is a question that is often full of mystery. Best for who or what? Myself? My empire? My subjects? My people's futures or those of their children? My power? My children?" Ainz asked somewhat rhetorically.

"My Lord I... I don't know quite what to say to that." Jircniv said hesitantly.

"Imagine for a moment you had to make a choice, between your life... or the safety and prosperity of your empire. Which do you protect?" Ainz asked thoughtfully.

"It is the duty of the emperor to act for his empire, it... would not be an easy choice, but plunging myself into the abyss... well I did that once before, even if it didn't kill me." Jircniv said with an element of professional pride in his voice.

"I suppose you did." Ainz said thoughtfully as he stroked his chin, privately wondering what the hell Jircniv meant.

"And if you had to choose between what is best for your children and what is best for the world, or at least that part of it you rule, what do you choose?" Ainz asked further.

Jircniv was quiet... "That is a... harder choice, My Lord. I do not have a ready answer. I dread even the thought of such a choice."

Albedo watched in uncertainty as the two rulers conversed, and that uncertainty changed into confusion which in turn became concern.

"As do I." Ainz said in a low, deeply troubled tone.

"My Lord... why do you ask this, may I know? Perhaps then I can better answer..." Jircniv replied probingly, only to be waved off.

"No, thank you, but no. This is not an easy thing, but it is my burden, forgive the unpleasant question when you bring such pleasant news." Ainz bowed his head politely, drawing a flush of consternation from Emperor Jircniv.

"Albedo, see him rewarded with a weekend for himself and his wife in the spa here, and then join me in my office, there is much to do today." Ainz instructed as he stood up.

"My Lord." Albedo and Jircniv said in unison as they moved according to his orders, and he descended the stairs.

 _...Kami Miyako..._

Raymond stared down at Yvon in his manor. "Think you're clever, don't you?"

The great meeting room was at once full of soldiers. Behemoths of men even half hungry and in the finest equipment the capital could offer. The clink and clank of metal drowned all thought for a few moments until they ceased to move. Yvon gave a wrinkled smile.

"I'm not as clever as some, but I'm the one the gods chose, if I'd been as clever as I wished, I would have seen before that Dominic is not the one after all. I would have seen that he's soft on animals, not as much as you, but still, too soft." Yvon remarked as he shook his head and closed his eyes to create a smug expression.

"That's true, but... I know things you don't know, and I've got an offer to make, if you refuse it, you'll die here. Chosen or not." Raymond said as he casually took out his knife.

Yvon looked around at the soldiers that were blocked almost every inch of wall to protect him, his smug expression deepened.

"You think you can kill me? You're a bit outnumbered." Yvon remarked with a very crackly laugh that spoke of his great age.

"One to one is all it takes, if I level this knife at you, it's just you I want, and I'm a former Black Scripture. Plus, I have backup." Raymond said easily as he looked down at the blade and stuck the tip in between the flesh and the nail of his pointing finger. As he cleaned from under it, Yvon suddenly looked less confident.

"For your differences, you and Dominic are a lot alike, you both have a nasty tendency to forget people who aren't your enemy, and assume that means that they must be weak. I was in charge of the scriptures. What do you think happened to the people who didn't make it through my training regimen?" Raymond asked with a bold laugh, the cares of his days seemed to fall away in the moment and he took a step forward. "I took them into my service as butlers and maids, one in particular, very special. Pretty, blonde, and bloodthirsty enough that Clementine would have told her to relax a bit."

Yvon's hesitation grew more evident, it infected the soldiers in the room. "She's outside right now, if I'm threatened, assuming you can threaten me, she'll be in here faster than you can say 'heartburn'." Raymond took another step forward. Yvon did not retreat, but nor did he speak or advance.

Finally Yvon broke the silence, "What do you offer?"

"Information, and in exchange, I want the artisan district left alone, I want to bring noncombatants there, the ones who can't fight for anyone. Keep your fighting out of there, make your oath on your status as the chosen one, and I will tell you something valuable." Raymond promised.

Yvon looked doubtful, he stroked his chin and made a fist with his other hand behind his back, "How do I know it is valuable?"

"Make your oath and find out." Raymond said bluntly.

Raymond felt the tension leave the room as Yvon gave in, his shoulders slumped and he sat down in a chair at the long table in the center. "Fine, what is it?"

"Dominic knows about your uprising, he knows everything, he's alerted his Agante all over the city and he's planning to ambush you if you attack tonight." Raymond said bluntly and Yvon's eyes shot wide open.

"I... how... no?" He tried to deny it, but Raymond stared hard at him, "How do you think I knew to come here? I didn't work this out. His servant came and informed me of it, of everything hoping to secure my help. One of your slaves escaped the stewpot and ran to warn Dominic, by nightfall, he'll be ready. If you want to win, you'd better act now." Raymond took a deep breath, "Good enough?"

Yvon's fingers rapped on the table over and over one after another as he thought things over. "Why would you help me?" He asked sharply. "How do I know this isn't a trap?"

"Because, Yvon, our nation will not survive with Dominic in power. If he dies, we might have peace, survive, and get a chance to rebuild. Even if you are the one in power, well whatever you might do, my nation comes first, and losing a war is bad for us. You'll be in a position to make peace. One day, we will have our strength back, but today is not that day, and unless this stops, that day will never come." Raymond's voice was filled with conviction and he sheathed his blade sharply for emphasis.

As Yvon listened, he pondered, and finally he slapped his hands flat on the table... "Alright, I believe you. We strike now, and nobody of mine will set foot in what is left of the artisan district. But you don't have long to get the ones you want to save, the fighting starts as fast as we can get to Dominic's home."

"Then I'd best get moving." Raymond said urgently and turned to walk out. Waving to the very visible and watchful blonde Solution who stood outside the manor on the grounds radiating hostility like a campfire blaze does heat.

She waved back.

"Yes, you'd best, and so must I." Yvon said, letting his gaze linger on the prowling blonde with the hungry gaze. "Come along men, send word to your units, it is time to attack Dominic's home, and make it quick, take horses and move with urgency."

"Sir!" The soldiers uttered in unison as Raymond left them behind and walked away with Solution at his side.

 _...Ruins of Wheaton..._

The combined armies of the Draconic Kingdom, the Elf Kingdom, the Elf Liberation Forces, and Black Justice were assembled from all corners of their encampments. Some stood beyond the walls, others within, amassed in an enormous formation that stretched from one wall to the other and in deep ranks. Banners and flags flew in the wind, but to the survivors of the destruction, the true awe came not from the numbers, it came from the weather.

"It's so... marvelous." Fluder said as he clasped his hands together with eyes shining toward the sky and reflecting the sun. Around them was the warmth of spring. The snow, deep and thick, was rapidly melting away to nothing and running towards the gutters that would carry the blackened water, thick with ash, out of the city.

They saw it all from atop the governor's manor where the great flat viewing area gave them an expansive look over everything. "Beautiful, is the word I'd use for it." Skana remarked to the magic caster of the empire.

Her armor clinked slightly as she looked over her shoulder to speak to him, he brushed it off. "No, not the view, the magic."

"Oh, I should have guessed." Skana said with a low chuckle of amusement.

"Are you really serious about doing this?" Evileye asked as she approached, her youthful face bare of the mask that had long defined her identity, it showed the bold confidence, and the fangs behind her lips, of a skilled adventurer. Her red cloak fluttered around her as the winds where they stood lifted it up. "Is this really what you want?" She asked in a surprisingly girlish voice.

Neia, standing at the edge of the low crenelations, looked out over the city, the residents were gathered into one quarter for a 'special evening assembly'. She didn't answer Evileye for an uncomfortable number of seconds, when she did, she didn't look behind her.

"Yes and no." Neia said sadly. "I will do it, but I don't want to. I hate this. Do you know what I want, Keeno?" She asked as she looked at the mass ranks of flags and heard the sound of spears and halberds striking the stone in a rhythm that drowned out the anxious noises of the surviving peasants of the Theocracy and crushed their rising anger like they were stomping an insect into the mud.

"What?" Keeno asked with genuine interest as she stepped a little closer.

"I want to take my wife to a home of our own, carry her to a bed of our own, make love to her from dusk till dawn, and to spend the rest of my time well fed, happy, and drunk off something other than the blood of my enemies. That is what I really want. But I don't get what I want, and what I want doesn't matter. What matters is my duty." Neia answered, causing a lewd twinkle to rise in the eye of Skana the bold, that didn't end when she thrust her hand out and took Neia's in her own and squeezed it tight.

"Duty? You already killed most of this city, you intend to burn the homes of the survivors too? This is your duty?!" Gagaran said in disgust and began to stomp forward from the back, only to be held in place on either side by the hands of Tia and Tina, who shook their heads in quiet solidarity.

"Yes. It is." Neia responded, waving her hand over the crenelations out into the city at large, her voice grew sonorous and poured out like a river, calm on the surface, but concealing a powerful and all consuming tumult beneath, "Somewhere, hiding amidst the ruins, are the most ruthless and merciless agents of the Theocracy government, as bad as inquisitors and a hundred times deadlier. They kidnapped General Oma out of her own bed in her own camp, killed her and burned her body. They only 'barely' missed General Musan and might have gotten Queen Draudillon if she'd been present. They will not stop. So I cannot stop. I will go on, and on, and on, grinding down even a pebble in His Majesty's way until it is not even a grain of sand."

Gagaran clutched her head tightly for an instant and was no longer looking at Neia as the Black Paladin spoke her answer in a voice that was at once deadpan and powerful.

Lakyus reached out and touched Gagaran's shoulder, "Are you alright?" She asked gently.

"Ugh, never mind." The giantess said with distaste, "I'll go join the unit, just get it over with, I want out of this, all of this, as soon as possible. Burn it and put it behind us, I don't want to look at it anymore." She said crudely and spun around and walked out.

"So it'll be spring all the way to Kami Miyako?" General Musan said as he finished nodding in agreement with the grim Pope.

"Yes, all the way. No reason we should make our march anything less than a thing of legend. We herald the spring of a new world, so we might as well march in it." Neia let a little smile form.

"What about Kami Miyako itself?" Queen Draudillon asked with a burst of curiosity.

Neia looked behind her where the white clad Queen in her flowing dress and white breastplate approached. 'Truly, a royal woman if I've ever seen one. On par with Queen Calca for sheer presence.' "Dead of winter." She replied evenly.

"Alright, It seems everything is in place now. CZ, call for the gate. I'll explain what is about to happen." Neia took a deep breath, and spoke in a quiet voice, calling upon her talent as an evangelist to project it, her words carried to every ear.

"The scourge of god warned your nation many times, and still you did not listen. Now, those you have chosen to follow, have sent their agents into this city in an attempt to create more death." She paused as she could see that heads turned up in her direction and panic was starting to set in with earnest, the soldiers surrounding the city survivors lowered pikes, halberds, and spears in warning, and Neia went on.

"I, however, believe you have both suffered enough, and that you do not bear blood guilt for what happens when you are not resisting, therefore I will not kill you. I must however, destroy the nest of rats that has settled here. Be grateful, citizens of the former Slane Theocracy, you get to live, and only your city dies. Pass through the gate, and you will be resettled peacefully into new lives in a new place. Live peacefully there, where my Master settles you... and the scourge of god will never raise a sword against you again." A hint of rage underlay her every word, but the message she conveyed was only enhanced by the appearance of the [Gate] in front of them.

Neia studied the faces of the helpless population, seeing their despair, anger, and in some cases acceptance. Few looked back at her, but the moment their eyes met her haunting hollow darkness, born in them were the nightmares that the Black Pope's gaze would give them for the rest of their lives, they could not hurry enough to escape through the magic portal. The survivors of the once great city were herded like cattle toward the hole in space her master's impossible magic had created in reality.

Without breaking her gaze from the populace, she spoke to CZ, "Give the signal, please," with sweetness in her voice that was impossibly contradictory to the way she'd spoken only moments earlier.

CZ raised her spellgun, and fired a flare shot into the air, a few seconds later in a distant quarter of the city, smoke began to billow up into the air. Neia sat down on the crenelations with her legs dangling over the great height. Her hands at her side, she rocked slightly back and forth as more fires sprang up, and a haunting tune began to come from her that whispered only darkness into those who heard it.

"Tear down the bridges... drain all the rivers... burn down the town hall... there are no winners... draw all the weapons... sharpen the scissors... cut off the fetters... weep for the bitter..."* She sang lightly on until the survivors of Wheaton were gone and the pounding feet of her armies began to soften as more and more left the hard streets and began to pound instead on softer ground.

Neia looked over her shoulder when the music from her lips died and black smoke obscured their view of the walls. "Hear anything?" She asked those with preternatural hearing. Somewhere, a large building collapsed loudly. "Not that. I mean screams, human screams?" Neia clarified evenly.

Ears strained to distinguish small noises underneath the great, and then Oma, Keeno, and Zesshi said in unison, "I do." And stern, professional eyes turned as one, and arms raised to point as one to a wrecked corner of the city.

"How many?" Neia asked with professional interest.

The trio with supernatural hearing listened closely, "About six? Maybe seven?" Keeno suggested tentatively. "It's always difficult to tell in those conditions, but I'd say they're burning alive, and there's no way to know if any of them died without being able to scream."

"Sounds right to me." General Oma remarked as she took off her head and began to toss it back and forth between her hands in a kind of bored fidgety way.

"No, that's fine, that sounds about right for a squad of assassins." Neia remarked casually and looked over to Skana, "Vice Commander, how many skeletons do we still have?"

Skana thought it over for a moment, holding out her hands and quickly but quietly counting out some calculations on her fingers. "The fighting cost us most of the remainder, but around a thousand or two, why do you ask, General?"

"It occurs to me that we've already turned the waters red, now let's turn them black. We don't really need the skeletons anymore, Have them assembled and order them to dump the ash and soot and toppled materials into the river, they'll work out what we... I... have done, and that should put even more terror into their hearts. They think they know fear? No, no they do not, not yet. But they will. They will." She said and with a quick push she drew her legs up onto the stone and hopped to her feet. "Now let's get going, Skana, see to the skeletons and then join us at the front, it's a long walk to Kami Miyako even in good weather, and I'd rather get this finished."

General Musan swallowed hard as Zesshi reached up with an enormous smile on her commonly stern face and took Neia's hand, and politely if needlessly, helped her down. "I wish I could be there to see Dominic's face when the black water hits."

"Me too." Neia said pleasantly as she accepted the help down and the group began to file for the exit, "Oh, and let's leave this building alone, if it burns on its own, fine, but otherwise I say let's leave it be, bloodstains and all. Someday, somebody will come to this ruined city, and I'd prefer they know something of what happened here."

"As you like, General Baraja." Skana answered, and within the span of an hour from their brief parting, half of the world's most powerful leaders were in the saddle and gathered near the Pope, with over two hundred thousand soldiers and their horses putting distance between themselves and the burning husk of the once great city of Wheaton. Despite all their numbers, such was the conflagration and destruction that even at the head of the long column, farthest from the dead zone, they could still hear the sounds of collapse and roaring flames.

 _...Crossroads..._

General Heikeren and Vice Commander Ira bent their knees to General Enri in the privacy of the former city governor's office. "General Enri, I'm here to offer my formal surrender, my sword is yours." General Heikeren said solemnly and reached to take it from his side.

Lupusregina took a small step, nothing great, just a mere finger's width closer to Enri as his hand went close to his blade. The Peasant General moved her foot subtly over to her companion, tapping her lightly, enough to draw her attention. It only took a look between them for Enri to convey her reassurance, and for Lupusregina to relax.

Enri refocused her attention on General Heikeren, "Keep your sword." She said, raising a hand in front of her. He halted.

"But you said before..." Heikeren began to say, before he was interrupted.

"No. When it came down to it, you did help save my life, true they were trying to kill both of you as well. But, that doesn't change the fact that you both kept your word, and throughout this conflict between us, you have kept your honor intact. Keep your sword, it may help keep the peace for you to be seen with it anyway." Enri answered confidently, and folded her hands together as she laid her elbows on her desk.

"I am grateful." Heikeren replied with a mingling of surprise and sincerity in his voice as he took his hands away from where the scabbard was secured, and lowered his gaze deferentially.

Enri rested her chin on the backs of her hands and for a moment they were quiet. "I have a dilemma, and I hope you can help me. I hope you're 'willing' to help me."

"Yes...?" Ira asked hesitantly.

"I'm going to be put in charge of the reconstruction of what 'was' the Slane Theocracy. Before it is broken up into different provinces, I have to put it back together, and so far only two things have proven effective at ruling this kingdom peacefully. Absolute brutality and absolute terror. I tried being nice and gentle and... well, you saw what happened, or at least, the aftermath of what happened." Enri remarked sardonically.

"Yes, but... what are you proposing?" Heikeren inquired curiously.

"If I don't show that there is a middle path, then my king may very well accept General Baraja's brutality eventually. I know him very well, there is no better king. But he has a king's duties. If there's a nest of monsters that won't allow themselves to be left alone, eventually you have to just stamp them out. I can't fail at this twice, you understand. Either I fail and I am then ordered to exterminate the country, or probably just as bad if not worse, Neia is ordered to take over in my place." Her eyes turned hard as stone and drilled into the brains of the two surrendered commanders.

"I promise you, if that happens, within three years there won't be a person alive who has more than a vague memory of living in Kami Miyako. She'll wipe out the adults and ship the children off to be raised in her temples. I know this woman, she will do 'anything' she thinks she has to. You understand me, don't you?" Enri asked gravely, trying very hard to ignore that Lupusregina was trying her best to suppress orgasmic bliss at the thought of such a scale of slaughter.

Audible swallows were answer enough. "Are you serious?" Heikeren asked faintly.

"Very. Her humanity dangles from a thread, a dull knife could cut it, and worse, after Sun's death, I begin to understand why that is. A few more years, and..." Enri suppressed a shudder and trailed off, then after she'd shaken off the diversionary thought, she continued. "To make this blunt, I want you and your corps of leaders to become the focal point of reconciliation. This city is your prison, but it can also be a garden out of which something new grows. I want there to be peace tomorrow so that our children do not have to come South again. What do you think?" She asked hopefully.

"I think if Neia... General Baraja, is allowed to exterminate all of Kami Miyako, you or she will end up having to wipe out the rest of this country sooner or later." Heikeren responded forcefully.

Enri turned her attention to Ira. "Your thoughts?" She asked.

Ira put her hand to her chest and raised her head to boldly meet the eyes of Enri. "I agree with Heikeren, even for people not from there, Kami Miyako is the cultural and religious center of our people, it was the first powerful human city to rise out of the lost times over six hundred years ago. It was said to be the place where the gods first appeared, stories even say that the divine will walk there again one day. If she does to Kami Miyako what she did to Yanana or to Wheaton, barely a human in this country wouldn't turn their farm implements into weapons."

"I see. That will be useful information in helping me stop her, but... assuming she doesn't do that. Can it work? Can you convince your leaders, your soldiers, to pursue peaceful lives?" Enri asked in a voice as grave as the promised extermination.

The weight of it sat heavy on the hearts of the General and Vice Commander, until Heikeren unburdened his mind, "I can't promise a yes. I'm sorry, but even when we were fighting one another, a measure of trust was necessary, and if I lie to you now, that'll be over. I honestly don't know. I won't say it is impossible, but... if you really mean what you say, and I believe you do, I think it can be done. Not easily, but... I can promise that I will do my all to help bring a peaceful transition about."

"That will have to do, that is all anyone can ever do anyway, their best." Enri said with resignation. "Alright, Lupu, can you take them to their quarters, I want to get some rest, this has been a long day, and I'll need my sleep if I'm going to deal with 'her' in the morning." Enri didn't bother to disguise her yawn, and it was mimicked immediately by her two human prisoners.

"No, I'll have one of the guards escort them, I'm escorting you to your room myself." Lupusregina said with utter finality and glared at her friend, folding her arms in front of her ample chest defiantly and daring Enri to argue.

"Fine." Enri said as she stood up and stretched. "I'm in no shape to argue. Guards!" She called out, and two imperial knights of Baharuth entered. "See them to the best quarters in what was once the noble district." She ordered simply, and gestured to the two officers.

Heikeren and Ira stood and bowed sincerely before walking out, leaving Lupusregina alone with Enri.

After giving the prisoners a few minutes of departure time and having space for themselves, Enri headed for the door herself. "So you're not angry with me?" Lupusregina asked with a hint of surprise.

Enri stopped short and turned around. "Angry? Why would I be?" She asked.

"Well, burns hurt like hell and I missed a group of ambushers, if I'd caught them, Sun might not have died and you wouldn't have been burnt." Lupusregina replied as if Enri were daft.

Enri came over to where Lupusregina stood, the werewolf woman had not moved. She reached out and took Lupusregina's hands in hers and gave a little squeeze. "You should think better of humans, you know. We're not stupid, even if we're weak relative to say... you. We're a violent race, a vengeful one, and we will do absolutely anything when we want something badly enough. You're powerful, but not omnipotent, not omniscient. You can't blame yourself for every little thing that goes wrong, besides, you did your job, you kept me alive. So why should I be angry?" Enri asked pragmatically, holding golden eyes as much as she did the tanned, soft, impossibly powerful hands.

"Ah, I'm guessing you forgot about the whole 'me getting off in the middle of it' thing?" Lupusregina asked tentatively.

Enri gave her head two very firm, decisive shakes. "No, that I definitely cannot forget, but I'm not mad anymore either. What I said before, with Sun and all, it was a moment of aimless anger on my part. You told me what you were, how you are." Enri said kindly and drew fearlessly closer to a predator capable of fending off terrible monsters. "It also tells me I can believe you completely about the other part of what you said."

"Other part?" Lupusregina asked, biting her lip in uncertain confusion.

"Yes, that if anything happened to me, you'd look after my husband, my family. Don't forget, most humans don't make it much past forty, over half my life may already be over even if I survive. Knowing you'll still be around, no matter what, to look after Nemu, it's comforting." Enri said and slowly enfolded Lupusregina into a bold and, as humans went, tight embrace.

A thousand lewd comments ran through Lupusregina's mind, she didn't say any of them. Instead she said quietly, "I'm sure His Majesty will make you immortal, you know, to continue your work, or maybe change you, make you into a werewolf like me, and keep you young and powerful through Nazarick's other goods, forget forty, you could see forty thousand." Lupusregina answered with a hint of urgency underlying her words.

Enri smiled and whispered into Lupusregina's ear, "If I were to change into anything, I'd want to be something like you, a werewolf, beautiful and strong. I think I'd make a pretty she-wolf." Enri's voice had a bit of a titter and a hint of smugness about it, "But I'll leave immortality to someone like Neia, she'd no doubt be thrilled to continue on forever under the Sorcerer King. But I'm not fit to live forever, I'm still a peasant, and accepting the cycle of mortality is part of me. Just look after my family when I'm gone, as much as His Majesty allows you to, for as long as we're worth doing that for."

Lupusregina returned the embrace hesitantly and whispered in turn, "You're the real sadist here, you know. Going and telling your best friend you're going to go and die on her and never come back, going to leave me with nothing but a fantastic orgasm and not even a roll in the hay for all the trouble you've put me through." The red headed werewolf said snarkily.

"I know, I'm a terrible best friend, forgive me?" Enri asked with abundant sarcasm and tenderness packed into every word.

"Yes, on the condition that you don't die for a long time." Lupusregina replied magnanimously.

"I'll do my best, Lupu." Enri said and let her arms fall away and headed for the door again. "Now, escort me to my bed so I can keep that promise for tonight at least?" She asked with a tiny hint of a smile on her still youthful pink lips.

Lupusregina slapped her hands against her cheeks and reared back, "Oh nooo! My General has ordered me to her bed, she's going to keep her promise to ravish me! Someone heeeeeelp meeeee!" She said as loudly as she did playfully.

Enri blushed a deep crimson, "Damn it, Lupu! Not again!"

Lupusregina did not stop laughing, nor did Enri stop blushing or stomping indignantly, all the way to the bedroom.

 **AN: *Lyrics are not my own, slightly modified version of 'Where Do We Go When It All Falls Down' by 'End of Silence'.**

 **End of the chapter bombing, hope you found it worthwhile and I look forward to your feedback. Incidentally, I'm sure somebody will doubt Sun, the Goblin Strategist, could be so easily killed. But to that I point out that as a strategist, he need have no significant physical capabilities whatsoever, without a specific build saying otherwise, I went with the, all brain and little brawn, interpretation.**


	196. Why is Treason Never Successful

God Rising: The Cult of Ainz

Written by: AtheistBasementDragon

Edited by: The Usual Gang of Drunken Perverted Idiots

Chapter 196: Why is Treason Never Successful

 _...Northwest of the Ashes of Wheaton..._

Sweat was a constant. Perfect Spring or Winter Chill, for a soldier, sweat was an intimate friend and a frustrating nemesis. Neia wiped her brow for what felt like the hundredth time and whipped her hand away, casting off the sweat into the muck beside her.

"Thank goodness for cleansing magic, right?" Skana said at her right hand as they swayed slightly left and right atop their undead horses. She smiled sincerely under the pale light of the moon.

"Too right, and though I'd prefer a hot bath, it's better than nothing." Neia answered genuinely.

"You could have asked for armor that kept you clean, or a gambosen at least, with that enchantment." Lakyus asked thoughtfully from Neia's left.

"I guess, but that would have been a waste of an enchantment, we can only have so many, and it would have been pointlessly vain of me to ask for something like that." Neia said in a slightly reproving voice.

Lakyus was quiet for a moment before she went on, "It's OK, you know." She said gently.

"What is?" Neia asked as she scanned the darkness in front of her.

"To be a little bit selfish sometimes. To want things for yourself, and ask for them. I would daresay it would be unhealthy to 'not' be a little bit selfish, to 'not' seek after your own wants sometimes. You can't 'give' forever before running out of yourself. Your spirit will grow weary, exhausted, dried out. Your heart will ache and perhaps even break if all you do is give things without ever accepting them." Lakyus spoke with confidence, and seemed again every inch the priestess that Neia knew.

It made the pope smile with a rare warmth. "Maybe you're right, but I have more than most already." She reached out and squeezed her wife's hand tightly for a moment. "I can't ask for more until I've given the world back the peace that was taken from her."

Lakyus gently inclined her head to acknowledge the clear affection, while Skana beamed with shameless happiness. Then went on with gentle concern. "I suppose, but you the individual is not the same as you the wife, you need to look after the part of you that is uniquely yourself as well."

"Why are you saying this?" Neia asked her quietly. "Is it because of what happened with Gagaran?"

"Yeah, what's her problem, anyway?" Skana asked with more evident displeasure, and a hint of anger in her voice.

Lakyus bit her lip as if to keep back her words. "I'm saying this out of concern for you, Neia. You're my friend. People like me, people like 'us' have a lot of admirers, but fewer peers and even fewer friends. We fought together, marched together, serve the same king, we've eaten together, drank together, and you helped me out in more ways than you can ever know. Giving my sister not just a world she can be herself in, but talking me through my own difficult acceptance of it all. I love you for it, 'that' is why I say these things. Because I see what's happening, and you are not who you were when we first met."

Neia and Skana both lowered their heads, "Sorry, I didn't mean to snap at you." Skana answered.

"It's alright," Lakyus said in the kindly voice of a priestess, but kept her eyes on Neia, "I just want the future to be a good one, for all of us."

"Of course I'm different." Neia finally answered, "I've had to become different, who I was before... she wasn't enough. She was naive, she was trusting, she believed that good people would stop doing bad things if you showed them they were wrong. Maybe it was even true... sometimes. Ignorance often leads to evil. But more often, I ended up letting someone else pay the price for my own stupid self righteousness. My conscience made me a coward in the face of necessity, so I've wrapped it up in chains and locked it away, so I can do everything that needs to be done." Neia's voice was hollow, and though she wasn't loud and it didn't reverberate to the army, Lakyus felt the conviction of her friend pounded into her soul.

"What about after?" Lakyus asked her, inching her horse closer to Neia.

"After?" Neia asked as if she'd never heard the word.

Lakyus opened her mouth to speak, but before any sound could come out, a shout behind them drew her attention. "Hey, General Neia, we've got a problem!" Queen Zesshi said as she trotted up on her horse.

Neia's eyes shifted focus immediately. "What?" She asked abruptly, as the half elf monarch came up.

"Some of the scouts have come across villages that are still intact, and they've got militias out, I guess they saw the fire, or someone did and told them about it. But anyway all the scouts tell us the same story, a bunch of peasants are in the way of the line of march." Zesshi said brusquely, indifferent to the lack of title or deference from the Pope.

"How are they armed, do they have any evident training or effective leadership?" Neia asked swiftly.

"Farm implements, bows, a few rusty swords. Maybe a thousand altogether, but spread out over a number of locations. Leadership seems to be mainly by the priests and priestesses." Zesshi said contemptuously. "We can sweep them aside like they're not even there, and wipe out the villages with only a slight delay. What would you like us to do?"

Neia's eyes were focused ahead into the darkness, behind her, the many torches made the shadows of her, her horse, and those of her companions, dance along the long dirt road. She said nothing at first as she thought it over.

"Neia..." Lakyus said tentatively, followed quickly by the voice of Neia's wife.

"They're peasants... like me, just protecting their families." Skana snatched Neia's hand, and her chin, and forced the Black Paladin to look at her. "You're not back there, this isn't Prart, or Wenmark, or Yanana, or Hoburns, or Wheaton, or the fortresses, or the Southern Road... or Kedyn, or anywhere else... don't do it." Skana urged, locking eyes with the fearsome black that drove away the blue she loved in the eyes of the Scourge of God.

"It's your decision." Zesshi said bluntly, "My elves would be happy to erase the entire Theocracy. But whatever you think best."

Neia looked behind her where the bouncing lights of torches cast their light everywhere, 'Somewhere back there, Sebas and Tuare ride side by side. I suppose I should start to repay my debt.' She thought to herself.

"I've made my decision. Where is Queen Draudillon?" Neia asked deliberately.

"She's talking with General Oma and General Musan, planning for the 'post war life' I think she said." Zesshi answered.

On hearing that, Neia gave a bitter sweet smile and spat her orders as fast as she normally loosed arrows. "Alright, have her send five hundred mounted soldiers to every village. Occupy them. Capture every priest and remove them, execute anyone still holding slaves, including overseers or breakers, unless a slave objects, in which case further investigation is needed. Also, take the children hostage to the good behavior of the village. Anyone presently in the village who doesn't live there is to be arrested, or killed if they resist, anyone attempting to leave is to be prevented from doing so, even if it means killing them. No leaving without a permit from whoever is in command, until the soldiers are recalled. Anyone caught holding a bow or a sword is to be killed after giving them one chance to surrender. I want a full census of every village. Also, their goods, property, and bodies are to be respected. Any soldier who so much as confiscates a villager's hat is to be publicly hanged as a thief. Anyone caught assaulting a village girl or boy... tell them we'll let the demoness who went to Yaksun have them. Ensure that none of the dispatched soldiers are elves."

"Stern measures. But... it will keep many alive." Lakyus remarked with relief on her face, Skana, who had held her breath, exhaled loudly and put her hand to her breastplate, as equally relieved as Lakyus.

"That will be good enough. But really, taking their children hostage?" Skana asked, "Would you really kill them?" She asked anxiously as her heart skipped a beat.

Neia shook her head, "I've killed children before but... that was necessity, this wouldn't be, so I won't. These measures may seem cruel, and maybe they are, but 'hostage' here simply means they won't be returned. I'll have them raised in the temples or fostered out to the Northern Holy Kingdom to our worshipers there. If they want their children back, all they have to do is submit and obey, if they don't want them back after the war, all they have to do is pick up a sword." She shrugged indifferently, "It's really up to them."

"You got it." Zesshi said casually.

"Oh and Zesshi?" Neia asked as the half elf turned around to ride back.

"Yes?" She inquired, turning to look back at Neia again.

"I know I'm in command of our combined armies but... you can send a messenger, you ought to get used to having just short of absolute power." Neia said with amusement.

"I suppose I should. Still feels bizarre to be a Queen." The half elf replied with a fitting little half smile tilting up towards the white half of her hair. "I'll send a messenger to her."

"Good, then why don't you join us after, I'm going to have us make camp for the night, tomorrow will be a long day. As Lakyus just pointed out, people in positions like ours have admirers aplenty, but few peers and fewer friends, I'd like to think we qualify as the latter if nothing else." Neia remarked with a wink that caught the half elf off guard.

"I'd like that." Queen Zesshi said pleasantly after a moment, and rode off to have the orders passed on.

When the half elf was gone Neia raised the horn that dangled at her chest, and blew the signal to halt. The curved horn blew long and loud, and the combined armies ground to a halt, orders were barked up and down a line that stretched over four miles long with horses, baggage, supplies, and its civilian corps of skilled laborers.

Noise in a camp was like sweat on the march, expected, normal, and so common that eventually the veteran campaigner filtered it out as mere background ambiance. No different than crickets or birdsong. So it was when Neia sat around the table with two Queens, her wife, two powerful generals, and a legendary adventurer. The constant walking by their private dining tent was muffled by the cloth, but even for that, their trained ears focused on those around them as elf volunteers served wine, beer, and a rich stew with hard bread.

"It's really happening, isn't it?" Neia asked joyfully.

"Yes, for all the loss, all the heartache, all the trials and struggles... it's really almost over. I'll be able to bury the head of our messenger with his body, and return to a normal life as the ruler of a recovering nation." Queen Draudillon said happily.

"Yes, and I'm happy about that, but I never got my question answered before." Skana said with a slight frown as she dunked her bread into her stew and swirled it around.

"Question?" Neia asked as she tried and failed to remember it.

"Yes. Lakyus, what is Gagaran's problem? Everytime she looks at Neia, she looks angry, bitter, what's her deal?" Skana asked, fixing her green eye on the blonde beautiful adventurer.

Lakyus held out her cup, and a gentle faced elf girl poured red wine into it before moving on to Neia. She set the cup down and dipped a crust of bread into it as she answered. "Wheaton is the problem. She's still bothered by what she saw, what she did. You have to understand, Gagaran is a woman very in touch with how she feels, her passion helped shape her into the warrior that she is. But Neia's skill turned that passion against her, turned her into a berserker. She's angry as a result. She'll get over it." Lakyus explained patiently and then took up her cup of wine and drank with uncharacteristic depth, rather than slow and dignified sips.

"That's not exactly fair." Zesshi said with a small reproving frown. "I heard the same voice, and I didn't respond in any way but how I wanted."

Lakyus shrugged at the reply, "I heard it too, but while I felt the call to atrocity... I wasn't bound to it. Perhaps I was too strong to be influenced? Or perhaps I'm just so used to fighting against the attempts of my sword to capture my soul, that I had some inherent resistance... or it could be my priestly training?" She turned the matter over as she ate, but Neia's joyful expression melted like butter on hot bread.

'For the thousandth time I don't want your soul! All you have to do is swing me and I'm happy!' The sword shouted in her head from its place on her back.

'Be silent, demon sword! You'll not have me today! Or any day!' Lakyus spoke back to it in turn, her thoughts gritty and grim, despite her outer face to her companions.

"I see. I'm glad you two kept yourselves but... I wonder how many others didn't?" Neia went still, "Forgive me, I seem to have lost my appetite all of a sudden, I think I'll go read the day's dispatches from His Majesty and go to bed."

The pope rose and bowed to her friends, and made her escape before anyone could object.

"I really shouldn't have asked that. Not with her around." Skana said apologetically.

"That was probably ill timed, yes." General Oma said with gentle agreement.

"Oma..." General Musan remarked, "I think she already figured that out." He said somewhat reproachfully.

"Oh. Right. Sorry. Some things are harder to discern when you're like this. I don't think I can blush much, but rest assured I would if I could." She said and put her head on the table as if to make a point.

"You know, eventually there will be enough intelligent undead around that they'll have to work out a set of table manners expressly for this kind of thing, like a 'no putting your head on the table during dinner' or 'no rolling your head on the floor in a room where women are wearing skirts'." Queen Draudillon remarked with an amused smirk in the corner of her lip as she took a bite of bread.

For a moment there was silence as the room absorbed what she'd just said, just before they burst out laughing.

An hour and a half later, all laughter was stilled, and a wave of utter despair swept over every soul in the camp, so deep and morose, that none could even speak to acknowledge that it was felt at all, driving each of them to seek their rest in the hopes of never feeling it again.

 _...Kami Miyako..._

"Good steel, go with the gods." Yvon said to the soldiers who had sworn themselves to him, the formation marched through the streets openly and proud, with bellies full of meat they moved through streets filled with the city's starving citizens. Hundreds of stamping feet sent the sound of their movement echoing out towards the setting sun as evening came over the capital of the human supremacist nation.

Eyes from the population followed them, but the pride that had swelled in the breasts of so many, and shone in eyes bright with confidence about their place in the world, was gone. Now hollow and desperate, bellies that were almost empty growled as if angry at the soldiers themselves.

The vacant, sunken looks of the many broken Slane Theocracy citizens from around the ruined nation did not have any emotion at all until it turned to curiosity. The formation's noise became louder and louder, far more than a patrol, and unprecedented since the conflict began.

On and on they marched until the soldiers in their numbers reached the manor of Cardinal Dominic. As one they stamped their feet and then pounded the butts of their halberds on the stone outside his great estate. The soldier at the head of the formation looked over his shoulder, "Seize the Cardinal! And seize any servants he has! Go!" he shouted, and war cries echoed from the thousand throats as the steel clad soldiers charged full tilt towards the building, the door was smashed, the windows were smashed, everywhere there was a gap, a soldier filled it, screams echoed within the manor at the sudden assault, only to be drowned out by the shouts and noise.

Inside his manor, Dominic smiled as Yarvin stood behind him on the upper floor. "Do it." He ordered.

"As you say, Master." Yarvin replied and picked up the candle near the back window, and snuffed it out, giving the signal.

As it died, torches sprang to life around the area as the Agante gave their signals, and from the rooftops at the other houses, figures who had lain in wait stood from their positions, drew bows, and fired into the ranks of the soldiers.

Men fell screaming, while others screamed in shock at the ambush to their ambush. Outside, the orders were quickly being barked to call for reinforcements, and those few armed with bows turned to fire up against those who held the high ground.

Inside the manor, Agante regulars jumped out of closets and pantries and attacked with abandon, black cloaks and long knives ambushed the ambushers within.

"What do you think, Yarvin?" Dominic asked as he stood up from where he sat.

"That you want to fight again, my lord." Yarvin replied calmly as he took up a sword from where it sat, and handed it hilt first out to Dominic.

"Correct, would you like to join me? Assuming you remember how, that is?" Dominic asked sardonically.

Yarvin bowed deeply, "My lord forgets, it was I who taught him, I would never forget how to protect you, not if I live to the ending of this world."

Dominic grinned, "May you die long before that, so that you can be rewarded by the gods by being born in human skin next time. Come along then, Yvon has invited us out to play, and it would be rude to keep his friends waiting."

"Master. You are as courteous as ever, I'm very proud of you." Yarvin remarked politely, and went to take up a sword and a knife of his own as they exited the room.

"As well you should be, I'm the Cardinal of Wind, it's time to remind Yvon what that means, and blow his forces away." Dominic's savage and malicious smile brought a laugh from his elven slave, and the two began to pick up the pace from a walk to a jog, then a dead run, catching the first soldiers by surprise.

[Gale Force] Dominic shouted and struck with a naked fist into the face of a soldier, and the man's head simply ceased to be... except for the large stain of blood, skull fragments, and brain matter that hit the wall and the face of the man behind him.

[Whirlwind] Yarvin whispered as he jumped the rail down below and spun his blade like a tornado, killing five soldiers five times before they even realized they were dead and hit the ground.

The soldiers of the Theocracy were not put off for long, and halberd met with long knife, brute force with agility, squad tactics for the battlefield met squad tactics for the raiding party. Yarvin shoved his sword into the throat of a human soldier as he protected the back of his master.

[Suffocate] Dominic snarled as he held out his hand and 'took' the air out of the lungs of a soldier that was about to run his halberd through an Agante regular that had been knocked onto his back. The bear of a man reached for his throat, straining to turn his head with fear filled eyes to see the threat so he might respond to it. Before he could suffocate, the Agante took his long knife up and shoved it through the warrior's eye and into his brain, ending his curiosity, and his life, forever.

Blood splattered along the walls as the Agante inside and out began to wreak a deadly toll on the soldiers of the capital.

The Agante elites that had lain in ambush beyond, fired their bows until they began to run out of arrows, and the soldiers down below began to receive reinforcements, chaos erupted in the streets as a torch, fallen or thrown, caught somewhere and the fire began to spread.

Screaming from citizens who struggled to escape as soldiers flooded the area and people ran out of their doors or even out of windows to escape the chaos, all but drowned out the sounds of violence. But even that could not drown out the sounds of flame and falling.

"You'll have to do better than this, Yvon!" Dominic shouted from an open window, and cast the head of a soldier contemptuously out into the street. Behind him, Yarvin flicked the blood from his sword and made 'sure' the soldiers could see that it was an elf holding a sword that had put down some of their brothers.

They stepped back into the manor as roars of outrage began again.

"I think I made them angrier than you did, Master." Yarvin said calmly.

"I think you did, I think, you, did. Very good. I don't know why Yvon chose to attack now rather than at night, but it's fine, it'll be dark soon, and my Agante rule the shadows of this city." Dominic said as they left the room and the soldiers began to throw torches into the manor to spread the fire.

"That's true, Master, but you know we can't hold out here forever, we need to get you to safety. I can stay behind and tell them you died in the fire somewhere." Yarvin said with calm reason as they moved through the hall awaiting the next onslaught.

"No, I'm not letting Yvon have you, he'll make you suffer, kill you, and feed you to his soldiers." Dominic said with equal calm.

"Your concern for me is noble, but I'll give him and his men the worst stomach ache of their lives, I promise you." Yarvin replied smartly.

Dominic managed a guttural laugh as they watched another pile of torches fly into the house and the sound of fighting dimmed outside. "My Agante elites are outmatched by numbers, they'll withdraw soon to preserve themselves. They'll hold for a few more hours, but I think I underestimated him, or overestimated the loyalty of the army."

"They'd abandon you, Master?!" Yarvin asked, his thin face stretched as his jaw opened in disbelief.

"No, they'll redeploy themselves. They fight to win, not to die gloriously. If that means running away and coming back later, then they'll do that." Dominic remarked as the sound of crashing and shouting in the distance told him some of the soldiers had come in through another entry and been caught by surprise again.

"So you should do the same, come, Master, let me put your clothes on a corpse, that will buy you precious hours. Cardinal Raymond will help you, and you can win tomorrow, just give me up today." Yarvin put his sword away and grasped Dominic's head in his hands and pressed his forehead to the Cardinal of Wind.

Dominic growled with suppressed fury and shut his eyes tight, "I don't want to lose you too. I had to lose them to elves, and now you abandon me? What is it with elves and hurting humans?" He asked in a cracked voice that was at once sardonic and sad.

Yarvin's voice was low and urgent, "No! Master I am not abandoning you, I'm doing what your parents would have wanted, to make sure you stay safe, I'll never abandon you, I'm doing my duty, and don't worry, they won't kill me right away, they'll realize soon that you escaped, and when they do, they'll want information. And you know nobody can cope with torture like I can." Yarvin gave a quivering smile and kissed Dominic's forehead, "Take the armor from one of the dead ones and slip away with a handful of the Agante, the rest of us will buy you time!"

"Fine... but lets fight on for awhile yet, throw them back a few times, drag the night out until they have no choice but to burn everything to ashes, I want Yvon to feel the cost of this one… and after that, you better stay alive until I can get you back!" Dominic said as he put a hand behind Yarvin's neck and squeezed affectionately.

The grip broke and Yarvin shouted for the Agante, the orders echoed over the manor, fires were starting to spread, leaving them more and more confined as smoke began to fill the air and a handful of Agante threw back a window assault in a flurry of blades, throwing knives, and martial arts.

Whirlwinds cast bodies out through windows, the smooth flowing sword work of Yarvin cut a deadly path that bought precious time for his master, he used every doorway as a barrier, and played to their hatred of his kind by mocking them relentlessly.

"I'd aim for your cocks instead of your faces, but hitting targets that small is hard even with sharp elven eyes!" He shouted mockingly, drawing a rush of five out into the open in a rage as they drove him back into the kitchen, only for Dominic to bring one down with a sword, another down when he spun and crouched and brought his dagger up straight into an unfortunate soldier's less well protected ass, then ending his screams when the man flew back, by drawing the knife out, bringing it around and up, then down into his throat. The remaining three turned to face him, only to be struck by Yarvin's blade as he showed them he lied about how hard it was to rob them of their manhood. They were left screaming to bleed out as he mockingly called for more.

A deadly cat and mouse pursuit evolved where Agante agents in the great manor would ambush from the darkness, bring down one or two, and flee, only for the pursuers to be ambushed again by others waiting in hiding in the areas they passed through. More than one unfortunate soldier found his advance down a beautiful hallway ended when an Agante stepped from the shadows, pulled back his head, and slit his throat, before vanishing again, leaving the dying man to watch speechless as he bled out, unable to call for comrades who did not even know he'd been attacked.

Finally, after numerous dead littered the manor over hours of constant running and fighting inside and outside the estate, Yarvin and Dominic were nearing the end of their stamina, and they again found themselves on the upper level only a few feet from their last words of affection.

Yarvin grabbed an armored corpse and tossed it to Dominic, as the Cardinal of Wind stripped himself, Yarvin stripped the soldier of his armor. It took only the barest of minutes to see them changed, and Yarvin snatched a burning curtain, and shoved it onto the face of the soldier's corpse that was now dressed like Dominic. "That will buy you time!" He said urgently as the flame scorched the flesh.

Dominic didn't answer the non-question, instead he knelt beside his loyal slave and put a hand to Yarvin's shoulder, "Just carry out one more order for me today. Survive! Survive and I will come for you! Die, and I will avenge you… but I won't forgive you!"

"Yes, Master." Yarvin replied proudly through glassy eyes as Dominic ran for it, along with a handful of Agante agents. Outside, darkness set in except for the fires, the chaos spread, and Yarvin took a deep breath as soon as he was alone. He mutilated the face of the corpse some more, and then dragged it away from the fires, outside he could tell that the delaying action was finally being overcome. 'I really did not anticipate this many would join Yvon... they must be hungrier than any of us believed. Well, it can't be helped, and this won't last, nothing after all, can last forever.' He thought to himself as he dragged the body to the center of the room and sat with it, he cradled it in his lap as he had Dominic in his boyhood, the tears he shed were not for the body he held, but for the man he'd sent away, and they were true ones.

As he expected, steel clad feet eventually stomped into the room, kicking over the pile of bodies. "Where is Dominic?" The owner of those steel clad feet said. Yarvin looked up, he was a bear of a man, thickly muscled and barely contained in his armor, he carried an enormous spiked club rather than sword or halberd.

Yarvin looked down, and touched the face of the disguised and mutilated corpse.

"So that's him, eh?" The bearlike soldier with a thick black beard replied, "Alright, well you're coming with us. But since you don't seem to speak when you're spoken to..." The club came up and swung in a smooth, practiced arc, and Yarvin felt his jaw shatter into fragments, he tumbled to the side, and before he could open his eyes, the club came down, cracked against his skull, and he saw no more.

 _...Nazarick..._

"Tell me something, Shalltear." Ainz said in his private office as he set aside the last of a stack of paperwork that was easily as long as his arm. A flash of guilt swept through him as her awed expression greeted the red orbs that served as his eyes. He neatly tapped the documents a few times upright on his desk so that the papers were even with one another, and then laid them atop the outbox. 'I'm a terrible boss, to put on an act like this, most of those were nonsense, yet she thinks I make complex decisions in a second... I hate this part of my job.' He thought with a despondent flash.

"My Lord!" Shalltear responded enthusiastically. 'How can he do that so fast... his stamp flew from pad to paper like I do over a battlefield. Truly only the Leader of the Forty-One could be so capable...' She pondered with grateful awe. "What can I tell you?" She asked eagerly as a broad smile formed over her face and she stepped a little closer to his desk.

"You have grown in your skills a great deal while on campaign with Zaryusu, developing your bureaucratic skills to allow you to better administer your duties, has strengthened Nazarick, and I am very proud of you. But." He said, and raised a finger, she leaned forward, bright and eager, but also anxious to hear what else he had to say, she didn't speak, only held herself still in anticipation.

"But... I have not heard from you what your 'personal' opinions are, have they changed since you began to serve beyond Nazarick, have they changed since you began to lead those from beyond the Tomb?" Ainz asked curiously.

Shalltear fell back onto her heels from her tiptoed forward leaning, and twirled her parasol thoughtfully behind her. "Actually, My Lord... they have. It is true that humans are weak, pathetic beings, like dirt, best used for walking on, the same goes for almost everything else. But... some of them are different. They make beautiful things, not like the Supreme Beings but... they work, and the loyal ones are able to serve you well. Some of course, are fit only to be food or playthings, many deserve to die screaming. However there are some precious gems buried in the dirt."

"So you now believe some are fit to adorn Nazarick's wealth of talent, then?" Ainz asked, laying one skeletal hand over the other as he rested them on the surface of the ornate dark shaded desk.

Shalltear nodded slowly, "I do, My Lord. The lizard being proved competent at his task. The human husband of your pet peasant has created precious items for Nazarick, the ones you recreated have served in their roles excellently, and the young girl you set to upend the world was even praised by Demiurge for her talent for killing and commanding. Most are worthless, but dig through the dirt, and I understand why you have chosen not to exterminate them." Her voice was humble, fragile, much to his surprise.

"Very good, Shalltear, you were not created with that knowledge, but you obtained it anyway, be proud, for you have grown." Ainz said and stood up, towering over her, he reached out and cupped her face and tilted her face up to him. "I understand, you feel lost that you did not grasp my reasoning... but don't. I am far... far older than you, and have knowledge and experiences you have not even dreamt of. In time, you will grow more, just as you have now, my precious child of my precious friend." Ainz said in a tender, fatherly way that brought bright tears to beautiful child vampire eyes. 'It's technically true... I guess, so... there's that.' He thought to himself about the little half lie he gave to her.

"Thank you... thank you... thank you, Lord Ainz!" She said through sniffles.

"Now, as for why I've called you here," Ainz sat back down, giving out a fake cough to cover his momentary discomfort, "I need you to pull the elves out of the work camps we paid for through the human traitors to the Theocracy. Use the gate and take them to Forton, Aorli can handle what needs to be done from there. Then have Nigredo and some skeleton laborers assigned to distributing food and other vital necessities, while Aorli handles resettlement to villages, towns, and cities. Then return to General Zaryusu until Kami Miyako falls. Any questions?" Ainz asked as he tried to ignore her obsessive, fixated, adoring gaze.

"None, Lord Ainz! I'll do it at once and make you even prouder of me!" She said with a joyful laugh as she touched her cheeks where he had touched her and shook with what he feared might be orgasmic bliss.


	197. Return to Wenmark

God Rising: The Cult of Ainz

Written by: AtheistBasementDragon

Edited by: The Usual Gang of Drunken Perverted Idiots

Chapter 197: Return to Wenmark

 _...Kami Miyako..._

The enormous soldier dragged the unconscious elf and flung his bound body over the back of his horse, a little extra rope and the unprocessed elf meat wouldn't fall and tenderize itself. But for the body of Dominic, he secured a rope to the feet of the corpse, and then tied the other end to the back of his saddle. Quiet but for the fires that raged after the hours of struggle that had gone back and forth, he felt a smug sense of satisfaction come over him.

Soldiers staggered out of the manor, some dragging prisoners, some dragging meat, a few carrying looted property for themselves, small prizes that would buy them what they wanted later. Others of more noble bent, carried wounded comrades or the bodies of the dead. "Let it be proclaimed to all Kami Miyako, Cardinal Dominic is dead!" The behemoth said as he got into the saddle.

He and the survivors began to march through the street, chanting the phrase. "Cardinal Dominic is dead! Long live Cardinal Yvon, who will feed all our people with the food that Dominic has held from us! No more Dominic! No more hunger! No more Dominic! No more hunger! No more Dominic! No more hunger!"

The chant was taken up by the soldiers behind him, they could feel the population salivating around them, citizens with sunken eyes wiped spittle from their lips. Word began to fly around the city of the promise of food from Cardinal Yvon.

The body behind the horse, mutilated, burned, and dressed in the Cardinal's clothing, gave mute testimony to the truth of the claim that Cardinal Dominic had perished, and the word of his demise was paired with the promise of food carried to various parts of the city, from manor homes and guard stations, to barracks and merchant homes. The lines were drawn.

 _...Neia's Tent..._

Skana entered the sleeping tent she shared with her wife. Darkness covered the room, but it was clear that she was thrashing, the faint shadow of her figure, the groaning. "Neia... my Neia..." Skana said and started to approach, then hesitated, and drew her hand up to her throat. "No. Damn it, no. Doesn't matter, not at all, it wasn't on purpose and you're not going to leave her like that no matter what happens." Skana scolded herself, and approached the bedside of her wife, she kicked several drained bottles of wine out of the way and went slowly down to her knees beside her wife, and did not reach to touch her. Instead, she slowly whispered close to her ear.

"Everything's alright, everyone is fine, you're safe, you're safe with me, you're not where you think you are. I love you, I love you and I'll take care of you, and I'll never let go." She whispered gentle words in an endless stream, and it seemed to filter into Neia's mind, as the thrashing slowly began to stop and banish the night terror. She went around to the other side of the double wide cot, and stripping herself of clothing, pressed her naked body against the bare skin of the Scourge of God, spooning her close to share the warmth and comfort of her touch. 'Was that you before... did you reach out to my heart alone, did you even know you'd done it before you passed out, what fresh nightmare could do that to you...?' She wondered, before seeing the crumpled and torn paper that had found its way partially under the pillow during Neia's thrashing.

Skana took it up and read it as she clutched her lover with her other arm. Her eyes widened. 'Oh no... they can't have sunk so low...' She thought to herself and cast the paper aside after crushing it in her fist.

There were no more cries that night. Only the loving whispers in a despairing ear, as Skana fought off her own sense of rage and horror at the news dispatched by the Sorcerer King.

Neia woke up to the feel of warm breath on the back of her neck, and a hand cupping her right breast. She mewed slightly as she understood, "What a woman you are... how long did you stay awake with me I wonder?" Neia gently whispered as she got up out of her resting place and used a cheap throwaway cleansing scroll on herself, then dressed herself for war again, pausing only when a message came in.

"Are you ready and willing?" Enri asked through her message spell.

"I am." Neia replied calmly.

"Where then?" Enri asked abruptly.

"Wenmark. We will discuss this in Wenmark. What is left of it anyway. There is no better place." Neia answered confidently.

"Fine. The gate will be open in a minute, are you bringing anyone?" Enri asked calmly.

"No, just me, let's get this over with, I've got a city to exterminate and I'd rather not slow down the march more than I have to." She said calmly. "I owe you this meeting for what I did to you, but I hope you didn't make any promises on my behalf." Neia said formally.

"No, nothing, just a chance, that is all, but that chance got an army to surrender entirely, please keep that in mind." Enri asked politely.

"I will, but that is all I'll promise." Neia said in a neutral voice as the gate opened, and she stepped through it, leaving Skana to rest behind her.

 _...Ruins of Wenmark..._

"Well, this place looks as shitty as I remember it, maybe even worse." Neia cursed it as she looked around. Toppled, crumbled buildings, timbers burned and blackened, many with sharp edges protruding out into empty, broken streets. Cold wind howled, and snow mixed with ash and soot. "It's just like Wheaton was." Neia said as she reached out to a beam and broke off a sharp protruding end and tossed it aimlessly away into the distance, where a faint clatter echoed in the silent city of the dead.

"So... you did this to Wheaton too, did you?" Raymond asked as he stepped out of the gate behind her.

Boabdil, Nua, and Enri fell in beside him as they too, stepped out of holes in reality.

"No, not quite, it was like this, but then," Neia said with a hard stare at him, "I burned the rest of it last night, the river will be turning black outside your city in a day or three, depending on how fast the waters flow."

"I see." Raymond replied with a heavy voice.

"Is he treating you well?" Neia asked the demure looking elf girl. "If he's hurt you in the least, say the word and I will rip his body apart and get you to safety." She stared at a bruise around Nua's neck, her fingers twitched to reach for her bow.

Nua shuddered as the blackness dominated Neia's eyes the way she remembered. "No, I told you, I'm not his slave. He's really on... your side, our side? I swear! He's truly working with the Sorcerer King. This bruise is from... well I guess you'd call it a disguise."

"Hard to believe." Neia said icily, "He's a cardinal of the Theocracy. How can any of those be anything but evil?" The resentment in her voice was palpable.

"I understand... I asked the same question for a long time but... it's true. He's good, and I won't let you hurt him." Nua said boldly and moved to stand in front of the Cardinal.

Neia felt her anger thaw out a bit as the elf put herself between her and the Cardinal.

She bowed her head apologetically, "I apologize, it is just difficult to accept. I should know better." Neia said gently.

"It's fine, given our history, it isn't hard to understand." Raymond replied optimistically.

"So... you're really her, aren't you? I thought you'd be... I don't know... taller?" General Boabdil said passively.

As she turned her eyes to him, he felt a faint caress over his heart, and then it was gone. "An arrow is short, but it brings down the tallest monsters when it strikes true." Neia said with a powerful reverberating voice.

"Fair enough." Boabdil said as the chill swept through his soul which had nothing to do with the winter.

"So, I'm here. What do you want from me?" Neia asked, and her hostility seemed to vanish.

"I want you to spare my people." Raymond replied simply. 'Better to be blunt, games will only anger her.' He thought to himself as he spoke.

Neia laughed bitterly. "Spare you? Spare you?!" Her head tilted back and her every syllable dripped mockery. "Look around you!" She exclaimed and slowly turned around on the balls of her feet, her arms outstretched to encompass the dead city.

"What must I do to get through to you people?" Neia asked with bitter wrath. "Why have you not understood, why have you not listened?!" She grabbed at her hair and tugged it hard enough to hurt.

"I understand why you want your revenge, why you hate us but..." Boabdil began, only to fall silent as her head snapped up and her glare ripped at his guts like the claws of a hungry beast.

"No, you don't! If you did, perhaps you'd have listened! I left the head of Justicar nailed to a wall. I had Wenmark annihilated, I tore Yanana apart down to its foundations, I sent severed ears in a bag with an inquisitor, I sent the mutilated living overseers back to you, I sent the child survivors of the owners of a great estate to tell you what you were dealing with, I slaughtered the Golden Fortress, I turned the river red and now I've turned it black and destroyed the greatest city in the south of your cursed country... and still you do not understand. Still, your people do as they have always done and aspire to worse!" Neia shouted with fury and pressure began to build around her.

"You want to negotiate for the survival of the source of nightmares? I am weary of warnings, so it's time I showed you what you are truly dealing with, then, maybe... just maybe you will understand... all of you." Neia said, letting her eyes linger momentarily on Enri, who trembled in spite of herself, but did not flinch.

"Follow me, we have a little while, and perhaps... if I show you this, you will begin to grasp your circumstances. It is only a short walk from here, and even if I should live to be ten thousand years old, I will never forget the way to it." Neia said, and started to walk, not looking behind her to see if they followed.

So through the ruins they walked, occasionally stepping over bodies still dressed in exquisite armor and bearing marvelous weapons, they had obviously died where they fell, held in place by the weight of their remarkable gear, all facing away from whatever they had tried to flee that had ultimately killed them.

"It is true, I hate your country." Neia said casually as she stepped on and then over a corpse. "If my god allowed it, I would exterminate it, and with only the army I myself created and command, I could wipe out your six hundred year history in... maybe two years, three if you hid in the mountains." She snapped her fingers sharply beside her head. "Just like that, you'd all be gone, nothing but a few fragments of art and a handful of coins beyond your borders."

There was a silence behind her except for their footsteps.

'She means it, she really means it, I mean I don't know if she could or not but... you don't get that confident with that much experience without good reason to have it.' Boabdil thought anxiously as he traded a look with Raymond, the glance alone revealing that they shared the same thought.

Neia folded her hands behind the small of her back as she went down twists and turns on the street. Eventually, they found themselves walking over blackened, dead grass that pockmarked dirty snow, and standing in front of what was once a large and luxurious building, now a cracked, blackened and ruined husk of its former glory.

Neia spun around to face them and held her arms at shoulder height and spread wide apart. "Welcome, to what was once that most luxurious nightmare in Wenmark. The Golden Roan, where the wealthy could rape and beat the beautiful, as long as they could afford to pay the price. Welcome, to the natural result of your beliefs. And the cause of the despair I bring to you in judgement."

Four throats swallowed anxiously. "Before we go in, let me ask you... have any of you ever seen the rebirth of a soul? Seen it begin right in front of your very eyes?"

Boabdil shifted uncomfortably. "I don't really know what you mean."

She ignored his response, and went on. "I have, I did. I saw it happen, I saw, inside this beautiful hell, a precious light that had been dulled by tortures unimaginable, broken and hopeless... she came back to life. Born like a spark in an endless dark. I and... the woman who is now my wife, we held her as her soul came back, like a new life just entering the world." Neia slowly turned and walked toward the entrance. "We hugged her, taught her, trained her. Can you imagine it? Me? Clutching some slender elf prostitute as she sobbed out a half a dozen lifetimes of pain in hours as she was finally free to do so? Watching the light born in her eyes again as she remembered she had value, worth beyond being just some obscene living doll for rich humans to rut with and hurt."

Neia's voice became demonic in its hatred, "Together, my wife, my best friend, and I... we watched her come alive, have hope again. Watched her think about her future as she believed she had one... because she believed me, because she trusted me, us... that we would get her out no matter what." Rage began to swell and the two Theocracy leaders felt for a moment as if some dread monster was tracing a claw over their beating hearts.

As she walked through a once luxurious entryway, they couldn't help but notice the scattered bodies and countless bloodstains that lay where they too had fallen before.

"Together, we put everything we could into not just her, but hundreds of others, and I saw so many beautiful souls begin to shine. But none were as close as she was... and is, in a way. Can you understand that much, Cardinal Raymond?" Neia asked in a wounded whisper as they went down the red carpeted hallway.

"I can, actually, there is at least one I see that way." He said as he looked over to Nua, who instinctively came closer to him. "But I have seen much the same emerge out of others as they learned they didn't have to live in fear at every moment."

Neia kicked aside the fragments of a door as he answered her, it flew through the room and shattered against the stone wall. "I saw that precious soul, who I had come to treasure so much... that I had seen reborn to the world... die. Right here." Neia whispered softly as she came to the bloodstain.

"When my plans went all wrong, I rushed to this place, thinking to save her, along with Skana and CZ. I got here in time to see that she'd killed two of those who came for her, guards, soldiers. But those who had overpowered her, were taking turns raping her, holding her down as she wailed for mercy that didn't exist in their black hearts. We killed the guards, and she got one more when they let her go as we caught them by surprise. But then one of them got a lucky strike in, killed her with a thrust from his spear, straight through her side."

Neia went to her knees in front of the stain and touched it lovingly. "She died, naked, terrified, in agony, in my arms, in this place that she hated." Neia's voice became empty, all but broken and the hand that touched the stain shook as if in pain.

She looked at the General and the Cardinal, but spoke to Raymond alone when she said, "You, Cardinal, said you knew the sight of a soul being born."

"I do." He nodded gravely.

"Tell me, Cardinal Raymond Zarg Lauransan, what would you do if you returned home, and found that soul enduring a series of rapes–crying for help–just to die in your arms? What would you do to those responsible?" Neia asked as tears began to stream down her cheeks.

Enri was frozen as she watched the impossible, 'So... this is it. This is where the monster was born.'

"Dead to the last man." Raymond answered without a second thought as he tried to imagine Nua in such a desperate situation, and found he could not bear it.

"And what would you do to the religion that spawned a belief that such actions were not only acceptable, but were entirely right and an expression of the will of the worshipper's gods, that their followers have this dominion over everyone like her?" Neia asked further.

"Wipe it from the face of the world." He answered with dawning understanding.

"Then you begin to understand," Neia replied, "Why I plan to kill you all. Your country might not have killed her, but your country spread the worship of the six, the ones who lived in this city, in particular, were closely tied to Kami Miyako and were just as fanatical. I see no reason why I should leave a single pair of living lips to send praises to those deities. I would sooner cut those lips off and shove them down the throats of their owners, let them choke on their own words." Neia said with loathing in her voice that a sea of blood could not satisfy.

She stood up and turned around, and pointed passively toward General Boabdil, "Maybe, if things had been different, I wouldn't be this way. I wouldn't hate you as much, maybe... if 'you' had been my opponent, instead of Jaldabaoth, Handor, Remedios, and Suchala... then I might be more kindly inclined. But that isn't what happened, is it?" Neia asked and looked squarely at Enri.

The Peasant General shook her head. "No... I'm well aware that I was 'lucky'. General Boabdil, General Heikeren, Vice Commander Ira... they're good people who happened to be on the wrong side. Maybe they've... done some things they shouldn't have, but nothing like those things you faced. I admit, I wonder what I'd be, if I... if I knew that my followers were being set on fire while alive. If someone close to me was abused like that, if I'd been forced to kill my own people to save them from a fate worse than death."

"No. Your country saw me as a demon, so I became worse than a demon. I think I have a higher body count now than Jaldabaoth." Neia gave a black-hearted laugh as she looked at the Slane Theocracy remnant leadership, "So, you want to negotiate with the demoness of the west, to talk me out of exterminating the last bit of resistance and eradicating the worship of the old gods, which robbed this world of that precious little light? Alright, we'll negotiate, and I know just where we'll do it." Neia said with a clearly twisted voice that warned them that some dark humor lay behind her cryptic words.

"This way. I hope, however, you understand just how weak your bargaining position is now." She said, looking behind her once more at the red stain as she left it behind for the second time.


	198. Because When It Is, None Call It Treason

God Rising: The Cult of Ainz

Written by: AtheistBasementDragon

Edited by: The Usual Gang of Drunken Perverted Idiots

Chapter 198: Because When it is, None Call it Treason

 _...Kami Miyako..._

Dominic felt his muscles straining as he fled the area, as soon as he was out of sight, he dove into a nearby house from which no sound could be heard. He looked around, breathing deep and hard as he tried to catch his breath. A simple house, barely above that of the average peasant. He shuffled over to a crude dresser, "Ha... ha... ha..." he started to laugh with his breathing. "Too clever, far too clever for your own good, Yvon. You forgot who you were dealing with. The gods favor me, not you, never you." He uttered as he pulled out a simple peasant tunic that was roughly his size, simple brown pants and a crude black shirt patched in places to keep it usable.

"OK, no cloak, but I can deal with the cold, that slave did. Oh. That one, I suppose she's been caught, if she hasn't been killed. What was the name?" He pondered briefly as he threw on the garment and snatched up a pair of worn work boots to top off the crude ensemble.

"Screw it, doesn't matter, if she's dead then I can't do anything, if she's alive, she probably won't be for long. Still, she did warn me and it nearly killed her. The gods obviously ensured she would survive to warn me, I guess that earns a chance to be reborn as a human in the next life but... until then? Well, if she's alive I guess I'll give her as a present to Raymond, assuming he hasn't turned traitor to me too. He's gentle on his slaves, I suppose she's earned that much at least." Dominic busied himself with the pointless chatter to the empty room as he tried to focus on what he needed to do. He wiped the sweat from his brow and rummaged through the dresser further, looking for what, he wasn't sure, not until he found it.

His hand found purchase on the handle of a crude iron dagger, simplest of simple tools, cheapest of cheap weapons other than a club, or a rock picked up out of a stream. He sighed heavily, 'This is going to be unpleasant but... oh well. Yarvin will have to keep back his laughter as best he can when he see this.' Dominic thought to himself and brought the knife up to his head, and he began to shave his head. "I should have studied illusion magic..." He said in annoyance as scraps of hair began to fall away, bit by bit until his head was shaved smooth and the once full head of hair was cut away to nothingness, leaving only a pale dome of skull in its place.

"That'll have to do." He muttered under his breath, and he put the knife back in the drawer. From the pouch he kept at his side, he took out a gold coin, and placed it atop the dresser. "For your trouble." He remarked to the absent peasant, and went out the window the way he'd come in. The armor, he carried to a small well behind the home, and lifting the grate over it, he tossed the pieces down to disappear into the darkness and the water below.

They landed with a series of small splashes, and he closed the grate as it had been before. Then he took to the main street and began to walk. The winter winds weren't howling as they had been the night before, a dry cold had settled over the capital. People were out en masse trying to get by while chaos erupted only a few miles away and slowly spread like thick stew spilled onto the floor.

He held his stomach at the thought of stew, then with a snarl he pushed the hungry feeling aside and kept to his purpose. 'OK, how long do I have before Yvon finds out I'm not dead?' Dominic began to think to himself as he stamped through the thin layer of snow, 'If Yarvin is alive, I might actually have longer than if they killed him. He's stubborn, strong, he'll hold out under torture if they even suspect I'm not dead. But at the very least, I've got a few hours. Enough time to get a little rest before I reach out to my people. That will be plenty, that will be all I need, and then Yvon, I'll make you pay.'

 _...Feron..._

"Any bodies left?" Aalon asked from the head of the table in the large open meeting room.

"None." Tula answered with ample satisfaction. "We've burned up most of the human filth, they're just ashes now, we're mixing it with shit to make fertilizer for the fields, with all this material, the harvests here will surpass what used to be Wheaton at its best for the next twenty years." She flashed a fangy vampire smile and her long dark hair swayed behind her as she laughed pleasantly in satisfaction.

Aalon's claws extended from his hand, "Very good, daughter, very good indeed. Did any humans choose to remain behind at all?"

The shapely, slender vampire shook her head, "None, this place is empty except for us, and I don't expect to see any of them ever again here. Too cold, too long of a trip, not enough supplies, they probably turned on each other before they got halfway to Kami Miyako. And of course we now know that the city isn't letting new people in sooo..." She spread her hands open in front of her, and her father imitated the gesture.

"Yes, Feron is probably even more dead than Wheaton. I think I'll appeal to His Majesty to turn this mountain range into a province all its own, when all is said and done, and to let me make Feron the new capital... but... I think I'll change the name." Aalon said thoughtfully.

"To what, my love?" Elpida asked as she entered the room and went to wrap her arms around his front from behind.

"Elf'eron." He said, "Kind of a reference to what it used to be, and what it is now, iron of the elves. What do you think?" He asked.

Tula and Elpida traded thoughtful looks, the long blonde haired radiant elven woman seemed to find common ground. "Yes, that works, I like it." Tula said first, followed quickly by Elpida.

"Agreed." Elpida added. "Now are we going to send our elves east to Kami Miyako to join with Neia and the rest?"

"No, we're going to secure all the human towns and villages, capture all the priests, and free any remaining slaves held in isolated estates and facilities. When it comes time to take Kami Miyako, I'll have a few thousand of us and we'll use that magnificent [Gate] to get there. But until then, we have our own work to do to ensure we win the peace after we've won the war. Forgive me for this Elpida, but I must say it." Aalon remarked calmly as his lover looked at him with expectant eyes.

"Nua is well and thoroughly avenged." He said with satisfaction as he looked out the window where he could see the almost total ruination of the small mining city.

"Even if she hadn't been by now... well another week or so, and that'll be enough." Tula grinned, "All those years of planning and preparation, it makes me wonder what I'll do with myself after it's all over."

"Whatever you want." Elpida remarked, "It's like I said to Tika before I left Kami Miyako, 'that's what it means to be free'. I want nothing more than to be by Dolorem... or Aalon, whichever name you use, for the rest of my life. But maybe you should think about adventuring."

Tula bit her lip as she thought about that, "That's actually appealing, but I was thinking I would join the priesthood of His Majesty's religion, or one of their military orders, it seems like I could do more good that way."

"Whatever choice you make, my precious daughter, I'll be proud of you, and it will be your choice to make, now and forever after." Aalon said enthusiastically as he raised his hand and clutched the wrist of his elven lover as she leaned over behind him.

 _...Ruins of Wenmark..._

They followed her through the streets as they left the husk of the nightmare of stone behind. She kicked the bodies carelessly out of her way, or stepped on them, rather than over them. Her crisp steps decisive and martial, and around her whorled a blacker aura than Raymond had ever seen. He flinched every time he looked at her marching back.

Boabdil was faring no better beside him. They held the corners of each other's eyes as they tried and failed again and again to focus ahead of them. Nua at once shuddered with horror and wanted to dance for joy. "This is what descends on my persecutors... yes... oh yes oh yes... let her come, let her come for the overseers, the breakers, the barkers, the masters and the mistresses. Let her come for the cities and towns, let her come for the trade caravans and the temples and the priests...' She thought, but as she continued to add to the list of those whose deaths she had begun to pray for, a vision of what it would look like passed across her mind. Endless fire and blood turning the green grass red and drowning it in a flood.

She kept herself from swallowing hard, but she clutched at Raymond's arm for security as she walked beside him. He made no objection.

"Where are we going, exactly?" Enri asked as she cast her eyes uneasily about the ghostly city. Somewhere in the distance, something fell with a crash.

"To negotiate, of course, just as I promised." Neia replied with false sweetness in her voice.

"I understand what you said, and why you have no inclination to spare any of us." Boabdil said tentatively as they followed her.

"Do you?" Neia asked coldly.

"Yes." He answered with discomfort.

"What I've told you before, is why I will find it... 'satisfying' even if I take no real pleasure in it. True, I want your entire country to cease to exist, and I would happily see it done, but even with all that has come about, that is secondary. My goal was and is always the same. The supremacy of my god. And you all are in his way. Even if you submit, we all know your temples won't change, it's not in their nature, am I wrong?" Neia asked as she casually kicked a helmeted head away from its owner and bouncing down the street with an ominous tink, thunk, tink, noise that grew louder, then faded away to nothing as it vanished far, far away.

No answer was forthcoming.

"That's why I'll kill you all. You deserve no mercy for what you've done, and I might even be able to make myself 'enjoy' it all for once. But the truest reason for why I will do it is because your ways cannot be allowed to continue. I tried again and again to warn you of the need to change, by showing you the punishments and retribution I would mete out to those who violated the will of my justice. But despite all of that, you just wouldn't listen. Father has given your city to me, and I see no reason to leave any of it standing."

She casually kicked a gate off its hinges and sent it bouncing out of the way as they entered the courtyard of a large building. "Far better to destroy the whole place and let the grass grow for the horses of the plains." As she said this, she led them into what was obviously an administrative building, down a blackened hallway that had cracked from the heat of the fires against the stone. She led them all the way to a pair of enormous double doors, the carvings on the door showed images of human supremacy and the suffering and subjugation of all other beings.

[Unliving Strength] [Lesser Strength] [Death Grip] She uttered, and smashed the doors to pieces, sending the fragments flying into the interior.

"Welcome to the center of the government for the dead city of Wenmark. She looked up at the seating, several charred corpses were still in place. "Oh, I wondered what happened to that lot." Neia said with grim satisfaction and a predatory smile. "Just shove their bodies out of the way, and go ahead, make your case, I might even change my mind." Neia said with a vicious denial in her tone that contradicted her words as she sat at the ruined table in the center of the room and gestured for the rest of her company to take the former seats of power, to beg for the lives of the people in the last Theocracy city.

 _...Kami Miyako...Yvon's Office..._

The shouting reached the skinny older man long before the sight of its source did. When it did, he rose slowly from his desk and began to head for the exit of his manor, a slight measure of annoyance came and went when he had the impulse to call for one of his servants and remembered he didn't have his slaves anymore. "Oh well, you can't have your stew and eat it too." He chuckled at the joke and tended to himself, seeing to a brief bath and getting dressed on his own in preparation for the arrival of his newly victorious subordinates.

He finished just in time for the procession to reach him, the huge man on horseback dragging a corpse behind him that had clearly been torn apart by being dragged along the road. "It is done." The behemoth said as he shoved the unconscious elf off the side of his horse to fall in an unconscious heap into the snow with an audible thud.

"That one beloned to Dominic, we saw it... holding a sword, in the upper window, standing just behind the late Cardinal's shoulder. I thought you might like to deal with it personally, since it is too late for you to kill Dominic yourself." He said as he got down off of his horse with a graceful hop and then lowered himself to one knee and turned his gaze downward.

Yvon raised his hand over the man's head and spoke in a raspy voice, "I bless you in the name of the gods for your work in their divine name. Great work have you done, to put their true son in his proper place."

"Now, bring me his body, I want to see him for myself. Dominic, that is, I can't really be satisfied until I've held his head in my own hands." Yvon remarked savagely, and with a deferential bowing of his head, the behemoth straightened up and went over to where the corpse lay splayed out in the snow with its hands overhead, a long bloody streek stretching from where it now lay, back in the direction from which they'd come, and leading all the way to the home of Yvon himself.

The behemoth cut the rope with a clean slice and then taking the rope up, he dragged it over to where Yvon stood, rubbing his hands together eagerly in the cold. The dragging sound eased off when it moved over the dead grass and thick powder that had accumulated in front of Yvon's manor, but neither sound drew any reaction. Behind them, the cry 'No more Dominic! No more hunger!' was growing louder.

When he drew close, the armored behemoth went to the corpse, grabbed it by the hair, and tossed it head first to the feet of the new ruler. It fell face first, and Yvon went to the side, stuck his foot under the battered and broken shoulder, flipped it over on its back. His sinister eyes widened as he looked down at the charred and mutilated face. He crouched and peeled back the charred eyelids and peered into the blank, staring pupils.

"You... idiot." Yvon hissed.

"Cardinal?" The behemoth asked with a sudden shock of fear as the divine aura of Yvon's wrath sprang to life. The huge man stepped back in sudden fear, as did those behind him.

"Idiot! Idiot! Idiot!" Yvon snarled.

"Cardinal, what's wrong?!" The behemoth asked urgently.

Yvon put a foot onto the chest of the corpse. [Divine Push] [Divine Pull] He uttered, and reached down for the head again, he grabbed both sides of the head, and yanked, hard. A moment of resistance, and the head was torn off at the neck with a brutal and sickening sound of ripping. Part of the spine dangled free as Yvon carried the head over to the behemoth. He kept one hand on the hair of the dangling head, and then, holding it at eye level with the huge soldier, his other hand went to the eye and he pried the eyelid up with two fingers.

"What color is that?" Yvon asked with a deadly, sinister voice.

"Black." The soldier answered with growing foreboding.

"And if Dominic does not have black eyes?" Yvon asked like the man was stupid.

"Then... then that is not Cardinal Dominic." The soldier answered with a sick realization. "But... that doesn't mean he isn't dead, Cardinal! He could have died elsewhere in the manor trying to escape in disguise!" The soldier uttered urgently as he tried to salvage the situation and slow his increasingly rapid heartbeat.

"You'd best hope that is the case. For now, I'll bet that thing," he pointed to the limp body of the surviving elf, "can tell us one way or another. Pick it up and bring it into my home, I have a room for punishing animals that don't obey, we'll see how much we have to hurt this one to break it."

"Sir!" The behemoth uttered and he rushed to scoop up the crumpled, battered elf over one shoulder, and he followed Yvon toward the entrance to his house.

"Sir, what about the... the food?" He asked hopefully.

Yvon thought for just a second, "Keep the soldiers guarding out here for now, we need to know what happened to Dominic, if he turns out to be dead, we'll go lead the forces outside to take the camps, if faithless outsiders get in the way, put them down, if they don't, ignore them. But first we need information."

"Yessir!" He said urgently and barked orders over his shoulder as he rushed behind the cardinal and into his manor, and then shut the door behind the three of them.


	199. Blood Oath

God Rising: The Cult of Ainz

Written by: AtheistBasementDragon

Edited by: The Usual Gang of Drunken Perverted Idiots

Chapter 199: Blood Oath

 _...Kami Miyako..._

Dominic rushed through the city as fast as he could without appearing suspicious, a part of him was smugly self satisfied. 'Walking openly with this bald head of mine in peasant clothes was a damn good idea, even by my standards. People notice the bald head and the rest of my face doesn't 'fit' that, so they won't recognize me at all. Still, caution is needed.' He thought as he focused on taking the back alleyways that wound throughout the city and ventured into the open streets only when he had to.

"You." A voice said as he was about to exit an alley.

Dominic turned toward the gruff voice, a half a dozen men were leaning against the walls.

"Me?" Dominic pointed to himself, altering his voice with a higher pitch for an additional layer of deception.

"Yeah, who else, baldy?" The biggest asked. Dominic looked closer as he scowled and made a fist. True or not, he didn't like it. He snarled angrily. They were well fed, relatively speaking, though their clothes had many patches and their cloaks were almost threadbare from overuse. Their clothing was mostly red, except for their brown leather boots.

"Where you from?" The biggest one asked, orangish hair hung down the length of his neck and a thick ginger beard of the same shade covered most of his face.

"Say what?" Dominic asked with a frown.

"What, you don't know words, baldy? I asked where you from? You from here? You from Crossroads, Ikari? Wheaton, somewhere else?"

A sensation tickled in Dominic's brain, a clue about why he was being asked, he thought of the reports of factional fighting between refugee groups. "Here." Dominic answered calmly.

"I see, well, then you've got a toll to pay or I'm afraid we can't let you pass." The big one said calmly as he drew out a short knife The other refugees drew short knives as well.

"What kind of toll? I don't have time for this." Dominic said with contempt.

"Your ration card." The thug replied.

"Oh, so that's how you've been staying fed." Dominic said aloud as the curious state of their bodies was explained. "Well, I can't help you. I don't have a ration card."

"Then we'll take your clothes and those boots." The thug answered and began to approach, two more in red emerged from around the corner in the open.

"Neither of those things is going to happen. Now get out of my way, I've got somewhere to be. Be grateful I don't want to take the time to kill you, at least not now." Dominic growled harshly.

The little gang paused at his seeming fearlessness. Dominic tapped the sword at his side.

"It's just one, and there are eight of us." The thug answered as he came up to Dominic, towering over him by a full head and a half. He smiled arrogantly.

[Penetrating Blow] Dominic said, and thrust his hand forward with the palm flat and horizontal with the ground, thrusting as if he were thrusting a knife, his hand pierced the stomach of the thug, who grunted and stared down, incomprehensibly at the hole that appeared in his stomach. Dominic growled again, grabbed the intestines, and yanked his hand back out, bringing the insides of the thug, outside. The large thug fell to his knees and grasped at his innards as Dominic released the hold, then kicked him hard in his chest, sending him tumbling head over heels backwards a half a dozen feet until he hit a stack of crates, shattering them and crumpling into a heap, blood stained the snow and the walls, and the thugs shrieked with horror.

"That was one. I don't have time for you trash, run away." Dominic snarled again, and the remaining thugs ran for their lives.

"I shouldn't have done that... now my hand is all filthy with... filth." He said out loud and approached the dying man that had been left behind, he was shaking in pain and fear as he lay in the debris his collision had created.

He was struggling to drag his innards back to his body and put them into place, Dominic stood over him for an instant, then raised a foot, and terrified eyes looked up in a silent plea for mercy. Mercy that would never come. The Cardinal of Wind brought his foot over the thug's neck, then brought it down, crushing it completely and the once towering figure was reduced to death twitches, then eternal stillness.

Dominic crouched and wiped his hand and arm on the shirt of the corpse to clean himself up hastily. He then flipped the body over onto its stomach and yanked the red cloak from off its back, and put the threadbare cloak on over himself. "That'll do." He said to himself and hurried to the main street.

'I wonder how many people that has cost us, I wonder how many died of hunger because of gangs like these stealing ration cards or clothing. After I've finished off Yvon, I'm going to have to do something about these. Maybe I can use them against the Undead's armies as fodder, the Slane Theocracy doesn't need trash like that after the war, maybe he's done us a favor by showing us who we need to get rid of?' He thought with bitter frustration, and his mind drifted over to the other human kingdoms that stood against the Theocracy.

'Damn it! If we'd only just worked together... all the while, we could have finished that monster... it'll take decades to recover from this, even after the gods return to destroy him for us.' Dominic thought with a groan.

He was still contemplating all that when he finally reached Raymonds home and pounded on the door. A buxom blonde maid came to the door. "I'm here to see Raymond, it's urgent." He said breathlessly.

"Urgent or not, the Cardinal isn't here. He will be back soon." The maid said calmly.

"I'll wait for him, it's that important!" Dominic said urgently.

Solution thought it over as she looked at the bald man in the peasant clothing. She very nearly followed her first impulse, to shut the door in his face and send him away.

His eyes caught hers though, and in them she saw the urgency he had put into his voice, and more, she smelled the scent of blood wafting off of him as if he'd bathed in it. "You can wait but... not inside, nobody from outside the house, is allowed inside the house when the master isn't here." She said formally.

Dominic growled, "I need to..." He reached out to push past, and when he hit the door, he found he couldn't shove it even the tiniest hair.

"If you try to force your way in, your guts will be forced 'out' of their resting place." Solution said sharply. "I guard the master's house, and I guard it well." She held the door fast, and he looked at her more closely.

'Former scripture trainee? Got to be... but if she failed, what the hell passed his regimen?' Dominic wondered with a frustrated sense of awe, but he took his hand away from the door.

"I need to hide, until he can see me." He whispered, "There has to be somewhere?" He asked insistently.

Solution looked away in thought, "Come, you can hide in the bath house, he'll be back soon I think, and then if he'll see you, well, then he will see you. If he won't, then that is neither his problem nor mine, make it a problem at your peril." She uttered starkly.

"Understood." Dominic said through gritted teeth as she led him to a medium sized, round building around the side of the manor, opened it up, pointed crudely inside, and then shut the door behind him as soon as he was inside.

He looked around, there was a small bench around a pool of warm water, "Oh, you lucky bastard! You had a natural hot spring on your little plot of land? You built the bath around it... I swear... some Cardinals have all the luck." He said enviously, and he lay down on the bench and drifted into a much needed sleep.

 _...Ruins of Wenmark..._

As Raymond, Nua, Enri, and Boabdil quietly did as Neia said, she smoothed her hands over the table at which she sat, ashes from bodies had made a thin coat that gave the table a gray top, which she swept to the floor, a little cloud of particles hovered and slowly fell to the floor while footsteps echoed in the hollow room of the once great city.

A savage impulse came over her, and she quietly sang a little piece of a tune during their ascent, putting her voice to work, haunting and subtle. "...Everyone's screaming... ...when the lights go out... ...the plan we have is all wrong... ...are we still here or are we gone..."

Raymond felt sweat springing to his flesh, and despite the light flooding the room from above, he felt himself encased in darkness, all the way up until the moment he shoved a corpse to the floor and its bones broke apart and scattered, and took its chair for himself.

Nua felt her skin tingle, her fingers twitching as she put distance between herself and the Black Paladin her owners had called a demon. She darted a glance over her shoulder as Neia swept the ashes away dismissively and folded her hands together, resting them patiently on the table in front of her. 'Demon.' She thought of the word, it had been uttered more than once on the streets, that the demoness in the west was rising against humanity. Long had she dismissed it as mere stories told to frighten people into compliance. She thought of her last meeting, when the woman had almost attacked Raymond. She swallowed hard, 'She feels like... like Lady Solution, kind of. Like malice wrapped in flesh. Nua... no, tell me you're not going to do what you think you're going to do? Come on, you want them dead, you want them all dead, you've wanted it for well over a hundred years, you can't be seriously thinking of mercy?' She argued, raged in her own mind as her body quietly moved to the seats, she looked at one with a corpse, and one without, and with a shudder, moved to seat herself in the empty one.

Boabdil felt the glare at his back, 'I must be the most unlucky man to ever exist... I seriously have to talk that 'thing' down? Come on man! Think! Think!' You've always found a way out before!' He pulled the chair back, to be seated, and the skeleton tumbled out of his way as he did so, scattering bones about.

Enri moved to the nearest seat, she shoved the skeleton out of the way contemptuously, and noticed as Neia's eyes turned sharply to her, and a very tiny nod of approval came to the herald of the Sorcerer King, so small she herself might not have noticed it. 'I know. I know the stories of this place, I envy you the chance to have done so much for those so helpless... but I do not envy what it has made you. But damn it! You will listen, you will listen to me too, and I will bring you down, even if just this once, before my army becomes yours.' She thought with gritty determination as she imitated Neia's posture in her own seat.

"Alright, we're all here, we're all seated. Now before we begin, I will point out that I owe a debt that I must repay. I will spare ten thousand lives from Wheaton all the way to and including Kami Miyako. That will include some resisting villages, but... tell me... how many people are trapped 'outside' the city right now, Cardinal Raymond?" Neia asked calmly.

"Ten thousand? Why...?" Boabdil asked suspiciously, "Is this some kind of trick?" He asked, narrowing his eyes and glaring down at her.

He felt ice stab his soul as her eyes met his. "I will not be using any tricks, not this time, I swear it on my god, my wife's life, and my life, and on the peaceful rest of Illyana in her grave. I am not tricking you. I did something terrible to someone, and the price of their forgiveness is ten thousand of your people get to live. You can kiss her feet later in gratitude. She deserves it." Neia ground every word out like a stone grinding flower.

"I see." Boabdil answered, somewhat subdued. "I will never forget my debt to them."

Neia grunted indifferently and looked over to Raymond for an answer to her question.

He felt himself slump mentally even as he held his body straight, "Nobody really knows. They've been streaming in for awhile, and the city has been so closed off that nobody has gone out to take a census. Plus there are the ones who have taken control over the forest, a few did get allowed in, and the stories they tell... even inside the walls it isn't that bad."

"Oh?" Neia asked with a cockeyed look.

"People need fire, so some have become bandits, taking over the woods and extorting from others in exchange for access to wood. Most of the outside is even hungrier than we are inside, guards atop the walls report that they saw... well remember the red flood you sent our way?" He said sadly.

"Of course." Neia answered promptly.

"Some of the guards saw body parts being fished out of the water, but not for burial..." He shut his mouth tight.

"Like the consumption of my people inside the walls..." Nua whimpered.

Neia's feral growl was inhuman. "I learned of that last night, and I promise you, Nua, I will fucking kill them all. I will cut off their hands! Rip out their tongues! Tear open their bellies to free the flesh of your people from their vile stomachs! I will divert the river to wash away any sign that Kami Miyako ever existed!" Shadows wreathed her as she her empty eyes held the room spellbound.

"No!" Nua snapped out with a force that surprised herself.

Neia shut up and looked at the elf girl as if she hadn't understood the word.

"What?" Neia asked, "What did you say?"

"I said, 'No!' Pope Neia." Nua answered firmly. "Nobody hates that city more than I do! Nobody in this room has a right to hate it more than I! But there 'are' good people there!"

Neia's wrath slowly dissipated, as if being shed by the shaking of her body that had just begun.

Raymond spoke up sharply, "A servant of Yvon, a human, helped an elf to escape slaughter to warn, of all people, Dominic, of what Yvon was planning, what he was doing. And I have butlers and maids who are humans, and they have helped me protect the elves and half elves I've sheltered. There are humans who are part of Enlaith's network of underground resistance and information that have been filtering information back to you. Are you going to kill them too?!"

Neia was quiet at the question.

Enri stood slowly, she met the black shadow of Neia's eyes with her own cold, stony glare, and pointed down at Neia like an angel from on high, "Will you who are the herald of the Divine Lord Ainz, who you call the source of justice... do justly yourself?!"

"It is a city of evil. The source of the suffering of my country, the source of the BLIGHT of the six that has torn apart so many innocents. Destroying it is justice." Neia argued vigorously. She stood and folded her arms behind her back, clasping one hand in the other and fixed her eyes on Enri.

'I will not flinch from her, I will not turn away.' Enri thought stoically as she remembered how easily the Black Paladin showed that she could break the body of the peasant General, and held the look between them, like a rope so tense it might snap with but a little more pull.

"My Queen... my former Queen, Calca, tried to save everyone, she wanted a world in which everyone was happy. There was no higher justice to her than not having to sacrifice anyone. That is... I admit, a laudable goal, but that is not this world! We live in a world where not everybody gets to have life! Or happiness! Or safety! Where some have to die so that others can live, where some have to suffer horribly, destroy themselves and destroy others in order to stop something worse! Look around you! Do you think every single person who died in this city, truly deserved to die! Even I, the Scourge of God, know better than that! Yet this city showed me it could not be allowed to continue! Every night I slept in the Golden Roan... I could hear the false pleasures of well trained slaves, I could hear their little cries when they thought they were alone, and were, but for my senses as a scout. I could smell the sex and the fear and taste their pain on my tongue as if I were licking the fear born sweat from their very skin... and everything in this city was structured around dominance and exploitation like that. Were there good people here? Probably so, who looked at elf or human in chains and felt pity, but who did nothing or at least, nothing that stopped anything. To stop this place from its evil it had to be destroyed root and branch! So it is with Kami Miyako!" Neia exclaimed.

"Kami Miyako is not Wenmark!" Enri shouted and stamped her foot, she balled up her fists and shook with frustration.

"There are people there who really 'are' trying to stop everything! Look to the right of me! Cardinal Raymond is a leader of that country and he's put his life on the line to stop it all! His loyal human servants are helping him and have been since the start! You have a 'chance' here Neia! A real chance!"

"A chance for what?" Neia asked coldly, her body still as granite on unmoving earth.

"A chance to do what you couldn't before! A chance to save the ones who should be saved, while also destroying the ones who earn your wrath! I'm not saying we can save everyone! But that doesn't mean we kill everyone either!" Enri shouted and her body started to shake as if caught in a blinding freezing rain.

Neia looked over to Boabdil after a moment's thought. "What happened to the slaves of Crossroads? Did you kill them?"

"No. I wouldn't do that, even if I could have. I sent..." He went pale.

"You sent them to Kami Miyako, didn't you." Neia said, it was not a question, and her voice was very quiet, seemingly devoid of rage.

"But... they should be safe there, the conditions aren't luxurious, but the ones I sent South were registered to powerful houses." He answered.

"Name the houses." Neia said coldly.

He quickly rattled off a list of a dozen or so wealthy and noble names. "That isn't all of them, but those are the majority." He said promptly.

Neia turned her attention to Raymond, "How many of those are now dead?" She asked.

"Two fled with their property and... Solution killed them." He answered grimly as he began to understand where Neia was going. Nua reached out and took his hand, her body visibly shaking and clearly on the verge of tears.

Neia swapped her gaze seamlessly back to Enri. "How many of those died in the rebellion in your territory?" She asked, "Do you recognize any names?"

Enri swallowed hard, "Most of them, I think only two survived."

Dark caverns faced Boabdil yet again, "What do you think Yvon will do with the ones holed up in those places you ordered them kept?"

Raymond interjected in the slow rationality of an experienced statesman, standing up as Boabdil lost himself in disgusted introspection, "If he succeeds in his coup, he will first send soldiers out to our safe zones, the 'work camps' to harvest those publicly owned. They will be gone, I have already asked His Majesty to evacuate them, and I have every confidence that he will do so. Yvon will then likely suspect my involvement, and I will have to go into hiding, unless Dominic resists effectively, which he probably will, but if he wins against Dominic, he will then seek food elsewhere to keep his promise. He will remember the slaves of Crossroads who no longer have masters or mistresses, and he will confiscate them to feed the army as you approach."

Silent stares were locked on him, but Raymond saw none, before his eyes passed the events as he foresaw them in the worst case scenario, "If those are insufficient, he will begin executing anyone who does not turn over their household slaves, and the city will fall to infighting."

"Infighting? Over what?" Neia asked with genuine curiosity and doubt in equal measure permeating her tone.

"Because, among the great houses of Kami Miyako, many have grown up with the same slaves as part of their life, elves live long, and are often passed down from parent to child, like family heirlooms. Some of them grow up nursing from elven breasts, or raised by elven slaves, taught by elven tutors, as much as by their own parents. I won't deny what my country has done, I will not pretend a lack of hypocrisy in what I am about to say..." Raymond choked up, his voice caught in his throat and tears ran down his face... "but even though we're taught that..." he squeezed Nua's hand, "this is an animal, that she... isn't a person like us, what we say and what we feel in the quietness of our souls are not always the same thing. There are those who love their slaves and whose hearts rebel against a lifetime of the teachings of the divine... I won't excuse them but, they know no other way than this. If the ways they know change, and Yvon demands the lives of those who helped to raise them? I believe, I truly believe, they will fight."

"I don't expect you to believe me, but I swear on my life it is true, kill me here and now if you're going to say I lie!" Raymond exclaimed and released Nua's hand, he opened his arms as if to embrace death, "I stake my life on this truth! Many will fight against Yvon, they will fight to protect the elven woman who nursed them, or the elven man who taught them how to ride a horse or tucked them in at night, who taught them to read or fed them or do for their children as was done for them in turn! We are a lost people! But there is still time, still hope for some of us!" He shouted with his eyes shut, and his voice echoed off the blackened walls until it died like the city it echoed in.

Neia looked to Nua, who thrust herself hard against Raymond as if wanting to protect him. "You, Nua, do you believe him?" Neia asked in a voice that was surprisingly gentle.

Nua's heart pounded in her breast, the gentle voice was putting Raymond's life in her hands, putting the city's life in her hands, she could feel it, the eyes of night fixated on her own, and demanded that she speak the truth. 'Lie to me, and I will know.' Nua felt that meaning in the stare.

'Do I believe him? Is he telling her the truth?' She wondered, her eyes darted around as if seeking answers from the walls and dried up bones of the chilly room. Finally, she answered, "I had... one good owner, he loved me, I can... admit that now, even though he did some terrible things I can't ever really forgive, I understand now, being around men like Raymond, that terrible deeds sometimes come from terrible, impossible choices, and he did what he did because he saw no other option. I don't know how often it happens... but if I was truly loved by a human, and if humans in Kami Miyako can truly bring themselves to take risks for my kind, as some of them have... then it must happen behind many closed doors where I can't see it. Yes. I believe Raymond is telling the truth." Nua answered in a tender voice as her body trembled against that of the Cardinal.

Neia sought her face, looking for any hint of a lie, and finding none, she lowered her face to look at the ground in front of her.

Boabdil leaned over toward Enri's ear, she turned, and met his eyes, between the two enemies passed a silent argument waged purely by expression and eye contact, until a nod of agreement passed between them.

"A compromise." Enri said, drawing Neia's attention back from whatever her private contemplations were.

"What?" Neia asked doubtfully.

"General Boabdil will reveal the locations where the elves from Crossroads are kept, so that they can be rescued." Enri suggested, struggling to keep her voice even under the withering look of the Scourge of God.

"I do not make negotiations using hostages." Neia answered through gritted teeth. "You should all know that."

'Demon.' Enri thought again but with a swelling sense of pity, and forced the thought aside, "That isn't what I suggest, I say he will reveal them all, asking nothing in return for that knowledge so that they can be rescued as well."

"I sense a 'but' there." Neia said sardonically, her body's tension heightening as she waited for the shoe to drop.

"But we let the city seal its own fate. We all know that Yvon's coup will begin, he will do exactly what Cardinal Raymond predicts, but there will be no public slaves to be had, this will force Yvon to turn to the private houses. If he's right, the city will fall to fighting and riots in the streets, let Raymond and Boabdil, and those like them, gather their supporters together in a place where they can 'hold out'."

"The Artisan district." Raymond said sharply, "I can extract a promise of it as a 'safe zone' from Dominic easily enough."

"If Yvon wins, then you destroy every surviving human life and rescue the elves. If Dominic wins, well you destroy whatever doesn't surrender, and if they kill each other, you let Raymond peacefully surrender the city, then you can do all the trials you need to in order to purge the guilty. No matter what happens, you will have poured out your bowl of wrath over Kami Miyako. The only difference is, the city itself will have decided who drowns in the flood." Enri suggested with a cold, calculated reasoning that at once horrified her conscience and gratified it immensely.

'Is this really me, speaking now? Did I just say all that? Father... mother, Sun... Your Majesty... I think you'd be more proud of me now than at anything else I've ever done.' Enri thought with awe and gratitude.

Neia remained quiet for an instant. Then her deadly eyes held Enri like a snake did a wounded bird, and the black vanished as if it never were, and sky blue reigned supreme in the whites of her eyes. "Very well. You have 'won' this time, General Enri. That will be our compromise. The city itself will decide on what soul it has for itself, and that will decide whether two stones stand atop one another, or are washed away to the sea never to be joined together again."

Neia drew out a knife, held out her hand, and sliced her palm open, and then squeezed it tight so that she made a fist that shook from the tension, and blood dripped down from the palm, and stained the dust, ashes, and stone of the floor of the dead city's central government building.

The Black Pope then wiped the knife clean on the edge of the table and put it away, then reached into her pack and drew a small cloth, with which she wrapped her wound. "Before this wound heals clean on its own, I will stand in the center of Kami Miyako. What that will mean for your city, will be determined by what that city does next. I swear that on my own blood."

The tension in the bodies of those who stood or sat above the scene of the pope blooding her own flesh, began to fade. "I'm going to call for a gate, I don't want to be here anymore, Enri. I'll see you again at the gates of Kami Miyako. Cardinal Raymond, General Boabdil, Nua, I'll see you inside the city when I get there. On your truth, its future hangs. Act fast, I will not wait long."

She bowed politely and after a moment of messaged silence, the [Gate] opened and Neia departed, leaving the rest behind to shed their fears through shaking flesh as the rush of urgency died in their hearts as they had their 'victory' over the wrath of the Scourge of God.


	200. Almost Goodbye

God Rising: The Cult of Ainz

Written by: AtheistBasementDragon

Edited by: The Usual Gang of Drunken Perverted Idiots

Chapter 200: Almost Goodbye

 _...Ruins of Wenmark..._

When Neia was gone, it was like the opening in the ceiling could finally allow light to enter again, the feeling of being shrouded in the cloak of a starless night was gone with her. Such had been the tension that none had realized their breathing rate had changed, until it became normalized and deepened with a collective sucking in of precious air.

Boabdil stood up, casting his chair backwards with a loud clatter. The echo of its fall had not even faded when he went to the floor and pushed his forehead down into the ashes towards where Enri was still seated and trying to process all that had just transpired, her heart pounding in her chest, her body still shaking as it shed the fear that engulfed her with the glare of the monster. She caught his action out of the corner of her eye, and slowly moved away from the table she turned to look down at General Boabdil, "What are you doing...?" She asked, still lost in her own thoughts.

"Thanking you. Your proposal might have just saved mine from near total extinction. Had it come from me, I doubt she would have accepted it, as I am still of the Theocracy." Boabdil said with a voice choked and heavy.

Enri shook her head and held out her hand to help her enemy up, he took it, gratefully and slowly rose to his feet, "No, we all did something there, she I think, deserves more gratitude than I." Enri raised her left hand and gestured to Nua, who sat still and stared at the remnants of the door the Black Paladin had shattered.

"Maybe, but... I have to know... why? Why would you do that for us? Why would you tell her 'no' after everything?" Raymond said with an introspective awe that had never risen in his life.

Nua didn't look over and for some time, did not answer. When she finally spoke, it was in a tiny but steady voice. "Because... Nothing she did would have given me back the baby boy I would have had, nothing she did would get rid of the scars on my back, or rid me of the memories of humiliation and fear. When we first got here, and I listened to her speak, I admit, I was longing for her to do all that. I listed in my head all those I wanted her to come and destroy. That list grew long, very long." She paused her speech for a moment and wiped a sniffle from her nose.

She then continued, "It grew so long that... I felt I was seeing the future, the sight of her laughing maniacally over the ruins of your capital, blood and flame, wailing and the gnashing of teeth... she would do it, I believe she 'could' do it. But as I thought about that, I thought about you... Raymond. You're a good one, you bled for us, abandoned your gods, you killed for us, your friends... they died for us. Aalon spent years building up the embers of resistance, I know that there can be good ones. I don't want to be the one that sentences those to the fire, maybe we can't save them all... but that doesn't mean everybody has to die either. Either of the other ways... that will get me all the revenge I could ever want, so there's no need to kill everyone."

Raymond looked over to where Boabdil was watching and listening. "Do you think there's any chance our nation isn't the villain after that?" Raymond asked as Boabdil looked at the bruise where the heavy collar she'd previously worn, had marked her fair skin and the slender curly haired blonde elf still shook in her seat.

"No... no I do not." General Boabdil replied. "I'll write up the addresses where the Crossroads slaves are held, if it matters, I had sent them with their own provisions, the city should be barely aware of their existence outside of the cardinals themselves, and they shouldn't be starving. I owe a great debt to my enemies, and when this is all over, that debt will be repaid over my remaining lifetime, if I survive all this, that is."

They descended from their elevated position then, their steps echoing in the dead hall of the dead city, and a few moments later a pair of gates opened to take them to their respective positions, and with a few steps, they were gone and left the sun to shine down into the now empty room, where a skull that had skittered away and teetered on the edge, finally fell down the steps, landing alone and facing the broken entrance, where it would stare, as if expecting visitors that would not come and pick it up, for centuries.

 _...Kami Miyako...Raymond's Home..._

Raymond exited the hole in reality to find himself again in his office, with Solution waiting for him, leaning against the wall and looking bored with her arms crossed in front of her chest.

"How'd it go?" She asked indifferently.

"Well, some people will probably live, but it's a tossup on who, so... good, I suppose. Better than I expected." Raymond replied as he went behind his desk. "How are things here?" He asked in turn as Nua and Boabdil stepped through the gate as well.

"You've got a visitor hiding out in the bathhouse, and the coup got going in earnest, went on till this morning, I assume the bald guy hiding in the bathhouse is related to that, he wanted to wait inside, I wouldn't let him, not with all these elves here." Solution said flatly.

"Good thinking, Lady Solution." Raymond remarked smoothly, "Can you ask His Majesty to empty my house, and tell him there is one more set of hidden survivors to be evacuated."

Solution raised an eyebrow curiously as Boabdil strode purposefully over to the desk, snatched up a quill, and scribbled the warehouse numbers down, then slid the paper over to Raymond.

"There, I've kept my promise. Now all we can do is hope that monster keeps hers." Boabdil remarked grimly.

"I always keep my promises." Solution said, affronted.

"The one we just saw, I mean." Boabdil remarked dryly.

"Oh, I think she does, too. What that means for you, I look forward to seeing." She grinned inhumanly, her beautiful smile becoming inhuman before the laughter started.

"All that is well and good but... it's time to get you out of here, Nua. Lady Solution, is it time?" Raymond asked as he handed the paper over to her.

"Out?" Nua asked with surprise etched on her face.

"Yes, out, safe, gone, leave, go somewhere safe so nothing bad can happen to you here. You've done everything you promised and more, I don't want to risk your life during the siege, the monster will be on her way here, when she arrives, no matter what the outcome for the city, it's over for me." Raymond explained calmly.

"Raymond... You can't mean that?" Nua asked softly, taking a step closer to him.

"We've gone over this, I'm a Cardinal, a former Black Scripture. Maybe I'm on the right side now, but I have a lifetime to answer for before the present. If she doesn't kill me outright after His Majesty's protection officially ends, well maybe Solution will make me lunch, but more likely I'll be arrested and sent to prison, after that, well I don't plan on telling any lies. Everything my country did, everything I did for my country, must come to light. I won't deny it, I won't hide it, I'll tell them everything. After that, I'll be lucky if they only hang me instead of giving me to their demons." Raymond reached out and put his hands on Nua's shoulders, her body was shaking visibly and she clutched her hands together at her chest.

"Nua, it's alright, when they come for me, it means you'll finally, after over a hundred and forty years... finally be truly free. Nobody will take you, nobody will hurt you, nobody can ever own you, you or any of your people ever again. What happens to me next... it's just the final act in centuries of wrong. I'm OK with that, let me say goodbye to you before that happens."

She shook her head, "No. You set me free! You're one of the good ones! You gave up everything, your place, your power, your wealth, you're getting nothing?" Her head moved in a constant shake. "You can't even keep your life?" She whispered and reached out to touch his chest with the tips of a few fingers.

Raymond shook his head, "Knowing what I know now... I can think of nothing else that might atone for the past... helping you, your people... I've done my part to make things right, I'll finish up the next few days, I'll try to stop the worst of things and save what I can, and after that... I can't escape what I've done. But it's alright, I promise it is. Whether she kills me, or Dominic does, or Yarvin does, or the Sorcerer King does, whether it's quick or done through time when I sit in a cell until time takes me... I'll know you're out there somewhere, safe, free, along with a whole lot more. And despite everything I'd do differently, I'm glad it got this far. I'd rather my life end where it's going to, than live ten times longer, without having known you."

"Raymond... please. Please don't make me go, let me stay and help, let me make sure you're at least taken into custody alive. Neia knows me, at least by sight, she'll listen to me. If I'm here, she won't simply kill you when Solution's protection ends." Nua's hands cupped his bearded jaw as he looked down.

"Solution, can you take her out of here, please?" Raymond asked with a weak smile.

"So you'll break your promises then?" Nua asked sharply, her tear filled eyes going hard and wide. "You promised I could kill Kasa. Her life is mine. At least give me that much time! One more night here, just one." She urged desperately as Solution took her shoulder in an unbreakable grip and made to pull her out of the room.

"Wait... yes. I did. Fine, tonight, but tomorrow we entreat His Majesty to take you out of here." Raymond said regrettably.

"Please... live." She whispered quietly as Solution's grip relaxed.

Raymond kissed her forehead lightly, "I can't promise anything, but no matter what happens, I got to see you bloom to life, and that is worth dying for. Now why don't you at least go eat something, it's been a long morning, I want to go see this mystery guest in the bath house."

"That's cheating." Nua whispered and wiped her eyes.

"Black Scriptures never cheat, we just change the rules to what lets us win." Raymond said with a tearful wink. "Solution, take care of the rest while I go see our guest, would you?" He asked as he headed for the door, barely noticing that she'd inclined her head in agreement to his request.

 _...Forton..._

Aorli stood on the open field atop a small elevated wooden platform. A half a bowshot away a gate was opening and elves were starting to stream through, as they exited the field and looked around in awe at the spring weather they were experiencing in the localized area, they were pointed by others of their kind toward the platform where Aorli stood waving enthusiastically.

A handful of elven guards were standing around the platform wearing shining ornate armor that marked them as native to the Elf Kingdom, but devoid of helmets so that their elven features were clearly visible. As the work camp elves began to draw closer, awed expressions and joyful ones, and not a few open weeping, occurred on numerous faces. When the trickle finally stopped and the numbers were in the thousands, all standing and lined up in neat order with the assistance of Aorli's staff, she finally began to speak.

"Welcome! I am Aorli, former slave of the Slane Theocracy, and former resident of the Elf Kingdom! Now presently speaker for the city of Forton under the rule of His Majesty the Sorcerer King! But you are welcome to more than here, you are welcome back to your native freedom! A lot has changed that you might not know about!" She called out to them. Standing still, she felt the rush of anxiety about speaking so openly to so many, but drew on her desperate resolve not to disgrace her liberators, not her sister. Not Climb. Not the Sorcerer King. 'I can do this... I practiced...' She thought urgently, grateful for the need to pause as cheers and tight embraces took the spirit of the crowd away from her for a moment.

The guards behind her were about to start pounding the butts of their halberds into the wooden platform to get the crowd's attention, but Aorli raised her hand up beside her head, indicating that they should halt.

She looked over her shoulder with a joyful smile of her own, "They're just happy, let them have that, I can wait a few minutes." Halberd butts gently touched the floor of the platform again, not making a sound.

She waited, and eventually the cheering, loud sobbing of happiness, dancing, and so on, began to fade as they one by one began to realize she wasn't finished.

Over the next hour she told them about the death of the Elf King, the reign of the new Queen Zesshi, the impending destruction of Kami Miyako at the hands of the one that the Theocracy called the Demon of the West, she told them that they were going to be given land according to what was available, and allowed to settle there if they didn't want to return to the elf Kingdom, finally, she ceased to speak and the crowds were silent as they took it all in.

"I and my government will assist in the process of assigning you to quarters temporarily, food will be provided as well as facilities for bathing, and over the coming weeks, you will begin new lives as free elves under the rule of His Majesty, the Sorcerer King." Aorli said enthusiastically, her broad smile lighting up the spring weather that magic had given them.

"Questions?" She asked, and a hand shot up.

"Yes?" She asked patiently.

"Which land is going to be ruled by the voice of god?" The elf asked.

"She is a religious and military leader, as far as I know she will have no other land to rule but her own house." Aorli answered.

Another hand went up. "Where is her house?" The elf asked hopefully.

"She has none. Her home was destroyed and her family killed years ago." Aorli answered grimly. "Her house is the kingdom of our god, so wherever you live within his empire, you are part of her house." Aorli answered with some bit of empathy in her voice.

Silence.

"I realize there are many questions, but assigning you all to where you will be for now, will take time and we need to get underway. Please form a single line and take what is handed to you and head for the gate, on each paper with a letter or number in the top right corner, board the cart that bears that symbol, if you don't see it lined up, it is out, and will return. Please be patient, and you will all rest your heads tonight, in real beds without anyone who wants to kill you, for hundreds of miles. You will be free, and you will be safe." Aorli said, and gestured to a nearby table by which they were to pass, and the line began to form up.

 _...Kami Miyako...Yvon's Home..._

"It's healed, so now wake it up." Yvon said calmly as he looked over the naked, strapped down elven male.

A bucket of ice water was dumped over its face, its eyes shot wide open and it tried and failed to sit up as the chains yanked him back down.

"Where is Dominic?" Yvon asked coldly.

Yarvin looked around, the walls were stone and there was only one way in and one way out and it was clearly not an option for him.

"Who are you, Sir..." He asked deferentially.

"Blutus, hit it." Yvon remarked, and the behemoth approached and swung a club that cracked a rib in Yarvin's left side. He gasped and his eyes opened wide in agony.

"Where is Dominic?" Yvon asked again.

Silence.

"Hit it again." Yvon remarked indifferently.

Yarvin yelled sharply as the club broke another rib on his other side.

Yvon rolled his eyes when the elf didn't talk after that. "Listen carefully, elf. This will hurt until you say the word 'mercy' then it will stop, and I'll heal you, and you will tell me where Dominic went. I won't ask the question again, I'll wait for you to offer the answer. But don't worry, no matter what, I won't let you die, my divine magic will keep you alive as long as it takes." Yvon lightly slapped the chained animal on its cheeks and he went to take a seat.

Yarvin screamed his lungs out until they burst when the torch was brought close and his flesh began to sizzle, but the only words he screamed were, "Kill me! Kill me! Kill me!" And some occasional curses.

When the torch was gone, the lash was applied, and flesh, tattered and torn, fell in chunks to the floor. Still he only screamed, "Kill me!"

Yvon sait and watched as the ants were applied with a thin stick, and the little red things bit into the elf's open wounds, but still the animal did not speak except to beg to die.

Finally the elf passed out from the pain, and went completely limp.

"Clean the thing up, I hate to waste my precious mana on an animal unless it is going to die. Use one of those trash healing potions that takes hours, let it sleep in agony for awhile, its nightmares should torture it some, when it wakes up, we'll do all that again. But we'll start by gelding it next time." Yvon said with disgust.

"Yessir." Blutus said calmly as Yvon walked out of the room.


	201. The Ritz

God Rising: The Cult of Ainz

Written by: AtheistBasementDragon

Edited by: The Usual Gang of Drunken Perverted Idiots

Chapter 201: The Ritz

 _...Kami Miyako...Raymond's Bathhouse..._

"I don't know you, who...?" Raymond began to say when he closed the door behind him and saw the sleeping figure on the bench.

The man began to wake up, eyes fluttering open. "Dominic...?" Raymond asked in a slow, doubtful voice as he loomed over his fellow Cardinal.

"Yes, it's me." Dominic replied with a rapidly dissipating groggy tone. He slowly sat up.

"Your hair? What happened?" Raymond asked, furrowing his brow at the odd looking baldness.

"Simple, I shaved it. Found an empty house, broke in, borrowed a knife and used it to shave all my hair off. Then took a set of clothes... I left a gold coin behind for the trouble, and ran off. People so notice my bald head that they barely notice my face at all. Even if they did, well... it's a funny thing about hair, it really frames the rest of the face, remove it, and the rest of you looks very different." Dominic remarked cockily as he stood up and stretched.

"Alright, yes, I didn't even recognize you at first and I see you all the time, good work." Raymond remarked with begrudging admiration for his enemy.

"I know. But on to the real issue, Yvon has launched a coup, I'm sure you've heard all the noise by now, and I need your help." Dominic said with confidence despite his ominous words, while in the back of his mind he was martialing arguments to sway Raymond over to his side.

"Alright, you have it." Raymond said without hesitation or flinching.

"That was... easy." Dominic said suspiciously. "I thought you'd hold out some." He replied.

"I have one condition." Raymond raised a finger sharply between the two of them.

"What is it? If this is about letting the slaves go..." Dominic began to say, only to stop when Raymond shook his head.

"You've made your thoughts on that clear, no, I want something else. I want you to leave one district alone, let me keep noncombatants there, safe from the fighting, do that, and I'll have my little birds tell me the names and locations of every key Yvon supporter, give me your word that you will not let a single soldier, regular or Agante, enter the district of my choice either during or after this coup, and I'll hand you the means to defeat Yvon." Raymond promised solemnly.

Dominic folded one arm across his body and rested the elbow of his other arm atop the back of the folded hand, and rubbed his chin as he looked down in thought. "I don't see a downside for me here, but what do you mean, the means to defeat Yvon?"

"Information, when I give you their locations, it'll be as tight as a garrote around their throats. You can eliminate his key supporters, then storm his position and get rid of him." Raymond explained patiently as he folded his arms behind his back.

"How can I get that many of them? My Agante are the best of the best outside of scriptures but... even they have limits, and I lost some in the fighting last night." Dominic objected doubtfully as rage began building on his face. "Yvon even got my personal slave, though I don't know if he's alive or not."

Raymond shut his eyes tight for a moment when he saw the wide eyed look of anxiety on Dominic's face. 'An elf, and he's... well that is unexpected.' Raymond thought to himself as Dominic shook with anger.

"To answer your first question, I'll bet I know where he is, if he's alive. Yvon keeps a room in his house for disciplining slaves, if your man is alive, he's there being interrogated. If you're still here and he knew that you were going to go this way, then he's holding out under horrific torture." Raymond kept his voice even as he went on to describe the contents of the room as if he'd been there, throwing in tidbits about what sorts of things were likely happening to Dominic's slave, he watched the anguish on his fellow Cardinal's face with a detached kind of curiosity before cutting himself off by saying, "It doesn't matter though, he's only an elf, buy another after Yvon eats that one or serves it to the soldiers following him."

Domnic shouted in sudden rage and tried to swing a wild fist at Raymond's face. Raymond leaned back, allowing the fist to pass in front of his face, brought his hand up, and pushed the arm away to further exaggerate the motion, and then hit Dominic square in the kidney when his side was exposed. Exhausted still from fighting and uncomfortable rest, Dominic's body spasmed from the blow.

Raymond immediately stepped back before his counterpart could recover, rage was boiling over in Dominic's eyes. "But if you want to rescue him, we can." Raymond remarked calmly, and the rage began to fade away from Dominic's eyes.

"Simply put, I'll make sure they're all together at the same time, then you can kill them all in one blow. First though, I need to get you a place to use as your headquarters tonight, stay here in the bath house for now. Can your slave hold out under torture for the day?" Raymond asked pointedly.

Dominic thought about it furious silence, "Yes. I think so. If you took the suffering of any ten elves anywhere in Kami Miyako, all their pain combined could not compare to what he endured. He will hold out, no matter how Yvon hurts him." A note of pity and pride touched Dominic's words, which gave Raymond a pause of pity for the man.

"Alright, fine. I'll get you a place to stay tonight, a decent sized manor, but in return, the artisan district remains off limits to 'all' of your soldiers, and all of your Agante. Swear it in the name of the gods, the eternal rest of your family, and on the courage of your slave." Raymond demanded firmly.

Dominic did not hesitate, he held his hand to his heart and said, "In all those things, by the gods, by the rest of my family in their graves, by the courage of my slave, and by my own life, I swear to you that district will be yours to administer as you see fit. No soldier or agent will enter, even if they have to march all the way around it to get to where they're going."

"It's done then, break your word to me, Dominic, and you'll feel a lot more pain than a stinging in your kidney." Raymond said with the quiet pronouncement of death. Then his tone changed to one more amiable, even friendly and he added, "For now, relax here, I'll have someone bring food later, we don't have much left, but you'll get something."

"Thank you." Dominic said in a shockingly genuine voice as he sat back down on the bench and lost himself in his own thoughts.

'Food is scarce... I shouldn't be surprised, even he understands it is no small thing to give away food, he has no idea that, thanks to His Majesty, mine is the best fed house in the city.' Raymond thought to himself as he left the man alone and returned to the interior of his manor.

 _...Kami Miyako...Yvon's Discipline Chamber..._

Yarvin woke up to the sight of a female elf, naked except for the collar around her throat. He felt no desire for her, nor any in her. The platform to which he was secured was now upright, and against the wall, his chains held him fast. The smell of blood, his blood, was thick in the air in the dim chamber, but his elven eyes saw clearly in spite of that.

"I know you... you're... Misu. The one who came to my master's house." Yarvin croaked out painfully.

She nodded mutely. "Captured there, eh?" He asked hoarsely.

She gave another tiny nod, and he noticed the bucket she carried.

"What are you doing?" Yarvin asked unhappily, "Are you here to torture me? To maybe get out of being tortured yourself. Fucking elf scum." He spat at her, it struck her breast and ran slowly down her skin. She ignored it, her eyes were hollow and haunted, as if she could not feel his contempt.

"I'm here to clean you... to see that you're recovered... enough for... for another session." Misu answered pitifully.

Yarvin's voice shook, "Kill me. Help me by killing me. I can hold out a while longer, but I don't know how much... come on you worthless trash! Let me die!" He hissed out desperately.

He shook and struggled in his bonds, he frothed at the mouth as he banged his head back and forth, "I can't bash my own head in against this soft wood!" He growled, "I can't open up my veins, come on bitch! Help me!" He demanded as he gnashed his teeth out as if to bite her.

"H-How?" Misu asked helplessly as she wrung her hands.

"God you're almost as bad as that other bitch... if it weren't for her I wouldn't be in this mess..." Yarvin said as he flung his head back and thought back to the last elf he'd ever tried to help. "Now thanks to you being as weak as she was stupid, I can't get out of it."

Misu wilted under the criticism, "I've never... hurt anyone, what can I do?" She asked as she took his hateful words as if they weren't there, and stepped closer in small, inchlike stages and set the bucket down at her feet. She drew out the brush and began to scrub the blood from his body. The water felt like stabbing knives from the cold, and Yarvin gasped in the agony of it.

"Are there any knives around?" He asked as he tried to take in more of the room.

She shook her head, her long hair bouncing with the gesture, it was the only free thing in the room.

"What about a hook, like a meat hook or something?" He asked, she paused and set the brush down, then went over to a drawer.

"Master keeps them here..." She said fearfully as she withdrew a wicked, hook with a palm sized handle that made it suitable for swinging easily.

Yarvin looked it over as she brought it close. It was ugly, it was barbed, it was clean, it would do. He spoke with urgent desperation as he gave her instructions, "Listen to me carefully, I need you to take that thing, and jab it in the thigh, in the center, near the groin. Hit there and I'll bleed out in a minute or two. Just begone and let it happen. And if you survive, do one more thing when my master comes here. Tell him I never broke, that I was a faithful servant to the end."

"I... alright, I will." Misu whimpered, holding the hook up overhead, she hesitated for a second.

"Don't worry about being punished you little coward! Just do it! Tell them you came to clean me and found I'd bled out and died, just put the hook away and they'll never know you did this!" He whispered urgently, shaking in his bonds, he shut his eyes, as did she, and a moment later he felt the sudden pain of the hook piercing his flesh, and being withdrawn.

He looked down, the blood was spurting wildly. Yarvin watched as it sprayed like a fountain out over the floor, "Good, good!" He said with relief. He felt his body grow weaker as the seconds ticked by and Misu stood and watched him die.

"Least I found one useful elf before I died, now get out, elf trash, I don't have all day... heh, I don't have a minute, and I don't want an elf to be the last thing I see." He grunted out as his head began to feel impossibly heavy.

Misu shook with fear as she rushed to put away the dread implement, and fled the room, leaving Yarvin alone to die, with terror in her eyes.

Yarvin groaned and tried, then failed, to look at the upper floor where Cardinal Yvon was no doubt waiting to come back down to start the process over again. "Sorry to break my promise to you, Master." Yarvin whispered to the empty chamber, but a hard glare came to his eyes as he stared at the bloodstained floor. "It's fine, I'm tired of this shit anyway, and you know what... I win, motherfucker." He said crudely as he lost first consciousness, and then the last thread of life.

And so, Yarvin died.

 _...Kami Miyako...Raymond's Home...Nightfall..._

"Good luck. Not that you'll need it." Raymond said calmly from behind his desk.

Nua gave him a weak smile, "I killed one person already... I can do one more."

"I've got this one, Raymond, don't worry about it, even if she loses her nerve, I'll help her find it." Solution said, licking her lips sadistically. Raymond thought about the way she'd twisted his soul about whether Nua would live through the night or not, the way she'd forced him to rip himself away from the gods of his lifetime with mere words and a teasing, sadistic presence that was also somehow erotically enticing.

He held back the urge to swallow, but nodded in a very small way, "I believe you. But make sure 'all' of her survives." Raymond remarked with a raised eyebrow. Solution smirked, and approached him where he sat.

He stood up, though he towered over her, she dwarfed him still, her chest pressed against him and a lascivious smile crossed her face. Her hand came up and touched his cheek. A memory of the burn of her acidic touch crossed his mind, but he did not so much as brace himself, he only held her expression with the fearless courage of a Black Scripture veteran.

She rose to her tiptoes so that her lips were close enough that they could have kissed, and she whispered in a sultry tone, "Survival... it means so many things, doesn't it? Don't worry, she'll come back to you, one way or another, but even I can't guarantee what that means."

She giggled as she went back down on her heels while Nua looked on anxiously. "I'll be back, as I am. I promise." Nua said gently, "This morning, I was the elf who could say no to the savior of my people, and argue in favor of mercy for a place I despise, when I come back tonight, I'll still be that person, but with blood on my hands from someone who doesn't deserve mercy themselves. But I will always be, Nua Calen Aiwenor. You don't have to worry about me."

Raymond sat back down slowly, "So... that is your full name? Why did you never tell me?" He asked with a crooked smile, "It is beautiful."

"Because for all I know, I might be lying about that last sentence, and if I am, I want somebody to say my name again after I'm gone, and I only just decided that it should be you." She smiled the same crooked smile back at him. "Now, can I borrow your knife?"

Raymond's skin tingled, "No, no, you can't borrow my knife."

Her mouth opened to object, until she saw him reach into a drawer and draw something out in a white cloth.

"You have your own, Aalon had it dispatched here awhile ago, I've been saving it to give to you, I was going to hand it over when you left, but this is better." He set the white wrapped cloth down on his desk with such gentle reverence that it did not make a sound as it touched the wood.

Nua approached, she felt her breath catch as she looked up at him hesitantly.

"Go on." Raymond said confidently.

She reached out with a single shaking left hand and opened the cloth.

A curved blade half the length of her forearm lay beneath her eyes. A sheath of silver with writing in the elven language, etched down the length of it, caught her eye.

"What does it say?" Solution asked with idle curiosity.

"Penitence. I suppose that is what he's chosen to name the blade. A perfect fit." Nua said in a tender voice and bracing the sheath with one hand, she drew out the blade.

The blade itself was adamantite, but interspersed throughout the blade were flecks of shining silver, the blade wasn't smooth, it had numerous serrated teeth where most of those flecks of silver could be found. "Oh my goodness... he didn't, do you think?" She asked with breathless admiration.

"I do, count the teeth, he made one for every coin, and put silver flecks from them and all the way down to the handle." Raymond stared admiringly at the masterful workmanship that had gone into the piece.

"May I have the honor?" Raymond asked hopefully.

Nua hesitated for a moment, then extended the grip to him.

He took it up and hefted the blade, balancing it at the base of the blade right before the guard above the grip. "Perfect balance, excellent piece. It seems he's also enchanted it. From the feel of the leather, I'd say the handle beneath is bone. I don't have to work hard to guess what kind or whose." Raymond said, keeping his voice even as he extended the weapon back to her.

"Pharmakia... it couldn't be... he didn't... no... you're right, I'll bet anything he did exactly that. What a marvelous gift." Nua said as she slid the blade back into its scabbard.

"He doesn't do half measures, I'll give him that much." Solution acknowledged with a twisted smile. "Alright, let's go test that blade."

"Be careful out there, we may be a fair distance from either Yvon or Dominic's estates, but things can get out of hand fast, even in a city this large. Especially with those two fighting it out." Raymond cautioned.

"I'm monster enough for both of them, don't worry, Raymond." Solution said sweetly, and closed the door behind her as she left with Nua to send Kasa to the grave.


	202. Lessons Learned

God Rising: The Cult of Ainz

Written by: AtheistBasementDragon

Edited by: The Usual Gang of Drunken Perverted Idiots

Chapter 202: Lessons Learned

...Kami Miyako...

Yvon sat at the table of his manor, his thin eyes narrowed even further, as he listened to Commander Montec. "Reports of Dominic's death have filtered out, but he had more support than we expected, and his Agante seem unfazed by his death, it's very slow going to lock down the entire city."

Yvon sliced a piece of well cooked meat on his plate and took a small bite. "Then it looks like we need an incentive, I would suppose that they're hesitant because they don't believe we'll really feed them, and I suppose I can't blame the people for that. I was going to wait, but let's do this now. Send a few thousand soldiers outside and over to the labor camps, put the slaves down and bring back the meat, we'll feed the army first, and then the loyal population that joined me early, and then the rest. Let the faithless wait on the benevolence of the faithful." He chewed slowly and swallowed even more slowly, savoring the feel of freshly cooked meat sliding down his throat, "Oh, and also, I seem to recall there were some slaves brought here from Crossroads, most of their owners have now died, send a detachment and take those who are without owners. No sense in feeding unowned livestock while actual people go hungry." He remarked with a casual wave of his knife.

"Of course, Cardinal." Montec, the barrel-chested soldier, said confidently, though he kept his eyes glued to the plate the entire time, tearing his gaze away only when Yvon took his knife up and pointed to the door.

"Well, get going. Don't worry, there will be plenty for you, I'll make sure of it." Yvon remarked with a tiny hint of impatience.

"Sir!" Montec replied in a deep voice and spun on his heel, rushing for the door.

A few minutes later his plate was clean and Yvon headed for the discipline room. He walked slowly as he contemplated what tools to try next. "I wonder how many times we'd have to heal his balls and remove them before he gives in?" Yvon asked himself with annoyance. "Stubborn animal." He cursed and spat on the floor, he was still grumbling when he reached his destination and found his slave wiping down the one he'd taken from Dominic's manor.

It took a few seconds for him to realize that the prisoner had freed himself by dying. Yvon approached more rapidly than his aging body should have allowed, and yanked her away from the corpse by her hair.

"Why are you cleaning a corpse?" Yvon asked the stupid slave.

Misu yelped a little as she staggered back and forced herself to her knees. "I was told to c-clean the body of the slave... I-I was doing so, I swear it, master..." She whimpered as she lowered her eyes in deference.

"Gah... he was supposed to be 'alive' you stupid beast!" Yvon ground out... "What good is a clean corpse?!" He asked her as he raised his withered hand to slap her.

"For c-cooking." Misu cast herself at his feet, covering her head with her hands against the familiar blows, but they did not come.

She opened one eye and peeked up, his hand had paused.

As if brought up short by her words, Yvon laughed. "That's true. Have the animal dragged to the kitchen, no sense in wasting meat, we'll have him for dinner tonight, I'll find Dominic some other way." Yvon remarked, leaving her alone, he stormed out of the room.

Commander Montec stood at the gates of the city of Kami Miyako. "How long?" He asked himself.

"Sir?" A thin, hungry looking subordinate asked, the confusion on his shallow face revealing that he did not understand the question.

"Nothing." Commander Montec shook his head dismissively, "I was just wondering how long it's been since these gates actually 'opened'. Weeks? Months? It feels like years, like a lifetime since we shut out the refugees when the city couldn't hold anymore."

"Worried, sir?" The young man asked in a shaky voice.

"About threats? No. About getting a good night's sleep after what we're likely to see out there? Yes. I see reports about what's out there, and it's like some kind of frozen hell. The bodies that washed in from Wheaton, a lot of them were taken out and consumed, entire villages worth of people became bandits, some took over the woods to extort terrible prices just for firewood. Can you imagine it? Selling your sister for a few sticks of wood to burn? Your parents forced to trade away one of their children for the same? Imagine just getting to Kami Miyako from some village running away from General Neia, Enri, or the dark elves, or one of the others. You run and run through cold and ice and snow, you cling to your loved ones and the promise of safety in the most sacred city in the world... only to find it closed against you, no food, the river choked with blood and corpses?"

Montec took off his helmet and scratched his head ruefully, "We're living in a kind of hell in this city, running out of everything, we're like birds shut up in a cage and desperate for our owner to come and feed us because we can't get out to feed ourselves anymore. But them out there?" He waved a hand toward the massive fifty foot gates that slowly began to open as the now poorly maintained and frozen chains began to creak and strain under human muscle.

"Out there, they're truly in hell, no government, no support, the truth is our gates aren't even shut against the demon of the west and her coming armies anymore, they're shut against the people who fled the fallen cities, towns, and villages, we're besieging ourselves. The ones who try to get in, we kill, and those who survive out there, take the bodies back to eat them. I don't even know if the work camps are intact anymore, and I doubt Yvon does either. If they are, it's only because of the large walls and guards. For all we know, the humans in charge have already eaten the slaves there. This may all be for nothing." Commander Montec remarked as the gates finished opening.

He looked over his shoulder from atop his horse, "Remember, do not 'attack' the refugees, but do not let yourself be attacked, kill anyone who gets too close. When we come back, we're going to rush the meat through, but when we go out, we go slow so as to not arouse hostility or fear!"

Swords and spears went up and an enthusiastic battle cry filled the air for a moment. 'I wonder how long it will be, before we end up harvesting the refugees to keep the city going?' He considered with a kind of abstract detachment that struck him as more horrific than the thought itself as the clip clop sound of horses riding out and pulling empty carts began to make enough noise to drown out the other sounds around them.

'It can't be hopeless.' He told himself as they went beyond the walls. The stench hit him first. The foul odor of thousands upon thousands of unwashed bodies pounded against him like a lance against a shield or a hammer from a smith's forge striking metal to make something useful for life or for death.

The refugees, in numerous different accents, shouted the news that the gate had opened, questions went back and forth, and as their faces turned to him, he saw what living death looked like. Their faces yellowed, filthy, and callow, were haunted and hopeless. Many were incredibly thin, and those who he saw that were not, had cruel, vicious looks in their eyes that sparked with hate when they saw his unit coming out of the city in gleaming armor.

"Ward!" He shouted as a precaution, and long spears were lowered outward by the cavalry, a silent warning to the civilians to not come close, they parted slowly, the ocean of their bodies staggering or stumbling out of the way.

For a little while, the silence was only broken by animalistic growls and hopeless wailing from children and adults alike. Hands reached out beyond the spears, and voices started to cry out slowly. "Food! You have to have some... please! My child is dying! You can't abandon us!"

"Stay back! We are going out to get food!" Commander Montec shouted. "When there is enough, we will share it with you!" He called out, 'Am I lying to them, or to myself, or both?' He wondered, until someone called out a demanding question.

"Where?! Where is it?!" It was a sharp question that was obviously filled with doubt.

"The work camps! We go there to harvest everything!" He shouted recklessly. 'Damn it... I shouldn't have said anything, but looking at that...'

He was brought up short by an answer, "Those are empty. We tried those ourselves." A grim voice said from close by.

He looked over and saw an unusually well fed man with silver hair and a long sword on his back. He was moderately built but nonetheless clearly his body was tight with muscle, danger radiated off of him. His eyes narrowed up at Commander Montec. "You can go, of course, but it won't do you any good, there are no supplies there, there aren't even any elves there, not in any of the facilities. They're gone. No idea where, but they're gone."

Commander Montec raised his hand to order a halt, the horses nickered nervously, as if understanding that they too, were potential food for the hungry, and pawed at the ground with their hooves.

As he spoke, silence began to fall and a shadow of dread began to fall over the unit.

Commander Montec furrowed his thick, bushy brow. "When?"

The swordsman raised his hands up and shrugged, casually he took his sword off his back and tapped it up and down on his shoulder. "Who knows? This morning? Yesterday? We'd gone there ourselves a number of times but could never get to close, first it was just arrows, but we knew there were people there because of the fires, they were cooking food, goodness knows how much, some people... they went crazy, charged the place, ended up getting arrows for their trouble. Then..." he shook his head, "No more fires, no more noise, just, nothing. A few people went over again, while some watched, they got in, all we heard was an ungodly howl, they screamed, and none came back. Something else is in there now, and it doesn't want visitors." The swordsman said in a low, dreadful voice.

Commander Montec began to feel a surge of anxiety, anger began to overtake the mood of the refugees, and he could feel it, they could feel it, the power of their numbers, but more importantly, the dangerous one handed sword wielder had moved in front of his horse, blocking the way.

"You're lying." He said doubtfully to the swordsman. "Who are you, anyway?"

The swordsman laughed bitterly, "Used to be famous, not much liked, but famous. I'm sure if I told you my name, you'd know me, but you know, I've found it more useful to be anonymous these days. It lets me trade my skills and have my fun without interference, since that bitch threw me away like trash." He bared his teeth in a moment of rage and his grip on the sword tightened.

"If you really want a name to curse, call me Bretraca." The middling sized man said in a now deeper, crueler voice.

"Why would I curse you if I don't know you?" Commander Montec remarked as he instinctively, slowly, began to reach for his sword.

The silver haired man smiled cruelly, "Because I think my good time here is just about over, used to be I could get a little girl every night, sometimes two or three, for just a little sword use, probably still could. But this is all about to come crashing down, you might not recognize it, nameless Theocracy commander, but I do. I've felt the rhythm of battle and know when something's hopeless, night is descending on you, and I don't plan to be caught by it, not when I've still got a requiem to bring to a stuck up tease. So first, I'm taking your horse for myself and riding the hell out of here, and they'll be taking the rest of your horses for the same end. If they were smart, they'd be getting gone too, but..." He shrugged again as his low voice was caught only by the commander himself, "Between you and me, they're not that bright. Too much faith, too little thought, that's always been the problem with you Theocracy fucks."

Commander Montec's hand found the grip of his sword, the refugees began to close the distance, made braver by the growing numbers who had come to the disturbance of the departing soldiers.

"You're not one of us..." The commander remarked slowly, his eyes widening with concern.

"No, I'm from the Draconic Kingdom, came this way after my life fell apart, had all kinds of fun during this war, now it's time to move on. Get down off your horse now, and go back to the city, and you can stay alive for at least a little bit longer." The man who called himself Bretraca uttered.

Commander Montec drew his sword, somewhere, a refugee came too close, and a soldier stabbed out and opened up a throat. The refugee fell with a cry, and it was as if someone had given a signal, the mob descended on the band, atop the walls, soldiers called out in alarm, the gates began to open up as soldiers were called by a large horn atop the wall, to come and render aid.

Montec reared his horse back on its hind legs and then urged it forward, only to find himself falling backward as a the swordsman proved his ferocity with a flash of steel, and Montec felt his arm fall away from his body. He howled in agony, clutching the stump, rolling back and forth in snow and muck as the blood pumped out where it was severed.

From his position on his back, he saw his soldiers struggle mightily against a tide, but it was like crabs waging war against waves from the sea, one by one they began to go down. He raised his head enough to look one more time at Bretraca, and saw that, true to his statement, he'd taken the horse and was riding away from the fray.

He fell back again as he lost strength, and with the back of his head tilted, straining back in agony, he could see the gates of the city open as reinforcements came to rescue the unit from the refugees, and Theocracy soldiers butchered Theocracy people. The clash of metal and the cries of flesh, the stench of filth, shit, and disease, had the stench of death added to it all, and in great quantity before the men in armor began to gain the upper hand over the numbers without it.

However, long before that happened, before he could feel someone dragging him to safety, Commander Montec had completely lost consciousness. As the light faded, a thought passed through his mind, 'It might be hopeless... No... It 'is' hopeless...' and then his thoughts ended.

He awoke hours later in a barracks infirmary with a magic caster standing over him.

"I'm alive?" He asked.

"Do I look like Alah Alaf? Does this look like heaven to you? If I do, and it does, then you have absurdly low standards for a reward in the afterlife." The magic caster said sarcastically. Montec shot up, ignoring the sarcasm, "What happened? Where..." He started to ask, and then immediately checked to see that his left arm was intact again.

"Some of your unit survived, the reinforcements drove the refugees back... but... you lost most of your horses and we weren't able to recover all the bodies." The magic caster's voice was bitter and grim, and despite the previous sarcasm, he put a hand on Montec's shoulder and said, "I'm sorry, truly I am. But there are so many out there..."

"We're under siege by our own people... forget the undead, we'll kill each other. And we'll do it long before the demon of the west comes for us, hell she'd be kinder to come finish us off, she could hang back and just wait, and let us die as we cut ourselves to pieces." Montec said bitterly.

"No, we won't, we are preparing a larger force to go out to the work camps, we'll harvest what's there, this happened to you because we underestimated the refugees desperation." A creaky, sinister voice said from nearby as light footsteps echoed off the wooden floor.

Commander Montec turned to find himself face to face with Cardinal Yvon. "Sir!" He said urgently. "Forgive my foolish words, I was only..."

"No, think nothing of it, you'd just had your arm severed and woke up in... here." Yvon had one hand behind his back, and gestured to the dimly lit room around them both. "Anyone would say foolish things in those conditions. But don't worry about it, we'll send you out again soon, along with the rest, the refugees might bar the way for a company, but not for a battalion." Yvon remarked casually. "Those faithless ones need to be punished, severely, when time allows. Of course that is assuming that the demon of the west doesn't just butcher them for us, they might make a useful shield at least, to protect the true faithful of the gods within their sacred city."

"Sir... all that may be true, but I think sending the soldiers out will accomplish nothing." Commander Montec looked down dejectedly.

"Oh? Why is that?" Yvon's sinister eyes took on an even more dangerous look as they looked down at him from an angle, a subtle anger underlay the seemingly calm question.

"The one who... did this... to my arm, the one who cut it off and stole my horse. He told me the camp was empty. Everyone on the walls and inside apparently vanished. The refugees tried to get close, and for a long time they were just killed for it. But then the cookfires stopped appearing..." He went quiet, took a deep breath, and then explained the rest in a slow, halting tone.

"You believe him, this man who severed your arm? Why?" Yvon asked incredulously.

"Because, he was afraid, and he was getting out of there. That was why he wanted my horse. He had no reason to lie, after all I was almost certainly going to die, and if there were anything there, a man like that would have taken it already. Whatever is living in there now, it kills anything that goes in, and there is nobody there consuming any supplies." Commander Montec grimaced, "Even elves need to cook food, if they're not cooking, they're dead and no longer edible, or they're gone. Either way, sending out so many will only get more soldiers inside the wall, killed by those outside the wall. Please, Cardinal, believe me." Montec urged with desperation in his eyes, he reached out and clutched the Cardinal's robes and pulled the sinister looking, thin leader close to him.

Yvon staggered for a moment as he was drawn close, but as he looked into Montec's desperate face, he searched for any hint of fear or disloyalty or doubt. 'No. He's not lying, he really believes this, and... damn... he's right, he's got to be telling the truth, there's no other explanation.' Yvon felt the color drain from his already pale face.

"Alright, I'll cancel it, at least we'll have the slaves from the warehouse, after the gods return we can find out what happened at the labor camps. For now, we'll need to harvest these, a few thousand slaves will feed those worth feeding, at least, and I can even put up a reward for Dominic's head." Yvon remarked pleasantly. "Everything will be fine, you just rest here for a few hours and get your head right again."

Yvon put his hand on Montec's shoulder and as he disentangled himself from the grip of the man, he lightly pressed him back to lying down on the cheap bed.

"Sir, thank you." Montec replied quietly, and rolled onto his side and closed his eyes, hoping desperately to find that when he woke up, everything he went to sleep to was only a nightmare.

...Home of Kasa...

They walked the streets with confidence, Nua wore a rich, thick green cloak with a hood up, and wrapped her face tight for added measure. So dressed, she was effectively 'disguised' as a human. The winter weather aided the camoflauge, nobody gave her a second look. Beside her, Solution was dressed in a cloak of black, though she allowed her hair to fall forward to the front, a tiny concession to her vanity that was revealed for what it was, by the smirk she wore whenever someone paused to look at it with envy.

In this way, Solution, was also her disguise. They tramped through the snow to the location Illal had provided them, where her estate sat. The snow crunched underfoot, and the heavy cloud cover, like a silver blanket in the sky, dimmed the light even more than winter did on its own. Nua's hand caressed the blade that had come into her possession. Her fingers twitched and steadied by turns and a shiver came over her that had nothing to do with the cold.

"You alright?" Solution asked casually.

Nua nodded slightly. "Yes." She added after a moment's hesitation.

"People alright with their choices, don't hesitate when asked about them." Solution replied before adding, "If you can't kill her, I will." The Demon Maid then offered a sadistic smile that was just 'barely' human to Nua's eyes when the elven woman looked over at her.

"I can. This is... I think this is my last one, I'm just not a killer, I can't enjoy it like you and Raymond do." She whispered quietly.

"So don't." Solution said indifferently. "Leave it to monsters like he or I."

"He's not really a monster, though, just a man." Nua responded, no longer looking at the beautiful monster at her right hand, instead focusing on the passing desperate people digging through garbage looking for rotted food, bones, and in one instance, she saw someone run away with a prize of a worn leather shoe, only to be tackled and kicked in the head several times, and lose the 'meal' to the attacker.

Nua's eyes followed the fleeing figure, a teenage boy from the looks of him, until she had to crane her head and then he rounded the corner and vanished.

"Oh yes, he is a man, and he is a monster. The way he cut up some of those, they didn't die easy deaths, you don't kill like that when it's just business. Either it's personal, or he loved it. And judging by how he cradles his knife, he loves it." Solution said emphatically and pressed herself close to the uncomfortable Nua.

Nua squeezed her eyes shut and allowed Solution to lightly guide her with one hand on her arm. "What will happen to him? In the end, I mean?" She asked as she felt Solution take her down another street.

"He'll get to meet with Zesshi, then... who knows? He didn't ask for a pardon, so I doubt he'll get one. Prison if he's lucky, Neuronist if he's not." Solution's familiar shrug of utter indifference went along with the statement. "I'm going to ask that he be given to Demiurge, maybe turn him into something useful to us. It's just such a waste to destroy a gifted killer just because their current form is weak." She said somewhat poutily.

"Isn't Raymond your friend? I thought the two of you got along well?" Nua asked as, behind her half wrapped up face, her lips parted a little with her surprise.

"Yes, but that's why. It would make him a worthwhile being, it might hurt a lot, but in the end, he'd be a Nazarick creation. Why? You want him for yourself? Are you 'in love' with the human who bought you?" She asked in a sly, conspiratorial voice.

Nua blushed red, "No. Not that way... I don't ever want to lie with a human again, too many bad memories, too many bad thoughts. But still, he matters to me. I don't want him hurt."

They walked in amiable silence as the slow moving wind began to pick up. "Alright." Solution said as the demon maid's light touch on Nua's arm briefly tightened, and they stopped in front of a low stone wall. "I'll tell you what, this bitch has to die anyway, but you torture her first... and I'll ask His Majesty for leniency on his behalf. But the catch is..." Solution turned Nua bodily so that they faced one another, and that inhuman smile that reminded the little elf girl that she was walking beside a monster, "you can never... ever tell him what you did for him."

Nua looked at her uncertainly, "I don't understand... how is that a problem?"

Solution's hands came up and cupped Nua's face beneath the hood and she held her close, "You'll understand, little elf girl, when you find that sweet tempered little you is looking down at a helpless, terrified face, one that is begging for mercy... and your gentle conscience demands you give it to her, even if that just means a quick end... but instead for his sake... you have to just keep skinning." Solution laughed lightly, and Nua felt her hot breath as an icy wind.

"I'll... I'll do it. If it might save his life, if there is even a chance... I will do it." Nua said with determination and gripped the knife tighter in the loose folds of her cloak.

Getting in proved easy. Solution withdrew a scroll, used it, and then they simply 'ceased' to be noticed. "Are we invisible?" Nua whispered as the gate opened and people passed by without a second thought.

"No, this is just a common sixth tier scroll of distraction. People 'know' we're here, but they just don't 'notice', they can't register our significance in any way. It's like when your eyes see something but you run into it anyway, it just isn't part of what you recognize." Solution explained patiently, "Even if we're somewhere we're not supposed to be, we could walk by a guard while singing a song praising the Sorcerer King, and nobody would think twice about it." She tittered and covered her mouth with her hand.

"It's kind of insidious, that's why it's one of my favorites." She remarked as they simply opened the front door and walked in. As they walked through the small estate, they passed by elves with haunted, traumatized eyes. Like they were dolls that moved, they ceased to notice anything around them, only moving like golems going about their tasks. They were heedless of their almost total nakedness, heedless of the chill, and they did not even speak to each other.

Solution strode confidently up the stairs, leading the way by several steps. The creaking of the smooth, polished tan colored wood under their feet drew not even a hint of interested eyes, and Nua ran her hand along the dark wood banister that was polished enough that she could see the shape of her face in it. A blurry shape, but clearly her own, while also featureless to the point of being disturbing.

She turned away from the 'almost her' reflection and followed Solution the rest of the way. Down the hall to where Illal said that Kasa would most likely be found. Nua looked at the beautiful art along the walls, humans, animals, nature scenes with great trees, even a cityscape of Kami Miyako, all flawlessly represented. "Beautiful work she has here." Nua remarked as if to distract herself.

Solution didn't answer, she reached for the knob of a door, turned it, and opened it inward. Kasa sat at a desk writing, though she looked up when the door opened, it was evident she did not truly comprehend the presence of the two women, as when they entered she neither questioned nor greeted them. Instead she only got up, closed the door, then sat back down to resume writing.

Solution went to the front of the desk and pointed with her left hand to the spot beside her. They stood squarely in front of the woman, who seemed still to take no notice of their presence. The maid demon then withdrew another pair of scrolls, and used them one after another.

"That will keep the sound from leaving the room, and keep any possible magic defense at bay, so... want to say anything to her before I dispel the [Distract] spell?" Solution asked with her sweet, sadistic voice.

"Will it matter, if she can't really grasp our being here?" Nua asked thoughtfully.

"It'll be in her head, and she'll remember it soon enough. Say what you want, then I'll secure her and get rid of the magic, and you can get to work." Solution rubbed her hands in greedy anticipation.

Nua let her hands fall at her sides as she straightened up, she cast her eyes once up to the ceiling as she took in a deep breath. The woman just kept writing whatever document was so damned important to her. The faint scratch of quill on paper was the only sound in the room, until Nua spoke.

"You make my people suffer. You're a blight on this world, and I have to get rid of you. The only good thing about the next few hours, is that hurting you gives someone precious to me a 'chance', however slim, of living out the rest of his life. I hate you, but... even before I begin, I also pity you for what I'm going to do. And you know, if you were capable of that same pity, you wouldn't be in the situation you're about to find yourself in. So this is all your fault, and... and I just wanted you to know that." Nua said gently, and withdrew the knife from the inside of her cloak. "Alright, teacher, do it."

Solution was about to do exactly that, then paused, "Hey, you've never called me 'teacher' before, even though it's true, how come now?"

"Because I think I'll learn more about at least one subject from you in the next few hours, than I ever have before. Please, let's get started." Nua said and pursed her lips tight.

"Alright, student." Solution said as she dispelled the distraction spell and Kasa snapped her eyes up in shock as she 'registered' their presence in front of her. Before she could scream or shout, Solution had her head drowned in slime, she pounded at it, but could do nothing, her mouth opened in a scream that went nowhere, until her body twitched and fell into unconsciousness.

When the woman fell, Nua looked her over more closely, a woman in her fifties, she was past her prime but still had striking features that, in her youth must have marked her as beautiful. Faint streaks of gray were in her hair as time slowly extracted its price. 'I'm sparing her from those ravages at least, I suppose.' Nua thought to herself as Solution bound the woman and stripped her with a sick, 'tearing' sound, of her fine clothing, until she lay naked under their eyes.

As Kasa slowly started to come to, Nua got down on her knees beside her, the woman looked up in alarm, and when she met Nua's eyes, she started to speak. Nua spoke first.

"Do you remember what I said to you?" Nua asked with quiet, resolute, acceptance.

The spark of recognition in the woman's ice blue eyes told Nua that she did.

"Then there's no need to say anything else." Nua said, and taking her knife, she began to peel Kasa like an apple under the critical eye of a monster who was only too happy to instruct her pupil.

It was four hours before Solution answered the blood soaked Nua with, "Yes, she's suffered enough, you can kill her now," after neither knew how many times that permission had been sought and denied.

Kasa's body was shaking in agony, "Please... kill me... kill me... hurts... hurts... p-please... n-no more... no more..." She blubbered at the center of a large stain of blood that had covered the floor.

Nua's knife went to the brutalized woman's breast, right over the heart, and pressed down, straight to the hilt, and a moment later, Kasa stopped begging and shaking, because she had stopped living.

Nua's eyes were hollow and staring at the corpse, while behind her, Solution was lightly applauding, "I didn't think you had it in you, good job. Now I'll handle the cleanup." She said, touching her own breast proudly with the tips of her fingers, she moved over the body, and drew it into herself, consuming it whole with horrific 'sizzle' sound, and then she ran her hands over every bloodstained surface, and drained that into herself as well.

"Now 'that' is good eating." Solution remarked greedily and licked her lips, and began to move her hands over Nua's bloodsoaked skin and garments, until at least on the outside, Nua was completely clean.


	203. Blood and Peace

God Rising: The Cult of Ainz

Written by: AtheistBasementDragon

Edited by: The Usual Gang of Drunken Perverted Idiots

Chapter 203: Blood and Peace

 _...Kami Miyako..._

Nua felt hollowed out, the knife fell down, slipping from her grip as the last of the blood was taken from her body as if it had never been there in the first place. Kasa was gone, her blood was gone, but the memory lingered behind her. The knife clattered to the floor from Nua's nerveless fingers. "Did I... really do all that? Was that me?" She wondered breathlessly as she looked around the room where they now stood alone. It seemed the whole room was spinning, until Solution took her in hand.

She did this by placing her hands on Nua's shoulders in her hands and turning the little elf so that she faced her. She put two fingers beneath the elf girl's trembling chin and turned her eyes up, away from where the stain had been, "Yes, it was. Do you know what my Lord's favorite sayings are?"

"No..." Nua replied shakily.

"He says, 'Greater love has no man than this, that he lay down his life for his brother.' And he says, 'Helping the weak is common sense.' through these two things, he shows his love for us, his servants, the children of the other Forty Supreme Beings. We are weak beside him, yet he stays by us, to help us, to lead us, knowing we would be lost without him. And before he came here, he and the others in their fights against other beings of power beyond my comprehension, laid down their lives for one another. Do you understand?" Solution asked, her voice for once not sounding cruel or malicious.

"What does that have to do with me? I don't... how could I do... that?" She swept her hand over the space where Kasa had vanished.

Solution's face was serious, even grave in a way that Nua had not seen before. "Nobody is fit to serve Nazarick, who is not tested somehow. There is a human maid, who offered her life to protect Sebas. There is Neia, you saw what she's become. There is Renner, who gave our Lord her home, there is Vanysa, who took her own life to protect even a tiny fragment of knowledge of our Lord's power from his enemy. There is Enri, who conquers in his name, and Nfirea, who invents for our Lord, and even vile, loathsome beings may earn the privilege of service in a baptism of pain. This... was your baptism. You're a gentle soul, prey, lacking the instincts of true killers like me. But you did the unthinkable to you for even a tiny chance it might save the life of Raymond, even though he'll never know what you did."

Solution drew close to her, putting her lips a hair's breadth from Nua's ear she whispered, "Good job. I'll do what I promised."

"Th-Thank you." Nua whispered, "But what... how do... what do I do now?" Nua asked mutely as the memory of the last few hours bored its way into her skull where it would never, ever leave.

"What you want, in a few days the city will fall, your people will walk out whatever is left of the gates, and go wherever they want, and nobody will tell them otherwise." Solution said simply, "For you, well go become a merchant, or buy a farm, or join a temple and become a priestess. If you're not happy with what you did, be at least happy with what it bought. Now, if that's everything, let's get the rest of your kind out of here and back to Raymond's home." Solution said and raised her arm to gesture to the door to go announce the death of the mistress of the house.

"But wait... Raymond wants to send me away... to be safe? And... what about all the stuff he said about me coming back as me and...?" Nua asked, hesitating as she reached for the door.

Solution tittered, "I'll tell him that I'll protect you, so you can stay. Probably for both of you anyway, call it a... favor to a friend. And as for coming back as yourself... well Raymond should have known better. We're always ourselves, no matter what we do, or what we become. Maybe you'll never be the same," She stepped close to the little shapely Nua and leaned in behind her, whispering into her ear, "but that was always going to be the case, and it always will be, till you rot in the ground. Come along now, little elf, let's get the rest of these out of here, and back to 'master Raymond' he has plans aplenty and it would be rude of me to keep him waiting."

 _...Northwest of Wheaton..._

"You heard me." Neia said as they got up that morning and spoke to the Queens and generals of her armies. She had her hands folded behind her back as they stood, gathered around the collapsable table.

"With these ears, how could I miss it?" Queen Zesshi remarked as she touched her ears with a laugh. "But I'm afraid I didn't understand it. You want us to halt everything and everyone for one full day?"

"That's right, is that a problem?" Neia asked quietly, her sky blue eyes followed from one face to the next as the lot of them traded baffled looks.

"May I know 'why'?" Queen Draudillon asked dubiously.

Neia smiled genuinely, it was an unexpected thing, and her face lit up like the dawn when the sun peeked over the horizon. Skana looked at her radiant expression, and felt a warmth stirring in her breast.

"You may, Queen Draudillon," Neia inclined her head politely, and said in a voice more gentle than some thought she was capable of, "because this war is all but won. In three days we'll reach Kami Miyako, and in five days it will fall. Assuming they don't surrender when we get there. But... that means in the two days of our time there before it's all over, we will lose a few more. Some of our precious people, our soldiers, are going to die, and never again see the sun. Somebody will be the last casualty of this war, and after everything they have endured, everything they've suffered, all the hardship, pain, pride, loss, fear... I want everybody to have one more good day in their lives."

Her eyes met them one by one, and held their focus with ease, "We'll keep the rangers going out and capturing villages to smooth the advance, but those who go out on these easy missions will not be taking part in the fighting at the city, they'll be able to rest during the siege. All the rest, we stay here for the days, we'll break out the stores of beer, wine, and so on, and double the rations for the day. Let every soldier here, every supporting civilian laborer, have the chance at one more beautiful day in this beautiful world, before some of them lose their lives at the very end."

Silence greeted her statement. Draudillon was the first to speak, "If things had gone differently... you would have made an amazing Queen." She said in a quiet, hushed voice.

Neia smiled broadly, "Thank you, but I'll be happy being the Pope. Just a servant of His Majesty, that's plenty. Now, does anyone oppose the order?"

Silence.

"Then let it be so, set minimal manning guard rotations at one hour intervals and see it done. Skana, you handle the award ceremony while I take care of a few more minor details, then have the musicians and drummers get themselves to the task, let the soldiers one and all, eat, drink, and be merry, for tomorrow any of us may die." She said, closing her statement with volume and vigor.

"Ma'am!" The assembled officers and generals snapped to attention and saluted sharply.

The next few hours were good ones in Neia's mind as the fifes picked up, fires sprang to life and stories were told, the victors of the many battles and skirmishes danced with abandon as the music picked up around the camp. After the work was done, Neia walked through the camp, moving amongst the soldiers of the nations of her Lord's empire.

She shook hands with common men and women, her back straight as a steel rod, she wore a radiant smile. "Ready to go home?" She asked a young farm boy type who was roughly the size of a barn from the look of him. Swarthy with good looks and a boyish face that was still sheepish and shy looking as his general spoke to him, he grinned.

"Yes'm!" He said enthusiastically, "After we go'n win this, I got a wife'n son wait'n at home."

"Where's home?" Neia asked genially.

"Goin back ta Kebek, a little town a few miles from Hoburns. Havn seen the family'n a while." He looked briefly sad, but brightened, "But she writes me letters, an I write to her, ah can't wait to get home."

"What's home like?" Neia asked warmly.

"We got a great big forest there, used to hunt those woods, river cuts through it as it passes by on way to the capital. Got a farm outside the town about an hour's ride away. Good land, little valley area with good water, and a nice house m'pa built when he was the age ah am now. Ah live there'th my wife. It's a good place, ma'am, an ah sure do miss it. But this... this's worth it. Proud ta be here, an ah'll be tellin my kids an grankids an, maybe great grankids, ah marched the world under General Baraja." He said with a giant grin over his tanned and half bearded face.

"Good man, what's your name?" Neia asked pleasantly.

"Sullis, Ma'am, Sullis Avi." He saluted proudly as Neia clapped him on the side of his free arm.

"Good luck out there, Sullis." Neia said optimistically.

"Thanks, ma'am." He said proudly as Neia nodded and moved away.

She spoke to soldier after soldier, boosting their already high spirits by her presence and familiar approach, her famous hundred put on a contest of skills with some improvised targets and a practice circle for combat.

She paused to watch as one of the hundred danced around an elven soldier of Zesshi's numbers, switching seamlessly between one weapon and another and performing exceptional acrobatics and avoiding strike after strike like a fly did a swatter until at last striking a blow in turn, kicking the elf solidly in his chest and then putting the tip of a practice sword to the elf's face, and then reaching down to help him up.

A round of clapping ended the display and two more stepped up to clash in great spirits, a soldier of the Draconic Kingdom against an instructor from the liberation army. Neia didn't stay to watch the bout, she simply enjoyed the stroll through her camp.

"This was a good thing." Sebas said as he approached her unexpectedly from around the side of a tent.

"Th-Thank you." Neia said quietly. He fell in beside her and with one hand behind his back, he gestured forward with the other.

"Shall we walk?" He asked with quiet dignity.

"Please." Neia said anxiously.

The silence was amicable for a time as they cast their eyes about the enthusiastic camp, with soldiers going to and fro, some with cups filled to the brim with foamy beer, others playing games or wrestling at sport. "They're confident." He said with satisfaction.

"They should be. They're winners. We haven't lost a fight, and we're a few days from going home, those who still have them, that is." She said with a voice full of praise.

"Most of them are from the Holy Kingdom, aren't they?" Sebas asked simply.

"Yes. Many are veterans of the war with Jaldabaoth, and of the cleanup efforts afterward that went on and on... most of them have known nothing else but war for the last... what is it now? Seven years? Six? I'll be honest, I don't even know anymore." Neia remarked in passing as they walked past a chow line where soldiers were celebrating double rations by preparing large cookfires and creating thick, rich, meaty stews. The smell wafted over to her, and Neia took a deep breath to savor it all.

"Did your wife get my first... payment?" Neia asked hesitantly..

"She did, a thousand resisting village militia is a start." Sebas said without judgement. "Before you ask, yes, she is avoiding you. But she accepts the start of your atonement."

"Atonement. Yes that is a good word for it. Can I speak honestly to you, Sebas, knowing that my words will not leave beyond us?" Neia asked quietly.

"If my Lord asks, I must speak the truth, but other than that, I can promise discretion." He replied temperately.

"I can't ask for better. I'm... scared." She stopped at her next step, bringing him up short beside her. Her voice quivered uncharacteristically and she looked at his chest, but no higher.

"I'm scared, more scared than I've been since that day on the wall." Neia's voice was weaker than Sebas had ever heard, all power was gone from it, and for once, he was at a loss.

'I was not sure she was even capable of fear.' He thought for a moment.

"I'm scared because... because once all this is over, I don't know what to do. All I've known since I was a teenager has been war and preparing for it. But when this is over... what then? Yes, I'll go before the Synod and speak for my god, and whether by reason or terror, the priests of the world will bend their knees to him. I know... there's a lot wrong with me, I need... I need help. But even if I get it, where will I fit in after all this is over? I guess if our master willed it, I could take an army of followers out into the wider world, and spread his faith to everywhere. But somehow... I don't think he'll give that order. I guess... I guess I feel a little lost, like I don't know where to go next, once I get to where I'm going now."

She bit her lip, and then said weakly, "That doesn't make a lick of sense, does it?"

"More than you might think. You're talking about change, and that is seldom easy. But remember this, always remember this, Neia Baraja," Sebas put a hand atop her head, and brushed back the straw gold hair so that she looked up at him, "you faced armies and came out alive on the other side. What you face next, is only yourself."

She graced him with a warm smile that shone like the sun, "Thank you. You're a great man, Sebas Tian, and Tuare is lucky to have you."

"Should I be jealous?" Skana asked as she came into view and lent a crooked smile to the moment, her green eye twinkled in the sun of the unnatural spring.

"No, no I think not, but even my wife wouldn't blame you if you were." Sebas said with a sparkle of humor in his normally serious eyes as he stepped away and let the tall auburn haired warrior woman reach out a hand, and the two women stepped into an embrace.

"I'm afraid I need to take her away from you, Sebas." Skana said with a wink, "There's music playing somewhere close by, and I'm ordering my general to dance with me."

"Far be it for me to come between you two." He said with his quiet dignity, and with a pleasant wave, he moved on about his way.

Skana pulled her wife all the way to where the music was loudest and most raucous, to Neia's surprise, she saw that Evileye was playing a fife as she moved about a wide flame, while Gagaran was swaying back and forth with not one, but two beer mugs in her hand with one of the twins on either side of her. Lakyus was singing, but remained seated on a large log as she drank deeply from a sizable mug of her own while the good looking Cenna of the Black scripture openly flirted with her... without any evident success.

People bounced back and forth to one drinking song after another, until an instrumental without lyrics took the place of the drinking songs, and Skana brought Neia's body close to hers, and whispered in, "There's time enough for all the rest, today, just for today, enjoy that we're going to get something we want."

Neia let her head fall into the close hold of her wife, and whispered, "That, my love, is very good advice." And to the music about the fire, and within themselves, they began to dance, and they had a mind for little else, until the sun set.

 _...Kami Miyako..._

Dominic looked at the key Raymond held out to him. "What is this?" He asked as Raymond placed the key into his rival's palm and then slowly curled Dominic's own fingers around it.

"The key to your headquarters. The estate of Kasa, she's dead, I had her killed. She's one of Yvon's supporters. Now she's dead and her estate is emptied. I had to, 'take care' of some of her servants, but you'll have full use of the manor. Gather your Agante there tonight. Alert any remaining units whose loyalty you are sure of. I'll kill off a few this evening, but send word to Yvon that I've taken your head and will present it to him at a banquet, there his remainder will be gathered, and you can strike with the element of surprise." Raymond replied calmly.

Dominic looked at the key in his hand, then up at Raymond, then back down at the key. "You planned all that out, that quickly?"

Raymond shrugged, "I'm not stupid, you know. I wasn't just head of the scriptures because of my combat abilities."

Dominic sighed and clenched his hand around the key. "Alright, we'll do it your way. You can govern your little corner of the city as you like. I won't interfere. But... one question?"

"Yes?" Raymond asked genuinely as he folded his hands behind his back and Dominic stood up slowly and prepared to leave the bathhouse.

"Why, with this kind of ability, didn't you try to take power for yourself?" Dominic asked with his eyes narrowed with a bare hint of suspicion.

Raymond went to the door, and opened it with a heavy and regretful sigh, then said with a sad sincerity. "Because, the people want you, far more than they want me. So long as that is true, my being in power, wouldn't change a thing."

Dominic looked at him in contemplation. Raymond shook his head and put his hand on Dominic's left shoulder. "Don't worry about it, you'll understand what I mean, someday. All I can do is the best with my lot in all this."

"I... see." Dominic replied, clearly not seeing, he left.

 _...Crossroads..._

Nimble sat at his desk across from where General Heikeren and Vice Commander Ira sat. They wore their armor, but with one glaring difference, the left shoulder of each was coated with black paint to indicate their status. They wore their swords at their sides, but most importantly to Nimble, they wore optimistic faces.

"Settled in well, I take it?" He asked amicably as a human servant entered with a tray and laid it down between them. There were three cups, and the servant in the maid outfit swiftly prepared and poured for each of them.

"Y-Yes, I mean it's not been long, but the fact that we're seen out and about with our swords on us, has helped our soldiers keep their pride." General Heikeren said with a brief moment of hesitation as Nimble picked up the cup of tea, then when the young, short haired, blonde general gestured to their cups.

"Please, I didn't have it served just to mock you." General Nimble said thoughtfully as he took a sip of his own cup.

"Thank you." The two said in unison as they reached out and took their cups.

For a few minutes they drank in amicable silence, until Ira spoke up, "Everyone seems to be settling in well enough but, I admit, the common soldiers are somewhat anxious still. Keeping our swords helped a lot, but they're worried about what comes after."

"I can't blame them for that." Heikeren added as he set his cup down, "Everybody knows about how many people were sent north, and nobody knows where they are or what happened to them."

"And you'd like to know how to answer that, so you don't look like petty tools of the Sorcerer King?" Nimble guessed, their faces telling him he was right, with wide eyed anxious stares.

"The children are mostly in E-Rantel or surrounding towns and communities, places like Carne, that are loyal to the Sorcerer King. They're kept in orphanages or fostered out to those who will take them. The ones who are 'hostages' will be returned to their parents if their parents 'behave' and don't rebel." Nimble answered patiently.

"And... if the parents 'do' rebel?" Heikeren asked with dread.

"Then their children will be raised far away from them and the parents will die. Those who are 'not' hostages, but who were taken because their parents were exterminated or died off, will be raised as citizens of the new 'Sorcerous Empire'." Nimble replied resolutely.

"And, what of the adults that were taken?" General Heikeren asked.

"The ones caught in criminal acts are going straight to prison in Argland, where most of those I would imagine, will be tried and hanged after the war. The ones suspected of such things will be tried as well, and then when the war is over, anyone who is deemed 'innocent' of the atrocities of the Slane Theocracy, will simply be 'released' brought back here if they want, or simply allowed to go where they want." Nimble answered patiently.

"You took a lot north at the start... everyone went to Argland?" Heikeren asked dubiously.

"No, some went to work camps in the Sorcerer Kingdom, the better behaved ones even get special work paroles, they can earn money, not much, but better than sitting around all day doing nothing. This is actually part of why I wanted to see you two today." Nimble answered and picked up a small bell and rang it.

A moment later, the pretty little maid with long dark hair approached and wordlessly took the empty tray and empty cups away.

"Oh?" Ira asked, leaning forward with intrigue in her eyes.

"Yes, to show that we're being fair and to alleviate some post war concerns, and minimize the chance of insurrection, I want your soldiers to choose a few representatives, they'll tour the prison facilities under the Sorcerer Kingdom, and check to see that we're treating their comrades well, if they see that, I think they'll be less likely to start trouble and more inclined toward peace in case any other stupidity gets thrown around." Nimble remarked with confidence.

"That is... actually a good idea." Heikeren said with a grin, "I'll appoint some of my officers, and have the common soldiers choose a few of their own for the same purpose to accompany them. If our people are as well treated elsewhere as we are here, then telling them we'll all go home after this, will carry some weight."

"Exactly." Nimble said calmly, and then narrowed his eyes dangerously and looked at them both, "I had to do... unpleasant things, to put down that insurrection before, lots of us did, things I will never forget, and those things were as merciful as I could be. If it has to happen again, they won't send for me, and there won't be anything left to recover afterward. We 'have' to make this work."

The meaning of his words struck home, "We understand." Heikeren remarked, chilled to the bone.

"Completely." Ira added with a shudder.


	204. Hard Blows

God Rising: The Cult of Ainz

Written by: AtheistBasementDragon

Edited by: The Usual Gang of Drunken Perverted Idiots

Chapter 204: Hard Blows

 _...Kami Miyako...Dungeon..._

"So, what else can you tell me?" The interrogator asked anxiously as he rubbed his hands together with anticipation.

Malach sighed, "Look, I didn't know her for that long. I only met Moira in the few weeks before we both volunteered for that suicide mission. We talked, we ate, we drank, I learned things about her. But... I wasn't a lover or anything, we were just friends. She gave birth to a son, moved around a lot after she survived the invasion, then ended up in Carne where she volunteered for the army. I never met her boy."

"But surely she told you much about him, every parent boasts of their child!" He said enthusiastically.

Malach rubbed his forehead, "Goan, well she described him as a grave, serious child. Not very emotional, but crazy strong and very smart, considering his youth. He's probably still there, probably with her, since I managed to get her out by taking her place and coming here. Look, I've told you everything, you now know I don't know anything about the Sorcerer King because I was never with him. Your wife was. I don't know more about her or your child than I've already told you."

The dim flickering of the candle on the cheap, rough, wooden table between them cast both their faces into dancing shadows. The chains on Malach's wrists were no longer as tight, thanks to the ever thinning body he had for himself.

"You're going to ask for something, aren't you?" Moira's former husband asked with a narrow look.

"No, I'm going to offer something, in exchange for letting me walk out of here." Malach replied, to which the interrogator responded by sitting back in his chair.

"Go on. I'm listening." He folded his arms in front of his chest and stared at his prisoner.

"Give me something to write with and write on, I'll write a letter for you, telling Moira that you let me go, that because of you, I walked out of here alive. I doubt she'll forgive you for abandoning her, but she might at least let you see your son if she knows you spared the one who saved her life." Malach suggested thoughtfully. "Then just let me walk out, and you can tell people I died under torture, or just make up some phony piece of information, or just tell people I died during an escape attempt, whatever."

Moira's former husband reached into his pouch for both as fast as he could move his hands and an hour later, Malach found himself walking out into Kami Miyako. As he looked around at the soul crushing poverty, watched two men people fighting over a scrap of leather, while a third man chewed on such a scrap and a fourth lay not far away, doubled over groaning and clutching at his stomach, he wondered to himself, 'Should I have stayed down in the dungeon... might have been safer down there? No help for it, now to find somewhere safe to stow away for a few a bit.' He rubbed his wrists, and began to tramp through the snow, in search of shelter he was not sure existed, and safety he knew was only a dream.

 _...Kami Miyako...Home of the late Kasa..._

Dominic entered the empty home without being seen, easy enough to do as he moved through shadows and rooftops, and when he reached her house, he listened and looked around, laying flat on the roof. The streets were not busy, a few passers by, but nobody looked up. He grinned. Nobody ever looked up. He punched hard atop the rooftop, it cracked, he punched again, he felt the break below. Strike after slow strike, he created a single hole large enough to slip through, and down into the house he went.

Wasting not a second of time, he rushed in and began to gather what he needed, sheets, clothing, burnable materials, and a heavy blanket. "I will not be stopped. Not by you, Yvon. You think you've won? You think you've got the edge? That I'm hunted like a wounded animal? No. No I'm not. I'm a wolf that has moved deeper into the cave, that's all, come in, deeper, where the source of all howling winds waits for you, and let me tear out your throat." Dominic was muttering with wild, frantic energy as he gathered the materials, and then, lighting the pile of burnables on fire, he let the smoke rise up through the hole that had been his entrance.

It was slow at first, taking almost a full minute, but when it was going in earnest, [Control Wind] He uttered, and with his hand outstretched, he shifted the air around the flame to keep it from spreading, and with his other hand, controlled the direction of the smoke beyond. "Yes, just a little while, a few hours, they'll see, they'll find me." Dominic said to the empty house, pushing down hard against his towering rage as he thought more and more about Yvon's betrayal.

As he pushed down his rage with the greatest difficulty, he pushed up the smoke with the greatest ease. To the rest of the city it was just one of 'many' places burning what they could for warmth. But to the Agante, the unnatural shifts, however slight, would be seen and known. Then they would gather. 'Then, I will make it all right again.' Dominic thought with glee as he finished and extinguished the flame by taking the air away from it, killing it as if it hadn't been there in the first place, leaving only the ashes and half charred remnants of what had once been beautiful fineries behind as he went downstairs to wait for his 'children' to answer his call.

He did not have to wait for long.

 _...Kami Miyako...Capital Building..._

Yvon sat at the head of the long table. For a moment, he saw them all there, his former friends, his former allies. He saw the ghost of the bored Zesshi, leaning in the place she used to, and Raymond standing up and with his hand raised and finger thrust out defiantly at Dominic and angry at something. The matronly Berenice with her eyes flashing with passion and at some point Ginedine had made with cold calculation, only to find the even tempered Maximillian answering in balance... then ephemeral as any dream, the moment was gone and the bustle was a silent and empty chamber. 'It's come to this... I don't know how, but it has. I never knew they'd come to ends like that but... such is the way of things.' He thought to himself, and then he was not alone.

Various functionaries entered the room with heads bowed, mostly they were uniformed soldiers, but among them a few competent priests of a mind similar to his own. One and all they bowed and seated themselves when he waved a hand quietly in front of himself, encompassing the many chairs.

"So, how goes the harvest?" He asked with a very thin smile on his face. "How many long eared sheep were in the warehouses?"

A wire thin man stood and, with hands pressed down on the surface of the table as if to support himself, which may have been the point, he answered dumbfoundedly, "Ah, Cardinal... Great Defender... there were none."

"Well, we were bound to be a few sh-" he stopped in mid-sentence, his brow furrowed and he went from a relaxed tone to an icy one as fast as snow fell to earth in a snowstorm. "Did you say 'none'?" He asked with quiet disbelief.

"Yes, Sir. None. The warehouses are completely empty." He answered, and as if to mock the promise of food, outside the building they could hear Yvon's supporters shouting 'No more Dominic, no more Hunger!' urging others to hunt for the remaining supporters of the Cardinal of Wind.

"I see." Yvon folded his arms in front of his chest and looked down at the table as he lost himself in thought, trying to tune out the words echoing outside the building. 'I smell evil's taint in this. A mysterious monster seizes the work camps and those slaves are dead or gone, and my coin is set on 'gone'. Now the ones held captive within this very city for their owners are gone as well? No. Well, there is only one way to keep my promise.' He pondered for a few minutes as his 'staff' waited breathlessly and no doubt 'hungrily' in anticipation.

"Issue an order, immediately, send it out to every crier in the city, all of them, that every single owner of every single slave, is to present their property for harvesting to feed the army and the people for the duration of the siege. No great house will be spared, as I have given up my property to give strength to the Slane Theocracy, so must all others." Yvon said with finality.

"And... what of those who refuse?" A waif of a man whose name Yvon could not recall, asked in a nasal voice.

"Refuse?" Yvon fixed a sinister glare on him. "If anyone refuses, they're a traitor and will be executed accordingly. We will not put animals before people, we will harvest the beasts and feed the people. Dominic was too soft, that is why the gods cursed us with these defeats. To warn us of our sinfulness. We will make all this right again, as our holy duty commands." He clasped his hands together as if in prayer and bowed his head in deep reverence to the deities that chose him to have that special place of leadership over the last truly devout human kingdom.

The assembly of the faithful in subservience to Yvon bowed their heads and intoned after him as Yvon spoke, "We, the righteous, shall not keep company with the unrighteous. We, the chosen of the gods, will join with them in heaven, and praise their judgement over the beasts who dare defy their holy writ."

"So it will be, in all the world, as in the realm of the divine." Yvon finished, and peace engulfed the room. Within hours of the righteous prayer, the order flew from one end of the city to another, that through treachery, likely from Dominic himself, if not the tricks of the Demon of the West, or her dark master, the food Yvon had promised had been stolen en masse.

Yet before even anger or dread could capture a single heart, Yvon provided an answer.

"What is this?" Lady Chatelain asked, as the missive was handed to her by the thin, callow faced messenger.

"Orders, for you and every elf owner in th'city." He said in a raspy voice, "From the new Great Defender, long may he speak for the gods, Cardinal Yvon."

He bowed his head in reverence to his treasured leader, and moved on to the next house as the slender auburn haired Lady Chatelain moved away from the door and her servant closed it behind her.

She froze in midstep on her polished floor, her eyes scanned it again and again, "My lady?" Her elven servant asked hesitantly, and was about to ask again, before she fainted dead away and collapsed to the floor.

"My lady!" He shouted, and dove beside the young woman and shook her desperately.

He listened for her breathing, and saw the rise and fall of her chest, and relaxed for a moment, then reached with shaking fingers for the document that had caused such distress, and took it in hand. He held it under his eyes, and paled as he read the order.

"What is this?" Lord Curgas asked with a furrowed brow as the elven servant handed him the rolled up document.

His impeccably dressed slave approached with the same regal demeanor that Curgas had known since boyhood, back straight, one arm behind his back, he bowed forward slightly with the paper extended in his free hand.

"From the Cardinal, Lord Curgas." The elven male said evenly.

Curgas frowned deeply, "That can't be good." He said and took the document, he unfurled it and let his eyes roam over the words. He looked it over several times, then looked up at his slave, then down at the death sentence in his hand.

Up and down up and down up and down his eyes went from slave to document and document to slave. "My lord? Are you in distress?" The slave said with genuine concern in his voice.

"Sevel... how long have you served my house?" Lord Curgas asked with a soft voice the elven butler had not heard in a century of life among the men of the hard lord's home.

"One hundred and ten years." Sevel said without hesitation.

"Tell me... do you love me, in spite of... everything?" Lord Curgas asked, his voice unflinching as his eyes, and Sevel's eyes opened with surprise.

"My Lord... why would you ask... that?" Sevel's sudden show of expression revealed the depth of his dismay at the question.

"Please, answer, it is important." Lord Curgas replied.

Sevel went down to his knees in front of where Lord Curgas sat, and laid his hands on the lord's lap. "I tell you the truth, when I say that I do."

"Even though you're... living in the way that you do, as a slave? How? How is it that you love me, when it was my great grandfather who deprived you of the chance in your home country of a wife and children of your own?"

Sevel's golden eyes welled up with tears. His hands, always firm and steady, trembled where they sat on Curgas's legs. "My Lord, I won't say it was always so, but... it is so. It is so because, despite everything, I got to all but raise your grandfather, your father, his brothers, you, and your sisters. I gave to all of you, the love I would have given the children I might have had. I put the teachings that would have gone to children of my own if I'd had them, into the children I got to rear within this house. This is not the life I dreamt of when I was a boy and conscripted into the Elf King's army. But I have made it a good one, and yes, I love you, as if you were my own son."

Lord Curgas wadded the paper up and cast it into the nearby flames that glowed near his seat. "Do you remember how to fight, still?" Lord Curgas asked gravely.

"Well enough to teach you all over again, my young Lord." Sevel answered with a wry smile grazing his dignified and chiseled face.

"Good, because I think today I'll have to prove that you did not give us all that you did for nothing, go and open up the armory of the estate, gather all my guards outside, I will explain everything when the entire household is gathered."

"As my Lord wills." Sevel said with a hint of anxiety beneath his calm demeanor, he turned his look to the fire where the paper was consumed, and the fear within his breast only grew.

 _...Kami Miyako...Raymond's home..._

Nua woke up Raymond with a violent shaking. His eyes flew open, years of training made him immediately combat ready, "Raymond, something's wrong!" She said urgently as he sat up.

"Wrong?" He asked with dread.

Nua handed him the rolled up paper. "This came from Yvon while you were asleep, and... now, I can hear... violence, there's violence out there in the city, I can't tell who, but there is a lot of it."

He took the paper and unrolled it. He then crumpled it up and threw it into the corner basket with contempt, he spat at it for good measure, the liquid dripping slowly down into its crooked and broken folds. "Fuck. That." He said with uncharacteristic crudity.

"Raymond?" Nua asked hesitantly. For a moment her mind flew back to the death of Kasa, and the purchase of one more night beneath his stairs and in his house.

Raymond cupped her cheeks, "It's time for you to get out of here. All of you."

The lids of her eyes opened wider, "What?! Why?!" She demanded fearfully and angrily both at once.

"Because of what you just gave me, and what that violence means. Remember what I said in Wenmark? I'd wager this order went out all over the city. Yvon is doing just as I predicted, he's ordering every wealthy household to turn over their elven slaves for processing. He's going to solve the elf problem once and for all, and feed the population, all at the same stroke." Raymond replied gravely.

"All that noise, fighting your sensitive ears have picked up, is going to be at least part of the wealthy houses rioting against him... humans and elves, fighting on the same side in Kami Miyako, how bizarre things have gotten. But I'm not going to risk you, the children, or any of the others I've sheltered here, coming to harm. It is time for you to go." He reached over and pulled on a rope, a few minutes later, Solution entered, all smiles as she made her way gracefully into the room.

"They're having a great time out there. How I wish I could join them." She said with truthful enthusiasm.

"Can you hear anything specific?" Raymond asked optimistically.

"Dominic's name is coming up a lot, it looks like they're rallying behind him as a symbol, even if his location isn't known yet. Elves, fighting 'for' Dominic, my sisters will never believe me." Solution giggled sweetly. "Now what did you want from me, Raymond?" She asked as she did an exaggerated curtsey as only the finest of maids could.

"I need a few things done, and done quickly." He said rapidly, "I need you to ask the Sorcerer King to evacuate my house, including Nua. Drag her out of here if she refuses." Nua looked up, appalled, but he carried on without looking at her, "Then have Boabdil and Enlaith, as well as his remaining loyal soldiers, go out into the riot zones and start to contact the resistance cells, get them to start moving into the artisan district during the chaos, when nobody will notice. Have them promise their various owners that the artisan district is safe, and keep it so. Then send a servant to Yvon, telling him to prepare a feast, I've taken Dominic's head, and want to present it to him. Hurry, we don't have a lot of time."

Nua stood up and crossed her arms in front of her chest. "I. Am. Not. Leaving."

"But you are, going. Enlaith has to stay, she's a contact point for the resistance, Boabdil has to stay, he's got his soldiers and his own contacts, but the rest of you, you don't." Raymond folded his arms in front of his chest and stood in front of her, he towered over the lithe slender elf and looked down at her firmly.

"Yes. I do." Nua looked up at Raymond with a hard eyed look of defiance not seen since she'd thrown herself at his feet and told him to get his 'game' over with and struck him. "I have to stay because I have to make sure you get out of all this 'alive'. I don't know the Zesshi girl you've mentioned, I don't know what she'll do to you, but if she's an angry one, someone will have to talk her down, and if she's anything like me, she won't be inclined to listen to any humans." Nua snorted in contemptuous defiance.

Raymond groaned with frustration, "Solution, go ahead and get started with the rest, Nua can leave 'last'."

The maid demon went to carry out his wishes with an amused smile as Nua began to berate him before the door even closed as she exited, "...even think about sending me away now, you're insane..."

Solution laughed at the little elf's gesticulating histrionic grousing as Raymond tried, and continued to fail, to calm her down and get her to understand.

Rounding up the house, even a house that large, was easy. The main hall had a red rope, which when pulled, rang every bell in every room. Elves, half elves, and humans, slowly made their way into the main hall, their footsteps at first few and distant, grew numerous and louder, a virtual army of what were seemingly the servants of one of the great leaders of the Theocracy.

The assembly was, in her eyes, fairly ragtag, compared to her home. 'Still,' Solution thought, 'he's giving Lord Ainz a lot of new servants, even if they don't measure up to the best of us.' When the sound of distant footsteps was gone, as all those who worked there had gathered, Solution returned to Raymond's quarters and knocked on the door.

"They're ready. Want to say goodbye?" She asked him with a teasing smile as she poked her head in and saw that Nua was still ranting.

"Yes please, thank you." He replied, and the diminutive elf girl went quiet at last. "Come with me." Raymond said softly, prompting Nua to fall into step at his left hand as he went out the door, to the stairs, and all the way to the main hall.

Before him were a sea of faces, the human ones he'd known for decades, some since his youth, the younger ones, children he'd only known since Zesshi's departure. He smiled at them all, his lip quivered against his will as he tried to speak several times, and failed.

He felt Nua's hand on the small of his back as the quiet ruled the room.

"I..." He finally began. "I have a lot to say, I thought I did, anyway. But now we get to the moment and I find I don't know how. Whoever heard of a Cardinal with nothing to say?" He smiled weakly at the feeble joke, and got a few wan smiles in return. He carried on, folding his hands behind his back and standing straight.

"For those of you... so many, wronged by my people... including myself for as long as it was. I have no right to beg forgiveness, but I do so shamelessly anyway. I am... truly sorry, for my role in everything. For those of you, my human servants who have followed me into this dangerous course, I am forever grateful. You laid down your lives for me, and for however much longer I live beyond this day, I will remember it. You are proof that not all, even in this city, are lost." Raymond's voice trailed off as he briefly choked up when he caught the fearful glances of the half elf children who were barely old enough to understand that things were about to change again.

"In a moment, the magic of His Majesty will open a gate, you'll pass through it, and you will be free, you will be safe, and nobody will ever have the right to hurt you again. In a few days, this city will fall, and I will be a criminal, likely the last living ruler of the Slane Theocracy, and so its many wrongs, for at least the last fifteen years, will be on my head. I cannot run, and have no plans to. So let me say at last, good luck, and good lives, to all of you. When I'm gone, my will stipulates the sale of all that I have, to be distributed to each of you by name. Even with so many, if the art and other goods survive, along with the sale of this estate, none of you will have to work very hard for the remainder of your lives, whether you're a human, or a young elf." He suppressed a smile as he felt Nua's hand on his back fold into a fist as she grabbed the cloth of his garment.

The whorling black [Gate] opened as he predicted, and Solution stood next to it and, half seriously, half mockingly, held a curtsy beside it as the house was almost entirely emptied. Many an elf paused for a final word, a handshake, an embrace. Many a human servant begged him to survive. It took the better part of two full hours as a result.

Finally, Nua, Solution, and Raymond were alone. "Boabdil and Enlaith, they went out already?" Raymond asked, more or less rhetorically.

"I sent them out as soon as they answered the bell, them and those with them. With his wife safe, I'm curious what that very unfortunate General will do." Solution answered with her usual sadistic grin.

Raymond looked at the gate, and then at Nua. "What?" She asked sharply. "I told you, I'm not leaving."

"Solution, would you be so kind as to toss her through there?" Raymond asked with resignation.

The maid demon looked from one to the other, Nua's plaintive face made her position clear.

Raymond was bewildered, several times he tried to raise his hands, to bring himself to reach out, grab her, and throw her bodily through the gate himself. Yet each time his hands came up, he found he couldn't move them more than halfway through the gesture. 'After so many human hands have put themselves on her against her wishes... I can't do it, I can't bring myself to do that, even to protect her. Damn it all!' He thought with frustration.

Solution put her hands on her hips, and cancelled the gate. "I don't work for you, Raymond. Besides, you don't have to worry about her, I'll watch out for both of you, at least until after My Lord keeps his promise. If it helps, you probably won't be executed, so relax. Everything will be fine."

Nua sighed with relief when the gate was gone. In the great emptiness of the residence, the sigh seemed to echo all the more.

"Now then, all we can do is wait and see, and... for now, we'll relocate to the artisan district, and abandon this place. We've got a lot of work to do, and not much time to do it." Raymond remarked as he opened the door, and allowed Nua and Solution to pass through it before him.

He exited the enormous residence, the sound of fighting in the distance was growing louder, fires were springing up as riots spread. He listened for a moment as the snow fell gently into the chaotic city, almost thick enough to hide the smoke of burning buildings. Almost.

He turned around to the door, put his key into the lock, and turned it, shutting up the house against entry. 'Probably a futile effort. But it can't hurt.'

Nua and Solution had walked a few feet from the door and were waiting patiently for him to join them, he did, his every step weighing on him like cheap, heavy armor. When he was away, he turned and looked back at his house one more time, and then looked down at the key which still rested in his clenched hand. His fingers opened, and he looked at the little silver object again.

"Nua..." He said softly, his eyes clouding over so that he had to squeeze them tightly shut, and yet despite his momentary self inflicted blindness, he kept turning his head from one to the other as if he could still see them all.

She watched his gaze pass from the key, to the house, to herself, and back around again. "Yes?" She asked hesitantly.

The memory of his eye injury months before came back to him in an instant, her careful and skillful treatment of the injury, the building of her faith in him. He reached out and took her hand, then turning her palm up, he pressed the little silver key into it, then gently closed her fingers around it. "When it's all over, distribute everything to everyone, but this is yours. Do whatever you want with it. Burn it down, sell it, anything. I don't think I'll be coming back here again, I don't need it anymore. It's yours now."

"Raymond, that's your home..." Nua said with awe.

He shook his head. "Even if I survive, even if I'm not imprisoned after the war, I'll never come back here, I can't. I don't know what I'll do, but all I want is to not be here ever again. Too many memories, too much unhappiness. Besides, you're owed about a hundred and forty years of back wages, this should just about cover it." He smiled weakly down at her, and let his hands fall away at his side.

"Alright, let's go, I wasn't kidding before, we really do have a lot to do, and that snow isn't going to get any lighter anytime soon, nor the city, any more peaceful." He emphasized and began to stamp through the slowly deepening snow, as somewhere in the city, the sound of a building being broken to the point of collapse, echoed all the way to where they stood.


	205. Choke On It

God Rising: The Cult of Ainz

Written by: AtheistBasementDragon

Edited by: The Usual Gang of Drunken Perverted Idiots

Chapter 205: Choke On It

 _...Kami Miyako...Residence of the Late Kasa..._

Dominic looked out over the faces in front of him. "I will make this very simple. Yvon dies. Everybody who supports him dies. Everybody who supports those who supports him dies. Everybody who doesn't support him, gets to live. Stay out of the artisan district. Questions?"

A hand among the scores and scores went up. "Ah, Cardinal... 'why' are we staying out of the artisan district?" The curious young man asked hesitantly. "What if our... target... runs in there?"

Dominic laughed. "First, because I said so. Second, because it was the deal I made with Cardinal Raymond. He has autonomy there, and by the way, he does 'not' like Yvon. He'll not let Yvon use his little niche of the city as a place to hide when I strike. And third, there won't be any reason to go there anyway, because it won't be long, before Yvon has no supporters left, at least, none who matter."

 _...Streets of Kami Miyako..._

'I've got to get back up... got... to fight... fight...' The young man thought desperately as he tried to force his body to rise, despite the broken spear through his guts that pinned him to the dirt, until he thought no more, and died. He was not dying alone. Around him were a dozen others in similar states of near death as the military supporters of Yvon finished him and his friends off.

"He was stubborn." A man in thick Theocracy platemail said, casting a glance at the new corpse that had been a struggling young man in his twenties.

"Yeah, funny to find them here though." His comrade said as he drew his spear back up with a sickening 'squelch' as it left the body of his victim. "They weren't that many, but it's like... it's like they were waiting."

One of their brethren was about to answer, when they all felt little 'tinks' ping off their armor. They glanced around, the open space of churned up red snow and muck in the open space in front of the corner home offered a clear view, but still for a moment they didn't see the cause... not until a dozen elves made their appearances known by stepping into view. Some held small stones as improvised range weapons, none wore armor, a few held kitchen knives and short swords.

"Looks like dinner came to us." A soldier said with grim mockery at the defiant slaves. "Lie down and I promise to make it quick." He said generously as his fellow soldiers drew their swords and formed up in greater numbers, with superior armor, shields, and weapons, ready to attack the barely armed livestock.

The elves, dirty, bedraggled, hungry, and with eyes filled with hate, held their weapons up defiantly. And then did the unexpected. One of them, 'waved' looking beyond the soldiers.

Instinctively, the soldiers looked behind them, where black cloaks stood atop the roofs of the homes nearby, effectively surrounding the common Theocracy soldiers.

"Lie down, and I'll make it quick." The elf in front said, mockingly as the Agante agents drew their enchanted long knives.

"The hell... working with Dominic's people... I don't know which one of you is lower..." The commander of the now surrounded band of Yvon supporters uttered as he racked his brain as a way to get out of the situation he found himself in.

"A piece of wisdom to your empty head before you die... you piece of shit. The enemy of my enemy, is my friend." The elf said bluntly, and the black cloaks jumped down from the rooftops, and charged only slightly faster than the elves.

"Fuck!" The commander shouted as the soldiers were beset on all sides, the dual wielded long knives proved effective at cutting through the armor, and elven hatred proved sufficient drive to get the elves to ignore any injuries they sustained as they fell on those who would turn them into food. The commander fell with a kitchen knife shoved through his helmet and into his eye, he didn't get another word out, and could have asked for no finer epitaph than his last one.

It was over in seconds, the sound of steel, curses, and the desperate howling in pain that was invariably cut off with a sick and fear filled gurgling noise, and then Agante stood in front of slave as slave stood in front of Agante.

"You kill good." The black cloak said with reluctant admiration.

"Back at you." The elf slave said as he took up a shield from the dead, and a sword with it.

The others imitated his initiative, and as they did so, a curious thought passed across the Agante's mind. 'Now that he's taken that up... he will never put it down again. Even when we put Yvon down... what the hell do we do next?'

There was no time to contemplate the question further as they finished off the soldiers, and moved off to go hunt for more of the same prey.

 _...Upper Room of an Abandoned Home..._

"So... how did it go?" Raymond asked optimistically.

"Very well. One of my soldiers told Yvon that you'd taken Dominic's head, and wanted to deliver it to him this afternoon. The riots in Dominic's favor made a good excuse, my messenger informed him that you wanted time to get extra security for the way in, so now he's relaxed, he'll have some of his most important supporters brought together for a feast, and then... well you do what you do, and we'll leave the rest to Dominic." General Boadil remarked with clipped, professional confidence from his place at the long table.

Nua looked at him in disgust. "You'd let him 'feast' on my people! You'd really do that?!" She demanded with a rising voice, she fondled her knife lovingly within her loose sleeves, savoring the urge to carve out his heart. The urge began to fade as he shook his head vigorously.

"No. I won't make any pretenses on who or what I've been, but I am not proposing to let them feast. I am proposing to let them choke. He's already got his 'meat' anyway, there's nothing I can do about that. All I can do for the victims, is let them play a role in his destruction. They're the final piece of the trap. Food is scarce, everybody who can attend this, will, and everyone he invites, will be key to his power base. Let them savor the thought of meat, then let them die."

Nua's touch on her precious blade, slipped away and the fury in her eyes began to die down. "Yes... that is right... that is just. The flesh of my people, will be the lure that destroys them."

"I-I'm sorry..." Raymond said humbly.

"Not as much as they will be." Nua said coldly. "Not as much as they will be." She repeated, softer, and with greater vindictiveness.

Enlaith gave Nua a charming smile, her face lit up and her lovely almond shaped eyes glowed brightly with happiness. "I knew we'd get along. Now in other news, the resistance bands have been taking advantage of this pretty well since it started this morning, I've got people slipping away in the chaos, and making their way here. This is a big, but mostly empty district. I'll be honest, despite the best efforts of General Boabdil's twenty, there's not much we can do for organization, there's just no time. People are shacking up in whatever rooms they can find. So some places are going to be packed, and others empty."

"It's fine." Raymond said succinctly. "It's only for a few days, if people want to move around a bit after today, it doesn't matter. When the demon arrives with her armies, my nation will die within two days. Forgive me a moment of indulgence... I know I've said this so many times to myself already but... how... how did it come to this? Yvon and Dominic are monsters, Ginedine is dead, the Pontiff is dead, Maximillian is dead, Berenice is... well I haven't heard anything since her rescue, our armies are gone, all surrendered or dead, our cities are captured or destroyed, our villages and towns are surrendered or burned, our Godkin and greatest scriptures are either wiped out or have turned against us... it's been barely more than a year and yet... nothing remains. Most of my country's population has died."

"It came to this because your country brought it to this." Enlaith remarked.

"It was bound to happen eventually. Aalon's strength was growing steadily, if the Sorcerer King hadn't come along, in another hundred or two hundred years, you'd have had an alliance of Dark Elves, Demihumans, and Mountain Elves beating on your borders, and that's if the Beastmen didn't finish off the Draconic Kingdom and come west. Truth is, you're better off with this happening now, rather than later." Solution added snarkily. "At least this way, your people, well the ones who aren't all dead, can come back. At least as servants of My Lord." Her cocky smile as she spoke, only depressed Raymond more.

He slumped, "I really shouldn't think about these things."

 _...Kami Miyako...Yvon's Residence...Evening..._

"So that could have gone... better." The functionary remarked sardonically.

"Quite a gift for understatement you've got there." Yvon remarked tranquilly as he rang the bell.

Into the room came elven slaves, their eyes were as empty as their bodies were naked. Each carried a tray from which the fragrant smell of meat wafted, each tray had a bowl full of rich stew with meat from a well known source bobbing about.

Each step toward their oppressor at his dinner table was filled with ever greater amounts of fear, self loathing, and a growing sickness in the pits of their pale stomachs as they brought meals of their own kind, to the master of the house.

"Didn't you use up your servants already? I didn't know you had more?" A rail thin older functionary remarked with surprise.

"I did." Yvon remarked as he tried and failed to recall that one's name. "These belonged to people who handed over their slaves. I promised them they could keep their lives a while longer as long as they served in place of the ones I got rid of."

"Oh, well yes, that makes sense. But... can we save the conversation until 'after' we eat? I'm starving."

Yvon looked up and down the length of the table, commanders, senior officers and various other government figures lined it's great length. He smiled his sinister, thin smile. "Normally I would say yes, but in just a few minutes, our 'centerpiece' will arrive. I assure you, it won't be long, and then we can put this little riot down the rest of the way. How much longer do you think Dominic's supporters can hold out against the army?"

"Days conceivably if he's alive, but prove he's dead, and that will change, I think most would give in to you then, with nothing but a pardon in return for surrender." A burly officer remarked, all while staring hungrily down at the bowl that stared back up at him, taunting his nearly empty stomach.

Yvon's smile grew wider, but his planned out words were cut off by the sound of a distant knocking. "That would be him now." The wiry old man uttered.

"Go bitch, go let him in." Yvon said to the last of his original slaves.

Misu whimpered a pathetically obedient yes, and scurried to the door as fast as she could from where she'd been standing a few feet away from him, with her head down and hands folded in front of her in a mockery of modesty and dignity.

She rushed to the door as her owner bade her, and flung it open, her body trembled at the sudden influx of cold from the outside, and she stepped aside, and in came a man with chiseled features despite his middle years, a hard look, and a beard that had clearly been well kept not that long before the present. "Sir..." She asked demurely, blushing as his eyes went from head to toe over her as if he had not expected the kind of welcome he got.

"I am Cardinal Raymond Zarg Lauransan, here to see Cardinal Yvon. I know the way... you don't need to announce me to him, and he's expecting me."

His eyes were locked on hers and she could not look away, the hardness she'd first seen was all gone, and there within was something she hadn't seen but a handful of times in a human expression. Sympathy. He set the tray he carried in his hands, down on a small nearby table, and removed the cloak he wore. She stood transfixed as he did the unthinkable, and put his arms around her to drape the impossibly soft cloth over her body. Her mouth fell open in mute incomprehension at the gesture, and as he finished he leaned in and whispered to her. "Go outside, I know it is cold, but you won't be there for long. Please... just trust me, just this once, it won't be long."

She bit her lip, 'Is this a trick? Is he just going to go tell my master I stole his cloak and ran away... just to get me punished... I'll end up in the stew pot... I... my brother's sacrifice will have been for nothing...' She shook her head vigorously at his words.

Then he sighed and reached for the covered tray, he looked at her with tender eyes, and cracked it open slightly, so that she could see what lay beneath. "It isn't a leap of faith... this is the end, just go, wait outside, it's cold, but you'll be safer."

She didn't hesitate again, she slipped out and went a stone's throw back over the open ground, her feet felt profoundly cold as they sunk into the snow and down onto the frozen dirt, even with the cloak held tight against her body, the cold nibbled at her skin as Misu waited for the impossible to become real.

When she was gone, Raymond walked boldly to the dining area, and found exactly what he expected. On a finely made table, stained dark and polished to a shine, sat the leaders Yvon had handpicked for his 'administration' and along the wall, stood husks of elves, their souls all but gone from their now empty, vacant, haunted eyes. Like houses that had been gutted and left to rot.

They barely registered his presence, nor did he fault that, what was one more monster in a room already full of them?

Yvon raised a cup to welcome Raymond as soon as he saw his fellow cardinal enter and saw the covered silver platter in his hands. "Welcome, Raymond, good to have you. Would you care to skip straight to the honors or... join us for dinner first?" Yvon asked somewhat teasingly.

Raymond rolled his eyes to hide the hate that he felt burning in them.

He forced a fake smile that he thought was convincing, at least from a distance, and walked near to the head of the table. "I'll just say a few words, and then we can begin." Raymond said as he set the tray down and kept one hand on the silver knob from which it would be lifted.

"As some of you already know, Dominic is not someone I have long gotten on well with. The same of course, is true for most of my fellow Cardinals, perhaps because of my relative youth compared to all the others. But... I, like all of them, have always been loyal to the Theocracy and to the gods." Raymond let his eyes wander up and down the table, every eye was focused on him, and out of the corner of his eye, he saw movement outside the window.

He ignored it, and carried on. "I have always tried, through all of that, to do the right thing, even when I wasn't sure what that meant. And yes, I, like most of you, have paid a steep price for the sake of my duty to the Theocracy."

A rumble of agreement went from one end of the table to the other.

"Duty though, is a harsh thing, and doesn't give us easy choices as a rule. And from the start of all this, I've found my choices only got harder and harder. It put me in conflict with Zesshi, with Berenice, with Ginedine, with Dominic, and yes, with Yvon, it even put me in conflict with myself. But recently, I realized something." They looked at him expectantly as his fingers twitched.

"I realized I was really only half in, trying to reconcile the irreconcilable, and I couldn't do it anymore. I had to make a choice between two things, both of which had been very dear to me. And this... this is the fruit of that choice." Raymond said with an obviously heavy heart.

Yvon was moved, deeply. 'Raymond... I had no idea you felt this way about me... not that I'm not flattered but...' He started to think, then tore his eyes away from Raymond's face when he heard the gasps of shock with the sound of the cover being removed from the platter.

He looked down, expecting to see the head of Dominic Ihre Partouche, bloody, soulless, and maybe with his tongue hanging stupidly out of his open mouth. Instead, he saw the sacred text of the gods with a familiar knife stabbed straight through the center. He pushed away from the table and stood up, as the rest of the table was doing, appalled at the blasphemy.

Raymond took the knife out of the book, and in a smooth gesture he mockingly said, "The Sorcerer King sends his regards."

Blasphemy atop blasphemy, it bought time, and the Agante threw off the white cloaks they'd covered themselves with, and jumped in through the windows. Chaos ruled the house as fireballs flew left and right, incinerating the unarmed, unprepared guests, the long knives worked a deadly toll on the unsuspecting enemy. The elves one and all fled from the room as fast as their bare feet could carry them.

Dominic laughed as he followed his Agante into the building, he used his wind to rip men from where they stood and fling them head first into stone pillars, painting the pale cream colored marble a deep red with blood and viscera.

Yvon snarled with fury, **[Divine Wrath] [Holy Chains] [Divine Blade] [Divine Protection]** Yvon snapped out quickly as Dominic's howling rage filled laughter drowned out the rapidly dying cries of people caught completely off guard. The handful of scattered security around Yvon's manor that came rushing into the room were quickly cut to ribbons by enchanted knives and the element of surprise, combined with localized superiority as they came in ones and twos to the sound of the sudden emergency.

It was over in minutes, Yvon's supporters lay draped over the table or crumpled dead to the floor, the black cloaks that had been concealed briefly by the white camouflage, were now on full display as they moved around the room checking corpses.

Fire had consumed most of the table, bowls dripped the 'wasted meat' vegetables, and broth down to the floor where it spread to the pools of blood that formed around the corpses of Yvon's leading staff members. The holy book that Raymond brought with him, had been reduced to ashes, and the tray melted from the heat.

Yvon looked at the two cardinals closing in on him. "You're siding with Raymond, Dominic? He's a traitor! A traitor! He's betrayed us to the Sorcerer King!" Yvon hissed out as he backed away from the two men as the three of them activated various martial arts.

 **[Wind Speed] [Hurricane Strength] [Gale Blow]** Dominic laughed at the raspy, furious voice of Yvon as he closed in. "You'll say 'anything' to save yourself, won't you? Pathetic."

"It's true!" Yvon snarled out with fury as he called up another divine sword, putting two glowing golden blades in his thin hands.

 **[Prediction] [Sense Weakness] [Lesser Penetration] [Ability Boost]** Raymond uttered, and chuckled, he winked at Yvon with the eye farthest from Dominic, leaving the slender cardinal sputtering with rage. "Really, how low can you really sink?"

"Fine! I'll kill everyone here myself, pick a new staff, put your heads on pikes, and when the city finally bows to the chosen of the divine, peace will come again! Peace and victory!" He hissed, and charged them both with swiftness his aged body apparently did not inhibit in the least.


	206. The Natural Order

God Rising: The Cult of Ainz

Written by: AtheistBasementDragon

Edited by: The Usual Gang of Drunken Perverted Idiots

Chapter 206: Setting the World Right

 _...Kami Miyako...Yvon's Home..._

Yvon's straight golden sword thrust out at Dominic, almost too fast for him to respond. Almost. Dominic's back bent unnaturally far back as Raymond came in with his single blade, he brought it back and forth to cut into his enemy's chest and neck, attempting to open an artery.

[Gift of Life] Yvon uttered, and the blood Raymond shed, flowed back into their wounds, which closed up immediately after. His other hand came up, drawing the second sword with it, Raymond dove to the side, causing it to whirl through the empty space. "A valiant effort. But you're going to die. I'm chosen by the gods. You can't kill me." Yvon remarked as he continued the fluid motion and brought the first sword overhead and down toward Dominic, whose shout of rage echoed all over the house as he brought his hands together around the blade, catching it fast between his palms. The force of the strike brought him down to one knee, he felt it crack when it hit the floor, but the blade did not cut him.

"You're not chosen! I refuse to believe it!" Dominic shouted, and forced his palms over, throwing Yvon off balance. [Heavy Blow], he uttered, and let loose a punch that caught Yvon squarely in the gut and sent him flying backward, he bounced off the table, straight toward Raymond.

Raymond's dagger flew down with inhuman speed, catching Yvon in the shoulder as the older Cardinal tried to roll off in order to avoid the blow and was only partially successful.

From on his back on the table, the sinister Cardinal brought his swords up like they were scissors in an attempt to take Raymond's head. "I am their chosen son, you are the prodigal bastards!" Raymond dropped down below the wild attack and pounced with a snarl.

His knife came up, and down again into Yvon's chest. Or should have. Yvon brought his injured arm up to take the blow, then dropped his other sword and thrust his thumb hard into Raymond's eye.

Raymond jumped backward at the sudden pain and grasped at the injury instinctively. "He's a traitor, Dominic, I swear it, he'll be the ruin of us all, kill him, kill him and I'll forgive you. I'll spare you, and I'll even give you a place in my government." Yvon said as he got up and avoided a hurricane blast that rushed beyond his head to smash a wall.

Only for Dominic to get his body with the next one and hold him immobile. "You're the traitor! You betrayed me! Now tell me, where is Yarvin! Tell me where Yarvin is, and I will make this painless!"

"Who the hell is Yarvin?" Yvon groused out, "Wait, that elf trash? He's 'around'." Yvon smiled his cruelest smile.

"Around?" Dominic demanded, the arm he held up was joined by another, the pressure of the air began to squeeze tighter around Yvon's body.

"Well, yes, some of him is under the table, bits and pieces are on the wall, some of him is reduced to ashes now, stupid trash managed to end his own life, I thought it appropriate we put him to use when I was supposed to get your head from 'him'." Yvon tried to indicate where Raymond had gone down, only to find Raymond was not there.

The meaning of Yvon's words hit home, and Dominic let out a wail of rage and despair, "I'll crush you! I'll crush you with the air you breathe!" He screeched and tightened his fists, increasing the pressure more and more around the Cardinal of Light.

Yvon laughed, [Godslight] He uttered, and it was as if a sun had burst in front of Dominic's face, all was brightness and nothing could be seen, his eyes felt seared, and he staggered away. Yvon grabbed both swords, indifferent to the pain, he went forward and drove a sword into Dominic's guts.

A shout of pain followed, and Yvon raised his other sword, only to feel his wrist snap overhead and his sword fall from nerveless fingers. A sudden yank and he felt himself staggering away, and before he could really get a glimpse, he felt a powerful leg kick him square in the ribs, and several of them crack as he flew through his window and out into the freezing snow. Raymond reached into his cloak and pulled out a healing potion for himself, not far away, Dominic was doing the same, and they were through the windows in almost the same moment.

Sadistic smiles were on the faces of both men as Yvon began to rise. "It was only an elf!" Yvon snapped out, "They're just animals!" He said as he staggered away, coughing up blood over his fine Cardinal robes. He felt his leg all but give out from under him where it fractured from the landing.

There, he spied Misu, his slave, standing nearby a stunning blonde girl in a maid outfit.. 'Why is she out here? No matter, no matter, she's useful now, they're both soft on these animals, I can buy time, my soldiers will come when word spreads, we'll outnumber the Agante, we'll finish them all off, and then... maybe then the gods will come!' He thought hurriedly as he drew himself over to her.

Misu froze when she realized he was coming for her. All she could do was clutch the coat around her body and whimper.

"Stay back!" Yvon shouted over his shoulder, "I'll kill her before you get close enough to stop me!"

For a moment, Raymond almost hesitated. Then, a memory stirred, 'I do not make negotiations using hostages.' The effectiveness of the policy, the brutality, the ruthlessness. He drew his knife up, behind his ear, and he saw the fear in Yvon's sinister eyes as it flew from Raymond's hand.

It spun over and over, and hit him right in the ass, sending him toppling down. Dominic's own knife flew at almost the same instant, and Raymond saw it sticking out of Yvon's back next to his spine. Howls of pain came from the Cardinal of Light.

Yvon crawled through the snow, howling like the wounded beast he was sure he felt like. "This can't be... I'm the chosen of the gods... this is not possible... they chose me..." He felt a kick to his ribs, and his body rolled over as his slave hid behind the eerily calm maid he remembered from Raymond's previous visit.

He felt blood gurgling up to his mouth, his eyes widened. 'The proof. She's not a former scripture trainee... she's an agent of the Sorcerer King! She's the proof! Dominic you stupid fool, the proof of his treason is in front of you!' Yvon tried to speak, looking up at the two Cardinals, and the sweet smiling maid behind which his slave now hid.

He moved his lips, his mouth, but other than gurgles and coughing, no sound came out, his arms flopped around uselessly, his swords long gone from grasp. Dominic crouched over him, burning hatred in his eyes. "You killed Yarvin, he was my only family... you took him from me? Now... suffer for it, and know this. You are 'not' chosen by the gods, you're only my chosen victim. You never... ever should have crossed me, you should have stayed loyal like Raymond. If you had, you wouldn't be dying out here in the snow. Think about that, in the few seconds you have left." Dominic said as Yvon still tried and failed to speak.

"Finish it already, Dominic." Raymond said calmly as he reached down and took his knife up from the snow where it had fallen when Yvon had been kicked over on his back. The tip of Dominic's blade protruded through the right side of his stomach.

Dominic put his hand over the bloody mouth of his bloody rival, [Control Wind] He uttered, and parted his fingers ever so slightly. Nothing seemed to happen for a moment as Yvon flopped like a fish cast onto dry land. It was only after those few seconds had passed, that Raymond realized what was happening.

Yvon's lungs were expanding, air was being forced into his body, but was not leaving, or if it were, not quickly enough to matter. "I want you to know... this is going to hurt... a lot." Dominic said with hate like burning acid pouring out of his eyes and into the wide eyed and terrified face of the dying Cardinal of Light.

"Mmmmhmmm! Mmmmhmmm!" Yvon managed to make the noise a few times, and then his lungs expanded as much as they could... then just a little bit more. And then a horrific and grisly 'splat' as they exploded from inside of his body, ripping his breastbone open and splaying the broken bones out into the cold evening air, and scattering blood over both men.

Yvon gasped no more, but it took several more hellish seconds, and then the light went out of the Cardinal of Light, and Yvon was finally, blessedly, dead.

They wiped the blood from their faces. "Not bad. Raymond, you should learn to kill that way, it's pretty." Solution said as she looked hungrily at the stain that had once been the Cardinal of Light. The Agante were slowly emerging from the house.

"Good work." Dominic said bluntly. "Let me thank you for your help somehow, you can have this one. Its name is Misu." He said, and pointed to Misu, who still shook behind Solution.

Raymond looked at him quizzically. "What?"

"This is the elf who warned me of his coup, at great risk to herself. I was going to give her light duty and keep her, but..." He shrugged, "You have a soft spot for slaves, pragmatic views aside, she'd be happier as your property than mine, and I don't need another one. Giving away a slave might not seem like much, but... she's pretty, and you might have fun with her, and she'll no doubt be grateful for your kindness." Dominic said in a friendly, grateful voice that belied the gravity of the subject and their recent circumstances.

"Ah... yes well... Thank you." Raymond said awkwardly as he cleaned off his knife and put it away.

"Misu, go with him, he's your owner now. You're welcome, both of you." Dominic said as he cleaned his own blade and put it away in an identical fashion to Raymond.

She nodded hesitantly, "Ah, sir... Cardinal Dominic... b-before I go, I w-want to tell you something." She bowed slightly.

"Yes?" he asked expectantly.

She stammered out as best she could with a quivering voice as she remembered the brave elf's death, "Th-The one called Yarvin. He endured his torture very bravely. He said for me to tell you that he never broke... that he... that he was a faithful servant right up to the end."

She paused again, "A-Also... thank you for saving my life, Sir." She said gratefully, prompting an odd look from Raymond as questioning eyes met hers.

"Fine. Get going." He said to her, dismissively, and looked over at Raymond.

It was a heavy voice he used to speak to his colleague. "I... think I want to be alone for awhile. I'll have the Agante clean up and parade Yvon's head around the city, and spread the word that I'll pardon every unit whose commanders present themselves at our governing hall, you go ahead and relax. For a few hours at least. Then there is a lot to do to prepare for the demon's arrival... but I think you've proven your loyalty well enough that you can skip out on showing up to pledge it, at least."

Raymond inclined his head quietly, and walked off with Solution and Misu in tow.

True to intent, the Agante forces that shed the blood of their leader's enemies at the table, picked up the head of the defeated Cardinal of Light, tearing it away from the scrap of flesh that still bound it to the stain that was previously a human torso. They stuck it on a pike, and began to march it throughout the city.

"Yvon is gone! Long Live Dominic! Yvon is gone! Long Live Dominic!" Over and over the chant was uttered, and little by little it was taken up as the crowd grew with the loyal, the indifferent, and the disloyal who now feared what would happen if their disloyalty were known. Step by step through the snow they tramped, with refugees and locals falling into line under the eyes of the black cloaks, the long knives, and behind the head on a spike.

Dominic did not hear it all, though he strained his ears for some time, eventually the sound was carried farther and farther on the backs of growing thousands of throats. He could hear swords being cast down, and he could, from his position on the balcony in the governing building, looking out over the whole of the city, hear the unmistakable sounds of soldiers' boots as some of them switched sides, and some revealed their true allegiance.

He watched the snow fall gently from the balcony, his hands folded behind his back, his black and red cloak that he'd chosen to wear for killing Yvon, stained up and down with blood that, short of magic, would never come clean. The light was fading fast on the horizon as night descended on the city of the Six Great Gods. But sleep was coming to few, the noise was rising and the fires everywhere were slowly dying.

"How many disloyal fools have died between yesterday and today, I wonder?" Dominic contemplated as he watched the announcement of his victory become an impromptu parade. He snorted, "Only after my victory, does it turn out nobody wanted Yvon to win at all. How marvelous." He uttered with so much sarcasm that he could not resist the urge to spit over the balcony in disgust at the fluid loyalties of peasants and soldiers alike.

As he watched his victory unfold seamlessly over the city from his high view over it, he spoke in a rare, solemn voice, "Now, as then, humanity is on the brink of losing everything, and the gods will come again for us, just like they did before, they will save us from destruction from this world's many evils. Demons, no matter their skin, demihumans, heteromorphs, undead... all will fall, those fools marching here, march only into the loving embrace of humanity's defenders, and here at the end of that march, they will be crushed by that embrace. And as for you... you fair weather faithful... when the gods come back, and you will bend the knee and confess your sins to them, and they will purify you of your wickedness. When all that is done, and we are purified, then and only then will humanity thrive again."

As he said these words aloud, he saw down below, that soldiers aplenty were streaming in, from on high, he watched units marching in formation, he watched soldiers acting alone, he watched squads and companies, and eventually, entire battalions. Behind them, came citizens, priests and merchants, peasants and tradesmen. Slowly, minute by minute, their numbers grew and picked up speed as they did so.

As the people moved in and in such numbers that he could no longer count them, nor even see the snow beneath their endless feet, a Dominic felt a rush of pleasure and power thrum through his veins. 'I am unchallenged now, there is nobody left, none will oppose me, none will get in my way.' He thought joyfully and opened his arms widely to embrace the crowds below.

"Dominic! Dominic! Dominic! Dominic! Dominic!" They shouted, their fists pumping, many holding swords, most of the distant glowing fires had died down, aided by the snow and the copious efforts of the population, and shadow began to seep slowly out and conceal with darkness, the place where the most dangerous form of light had extinguished lives of countless people, friend and foe alike, only to now be restored to peace.

He savored the moment, and closed his eyes to enjoy a waking dream, a fantasy of the arriving monsters, the demon in her pride and arrogance, their charging at the unbroken, unbowed, invincible walls of Kami Miyako, and her confusion at the moment when the six descended from the heavens on that sacred scene, and tore asunder everything she valued. He felt the warmth over his skin as he enjoyed the daydream in his mind, and the cheers of the crowd that was still growing down below.

He opened his eyes and saw the crowd began to fall to one knee and bow their heads. "I am the chosen one of the gods, it is me who they favor, it was never you, Yvon. Never you."

The moment, however, ended far too soon. He cocked his head slightly, and looked to the walls, he heard the many guards on the parapets, their shouting, screaming, horror and fear was evident even if he could only hear it because he was so far above the crowd.

He was about to cast [message], when someone on the wall did it first and reached out for him.

'My Lord Cardinal... our Great Defender...' The captain of the guard's voice rang in his head with a desperate urgency.

'Yes, what is it? Can't you tell I'm busy here?!' Dominic replied with annoyance.

'Yes, yes I know sir, the Agante already sent a man to tell us, we threw a few Yvon loyalists over the other side already, but this is important.' He replied with a childlike tremor in his voice.

'Then spit it out! I haven't got all day!' Dominic rebuked him lightly and urged him on, trying instead to savor the adoration below him as the bulk of the army, his Agante, and his people, pledged their loyalty to him once again. Officers were reciting their oaths, soldiers were repeating them, intoning the truth of their faith, and pledging to serve it through their loyalty to the Great Defender.

'It's the river... the river sir... before it turned red... now... sir it is black! The River has turned black, for miles and miles, as far as we can see, it's going and going, and it's dark as ink, darker than a moonless night...!' The captain of the guard emphasize, 'The refugees trapped outside, they're rioting! They think it's a sign from the gods, I think they're going to try to actually attack the gates! Lord Cardinal... what do we do?!' He begged for orders, and Dominic was silent.

"We've... made some room in here, now. Send out representatives, inform them we'll be taking those capable of fighting, or those who can provide supplies to help the city hold out. All the rest, have to stay out." Dominic replied swiftly.

'Sir, if you give that kind of order... they'll kill each other to get in… The captain of the guard replied with barely a moment's thought.

'Competent man, competent, but short sighted.' Dominic thought, but then replied, 'And that means they won't be attacking the gates. We'll get the help, and we'll solve a problem before it becomes one. I don't see the problem. Let them kill each other, and let the faithful chosen of the gods, come in to welcome the return of the divine with all of us within.'

'As you say, Sir. It will be done.' The captain answered grimly, and the connection was severed.

'Sign of the gods. No. Sign of that demon burning everything she touches, more likely. When the gods come, I'll ask that they burn her, it isn't right that she lives while he... while Yarvin... does not.' He thought, and tears of fury formed that he was grateful the crowd below could not see.

He reached up briefly to wipe away the burst of grief that was trying to make its way out through his eyes again despite his best efforts, "Yarvin... when they come back, I won't forget you. I'll ask that they give you a new life as a human, using magic only gods can possess, so you can have the existence you deserve as such a faithful servant, and no longer wear that failed, impure, defective elven skin you loathed so much. Until then, please... rest easy, wherever you are, and watch over me, as I remake this fucking world."


	207. Questions & a Death March

God Rising: The Cult of Ainz

Written by: AtheistBasementDragon

Edited by: The Usual Gang of Drunken Perverted Idiots

Chapter 207: Questions & a Death March

 _...Kami Miyako..._

"Welcome to your 'temporary' residence, Misu." Raymond said as soon as he entered the front of the carpentry workshop that was their temporary headquarters.

"Th-Thank you, Master." Misu said, shivering still from the cold.

"Solution, please have Nua come down with clothing suitable for a young woman to wear. I'll... explain things to Misu." Raymond said wearily as he went to a small table and flopped himself down in the chair beside it. His right arm rested on top of it and his fingers drummed the surface absently. Misu was shifting nervously on her feet, unsure of what to do.

"Come, sit, let's talk." He said gently.

"Master." She acknowledged and sat on the floor at his feet.

He drew his hand up and swept it over his face in exasperated remembrance, and cursed himself privately for an instant. "I meant... in the chair. Please." He added reluctantly.

As if fearing trickery, but fearing disobedience more, she did as he said, and slowly rose, then pulled out a chair and sat down, her hands folded in her lap, she didn't look up, she focused on her fingertips, which danced nervously around one another.

"It's easier for me to talk to you, if you look me in the eye." He said in a quiet tone, carefully phrasing his coaxing in such a way that it seemed to be for him.

"In a minute or two, a girl is going to come downstairs, her name is Nua. She's been with me for what seems like a lifetime now, even though it's not even been a full year. She'll have clothes for you to wear, and she'll confirm what I tell you now. There are no slaves in my service. No, not even one. Every elf you see around me, is free, in fact if not by law. She's been helping me, and later, you'll meet another great help, another elf named Enlaith, she's been helping as well. You can stay here, and here you'll be safe, until the city falls." He said keeping his hands far away from her body, he sounded out every word slowly to let them sink in.

Misu furrowed her brow, but took care to show no other reaction as she listened, not until he finished, then she brought her hands up to her mouth to cover the shocked parting of her lips. "Your gods... your gods are strong, surely you..." She trailed off at his silent stare.

"I am an apostate. I no longer follow them, I can't, I won't. I don't know how powerful they were in their day, but they're 'not' as powerful as the god that is coming for us. Even if they were, and I'm sure they were not, the gods are gone. Dominic is a fool, and so are those who follow him. All I can do, the only option for me, is to save whoever I can from the revenge of the one you've probably heard referred to as the Demon of the West. I don't have a lot of options, but that is what is happening. In a few days, I don't know for sure that I'll even be alive, but I do know that you, Nua, Enlaith, and any slaves who live here still, will cease to be slaves." Raymond explained patiently.

"Really Raymond, are you so eager to die as that? You've got a lifetime to atone for, you can't do that by throwing it away." Nua's voice rebuked him, her eyes had a harder look to it than she'd had before, and her tone a bit more confident since the death of Kasa, but the affection in her voice was clear enough that he smiled at her.

Misu watched the interplay like she was walking through a dream as Nua came downstairs holding some thick winter clothes of mottled black and deep blue.

"No, I'm not eager, but just like I won't be a hypocrite, I won't be a liar in my own home, even if it is a borrowed residence." Raymond gestured to the elven woman dressed in nothing but the long coat Raymond had worn previously. "This is Misu, she'll be staying with us for a few days. Please explain everything to her. I'm exhausted and need some rest."

"I see. Would it have to do with all that chanting outside?" Nua asked pointedly.

Raymond listened for a moment, and faintly heard what she meant, the cries of "Dominic! Dominic! Dominic!" barely reached his ears, but they were growing louder.

"Yes." He acknowledged bluntly. "Yvon is dead, and Dominic has taken back power for himself, for all the good it will do him. Speaking of, before I go to bed, are Enlaith and Boabdil back?"

She shook her head, "No, they've been running back and forth since before the riots started. Along with the twenty and some of Enlaith's contacts, we're getting more and more in this district, I can tell you that much. But it's still just a drop in the bucket."

"I'm somehow, not surprised. I never did say that 'all' of this city was worth saving, only that some were." Raymond replied calmly, a tiny hint of rebuke in both their voices.

Misu watched frozen in awe as a human male in the height of power, conversed with an elven female as if she were his equal.

"It's fine, though. They're competent, they'll get back when they get back, I'll go out in the morning, but right now I feel like I've been hit with a smith's hammer... a few dozen times, and I need to rest." Raymond sighed and pushed himself up from his chair, bracing a hand on the table as he got up and headed for the stairs.

Nua held out the clothing she carried, "Here, come into this side room and put this on, I'm sure you have questions, but let me get the obvious one out of the way."

Misu quietly followed the evidently senior servant, and tossed off the coat as soon as the door shut behind them, she thought nothing of her nakedness most of the time, but this surprised even Nua, enough that whatever she was going to say, she didn't.

Misu saw, and answered the unspoken question, "I belonged to Yvon, he did not permit us to wear anything but chains, he thought it blasphemous for us to dress 'like people'." She said with long resigned bitterness.

"Oh. I've heard of humans like that but... I've never belonged to a house like it." Nua replied, then went on, "To answer what you were going to ask, no, I am not sleeping with Raymond. No, I have no plans to do so. Nor has he ever required that I endure any kind of cruelty in order to speak to him as I do now. He's my friend, a very, very close one, but that is all it can ever be. I guess... I guess I should start at the beginning, go ahead and get dressed, I'll tell you everything." Nua said and pulled over a chair and sat down to explain.

Solution stretched out where she stood as Raymond ascended the stairs and Nua led the new elf away to get dressed. Finally alone, and sure that there was no danger to her charge, she called for a gate, stepped through it, and was gone.

On the other side, she found herself breathing in the perfect air of her perfect Nazarick, the only place she called home. The only place with those she loved. She walked through the familiar halls, her lithe footsteps echoing gently off the walls in the rhythm she knew and loved, a genuine smile of happiness on her face as she passed by maids and butlers and other monster staff on her way to her master's office.

She knocked on the door as soon as she arrived. "Enter." Ainz ordered, and she opened the enormous, heavy doors just enough for her to pass through, and closed them behind her.

Ainz looked up from his paperwork as Solution approached and knelt before her master with her head reverentially bowed. "Welcome home, Solution." Ainz said, gesturing around the room, applying 'Kingly Gesture Number Thirteen' as he spoke to her.

"Master. Thank you for allowing this humble battle maid to have a moment of your precious time." She said with loving reverence.

"A poor master is he who gives nothing of himself to those who give their everything to him." Ainz remarked as he blatantly stole the quote from somewhere else and pretended it was his own.

"Truly, you are the wisest and greatest of the Supreme Beings..." Solution praised him deeply, "but I would not take too much, so my lord," she carefully chose her every word, dropping the informalities that she used with lesser beings, and keeping her every word equal to the highest of courtly manners, "I have come to keep a promise. I engaged in a wager with the slave you met before. The one you tested. She 'won' the little wager, and in return for her victory, I promised her that I would ask you to spare Raymond's life when all this was over. I had intended to ask that he be turned into something useful to Nazarick and brought to your service. But... with her winning the wager, I believe her intent was that he stay as he is."

"I see. You did not make any promises on my behalf, I trust?" Ainz asked with a hint in his voice of potential displeasure ahead.

"Never would I presume so. But I promised I would ask." She answered calmly, certain that she had done it all correctly without overstepping her bounds.

"What was this... 'wager'?" Ainz asked with curiosity.

"I wanted to test her... 'affection' for him. I remembered the expression of the Supreme Beings, about laying down one's life. She is a very gentle little thing, not without spine, but without malice at all. So... I had her act... more like me. If she was willing to mutilate a part of her soul for his sake, to forever taint her own mind with memories of torturing someone, I would 'ask' that Raymond be spared the penalty of death for any past crimes in the service of the Theocracy." Solution had a wide monster smile filling her face at the joyful memory of the way Kasa wailed as she was cut.

"Oh, yes, his past crimes. There are plenty of those to justify his execution, in spite of his recent service to us." Ainz said swiftly, with seeming decisiveness. 'What crimes? What did he do?' Ainz wondered to himself as he pulled pose twelve into place by stroking his chin as he looked at the kneeling battle maid.

'So wise a lord, he knows everything there is to know, about us, our enemies, and even our tools.' Solution marveled and shuddered joyfully at his skills as a King.

"Well, I have no special want for his life, and there may be a 'use' for him in the future that requires that he be alive." Ainz said nobly, adding a cryptic tone to the word 'use' to cover his uncertainty.

"As you say, My Lord." Solution grinned as if she had been let in on a secret.

"Take a few hours to relax here, if it is safe there for the time being, then return afterward." Ainz suggested, "You've been away for so long, you deserve a little rest at least."

"Thank you! Thank you, Master!" Solution grinned, "Though I would grind myself into sludge for you, I am grateful, and will go visit the bar for a little while before I return to Kami Miyako."

"Have fun, then." He said, ending the discussion and bending over the document he was pretending to read when she entered, only to fling himself back in his chair and take a needless heavy breath when he was alone again. "I swear... I may be better at this than I used to be... but I wonder if I'll ever not fear embarrassing myself with my subordinates. When do I get to 'that' stage of skill?" He asked the empty room.

It did not answer. It never did.

 _...Northeast of Kami Miyako..._

"Something bothering you -su?" Lupusregina asked, glancing to her left where Enri rode beside her in her full panoply of rune crafted gear. Struck again by how much the woman had changed, from a slightly gutsy girl that could barely write her own name, if that, to one who cowed ogres with a look, to one who could crush armies and command respect from kings and queens, and face off against the chosen voice of the Sorcerer King. The white armor reflected the light, and on her head, a white helmet with a large white plume that would stand out on the field. Behind her hung a red cloak that clashed against the white of her armor, and at her side a single sword with which she was not overly skilled. 'I'm going to miss you, one day.' Lupusregina thought, as the memory came unbidden to her mind, she crushed it angrily.

"I was just thinking about Wenmark, what happened there, and what happens tomorrow." Enri replied calmly. She rocked side to side on her horse, holding the reins in her hand as her eyes held the road.

"Are you worried about a massacre -su?" Lupusregina asked, inching her horse a little closer to her friend. "I promise I'll handle the fun stuff for you, you can keep your hands clean. -su" She smiled sadistically, though Enri seemed not to notice.

"No. Neia didn't lie to me, she meant what she said, though I expect a lot of people will die. I don't mean 'that' tomorrow, we're actually two days away, not one. I mean the other tomorrow. The tomorrow where I go home. I haven't seen my husband in... well... awhile. And I'm not the same girl I was. I haven't seen Nemu, or Kuuderika, and... I'll have to face Goan, I let his mother die. What if my husband doesn't want me anymore? He fell in love with the girl who left, not the one who is coming home." Enri bit her lip tightly.

Lupusregina tapped her cheek as she looked up at the clear spring sky the scrolls had given them to march beneath. "I suppose I could have you all for myself then... I don't see a downside. -su" She turned and winked and lewdly licked her lips as the blonde peasant general blushed again.

Enri sighed after her blush faded with the laughter of her bodyguard, "I'm being serious, Lupu. This is another area I envy Neia. Her wife is with her, they go through all this 'together' every battle, every fight, every experience, even every trauma... they're together. They know one another in an intimate way that Enfi and I never will. In a strange way, despite my belief in all this, my faithfulness to His Majesty, I... you know... I regret the chasm that has to exist forever between my husband and I because of it."

She blinked hard several times, "What if it is too big a gap to cross, what if we can't bridge it, what if..." She started to say, and Lupusregina touched a finger to her lips.

"That's enough of that." Lupusregina said, her red hair danced behind her to the rhythm of her words. "If you ever tell anyone I said this, I will deny it. But that man is better than you're giving him credit for. I saw his affection for you in every gesture, every look, every moment of my time with both of you. I'm not as wise as Our King. But he'll still see 'you' when you go home again. -su." Lupusregina said confidently, and then smirked, "Though I doubt anyone else will be, judging by those steamy letters the two of you have been writing back and forth, you'll be locked up in your bedroom alone together for months. -su"

Enri's blush was the deepest it had ever been, "Damn it Lupu! Don't read my mail!"

The sadist with a smiling mask laughed uproariously for a very long time, and did not stop until Enri had begun to do so herself, and then, and only then, did their laughter fade as one.

 _...Northwest of the Ruins of Wheaton..._

Neia rode at the head of the combined armies as was her custom. At her left, rode CZ. At her right, rode Skana, and to the wings rode Queens Draudillon and Zesshi, while to Draudillon's left, rode her undead General Oma and her comrade, General Musan. The quiet was amicable and a warm smile, satisfied and even joyful, was painted on Neia's face.

"You're happy today." CZ said succinctly.

"Very observant of you." Neia teased, but offered no information.

"I think she's asking, 'why'." Skana answered with a smirk.

"Because yesterday was a good day, and because we have nothing to worry about today. Do we, Queen Zesshi?" Neia asked.

"Nothing. Not a village or town has offered more than a scattering of resistance, a few minor skirmishes, but the losses are negligible and arresting the priests and taking the children hostage seems to keep things very passive." Zesshi said with almost hesitant disbelief.

"I actually, agree, I expected the Agante would be doing more at this point to slow us down or buy themselves time." General Oma remarked, turning her head entirely around behind her and back to facing forward again. It startled a few who saw it, giving her a brief laugh before she focused again.

"I'd say they're being hunted. Something has been killing them in the area, and they've probably been driven off, or driven into hiding at least. It gives us a free hand here, one we'll have until the city falls, which is fine by me." General Musan said with a sharp and enthusiastic nod. "I don't really fancy a knife in the dark."

"Who does?" Neia answered bluntly. "Burning down the rest of Wheaton seems to have done the trick. They never saw that coming." Her expression turned deadly and the grip on her horse's reins tightened. "They should have. I'm glad they didn't, but they should have. I wonder if the black water has reached Kami Miyako by now?"

"I'd say it's likely that it has." Skana said thoughtfully, "The 'Spring' weather we gave ourselves, melted a lot of snow, no doubt a lot of the water found its way to the river, and made it flow faster. Not sure what they'll make of it when black water overflows its banks among their refugees."

"Nothing good. But that'll be their problem." Neia answered glibly, and grinned. "Order the band to start playing, let them hear us coming, all the way in Kami Miyako. I want the sound of our drums to reach their ears."

Skana's gave the signal, and within a few minutes, the rapid beating of military instruments began to echo along the line, and hundreds of thousands of feet and hooves shook the ground beneath their feet, telling everything for miles around, of the march of death's heralds.


	208. The End Begins

God Rising: The Cult of Ainz

Written by: AtheistBasementDragon

Edited by: The Usual Gang of Drunken Perverted Idiots

Chapter 208: The End Begins

 _...Kami Miyako..._

Raymond felt the snow crunching under his feet, he savored that. He'd stepped on the freezing corpses that resulted from the riot and the counter coup often enough to savor the feeling of cold snow. Even that though, was tainted.

He kicked a pile of snow out of his way, and his boot came away red. Blood. Blood had mixed with snow in thousands of places all over the city, numerous households and their retainers had been slain fighting Yvon's orders. Numerous soldiers attempting to enforce those orders, had likewise perished painfully. Numerous elves, who no longer had any hope except rebellion, had died just hoping to take one of their hated enemies with them. Some had slain their own masters and mistresses, entire families, right down to the young had been killed, while some slaves had the misfortune of never even getting a chance to resist, and were promptly turned over, slaughtered, and eaten by the soldiers who backed the Cardinal of Light.

So now blood stained the streets everywhere he walked, and almost every large lump of snow effectively served as a marker for where a body had fallen and had yet to be disposed of. As he moved through the streets however, he caught sight of a few younger people dragging off a frozen corpse.

'Laws or no, their hunger is greater than their fear.' Raymond thought with disgust, certain that the knives at their sides were not there for any use relating to the burial of the body.

Around the city, the restoration of relative peace, or at least order, was largely completed already. Nobody accosted him for his ration card. Nobody tried to rob him, and city guards patrolled the streets in relative order again. 'I suppose the diminished numbers have resulted in at least somewhat solving the food problem for the time being.' It was a grim, cynical thought to have. Yet he couldn't apologize to himself or even think of an apology to the population. 'Dominic! Dominic! Dominic!' The memory of the chanting of his name loud enough that the entire city could hear it, well into the evening, had done well to keep him from both sleep and sympathy. He frowned deeply as he turned down a dark alley.

He listened with care as he walked slowly through the grime, garbage, and bloody muck. Finally he stopped next to a crate, he tapped on it lightly with his knuckles, like he was rapping on somebody's door.

"Listen carefully." Raymond said to the person hiding inside. "Don't open the lid, don't make a sound, just pay attention. Yes, I know you're in there, and no it isn't safe to come out, 'yet'. You were spotted earlier, but you've lost your pursuers. I'm a friend, and I'm here to help. Stay in there till nightfall, then go into the Artisan district, avoid being seen, but once you get there, you'll be safe. Go to the carpentry house that has smoke billowing from it's chimney in the dark. There, they will hide you. You are not alone. Don't speak, just 'knock' if you've understood me." Raymond went quiet and listened.

Three hesitant knocks answered him. "Good, be careful, it's still only morning, it'll be a very long day for you, I'm sorry, but just endure as best you can, there will be food at the end of it, I promise you." Raymond whispered, then moved on.

"What a lucky break." He thought out loud. As he went down the major street. He barely restrained the smile on his face as he thought about the 'busywork' Dominic had sent to him that morning, to search out where the surviving slaves were hiding to return them to their surviving masters, or if their owners were dead, to set them to public works projects, preparing for the siege.

An ironic smirk came to his face despite his best efforts. "I've never been so glad to 'fail' at something." Raymond whispered to the snow as he headed to the next spot, while around the city, his little enclave of resisting humans were engaged in the same things, checking every hiding place they could, for surviving humans or surviving elves, or both, who had gone into hiding together, fearing to confront or give in to Yvon, and who did not yet know the outcome of the short conflict between he and Dominic. He thought back to the encounter at Wenmark, what the Peasant General had uttered to save his country, or what she could of it, from the vendetta of the Black Paladin. 'Not being able to save everyone, doesn't mean you have to kill everyone...' he felt his heart skip a beat again at the memory of her impassioned words.

"I will repay you, someday. Somehow." Raymond promised the absent woman, and went on about his work, to prepare for the end of his country.

 _...Kami Miyako...The Wall..._

Dominic walked the parapets beside an escort of Agante warriors, his steps were slow and even, there was no reason he could think of to rush. The fighting outside was clearly chaotic. He stopped at a good vantage point to watch.

"This was something that Yvon and I agreed about." Dominic said bluntly, with one hand behind his back, he looked out over the chaos and extended a hand outward, "Look at them. What do you see?"

The soldier standing watch was young, late teens at most, he had dull, cow eyes, a boyish, soft looking face with a number of freckles over his pale skin. "I see... people? People fighting, killing each other?" He said dumbly.

"A crude, if accurate description." Dominic said. Down below a group of people from two different villages were hacking at each other to steal any remaining food held by the other, desperate to get enough together to buy their way into the relative safety of the city.

Not far away, closer to the riverbank, a group got the upperhand on another, and pushed them bodily into the freezing black that was now the great river which swept all the way through to the Southern Holy Kingdom's greatest lake, near Wenmark. 'I wonder if it will turn the lake black. That could be a problem, they'll remember the demon longer. Well, a problem for later, after they come here to destroy themselves.' He pondered briefly. There was a great scream with the splash as the scores who fell into the water struggled in futility at the freezing rush, only to go down one by one, and not come back up again, at least not in sight of the wall.

"Yes, those are people killing each other, but what kind of people are they? Not townsfolk and villagers, not even 'Theocracy', not city folk, what I mean is, they lack something fundamental. They lack 'faith'. They lack true 'courage'. They will destroy their own for even a bit of safety. Yesterday they were ready to storm this city themselves, today they kill each other based on even the slightest hint that killing each other will make things easier or better or safer for them." Dominic looked briefly at the dull eyed young man and saw his utter lack of comprehension.

"If the gods descend to save us, then what is there to fear?" Dominic asked slowly.

"Nothing." He answered Cardinal Dominic with the confidence of the well taught.

"Right. Nothing. But look at them, they are in a state of terror. They fear the Western Demon so badly that they haven't the will to fight her without eighteen feet of stone between them and herself, so badly that they'll strike down their countrymen to buy that space. If they only united, they might oppose her, but... they have abandoned their faith in the gods, and put faith in stone instead. Foolish, very foolish." Dominic remarked, and watched as some of the weaker turned and fled mindlessly from the melee. He watched the desperately weak flee the walls, the refugee camps, and run as fast as their limbs could carry them, some carried children, and for those he felt some pity swell within his breast, but he crushed it ruthlessly. 'You should have had faith.' He thought as they became tiny dots, fleeing with fear through the snow, not even realizing they were running in the direction of the advancing demon.

He cocked his ear slightly. "Say, do you all hear something?" He asked.

"Sir?" One of his Agante guards asked. Dominic raised his hand to call for silence, as the slaughter down below slowly began to die down, and the gates of the city opened up to take the 'gifts' of the winners and accept the strongest into the safety of the walls.

Wails and cries were still plentiful, but without the sound of fighting in earnest, he could hear slightly better.

"Yes, I definitely hear something." Dominic said suspiciously.

"From what direction, sir?" The agante guard asked him as he and his comrades strained to listen.

"Every direction, but... mainly from that one." Dominic pointed to the Southeast.

"Sorry sir, I don't hear anything." The solid Agante member said innocently, and looked to his comrades, who shook their heads in shared denial. "Sir... what do you hear?"

"It sounds like... drums." Dominic replied quietly as he strained to make out more.

 _...Roble Holy Kingdom...Hoburns...Palace of the Holy Queen..._

"So, what's the word, Lord Robel?" Calca asked from her throne.

He knelt in front of her with his head bowed. The court of the Queen was packed with her supporters, a few pardoned former Astrakan supporters were present, but... few. Very few. "My Queen, the current word is that the Pope has her armies almost in sight of Kami Miyako, her last missive to us tells us to prepare to receive her army home."

Queen Calca smiled with overwhelming happiness, "Home. They're coming home, the last stages of our long war, and the last of our fighting warriors still in action, coming home again. Tell me, do you know anything about what makes up their numbers?" She asked thoughtfully.

"Yes, Highness." He pulled unfurled the document and began to summarize what he read.

"The bulk of her army consists of northern Holy Kingdom volunteers, peasants and some former common soldiers. This is also true of the entirety of her 'hundred' the hand picked of Tinamoc's escort. We do not know if those numbers will return to us, or if they will stay with her after, but we can expect at least thirty thousand to arrive home, one way or another. There are also elven survivors out of Wenmark and surrounding areas, Blood Miners and the Vines, who want to remain in the North where they fought hardest for their freedom, or mercenaries like the Sons of Iontariil, orcs and goblins primarily, and lastly, Demihumans who chose to go with her instead of going home to the Abelion Hills region."

"Then we have much to prepare for, I want to ensure we have villages ready for their people to go to, send word to the temples of the Sorcerer King. Have them tell us how many men and women the villages they serve are willing to take on. Inform them that any returning soldiers will be entitled to forty acres of land and a mule. If the villages and towns can't accommodate so many, we'll allow the remainder to charter new towns and villages, and provide support from the crown for supplies to get started, and a five year, no... seven year tax exemption to allow them time to get started." Calca said calmly, and a scribe wrote every word as fast as their quill could manage.

"Your Majesty is generous." Robel remarked in a voice full of gratitude.

"I have learned from my mistakes." She said with a smile, then caught her reflection in the shining armor of a guard who stood nearby, and involuntarily flinched when she caught sight of her face again.

"Is there anything else?" She asked in a more neutral, somber voice.

"Just one thing, the Pope has a special request." He said, an enormous smile on his face as she prompted him with a wave of her hand.

"Well, let's hear it?" The Queen urged.

 _...Baharuth Empire...Arwintar...Imperial Palace..._

"So, she has a special request for me?" Emperor Jircniv remarked with surprise and glanced to the Empress at his side.

"Yes, the Pope requests that you attend a common ceremony to be held in Kami Miyako, on the same spot that the six gods supposedly appeared over six centuries ago. She asks that every ruler of every Kingdom in the Sorcerous Empire attend, to kneel before the Sorcerer King and proclaim your belief in his godhood, and accept officially, publicly, and forever, her faith in him, as your faith in him also." The messenger read calmly.

Jircniv looked over to the priestly leaders who had followed him into the divine realm of Nazarick. Not a one of them so much as flinched at the proposal. "Has it really been that long ago now?" He quietly whispered.

"My Emperor?" The messenger asked, the priests were looking at him with not one flicker of doubt as he briefly lost himself in thought when the memories of that night consumed him.

"Yes. The answer is yes. I, my Empress, and my chief priests, will all attend, and proclaim this truth together, the day Kami Miyako falls." Emperor Jircniv proclaimed with bold confidence, and the bold eyes of the bloody emperor swept the room for any hint of dissent at one of the most critical junctures of his reign. He found none.

"I will send word right away, My Emperor!" The messenger said with joyful enthusiasm.

Jircniv stood up from his throne and looked at his Empress. "My Empress, I think I'd like to take the air of my city. Would you care to join me on a walk?" He asked as he extended a hand out to her.

"Husband, My Emperor... you know I would like nothing better." She said as she let her hand fold into his own.

 _...West of Kami Miyako..._

Chindai grinned boyishly from the saddle of his horse, "I can't wait." He said enthusiastically with his wives flanking him.

Zanac nodded, "He's given me absolute revenge on those who tried to ruin my kingdom, who killed my father, and he's rebuilding my country entirely. He makes the impossible, possible, if that isn't a god, I don't know what is. Plus... I know this will sound strange, given that I grew up with the worship of the six... but I can't think of a more fitting place to do it than that one. The final fuck you to the church that destroyed so many of our people. I hope Dominic lives long enough to see it happen. I hope they chain him down and make him watch while their 'Demon of the West' stands before us all as we kneel and intone our acceptance of the Godhood of His Majesty. His howls will comfort the soul of my father."

Shalltear looked at the lump of a king with an almost respectful eye as his raw hatred and sadistic longing was put on full display. "I did not think you would do that so easily. Your nation fought him before."

"He was a political enemy, not a personal one. Besides, he treated Gazef with respect, sending him home unmaimed and with his body still bedecked in our treasures. He also fed our people rather than let us starve when it came time for the harvest. He is a good king, if he were only that, that would be reason enough to do as much as we already have, but he's more, that much is clear. His unbridled wisdom and will have steered the world I know as nothing else ever could have. He has made peasants into nobles and common people into generals. The world we know is changing, and I will see my nation change for the better with it. If he's not a god, I don't know what is, and he's close enough for me." Zanac said with a decisive voice he once did not think he could have possessed.

If anyone thought to argue with him, they didn't give it a voice.

 _...Northwest of Hoburns..._

"Honey, you got a letter." The matronly woman said as she approached her husband at the table where he sat eating. He looked at her and extended a hand without saying anything.

She gave it to him, and he tore open the seal and read through it, he lowered it slowly, and a bright smile lit up his face all the way to his eyes.

"Dear?" She inquired, and he yanked up a quill and scribbled a note and slid it over to her.

"Well that is great, I know you've been very worried about her since you parted ways, but you..." She paused as he took up another scrap of paper and scrawled out another note.

She dropped the first one absently and read the second. "Oh. A new opportunity for expanded trade eh? Yes, I suppose it is, but this time... this time I am coming with you. We'll hire Black Justice guards, even an undead escort if we have to, but you will never journey without me again. I almost lost you last time, and I won't risk you not coming home again. Wherever you go, I go, and whatever happens, happens to both of us. I won't go on alone if something goes wrong while you gallivant off to Kami Miyako to establish a trade network before your competitors. Understand me, Tinamoc?" She asked with her hands on his hips and leaning over with her eyes on the mute merchant.

He reached for a paper, and she grabbed his wrist, stopping him. "No." She whispered, he froze, looking into her eyes where he saw painful tears welling up. "We've been together for so long, but hearing what happened, knowing you were alone, without me while they hurt you, that you might not have come home and I never would have known what happened to you, it's too much to contemplate happening a second time. Don't use words, if you understand me, and don't plan on arguing, then shut your quill up, and kiss me."

He let the quill slip from grasp, rose, and kissed his wife, it was still odd, without his tongue, yet the ardor and affection of years was undiminished, and she glanced to the stairs that led to the bedroom. "First we do that, 'then' we prepare for our trip, and maybe if the chance comes, we can plan a diversion to go see this little warrior girl in person. I'm curious to see how she lives up to all your letters." She grinned, and pulled his hand, drawing him away from the table, and up to their bedroom for the next few hours, leaving him so drained that he had to write a note telling her they'd prepare for the trip tomorrow, instead. She didn't mind.

Not even a little.


	209. Thunder's March

God Rising: The Cult of Ainz

Written by: AtheistBasementDragon

Edited by: The Usual Gang of Drunken Perverted Idiots

Chapter 209: Thunder's March

 _...Southeast of Kami Miyako..._

Thunder. Thunder. It was nothing but thunder, thunder not from the sky above, but from the ground. Over two hundred thousand soldiers marched in unison. Heavy halberds felt as light as feathers as the soldiers moved over a road of middle Spring while the dead of Winter froze the world mere feet beyond the wings of the massive army.

Thunder from the endless pounding of those halberds rising and falling as they struck the ground.

Thunder from the drums of war carried in the arms of those who set the beat for the march of the death bringing horde.

Thunder in the voices of the soldiers raised in cadences promising that the unbowed, unbent, unbroken, unbeaten of His Majesty's faithful... elf, vampire, human, and heteromorph alike, ate up the ground.

Cavalry on tireless undead horses added the beats of hooves from fearless mounts, in time to the voices of the fearless living riders.

And every step brought them closer to the last holdouts against His Majesty. Neia's sole unhappiness was that she could not smile as widely as she wanted to, due to the limits of her facial muscles. If she could have, the smile would have stretched from one wing of the army to the other and would have held that position all the way to the gates of the city.

"Any resistance today?" Neia asked the Half-Elf Queen who rode nearby, it was a perfunctory question. Nobody was left to resist. She asked it anyway, it was her job to ask.

Zesshi did not restrain her smile as she fiddled with her scythe. "None. Not even the smallest bit, every village has either been abandoned by its occupants due to Theocracy fear mongering, or it has fallen into our hands, General Baraja."

Neia let out a laugh that carried the power and spirit of her evangelist voice to the entirety of the ranks behind her. "As it should be. Though it is a shame about the villagers, nobody forced the Cardinals to make me out to be the 'Demon of the West'."

"No, that's on them, though it will probably be remembered differently in some quarters." Skana remarked at her wife's right hand.

"Not to worry, those of us who live through it, and long beyond, will always keep the record straight." General Oma remarked with conviction.

"Speaking of keeping the record straight, is 'he' still with you?" Lakyus asked from Queen Draudillon's side.

"Yes, I keep him at the head of my nation's contribution to the war effort, maybe if I'm lucky, Dominic will see the head of the messenger he killed, and know I'm coming for him." The Queen uttered in a voice of quiet rage.

"Just remember, Dominic's life belongs to me, sister." Queen Zesshi remarked calmly.

Queen Draudillon looked at her quizzically. "Sister?" She asked, "You've never called me that before."

Zesshi's face was serious, but carried with it the barest hint of a smile. "I know, I was thinking about it when we got up this morning. I'm a Queen now, hard as it is to believe still, it is so. The two of us share a common burden of responsibility, and a common 'father' in the person of His Majesty the Sorcerer King. As different as we may be in some ways, royalty, good royalty at least, I think, has enough in common that it is better to think of one another as a family. Even if we're not bound by blood from birth, we're bound by bloody burdens and bound by the blood we've shed in common on the field."

Queen Draudillon thought it over for a moment, "That's true. I have to admit, I like it. Very well, then if I can also call you the same... then let me add, 'may our family prosper' now and in the future, and not let history forget the truth of what happened out here."

"I would have it no other way." Zesshi remarked.

"Legends." Lakyus said with a relaxed and easy smile as they rode at the head of the long thunderous line. "We're living in an age of legends. What a time to be alive."

"That depends on what side of the legend you're on." Skana said with an air of amusement. "I don't think the ones we're coming to pay a visit to are seeing us all in quite the same way as we're seeing ourselves."

"I don't blame them." Neia said with a grim laugh that almost contradicted her joyful smile. "Think of the things I've either personally done, or ordered. True I wasn't as bad as Remedios or Suchala, but the reality is they didn't have to work hard to paint me as a demon. Though they wouldn't have had to work all that hard to keep it from coming to that, either... they tend to forget that last part." She shrugged.

The conversation might have gone on longer, but riders emerged over the low rising hills in front of the advancing mass. "Shit." Neia cursed, "CZ, Zesshi, you're with me. Skana, keep the army moving forward and protect Queen Draudillon with your life!"

She gave her wife no chance to object, but spurred her horse forward, followed closely by the two powerful fighters. The horsemen cresting the low hills slowed to a stop and held up their arms as they came near.

"What is it?! Is there a problem?!" Neia demanded immediately as she looked the scouts over.

They were a little tired looking, but with elven ears and Black Justice armor, they were clearly her people, ones from the Elf Liberation Force. They snapped salutes with fists over hearts and fell to their ease.

"Nothing dangerous, but an impediment. There are peasants, thousands of them, roaming all over the winterscape. A lot of them are freezing to death, we captured a few, they're being held by the rest of our squads, questioning revealed what happened." He said in a rapidfire voice that only their practiced ears could follow.

"OK, what?" Neia asked, rolling her hand at the wrist, quickly, indicating that they should spit it out.

"Ma'am, there was something that happened at Kami Miyako, the refugees, a lot of them started killing each other, the details are muddled, but some got into the city, more got thrown into the river, a lot were butchered, but the rest... the rest fled outright away from where they'd been, they went in all directions, mostly this way, and from what I gather, they're half mad and didn't really think that through. If they're left alone, they'll try to pilfer from us, and either be killed when they try, or just plain die out here before they get the chance. It might be safer to just ignore them and let the Winter have them... but we thought this should be brought to your attention." The scout finished his speed report, and awaited her decision.

"No... I have a better idea." Neia said, and looked to Queen Zesshi. "How many weather control scrolls do you have left, Queen Zesshi?"

She tapped the long pole of her scythe against the flanks of her mount a few times as she thought, "Probably twenty, why, General?"

"Give them to the scouts. Send them out to change the weather and rescue as many of these refugees as possible. Then have them captured and brought to camp. I have a debt to finish repaying, and this just might do it." Neia said with a certain degree of satisfaction.

"As you like." Zesshi said and snatched a scrap of paper out of her pouch, scrawled a quick requisition order for the scout, and jabbed her thumb over her shoulder toward the march. "You know where the supplies are kept, go get them, do as she says, and gather another two thousand cavalry, have them help you round up the refugees. Treat them lightly, but take no chances." Zesshi said firmly, and the scout, accepting the requisition, rode to the army's baggage train to begin to carry out their orders.

"Mercy won't hurt." CZ remarked to Neia in her customary monotone.

"Maybe not. But sometimes it hurts someone else. If I'd killed Remedios the first time we clashed, a lot of people wouldn't have suffered horribly. If Gustav had just not broken her out of prison to save her life, the same is true. In a way, he's lucky he's dead, he doesn't have to live with what he did." Neia remarked in a slightly envious tone, only to blink her eyes suddenly as CZ tugged her closer by grabbing her about the waist.

"Do not." CZ said bluntly. Feeling the powerful arm of the maid demon around her body, Neia did not have to ask just what CZ meant by what she'd said.

"Sorry, I... let's just go back, we've got a fight to finish." Neia's smile was restored to itself before she fell in beside her wife. "Skana, go ahead and send out an advance party to set up camp. If they want to come out and fight, well we're happy to oblige, but I doubt they'll do too much, and this should scare the hell out of them all night long, till we take the place tomorrow."

"Yes ma'am." Skana replied, and broke off from the column to set Blue Rose in command of the effort while the army beside her had its step adjusted to a slower, more even pace.

The thunder was comfortable, it pounded to the beat of Neia's heart, and the band of leaders did not ride in silence, but rather began to shout a cadence that was picked up miles down the line, and carried even by the cavalry that broke off to both rescue and capture the wayward peasants that had, somehow beyond Neia's knowledge, fallen afoul of their leaders so thoroughly that they'd been slaughtered and driven off.

At the back of the army's line were the wagons, and within one of those wagons, the Butler of Steel rode with his wife. "Don't worry, Tuare, I will keep you safe."

"I know, Husband." She said and looked up at him from her place in his lap, she took his jaw in hand and brought his face down, and brought herself up to taste his lips. Though dressed as servants of His Majesty, there was only one task to be performed, the accounting of justice for Tuare.

"Tell me, do you think she'll do it again? Not to me, I mean, but to someone else?" Tuare asked, rubbing her wrist as if it were still sore where Neia had snapped it like a dry twig.

"I do not know. I have spoken with Demiurge and his... assistant, about my conclusions regarding the nature of her 'unique attributes' and I believe this may offer some insight into ways she might learn to control herself better. But on the whole... it all depends on her choices. She's not evil, just... damaged."

"That doesn't make her less dangerous, and I'll be glad when I don't have to be around her anymore. But this... does tell me she's serious at least." Tuare remarked with even satisfaction as she pursed her lips.

"My Lord has promised that she will be able to get help when her work is finished, if she seeks it, that may be enough. Just bear with this for one more day, and then we can go home." Sebas said, and tightened his arms around her in an affectionate embrace, that on Tuare's own initiative, began to be much, much more.

 _...Kami Miyako...Hours later..._

Dominic was at his desk when the servant burst into his private office without knocking. "What do you..." He stopped when he saw the man's face, it was sheet white, as if he'd seen a ghost.

"The drums, my lord! They're here!" He shouted in a cry akin to that of a young girl rather than a grown man.

"Where?!" Dominic demanded as he shot to his feet, his hands pounding on the desk hard enough that it cracked where he struck.

"Great Defender... they're... everywhere! Just advance parties establishing camps but..." He swallowed, "We've seen dark elves, orcs, goblins, humans, elves, and more. Estimates say the main forces will be here by nightfall!"

"Order the scorpions brought to bear! Hit their advance parties if you can, any one we kill outside is one more we don't have to fight inside! Order the mangonels loaded, order the militia called up, order the mages to start taking shifts on the walls. Do it! And take heart, though we must do our part, the gods will come, and set things right! This is but a test!" Dominic said confidently, and the messenger seemed to take heart from his leader's confidence, and he ran off to carry out his orders, with less panic in his wide eyes at least.

 _...Kami Miyako...Artisan District...Resistance Headquarters..._

"We don't have a lot of time, do we have everyone?" Raymond asked those around the table.

"No. But we were never going to get everyone, we got most." Enlaith said clinically, Her beautiful face calculating and cold in her critique of their efforts.

"You can't make people save themselves." Solution said indifferently, "A lot made it in last night, but... if someone is too scared to save themselves, well we know what ends those usually come to. It's the difference between prey and not prey, some are just always going to be prey." Solution's voice bore her customary careless attitude, but she added, "All that said, you got more than I expected you would. There will be many more alive than not, when the last sword is put away."

"I suppose." Nua said calmly. "But still."

"Still, nothing. The Lady Solution is right about this." General Boabdil remarked, "Fighting a war means accepting some losses, it's unpleasant, but it's true no matter what side of it you're on. If you've done everything right, if you've made sure that you've guaranteed maximum survivability and not gone into a stupid, pointless fight that you can't win, then you should sleep easily at night."

"So I suppose you won't be sleeping well for the rest of your life then." Nua said with scathing sarcasm, only to find that his face reflected an unexpected well of sorrow in drooped cheeks and haunted eyes.

"You're right. I won't. My country has destroyed itself, all our potential was thrown away and we got into a stupid, pointless fight with a better ruler and with people we should have befriended. I'll never sleep well again, not for the rest of my life, you're absolutely right about that. So many of my soldiers are gone, all for nothing." Boabdil said in a small, agonized voice.

Nua had the good grace to appear chastened by his remark. "Oh... I'm... I'm sorry, sorry. That was out of line." She said as she looked away. He didn't answer.

"There's one more important thing." Raymond said as he sought to shift the subject.

"What's that?" Enlaith asked somewhat curtly herself.

"How will the armies of the Sorcerer King know to leave this part of the city 'safe'? Raymond asked pointedly.

"Oh. Right. Soldiers caught up in the heat of things well... they lose themselves, and we already know what happens when 'that one' loses herself. They need to know to avoid these areas for the safety of all those hiding here, or they might inadvertently wipe us all out and then it will have all been for nothing."

"Exactly." Raymond remarked without irony.

Any further conversation was aborted by the sound of an enormous horn bellowing over the city, followed quickly by screaming, tens of thousands of screaming voices in a panic.

Raymond and the rest of them shot to their feet and rushed out of the building and into the streets, "What's happening?" Raymond demanded as he grabbed a passing poorly dressed peasant.

The man was wild eyed and shaking, an unkempt beard and frail look, he shouted so much that spittle flew from his lips and fell into his own beard. "The Demon! The Demon and her armies! The city is surrounded! The undead monster's servants have come for us!" He wailed in misery and shook off Raymond's arm, and took off running, whether he had any real destination, was debatable. But as the light faded, he looked up and saw a scorpion arrow flying over the wall and straight into a tower, it collapsed partially. Others fired back from along the wall, followed quickly by the pull of mangonels sending enormous stones outward.

The whistling overhead was followed by the smell of death when a giant bolt came in and pierced the body of a soldier on the wall, who fell without even a scream, half of him on the wall, while his upper half, which was caught on the arrow by his intestines, was carried forward until he fell into the streets of the Artisan district with a sickening splat, not far from where they stood, and watched the arrow sail on without it's victim.

Boulders began to fly outward in retaliation again as Kami Miyako's brave defenders set themselves to their task with vigor and desperation in equal measure.

 _...Nazarick..._

"So I don't think they plan to surrender." Ainz said sardonically as they watched through the Mirror of Remote Viewing that had been established in his throne room.

"No, it seems not, My Lord." Demiurge remarked, the guardians and their closer subordinates had, with permission from the Sorcerer King, brought out couches, and per his suggestion, gotten a special snack customary from First World for watching monumental events unfold in an entertaining fashion.

"C-Can I have some more butter, sister?" Mare asked as he held out his bag of popcorn to Aura.

"Alright, fine." Aura said, "This is a special occasion, but try not to overdo it." She said indulgently, "Last time you did that, you got butter all over the pages of your books and the librarian got mad at you."

Mare blushed, "Y-Yes, I-I remember, I-I'll be careful." He said, as Aura squirted more butter into the bag, which he shook to distribute the stuff thoroughly.

"Will we be able to test them ourselves?" Cocytus asked hopefully.

"No." Ainz replied, "They're not worthy of you, any of you, as opponents. Besides, our servants have 'earned' their moment of triumph, and their revenge. And moreover, I have something else in mind."

Albedo looked to her left, where Lord Ainz sat from his throne, "My Lord... may I ask... what?" A hint of eager anticipation as well as anxiety was mixed within her endless pools of gold that she had for eyes.

"I had Demiurge and Vanysa experimenting on some things, you may recall I mentioned some 'tests' around the time we took the Elf King's World Class Item?" Ainz asked pointedly.

"My Lord, I do but..." Albedo had a frustrated look on her face as she tried to work out his intent.

"Wait and see, I'll use it in the morning, this will be a busy night for all of them. Let Dominic raise their hopes, before we cast them down into the deepest pits of despair." Ainz replied with malice, and clenched his skeletal fist.

The guardians who were present, laughed with glee as a scorpion tore its way through another tower and lodged itself out the other end, stones came tumbling down on the interior of the wall, smashing into mere red stains, those unwary or unlucky, who failed to avoid the falling debris.


	210. God Rising

God Rising: The Cult of Ainz

Written by: AtheistBasementDragon

Edited by: The Usual Gang of Drunken Perverted Idiots

Chapter 210: God Rising

 **AN: Here it is. All that remains after this... is the epilogue, the historical perspectives, and final note to this story. Then at long last, I will mark 'God Rising: The Cult of Ainz' as 'COMPLETE'**

 _...Outside of Kami Miyako..._

Neia walked the length of the encampment as torches lit up the night everywhere. Shouts and organized chaos were both abundant as stakes were hammered into soft earth and archers took a double issue of arrows. At her side, Lakyus walked as she filled Neia in.

"The core position was simply too close, so we pulled back twenty or thirty yards, their scorpions have a longer range than I expected, I realize it isn't ideal, but it will minimize losses." She said confidently as she strode beside her friend.

"That makes sense, good decision making on the run, my wife was right to choose you for this, you can sit out tomorrow's fighting if you want, since you established camp for us tonight. This is going to be very short. Very, very short." Neia said with absolute confidence, and taking Lakyus's hand and folding it in hers, she whispered a soft, and deeply sincere, "Thank you. Thank you for everything. Thank you for fighting with us, marching with us, thank you for your friendship, thank you for your loyalty, thank you and all your roses, for everything you've done. I believe we'd have won without you, but I believe a lot more would have paid the price for that victory than had you not come with us. Thank you for caring enough about me to... well, show that you did. Thank you most of all though, for your help at Wenmark, everything about your time with us, has meant so much to me, I can't ever repay it."

"Neia... are you going to... do what I think you plan to?" Lakyus asked as the torrent ceased, her eyes met the black emptiness that buried Neia's natural blue.

"Yes." Neia replied coolly.

"No." Lakyus said firmly.

"Yes. Tonight I'll issue orders to the other generals, officially take command of their armies, and tomorrow... I'll use it. Every ounce of it that I can, and then everybody else can do their part." Neia said resignedly.

Lakyus rested a hand on Neia's shoulder and clenched a fist in front, of the Black Paladin's eyes, crushing the space in her palm tight to emphasize the survival odds. "Neia, last time you did that, it almost killed you! You can't seriously be thinking about drawing on His Majesty's aura again...… it'd take a miracle for you to survive it if you try to take down that much!" Lakyus replied emphatically.

The sound of Neia's voice was hollow, as one who saw only the necessity of the moment and nothing more. "The goal of all life, Lakyus, is death. I will repay Tuare tonight with the captive refugees, send her home, take command of the combined armies of His Majesty, and then tomorrow, I will bring down the walls of Kami Miyako, turning them to dust... and with no walls in the way, a herd of cattle could capture that city. How much more easily can it be taken with all four hundred and some thousand of us?" Neia answered sweetly, she took her hand and put it on Lakyus's shoulder.

"Please understand, I can't lose anyone else, I can't. This is the last step, after this, there will be peace." Neia added hopefully, "I'm not trying to die, but... I know, it's probable, but it's the only way to bring down those walls without making more of my people pay the price for following me... it's a risk, but it is 'my' risk to take, it is 'my' decision to make. And if it helps... I've gotten some... more control over it, since Prart." She drew herself up to her full 'unimpressive' height, with her back straight, rigid, and proud.

Lakyus looked hesitant, "Then... why tell me all this?" She asked. "You sound more like someone getting ready to throw their life away than you do someone planning for the future."

"Because the last time I used it, you almost died too, trying to tear me out of it, you refused to make the promise I asked of you, so let me ask you for this one instead. If I do use it, promise you'll make sure my wife is OK. Look after her for me." Neia said gravely, and put her other hand on Lakyus's other shoulder, she held Lakyus's eyes in her own black pools. "Promise me, on Keeno's life."

"Damn it... alright, maybe it will help you focus a little better if you don't have to worry about her. Fine, I will look after her but... does she know you're planning to do this?" Lakyus asked with a little frown.

"Absolutely not, I want our night together to be a rapturous one, I want to screw her brains out before the walls of Kami Miyako, and if we're in a fight over my intentions, well that might put a dampener on the fun." Neia said with a lewd and lascivious smile on her face.

Lakyus snorted in shocked laughter at the brazenness of the Black Paladin. "Then go, go, I'll walk the rest of the camp, and make sure the refugees are counted, you go and make ready to receive the other generals, the sooner everything is done, the sooner you can wear your wife out."

Neia's smile was genuine, as was the brief embrace, before they parted ways.

When Neia reached the command tent, her jaw dropped. "That was fast." She said as she saw the delegates had already arrived and seated themselves.

Chindai grinned. "Ryla rides for two, I would have her bring the other forth on the plains of my home. Time here is time not on our sacred plains."

"I must correct you husband, a rider grows within us both. I confirmed it this morning." Khava said proudly.

"What?" Neia asked, befuddled at the trio of grinning elves.

"That means his wives are both pregnant, Ryla found out not that long ago, about two or three weeks ago, I guess, and Khava this morning. They're an odd lot, but... good to have at your back in a pinch." Leinas explained as she went over and stuck out her hand to Neia.

"Evidently so." Neia clasped Leinas at the forearm and the two tested one another's grips.

"Congratulations." She said to the trio as she and Leinas shook, and broke the clasp with evident satisfaction at what they found.

Neia's eyes were a whorling black, but she kept her voice from its ominous reverberation through conscious effort.

"Aureole Omega, you've done some remarkable work boosting the power of your armies, and your plan for the capture of Fortress Alaf was inspiring." Neia said with a charming smile etched on her face as she inclined her head politely to the beautiful young dark haired maiden.

"It is my job, and it has been a pleasure to work with Leinas Rockbruise, I could not have asked for a better partnership." She said emphatically in a silken, graceful, but playful tone.

"You flatter me." Leinas said, "But I won't deny it!" She added with a chuckle.

King Zanac stood and inclined his head at first, then bowed on second consideration. "General Neia Baraja... we're ready to finish this, when you are."

Enri approached, with Lakyus beside her, and held her hand out slowly. Neia looked down at it, and after only a moment of hesitation, she took it, and shook it gently, taking care not to do her counterpart any harm. "General Neia." She said calmly.

"General Enri. Will General Nimble be joining us with the rest of his imperial soldiers?" Neia asked in a cool, professional tone.

"I brought a few thousand with me as a token force, the rest are dominating the region between Ikari and Crossroads to ensure there are no further flare ups." Enri replied, struggling not to think of Neia's question as an implied rebuke.

"That'll be fine, history will record their presence, I don't think anyone will quibble too much about numbers." Neia remarked dismissively.

"General Zaryusu, so good to see you again!" Neia said as the lizardman approached.

The two came close, and gently embraced as old friends did, and then they clasped hands firmly, "Impressive victories in the north, I'm sure your village, and your wife, are proud of you." Neia said enthusiastically with a big, toothy smile.

"They are, but all I can think of now is getting home to them, and traveling no more." He said emphatically.

"Well, just a few more miles, then we're smack in the middle of Kami Miyako and nothing else gets in the way, it'll all be over. At least... the fighting part." Neia said with a grin.

"It doesn't matter, no matter what the contest, Lord Ainz will always win, to even call it a 'contest' is to be overly generous." Shalltear said as she relaxed backwards in her seat and filed her nails.

"No argument from me." Neia said contentedly. "And I am alright with that. So, now that everybody is here officially..." Neia moved to the far end of the long tent.

The generals of the various armies approached, and lined up side by side, and one by one they bowed their heads, covered their hearts with their fists, and said in unison, "My army, is your army. Command, as you will, and bring victory to ourselves, and death to our enemies. In the name of the Supreme Being, His Majesty Ainz Ooal Gown."

Neia returned their salute with one of her own, "In the name of my God, my king, I accept his will and your armies." The faint smell of wax, and the dancing glow of the lanterns that hung about the room, made shadows dance wildly over the canvas walls, it was, for a few seconds, only that creeping, dancing darkness from the bodies of the great commanders of nations and armies, which moved at all.

But even those dancing shadows, could not match the endless dark that dominated the eyes of terror which looked over the bowed and submitted heads of royalty and the servants of royalty.

Skana stood to one side, a look of boundless pride shining in the single green point, as she watched her wife become commander of the largest army the world had ever seen.

"That is done, now, eat." CZ suggested, shattering the moment in her innocent obliviousness to the somber mood.

Zaryusu was quick to second the motion. "It's been a long day, and I could do with a good meal."

A wicked look came over Neia's face. "Excellent idea, break out maximum rations, and... Skana, have Fluder use a small wind spell, blow the smell of cooking food over those walls, drive those bastards over there beyond the point of madness. Let them savor the smell, while our armies savor the taste."

"Oh, that's so cruel... I love it." Shalltear clapped her hands together with enthusiasm, baring her fangs with delight.

The Slane Theocracy's last city... did not love it.

Within an hour, the city was wailing in frustration.

Their cries comforted Neia as she went to the holding area. The refugees were licking the bowls of stew they'd been given, completely clean.

"Eating well?" She asked passively as she stepped out of the shadows and into the light of the torches.

"Demon!" They shrieked when they saw her eyes and tried to run, only to find that no matter how they shook the wooden barrier for their modular prison cell, that they could not escape.

Neia was nonplussed. "It's just a question. Are you eating well?"

"Y-Yes." A very thin woman said as she sat on the ground and pushed herself back against the wooden bars as if she could push through them if she tried hard enough.

"I'm not 'actually' a demon, you know. Just a human being, not especially tall, born from another human woman and a man she loved, a little over twenty years ago." Neia said calmly as she circled the barrier, there were around fifty people in that one, crowded, uncomfortable, but functional. As she circled the enclosure, they kept themselves as far from her as possible, feeling like sheep being circled by a hungry wolf, they shivered despite the unnatural warmth they found themselves surrounded by. The shadows danced around her face from the torchlight, concealing and revealing the emptiness of her eyes.

"How long are we going to be trapped in here..." A man not much thicker with muscle than the woman Neia had just spoken to, managed to ask.

"Not long," she replied, and raised a finger as if to make a point, "and before you ask, no, you're not going to be sacrificed. You're going to be released, allowed to go home, and with enough food to actually get there. I just can't have you skulking about my camp to get yourselves killed, or trying to cause some kind of trouble in an ill considered moment of patriotic or devout fervor." Neia said, crouching down so that she was level with a peasant that had been chained into position, and though she looked at him, her eyes took in the whole of them.

"The truth is, it isn't me you need to thank for your lives. I have always taken surrenders but... war has required me to be more expedient than I like. And ignoring you as you died or gutting you if you were in the way, would have been easier. I was however, reminded recently that I shouldn't do that if I don't 'have' to. And also, I owe a debt to a peasant, that I should save or spare ten thousand lives. That means I have to make sure you live, so I can do the right thing by someone better than most of those who live in your cursed country. You can thank her when she gets here. Left to me alone... this country wouldn't have much of anyone left living in it at all." Neia said with a dead stare that threatened to swallow what little courage they had left.

"I'm here 'now'." Tuare said softly as she approached with Sebas standing just in front of her right shoulder.

"Tuare." Neia said quietly, then went down to her knees without shame, and pressed her head to the dirt. "With this night, I will have met the price of your justice. Ten thousand lives are spared or saved, who would have been killed or at least, allowed to die. After the city falls, they will be released, and allowed to go home with supplies to live off of, and they will not be harmed. I swear it on the justice of my god."

Tuare stepped from around Sebas and, under the dismayed eyes of the prisoners, a little woman in a maid outfit, crouched down over the one they knew as a demon general, and caressed the short blonde hair as one would comfort a child.

"Neia." Tuare felt her heart pounding as she undertook the impulsive act and put her hand over, and almost touched the source of terror, but not 'quite'. "It was an accident... you didn't mean to hurt me... please. I've forgiven you, I forgave you before you did... this. I'm... I won't deny that you terrify me... but that doesn't mean I can't forgive you, and I have. Please... just promise me you'll try not to hurt anyone else when you don't have to."

Neia did not look up from her humbled position, "I will not. I... well, I mean I will try, that's all I can promise... I don't want to promise what I can't... I'll do whatever it takes to make 'try not to' into 'will not do'. Th-Thank you for your forgiveness." Neia whispered softly enough that only a few of the prisoners caught the nature of the exchange.

Tuare reached down, as if to take Neia's hand, only to freeze, then look over her shoulder at Sebas, who, seeing the sudden distress on his wife's face, approached, crouched, and took Neia's hand himself, and with his other palm on the small of her back, he guided her up to a standing position.

"Do you... want to count them?" Neia asked awkwardly as she looked down at the ground, unsure of what else to say.

"No. You're honest, I will trust that you've done more than you need to, because that is also who you are. That and Lakyus already told us how many were out here." Tuare said as she managed, with a gentle smile to step back away from Neia with her heart pounding in her chest as the endless black eyes were framed by shadows cast onto her face by torchlight.

'That took everything I had... and I couldn't touch her...' Tuare suppressed an internal shudder and felt her fear rising.

"Goodbye, Tuare, Sebas. If you'd like to stay the night, be my guest, but... I assume you'd prefer to go, so please, have a pleasant evening." Neia said calmly and turned away, as she walked off, she looked at the handful of captives, one of many such groups, she remarked to them again, as she jabbed her hand sharply toward the peasant maid. "You live because of her. Do not forget that." Then she walked away, leaving them behind, baffled and afraid as they huddled together in the unnatural spring.

As Tuare and Sebas moved to depart, and the little maid caught the pity flashing across the Pope's face, the little maid looked up to her mate and asked...… "Is she lying to them, or herself...… or at all? I can't tell.?"

"Even I don't know the answer to that, and I do not know that I want to. Sebas said patiently as he looked at the refugees huddle together for comfort within their confinement.

The next few hours of the evening were heady ones, just beyond easy reach and visible targets, attacks and counter attacks were few, but the experience of both sides could not have been more different from one another. Within the city, hunger and fear ruled the night.

Outside the city, the besiegers ate well, couples made love, generals and officers, and the great rulers of great nations, traded stories and jokes. And in one tent, the founder of the faith pressed her lips against those of her wife, and parted them passionately. Heated hands caressed bare skin, and bare thighs entwined around one another tighter than serpents in heat, so entangled were they, that were it not for the differences in their moans and mewling cries of pleasure, one could be forgiven for thinking, were the pair to be seen, that one was looking at a single writhing entity.

The lines blurred between the two, till in their hunger addled minds, they were as one, and collapsed together into sheets that were now soaked beyond further usefulness until they had been washed again.

"That was... wow." Skana whispered, her face inches from her wife.

Neia caressed the auburn hair lovingly, "Well, it's like you said the first time we did this... practice makes perfect." She smiled archly.

"I am one hundred percent sure that I did not say that." Skana said emphatically.

Neia snorted and waved a hand dismissively. "A petty detail, if you didn't, you should have, because it's true, isn't it?"

"OK yes, fair enough." Skana said, and was about to say more, when Neia got up and stretched, before reaching for replacement sheets, when the Black Paladin froze.

"Neia?" Skana asked anxiously.

Neia's hand went up to stop her inquiry. A few seconds later, she reached for another pair of sheets as Skana got off the bed to strip the ones they had just rendered useless.

"It was nothing." Neia answered, "A message from, of all people, Cardinal Raymond. He was asking how to mark the safe zone. I told him to spatter blood on every door in his district that had someone hiding in it. We'll put out orders to the soldiers tomorrow, to ignore any house or building that is marked that way. That'll be simple enough, and we shouldn't face such a hard fight that I... that I... that I..." Neia's confident voice began to waver as she spoke, and she slowly sank to her knees and hugged her body tightly.

Skana rushed to where her wife knelt, unfathomable rage hit her as it burst out of her wife's body in a wild wave of blackness and heat, and a tiny wail escaped Neia's lips as it all seemed real again. 'No... not again, not again... she's not even asleep! Is there even a term for a waking nightmare?!'

Skana felt her breath quicken, "Neia... Neia... calm down, where do you think you are... please... think about it... you can't be there, you can't, because that's over, whatever it is... that... is... over. Please... what day is it? What time is it now? It's dark out, you're outside of Kami Miyako, you're nowhere near Wenmark, or Wheaton, or Yanana... you're doing something here and then going home... you'll be safe..."

Skana lightly caressed Neia's arm, proffering gentle touch to contrast whatever she was reliving. "It's all OK, that was a bad thing, bad time, but it was a memory... I promise, I promise you're safe..." Skana whispered until Neia leaned forward and into the arms of her wife.

Skana gently helped her stand, and walked her over to the bed. "Sorry, I... know that wasn't exactly 'romantic'." Neia said shyly.

"No, but it was part of you, and I'm here for 'all of you' all the way, in every way." Skana whispered, and kissed her wife's cheek as they shared the bed again, and fell into a deep, sound sleep.

It was the howls of terror from the city that announced the dawn as surely as the crow of the cock, as the slow, plodding Gargantua came into view of the city, catching up with the army it was bound to.

"Well, that'll do nicely." Neia said pleasantly. 'I don't have to take down the whole wall, just part of it.' She thought to herself with a pleasant grin.

Probing attacks were already beginning around the wall as scorpions and catapults bombarded everything in sight.

A lucky shot from the wall destroyed a Black Justice scorpion, piercing a man through the chest who just happened to be in the worst possible position.

 _...Nazarick..._

The guardians gathered again around the mirror to watch the scene unfold, and Ainz took his place on the throne, staring down at the conflict in the mirror. In his left hand, he held the staff of Ainz Ooal Gown... but over both hands, he wore the gauntlets of Járngreipr that were taken from the Elf King's treasury.

 **[Message]** He cast the spell and connected to Neia. "Neia, order all your armies to gather together by one wall."

"As my father orders, so I will act." Neia replied, and within seconds the flags were going up that would draw all the armies of her allies away from the other walls.

 _...Kami Miyako...The Wall..._

Dominic took a firm posture as he addressed the masses. "Have faith in the gods! The gods will not allow these walls to be breached! The gods are going to come and save humanity as they did before! They but test your faith! Pass this test, and they will protect you again as they protected your ancestors before you!" He put his all into every word, haranguing them and screaming powerfully to carry his words from the wall to all those who had gathered to defend it.

He paused only when soldiers rushed word to him. "What do you mean they're pulling away? Their mountain isn't moving, but all the other soldiers are going to gather in one place... fine! The easier for the gods to shatter their hopes all at once! Perhaps this is even their will! Perhaps they themselves order the demon of the west to draw her ilk together to die as one!" He said with proud enthusiasm, and then resumed his speech.

It took some time for them all to gather, during which Ainz explained his intent to Neia who, filled with joy at his words, wept openly as her soldiers assembled. 'A miracle.' Was the only way she could think to describe it in her mind.

Zesshi looked at her with worry, only for Neia to smile. "These are happy tears."

"I think I cut a decent figure," Neia said sardonically, "but sometimes I wish I were taller." She smiled, and got down off her horse, grabbed a pair of oversized scorpion arrows, and jammed them into the ground at an angle so that they formed a crude angular platform on which to stand. Overhead, dragons swept into position on the flanks of the host, and Enri fell in nearby.

"Want to explain, General?" Enri asked anxiously as she looked out at the bizarre scene.

"Father's will. Trust him. This... will echo for ten thousand years." Neia said as she got up atop the two scorpion arrows so that she could see and be seen.

She folded her arms over her chest and waited.

The Theocracy's cheers behind their walls sickened her, as from where she stood, she could see that the river still ran black. "You fools, you have learned nothing, and now... you'll never get the chance, not most of you anyway."

Somewhere, over the city, a **[Gate]** opened, and through it poured howling messenger demons that drowned out Dominic's words.

Silence fell over the great city. "You of the Theocracy have been calling for the gods to save you, you have called on your gods as you tried to slay those the Sorcerer King chose to protect. You called upon your gods to give you victory, and you have been defeated again and again. I sent every chance for mercy, and you called on your gods for more blood instead. Now, your prayers are answered, the gods do come for you, but they come for vengeance, and they come from beyond your wall."

It was the bizarre nature of the statement that kept the silence going as a summoned illusionist projected the view of the outside of the walls, over the city, so that the entire population could see what was happening. Necks craned from young and old alike, and for the first time in his life, Dominic was speechless, unable to look away.

Aureole Omega performed a simple, ceremonial dance, enhancing the attack power of the entire host. It was a beautiful, graceful performance, but left the Slane Theocracy's witnesses only more befuddled than before.

Neia took a deep breath. "The rise of our god is manifest in our will to fight for him! The rise of justice in this unjust world is a manifestation of his strength and his faith in us, who put our faith in him in turn! You are strong! You are the unbowed, you are the unbroken, you are the unbeatable warriors of the one true God! Behind us are the walls of the unjust! I call upon you all now! Tear! Them! Down!" Neia put every ounce of evangelistic power into her voice, it reverberated from heart to heart and the already buffed army, was buffed even further.

 _...Nazarick..._

"My turn." Ainz said with a laugh, and using the staff, wearing the world class item gauntlets that he'd taken from the Elf King's base, and seated on his throne, he uttered fateful words, **[Titan Strength: Allies]** "

The effect was electric, Neia looked down at her hands to see if they were truly different, and found that she could see a faint, golden glow. "Did he... could he..." She looked out over the impossible host, eyes fell left and right, they felt it, but could not believe it. The power of a five became a ten, the power of that ten became a twenty, and the power of a twenty well surpassed a forty.

It was a wail of horror from somewhere in the last city that did cause the dam to break as someone understood what they were seeing.

"Only a god... can make gods..." Dominic whimpered, "It can't be..."

Neia summoned the aura of her divine lord, power surged through her, and far from tearing her asunder, she handled it as if it were as natural as wielding her own bow. **[Wrath & Retribution]** She whispered, and the overwhelming pressure of His Majesty, channelled through a body that could now endure it, it crashed down on the segment of the wall she focused on, and ripped the stone apart as if it were not there.

"Attack!" She shouted with unholy fury, her voice put terror into the wall she faced, and as if the stone itself feared the advancing horde, it trembled at the impact of the noise of the massive host.

The good became great, the great became as godkin, and the godkin, surpassed their ancestors. Zesshi howled with glee as the unbridled power surged through her body, "So this is the peak! This is what I truly sought! Marvelous! Wondrous!"

Most soldiers did not even bother to draw their weapons, they ran bare handed to the walls, and desperate archers driven mad by fear fired into the host, only to find that the vastly enhanced host, was so far superior that snatching arrows out of the air became like a game.

Then they reached the walls. Gagaran swung not her hammer, but her fist, straight into the eighteen foot thick stone, and shattered it like it was wet cardboard, sending stones through like deadly missiles, slaying everything in its path, the wall was breached in hundreds and hundreds of places, as common men became like gods and brought their wrath down upon mortals who had earned their ire.

Desperate Theocracy soldiers, men of courage and skill, were ripped in half bare handed by people they would have mocked as far inferior to themselves even two hours earlier.

The streets ran with blood, as the hundred thousand dark elves poured into countless breeches, unwilling to abandon their love of the bow, they pierced buildings with their arrows, the vast militias, trapped with nowhere to go but the grave, swung their weapons and found that their feeble steel was worth less than nothing, as it slowed them down from running away to even buy themselves a few more seconds of precious, irreplaceable life.

The dragons flew overhead, dropping lunchboxes of battle boosted ogres, and one overjoyed arena champion. "I am his forever, for as long as I live, I will serve the one who gave me this... this 'hour' of standing at the peak."

The overwhelmingly enhanced dragons, already monsters of supreme power, felt the rush as a drunk felt the warmth of good bourbon on a cold winter before a hot fire.

They tore through buildings, ripped knights apart with their talons, froze entire buildings so that they exploded or collapsed and killed those who lay within.

The defenders sought to rally still. "That worked even better than I could have possibly hoped." Ainz remarked, and rose from his throne to descend the steps.

The guardians were watching on the mirror with mouths agape, save for the one alone who had guessed his intent, and his faithful assistant, who paused from watching the fruits of her master's work, to turn her adoring sadistic eyes on him, and smile her toothy smile before turning back to watch the rest of the show.

A moment later, a gate had come, and he was gone, appearing over the city, he looked for those he sought as they drew ever deeper into the interior.

Kami Miyako was huge, and the attackers had slowed down considerably, not from need, but to savor the supremacy that was bestowed upon them by the will of the divine.

"The Gods Anger Slowly. But Their Wrath Burns Bright When It Strikes." Dominic remembered the verse from his childhood as he ran from the wall, his robes flying behind him, his martially enhanced body tore through distance like the army below tore through the sacred city. "How? How? How could it be?!" He screamed out loud and inside his head, as he saw the golem start to move just when he jumped down from the wall.

The small mountain's heavy hand, reached slowly to the walls, and...… as if to mock them...… slowly pulled and peeled them back while desperate soldiers accomplished nothing with their crude steel pointed arrows and scorpion lances. It was going to break through, nothing could stop it, that much Dominic could tell. He felt his eyes fill with tears of anger. "Gods, where are you?! We need you! We need you! Are we not your chosen! Your children! Have I not done enough?!" He screamed, 'Wait, they broke through in one strike each... oh by the gods no! They're like demons...… like gods?!' He yowled with outrage as he rushed to the capitol building.

 _...Artisan District..._

Raymond watched it all with resignation from his place in the street. Bloodstained doors were plentiful there, and they'd been barricaded from the inside for good measure. Agante rushed through the street past him, in violation of Dominic's orders, their pounding feet were loud, but he could hear more clearly, their pounding hearts as their world came crashing down around them.

Howls of pain went out, only to die instantly, occasionally body parts flew through the air to land with a sick 'smack' sound down to the ground. The bright morning sun illuminated all of it, and the illusion overhead served as a twisted kind of 'map' showing how much of the city had fallen. Raymond turned to Nua, "Well, this is it. In a few minutes, you'll be as free as you can be, and we'll say goodbye. It has been... wonderful, to have gotten to know you. Thank you... thank you for saving my life before and... thank you for giving an undeserving humanity a second chance." He said affectionately.

Nua looked at him and touched his chest, she felt his heart pounding in his breast as his country died. "Raymond... please believe me when I tell you, one day, somewhere, somehow, whether in this life or the next, we will meet, again."

"I want to believe that. But you'll forgive me if 'that' makes it difficult." He chuckled with gallows humor as a torso went flying down the street and smashed through a door and into the wall beyond it.

Solution approached him. "Any final requests for me before I 'leave your service'?" She asked with a sadistic smile on her face, and pressed her body close to his as if to tease him one last time.

Most of the city was fallen, if the illusion overhead was to be believed. He believed it.

"Well, just don't let me be tortured here after I surrender, I didn't bargain for my life, so if I do have to die, I'd rather it be quick. Can you finish me without much pain?" Raymond asked hopefully.

Solution giggled, "Sure, but there's no need. She already bargained for your life. All it cost her, was one little soul... sort of." Solution gestured to Nua as she whispered her answer to Raymond, "But of course, you can't ever, ever ask her just what I mean. Better if you wonder about it, everybody needs one memory from all this to haunt them."

He looked at her with suspicion, doubt, and then saw the way Nua had planted herself subtly and protectively in front of him, and believed.

Boabdil shuddered as he exited the building in front of Misu. "We never... ever had even a prayer..." He uttered.

Nobody present, bothered to contradict him as a body that had been ripped in half, rained blood down on the street as it flew spinning and flailing overhead after being thrown away.

"Where is Dominic! Bring him out! Bring me Dominic!" Neia demanded as the slaughter continued. As she moved along the streets, she used her father's aura as a weapon of brutality, turning men in armor into tin cans of crumpled paste.

Zesshi however, was moving far, far faster. "I want him, Dominic is mine! Mine and mine aloooone!" She howled like a wolf, too much like one, as the howl of wolves from Zesshi's summoned pack answered her, but none louder than the Werewolf Queen, Lupusregina Beta, as she temporarily adopted the role of 'mount' to a sword swinging Enri. She clutched Lupusregina's fur and clenched at her hips as the maid demon went from rooftop to rooftop. Between sword or jaws, death came to anyone in the way.

Dominic still ran, harder and harder, he used every martial art in his arsenal to stay ahead, and he was rapidly failing, a score of long knife bearing Agante rushed past him, and leaped into the fray only for common Re-Estize Kingdom soldiers to turn them into meaty chunks, or tear their arms off and beat them to death with their own limbs. Their lives bought him seconds, precious seconds as he ran through the streets. 'No! No! No! Not like this! The gods have to come, we can't possibly defeat this host! The demon of the west, the traitor Zesshi... we can't, gods... please! Your faithful need you!' He prayed desperately, but if the gods heard his prayer, or anyones, they didn't answer, or didn't care, or couldn't.

"There you are!" Zesshi shouted, he had enough time to look over his shoulder, but not enough time to avoid the kick that sent him flying and bouncing over the street, shattering bones and cobblestones alike.

He tasted the copper of his blood in his mouth, he felt the puncturing of his lungs from his shattered bones, and the breaks in his limbs left him able to do nothing but crawl as Zesshi took her scythe in hand.

"You got to him first, and... I guess you deserve him more than I do." Neia admitted reluctantly. "But he's too wiggly, like a worm, like a god damn fucking worm. Let me hold him 'still'. She said delicately, and the aura of her master crashed down over his body.

Dominic couldn't even writhe, only groan in pain, and barely that. He tried to spit up blood, and it was forced back into his mouth, that same, coppery taste again, it made him sick.

Neia looked down at him with wrath in her terrible golden black eyes. "You set Remedios on me, you twisted her into the monster she was, you set Suchala on my people, inquisitors on my people, you had them burned alive, you had them tortured, cast out with nothing, deprived of their homes... so I hope you understand... how much you deserve this." Neia said as she pounded her voice into his veins, her hate was burning acid, and he could not even speak to curse her, or expand his lungs enough to scream in pain.

"But for me... this is even more personal. I was loyal..." Zesshi stomped his foot, and crushed it into powder. First his left, then his right. "You were not. You let my sister be abused, you let all my blood be treated like beasts of burden, and your people had me convinced for over a hundred years that it was how it should be!" She stomped on his knees, and they too became powder, yet he could barely groan through the agony. "And when I all but begged you to end the horror, to see 'me' and to see my baby sister, and whoever else was out there like me...… as something more than beasts...… you cursed half of what I am, and condemned them to a menial and degraded existence. Now...… it's come back to haunt you...… chosen of the gods. How does it feel," She asked as she planted her foot solidly over his chest. "To be beneath me, where YOUyou belong?" She growled slowly down at the agonized flesh of the once great Cardinal.

"Let him move, I want to know if he has any last words." Zesshi said, without looking over to the black eyed General Baraja.

The pressure was gone. Though the pain was little less. "Any final words, Cardinal Dominic Ihre Partouche?"

"R-Raym-ond w-i-ll f-ight." Dominic gurgled out.

Zesshi and Neia traded a look. "Oh, this is wonderful, this is marvelous, this is so fucking beautiful..." Zesshi removed her foot, bent down, and hooked her fingers into his nostrils and began to drag him through the streets where just a day before, he'd been praised by the masses.

He choked and gasped, and watched as a few survivors prostrated themselves in the desperate hope for mercy. That hurt more than the physical pain, as all those who believed in him and the gods, simply gave up on both.

When they reached the Artisan district, Dominic's eyes began to widen, which hurt like hell. 'Do they know where he is... my last faithful ally... and they know... how?! How?!'

He tried to shake his head in denial, Zesshi didn't even notice.

"Hey, Raymond!" Neia called crudely, "Come on out! It's time!"

Dominic was baffled, but a dread sense of doom was starting to come over him afresh.

Out of the corner of his eye, he watched the great temple collapse into nothing.

"Neia, good, you're here, I suspected you might be somewhere in this area." Skana said as she approached with a young elf woman in tow.

"Who is that?" Neia asked as they waited for Raymond to show up.

"Enlaith. She was in a spot of trouble, turns out she's an agent of ours, so I helped her out." Skana said, just as Raymond came around the corner with Solution, Nua, and Boabdil behind them.

Zesshi tossed Dominic in front of her, he rolled over the stone, scraping his flesh until he stopped on his back and found himself looking up.

"He thinks you're going to fight. You tell him, Raymond." Zesshi grinned happily and rubbed her hands together.

Raymond looked down at the broken body of Dominic and reached behind him. As Solution handed him a bottle, he said, "After Zesshi left, I joined the Sorcerer King. I was the serial killer who was quietly killing off the worst behaved slave owners. I killed Hodge, and most of the others, until Solution here took over. I haven't been on 'your side' for almost this entire conflict. Yes, I did warn you about the Pontifex Maximus, but that was his idea, because he knew he was trapped and there was no hope for him. The work camps were a place to hide slaves so we could set them free. I've been hiding slaves in my home for months upon months now. Oh, and you're probably wondering about this bottle. It was supposed to be dumped on your grave, but under the circumstances..." He popped the cork, and poured the late Pontifex Maximus's stored piss over Dominic's shocked face.

"This was from him. Now he didn't say it at the time, but under the circumstances, I think he won't mind if I spread it out over Yvon and Maximillian's graves as well. Besides I've got two more bottles, one from Berenice, and one from Ginedine."

Dominic felt the horrid, rancid taste on his tongue and the stinging sensation on his open wounds, but with nothing he could do but look up hatefully, he shut his eyes as another bottle, and then another, was partially dumped over his head.

"I'm sorry about the delay, I left these in my home by accident, and I had to impose on Solution to retrieve them for me." Raymond said to Neia with an apologetic tone.

"I know you'd rather take it slow, but Zesshi, could I impose on you to finish him so I can surrender properly?" Raymond asked formally, with a polite bow.

Zesshi grinned, "This is for my sister, for me, and for everybody else you bald bigoted bastard." Zesshi raised up her scythe, brought it down over the groaning Dominic's neck, and silenced that groan as his head bounced free into a patch of snow.

"As the last Cardinal of the Slane Theocracy, I officially surrender my city and my nation, to you, General of the Combined Armies of the Sorcerous Kingdom. I ask only that you stop the killing, and my people are yours, as is, it seems, my life." He went down to his knees, and raised his wrists together.

"In the Name of His Majesty the Sorcerer King, who has empowered me in his holy name to enact justice, battle, and surrender in his name, I accept the submission of the Slane Theocracy, and your surrender into our custody for the crimes of your government. But before you are taken away... you bargained I believe, for one more thing." Neia said in a noble voice, and stepped aside.

"Go ahead, have your moment with her." Neia said, and kicked the head over to a puddle of melted snow, where she washed the filth off of Dominic's head, then, still displeased, cut the cloak off an Agante corpse, and went to wrap it up.

"Well, it's over... and I can finally say this." Raymond said, and lowered his head to Zesshi's feet. "I'm... sorry. I'm sorry I didn't see, didn't hear, didn't understand, I'm sorry I failed you when you needed me most to be there. If I'd only made the same choice you had... maybe..."

Zesshi put her hands over his head, and caressed his hair, "Raymond, I won't say everything back then was right, it's true, it hurts." she paused, as overhead the powerful booming voice of the Sorcerer King echoed.

"The surrender has been accepted. All Theocracy forces are to lay down their arms, all forces of the Sorcerous Empire, are to accept every surrender without further hostility. The war... is... OVER!"

"But you know," Zesshi continued, "It worked out, you made a mistake but you made it right, and you saved a lot of my people... and I can really call them that. I forgive your mistake, because you did everything right, 'after' that. You even made sure to let the rest of the Black Scripture know where you really stood, even though that could have gotten you killed. When push came to shove, you laid down your life for me and for my family, and for that, I will always love you, no matter what happens after this." Zesshi then pulled him up, and for the first time in their overlapping lives, embraced him tightly.

He returned it gingerly, as the Sorcerer King descended to the ground only a few feet away.

Neia approached, and handed the improvised bag to Zesshi. "I believe presenting this was 'your' bargain, wasn't it?" She winked, and then went down to one knee and bowed her head to her lord.

Zesshi, imitated Neia, and held the bagged head of Dominic aloft. "He's somewhat of a mess but... per our bargain, I present to you, the head of Cardinal Dominic Ihre Partouche. His head, his country, like my head, and my country, are yours, now and forever."

Neia let out a deep breath... "It's fading... but... that... that was amazing... father."

Ainz nodded slightly, "A portion of my power, gifted to an army, for a little while, is a potent thing. Now, Solution, take Cardinal Raymond into custody, but have him well treated, oh and... honor the treatment of those errrh... bottles, when it comes to the grave of Dominic and his other vile ilk."

From out of her pocket dimension, came a set of manacles, which were placed on a pliant Raymond's wrists. He looked once more over at Nua. "Be happy out there, that'll be enough for me." He said with a sigh as he was led away.

Nua fell to her knees in front of the Sorcerer King, "Sire... what... what will happen to him? Please... he's good, he's good, don't hurt him..." She whimpered pitifully as he was led through a **[Gate]**.

"He will go to Argland to await trial following an investigation, depending on his actions during his part in the government of this country, he may be condemned to a lifetime of imprisonment, hard labor, or he might be released. Only he could tell you what seems likely, and I'm guessing it wasn't being 'let go' was it?" Ainz asked gently.

Nua looked down. "No... it wasn't, but... surely he's made up for whatever he's done wrong, hasn't? Isn't it possible to atone...?" She asked as soldiers of the invincible host began to enter the area to rescue elven slaves and take human prisoners for processing.

"It may be that he has, all that remains to be seen. In the meantime, tell me what you will do? You have been with him for some time now, are you able to care for yourself?" Ainz asked, striking Neia straight through the heart with his generosity of spirit, and offering Zesshi some unspoken hope that what lay ahead would not treat her old comrade to harshly.

"Sire, Raymond gave me his home... I... I don't want to live here. I guess... I guess I'll sell it and go... somewhere." She said anxiously.

"I'll give you one thousand platinum for it, fifty to carry, and a writ authorizing more to be drawn when you settle down somewhere." Ainz said without flinching.

Zesshi and Neia felt their mouths drop open involuntarily, followed rapidly by that of Boabdil as he grasped what he'd just heard.

Nua however, staggered into Neia at the overwhelming price. "Sire... it can't be worth that much! I couldn't!"

"The house? No, it isn't. But what happened there? The historical value of it? Immeasurable." Ainz answered without flinching, "I will make it a landmark for the story of this war, as the center of the resistance to the old ways during the largest war ever fought." He reached into his pocket dimension, and held out a small leather pouch. "Count it, if you like."

She didn't bother to count it. She bowed deeply. "Thank you... for everything." She managed to sputter out with great difficulty.

"Sire... now that this is over... what do we do?" Skana asked from beside her wife.

"Now... you get ready to go to the Baharuth Empire. The Synod will be taking place very soon. And if you wish to convince them all, you will need to be at your most eloquent."

"Yes, yes. That is true, the world will confess that the Sorcerer King is truly a god, they will know as I have known for years." Neia said with absolute conviction. The whorling black of her eyes held inside them, imperceptible to anyone else, even herself... two tiny red points.

And Ainz felt a faint, curious buzzing in the back of his mind.

He concentrated hard, focusing on his inner self as it reminded him of his time in the game, and looking at his stats, and there, among his maxed out job classes and racial levels, sat something that was not there before.

He read it silently to himself, _'Level One... GOD.'_


	211. After God Rose

God Rising: The Cult of Ainz

Written by: AtheistBasementDragon

Edited by: The Usual Gang of Drunken Perverted Idiots

Epilogue

Peace can mean many things. For 'most' of Kami Miyako, it meant the peace of the grave. The city was a shattered husk, a ruin of itself. Gargantua had by himself, demolished a dozen city blocks, but his destructiveness paled before the wrath of the elves that had, for an hour or two, had the power of gods in their hands, and the power of the armies of Black Justice, who had grudges of their own for the burnings made possible by the Slane Theocracy and the inquisitors that nation had sent. As she walked the city streets, Queen Draudillon carried with her, in her own hand, the long pike that had the head of her faithful servant.

Dressed in white armor with a cloak of white that was broken only by the outline of her national symbol, she made for a fearsome and beautiful sight, but despite this, she knew she did not stand out. Not now.

Not with the Sorcerer King standing beside her as they walked. "He has come back. As your nation promised he would. They are punished, sorely." Ainz said as he walked with his impossible staff in his left hand, tapping the ground rhythmically with every step.

Draudillon kept her eyes in front of her, scanning the broken and bloody streets, few buildings were not missing chunks, most were completely collapsed. The only people not in armor that they saw as they walked, were on their knees under guard. "Yes, we've done what we set out to do, our nation's pride is avenged, our people are avenged. Our war has come to an end. Most of the time, that's the easy part, the hard part is winning the peace, afterward. But... I don't think that will be nearly as troublesome as these things usually are. Your Majesty's power... it is beyond the realm of the mortal. You made us into gods for a short time, a time we will never forget. There is nobody in all our armies who will not worship you as such, including myself. But..." She smiled weakly.

"But?" Ainz prompted as he glanced sideways at her.

"But I would have done so anyway. My rule was not a perfect one, my... mistakes, will stay with me for some time. Yet you saved us all. Saved my people, my country, and gave us a future. That's godly enough for me, even without all your power. When we go to the ceremony, know that when I kneel and proclaim you as my god, I only say what is in my heart. I am your faithful servant, and that will never change." Draudillon said with a deep, sincere smile as Generals Oma and Musan rounded a corner and got her attention.

Oma was waving from where they stood, happy, enthusiastic, and 'headless' in a manner of speaking. The hand that was waving for her attention was holding her head, on the faces of the kneeling and bound citizens of the Theocracy who had been taken captive, were expressions of abject horror at seeing this. But that horror only deepened as Draudillon, at a nod from the undead monarch, broke off and went to embrace her as one might a sister, and began to speak as one did with friends, to the dullahan general and her human comrade, General Musan, who was at her side, rolling his eyes at her undead antics, but smiling nonetheless.

 _*Queen Draudillon would have a long, prosperous reign, with the exigencies of war behind her, the needs of peace became the most important facet of her rule, and a massive influx of undead labor brought both wealth and prosperity to the kingdom turned province, construction projects created new villages and towns, and the wide open spaces still there from the beastman invasion years before, were gradually filled in by a new, stronger, better equipped, and prouder generation than the one before it. She would rule for centuries, before at last passing her throne on to her heir at the end of her life. Her heir, took on the title of 'Governor Queen' instead of simply 'Queen' to proudly mark her lands as a province of the Sorcerous Empire._

 _*General Musan would retire after they returned from the long conflict. He, like many of his counterparts, Boabdil, Enri, Neia, and others, would write down everything that he remembered about the war, and would travel for years, giving sold out talks about what wonders he saw, eventually adapting them into a series of popular children's books that sold well everywhere from the Elf Kingdom, to the far north of Re-Estize or the Baharuth Empire. He died at his country estate, twenty years after the war, full of his years, and proud to the last of his service and his Queen._

 _*General Oma took over General Musan's position, becoming the first undead chief of staff, and would stay on in that capacity until Queen Draudillon herself would pass away. In her 'retirement', she started a touring company, taking the curious history buffs of the Empire to the many places that marked the war's great conflagrations, always ensuring that her Queen and her mentor figured large in the stories she told in the places she visited. She would not take up her scythe again, until the Sorcerer King requested it personally._

Ainz walked on, through the streets of the city of the faithful, where he encountered General Enri walking and laughing with Lupusregina Beta, seemingly indifferent to the blood and corpses that they stepped over, or the blood that stained their bodies and clothing.

"Enri." Ainz said, and she snapped her head to where she heard his voice, then rushed over and knelt in front of him.

"My lord!" She said formally, with Lupusregina taking a kneeling position beside her in the middle of the street.

"Be at ease, General. You have done a great service. Tell me, is there any reward I might offer you for your faithful service? And you know what 'not' to say to that, I trust?" He asked with a hint of sarcastic humor to his voice, both Enri and Lupusregina blushed a little, and were silent and flustered by his presence and his words.

"My Lord... I have... so much more than I ever wanted in my life, and I have it all because of you. I... really can't think of anything I could possibly want, that I don't already have, or that isn't waiting for me when I get home. But... if you really require me to ask for something... can... I ask for two things?"

He looked at her quizzically, Lupusregina's lips were pulling back as if she were getting angry at what at first appeared to be brazen greed, and too, he thought, 'I have never known her to be greedy, but... I suppose I should hear her out.' As the thought passed, he nodded, "Ask." He replied.

"May I ask that you join me in my home for dinner, sometime. To host you in my humble residence is... well... a joy. And also... I-I ah- forgive me if this is presumptuous but... may I call you 'Ainz'?" She stammered out her 'two' reward requests, and the anger of Lupusregina melted away into a warm and approving friendly smile.

"Yes, to both of those things, but... we will have to see you to a new home. I realize you do not require something grand, your humility is a noble trait but... if after such good service from you and your husband, you are left living in evident poverty, then the world will think I am cheap and do not properly reward good service. You will have a new home, we will use the pieces of your old in its construction, so that it is always with you, it will be done when you return home. Then after you have overseen the reconstruction of the former Theocracy lands, you will return to govern Carne in my name, and if it is possible, I will take you from your home no more." Ainz said in a slow, noble voice, he laid his hands on Enri's shoulders, and she gazed up at him happily.

"I know, something of what you have endured, my first human servant. But you needn't have been jealous of her, nor envious. You were my first faithful human, that is not to be overlooked or forgotten, and will not be. Carry that knowledge home with you, when it comes time to return to your life." Ainz said with a gentle voice that Enri felt in her bones.

"My Lord, may I ask one other reward for her?" Lupusregina asked suddenly, with an urgency in her eyes that brought Ainz up short.

"Ask it." Ainz replied abruptly.

"She isn't like me. This," she swept her hand to encompass the bloodshed and destruction, "isn't like home for her. I'd like for her to be given a reserved place in one of your healing homes, at least for a little while, to help come back to herself after all this. For me, this is playtime, for her, it will never be." Lupusregina remarked in a more solemn voice than Enri knew her friend to be capable of.

Ainz hesitated, and then asked, "How did you conclude this was needed?" He asked curiously.

"While I carried her into battle, I saw the unbridled wrath and hatred of another human, I could feel how twisted that one was, even from where I carried Enri, as with that one's unrestrained power, living people were turned into puddles of blood and scraps of metal. It was beautiful... but not for my Enri. As I am myself, I know how much I liked that. But I don't want Enri going so far down that road. I like her as she is, even if she just can't stop trying to get me into bed, and even though she rides me really, really hard." Lupusregina said sardonically and winked at Enri beside her.

Ainz listened with grave nods until the last sentence, "Uwa! Enri are you sexually harassing the servant I sent to you?" He asked, "If I had known you were that desperate, I would have given you leave to see your husband..."

Enri's eyes welled up with deeply moved tears as Lupusregina spoke, right until she saw that spark of mischief, her hands flailed back and forth from her bodyguard and her master, "No no no no no! I never, no! Wait... I could have seen my husband... how did I not... no, I'm not that way, we're not, I, she..." She blushed deep crimson as Ainz understood the joke and laughed a deep, hearty laugh, quickly joined by Lupusregina, and finally by Enri herself, who was the butt of the joke.

"Yes," He finally said as he held out a hand to Enri, which she took without hesitation and allowed him to help her stand, "you will have an outpatient spot reserved for you at the facility nearest to Carne. That way you can start to come back to yourself."

He then looked to Lupusregina and extended his other hand, allowing his staff to float at his side. She took it, and rose with awe and adoration in her beautiful golden eyes. "Lupusregina, you have grown, and I am truly proud of you."

She beamed bright as the sun, and tears of joy flowed down her face as Enri went in to embrace her companion.

"Go, see to your duties, tonight, the city feasts. Then tomorrow, you go home." Ainz said as he released their hands and took up his staff, and on he walked as they went to see about their tasks.

Enri walked the streets for awhile with Lupusregina at her side, before a familiar voice caught her ear and she glanced over to see General Boabdil waving at her from a table. 'He lived, well damn, that's one good thing, I wasn't sure my reports and whatnot would do any good.' She thought to herself, and approached the ruined cafe.

A few minutes later she sat across from General Boabdil at an outdoor table in the ruined city. "He has quite a... presence. Doesn't he? I've spent my whole life being taught the undead are evil, that they're mindless forces of hate and destruction. But ten feet away from him, and just to hear him speak... I wanted to stand at attention and beg for orders." Boabdil chuckled bitterly and raised the mug of his enemy's beer to his lips to drink.

"He does." Enri said with certainty and solemnity while Lupusregina's face shone proudly and her nose turned up somewhat smugly.

"On the one hand," Boabdil said with a sad little frown, "I respect all the cardinals even more, for being able to oppose his will after being in front of him that way, and on the other hand, I wonder how anyone that damn foolish ever got to lead in the first place." He held his mug to his lips and drank deeply for several seconds before letting out a hearty 'ah' as he slammed it back down on the bloodstained table.

Enri and Lupusregina chuckled at the black humor of their former enemy. "So, what happens now?" He asked with some small concern for his future evident in his voice. "He didn't have me arrested, just Raymond. What happens to me? Where do I go, now that it's all fallen down?"

Enri felt a brief flash of sympathy flare up in her heart as she saw the broken look fly briefly over his face, only to vanish when he looked over and held the mug out to a servant to refill. It vanished when she saw the mutilated ears that marked the recently freed. "Thank you." He said to the servant, and Enri's opinion of him jumped again as the servant nodded and departed.

Enri took up the mug that was laid down at her table, not minding for a moment that she hadn't asked for it. Lupusregina finished hers in a few seconds and was raising it up with a broad smile on her face, eager for another. After a sip, she looked him in the eye and spoke with gentle sincerity.

"Now, you're free. The reports I wrote of you during our conflict, praised your warrior's honor, you treated our dead with respect, you treated those prisoners of ours who you held, with kindness or at least without violation or brutality. You fought for the wrong side, but you fought for it, in the right way. Heikeren and Ira have agreed to support my efforts at reconciliation, and I've asked for the responsibility of rebuilding this country. If you're willing, I'd like your help with it, if you can do more than drink with your enemy."

"I can't." Boabdil remarked, prompting Enri to look at him with surprise, "Because you were never my enemy. You were my nation's enemy, never mine. Now that all this is over and, I don't know what to do with myself, I think your offer is a damn good one. If Heikeren and Ira are on board with it, then so am I. I'll spend the rest of my life, building this country back up, into something that can share space with its neighbors. My country is dead, but my people, many of them at least, still live, and as long as they live, the better angels of our nature may yet triumph and... maybe make better choices in the future."

Enri's dismay turned to delight as he answered, as Lupusregina finished off her second and raised her empty mug for a third.

"I look forward to working with you, General Boabdil." Enri said as she stood up and rested her hand on Lupusregina's shoulder after polishing off her mug and setting it down.

"Same." He said, and stood in turn.

Enri rendered a firm salute of fist over her heart, which he returned in like fashion, to her surprise, it was nearly perfect. "I've always been an unlucky man, you know. The odds were never in my favor not even once, for anything. Yet I triumphed every time until I met you on the field, up until then, I always won because I did more with bad luck than most of my enemies did with good. Losing the fight to you, the way it was lost, was probably my greatest victory, in the end."

Enri smiled the bitter sweet smile of one who lost those she'd loved. "Bad luck set me on this course, and many paid the price for it, but despite that, I'm glad I'm here, now, and perhaps we have that in common too, that we did a lot with bad luck." Enri and Boabdil dropped their salutes slowly and comfortably, and stood at ease on the same side and at the same table.

"Pick your staff and take over the central headquarters building here, I'll be back in a month or less, depending on how much time my Lord gives me to return to my husband and... put myself back together again." She grinned weakly and blinked swiftly to keep tears of longing at bay.

"So little time?" Boabdil asked, "After this triumph?"

"The reward of good work," Enri said with solemn pride, "is more work. Dread the day nothing is wanted of you, because then, nobody believes in you."

"Wise saying, where did you hear it?" He asked curiously.

"My strategist, Sun. The goblin you met, everything I know of commanding an army that was not ripped from books, was pushed into my thick peasant skull by his endless lessons. He died at the meeting with Heikeren. But I'll never forget his lessons, when time permits, I'll compile them into a book, so that he will live again whenever his name is uttered, and the world will know he lived here, once." Enri said sadly, and Boabdil had the decency to allow a moment of silence to pass in the memory of his fallen foe.

"See you soon, General Boabdil, I've got to check on my soldiers, make sure they're ready to move out of here soon." Enri remarked, and turned to walk away.

"I look forward to it." Boabdil said sincerely and sat back down, raising his mug, and ordering just one more beer as his rival departed.

 _*Enri would spend the better part of a year going through 'outpatient' treatment for her experiences during the war, after returning to her husband. True to predictions though, there was almost a month when nobody saw her at all... though Lupusregina could 'hear her' from her hiding place outside the bedroom window where Enri's husband ran through the better part of a year's worth of stamina potions in such a short time that he became something of a hero to the young men of the city, and grew incredibly wealthy selling that product alone. The pair would have six children, and in keeping with the word of the Sorcerer King, received a grand manor befitting a governor of the city of Carne Village. She would pass away at home, in her own bed, at a great age, only a few weeks after learning that her compilation of Sun's teachings had achieved best selling status in a multitude of venues both foreign and domestic. She was mourned by her companion and her bodyguard, who unsurprisingly given her nature, did indeed get off on it, and also would oversee the training of generations of children descended from the remarkable couple. Nfirea would go down in history for his innovations in magical potions, and in a move that would no doubt have delighted him, numerous schools bore his name, he survived his wife for only a single year, before passing on without regret, saying a fond farewell before his children scattered out to the world again, bearing the family name to ever greater fame._

 _*Goan, Nemu, and Kuuderika... have their end told in the epilogue of 'Bone Daddy's Daughters'_

 _*Boabdil went down in history as 'Boabdil the Unlucky'. He would spend the next seven years after Enri's return, seeing to the rebuilding of his nation into various provinces. Enri became a fast friend to both himself and his wife, before he retired from the stressful job due to his age and became a teacher at a military academy in Ikari. His work taken over by his younger proteges, likewise under Enri, the four of them would lay the foundations for the future with massive construction projects that remade most of the Theocracy. When Boabdil would finally pass away, Enri was among those who mourned him most, and remarked that for a man with so much bad luck, he had accomplished much. On the monument over his tomb there read an inscription, "Even if you only have bad luck, you can still do a lot with it. Here lies the proof."_

Nua hefted the bag in her hands as she walked through the streets of the city she loathed, the city that for a hundred and forty years and more, had eaten up her life. She looked at the broken timbers and toppled stone from homes and other buildings. She stepped in a puddle of blood that had gathered a foot from a body off to one side, where a young man had been ripped in half, and only his torso lay there, the rest of him, who knew where it was?

She walked on, a human survivor of the city was crouched down in an alley, rocking back and forth, he was bald, but not naturally, he'd torn his own hair out, it lay scattered around him, but despite the bloody splotches on his scalp, he seemed not to be aware of what he'd done. He rocked back and forth endlessly gibbering nonsense words. He did see 'her' though, and recognized her distinctly elven features. He screamed, and fell backwards and crawled like a crab backwards into the darkness.

"It's real, isn't it?" Enlaith remarked as she and Misu caught up behind her after a few hurried steps.

"How long have you two been here?" Misu asked quietly as she picked and fidgeted at her clothing, looking down at it uncomfortably.

"Over a hundred and forty years." Nua replied quietly, "I was lucky I guess, that I was older than some when I got here, I still 'remember' what freedom was, even if it was more or less under that twisted trash king. His rule was far away."

"Not much different for me." Enlaith remarked as they walked on. "But, I at least managed to get some revenge along the way."

"I never did but... I didn't come here alone either, my... my brother was here with me." Misu said sadly. "A few more days, and we'd be leaving together but... well, you know, he died to get me to safety."

"Now though, we're as safe as we can be, I'm leaving the city, if you two want to travel with me?" Nua said generously. "It seems I find myself suddenly 'rich' so I can afford to help two traveling companions without much difficulty." She tossed her bag up and caught it in hand with a confident snap that caught her by surprise when she made the bold gesture.

"Where are you going?" Misu asked as she thought it over, still picking at the cloth over her skin.

"I thought about it, and there is only one place for me. I'm going to Hoburns, to the first temple of Black Justice. I'm going to be a priestess of His Majesty. After that... I want to travel. I've been trapped in this city for so long, I want to herald his glory everywhere. I can think of no place I'd rather study. Neia might have been the second most terrifying being I've ever personally seen... but by the unliving god, look what he drove her to do for us? No, her faith will be mine, and I'll carry it everywhere." Nua said with breathless optimism.

"I want to go to the sanctuary lands in the east. The places the Sorcerer King bought from the Draconic Kingdom. I don't think I have family left, and the Elf Kingdom isn't full of good memories. I think I'll settle down there and open up a potion shop, my skill at poisons might be turned to something more peaceful that way. And I think I've had my fill of being around humans. My only regret is that I didn't get to thank Lady Skana." Enlaith remarked sadly.

"Skana? The wife of the demon of the west?" Misu asked with wide eyes. "How do you know her...?"

"I don't, not really. But... I snuck out last night to go finish off one human in particular, one who had to die by my hand and no other's. I got him, but didn't reckon on his son. That one got me from behind, might have done... terrible things to me, if the fighting hadn't started. Skana happened to be the one to break into the house... by breaking the house. She tore my chains off, literally tore his head off, and after getting my name out of me, told me to run to safety. It was just a few seconds of action... but she's earned her reputation as Neia's sword." Enlaith said wistfully. "Pretty, too, for a human."

"Oh, well... I'm going home. I think... or I hope, anyway, that some of my family is still alive around Crescent Lake, somewhere. If they are, I'll find them." Misu said with quiet longing as she continued to tear at her clothing's loose threads.

"What... are you doing, exactly? Something wrong with what you're wearing?" Nua asked as she looked at the green and black shirt and pants Misu had on.

"I'm... not used to clothing still. It'll take some time, I guess." She blushed.

"Oh, sorry... ah." Nua remarked, somewhat shamefaced at the insensitive question, she moved along, "Well, it looks like we're going in three different directions, if you hold off a bit, I'm sure the Sorcerer King plans on using his magic to send people where they want to go. You could just wait." Nua proposed thoughtfully.

"Why aren't you doing that?" Enlaith asked, noticing that Nua's feet fairly twitched with eagerness to walk onward.

Nua sighed, "Because... for a long, long time, I dreamt of walking out those gates, and I'll be damned if that dream doesn't come true. Now it's all fallen down here, and I want to make this journey myself. I'll buy a horse or passage on a boat, some supplies, and head west on my own. The sky above and the earth below, the only things to contain me, and all the rest of the world, open. I only wish..." She looked up at the sky through the gaps of the shattered wall.

"You wish Raymond could go with you." Enlaith finished for her.

"Yes... I do. I lost, and found my soul again, inside these walls, both of those things were because of humans. I did some things that will haunt me forever, but I can't regret them either. None of the good in the last year could have been, if I hadn't known him, so of course I wish he could walk out the gates with me. But, that's alright, we don't always get what we want. Nobody knows that better than an elven woman in Kami Miyako." Nua smiled a fragile smile at the two women, who reflected it back at her in faces of their own.

"Good luck to both of you, then." Nua said, and reached into her pouch, and took out ten platinum coins each, and placed them into their palms. Their eyes widened enormously.

"I've got ten lifetimes of fortunes in this bag, I can give up twenty coins from it, go, and use it well. It's a gift, not a loan." Nua said in the gentle voice that was more beautiful for being truly free.

"Well, I suppose we can walk to the gate at least." Enlaith remarked casually.

"Then let's." Misu agreed, and this they did, it was a relatively short walk by then. The enormous gate, that thing of terror Nua remembered from so long ago as it swung open, and swung shut behind her with a sound like a clap of doom, was now torn from its hinges in one half, and broken into large splinters on the other, most of which half dangled from where it had once proudly stood. She looked up above, and where once a thick shadow was cast by the upper section of the stone wall, now an open sky was in full view, the upper wall completely blasted open. Through the now well-lit space, she walked out of Kami Miyako.

"Goodbye, and goodluck." They said together, and scattered, following after their own heart's desires as they had always wished, and would do forever after.

When Nua was alone, and looking back at the ruin of Kami Miyako in the distance, it seemed small, tiny, and the world around her, even in the cold she felt as the distance grew between herself and the unnatural Spring, so large and beautiful, and no one seemed to be chasing her, nobody was shaking her awake out of a dream, nobody was brandishing a lash and everyone who longed to was either dead, in chains, or in hiding in fear of the liberators... she let loose a shout. "I'm free! I'm free! I'm finally free! You did it, Raymond! You kept your promise! You hear that! You stay alive out there, wherever you are! I'll come for you, someday! That's MY promise!" She spun and danced for joy where she stood, her feet kicking up white snow that vanished into the still black river near to where she walked, until at long last she set her feet to the road, and began her own adventure.

 _*Nua would do as she said, and travel to Hoburns, where she spent the next three years studying to be a priestess before setting her feet once more out into the wider world, turning her eyes on the Kingdoms beyond the borders of the Sorcerous Empire. As to her promise to Raymond... that is a story told in 'The Trial: Journey's End'._

 _*Enlaith would spend time establishing a potion shop, only to sell it for a small profit and return to the central lands of the Sorcerous Empire, where she would work as a volunteer in 'Illyana's House' tending to the veterans of the war who had scars that no healing potion could remove, before leaving that position and entering into Papal service._

 _*Misu returned home, and found her father still alive. She would mourn her brother for the rest of her life, and name her first child in his honor. Eventually, she would start a line of clothing that would see great success after a particularly fashionable vampire in the Sorcerer King's service, took a liking to the design._

Malach bowed deeply when he saw the Sorcerer King pass by, and went out to the main encampment to report to the paymaster. "So... you were part of General Enri's army?" The burly dwarf asked.

"Yes, I've been held captive in Kami Miyako after being transported from Crossroads. Worst, trip, ever." Malach said sarcastically.

"Identification number?" The dwarf asked bluntly, indifferent to the joke.

After Malach spat it out from memory, the dwarf pulled out a drawer and rifled through it. "Yup, missing in action, fill this out, and I'll get your back pay drawn for you and arrange for transportation to wherever you want to go." He handed Malach a quill and a document and waited as the young man worked, he handed it back after a few minutes.

"Elf country?" The Dwarf asked.

"It's as far from where I came from, as I can think of to go." Malach remarked in a quiet voice that had the gruff dwarf hesitate for a moment.

"Alright. Well, when your records are updated, expect an award to come your way, and I suggest you settle in Crescent Lake, looks like some of you black armors are goin' there, word is the new Queen is downright friendly to you folks." He suggested a little more amiably than in his first words.

Malach gave a weak smile of gratitude, the corners of his mouth just barely moving. "Thanks, I'll take that under advisement."

He blinked in disbelief at the pouch he was given. "So much?" Malach replied.

"Special hazard pay for that suicide mission in your record, plus back pay, plus a discharge bonus." The paymaster replied. "When your awards come through, there'll be another bonus sent to you, so update your records as soon as you can." The paymaster advised with a wagging of his meaty thumb.

"I'll... do that." Malach remarked in awe.

The dwarf then handed him another document, "This's your discharge paper, don't lose it. Now yer officially outta the army. You want to wait on transport to where you wanna call home, you can, but as of now, nobody can stop you from goin anywhere in the Sorcerous Empire." The gruff voice was countered by a twinkle in his eyes as he picked up on Malach's rising enthusiasm. "You goin' south, there's another group gettin together to make a pleasure trip out of it instead of waitin on official transport, do what you want." The dwarf said pleasantly, and Malach, taking his advice, approached the group that the dwarf pointed out.

 _*Malach went south to settle in Crescent Lake, where he found his way into a quiet life, buying some vacant land beyond the interior where he took to farming, his work made much easier by getting special rates and preferences on undead labor due to his status as a war veteran. He had modest success, and though he never forgot Moira, he took comfort in his belief that she escaped and returned to her son. He was only half right, and never learned otherwise, though perhaps that was for the best. He fathered two children with a young veteran woman who settled the next farm over, and was buried with full honors in a hero's graveyard established by order of Queen Zesshi, after a life lived long enough to see his children grow up strong, free, and prosper on their own, which is all any good father ever really wants._

"I've got to get out of here while the getting is good." The former interrogator said to himself, "Moira's still out there, my son is still out there... I've got to find them..." He uttered to himself as he crept out of his hiding place in the trash pile as peace settled over the city, and he headed for the shattered northern gate, and started on the long walk to Carne.

 _*Goan's father, would take the letter he was given and travel north to the city of Carne Village in search of his ex-wife and son. He found the boy, walking out of the manor of General Enri where he lived. He spoke to his son at least a little, which is how he learned of the heroic death of his ex-wife. He visited her grave on a quiet night when he was sure nobody would see him, and begged for forgiveness he would never get. For several days he 'accidentally' encountered Goan, and spoke with him without revealing his identity to the boy, his letter clutched tightly in his hands, a secret he longed to reveal, but did not. After a few such encounters, it was clear that Goan would never need, nor want to know the one who had abandoned him and his mother... his father went into the forest of Tob, tore up the letter and cast it into a creek, fashioned a noose, and hanged himself. He died alone. His body was picked apart by beasts, it was never recovered, and he was never mourned._

 _...Argland Council State..._

Raymond sat in the carriage as it rode through the Argland capital city. "I guess this is the last of us, isn't it?" He asked the driver through the window.

"Yes, so I'm told, one or two more loads of people from your capital, and then that's it." The driver replied in the gruff, gravelly voice that most orcs had.

Raymond was quiet, the chains on his wrists didn't hurt, they weren't even heavy. 'I wonder how Zesshi is doing?' He smiled at that, 'Queen Zesshi, it has quite a ring to it.' He chuckled at the thought, and tilted his ear, for a moment, he thought he heard someone shout his name a few times. He laughed it off, 'Who here, would know who I am?' He thought dismissively as he was taken out of the carriage and led into a building.

He didn't argue or resist as he was taken through, processed, given simple clothing with a large yellow X, and given a brief block of instruction on how to behave in his 'new home'. "You'll be here until your trial. It may be in a few weeks, it may be in a few years, there are a lot ahead of you. You may also have noticed, but you're alone right now. We're told you are a 'special prisoner', former cardinal. That you rendered some services to the Sorcerer King during the war, so you're going to get some extra 'comforts' while you wait, as a kind of reward. Most like you, don't get much, but we'll provide you with books to read to pass the time, and when you want to write letters, you can request paper and ink. Any questions?" The slender dark elf woman asked.

Raymond looked around, she had a simple desk, the sort any bureaucrat might have, and two beefy orc guards. Her office was simple, free of decoration, pure functionality seemed to be her ideal, or her mandate. "None." He replied politely.

A few minutes later he found himself passing by cells filled with noisy prisoners, almost all of them humans, until he reached his new spot. The orc escort opened the door, and in he went. It slammed and locked behind him, and he looked around. A small cot, a space to write, a simple chair, a piss pot and a window, where outside, he heard the sound of ropes pulling tight as some unfortunate war criminals were hanged. "So... this is it." He said to himself, and sighed as he looked around.

Despair settled in around him as he contemplated this end. 'My work is done, she's safe, they're all safe, there's nothing left to do.' He thought grimly, and took off his clothing and wound it up into a rope. He looped it around the bars of the window up high, and fashioned a noose. 'Nua... looks like it will be the next life, after all.' He thought sadly, and slipped it around his neck.

Then he paused. 'No. No. I DO have one more thing to do. One day, it will be my turn, I will stand before judges at my trial, and I... I have to tell them everything. The whole truth, everything my country did, from start to finish, the families we ripped apart, the flesh we shredded because it was part of a body that had slightly longer ears than ours. Someone, someone has to tell them... everything they say about everything we did... it's all true. Let that confession be my last legacy. I'll wait, I can die, another day.' He said to himself, and undid the noose, put his clothes back on when he unfurled them, and laid down in the bunk to wait.

 _*Raymond's wait would last several years, before at last the chance came to tell the world everything at trial, but as with most things in life, there was an unexpected twist that even he could not anticipate... it was not his trial, that he was testifying at. But that is a story, and a legacy, for another time... in the upcoming work: "The Trial: Journey's End"._

 _...Kami Miyako..._

Zaryusu walked the streets of a city he never thought he'd see, in a part of the world that was impossible for him to visit, but which, to his amazement, was now part of the same kingdom as his home swamp. He looked at the massive buildings that were now mostly a pock marked ruin, but he could still see, in his mind, how they must have looked in their prime. He thought of the humble, poor huts of his homeland. 'If I had not seen Nazarick, this would be even more impressive than it is. One day, we will rival you. With the books and store of knowledge we've accumulated, the help of the dwarves, the quagoa, and His Majesty most of all, we will join this world, and carve for ourselves a mighty legacy in the pages of its story.' He promised himself, and was so lost in his own thoughts that he was unaware of the Sorcerer King until he felt the skeletal fingers on his shoulder.

He whirled and knelt instantly, putting the capitol building at his back.

"Your Majesty!" He said loudly. "Forgive your servant, I was lost in thought."

"There are worse things to lose one's self in than thought." Ainz replied, "Rise. I wanted to tell you before the ceremony, how well you have performed, the loyalty of your lizardmen has been exceptional. You should be very, very proud of yourselves, because I am. Cocytus was right about your worthy spirits." He said in a slow, sonorous voice that rang with the nobility of a true king.

Shalltear was grinning broadly behind the Sorcerer King, "Shalltear even tells me you were of use to her, and from what she's shown me, she was right. What reward would you ask for yourself and your people?" Ainz asked in the way of a generous lord, his arms open as if to embrace his subject.

Zaryusu thought the matter over. "My Lord... you have promised us prosperity, and you have been delivering that far beyond our dreams, I can think of no reward for ourselves that you are not already giving. But... well, there may be one thing, I do not know if it is too much, though, for our humble services."

"Ask, I will make that determination for myself." The Sorcerer King replied patiently.

"The population of my home is growing, our children multiply, and we will soon run out of easy living space, perhaps two or three generations at most. Could I ask, if there is some unoccupied land that you should encounter, could it be made into land suitable for my kind to live, so that our young can have homes of their own?" He asked with his head bowed deeply as he stood before his god.

"Yes, that is a good request, in the near future, we'll be sending out great expeditions by ship, to explore this world and find new lands, no doubt we will find suitable space for you, somewhere out there, and we can begin a new colony of lizardmen, to spread your spirit to the wider world. When we do, your children will take first priority." Ainz said as if he were contemplating a change of clothes instead of announcing a new golden age of adventure.

"I cannot wait to see it, Your Majesty." Zaryusu said proudly, and bowed as Ainz moved on.

 _*Zaryusu returned to his wife, and had four more children, three of whom would travel to new lands beyond the sea to settle new colonies in an empty land. He himself would seldom leave his homeland again, settling into governing it alongside his excellent wife. Though he would occasionally depart for reunions and celebrations held in Nazarick or in the great cities, with those exceptions, he would not travel more than thirty miles from his house again for the rest of his life, though the place around his home, would travel much, much farther, from where it was when his people first encountered the Sorcerer King. He would often correspond with his old training partner, the Pope, until he too, slipped quietly away, a few days after his wife, and another pair walked into the fog into legend, at an exceptionally old age._

Ainz walked on through the city streets, it was easy to tell who his people were, versus who were Theocracy citizens. The citizens of the Theocracy were starved, broken, and terrified. They hid and looked at him with terror and awe. "Can I punish them for their disrespect, My Lord?" Shalltear asked with growing anger as heads popped out from around corners, only to vanish into hiding again as he walked through the ruined city.

'Better distract her. Or this will only escalate.' Ainz thought to himself. "They're punished enough, for now at least." He answered, "More importantly, we need to discuss your reward."

"Can I have a whole night in your office... as... as your seat again!" She asked eagerly, clapping her hands together with passionate enthusiasm, a wide open smile and stars in her eyes.

'Shit! Well, too late now.' He thought to himself as he regretted his attempt at distraction. "Very well, but that will be a long evening, return to Nazarick, and rest yourself in anticipation. But be prepared to open the gates to send everybody home, between today and tomorrow." He said as he rushed to take the easiest way to remove her from the city before she grew too angry with the population of defeated humans.

"At once, My Lord!" She replied with a cackling laugh as she vanished through the gate and arrived back in Nazarick.

Ainz waited there, in the center of what was once one of the greatest cities in the known world, where the six great gods descended first to touch the world, and remade humanity into a force to be reckoned with. There, the Kings and Queens of great lands, would kneel before the undead, and proclaim him also, to be a god.

Neia remained at a distance, watching with joy spiralling through her heart as they began to assemble.

Chindai and his wives approached, and knelt before him a few minutes before the ceremony.

"My Lord, my wives and I wish first to express our everlasting gratitude for what you have given us, we will never forget it, oh Master of the Everplains." He said humbly. His long ears twitched with joy, as did those of his mates.

"You served well." Ainz remarked, "You will have a bright future, will you accept a reward for your service, that will ensure that your name echoes through the ages?"

"With pleasure, My Lord." Chindai said as he spoke for them all.

Ainz held out his hands, over the heads of his wives, his staff hovering beside them, he whispered, "Blessing of the Dark."

"My lord?" The women asked curiously.

"Your children will stand head and shoulders above all others, if it works half so well as it did on the last one to which that was applied." Ainz said with a blank face that, had it flesh, would surely have been wearing a smirk.

"To receive a blessing from a god... such a thing has not happened since we took to the saddle as a people... truly, we are your loyal servants to the end of time." Chindai said proudly from his humble posture, echoed quickly by the voices of his wives.

"We swear it." Ryla and Khava uttered in unison.

 _*Chindai, Ryla, and Khava would keep their oaths, and birth a set of twins each, all of whom had white hair that grew long, and faces like those of their father. The trio would rule the plains and raise great cities, but unlike most of the kingdoms of the Sorcerous Empire, they would keep only a 'few' such places. In this way they kept the great plains open, and their horse culture thriving. True to their dreams though, the dark elves of north of the former Theocracy, would indeed ride the world, in trade, in the spreading of their new faith, and in war, the adventurous hearts of those born of the harsh plains, would become the stuff of legends, making both their women, and their men, ardently sought after by those of passionate hearts in surrounding nations, and if anybody minded the reputation, they never said so._

When Queen Calca came through the **[Gate]** , she appeared beside Neia. The Pope didn't jump out of her skin at the surprise appearance, instead she turned and held out her hand to shake it as one would a peer. Only for Calca to immediately embrace her. Neia's arms slowly enfolded the slender beauty, and the embrace was held for a moment.

"You're alive... thanks be to my God that you are alive." Calca whispered as she stepped back and held the Pope's hands in her own, her fingers rubbing slowly over Neia's as she clasped them.

"Is there some reason I wouldn't be?" Neia asked, a little befuddled, but smiling slightly at the warm greeting.

"I... feared this war would be your end. You saved my life, you helped save my kingdom, in the stories I grew up with, the hero always dies at the climax. I guess I feared that end for you, after all you did... you seemed like..." 'a human sacrifice...' She thought, and nearly said, but held the words back, unable to say it out loud, "...someone who had already done too much. I dreaded that I might learn that you fell here, in the moment of your great triumph." Calca answered hesitantly.

Skana laughed, "My wife is a bit tougher than that, besides, her story isn't over yet, what makes you think 'this' is the climax of her life's epic? We've won the war, we've got to win the peace, and that's a lot harder, you of all people, should know that, Your Highness." Skana said as she addressed her former Queen.

Queen Calca laughed slightly and bowed her head in acknowledgement. "Perhaps you're right, there is still a lot to do, but my part in all that is, I think, largely over. I've got a kingdom to see too, that is now a province. I know you two don't plan to come back to it, but there will always be a room open for you in my palace, if ever you should feel the need to visit any part of my Kingdom again." She let her hands go, and they dropped to her side.

"I thank you for the invitation, Your Majesty. One day... I may want to see some things again... but I'm not ready for that, not yet." Neia said with a suddenly haunted look in her eyes that she shook off quickly. "But you'll do great things there, and I'll support you, I promise."

"That means much to me, thank you again, for everything, I'd better go take my place now. Looks like they're starting to gather." Calca said, and walked over to take her place beside Queen Draudillon.

 _*Queen Calca did as she said, she kept a room open in her palace for the Black Paladin for the rest of her rule. The Northern Kingdom entered into a golden age, with settlers from the vast armies moving in in droves to replace the lost population. The kingdom 'changed' forever, and grew stronger and stronger, as the southern offshoot grew weaker and weaker, until a certain swordsman, driven by dreams of his own, saw to the collapse of the place, took the crown for himself, and ensured reunification with the northern Holy Kingdom, by marrying the Queen and making it one land again... but that is a whole other story altogether._

 _...Nazarick..._

"They're awake." Vanysa said to her paramour as she looked down at the two humans. She wore her 'human' face for this occasion.

"Where am I?" Yvon asked as he tried to move his head, and found that he couldn't. Chains held him fast, stretching him taut but without pain... unless he moved.

"Yvon?!" Dominic asked from the table next to him. "What did you do?!" He shouted with his characteristic fury.

"Me?! Nothing! Is this one of your tricks?!" Yvon snapped back in fury of his own. They struggled to move, but could not do anything but speak and hurt themselves.

Vanysa giggled as she walked between their tables. She looked over each of their faces, so that they could see her pretty, sweet and toothy smile.

"G'mornin!" She said cheerily and lightly tapped each of their cheeks with her hands. "I'll tell yah everythin, doncha worry." She said with her charming grin.

They were quiet.

"Yer in Nazarick, in the home of my god, the Sorcerer King. Yah both went and died, and while that ain't so bad most of the time, yah were both right terrible, an'ee figured death that quick was jus a bit too light to get off with." She said cheerily, and hovered her face over Dominic, and let her face change to that of a demoness, her eyes wide as she stared into him.

"You're so... so guilty... it's sumptuous... I crave the feast you offer..." She licked her lips hungrily as Dominic stared defiantly up at her golden skin. She hovered her eyes from Dominic, to those of Yvon, raking her talons slowly over their naked flesh. "So..." She interrupted her hungry motions, as her eyes cleared of her moment of madness, "you're both in for a lot of... punishment. You're going to live as... severed heads. And I have something very... very special in mind for both of you."

She giggled as the insanity returned... "See, yah had a small hand in what terrible thins 'appened ta me an to mah king's people, an on account of im bein' right sore about that, we gots ta give evil fer evil an good fer good, an yah gotsa lotta the first one." She laughed as sweetly as a crystal bell's ringing.

"Do they understand now, what is about to happen?" Demiurge asked patiently, "I know you like to talk to your prey but... I want to get to the mirror to watch the ceremony."

Vanysa's hand went up to her mouth and clarity took over her eyes, "Oh! You're right, I want to watch too! Well, they know enough. The rest, they can figure out. And by the way, Dominic, just so you know, your suffering will end before Yvon's, between the two of you, he was just a little bit worse."

The two humans chained down the table started to object, before Demiurge's order to silence shut them up.

The pair worked swiftly, within minutes, Dominic and Yvon felt their heads severed from their bodies, attached to devices in boxes, and closed up in darkness. They were handed over to quagoa workers, who tunnelled them a quarter mile beneath the city streets of Kami Miyako before the lids were taken off and they were set into the darkness facing a pair of mirrors.

"What is this, what have you done?! What is going on?!" The cacophony of questions from the two went as fast as an expert archer loosed arrows from the bow, but was ignored until the workers were done. "You are now beneath the city you both dominated, with no one but each other for company. The mirrors you can't yet see, will be quite visible as soon as we leave. Because then your real punishment begins." The quagoa worker replied as he read the missive he'd been given.

"Real punishment?" Yvon asked, his sinister eyes glaring in the dark. "This isn't punishment enough?!" He shrieked into the dark.

"No, not even close. When we leave, the spell will activate, and every single time a demihuman or heteromorph walks over the part of the city above where you're buried, your heads will catch fire. You will watch yourselves burn alive, without dying. Dominic, you have been sentenced to five thousand years in this hole. Yvon, to ten thousand of the same. Enjoy the darkness, and one another's company, it is all you'll have, for a very, very long time." The quagoa shuddered as he put down the letter, not least because it had included the predictive reply to the incredulous disbelief about the extent of their punishment. 'I must not anger those capable of such long thought.' the worker silently and wisely reminded himself.

Dominic and Yvon began howling in unison, threats, promises, bribes, but the one thing they did not do... was beg. When the Quagoa left, sealing them alive in their tomb, and the first flame erupted... then they begged. But there was no one to hear it.

 _*Nobody ever did. They burned there for century after endless century, as it was a common stopover for travelers, many of whom were demihumans. They spent that time hating each other, hating their unwitting tormentors, hating their continued existence... until finally, at long last, Dominic died for the second time...permanently. Long after he had abandoned his belief in the gods that didn't save him. Yvon would burn alone except for the company of the slowly rotting, foul smelling head of his former rival, until he also perished. Their heads sat there, alone, until a construction project one day accidentally opened the room, and found what was left of them. It was quite the curiosity, but by then... nobody remembered who they were or why they were there, except for a handful, who of course, said nothing, allowing them to be completely forgotten and tossed in a hole, forgotten again._

 _*Vanysa entered outpatient treatment in a healing home to help recover from the traumas she experienced under Astraka, and at the hands of the Beastmen before him, and at the hands of those few humans who had power over her life in her early youth. Her madness slowly eased, though she remained an eccentric who enjoyed the company of Pandora's Actor just a bit more than most. She would in time, be more than a mere subordinate and lover to Demiurge. In addition to being a suitable mate, her sandwich shop franchise became one of the most popular in the Sorcerous Empire... as well as the place out of which most of her espionage operations ran out of when she became head of the intelligence division, and sat as co-chair as a researcher beside her mate, in her free time. Though eventually, she embraced her role as a mother with the same vigor that she applied to 'making music' with her prey. She would often reflect on the world shattering changes that she endured in barely a year of life, and no matter how long she lived, she would always say that half her proudest moments, happened in that age of heroes._

Fluder had asked only one reward of the Sorcerer King when he encountered His Majesty again in the streets of Kami Miyako. "Let me plunder the library in the local magic academy."

With the reward granted, he did exactly that, drawing upon the gracious allowance of the use of his [Gate] to take all the books back to Nazarick for cataloging and reading... while eating a pie made out of Idun's apples to restore his youth and give him a whole new lifetime to apply to his magical studies.

 _*And study, he did. Becoming a magical researcher involved heavily in collaboration with the dwarven schools in the Understone Empire, the Dwarves of the Azelian mountain range, and the grand schools of knowledge around the empire. It was however, when he 'developed' the concept of 'peer review' and began those more public collaborations, that the first real progress began to be made. Often people, usually students and other young researchers, would ask about his time in the war, but about that he rarely said much, "I liked Skana just fine, interesting girl as far as it went. But on the whole I saw the war as just... stupid. I am amazed that anyone doubted that His Majesty was a God, and that if anyone did doubt it, it is equally amazing that they were not so dense that they died by forgetting to breathe. Now get back to work." As endings go, it wasn't much, but then, the path of magic ws endless, and that suited him just fine, so in a way, one might call that a suitably fitting end._

Zesshi walked beside Thirg and Tefl Dahn as they made their way to the central gathering point, she pointed out things around the city that she recognized and remembered from her years of life in the city as they drew closer to their destination. To her great surprise, she felt very little about the place anymore, not even the satisfaction she expected from its almost total destruction. "Now that it's all over, have you considered what you'll do next?" She asked her long time Vice Commanders.

Thirg and Tefl gave one another a look of mutual wide eyed surprise. "I, we... we forgot that this could ever actually end." Thirg remarked with breathless shock in his voice.

"It's been so long for us... but that's a good question... what now?" Tefl asked her behemoth of a brother.

Zesshi slightly lowered her head in sympathy, stepping over the severed hand as they walked the long road up to where her world would start to change again, where the gods first came to their world. "I've heard that ruling a kingdom is tough, and that you need three things. Revenue, land, and good advisors. I've got the first two, and room for the third. Stay with me, we'll work something out."

The siblings traded another look, and slowly nodded their assent. "I think we'd like that." They said together. Tefl bowed her lithe, slender body in her Queen's direction, as did her brother.

"We can work out the details later, but for now, we don't want to be late." Thirg remarked.

"Good advice. You're getting the hang of it already." Zesshi smirked, and picked up the pace as low laughter followed behind her.

 _*It turned out that Thirg and Tefl had a knack for good advice, and stayed on throughout the reign of Queen Zesshi. The vampire elf siblings resided comfortably in Crescent Lake for centuries, occasionally filling in for the Queen when her duties or her 'impulses' carried her from the throne. They provided quick studies, and were avid supporters of the faith of their founder, and in their spare time, occasionally gave interviews, wrote short collaborative pieces, and contributed to the preservation of the memory of the age of heroes._

 _*Zesshi slipped more and more into her duties as the days went on and turned into years and years turned into decades which turned into centuries. She gradually rebuilt Crescent Lake into a thriving metropolis and the greatest city in the south. Trade flowed in and out from the great city, and by working with the temples of Black Justice over the years, elven slaves who were scattered by her former nation, were slowly able to return home and start their lives over again. The next century and a half after the victory at Kami Miyako became known in her homeland as 'The Grand Renewal'. As she'd promised Neia, a room was kept open in her palace for a papal visit. Though she seldom saw the Pope in person, correspondence was common, and always welcomed at both ends. As time passed and more descendants of her vile father were found, her family grew by leaps and bounds, but no growth was as welcome as that which took place within her own body, when she finally lay with the only male to defeat her utterly... But that story is told in 'The Undiscovered Country'._

Olasird'arc perched atop the capitol building of Kami Miyako, the former center of government, and watched the leaders of north and south alike gather together. Beside him, perched his now much more lean, younger son. "I'm going back home now, I suppose." The much humbled dragon monarch said with a weighty voice. He felt a pair of black eyes look up at him briefly, and shuddered. "You were right about that one, my boy."

Hejinmal didn't respond immediately, but when he did, he said, "I won't be going with you, father."

"No?" Olasird'arc replied, somehow unsurprised.

"No, Lady Aura is allowing me to travel, I want to see something new out there. Maybe you weren't wrong before, back when we used to argue. I hid in books because I was weak in body, but thanks to her, I'm stronger now. I want to join one of the exploratory ventures. See something of the world." Hejinmal remarked quietly.

Neither father nor son looked at the other for awhile. "The whole world is changing," Olasird'arc said sagely, "maybe seeing more of it, isn't a bad idea. I'll take care of the mountain, it isn't going anywhere, go, see the world, and come back when you're ready, with stories enough to tell that you'll write your own books instead of just reading those of others."

Hejinmal felt his mouth fall open in an unexpected laugh, "A dragon writer, who ever heard of that?" He paused, "Wait, not a bad idea. I may just do that, I'll see you again, when I return in a few years, father, and maybe, just maybe, I'll take your advice this time."

 _*After the ceremony, they each did as they said, Olasird'arc would aid in drawing other dragons into the service of His Majesty, with grand treaties offering mountain tops to dragons, as well as suitable labor to make them comfortable, in exchange for services to the Sorcerer King in the form of everything from long distance mail delivery and transportation, to military defense. And of course, to sweeten the deals, the strength of the Sorcerous Empire's military research developed ever better equipment with which to arm their dragon corps, fulfilling many a dragon's dream of great strength... and humbling those who felt dragons were not meant to serve._

 _*Hejinmal went on the first western expedition, using his ability to fly, to scout for dangers ahead of the ships, warning them of storms and occasionally, eliminating deadly sea monsters that broke the surface. He stayed overseas for three years, helping to establish the first colony on an uninhabited coastal island bordering what turned out to be a great continent with previously unimagined peoples, and when he did finally come home, his many letters were bound into a book, and it became a bestseller, sparking new waves of adventurous youth to take to the seas in the age of exploration. Occasionally he saw the rest of his family, but by and large he remained at Lady Aura's side, whose company he came to enjoy best, except when the itch for adventure struck, and out he'd go again._

Leinas stepped through the gate and found herself in E-Rantel once again. No ceremony. No pomp. Just her and a bustling city that was rapidly growing into the center of the world. Around her, shopkeepers were busy selling goods that were undreamt of years before, as well as those that were older than human memory. The smell of fresh baked bread was welcome, and she stopped to purchase a piece to eat on the way to the governor's manor.

That was when she started to really draw notice. Salutes and shouts greeted her all the way to her simple, private office, where the figure behind it simply stood up, moved aside, and offered her the chair. "All yours." The lich said in his polite, raspy voice.

"Thank you, it's good to be back." Leinas said politely as she got back to work.

 _*Leinas Rockbruise would often see Aureole Omega whenever the latter came to the city, and this didn't change when she accepted the order of immortality to prepare her to serve in the crisis for which the Sorcerer King was preparing. Though she retained her humanity, and kept age at bay by way of the occasional eating of an apple of Idun to remove the years from her. This went on until after the first advent, when she was rewarded by being allowed to age, and she walked into legend herself at the age of two hundred and ninety, without regret, without a mark on her, having lived a life worth writing about, after enjoying a lengthy retirement at a country estate in the empire she'd abandoned years before. The story of the cursed knight became popular children's fiction, and her life became a kind of morality tale about how hard work let someone overcome great obstacles._

The trio of Black Scripture members stepped out of the gate and into the palace of the Elf Queen, and word spread like wildfire that the war was over, and the Queen who rid them of their vile king, was coming home. Elves began to return to the outskirts of the city over the next few days, and Zesshi's loyal remainder took the initiative in helping to find places for them to stay, establishing temporary camps and order beyond the city as construction crews went to work dealing with the sudden influx of population from the freed slaves as well as the return of their armies and the released captives from elsewhere.

 _*Cenna and his companions remained for the rest of their lives in the Elf Kingdom, training new warriors and settling into peaceful lives that prepared future generations for war. One thing that remained in common with the Theocracy, was that they were encouraged to have children, to pass on their strength and prepare the Empire for the crisis only a handful knew was coming. The one tainting of their lives, for as long as they lasted, was the fact that they alone had lived. The Black Scripture had destroyed itself, and the memory of killing their own comrades, would haunt them for the rest of their days. The one comfort, they all said, was that seeing what Zesshi did, had them convinced she was worth it. That didn't change the bitterness, but it made it bearable at least, and sometimes that's the best anyone can ask for._

Nimble sat back in his chair within the governor's manor, sighing with relief as soon as word came that the war was over. "It's all over. Now the really hard part begins." He said to himself, and was relieved when Heikeren and Ira took the news well.

"Going home?" Heikeren asked as amicably as he could.

"Going to retire. This was enough for a lifetime." Nimble said begrudgingly, "I have a lot to process, and it won't be easy, I don't know if one lifetime is enough for it all."

"Well, maybe you can ask for some extra?" Ira forced the joke, but he laughed appreciatively regardless.

"Maybe so. But I'll be happy with a quiet retirement. Still, I hope everything works out here, I don't know what tomorrow will bring, but after all this, I'm happy to hear about it after the fact." He said firmly.

 _*Nimble wasn't joking about his retirement. He put in his papers the day he returned to the Baharuth Empire, and though he was often troubled by sleepless nights and terrible memories of what it had taken to put down the rebellion brought about by the Agante, he found some comfort in the occasional news of peaceful reconstruction. He settled into a country estate, and shut himself off from most of the world, save for a few friends. Though he privately and anonymously supported some veterans organizations along the way, and when he died at the age of eighty, he left everything to those, remarking in his final days that if only people grew tired of war as fast as they grew tired of singing, dancing, drinking, and sex, war would be rare and short, and it wouldn't have taken a god to bring peace to their lives._

Jircniv took his place in the line as the other monarchs began to form up, with Pe Riyuro falling in beside him. "It's been... something, hasn't it?" Jircniv remarked quietly as attendants began to set lights around the sacred space in the form of glowing staffs.

"It has, it has. My people have distinguished themselves, fought alongside dwarves, aided the lizardmen in raising themselves from the muck, and as a reward for service, as our numbers grow, there are lands being set aside for us to work with the Mountain Elves west of Feron and South of the Elf Kingdom. We're about to enter an age of unprecedented growth." Pe Riyuro replied as he gently embraced his friend, taking care not to harm him with his claws.

"It's strange to think of how far we've all come, from where we began. Once, we were each the center of our worlds, building on our power, and then in the blink of an eye, each of us became a mere spectator to the rising star of the Sorcerer King. Yet even I... didn't know then that I was going to be kneeling before a god. It seems... obvious, in retrospect." Jircniv said with a tired laugh.

"It does, but... the past is always clear, and the future always murky. Maybe if things were the opposite, we'd all be better off, but... what can we do?" Pe Riyuro asked with a shrug.

 _*What indeed? Pe Riyuro ruled for another thirty years, presiding over the rebuilding of his numbers, and provided with ample support in everything from healers to rare minerals, his people grew strong and numerous. He lived to see their numbers surpass the strength he'd thrown away to be slaughtered in a futile battle, and to see the first colonies established in distant mountain ranges. When he died, it was on his throne, still working tirelessly for his people, and he was remembered as the father of their future._

 _*Jircniv would rule until the age of sixty eight, when he would retire and pass the throne to his eldest son through his empress. He stayed on as an advisor for a year or two, before retiring outside of the city, far from the power he wielded for so long, and he died at the age of ninety-seven, respected for his wisdom, his acumen as a ruler, and his foresight. His birthday became a national holiday throughout the province that had once been an independent empire. Though occasionally the 'Bloody Emperor' was criticized by history for some of his brutality, the Sorcerer King only remembered him as the anonymous mentor, and at the end of it all, a very good friend, and not many people have gods saying that about them. He was widely mourned, even by those he once called rivals, and that alone, said enough about his character in the eyes of those who knew him._

Renner stepped through the gate along with her lover, her brother, and two 'guests' and found herself in Kami Miyako. She put her new nature on full display, and floated a few inches above the ground, slowly flapping her massive angel wings and looking at blood and destruction through pure, white eyes. "I knew I made the right choice." She said profoundly.

"My Princess?" Climb asked, curiously.

"Nothing, Climb. Nothing at all, now come along, I must bend my knee to our god, and I want you to observe, so that you know that even for all that I am, even I must bend to the greater." She said sweetly and laid her hand on his shoulder.

 _*Renner would have a multitude of children by the man who would become her husband, these half angel beings inherited the duality of both father and mother, and arguably were the better for it. Neither being cruel and obsessive, nor mindlessly loyal and impractically good. They walked a middle path that neither of their parents could, and prospered as a result. Renner remained her ruthless self in the service of her master, growing significantly in power and skill. Her lust and desire for her 'puppy' did not diminish, but her insecurity about his continued devotion, did. And with the growing confidence that he would not leave her, some of her obsessive madness faded, making her at least, a little happier and more comfortable with her life._

 _*Climb doted on his children and his wife, and came to enjoy her 'games' quite a bit, even if he did usually need a healing potion afterward. Kept young by the apples of Idun, he found satisfaction in palace life that was at last, free of double dealing politics, scheming maids, and constant threats of external destruction._

 _*Raeven did his best to assist King Zanac in governing wisely, though he never fully recovered from the events of the Katze Plains, his dedication to ensuring that it would never happen again, made him a potent force for diplomacy, as he traveled in entourages to the kingdoms east of the Sorcerous Empire to negotiate deals that would bring common prosperity without the risk of conflict. He died at the age of seventy-seven, days after returning home to his family estate, and much mourned by his wife, children, and colleagues. Zanac even had a special coin minted in his memory, that was produced for one day per year, every remaining year of his reign. The coin went by the name 'kingmaker' and was eventually used as the model for coins used in games of strategy where players had economies to manage. His son often reflected that his father would have been very proud of that._

Zanac stood on the other side of Pe Riyuro, lost in his own thoughts. 'My father is avenged, my country is avenged, my people are safe, my throne is safe, is this what winning feels like? If so... I like it.'

 _*Zanac had three children, founding a line of kings that would last for three hundred years of mortal rule, until one of Renner's half angel children took the throne, while she remained the power behind the throne. Often said to be the king who shouldn't have been, he was also said to be the king who deserved to be. He never forgot his father, though thought little enough of his disappointment of a brother. He ruled until the age of eighty-eight, and died on the throne he wasn't supposed to have gotten. In his last moment of life, he reflected that there was no better place for his time to end._

 _*Hilma was allowed to retire a year after the war ended, and settled comfortably into a town that sprang up on the Central One grand highway that the Sorcerer King had built. There she established herself as a name in the hospitality business, with few knowing of the earlier events of her life until it appeared in her obituary. Who she was, really was, became a thing of some controversy when it was found that she left all of her worldly wealth to either the courtesans who worked for her, or organizations meant to assist those who wished to leave that business behind. Most concluded that at the very least, she 'wasn't all bad'._

Brain stood outside the ceremonial area next to Alden, and crowds began to gather to watch as the kings and queens of nations came to bend a knee to Ainz Ooal Gown. "You're planning on leaving, aren't you?" Alden asked bluntly.

"How did you know?" Brain whispered the question by leaning slightly towards the young man.

"I know the 'I've got to get going' fidget, thank you very much. So where and why?" Alden asked, looking up to the blue haired warrior.

"West, to the Southern Holy Kingdom. And to pursue a dream." Brain replied eagerly.

"She'll let you go?" Alden asked, indicating the princess with a nod of his head.

"Yes. I already have permission." Brain said eagerly.

"Then I'll go with you. If I stay here, it'll be nothing but boredom and drinking, besides, you're broke, and I've still got enough money to live for a good long time without any effort, so... how about we work together, maybe I can help?" Alden replied with a whisper of his own.

 _*Alden did exactly that, taking the rest of his reward of gold, he traveled with Brain to the Southern Holy Kingdom, and to the greatest adventure of his life, and eventually to the title of Baron, which he passed on to his children when he died at the age of one hundred and two._

 _*Brain sought adventure and power in the Southern Holy Kingdom, waging his own private partisan war to bring down the government, though it was roundly denied that Queen Calca or the Sorcerer King provided him any aid, the question was never really settled, not even after he eventually won, and reunited the two kingdoms, giving it to the Sorcerer King in exchange for the power he sought to surpass his human limits. Many an experiment later... he began to realize his dream. As far as his life as the 'Holy King' he found he had more in common with the Queen than either expected, and the union was a happy one, though childless, and when the Queen passed away, he sought a life of adventure, abandoning the throne to her last wishes. He carved a mighty name into many a story, and the late Queen showed she had something of a petty side, as she had appointed one of Neia's children as her heir, a kind of final 'fuck you' to the disloyal south that she was never able to fully forgive._

The Dragon Lords watched the battle of Kami Miyako with abject horror. "What do we do?! What the hell do we do?!" They asked each other over and over as they watched 'gods' being made out of common humans, at least for awhile. "Do? I will tell you what we 'do'." The Worm Dragon Lord answered in a hollow voice. "We maintain our independence as long as we can, make ourselves into great neighbors, great trading partners, make it undesirable to go to war with us by cooperating in every way we can, so that 'if' he ever decides we need to become one nation with him, we can negotiate friendly terms for integration, with as much autonomy as we can manage. And until then, we maintain our national policy of not pissing him off!"

 _*The various dragon lords thought that to be very good advice, and this they did, retaining their independence entirely until giving it up partially during the rise of the next advent, and entirely favorably during the dread time of the Ragnarök advent, integrating peacefully into the Sorcerous Empire. Their plans worked so smoothly, that they believed in their hearts that it had all been part of his plan all along, though none ever found the will to voice it, and except for dire times, most never really even noticed that anything had changed, except for the better._

Lakyus watched from the sidelines with the rest of Blue Rose as power gathered at the place where human might was born with the return of the gods, broken with the coming of a new one, and, as she thought of it, reborn into something better. "Are you alright?" Lakyus asked Gagaran gently as the giant woman stood anxiously by.

"It's nothing. Just hearing things." Gagaran replied.

"What is-" Tia began.

"After this?" Tina finished.

"We'll have to pick an immortal form, I suppose." Lakyus said with an awed tone as she watched the Black Paladin embrace her Undead god. "Hard to believe I'll live to see two hundred."

"You get used to it." Evileye remarked with a smirk. "Just make sure you have a reason to get up in the morning, and it isn't a problem. Maybe, by the way, you should consider choosing 'vampire'. That way you'd all stay pretty, and who knows how powerful you might become?" She proposed as if she were suggesting breakfast.

"It's a bit much." Lakyus said, her eyes still fixed on the Pope.

"But you're not thinking about that now, are you?" Evileye asked gently as she reached out and touched Lakyus's arm.

"No, I guess not. I'm just... well she's a friend. And... I'm worried about her. I hate to think she did all this, and gets nothing but more trouble for it." Lakyus replied hesitantly. "I couldn't be how I am now, but for what happened in Kedyn. I guess... I'm overthinking things." Lakyus said with a sigh.

Gagaran grunted indifferently. "Just don't get too close to that one, bad things happen around her, and I don't want to see you getting caught up in it." She said coldly.

 _*Lakyus did not take Gagaran's advice, and remained a close friend to the Pope and her wife, throughout the Synod, and visited Neia when the pope was imprisoned after the investigation of Wheaton was completed a few years later. But she and her sisters did take on new forms, when suitable magic was developed that allowed them to do so with relative ease, and they spent their days in service to the Sorcerer King. When looking back on the age of heroes, she was often asked her thoughts on the matter, and summed it up in this way, "By the end of the war, it was often hard to tell who was good and who was evil anymore, but when I went through places like Wheaton, Wenmark, and Kami Miyako, and saw the terrible things done to others just for daring to exist as something other than human, and saw the hurt in my sister's eyes as she had to hide herself from those she loved... It was easy to remember then. Maybe nobody was perfect, but only one side wanted a better world for everyone... and whatever 'certain people' did to get there... it wouldn't have been necessary, if so many others hadn't lived to just make things worse."_

 _*Gagaran remained haunted by her own actions in Wheaton for as long as she lived, though the terrifying voice that told her to kill, did fade to a whisper in time._

 _*Tia and Tina opened a series of dojos that trained others in their skills, and it became a prerequisite for intelligence operatives in certain positions to attend them for a year or two in the course of their training._

 _*Keeno traveled the empire widely, often leaving her sisters for weeks or months at a time, but always they returned to the place they had made their headquarters in Re-Estize, to meet, to talk, to keep their long years of friendship and family ties, strong even through trying years, such as the challenges they faced when the advent threatened to ruin all they'd fought for. Keeno and Lakyus grew only more at ease with the changes in their lives and their world, as did the rest of their team, and made themselves truly comfortable in the new world._

Neia broke the embrace of her beloved undead father and stepped away as the last of the royals gathered together, spectators abounded, friendly and defeated alike. The lights were erect, and as the light of the sun slowly began to drift away from the world, shadows drifted along the sacred ground. Skana took a place to one side, while the Sorcerer King stood behind his faithful pope, on the exact spot the first of the six had supposedly stepped on for the first time.

He watched her cloak flap lightly in the breeze. It was warm, as a gift to the attendees, he'd chosen to make the weather like that of late spring and early summer, ensuring maximum comfort for his guests, and maximum awe from the defeated.

Neia's straw colored hair was clean and unbound, a little longer now than it had been, if not by much. He thought back to when he'd first seen her, a scary looking face and unflappable will to offer up her life if it bought her country even a year. 'Impressive, even then, and she was barely more than a child. Now? Now she's a grown woman with a name, a reputation, and despite the fact that she now seems as tall as a mountain to look at her... She's still so young... could anyone be expected to go through all that? I didn't help matters. Even if I can't ever tell her, I have to make up for the death of her village, and her parents. I'm a level one God now... and what kind of God can't do that? I'll have to be a better boss, for all their sakes, the world doesn't need a do-nothing god, any more than it needs dead ones.'

The train of thought was broken as Neia cleared her throat and spoke with the passionate and almost musical voice that made so many listen to her. Her words were free of wrath or threat or the rage that had grown up in her over the previous few years. Her arms opened out as the Kings and Queens bent their knees and lowered their eyes.

They then repeated after her. "Strength through Justice, Justice through Strength, in the name of our God, Ainz Ooal Gown, we pray for both, and condemn Weakness, the root of all sins, repudiating it utterly. We therefore commit ourselves to the will of the one true god of this world, offering our bodies, our souls, our skills, our hearts, and our minds, that we may become better than before, in all things."

One and all, their voices were raised in harmony as they accepted the rise of their god as the sun slowly set in the distance. Neia's face was bright with happiness, and those soldiers of Black Justice who observed, in particular, her hundred, drew their swords and thrust them into the stone, easily penetrating the rock as they knelt and rededicated themselves to the faith they had adopted for themselves. It was easy then, to tell the victor from the vanquished, as the act spread from faithful to faithful, as if a stone had dropped into still waters and created a vast ripple, hundreds of thousands of soldiers imitated the act, and the oath went from the handful of mighty rulers, to those who had long since, and only just, alike, accepted the faith. The mass rededication sent a wave of happiness through Neia's heart, until the last sound of the last word had faded.

"Now rise! Rise servants of our Lord, and let us dedicate ourselves to rebuilding this world, in accordance with His sacred will!" Neia's voice echoed everywhere without even the slightest effort, and the sound of so many rising as one, echoed for several more seconds off the many broken walls of the defeated city.

Neia turned her back to the royals and approached her master, her father, her god. "It is done. Now, My Lord... your servant begs your orders, how may she serve you next?" She had a solemn, intense look on her face that reminded him again of their first meeting, when he lowered her head to accept it's removal.

"Now," he said as he put his hands to her shoulders and looked into the swirling void of her black eyes, that were marked by only by a pair of tiny red dots, "you feast, you rest, and of course, there is the Synod. Royalty has bent the knee, next, it will be the priesthood." He said proudly.

"Yes! My Lord." Neia grinned, and as he waved over her wife, he quietly withdrew himself and ordered that the entire store of food be opened up, to feed even the fallen city itself.

*Neia's story continues in 'The Synod: The Book of Black Justice' and is concluded in 'The Trial: Journey's end'. But for now... in the hours after the simple ceremony, she couldn't help but feel it was all a little anticlimactic. The world didn't burst into light, the sun set as it always had, and while the celebrations were wildly enjoyed by countless figures who were overjoyed by the end of the war... she walked back to her tent with her wife in silent contemplation.

"You were expecting something?" Skana asked as she began to undress.

"I... guess. The world doesn't look any different now than it did a few hours ago, I was just... well, I don't know what I thought." Neia said as she poured two glasses of wine.

Skana's green eye blinked back at her, "Dear, you know better than anyone, changes don't take place overnight. This was the founding moment, there's nothing left in the way. All we did, was build the race track, it's now set for us to start running, this was the start, not the finish."

Neia grinned broadly, "You always know how to make me feel better." She said and drank her wine down in one long, slow motion before she set the empty glass aside. "Now get the rest of those clothes off." She winked, and Skana obliged with a laugh.

They spent the rest of the night drunk, happy, relaxed, and lost in one another's embrace. Which to the Vice Commander, was the real point of everything. Neither knew the troubles that were brewing around the corner only a few weeks away, nor the earth shattering moment that threatened to tear their lives apart a few years later. But even had they known all that, it wouldn't have changed the bliss of that evening. And as far as Neia was concerned, that day alone, and the night that went with it, was worth a lifetime of trouble... especially for the years she got in return.

 _*From these years of war and change that saw the old falter and the new begin, many actors were born on the great stage of life, yet every entry has its exit, and while there are too many names to give them all, here stand the legacies of some few. Yet first it must be said..._

 _*They did with their lives what they wished, which is the truest freedom, even with its consequences. The young who mourned their parents would learn to live with the loss, and make the best lives they could in a world that truly let them do so, they faced challenges and trials, and lived on the foundation of those who fought to give them that world. Goan never forgot his mother, and named his first daughter after her. Moira's final days resulted in her gaining some renown, and she had a building or a street named after her on almost every military base._

 _*Aalon settled into the role of governor in the mountain range west of the Theocracy, ruling from Feron, the 'Mountain Elves' stayed in the town they made, creating the only mountain elf culture in the world, eventually they even earned the praise of the dwarves for the application of their superb long term thinking to the crafting of their understone civilization. Aalon settled down with Elpida, though the ghost of the life he wanted but he'd have with Nua never vanished, it became like a dull ache that he learned to live with. His wife knew of course, but in keeping with her better nature, she never made it an issue, choosing not to put herself in competition with the ghost of a nonexistent life. He went back to the grave of his 'almost son' every year, and sometimes, when Nua was there as well, they could clasp hands to think of what might have been._

 _*Aorli rose to the rank of governor herself, and used her close ties to the elven province to aid in the development of her region. Though for the rest of her life there would be nights she would wake up in a cold sweat and look around, fearing that she was still back in Kami Miyako, the nightmares did not rule her days, and over the passing decades the terrors of the night became fewer and fewer._

 _*Tinamoc would become famous as 'the mute merchant' as luck would have it, his inability to speak became an asset, because he never said anything foolish or gave anything away. He would revolutionize the guild system and education in economics and trade. The delivery of his tongue to a temple had not been forgotten, and he was given a year of study in Ashurbanipal, where he devoured every treatise on wealth and commerce that he could grab. He passed away in peace at the age of eighty-seven, mourned by those who knew him, with his wife and many adopted children that he took late in life, burying him with honors, his funeral attended by his entire community._

 _*Ulthis and Cercei would eventually become far more than simply ruler and advisor, though they could not have children, they did not die and required no heirs, the city became their child, and it was dearly loved and well raised as a result._

 _*The martial lord, Go Gin remained a champion until he was late in his years, before finally he settled down to find a wife for himself, and unwittingly created a line of champions as a result._

 _*Astraka died of terror in a cave in the Southern Holy Kingdom, when he learned that the country was going to rejoin the north and become part of the Sorcerous Empire. He did sire a number of ratmen during his short freedom, and they would grow greater and stronger than their peers, and make their way in the world with far greater fortune than their father had._

 _*The 'Iron Governor' Tenva, had his name cleared after the war, with Enri confessing that yes, she'd lied her ass off to still resistance in the city of Ikari, and he earned a new nickname, 'The Unbowed'. He returned to the governorship of his city eventually, and created the first veterans associations expressly for Theocracy survivors, and with the help of both Boabdil and Enri, and some covert support from the Sorcerer King, he was able to bring many of his veterans back from the brink of self destruction._

 _*Eire mourned for Petyr for the rest of her life, she birthed a son that was his spitting image, and eventually sold the bar and everything in it, taking her child and moving north, trying to find Petyr's family so that she could at least let them see their grandson. She made the best of things, settling on a small but comfortable farm, and was at least able to find some peace with her child and grandchildren before she too, passed away at the age of sixty-eight in her own bed, under her own roof._

 _*Cormeum took over his father's shop after the older man died in battle, and per Petyr's request to Kirak, he received ample support in getting himself started, when he learned who Petyr really was, and why he stopped showing up, he first grew angry, then laughed, and as the years passed he remembered the part time blacksmith with brighter and brighter fondness, eventually he married, fathered children, and named one of them after the man who helped to save his shop even as he sought to overthrow the city._

 _*Kirak and Shanda took their rewards and moved out of Crossroads after ensuring they'd done all they sought to do, eventually settling in the Re-Estize Kingdom where they applied their skills to the stage, and became renowned performers, starting one of the most successful theater companies in the region, performing until they grew too old for easy travel, and settling down to a quiet life in a comfortable home, where they died of old age a few years later._

 _*Bertra, formerly Berenice, lived happily in Crescent Lake, became the proprietor of a bookshop, which expanded into a tea cafe, married, had several children. And she paid the local Black Justice temple to keep a pair of candles lit for Raymond and Ginedine all year, every year, until her own passing at the age of nine hundred and eighty-two, her true identity not revealed to those who knew her, until Queen Zesshi herself appeared at her funeral and told the story as she knew it._

 _*Yuri, renamed Myne, endured more torment than she ever thought she could bear, and was eventually broken into service. In time, she became an operative of great renown within the secretive realm of the Sorcerer King's intelligence apparatus, as she worked diligently for one and only one reward. To forget everything. A reward she finally achieved, in the closing days of the next advent to strike the Empire._

 _*Thousand Mile Astrologer would hunt Agante enclaves for the better part of a hundred years, until none remained in the Sorcerous Empire, and she began to engage them in a more duplicitous way in the borders beyond the Sorcerous Empire, using her power to inspire, to secretly join their ranks, rise to the top, and turn them into yet another tool of the Sorcerer King's power._

 _...An unmarked location in the Slane Theocracy..._

The plains were silent save the rustle of grass as the wind blew. A woman in a red and black dress stood in front of a stone monument decorated with the sigil of Ainz Ooal Gown, hands folded in front of her as she read the plaque for the fifth time in a row.

"Here lay the forgotten dead." It read, "Heroes to their nation, one and all."

Area Guardian Grant, unknown to all but herself, read it a sixth time.

"So what happens now?" She suddenly asked out loud. Silence answered her, not even the birds chirped.

"Do not know." A timid voice answered from at her feet.

Grant bent down and retrieved her wayward child, cuddling him to her breast. It was time to slip back into anonymity. If Lord Ainz needed her, she would be there. She would always be there.

 _*Grant would later be assigned a position topside, contrary to her beliefs of continued isolation. While originally skeptical, humans would gradually come to accept the arachnoid as a valuable liaison to the Sorcerer King. Although she would never form any lasting relationships, she began to see humans as more than food. Her relationship with Entoma Vasilissa Zeta was eventually repaired. With the blessing of Ainz Ooal Gown, Entoma was allowed to take Grant on tours of various cities, similar to what she had done with Berenice._

 _Grant would never be a figure in legend, and she liked it that way. All she needed were her children, and Entoma._

 ** _...Of course… There is but ONE more thing to be told..._**


	212. The Rest Begins

_...Decades Later...Papal Estate of Neia Baraja..._

"Good morning my love." Neia said softly as she got up out of bed. Giving her morning greeting to Skana as she had for many years.

"Mphf, five more minutes." Was her usual response, as was Neia's laughter. It was older, it was creaky, it was nonetheless full of life, though she required a little 'help' now. The elf girl who assisted her as she dressed always cracked a little smile as the retired warrior pope made a remark that, once again, it was harder to manage a pair of pants than it had been to manage Remedios, and she needed a partner for it.

The servant was one of those Neia had gotten out of Kami Miyako in the days when both her despair and her glory had reached some of their greatest heights. The girl had been attending her for some fifty years now, and was well paid enough that she could have retired thirty years ago if she'd wished, yet here she remained, unwilling to concede her employment to the house that had rescued her, and for that, Neia was grateful.

"Today is going to be... a little different, Enlaith... I need you to send out some invitations, and then... I need your help writing some things, a lot of things." Neia said with a warm grin as she put her wrinkled hand on the young looking elf's shoulder. "You don't mind, do you?"

Enlaith smiled in return, "It is a point of pride to help you, my lady."

She meant it too, hour after hour the invitations were made and dispatched, and sent to the many corners of the Sorcerous Empire. To the newly settled lands out at sea, where the royal Governor, Goan, ruled the colonies, to the far south of Crescent Lake, to the very hand of Zesshi Zetsumei. From the far north in the Argland Province, to the east where the Imperial Governor, Jircniv's son, still ruled. From small homes to great palaces, invitations flew like sunlight at the break of dawn.

Skana of course, even if she did not move like she did in her sword dancing youth, was quick to take up Neia's notion of a grand ball hosting all those they knew who still lived. She sought to hire an additional hundred servants just to attend the great country manor for that day, only to find herself swamped with elven volunteers willing to do it for free, just to pay a small part of their debt back for their rescue a human lifetime ago. She laughed and acceded to their wishes, allowing them to train on site under the tutelage of those who had served at the grand estate for longer.

"Will this place hold everyone on the list, do you think?" Neia asked in a creaky, somewhat concerned voice.

Skana smiled, "My dear wife, always the worrier, yes, when the Sorcerer King created this place for us, he made it larger than any two palaces in the entire continent, the ballroom will hold everyone twice over with comfortable space to spare. I'm sure of it. The dragon lords of Argland will not be in their draconic forms anyway, so we'll be fine. Just worry about looking good for when they get here and... maybe buy a few footstools, you're not as tall as you used to be." She said with a wink, wiping away the concern on Neia's face and replacing it with laughter.

"I'm sure everyone will be careful, nobody will want to knock over little ninety-two year old me." She said sweetly. "Now, would you walk the estate with me, my wife, I brought some stamina potions so that we'd have the energy to make it." She then reached into a pouch and pulled out several to prove it.

Skana chuckled, "I may be ninety-six, but I'll bet you still use more of those than I do."

Neia's eyes of terror narrowed mischievously, "It's a bet." She said, and looked over to where Elesia stood, "Come along, help me walk, I'm in no rush, but I would like to see it all before dinner."

A strapping and young looking elven male took Skana's arm, and she looked over at her wife and said dryly, "It's barely breakfast."

Neia winked in response.

They shuffled along through the grounds of the grand estate, countless portraits and statues lined the walls. "This was, I think, one of Shalltear's best ideas." Neia said emphatically.

"What's that?" Skana asked beside her as they held one another's hands.

"Using our estate as a springboard for artistic careers. With so much space, she can promote many talented artists, but at the same time, keep it 'exclusive'. However once a painting has hung here for a year and we let it go, the artist's name is made, and they can find work anywhere in the empire. She came a long way from who she was so long ago." Neia said in a voice that spoke of her pleasure in praising the vampire girl. "Now what do they ask at museums before taking pieces? 'Has it hung in the papal manor?' I think it was something like that anyway." Neia tried to recall, but couldn't and shrugged dismissively.

"That was very effective I suppose." Skana acknowledged.

Neia's estimate of how long it took to traverse the entire estate was almost correct, they finished roughly one hour before dinner was due to be served.

"This is going to be a truly massive event." Skana said as they ate. "Perhaps we should make it an annual gathering." She said, brushing the long gray hair from the side of her face.

"My Skana, my precious Skana... you're always the optimist." Neia said with the warmth of a lifetime in the eyes of terror.

 _...Two weeks later..._

The arrival of so many great world figures had become the talk of the Sorcerous Empire, almost every Guardian of Nazarick was in attendance, as was the Sorcerer King himself, Imperial Governor Jircniv, the entirety of Blue Rose, the ruler of Newlands, Governor Goan and his team, Kuuderika and Nemu, Zesshi Zetsumei, Draudillon, Calca, even the many children, grandchildren, and great grandchildren of Neia and Skana who had scattered themselves to the four winds, returned for this occasion, aided by copious use of the Gate spell, even the now ancient Enri and her husband left their estate.

It was a true 'who's who' of world power. But to Neia and her wife, it was a 'who's who' of who had shaped their lives and the world they knew, and too, it included a long list of those they loved, from the now powerful Robel, to the always energetic Cersei and her consort, Ulthis.

The great green grounds were immaculately prepared and decorated for their arrival. It was with an energetic wave that it had taken two stamina potions each to give them the power to make, that a widely smiling Neia and Skana greeted their long awaited guests. The Sorcerer King and Albedo were the first to approach, and of course he embraced the couple warmly. "Daughter, daughter in law, I'm so happy to see you." He said, leaving off, as all others did, that the couple looked every inch their ages, bowed by the weight of time and held up only by canes and supporting arms.

"Come in, come in!" Neia shouted, giving her voice a burst of evangelical power as she inched her way back into her home from atop the stairs, they made their way joyfully into the great hall.

As they gathered, they found a great feast had been prepared, there were blood donors for the vampires, wearing formal attire, theirs were unique in that the forearm sleeve was red, while the rest was black, thus vampires would know whom they could feed from without offending or upsetting others. Among the many guests were those from her famous hundred who still lived, some were very old, while others had through one means or another, retained their youth. Stories were traded left and right as food and drink was consumed, and many a long distant companion was embraced again as if they had never parted. Zesshi Zetsumei made sure to take the time to find a few moments with the warrior pope.

"It's been a long time." Zesshi said, a smile gracing her lips as she gently took the hand of the one who sought to save her people.

"Wouldn't know it by looking at you." Neia said warmly as a wrinkled smile stretched across her face.

"Listen, I never got to say this before, and I didn't want to say it any other way but in person. But... thank you. Thank you for seeing us as people. If you hadn't, I don't know what I would have done, or where I would have turned when my eyes were opened. You did a great thing for me, and it will be remembered as long as I rule at the very least." Zesshi said with a mix of sincerity and humility in her voice, and she bowed her head deeply.

"I did what needed to be done, and so did you, there is no need for thanks, I wish I had been able to do all that I sought to do." Neia said in answer, and she grasped Zesshi's hand in both of hers.

'So frail...' Zesshi thought as the wrinkled grip held her hand, 'but those eyes, even more powerful than the day we met.'

Shortly thereafter, the meal was done, and the army of servants who had been giving food and drink to their guests, removed tables and chairs, and musicians appeared as if by magic.

Again Neia's voice reached out to every ear as she announced it was time to dance.

She embraced her wife as she drank another stamina potion, her arm wrapping around Skana's waist, she took her hand and as the music drifted over them all like a warm summer breeze, the attendees moved to take partners and joined hands. The movements were slow, out of respect for the hosts, it was kept to music that the elderly women could manage.

In the arms of one another, gazing into each other's eyes, the long years of life fell away, and Skana saw not the elderly woman, but the woman who she loved at her finest hour, who screamed such defiance at demihumans and who fought so hard that the terrible beasts who treated humans as food, shrank in terror from the gaze of the mad eyed archer. She saw the woman she loved on their first night together, when Neia had been at her most vulnerable, and had allowed that first embrace. She saw the woman she loved on the night of their wedding, when the Sorcerer King stood for her as a father might, and Calca had stood as a mother. So too, did Neia see into her in turn, the playful smile, the teasing looks, the fierce look of loyalty that would not let her fight alone against terrible enemies and terrible odds. For just that moment, their ages were no longer evident to one another, and it was another time and another place, and none of the world existed, until the music stopped.

It would be but a moment before another song began, so Neia leaned in and whispered, "Let me go see father for this one."

Skana smiled and squeezed the hand of her wife, then let her grip slip away as Neia drank another stamina potion, hand hobbled over to where the King was preparing to dance with Albedo. She laid her hand boldly upon Albedo's arm, and gave the beautiful succubus a smile. "Excuse me, may I cut in, just this once."

Albedo gave a small nod of approval, and stepped aside, allowing Neia to fall into the always powerful grip of the undead ruler she loved. Once upon a time, Albedo would have cut someone down for making such a suggestion, however it had been Neia's counsel that set her at her ease when the Sorcerer King's time as a human had taken place. Neia's support for Albedo as his first wife had proven significant, such that the demonic succubus found her way to a degree of appreciation for the relentless human girl, and so granted her broad leeway that she did not grant to any other.

The music began again, and they started to move with it. "It's been amazing, hasn't it." Neia said to her father with a wan smile on her face.

"It has." He replied. "When I first saw you, you were a bold little girl with a fierce gaze and a death wish. But you grew so fast, faster than I'd dreamed possible."

She laughed, "I had a great teacher, father. When I first saw you, I saw a terrifying but noble being, and the hope of my kingdom. You never failed to impress me, not even when you confessed that you were basically 'winging' all your greatest moments."

"Now here we are." He replied wistfully.

"Yes," she said softly, "I still wake up and wonder that this is all so, and not just some dream during the invasion from which I will awaken."

"It's real, of that you may be sure." He replied, "I'm so proud of you." He whispered to her.

She pressed her face against his chest, keeping her wrinkled face turned to one side as he wrapped his arms around her back.

"That's the greatest reward of all, father." She whispered and rested her head wearily into his chest as the song went on.

Though the hour was not late, as the music faded, Neia called for a halt to the dancing and the army of servants appeared again, this time bearing many chairs, enough for every guest to take a seat in the grand hall. Only when everyone was seated in luxuriant comfort that was enchanted for just that purpose, did she take center stage for herself. Standing as she did, she took one more stamina potion and gingerly asked, "Are you going to let me stand here? I'd like a chair too." She winked, and a special chair was brought out for her, one that gave her a few extra inches of viewing height as she was seated. Enlaith helped her into it, and then she said, in a voice made powerful again... "Can I ask for my children, grand children, and great grand children to come up, please, stand behind me." A myriad of faces rose and walked between the rows, until they stood behind their ancestor. "Skana, please, join me at my right hand. Father, please come to my left." Her voice, though it reached every ear, had already begun to lose some of its volume, even if it retained all of its power.

When they were all standing where she'd asked, she reached out and took their hands in a grip weakened by a lifetime, then and only then did she begin to speak to the gathered host.

"I'm sure many of you all are wondering why I've invited you here today, some of you I have seen often, some of you I have seen seldom, but all of you have been part of my life for so long that I can barely recall a moment when at least one or more of you was not at hand." Her voice bore the weight of age on it, but the power to move hearts had yet to fade from her, and she restrained herself not even a little. "CZ, you were the first real friend I ever made. Lakyus, you became like a sister at the last Battle of Prart. Calca, you stood before me at my wedding. Albedo, your wisdom propped up many a flagging moment of doubt, and you treated me as if you'd borne me yourself. Ainz, my father, you were all the god a world could ask for, all the king a kingdom could ask for, and all the father any girl, any woman, could ever ask for. Zaryusu, we trained ourselves beyond our limits, pushing minds and bodies to the breaking point only to find we could still do more... Skana, my wife, what more could I have ever dreamed of in a mate? You filled a void in my life I once thought would remain ever empty. Vanysa, clever demoness, you took personal care to get me the help I needed when my courage in asking for it faltered. Demiurge, your test of my will and devotion gave me my place in Nazarick's order, brutal as it may have been at the time, the will to do what is needed, no matter what it is, will always be vital to the future of the world..."

She paused, her breathing was difficult, she looked down, her chest was rising and falling, finally she looked up, the eyes of terror with their whorling darkness were more comfort than anything. "And our children, grand children, and great grandchildren who have gathered here today, in you lies the comfort of knowing the world will be well cared for, whatever challenges may come. I... have so much to say, but speaking is so much more tiring than it once was so..." She gestured to her left, and began to breath hard for a moment, as if she'd finished a long battle, not a short statement, as an elf wheeled out a cart bearing letters. "I have one for all of you. I pray that will be sufficient."

"Neia..." Ainz said hesitantly.

She looked up at him as she took his hand, "Father... father please let me finish... it is hard to get it out so please, while I can..."

He went quiet.

"I have had... quite a life, adventure, danger, terror, pain, hardship, growth, happiness, love, loss... if there were other gods than the one I serve, they would be named Magic, Tragedy, and Necessity, and all three would have walked with me up to this very moment. But for all the worst parts in dark days, the best parts shine brighter than the sun on a clear summer's day, and I am glad of having walked the road I have, even if it was less traveled by than it might have been. Doing so made all the difference, and even though not all made it with me to the end... Gascon, Gilcrest, Gustav... Il-Ilyanna... I'm still glad I walked it. It has still been an amazing life, one I wouldn't have traded for any other. I helped change the shape of the world into something entirely new. I couldn't have asked for a greater privilege, and it became something I don't fit into anymore. After everything that happened, maybe that should have made me bitter, but it never did. If anything, despite everything, I'm happy, because a world where people didn't ever have to be that way, was what I wanted all along. Thank you, thank you for everything... I love you all. I'm- I'm going to sleep now. Wake me if you need anything."

Ainz looked at her, he could make no expression, but he whispered softly, "Neia... daughter... please..."

She whispered softly, "Is this not the goal of all life? Besides, don't worry, it's like I told my wife when we were before the Golden Fortress, 'You will never lose me.' She spoke a little louder then, as if desperate to be heard from across a chasm that was growing wider with every moment. "Please... know this, that if those who pass from this life do have souls that know still who they are, and carry with them the love of those they knew, though I am unseen, I will not be far from you, in strong winds and gentle breezes, think of me, and I will be again." She reached gently squeezed the bones that made up the Sorcerer King's fingers, he forced himself to relax, and squeezed her hand, her own grip was already more fragile than he had ever known it.

She looked over to her gathered host and as she closed her eyes, she said in a voice weaker than any had ever heard out of her, but which carried to the great full hall from nearest ear to most distant, "I'm tired... so very, very tired." So her eyes closed, though her lips moved, no words came out, and then she was still, in less time than it takes for a leaf to fall from branch on a windless day, all were silent.

Her breath halted, and her heart ceased to beat. Thus, Neia Baraja, woman of legend, who rose from orphan squire to the voice of an unliving god, who heralded the new world and birthed it in blood and pain as if it were another of her many children, quietly slipped away. As if it were the last part of her to die, the weak grip she had maintained on the hands of her wife and her divine father, grew slack as the strength and warmth of life fled her body.

In the moments after her death, the elf servants did as they had been ordered, and distributed her final words to one and all. Ainz's emotional dampener was shattered into a thousand tiny fragments and a cry of loss escaped his mouth as he felt life leave her flesh, but it was not rage that broke through, it was mourning. The guests, her companions, peers, loved ones, one by one, each lost in their own emotions, opened her final parting words for them, and more than a few broke down completely over what they'd read. When it was over, and Skana quietly clung to the hand of her wife, wet tears dripping slowly down to touch the fallen legend, and was slowly surrounded by their children and the children of those, and the children of those, who embraced her fiercely, sharing in her loss. Ainz took the letter meant for him, in trembling, skeletal hands, and read while the already cooling body of his daughter proved to the world that another of the great heroes of their age had passed into the realm of legend.

Neia's body was wrapped, preserved, and carried in a state funeral all throughout the Sorcerous Empire, where crowds in the hundreds of thousands gathered to pay their respects, but nowhere outside of Nazarick was she more honored, than in the provinces of the Elves, where Queen Zesshi instituted a state holiday expressly to allow all those who had escaped bondage thanks to the lifelong efforts of the Pope and founder of Black Justice, to attend the passing of her body through the capital. This passing was unique to all others, in that Zesshi had arranged that every elf who was rescued by her or her organization, was allowed to bear the glass container holding her body, and pass it overhead to the next person. The line stretched for three and a half miles before the pall bearers who brought it, took it up again. It was said that if one could gather all the tears the elves shed that day, from the lands of Aorli to the lands of Zesshi together, you could have turned the sea salty.

It was months before the long circuitous route finally brought it to Nazarick where Ainz had a small stone mausoleum put into place on the sixth floor on an island he had raised within the lake, just a single room, large enough for two to pass abreast, and for two bodies to be laid out on display. When the body of his daughter finally arrived, he saw personally to her internment, suspending all other work and placing it there with the greatest reverence. He lingered there for a very long time, until Albedo herself came to draw him out, and they shut the heavy door with care together and sealed it up. Sealing it was utterly unnecessary, but it was the last protection he could offer her, and that he would not be denied.

It was not unsealed again until two years later, when Skana finally joined her wife in death at the age of ninety eight. The couple was survived by eight children, eighteen grandchildren, and nine great grandchildren.

In the days and years that passed, the story of the pope became one of the most popular legends of the New World, her eyes inspired endless works of art, and to play Neia or Skana on stage and do it well, was said to be the greatest launching point for any actress, or the career ender, if it was done poorly. Old legends were retold, and history kept alive by the immortals who bore witness to her actions, and the long lived races of elves did not forget their patron saint. Zesshi had special coins minted that bore the face of their saviors, and these were put into circulation only once a year on the anniversary of Neia's founding of Black Justice.

However in tandem with the stories of old, a new story began to grow, seemingly out of nowhere, the story became that Neia was not truly dead, but only 'sleeping' and would rise again one day at her father's bidding when she was needed to confront a foe that would require all the power the empire could muster in order to save itself. Thus after death, she gained one final title to add to the litany of ones she already had attained in life: 'The Once and Future Pope'

Whenever Ainz was asked about this however, he would always give the same response, "Let my daughter rest. She has earned it." Then he would resume his work.


	213. Excerpts from Heroes in a Heroic Age

"She was a squire who became a daughter, a soldier who became a legend. I asked too much of her, I often thought, but she delivered, and when she did, she changed the world, not many people get to live a life that so shaped the course of events for so many. And because of her, a lot of people of many races are better off. I miss her, I miss her every day, but I don't forget her, and I visit her resting place whenever I... feel certain things, and when I do... sometimes I think I can still feel her, hear her, praising me and calling even a god, to be more than that." _~Ainz Ooal Gown "Heroes in a Heroic Age" p.1_

"She was my friend. She was cute, even old. That's why I put a sticker on her forehead when we put her in the box. I miss her, and her wife, also a good friend. That is why I teach their children. Both were hard, but so were the times. They made things better. What more do you want than that?" _~CZ Delta (In an interview at the Baraja practice field) as published in "Heroes in a Heroic Age" p.35_

"Who won the war? Sounds like a stupid question, doesn't it? After all, the Sorcerer King's flag waved over Kami Miyako, that's what defeat looked like for us. But you know, more than anything else, I think it wasn't the Sorcerer King who won. It was his subjects. He already had wealth and power, he was already the ruler of an empire. What do a few more provinces matter? No. The real winners of the war were the subjects who won brotherhood without borders from one corner to the next. There is no tavern or merchant door through which a uniformed and armored vampire cannot walk without being greeted as a hero. There is no place that a demihuman can't buy a farm or land for a ranch. No city in which an elf would walk, where they need to fear the lash of the master. The auction blocks are gone now, most of them left to rot and some torn down, people who recognize me, sometimes ask how I feel about that. I grew up in the Slane Theocracy, fought for it, bled for it, and would have died for it if that would have done any good. It's strange, I admit, to wave to a passing elf, and see no collars, no whipping posts for public discipline, to hear no barkers calling out prices and lauding the virtues of the stock they had to sell. But I don't miss those things, I have a more peaceful world, and that's all anyone worthwhile really wants, that their home be safe from threats. I didn't much like that old institution, forgive me a moment as I quote Dominic, but he once said 'The problem of the elf slaves is that we're stuck riding a wolf, we can't let go, and we can't get off, if we do, it'll turn on us.' In a strange way, he was right, but the Sorcerer King solved that problem for us. I may never really forgive Neia for what she did to my people, but I'd be a liar if I said, after what we did to hers, after we sent that damned monster to her, that I don't understand it. And also, I know this, she could have done a lot worse, and when it came down to it, chose not to. Does that make her a saint? No. But there have been worse winners, and worse losers, than she and I in this world." _~General Boabdil "Heroes in a Heroic Age" p.45_

"I ended up loving the girl I hated. She became my hero, my commander, my wife. A lot of people never let go of their resentment towards her, I guess that's kind of a sore spot for me, because what else was she supposed to do? The world, our very god, asked the impossible of her, and she delivered, as did we all. Imperfectly perhaps, but his will was done, nonetheless. Now here I am, she's been gone a year now, and I think I won't last much longer myself, not that I mind. I want to lay down beside her one more time, our children will be fine, the world is in their hands now, and still led by our divine lord. So what have I to fear? We set an example I think, that is 'mostly' worth following. There are still people who want to criticize my wife, Johnny come lately types, spectators, armchair critics who think they could have done better, or who sit in comfort in the places that she led armies over. Screw them. You want to get down to the bottom line, imagine you're in chains somewhere, some master with a whip, some mistress with her cruel whims, who do you want outraged over it? Neia Baraja, who brought down kings and broke chains... or one of these damn soft fools who sit idle on the peace our blood bought for them and say how they'd have done different? You're damn right you'd want her, because she would never stop, never quit, never say die until there was nothing left of her, to break your chains and get you home. If that isn't a hero, then I don't know what is. Sorry, I don't mean to lose my temper with you, I know you're just asking questions, but I've found my patience has gotten less with age."

 _~Skana Baraja, in her final interview, "Heroes in a Heroic Age" p. 125_

"People say we were heroes who lived in an age of heroism, but I think we just did what we had to do. When I think back on the things she did, that's how I see her. As someone just doing what she thought she had to do. Whether she was right or not, a lot of people have had different opinions about that. Many have decried her as bloodthirsty, violent, sadistic, or cruel. I think back on the way she treated captured overseers though, and the way she lost herself in Wheaton... and I see something different. It wasn't pleasure, or even hate, that drove her. It was pain. I didn't really start to understand this until she went to trial and I saw the way she reacted as the stories were told about what she witnessed. Her eyes might have inspired incredible terror, but behind all that rage, behind all that fury and power, lay a wounded soul. All her violence, all her brutality, looked at through that lens, was just a defense from the horror of her own circumstances, it was all she could do to maintain some semblance of sanity, and crush the thing that hurt her. Maybe, in a strange way, she was the best of us, and what she did was just what happens when you break someone like that. And if that is true? If I'm right? Then there but for the grace of luck go I." _~Lakyus "Heroes in a Heroic Age" p.134_

"She gave my people back their souls, made the world see evil for what it was, and more than anyone else, gave me a side to join when my own turned out to be... all wrong. I'll never forget her, she was never as strong as I was, but she was more firm in her convictions than I had ever been. More than that, she was a friend, and I was proud to serve at her side. Maybe some people say she went too far, but I say... screw them. What good did they ever do? She tried to warn others to stop, and they wouldn't. To me, when confronted with that kind of will and that kind of power, refusal to stop atrocity is the same as suicide. She'll be a hero to us forever, and anyone she isn't a hero to, is probably my enemy." _~Zesshi Zetsumei "Heroes in a Heroic Age" p. 223_

"Viewed from the perspective of the peaceful, the devout, the genuinely good who loved the gods of their forefathers and foremothers... Neia Baraja seemed a nightmare of brutality, violence, and atrocity. Every inch of her a traitor to humanity. But, measuring her worth by the sentiment of her age, and her people, not least of all those most defenseless victims of the old gods followers? She was swift, zealous, decisive, just and righteous, an angel who would tear herself apart rather than allow a single wound upon those she loved or to those whom she was merely loyal. Taking her all in all, when measuring the tremendous magnitude of the burdens placed upon a girl who began her journey at an age where most were not yet even managing a farm, and considering the necessary means to necessary ends that she saw must come to the world? Why, perhaps she was not infinitely wise, but she was infinitely brave, and infinitely giving of herself, and never did the world send anyone to it who was better fitted for her mission in life, than Neia Baraja. May she rest in peace."

 _~Enlaith "Heroes in a Heroic Age" p. 329_


	214. Acknowledgements & Final Thoughts

**-Finis Cornata Opus-**

 **(The End Crowns the Work)**

 **FINAL THOUGHTS**

 **When I began this epic story, I never imagined it would either grow to the size that it did, or achieve the popularity that it has (as of right now almost 1 million views) . I thought it would be 30,000 words, be read a few dozen times, and vanish into the aether never to be seen again. Obviously... that is not what happened. So I hope you'll indulge me one last time and let me say a few things before I disappear to move on to other projects.**

 **Writing this story has been a journey like no other, it made me laugh, it made me cry, I studied a lot to get the details right and represent everyone and everything the way I believed they should be, out of respect for the real people who endure these trials, but also for those fictional characters who, despite not being of flesh and blood, lived lives within our own minds for those brief hours where you and I alike read them into being.**

 **Some hard issues were tackled in this series and its connecting stories. Suicide, depression, PTSD, economic disparity, environmental science, love, loss, life, death, family, and so much, much more. In the course of writing this, the charitable donations that came my way paid for medicine and education in the third world, bought land for farmers, helped support schools, extended capital to businesses that had little access to any and helped pay for college attendance for the poor, it's also seen food given to food banks in exchange for double chapter releases, as well as blood donations for the same, and given what I have heard from people, this overarching story has even saved lives, with people writing in to say they saw themselves or a loved one in some of these stories, and were going to seek help as a result.**

 **Writing this for you has never once been a chore, it has been a privilege, a pleasure, and a point of pride, because it was something that mattered to you. Writing in the end, is not just for the writer, it is for the reader, it is for the world. It is that little part of ourselves that we can give away without limits, it is a legacy of creation that makes companions out of people we will never meet. Whether you write fanfiction for Sonic the Hedgehog or are a New York Times best selling author, this remains true.**

 **ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS**

 **Of course none of this probably would have happened without my discord members, and in particular the fantastic members of the beta reading team... some of whom I am CONVINCED only got started beta reading so they wouldn't have to wait for chapter releases. It's OK guys, I didn't mind. ;)**

 **But also, I want to say thank you to the other wonderful authors out there, Jade Tatsu, Meisking1, ALearningMan, and of course, all those authors who said my work and my encouragement drove them to start writing. Do you know why? Because their energy gave ME energy. It was a spiral of positivity that only went up, and you all had a hand in that.**

 **And of course, I want to thank every single reviewer, from those scathing ones who told me everything I was doing wrong in the hopes that I would improve, to the positive ones who couldn't wait for every new release and told me as much. Of course, even the Choosing Beggars merit a word, because even spite can be motivational, like when they'd tell me not to write a story, so I'd write it more out of sheer perversity. And of course the occasional attention seeking troll (a little different from the choosing beggar), who reminded me of just what kind of person I don't want to be, and helped drive me to produce even more material.**

 **But for all that, there is one who stands head and shoulders above all...**

 **The author himself who created the 'Overlord' Universe, if he should ever see this... I'm forever grateful for what you've given to us.**

 **So in conclusion...**

 **Thank you, thank you all so very much for reading all my work this far along, I wish every one of you long, rich, fulfilling lives.**

 **(ALSO...UNRELATED NOTE... Think this will ever end up with a TVtropes page now?) :D**

 _ **SHAMELESS PLUGS**_

 _ **Also, feel free to get started on my ORIGINAL work: Scales of Trust, at patr30n dot com /tellingstories (Support's the author's attempt at a writing career)**_

 _ **Support the illustration project at patr30n dot com /godrising (creates art for a God Rising pdf to be given away freely)**_

 _ **Or charity support at bdgiving dot org**_

 _ **Join the Overlord Fanfiction Discord (invite code is in my author page)**_


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